With the Market Up, Wall Street High Life Bounces Back, Too
A year ago, Bret Grebow, a 28-year-old who runs hedge fund HMC International, was taking cheap flights on JetBlue Airways and keeping a lid on his spending. But his fund's investment portfolio surged nearly 40% last year, and Mr. Grebow says he's confident that the market has regained its footing. So two months ago he bought a new $160,000 Lamborghini Gallardo. He says it was his first "treat" in months.
These days when Mr. Grebow and his girlfriend travel between his Highland Beach, Fla., home and his New York office, he charters a catered plane with a bar, paying as much as $10,000 for the three-hour flight. Last weekend he spent more than $12,000 to fly himself and some friends on a Learjet 55 to the Super Bowl.
"It's fantastic. They've got my favorite cereal, Cookie Crisp, waiting for me, and Jack Daniel's on ice," says Mr. Grebow.
Hedge-fund trader Kenneth Griffin last summer married another hedge-fund hotshot. They tied the knot at the palace of Versailles. Festivities in Paris included a party at the Louvre and a rehearsal dinner at the Musee D'Orsay. In Las Vegas last month, 10 Wall Street investment bankers dropped several thousand dollars renting a Ferrari, a Dodge Viper and a Hummer for the weekend to cruise the Strip. New York cigar shops, steak houses and five-star restaurants all report an influx of Wall Street business in just the past few weeks.
As financial companies start to pay out big bonuses for 2003, lavish spending by Wall Streeters is showing signs of a comeback. Behind the exuberance: a 40% jump in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in roughly 15 months and a return of big profits on Wall Street -- $15 billion or so last year, more than double 2002's profits, according to estimates by the Securities Industry Association. When the results are all tabulated, 2003 likely will be the third-best year on record for the securities industry.
"There was much more money spent at year-end parties than I would have thought," says Michael Holland, chief executive officer of Holland & Co., an investment firm. He says he was struck by the packed dining room recently at the "21" Club. "It's an early warning sign about the return of the extravagant days."
One Wall Streeter recently spent about $30,000 to rent out the lower Manhattan restaurant Nobu for 150 guests. Not far away, Tribeca Grill has seen bookings for parties by Wall Street firms pick up in recent months after a long dry spell. Giles Priestland, director of sales at the ski resort The Lodge at Vail, says one Wall Street firm has booked 60 rooms for three nights in March, starting at $495 per night.
Wayne Duris, general manager of New Country Porsche of Greenwich, Conn., says that on one day late last month, he shipped new Porsches that sell for up to $120,000, to two Wall Street professionals. They paid cash. Sales doubled at the dealer this January compared with the year before, he says, thanks to interest from traders.
James Selwa, president of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, says one Wall Street pro recently was so eager for a $320,000 Rolls-Royce Phantom that he insisted on buying the Manhattan dealership's only demonstration model.
For those with more miles to go, the bull market is ushering in a renewed appetite for chartered jets. Todd Rome, president of Blue Star Jets in Manhattan, says that several groups of Wall Street traders chartered fully catered 737s and 727s, each with several bedrooms, to fly to warmer climes such as Florida for their Super Bowl parties.
"With the turn of the market, people are feeling liquid, there's big demand from mutual funds, hedge funds and even brokers," says Mr. Rome. "Starting in December, all of a sudden this business has had a facelift" with the new demand from Wall Street.
In recent weeks, Wall Street firms have begun paying what's expected to total $10.7 billion in bonuses -- the bulk of the compensation for most on Wall Street -- for 2003. That's almost a 25% increase from 2002, though still less than the $19.5 billion bonanza of 2000. Also fattening wallets: Stock prices of most securities firms are at their highest levels in three years.
Some big winners in the 1990s boom have been left behind this time around. Mergers-and-acquisitions activity is still relatively weak. The regulatory settlement to resolve conflicts of interest between research departments and investment-banking operations has dented research budgets across Wall Street.
Today, traders who bet on the market with their own firm's capital are cashing in. So, too, are hedge-fund executives and bond traders. The average bonus for bond specialists rose 30% last year, compared with a 5% raise for investment bankers and equities pros, says compensation consultant Johnson Associates Inc.
