"[The subprime mortgage business in the U.S.] will continue to face headwinds in the near term," Lehman CFO Chris O'Meara told analysts during a conference call.

But Lehman is seeing the return of pricing power and "we expect to see various opportunities from the market dislocation," he said.

The exposure investment banks have to the subprime market has come into focus as some of the nation's largest subprime mortgage lenders have fallen to the brink of bankruptcy amid a sharp rise in defaults among borrowers.

Shares of Lehman (down $2.72 to $69.28, Charts) fell 4 percent in midday trading amid a broad market selloff triggered by ongoing troubles in the subprime mortgage market.

Wall Street firms have their hands in all segments of the subprime market, where lenders make home loans to borrowers with weak credit. Wall Street banks not only provide financing to mortgage lenders, but also buy these loans, repackage them and sell them as securities to big investors like mutual funds and hedge funds.

Analysts consider Lehman to be one of the Wall Street firms with the most exposure to these risky home loans.

Lehman is "not immune" to problems in the U.S. subprime sector, which hurt its "securitizing" business during the latest quarter, but it has actively hedged its positions to lower its overall risk, O'Meara said.

Revenue from the subprime mortgage business remains small, he also pointed out. Over the past six quarters, U.S. subprime mortgage origination, securitization and trading accounted for less than 3 percent of the company's revenue.

Additionally, Lehman's experience in the subprime sector could help it benefit from turmoil in the market, O'Meara said. Such opportunities could range from buying portfolios of assets to helping clients rearrange their portfolios and picking up talent, he said.

He also said that the subprime challenges appear to be fairly contained for now, echoing the view Goldman Sachs CFO David Viniar offered a day earlier.

Goldman Sachs, which is believed to have a smaller exposure to subprime compared to other Wall Street firms, said it is keeping an eye on prices, but downplayed the idea that it plans to delve deeper into subprime.

"We look at opportunities in all sectors if the price is right and if we think the point in the cycle is appropriate," a Goldman Sachs spokesman said Wednesday. "But we are not aggressively pursuing the subprime sector," he added.

So far, subprime woes don't appear to be hurting the bottom line for Wall Street banks.

Lehman posted record quarterly results on Wednesday. The investment brokerage said net income rose 6 percent to $1.15 billion, or $1.96 a share, for its fiscal first quarter ended Feb. 28. Revenue jumped 13 percent to $5 billion.

Goldman Sachs (Charts), which kicked off earnings season for Wall Street on Tuesday, also posted record quarterly results. Bear Stearns (Charts) is next on tap with earnings due on Thursday.

But economists worry problems in subprime will eventually spread to other parts of the mortgage market, creating a credit crunch that could slow the housing recovery and hurt the broader economy.

Wall Street firms could take a hit from such a fallout, not just because they have exposure to subprime loans but because their overall business would be impacted by a downturn in the economy.

最近国产电影出了不少好片，落叶归根，三峡好人,爱情呼叫转移都很好，姨妈的后现代生活也非常好，尤其在被无数肥腻腻的“视觉大餐”败尽了胃口之后，张杨，贾樟柯，许鞍华们送上的诚恳、内捻和人文精神显得及时而珍贵。

《姨妈的后现代生活》用许鞍华特有的细腻和关怀，冷静的讲述了我父母那一代人的代表姨妈和她周围的人在当前时代背景下的悲喜人生。

正如电影海报上所写，最美好的生活不过如此，最悲哀的生活不过如此。影片以斯琴高娃扮演的姨妈为主线，穿插了邻居灰带鱼、骗子金永花、女儿刘大凡等不同的女性形象，共同描绘了一段悲喜交加的生活图景。影片前半段以一出出癫狂喜剧表现了姨妈在上海这个大都市里经历的种种后现代生活，而姨妈身边的各个人物也次第出场：和网友一起策划绑架的外甥宽宽，每天变换一种发型的时髦邻居灰带鱼，为救女儿而在街上碰瓷骗钱的金永花，当然，还有那个和姨妈搞黄昏恋却最终骗得姨妈血本无归的潘知常。而在影片的后半段，镜头从繁华喧闹的上海转向凋敝苍凉的鞍山，电影的调子也急转直下，清高孤傲的姨妈终于在种种波折之后失去了往昔的光鲜色彩。

