Chapter 7: Thanksgiving week 2014

Monday the 24th was going to be a big day for WSGG. Their last new recruit candidate to come in and become a partner was due to show up shortly after noon, taking a train in from the Albany, NY area. Their first two candidates that began in September were almost close to their 90 day reviews and 1st partner vote. At this Holiday juncture they both seemed to be acclimating to the position and the pace of the job. Neither showed a sign of being overwhelmed, and both found the market exciting and fresh in their professional and personal dealings. Both Heddy and Clarke had found places to live just outside the city proper and were saving money and doing fairly well with personal investments. Jaye (Jamaica Browne) Centofranchi was traveling the train route with them each day she wasn’t reading for the Financial News TV blurb. They all lived within 5 and 8 stops of each other and had gotten to know each other fairly well. Heddy was in a relationship with a producer from Fox she had met when she auditioned for the Financial News reader fill-in job. She hadn’t received a call back, but she was told she might get a re-read. Clarke was dating a woman from one of the local lunch spots, but she lived in Brooklyn. It made it hard for them to get together unless she stayed with him on those nights. That was hard to pull off at times because still Patsy was seeing him on occasion as her job was bringing her into The City every month or so. Clarke knew he was playing with fire, but told himself that she was merely a fuck-buddy and a friend. If his other squeeze got any more serious he would have to stop Patsy from visiting, but for now he was happy.

Selena was excited to meet their recruit, James Gladrow, since he was mentored by Doc Stevens and Doc had run out of superlatives for the young man. The last thing Doc told her before his first face to face interview was “Prepare to be impressed, I have no doubt he will be invited to join. When his chance for a seat would come up in the future, Polytech was going to buy 20% on the agreement that he endow the amount back once his shares earned an equal amount.

Both Selena and Joe had been extremely active with her parents in the past few months, getting back home almost every other weekend as they planned to sell Joe’s Upstate home to Selena’s parents as a way to keep things in perspective and not own both the Manhattan condo and the Upstate home. They could visit Upstate whenever they pleased and having a base in New York City after Selena’s retirement would suit both of them quite well. With the Hanson’s living in his former home, he was assured it would be kept up and they could visit whenever they pleased. Plus, Selena’s parents took a couple vacations a year in their daughters other homes, usually Florida and Maine, and when they did Joe and Selena had the Upstate home to themselves and it still felt like “home” to Joe. While keeping four homes seemed extravagant and a bit on the “too much” level, when Selena wanted the fifth, to keep a base in New York City, selling his Upstate base to her parents seemed a natural move.

Selena bounded up the steps of the WSGG brownstone front and heard the click of the lock as Berkley Quarters let her in and greeted her with a smile and greeting.

“Good Morning Selena.” She said as Selena nodded back and looked for messages on top of the horseshoed marble top of Berkley’s workstation.

“Anything?” She asked, “Oh, and ... Good Morning! I’m sorry to be a bit preoccupied.”

“Not a problem, ... I understand. You had one message from Professor Stevens, just that Mr. Gladrow’s train was on time and he would like you to call him after hours. There’s also a call back for Mr. Fountain and he isn’t in until Friday.”

Selena looked at the name and number on his call back request and, still preoccupied without looking up said “No, he’ll be in today to meet our candidate, but then he won’t be here until Friday. Be sure he sees this. Can you get me a coffee?” She said and hurried into the Great Room and to her office, the door closing hard.

“What’s the bug up her butt?” Berkley thought, never having seen her so abrupt and, at least for Selena, rude.

When she got in her office she took a memory stick from her bag and inserted it into her computer and opened the WORD program and quickly pasted a document she had written late Sunday evening after reading the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s late October meeting. It was the last thing she was going to do before going to bed and it upset her so she never got to sleep until after 1:00 a.m.

Berkley Quarters knocked lightly on her door and opened it without waiting for a response.

“Ms Johnson, your coffee.”

“Thank you Miss Quarters and let me apologize for being so abupt, rigid, and rude this morning. I had a lot on my mind and didn’t sleep well and certainly didn’t want to take it out on you, nor order you around. I should be getting my own coffee, you aren’t a maid. I used to scold Ms Cole for doing it automatically when I came in, not wanting your position to be that of a servant of any kind.”

“I understand people have bad days and you are certainly more than courteous and kind in all of our interactions and I have no problem whatsoever with doing little things for you when things get hectic.” Miss Quarters said and was about to back out of the office to return to her desk.

“Miss Quarters wait,” Selena said as she jotted down a note on a sticky pad.

She handed the paper to Miss Quarters, and she read it back. “All senior and junior partners, Great Room 9:15, ditto for 1 hour after Mr.Gladrow arrives.”