A beneficiary is the high-end real-estate market in New York, says Dolly Lenz, a real-estate agent at Douglas Elliman. "People are getting bonuses again," says Ms. Lenz, who says she closed on about $100 million in contracts in last month -- her best month ever and about triple her January 2003 tally.
One apartment drawing interest is the Fifth Avenue co-op of L. Dennis Kozlowski, former chairman and chief executive of conglomerate Tyco International Ltd. His $15,000 poodle-shaped antique umbrella stand, $6,000 shower curtain and $38,000 backgammon table became symbols of 1990s excess. Now several Wall Street professionals are showing interest in buying Mr. Kozlowski's apartment, according to Sharon Baum, a real-estate broker at Corcoran Group involved in showing the place. With 11 rooms, including a master bedroom with Central Park views and staff quarters, the apartment is listed at around $28 million.
Dining at New York's Le Cirque restaurant late last month, three Wall Street executives approached real-estate mogul Donald Trump, interrupting his dinner, to ask about prices of apartments in his deluxe Manhattan buildings. "I've never been inundated like that," Mr. Trump says.
Grant Morgan, who runs a brokerage firm in New York called First Republic Group, says he likely will add 30 new brokers to his 100-broker staff this year. After several years of putting off a remodeling job at his Greenwich, Conn., home, the bachelor now is spending $600,000 to gut and rebuild.
"We're comfortable the market won't take a new downturn," says Mr. Morgan, 36, who was comfortable enough to spend a week at The Breakers in Palm Beach last month and six months ago bought a $150,000 Ferrari 360. "Things are thawing."
华尔街再起奢靡之风
28岁的布莱特?格瑞伯(Bret Grebow)经营著对冲基金HMC International，1年前，他出行搭乘JetBlue Airways的廉价航班，花钱处处缩手缩脚。但去年他的基金投资组合上扬了近40%，格瑞伯说他深信市场已经重新站稳脚跟。因此两个月前，他买了一辆价值160,000美元的新款Lamborghini GallardoJet跑车。他说，这是他数月来第一次"犒劳"自己。
就在格瑞伯携女友在佛罗里达Highland Beach的寓所与纽约的办公室之间往返的这些天当中，他包下了一架带有酒吧的豪华飞机，飞行3个小时的费用是10,000美元。上周，他花了12,000美元租了一架Learjet 55飞机，和几个朋友一起去观看美式足球冠军决赛超级碗(Super Bowl)。
格瑞伯说，"太棒了！飞机上有我最喜欢的麦片，Cookie Crisp等著我，还有冰镇的威士忌Jack Daniel。"