同姨妈一样，灰带鱼、金永花、刘大凡，无一不是自己梦想的埋葬者。每天换一种头发颜色的灰带鱼看似风光无限，实际上真正能够陪伴的只有一只猫，而她也因为痛失爱猫诱发心脏病死亡；金永花为救重病的女儿碰瓷骗钱，在走投无路时默默地摘掉女儿的呼吸器，妄图结束女儿和全家的痛苦；姨妈的女儿刘大凡，在粗鄙的言语和恶俗的外表下也隐藏着蠢蠢欲动的对繁华都市和美好生活的憧憬，然而在一番挣扎后依旧只能屈服于命运，继续做一个厨子。

知青，这是我在这个片子里第一个触动，许鞍华没有用激烈的台词和直白的情节去评价（控诉）抑或怜悯，姨妈，姨妈的家庭、飞飞、飞飞的父母、外婆，甚至还有潘知常，他们都生活在知青的悲剧阴影中。相比起姨妈和飞飞家庭，潘知常的人生更加隐晦，影片并没有明确的交代老潘的经历，从他的年龄和才学我善良的认为他也是经历了那个时代的怀才不遇者，他的人生极有可能也是时代悲剧，最终被迫混迹江湖行骗为生。从老潘身上我能隐约看到我的一位长辈，相似的学识（尤其是古文）、相似的经历，没有机遇，所不同的是他没有老潘的风流和圆滑，生活凄凉而让人叹息。老潘最后一段让我们看到了他的歉意，他内在的良知和温情的一面，当然，还有小马哥的风采，许鞍华的致敬让我拍案叫绝，也让老潘的故事有了一个令人玩味的继续。

上海，上海是个让人着迷的地方，尤其是当许鞍华与你分享她的视角时。许鞍华巧妙的展现了上海人生来的优越感，略有艺术加工，但没有讽刺，得体而客观：当年姨妈抛弃家庭回到上海；在里弄以上海市民的身份高高在上的质问弄脏环境外地人；还有金永花的遭遇体现出来的农民工眼中“上海市民”的神圣等。姨妈和水阿姨斗了几十年的气，争的是典型的上海人那二两半的自尊，当斗气的对象离世、当微薄的财产丧失，姨妈再也无法撑起那虚荣自尊的外表，彻底的被浮华的上海抛弃。汽车行驶在高架桥上的那一幕颇有几分隐喻色彩，光怪陆离灯红酒绿，这里无数的人生继续着螺旋上升或者沉沦的故事，而姨妈却带着梦想离去。许多影评说这部电影在这里结束会来得更好。我想在这里给电影结尾只能说会减轻我们观者的心理负担，毕竟我们都希望姨妈离开上海一家团聚能够有个幸福的生活，故事在这里画上省略号能够让我们带着甜蜜的期望愉快的离开。许鞍华没有这样做，而正是她的这一瓢冷水让我们看到了她的真诚、冷静和客观，鞍山，这个如同被遗忘的地方与上海巨大的反差让我们每个中国人都冷静的看到上海之外的中国的真实，姨妈的生活在这里继续，当剥去了上海人的虚荣外表，姨妈显示出了与大多数中国老百姓一样共性真实的一面，或者说，上海的姨妈、东北的姨妈都是真实的，不同的只是心态和对“顽强”不一样的诠释。许鞍华并没有拍一部流俗的“都市”时尚电影，因为中国更多的姨妈在这样的环境中延续着她们的生命，这才是真实的中国，真实的数以亿计的中国下层老百姓，她们顽强、卑微、沧桑、遍体鳞伤、筋疲力尽。

月亮，影片中两次出现了月亮，一次是病床上的姨妈看到的，一次是宽宽与姨妈女儿刘大凡看到的，对这个硕大的月亮的理解就见仁见智了，我以为月亮代表了遭遇困境时梦想，梦想不同于希望，看似美好，但或许根本不会实现，不过无论怎样，梦想总能给我们摆脱困境或者在困境中生存下来的动力，这就是生活。

最后，久石让此次的配乐比哈尔的移动城堡、情颠大圣配的都要好，应该算千寻之后这几年里最出色的配乐作品了，可惜我找不到OST的下载。充满张力的电影配上充满张力的音乐，完美至极。

LONDON, March 19 — Barclays, one of Britain’s largest banks, has made an informal takeover approach for ABN Amro Holding, the largest bank in the Netherlands, which is under pressure from hedge funds to consider a merger or asset sales to bolster its lagging share price.

