Verizon’s calling card

In our November cover story, Euromoney reported extensively on the record-breaking $49 billion Verizon bond deal. We acknowledged the scale of the achievement in selling the bonds, but questioned whether they were sold at a give-away price. The sharp spike in the price of the bonds since launch suggests this was the case.

Fast forward to dinner with a leading fixed income fund in November. They were one of the cornerstone investors in the Verizon deal. They had just received a Christmas card from the telco’s senior management, thanking them for investing in the deal.

This had caused some mirth. “We should be sending a Christmas card thanking them – we’ve made so much money on those bonds,” one said.

The revelation prompted us to consider who else in the financial markets should be sending or receiving Christmas greetings.

And one potential missive stood out. After the PR fiasco of the #AskJPM question & answer session, Twitter should be sending an e-card to JPMorgan for reminding the world of the power of social media.