Life under the euro
Traders on the European government bond desk at Riegel Sprint have won record bonuses after the spectacular success of their Emu shorting operation during last month's Great Euro Collapse. Herb Cassell, head of fixed income at the Anglo-US investment house, says: "The boys did a great job."
Gauloise-puffing Cassell refuses to be drawn on the precise figures ahead of the firm's first-quarter 2003 results. But rival houses estimate that Riegel Sprint profited to the tune of over $500 million by short-selling French treasury Oats and their Italian and Spanish equivalents ahead of last month's catastrophic EU summit, which led to the break-up of Emu. The subsequent 30% fall in bond values was the sharpest setback ever in European markets.
Cassell says the operation resulted from a mounting conviction in Riegel Sprint that Emu was doomed, despite the efforts of European leaders to bolster it with Emu...