A takeover of ABN by Barclays would be the largest crossborder merger ever in the European banking industry, and would create a combined company with market value of more than £80 billion, or $155 billion, with businesses in the United States and Africa, as well as Europe.

Such a merger would help Barclays compete with larger rivals like HSBC Holding and the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, but two people who confirmed that the inquiry had been made said that the contact between the two European banks was at a preliminary stage and that there was no certainty that Barclays would make a formal offer. The people declined to be identified, citing confidentiality agreements.

Among other banks that analysts have said might be interested in all or parts of ABN are the Royal Bank of Scotland, ING Group of the Netherlands and Banco Santander, Spain’s largest bank. Barclays stated an interest in playing a role in any takeover battle involving ABN, one of the people said.

ABN Amro, based in Amsterdam, came under pressure from shareholders earlier this year for failing to revive its share price, which has lagged behind those of other banks for years.

Shares in ABN, which has its roots in a trading company set up by King Willem I in 1824, have barely budged since Rijkman W. J. Groenink took over as chief executive in May 2000.

Analysts have said that the bank’s strategy is lacking focus and that at least three unsuccessful efforts to take over European rivals over the last eight years have weighed heavily on investors’ trust in Mr. Groenink.

The Children’s Investment Fund and Tosca, two hedge funds that hold shares in ABN, called on Mr. Groenink last month to explore the options to sell, merge or spin off some of the bank’s assets, which they claimed were not meeting their full potential. Both hold stakes of about 1 percent in ABN.

The Children’s Investment Fund is known for exerting pressure on management at companies it has invested in. In 2005, the fund successfully pushed for the ouster of two top executives at Deutsche Börse, the company that runs the Frankfurt stock exchange.

Neil Moorhouse, a spokesman at ABN, declined to comment on an approach, as did a spokesman at Barclays.

ABN, which owns LaSalle Bank in Chicago, has been considered a takeover target by rivals for years.

ABN shares gained in September on speculation that Bank of America might be interested in acquiring it. About two years ago, it also sounded out the possibility of a combination with Barclays, based in London, but nothing came of it.

Previously, potential bidders balked at hurdles, including ABN’s struggling wholesale division and disagreements on where a combined bank would be based, bankers said earlier.

Mr. Groenink made it clear in the past that he was unwilling to give up Amsterdam as headquarters of any merged lender.

Yet, in an interview with Bloomberg News in July, he said that he would not have a serious argument to reject a takeover approach with a “very good story” and an offer worth 40 percent above the share price.

Any potential bidder for ABN may be attracted by the business in the United States, which is generating the largest slice of profit, and operations in fast-growing emerging markets like Brazil. ABN has a 56 percent stake in the South African bank Absa and also owns banks in Spain, Portugal and the Middle East.

ABN bought Banca Antonveneta, an Italian bank, last year but has had trouble keeping a cap on expenses from the acquisition.

For Barclays, an acquisition of a bank the size of ABN Amro would place it among the leaders in the global banking industry. It would help John Varley, chief executive, to meet his goal of more than doubling the share of earnings outside the bank’s British home market, where lenders have been hit by increasing loan losses.

Barclays invested heavily over the last years in its investment banking unit, hiring bankers and adding products. The investments paid off last year when earnings from the securities business helped the bank to more than offset losses from bad loans.

Mr. Varley has repeatedly said that he wanted to expand Barclays organically in markets like China but has not ruled out acquisitions. He hired Frits Seegers from Citigroup last year to help lead an expansion of the bank’s retail and commercial banking units.

