Jefferies Mining Head Steps Down Two Weeks After Calling Out Zero Hedge

In a note released on March 5, Jefferies economists invoked Donald Trump to take a swipe at Zero Hedge by including the following fictional Trump-esque rant:

“Lightweights like Zero Hedge might point to a sub-50 ISM as another reason to hate equities, but there’s a reason why little ZH is a choker, a reason he’s got one of the worst records in predicting markets anywhere, just a harrable record, harrable, I mean, successful people have pointed out that he’s 0 for 2600. He’s succeeded at being wrong. Success is my son-in-law, I’m successful, my daughter is both beautiful and successful. I have many successful friends.”

Zero Hedge got some satisfaction only about a week later when Jefferies reported its worst quarter since the financial crisis, which included the firm’s first non-GAAP loss in any quarter since 2008.

Related Link: IEA: The Next Oil Price Shock Could Be To The Upside

Today, banking sources are saying that Peter Baccus, Jefferies’ global head of metals and mining and co-head of European investment banking, is leaving the company after five years.

Zero Hedge has (mostly) taken the high road since the original note was released. In a piece last week, the site simply referred to Jefferies as “the junk-bond focused mid-tier investment bank” and highlighted the declining revenues and share price of Jefferies’ parent company, Leucadia National Corp. LUK.

Disclosure: the author holds no position in the stocks mentioned.