“OK, Miss Quarters? I’ll request at the 9:15 that all lunches be complete and everyone available for that second meeting, that I expect will be about 1:30. So if anyone gives you lunch plans before that please explain. Did Mr. Fountain come in yet?”

“Yes, he was a minute behind you and he got the message.” She said as she returned to the front desk.

Selena buzzed Trace right away.

“Good morning Trace. I saw your message, the request for a call? I want to make a case for a general statement having to deal with the same subject.”

Trace let her finish her sentence before he burst out”Excuse my reaction, what goddam right does the government have making comments about things they have little idea about except we may cultivate a few more wealthy people, and of course their idea of wealth is anything over 100K, which in New York City is almost a minimum wage if you want to lead a meager middle class existence. Even though, every member of Congress is probably a millionaire and for all we know, crooks as well.”

“Well, at least one other person had the same reaction as me. This is just another tip-toe towards regulation and I think it’s time we made a statement telling the general public, as well as our subscribers what we think of their meddling and innuendo in the statement. Coming from any other source might not carry any weight, but I think a nudge from us will stir their soup a little because it may affect contributors. I’d love to stand on a soap box and shout “Stay the fuck out of where you don’t belong or understand.” Selena responded.

“ ... uh ... Not sure if I would be THAT eloquent Selena, but in a nutshell that should be the message.”

“Sorry for the coarse outburst Trace, but I lost sleep over this last night. They release those notes on a Sunday night so it won’t be in the papers on Monday, but by Tuesday all interested parties have seen it like we did and this shadow of fear comes up over the unwise investors, and we all know there are heavy hitting players out there with little more that jelly for brains, and linguine for spines and any knee-jerk reaction could start something, and wouldn’t the Fed like to see that, give them a reason to raise interest rates.”

“So,” Trace deduced, “You’re contemplating a statement?”

“Well, I wrote one last night and this morning and called for a 9:15 in the Great Room. We can at least get input from the others. Slim will have a better idea on how they, meaning The Fed, would react. I don’t want to kick a sleeping dog, but I also don’t plan on lying still while they try to walk all over the markets.” Selena barked into the phone.

“OK, I suggest we both calm down a bit before the Berkley makes the call. If we go out spitting fire we may be accused of being a bit too jaded to make a sane, sound decision.” Trace cautioned, adding, “and don’t sully the water by talking to anyone else beforehand, we have to assume we might be taking the wrong tact on this. Agreed?”

“I gotcha, see you in 20 minutes or so.” She said hanging up.

She sat back in her chair and drank her coffee and watched the boards from foreign markets and overnights, going over her normal checks and balances when a knock came to the door, it was Heddy.

“Yes Ms. Huntsman.”

“Excuse me Ms Johnson, but I don’t have a terminal to watch this morning with everyone in and not seeing the overnights and overseas leaves me in the cold. Do you mind my looking over your shoulder? Promise I won’t say a word and will be happy with anything you watch.” She asked. “Sure, but keep that promise. I’ve got a lot of things on my plate right now, but I can’t turn down such a request. Where were you working?”

“Clarke and I were back in the stacks, but working there and not knowing what’s going on is like trying to sleep with a cramp in your leg.” She answered as she sat on the side sofa next to the desk.

“Where’s Clarke?”

“He’s knocking on Mr. Beupour’s, door to ask the same question.”

“We’ll have to get a couple work stations, perhaps in with The Stacks. Uh ... just be silent and take notes. We’re going to meet in a short while in The Great Room.”

“Yes, Ms. Johnson.” Heddy said taking her note pad out.

Selena ran her screens as she always did and took little notes and obviously preoccupied by her fervor for her proposal to make before the partners. The all stations intercom opened and Berkley announced. “9:15 in the Great Room please”.

Selena pushed back from her desk and took a look in her mirror to check herself and said, “Alright Ms. Huntsman, let’s go out meet the partners.”

When everyone was there and settled Selena dropped the gavel and looked to Miss Quarters.

“Please note the call by Selena Johnson.” Miss Quarters announced and nodded back to Selena who began.

“Last night the Fed released the minutes of its last meeting, end of October and it riled me greatly. I hope I’m not alone in my beliefs about the place of the Fed and their doings. Instead of blathering on and on to make my point, Let me read to you what I would like to issue as a blanket statement to all investors.”