Top Wall Street & Bank Traders

Michael Hutchins

~~~~~~~~~~~~~this guy is my boss's boss's boss's boss

City: New York
Firm: UBS
Age: 49

As UBS’s global head of fixed income, rates and currencies, Hutchins is one manager who still actively trades. The expectation that he will soon retire from the bank has sparked mass speculation among Street watchers over who his replacement might be. Publicly, however, Hutchins does not appear inclined to depart. Last October, he joined the Bond Market Association’s board of directors.
Estimated income: $30–$40 million
———————————————————————–
Driss Ben-Brahim

City: London
Firm: Goldman Sachs
Age: 40

The head of Goldman’s exotics-derivatives desk in London, Ben-Brahim made partner and was named successor to Christian Siva-Jothy and Geoff Grant, the former co-heads of Goldman’s global foreign-exchange prop-trading desk who left for hedge-fund land last year. Ben-Brahim did not take home a 2004 bonus in the same stratosphere as his 2003 check (which was rumored as high as $70 million), but he can still ably afford London rent.
Estimated income: $25–$30 million
———————————————————————–
Ken Karl

City: New York
Firm: UBS
Age: 46

Running the UBS prop-trading desk (known internally as PFG) as well as the firm’s credit arbitrage group, Karl fared well last year, winning a bonus package that might have made even a hedge-fund manager envious.
Estimated income: $25–$30 million
———————————————————————–
Jon Wood

City: London
Firm: UBS
Age: 42

Dubbed “Keyser Soze” by some rivals after the mysterious kingpin from The Usual Suspects, Wood, yet another big-earning UBS trader near the top of the Wall Street heap, is known for being secretive. He has also earned a reputation as one of the most aggressive and successful traders today. With just a few others alongside him, Wood runs what is viewed as one of the City’s most powerful equity-prop desks. He was recently lured out of seclusion as a result of his involvement in a legal spat concerning the Gadget Shop in the United Kingdom. Keyser Söze apparently has a sense of humor; British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen (Ali G) provided the entertainment at his fortieth birthday party.
Estimated income: $25–$30 million
———————————————————————–
John Bertuzzi

City: London
Firm: Goldman Sachs
Age: 50

Goldman insiders say Bertuzzi, another energy warrior, was on fire in 2004. “He made well over $100 million in profit for the bank,” one source tells us. While oil was so hot last year that many could turn a profit just by getting up in the morning, to rank among the most profitable in Goldman’s elite crew takes an edge.
Estimated income: $20–$25 million
———————————————————————–
Robert Cignarella

City: New York
Firm: Goldman Sachs Asset Management
Age: 36

Considered among the best debt traders on the buy side, Cignarella, a graduate of the University of Chicago Business School, is one of the brightest lights at GSAM, the asset-management arm of Wall Street’s most prestigious firm.
Estimated income: $25 - $30 million
———————————————————————–
Jeffrey Frase

City: New York
Firm: Goldman Sachs
Age: 37

As Goldman’s head of crude-oil trading, Frase had the catbird seat for the one of the biggest oil-price run-ups ever witnessed — and it appears he made good use of it. Colleagues report that his raw trading talent is as good as anyone’s.
Estimated income: $20–$25 million
———————————————————————–
Geoff Grant

City: London
Firm: Goldman Sachs
Age: Early 40s

A top Forex-market prop trader at Goldman, Grant took his bonus check and traded London drizzle for California sunshine, moving to Santa Barbara, California, to launch a hedge fund with fellow Goldman alum Ron Beller. The global macro fund, Peloton Partners, will be based in London, but Grant will operate from his little piece of paradise.
Estimated income: $20–$25 million
———————————————————————–
Olav Refvik

City: New York
Firm: Morgan Stanley
Age: 46

Some rival traders have dubbed him the “King of New York Harbor” for his savvy rental of waterfront real estate — he controls a large chunk of oil-storage space, which gave the firm an edge in last year’s raging oil market. Refvik, a Norwegian, is also known to sail around the harbor in his yacht, Song of Norway. His February bonus check should allow for a significant naval upgrade.
Estimated income: $20–$25 million
———————————————————————–
Neal Shear

City: New York
Firm: Morgan Stanley
Age: 50

