The New York Times reports that losses on JPMorgan Chase’s bungled trade could total as much as $9 billion, far exceeding earlier public estimates, according to people who have been briefed on the situation.
When Jamie Dimon, the bank’s chief executive, announced in May that the bank had lost $2 billion in a bet on credit derivatives, he estimated that losses could double within the next few quarters. But the red ink has been mounting in recent weeks, as the bank has been unwinding its positions, according to interviews with current and former traders and executives at the bank who asked not to be named because of investigations into the bank.
The bank’s exit from its money-losing trade is happening faster than many expected. JPMorgan previously said it hoped to clear its position by early next year; now it is already out of more than half of the trade and may be completely free this year.
As JPMorgan has moved rapidly to unwind the position - its most volatile assets in particular - internal models at the bank have recently projected losses of as much as $9 billion. In April, the bank generated an internal report that showed that the losses, assuming worst-case conditions, could reach $8 billion to $9 billion, according to a person who reviewed the report.
Hit the link below to access the complete New York Times article:
JPMorgan Trading Loss May Reach $9 Billion
In the meantime, Reuters reports that Saba Capital Management's Boaz Weinstein recently exited his now famous and profitable credit derivative bet against JPMorgan Chase, according to sources familiar with the trade.
In May, JPMorgan reported what was thought to initially be a $2 billion trading loss in its Chief Investment Office, due to large bets on an obscure group of indexes that track the performance of corporate bonds, including the Markit CDX NA IG Series 9 index. Weinstein's Saba, among other funds, bet against that trade.
Saba, which has liquidated its position in its entirety, 'exited directly to JPMorgan's CIO office', according to a source familiar with the hedge fund.
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