'This Is Embarrassing': The 12 Best Tweets from Jamie Dimon's Testimony

Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan, testified before the Senate today on the staggering losses incurred by his chief investment office, or CIO, which could hit $5 billion. You might have expected senators to force Dimon, an outspoken critic of Dodd-Frank, to eat his words and concede, in a moment of inspiring humility, that there is a place for financial regulation. You would be wrong. Hilariously wrong. He didn't just escape whipping. He assisted conservative senators in the 360-degree throttling of financial reform. He did, however, say he was sorry, for the record.

Here are 12 of the best tweets I saw from finance and macro observers during the testimony.

This Jamie Dimon hearing is embarrassing.

-- Jonathan Weisman (@jonathanweisman) June 13, 2012

Deep down, in a place you talk about on op-ed pages, you want me on that trading desk, you need me on that trading desk.#AFewGoodBankers

-- Matt O'Brien (@ObsoleteDogma) June 13, 2012

We use words like hedge, prop trading, profit. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending gambling. #AFewGoodBankers

-- Matt O'Brien (@ObsoleteDogma) June 13, 2012

You weep for CIO & curse JPM. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I don't know either--our hedges #AFewGoodBankers

-- Matt O'Brien (@ObsoleteDogma) June 13, 2012

Jamie Dimon says JPM isn't in the hedge fund business. Except for the hedge fund business it owns. bit.ly/NfhoNL

-- Daniel Gross (@grossdm) June 13, 2012

DeMint: you lost $2B, we lose twice that everyday!

-- Carleton English (@carletonenglish) June 13, 2012

The people sitting behind the Senators are the staffers, also known as future lobbyists for JP Morgan.

-- John Carney (@carney) June 13, 2012

Yes, a hearing on massive loss Dimon didn't see coming seems like the perfect opportunity to ask him what kind of regulation he would like.

-- Adam Sorensen (@adamsorensen) June 13, 2012

Dimon says regulators could not have realistically prevented this loss. He's right.

-- Daniel Indiviglio (@indiviglio) June 13, 2012

Dimon says "I have a hard time distinguishing" between prop trading and hedging. You can bet his handlers will talk that one back.

-- John Carney (@carney) June 13, 2012

Vitter got it right. Smart regulation is an oxymoron and an excuse to preserve status quo. Need a meat cleaver, not a scalpel.

-- Neil Barofsky (@neilbarofsky) June 13, 2012

#JPM stock now up nearly three percent at $34.73. Jamie Dimon beat the Senate without breaking a sweat

-- Ben White (@morningmoneyben) June 13, 2012

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Derek Thompson is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where he writes about economics, technology, and the media. He is the author of Hit Makers and the host of the podcast Crazy/Genius.

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