Part of the crack energy team that was practically printing money for Morgan Stanley in 2004, Shear was rewarded for his success. In March, he was appointed head of fixed income, replacing Zoe Cruz. If the energy markets weren’t excitement enough for Shear last year, his appointment lands him neatly in the midst of a major power struggle between the backers and the enemies of CEO Phil Purcell.
Estimated income: $20–$25 million
———————————————————————–
Ashok Varadhan

City: New York
Firm: Goldman Sachs
Age: 33

Considered one of the best young traders on Wall Street, as well as a likely candidate to be among the next crop of Goldman pros bolting for a hedge fund, Varadhan heads up North American interest-rate products, reporting to Philippe Khuong-Huu. The numbers gene runs in the family: Varadhan’s father, Srinivasa, is an eminent mathematics professor at New York University.
Estimated income: $20–$25 million
———————————————————————–
Jack DiMaio

City: New York
Firm: CSFB
Age: 37

A cool cat, DiMaio has gone through a few lives in his career on Wall Street. The acclaimed bond trader first made headlines when he threatened to take his credit team to rival Barclays Capital, and later did an about-face after extracting a breathtaking compensation deal from CSFB. Former CSFB CEO John Mack, chagrined by the episode, later shunted DiMaio and his team over to the asset-management wing, CSAM. Now, with more than $1 billion of CSFB’s money under management, DiMaio is starting his own credit hedge fund, DA Capital.
Estimated income: $15–$20 million
———————————————————————–
Simon Greenshields

City: New York
Firm: Morgan Stanley
Age: 49

Another of the hot energy traders who made Morgan Stanley’s commodities department one of the top performers on Wall Street last year, Greenshields, a natural-gas and electricity trader, was handsomely rewarded for his performance.
Estimated income: $15–$20 million
———————————————————————–
Yan Huo

City: London
Firm: UFJ International
Age: 41

After a successful run heading a prop-trading desk in London for J.P. Morgan, Huo moved last year to a prop-trading position for UFJ International in the City, where he continued to excel.
Estimated income: $15–$20 million
———————————————————————–
Michael Nierenberg

City: New York
Firm: Bear Stearns
Age: 42

Bear Stearns had a phenomenal year in mortgage-backed securities, and few did better than Nierenberg, the firm’s co-head of MBS trading. In 2004, Bear dominated the global MBS market, with $93 billion in issuance for a 10 percent market share, some $6 billion more than its closest rival. Nierenberg is reportedly so superstitious that he refuses to write in red ink; we suspect he used quite a bit of black throughout 2004.
Estimated income: $15–$20 million
———————————————————————–
John Shapiro

City: New York
Firm: Morgan Stanley
Age: 53

The head of Morgan Stanley’s commodities-trading team, Street veteran Shapiro is known for trading in the physicals as well as energy derivatives. Morgan sources say Shapiro didn’t do too badly for his own book.
Estimated income: $15–$20 million
———————————————————————–
Barry Wittlin

City: New York
Firm: Merrill Lynch
Age: 47

Appointed head of strategic risk trading for Merrill Lynch’s global debt markets in January, Wittlin made his 2004 score heading the firm’s global-rates group. While the titles sound official and stuffy, Wittlin is in fact “one of the biggest prop traders there,” one insider says.
Estimated income: $15–$20 million
———————————————————————–
Nasser Ahmad

City: New York
Firm: CSFB
Age: 37

The A in Jack DiMaio’s new DA Capital, Ahmad, part of the group that jumped over to CSAM with DiMaio, has been running an internal credit hedge fund for CSFB. An accomplished fixed-income trader, he will now help run the more than $1 billion in DA Capital’s pot.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
———————————————————————–
Charlie W.K. Chan

City: Singapore
Firm: CSFB
Age: 45

The head of emerging-markets FX trading, Chan (whose full name is Charlie Chan Wai Kheong) paced the bank-trading scene in Asia in 2004. His trading book for CSFB created buzz; might a move to a hedge fund be in the works?
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
———————————————————————–
Nicolas Dusart

City: New York
Firm: BNP Paribas
Age: 32

French banks have a reputation for not paying as well as their American counterparts, but industry sources say BNP Paribas was hardly stingy when it came to Dusart’s bonus. The director of high-yield prop trading is said to be well worth all those euros.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
