Stevie Cohen Could End Up in a Pickle

FINANCE

• A former Credit Suisse broker, who is the target of a criminal investigation into the sales of auction-rate securities, has left the country. Those close to the case think he could have fled to his native Bulgaria. [DealBook/NYT]

• Hedge-fund manager Steven Cohen could get slammed if the SEC expands its clampdown on short-selling. “The guys who do the rapid-trading stuff, they’re shorting without having to borrow because they know they’re going to close out by the end of the day,” said one hedge-fund manager. “Those are the people who are going to be most impacted by this.” [NYP]

• Former Bear Stearns CEO Alan D. Schwartz has decided not to keep his pity post at JPMorgan. [DealBook/NYT]

• Carl Icahn HAS to be mean, okay? Because if he is not, then WHO WILL PUT THESE PEOPLE IN THEIR PLACES? Ahem. [Icahn Report]

MEDIA
• Journalists reporting on the Olympics from Beijing have restricted Internet access. Web pages that discuss Tibet, Taiwanese independence, and Tiananmen Square are among the pages that can’t be viewed. [NYT]
• People magazine reportedly paid between $10 million and $15 million for the first pictures of Brangelina’s newborn twins. That should put the tots through college and then some. [Just Jared]
• Condé Nast has a green Issue: It’s “an open secret that the ubiquitous blue recycling bins actually get emptied into the trash,” Portfolio’s Jeff Bercovici says. [Mixed Media/Portfolio]

REAL ESTATE
• Construction of the 57-story Herzog & de Meuron condominium tower in Tribeca is moving forward, despite the slowing economy. The 800-foot-tall building, which will be a stacked, cube-like design, will have 145 apartments and several penthouses. [NYS]
• Natalie Portman’s apartment in Richard Meier’s West Village tower is up for sale. She’s asking $6.55 million for her 2,500-square-foot pad. [NYP]
• If you’ve been thinking about purchasing a country house, now might be the time to buy. [NYS]

LAW
• It might be hard for the 96 Cadwalader attorneys who were laid off yesterday to find work. “It’s a tough market,” says Margie Grossberg, a New York–based legal recruiter at Major, Lindsey & Africa. “People will land on their feet, but it is going to take a bit of time, and people may be forced to reinvent themselves.” [AM Law Daily]
• They might want to look toward securities litigation, which is looking like it could be the next big thing. [Law Blog/WSJ]
• Law firms are trying to do something about the fact that women only make up 18 percent of the partners in the country’s largest practices. [Law.com]