She cleared her throat and read from her prepared words: “The Federal Reserve is not supposed to care or worry about the markets. Officially it only has two mandates: to make sure enough of us are working and make sure the price of consumer goods stays stable. I happened to read the minutes of the Fed’s latest policy meeting and it clearly shows that they are watching the markets a bit too closely, to the point they will let it color their statement. I just received the complete minutes of its late October meeting and Fed board members actually debated whether to acknowledge the recent stock market volatility in their statement. Stocks dipped precipitously in late-September and early October before going on a ferocious rally at month’s end, only showing the resiliency of the market economy. There are people who invest heavily in the market who actually think the Fed is relevant, even though it remains one of the greatest mistakes the government has made and all should recall that the founding fathers warned against establishing it. Thomas Jefferson said “A private central bank issuing the public currency is a greater menace to the liberties of the people than a standing army. ‘We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.”

She continued.”Please listen to those who KNOW the markets and how they work, do not let this Federal buttinsky who has nothing to do with the markets, make decisions for you. You know the risks of stock market investing, we all do, fortunes are won and lost on a daily basis, but those who invest wisely, and not on the words of a Federal boondoggle, can keep, shape, and grow their nest egg for retirement or reinvesting to create more jobs and business. Please be sure you listen to people who KNOW, WORK, and USE the markets, whether it be WSGG, an editorial in the Wall Street Journal, or ANY other stock or investment tout whose JOB is monitoring and investing.”

When she finished she simply sat down and looked up and down the table asking, “Dissenters?”

Ross Curran motioned and was recognized, “While I agree with every word, I wonder if we should get this political. The founding Fathers and the Constitution are both at odds with the Progressives who are trying to reshape the country. We do run the risk of being pooh-poohed by the administration and they’ll do to us what they’ve tried to do with Fox News, IE: make them look silly and uninformed.”

J. Trace Fountain was next to request to be recognized. “I think the serious investors out there know the truth of the statement as written, and maybe it should be said.”

John Branniff stood and waved to Selena saying “Hear, hear, Mr. Fountain. I’m on board with your thoughts.”

Heddy Huntsman raised her hand and asked to be recognized along with Chielm Beupour. Selena pointed to Slim but he asked, “Please Ms. Huntsman, let me be gracious to hear one of our younger members opinions.”

Heddy confidently spoke, “If a vote were to be made right now, Ms Johnson, Mr. Curran, Mr. Fountain, and Mr. Branniff would all vote to release it. Within 18 months or less, none of them will be here, so I think we should look a little closer at the possible repercussions.”

“Hear Hear.” Clarke said with a nod.’

Slim was a little shocked at her comment, thinking to himself, “Pretty astute of her to think of that angle. I think I’ll get my 2 cents in”, as he held up a hand to be recognized.

“This is going to be a case of everybody being right, no matter what we do, in my opinion. I could sit here and fill legal pads with pros and cons.”

Jaye Centofranchi stood right up, not really wanting to interrupt but she needed to get her voice in.

“I’ll concede my turn to Ms Centofranchi, she looks like she’s going to bust.” Slim said with a chuckle.

“Sorry Mr. Beupour, but dealing with our lawyers about the legalities of what we put out there from time to time, I don’t see how we would be culpable or slanderous of anything. It’s all true and I think we carry enough weight in the investment community that many of the stalwarts of our ilk will agree with us, some vociferously, especially if we make a few calls. The “hear hear’s” we heard here will also resound, especially if we place a few calls before hand, and that wouldn’t be underhanded, it would just take away the lull between statement and reaction where the goons will try to make a statement to make us look like fools.”

Slim stood up. “I have calls I can make to take care of just that!”

“Me too!” Ross Curran interrupted all to exclaim as he looked to Selena for reaction.

“OK, I like the sound of this, but let’s remember decorum. Berkley can you call the attorneys office and give them a read through, as is normal. They rarely change anything, but that may not be the case here. It’s only 9:30 quarter to ten, so if we want to do a Noon read they should have enough time. I would love to wait for Mr. Gladrow to show up before we release it, but if we can get it into the tail end of the noon financials, it will be great.”

Selena stood and raised her hand to make one more point; “All lunches should be done by 1:30 so we can greet Mr. Gladrow and spend time with him. He’s only here for the rest of the day, tomorrow and takes the train home late Wednesday. This is his preview, so we each need to spend as much time with him that we can. I will see you all when we reconvene around Noon for the read, as long as it all checks out.” (gavel dropped)

Heddy and Clarke headed to The Stacks to catch up their reads and reviews. They were due to be totally finished by Friday, despite Thanksgiving. They hadn’t been as dedicated as Slim was when he was back there, because they were manning desks when John and Trace were doing 3 day weeks.

Once the door shut on The Stacks Clarke looked at Heddy and said “You made points with Slim, big time. He was grinning all the while you talking and it was a great point to make.” He said as she bent to get a binder from the bottom.