———————————————————————–

Philippe Khuong-Huu

City: New York
Firm: Goldman Sachs
Age: 40

Another in a long line of brilliant minds to serve Goldman masters, Khuong-Huu was brought in four years ago from J.P. Morgan, where he launched the firm’s options-arbitrage group. A world traveler, Khuong-Huu worked in Paris at Société Générale in the late ’80s, trading in the bank’s index-arbitrage business. He later moved to J.P. Morgan in Tokyo.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
———————————————————————–
Angie Long

City: New York
Firm: J.P. Morgan
Age: 30

Among the top traders at J.P. Morgan, Long last year ran high-yield and credit-derivatives trading; she was recently promoted to be deputy to Eric Rosen, the head of credit trading. Extremely bright and a trader’s trader — she can hold her own on the desk and on the town — she’s also the only female on the Trader Monthly 100.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
———————————————————————–
Rajeev Misra

City: London
Firm: Deutsche Bank
Age: Early 40s

Misra, head of global credit trading, has helped turn Deutsche into a credit-derivates powerhouse. His inspiration was to better integrate the unit into the bank, leading to greater innovation and more money.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
———————————————————————–
Aziz Nahas

City: London
Firm: J.P. Morgan
Age: 33

Head of prop trading at J.P. Morgan, Nahas was lured away from CSFB along with Cyril Levy-Marchal last March. He reported to head prop honcho Yan Huo (see page 81), but when Huo left, Nahas took over.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
———————————————————————–
Sal Naro

City: New York
Firm: UBS
Age: 43

Naro surprised many when he left UBS this spring to launch a new hedge fund with SAC Capital veteran Mark Fishman. Based in Stamford, Connecticut, the fund is called Sailfish Capital.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
———————————————————————–
Michael Phelps

City: New York
Firm: J.P. Morgan
Age: Early 40s

While the Olympic swimming stud who shares his name took home more gold in 2004, the Phelps who works at J.P. Morgan took home more green: He’s among the top prop traders at the bank.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
———————————————————————–
Eric Rosen

City: New York
Firm: J.P. Morgan
Age: Early 40s

In the past 18 months, Rosen has risen, going from head of loan trading to co-head of credit trading and then to sole head of credit trading. Many speculate he’ll climb further still.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
———————————————————————–
Christopher Ryan

City: New York
Firm: UBS
Age: Late 30s

Named co-head of the newly created global credit group at UBS along with Sal Naro late last year, Ryan is the man left standing at the helm after Naro bolted to start his own hedge fund. UBS insiders say Ryan does not possess quite the trading chops of Naro, but he certainly did all right for himself in 2004.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
———————————————————————–
David Sabath

City: New York
Firm: J.P. Morgan
Age: 41

As head of credit prop-trading at J.P. Morgan, Sabath had a scorching year in 2004. This spring, he left to team up with Satellite Asset Management’s David Ford to launch a broad-based credit hedge fund. Before coming onboard at J.P. Morgan’s prop group, Sabath headed up distressed debt at Golman Sachs.
Estimated income: $10 - $15 million
———————————————————————–
Geoffrey Sherry

City: New York
Firm: J.P. Morgan
Age: 40

It has been an interesting 18 months or so for Sherry, who was promoted in November, along with Eric Rosen, to run J.P. Morgan’s credit-trading business. Sherry did not stay especially long in his new seat, however. This past March, he bolted the firm to join Bruce Kovner’s Caxton Associates, where he’s starting a new fixed-income hedge fund.
Estimated income: $10 - $15 million
———————————————————————–
Boaz Weinstein

City: New York
Firm: Deutsche Bank
Age: 31

One of the most popular traders on Wall Street, Weinstein is also among the most talented. As head of global credit trading-U.S., overseeing approximately 100 traders, he still spends a good deal of time trading for the firm’s internal hedge funds and prop-trading book. A star chess player, Weinstein was also once something of a card counter.
Estimated income: $10 - $15 million