Opening Bell: 06.11.10
Goldman Has No Indication Of SEC Settlement (Reuters)
"There's no indications of anything at this point" on a settlement or its timing, President Gary Cohn told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Montreal. "Our client franchise is very strong. We've built up a relationship with our clients over 140 years. We continue to service our clients, we continue to serve our client needs. Our clients are very loyal," he said.
BP Plans To Defer Dividend After Pressure From Obama (Times)
BP is preparing to defer payment of its next dividend to shareholders by placing the money in an escrow account until the full scale of the company’s liabilities from the Gulf of Mexico disaster can be determined. BP board members are discussing a plan that would see the expected £1.7 billion second quarter payout, due to be announced on July 27, delayed until the crisis can be brought under control.
Democrats Clash On Derivatives Rules (WSJ)
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D., Minn.) said lawmakers should adopt the House bill, while Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Blanche Lincoln (D., Ark.) and other Senate Democrats said the Senate measure should be the main plank of the bill. "End users ... did not cause the financial crisis of 2008," Mr. Peterson said. "A lot of them were the victims of it." He said the Senate language was too complex and confusing.
Soros Says ‘We Have Just Entered Act II’ of Crisis (Bloomberg)
“The collapse of the financial system as we know it is real, and the crisis is far from over,” Soros said today at a conference in Vienna. “Indeed, we have just entered Act II of the drama.”
Ex-SAC Capital President Brian Cohn Said to Open Hedge Fund (BW)
Cohn, who left SAC at the end of 2007 for personal reasons, has named the firm Archeroak Capital Management. It's scheduled to scheduled to begin trading equities by the end of the year and is based in Old Greenwich.
FBI To Target Mortgage Fraud (FT)
The FBI is preparing to arrest hundreds of people across the US as early as next week for offences including encouraging borrowers to falsify income on mortgage applications, misleading home owners about foreclosure rescue programmes, and inflating home appraisals, said two people with knowledge of the operation. An FBI spokesman declined to comment.
SEC Approves 'Circuit Breaker' (WSJ)
The New York Stock Exchange said it will begin a phased rollout on Friday. BATS Global Markets and Direct Edge also have said they expect to begin implementation Friday. The rule will be in effect on a pilot basis for six months. All exchanges will halt trading for five minutes in an individual stock when its price moves 10% or more, up or down, in the previous five minutes. The pause is designed to give traders time to catch their breath and assess whether a stock's price change stems from a real shift in value or an unrelated market hiccup.
New York Bars Gear Up For World Cup (WSJ)
Where to get drunk and watch.
South African gamblers smoke endangered vulture brains for luck (Scientific America)
As the World Cup launches in South Africa this week, conservationists fear that gamblers looking for a little extra luck will turn to a source those of us in the West might not expect: the practice of smoking vulture brains.
Oil Spill May Corrode US-UK 'Special Relationship' (CNBC)
“The BP story is corrosive. It’s not going to last for months, but years,” Greg Valliere, from Potomac Research Group, said. “We don’t hate them, but the 'special relationship' the US and Britain has enjoyed for decades is fraying.”
Ex-Lehman Traders' Hedge Fund Had Best Month in May by Shorting Equities (Bloomberg)
Omnix Multi-Strategy Fund, run by two former Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. traders, returned 6 percent in May, when hedge funds globally posted the worst month since 2008.
