Barron’s Magazine: Jefferies and the Firms That Challenge Goldman

Herewith, some things you may (or may not) have missed in the weekend’s print Barron’s magazine (all stories require Barron’s mag subscription):

Mike Santoli writes that three boutique financials, Jefferies Group (JEF), Broadpoint Gleacher (BPSG), and Cowen Group (COWN) are promising “strivers” that are looking to take advantage of the financial crisis by stealing banking and trading talent and climbing up the ranks. The strivers are being steered by legendary financial talent, including ex-Shearson Lehman head Peter Cohen, ex-Drexel banker Ken Moelis, and Morgan Stanley banker Eric Gleacher. Jefferies is the one most likely to challenge the Bulge Bracket, writes Mike, given that it already has the scale to resemble Goldman et al.

Lawrence Strauss interviewsRogert Altman, chairman of Evercore Partners (EVR), who served two U.S. presidents — Carter and Clinton — and who expounds on geopolitical topics form Afghanistan to global liquidity. Altman sees the administration getting a second stimulus package passed, a scaled-down healthcare bill, and says the M&A market is in the “early stages of a long-term recovery.”

Jonathan Laing warns investors to pay attention to Aetnahealth’s (ATHN) restatement of earnings last Thursday, which was pretty much ignored by the market. Insiders dumped $25 million of stock in the last 12 months. The accounting mis-step was surrounded by lots of run-around, notes Jonathan, including several unreturned phone calls in the past few weeks by Barron’s. It’s all a serious lapse in credibility, warns Jonathan.