“People say there’s no distressed debt. Well, there is; it’s just not trading at distressed prices”
Soren Reynertson of UBS on the false market in distressed debt (see Clever ways to do the dumbest things, December 2006)
“I went to an amazingly boring day-long conference yesterday which had all the usual consultants being paid millions for stating the bleeding obvious. Helpfully, Accenture told us that if you’re planning a cross-border acquisition, you should do your homework on your target”
An analyst takes a cynical view on the role of M&A advisers
“Infrastructure in continental Europe has always been a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation. But for the first time this year I have seen a real sea change in people’s view”
Hans Meissner, of the Capital Equity Fund, on the gold rush in infrastructure finance (see Behind infrastructure’s gold rush, December 2006)
“Don’t expect this president to use his veto much – he has trouble even spelling the word veto”
Stephen Roach, chief economist, Morgan Stanley, opines on the likelihood of president George W Bush exercising his power of veto over proposals from a Democrat-controlled Congress
“Most Russian banks are ‘too Russian’ to compete properly as investment banks”
A director of DCM at a major US investment house shows the world that the Cold War may be over, old rivalries aren’t dead yet
(see West gets a taste for Russia’s investment banks, December 2006)