对冲基金交易员肯尼思?格里芬(Kenneth Griffin)去年夏季与对冲基金行业另外一个炙手可热的人物结婚。他们在凡尔赛宫共结连理，在巴黎举行的结婚庆典包括在卢浮宫举办聚会，在奥塞美术馆进行一次非正式餐宴。上月的一个周末，10个华尔街的投资银行家一掷千金，租借了一辆法拉利(Ferrari)，一辆Dodge Viper和一辆悍马(Hummer)在拉斯维加斯的大街上兜风。纽约的雪茄店、牛排馆和5星级餐馆在刚刚过去的这几周都留下了华尔街来客的身影。
随著华尔街进入了2003年分红的发放季节，华尔街的奢侈之风似乎又再度吹起。这阵奢侈之风的背后是：道琼斯工业股票平均价格指数在15月内取得了大约40%的涨幅，巨额利润重新拥抱华尔街－－美国证券业协会(Securities Industry Association)估计，华尔街去年利润大约在150亿美元左右，是2002年利润的两倍多。当这些利润呈现在财务报表上时，2003年在证券行业历史最佳表现年份中可能会排在第三位。
投资机构Holland & Co.的首席执行长麦克尔?荷兰德(Michael Holland)说，"年底聚会的花销远远高于我的最初预计。"他说他对近来'21' Club餐厅的爆满感到吃惊，"这是奢侈时代回归的一个预兆。"
华尔街一家公司前不久花费大约30,000美元租借了曼哈顿下城区的Nobu款待150名宾客。在距离不远的Tribeca Grill，华尔街公司预定宴会数量最近几个月大幅增加，而在此之前该餐馆还是门庭冷落车马稀。位于滑雪胜地Vail的The Lodge饭店的销售总监吉赖斯?普莱斯特兰德(Giles Priestland)说，一家华尔街公司预定了3月份的60个房间，共住3晚，每晚起价为495美元。
康涅狄格州格林威治的New Country Porsche总经理韦恩?杜瑞斯(Wayne Duris)说，上月末的一天，他将售价高达120,000美元的保时捷(Porsches)交付给两位华尔街专业人士。他们用的是现金支付。他说，由于华尔街交易员购车兴趣大增，与去年1月相比，今年1月的汽车销售翻了一番。
劳斯莱斯(Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA)总裁 姆斯?塞尔瓦(James Selwa)称，最近一位华尔街来客对售价320,000美元的劳斯莱斯新款Phantom怀有浓厚兴趣，他甚至要坚持买下曼哈顿售车行唯一的一辆展示车辆。
对于那些要走更远的路的人来说，股市走牛重新勾起了一部分人对租借飞机的胃口。曼哈顿Blue Star Jets的总裁托德?罗姆(Todd Rome)称，华尔街成群的交易员租用装备齐全的737和727飞机，每个飞机上有卧室，这些交易员飞到温暖的佛罗里达参加"超级碗"的派对。
罗姆说，"随著市场的反转，人们手中流动资金增加，共同基金、对冲基金乃至经纪商的需求高涨。从十二月份开始，在来自华尔街的新需求的推动下，飞机租赁这一业务突然出现了转机。"
最近几周，华尔街公司开始支付预计总额将高达107亿美元的2003年度分红，这一金额比2002年增加了将近25%，但是距离2000年天文数字般的195亿美元仍相距甚远。今年大多数证券公司的股价位于3年来的最高水平，这也让证券公司的腰包鼓了起来。
90年代经济繁荣时的一些大赢家在这次被抛到了后面。去年公司并购活动仍相对较少；监管机构围绕证券公司研究部门和投资银行业务的利益冲突进行的和解令华尔街的研究预算大为降低。 今日，用经纪行自有资金进行投资的交易员开始进入丰收季节，同样丰收的还有对冲基金的管理人士和债券交易员。薪酬咨询机构Johnson Associates Inc.说，债券特设经纪商去年的平均分红增长了30%，而投资银行家和证券业人士的分红则增长了5%。
Douglas Elliman公司的房地产经纪人多利?莱兹(Dolly Lenz)说，纽约的高端房地产市场也因此受益。莱兹说，"人们又拿得了奖金。"她说上月共达成了1亿美元的合同－－是有史以来表现最好的月份，为2003年1月份合同金额的三倍。
泰科(Tyco International Ltd.)前董事长兼首席执行长丹尼斯?科兹洛斯基(L. Dennis Kozlowski)位于第五大道(Fifth Avenue)的公寓吸引了人们的兴趣。价值15,000美元的古典式伞架、6,000美元的浴廉、38,000美元的15子游戏桌都成为1990年代挥金如土的象征。据Corcoran Group的房地产经纪人沙朗?鲍姆(Sharon Baum)称，现在，几位华尔街专业人士对购买科兹洛斯基的公寓表现出了兴趣。这套公寓共有11个房间，包括一个能看到中央公园景观的主卧及其他侧卧，公寓标价2,800万美元。
上月末，3位在纽约Le Cirque餐馆用餐的华尔街管理人士径直走向了地产大亨唐纳德?特朗普(Donald Trump)，打断他的用餐，询问其曼哈顿豪华公寓的售价。特朗普说，"我还从没有象这样被人问过。"
格兰特?摩根(Grant Morgan)在纽约经营一个名为First Republic Group的经纪行，他说，他可能在现有100名经纪人的基础上再招30个新的经纪人。他在康涅狄格州格林威治的家的翻修工作已经搁置了数年，现在这个单身汉准备花600,000美元重新进行装修。
36岁的摩根说，"我们相信市场不会再度衰退。"他是如此自信，以致于上月在棕榈滩的The Breakers呆上了一周的时间，并在6个月前添置了一辆价值150,000美元的法拉利360跑车。他说，"大地回春了"。