He was going to high five her, but for some odd reason he smacked her bottom as she bent.

“CLARKE!” She shouted as she stood up and slapped his face, not so hard as to hurt him physically, but to make a point.

“I know we had a couple nights of rolling in the sheets, but that was all in that context and at that time. You are NEVER to take any liberties with my body in any way whatsoever!” She said staring at him fiercely as he stood red faced.

When he made no response, she lowered her voice and said, “I may have given you free run on my mouth and my vagina those nights, but those nights were IT. Not that I didn’t enjoy or appreciate it, but that is NOT cool, what you did. If it happens again I’ll report it and you will lose your job. I’m not trying to be a bitch, but if anyone saw that, we would both be in trouble. Are we straight?”

“Y –Y – Yes Heddy, I’m so sorry. I really meant to high five you and you were bent, and you do have a great, ... uh ... behind, and I just got taken up in the moment. You know I’ve always been cool about any of what we did and the separation between that and work here.” Clarke said frightened at what he had done without thinking.

There had been a second night with her after they officially started in September. They had been put up in an Extended Stay Inn nearby because the usual studio apartments WSGG had contracted them to use until they found permanent living quarters were under renovation. When Clarke went to check in he saw their rooms were right next to each others, not as he had originally known them to be. When he asked who had changed them the desk clerk said it was “your sister”. At that time it was Clarke who had words for her saying she had “assumed too much” with him. She told him at the time it was strictly for “her security, being new in The City,...” then after a pause she added, “but a refresher course was not out of the question”. She knocked on his door later and they spent the night together, but never since.

“I can say nothing more than I am sorry, and please don’t think that I believe I have any liberties with you in that manner. What I did was rude and I don’t want you to hold it against me. Even if we were in a relationship it would have been out of bounds.” Clarke said, almost doe eyed in his sincerity.

“OK Clarke. I’ll take you at your word. I don’t want to be angry with you. You are too good of a friend. We’ve earned a mutual trust and understanding of each other.” Heddy said hoping to forget it ever happened.

They each worked the stacks wordlessly for until they were called for the read of the statement for the media. As they lined up Heddy made a point of standing beside Clarke, where formally they stood at opposite ends. It went unnoticed to all except Clarke who knew it showed he was forgiven and trusted.

After the read of the statement there was the usual flurry of questions that would, as always, go unanswered until Selena heard one just as she was closing her door.

“Are there going to be members retiring soon?”

Selena stopped in her tracks and reopened her door and turned to face the reporter.

“As the market changes we will always change. When I was born the thought of the Dow reaching 2000 was preposterous, now 16 to 18000 seems the norm. There will always be and ebb and flow of partners much as there has been in the last 10 to 12 years. Count on us to be the standard bearer for any other changes the market and the world economy can throw at us.” She said authoritatively before turning and closing the door.

Almost immediately her phone rang with Ross Curran on the line.

“Wow, where did that come from? I’ve never heard you utter more and a word or two to those guys?” He said with a chuckle.

“You’ll laugh, but that reporter, his name is Justin Boros, called me “the market shrew” in his column about 2 weeks ago. He said I ignore questions and act like every word that comes from my mouth is like the Sermon on the Mount. So I thought I’d give him a little thrill.”

“He’ll get the idea he’s got an in here.” Ross laughed.

“He may get that idea...” She said smartly.

“Too funny!” Ross said before he hung up.

At 25 after One o’clock Berkley Quarters rang Selena’s line to announce that James Gladrow had arrived. She had her show him into the private conference room and she went to meet him. Just before she went in she asked Berkley to have all members assemble in The Great Room.

Selena opened the door to the private conference room and was surprised to see a handsome young man, whom she knew to be just 18 (by weeks), who appeared polished and somewhat sophisticated. He stood and offered his hand saying “Such a pleasure to meet you, I am a long time admirer, I’m James Gladrow.”

“Selena Johnson. I’ve heard so much about you from Doc Stevens and we’ve looked forward to meeting you for some time.”

“I hope I live up to your expectations and the standards of Wall Street Global Group.” He said as he waited for Selena to sit before seating himself.

“Did you have any problem with the train or cabs? Remember that this city can be quite daunting to people unaccustomed to the pace.” Selena asked as she blushed to herself at the young man’s poise and way he carried himself.

“No, I pretty much knew what to expect. I won’t let anything overwhelm me. I have a goal and intend to achieve it.” He said confidently.

“Well, Doc prepared me and I fit right in quickly. Professor Stevens may have a better perspective on what we look for than anyone. You will certainly have ample time to assimilate and be with experienced partners before you begin to take on tasks.” She told him.