90 seconds at 9am: 'Fabulous Fab' hung out to dry; Crafar fights eviction; UK mayhem warning

Bernard Hickey details the key news overnight in 90 seconds at 9am in association with BNZ, including news that Goldman Sachs look to have hung Fabrice Tourre out to dry. The investment banker who called himself 'Fabulous Fab' was at the centre of the Abacus CDO deal that triggered SEC allegations of fraud against Goldman Sachs. Fabulous Fab is now on holiday and Goldman Sachs has said that it will not condone the actions of one banker if customers were misled. Tourre's accreditation with British authorities has been withdrawn.

Tourre, the only individual named in the SEC case, was “principally responsible” for creating and marketing the CDO known as Abacus 2007-AC1, the agency said in its complaint. “The whole building is about to collapse anytime now,” Tourre wrote to a friend in a January 2007 e-mail, according to the complaint. “Only potential survivor, the fabulous Fab... standing in the middle of all these complex, highly leveraged, exotic trades he created without necessarily understanding all of the implications of those monstruosities!!!”

Meanwhile, Apple has reported a 90% rise in profits and is now worth more than Google. It is the third most valuable US company behind Exxon Mobil and Microsoft. Back in New Zealand, Allan Crafar and sons are fighting eviction from their farms, but the receivers Michael Stiassny and Brendon Gibson are also fighting back. They allege the Crafars engaged in cattle rustling and left their farms in a complete mess when receivers were called in. Finally, the Conservatives in Britain have warned that bond markets would collapse and the IMF would have to be called in to rescue the British economy if there was a hung parliament after the May 6 election.