STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Monday, 21 May 2012

[Demeter]

5. Inside J.P. Morgan's Blunder

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303448404577410341236847980.html

J.P. Morgan Chase Chairman and Chief Executive Officer James Dimon had just committed the most expensive blunder of his 30-year career, failing to detect the risk of trades that had begun to generate huge losses at the bank. On April 30, associates who were gathered in a conference room handed Mr. Dimon summaries and analyses of the losses. But there were no details about the trades themselves. "I want to see the positions!" he barked, throwing down the papers, according to attendees. "Now! I want to see everything!" When Mr. Dimon saw the numbers, these people say, he couldn't breathe.

Those trading positions have produced losses that could total as much as $5 billion, tarnishing the record of an executive who had thrived through the global financial crisis and who has long been known for paying close attention to the bank's trading activity, its risk profile and the activities of its senior employees. J.P. Morgan, the nation's largest financial firm by assets, is struggling to contain the damage, which already has shaved off more than $25 billion in shareholder value.

This behind-the-scenes account of the disaster—based on interviews with numerous J.P. Morgan executives and with officials on Wall Street and in Washington—provides new details about the drama inside the bank as executives sought to understand the scope of the losses and decide what to do about them. Among other things, Mr. Dimon initially resisted ousting the executive at the center of the mess, confided in his wife that he had "missed something bad," and expressed regrets with his colleagues one night over vodka about how they had all let the firm down...

WHAT FOLLOWS IS A GOOD FIRST APPROXIMATION OF DIMON'S OBIT...AT LEAST, HIS PROFESSIONAL ONE.