Opening Bell: 08.19.10
UBS To Launch Ad Campaign (WSJ)
"We have restored our earnings power and are excellently positioned to deliver on our strategy. At the same time, we know that it will take more time and even more effort on our part before we fully regain the trust of our clients," UBS's top management said in the memo distributed to the bank's employees. The ad campaign, using the slogan "We will not rest", is the most extensive in several years and is designed to mend relations with clients, in particular at UBS's flagship private bank, which is still leaking assets.
Duquesne managers to start their own firm (MarketWatch)
After Duquesne returns money to outside investors, the other Duquesne portfolio managers are planning on spinning out their own firm. Stanley Druckenmiller will be an investor in their new fund, but he won't be part of the new firm.
Goldman Sachs Sues French Bank Over Credit Default Swaps (Reuters)
The dispute centers around whether French investment bank Natixis can cancel a deal on three credit default swaps with Goldman, which is claiming damages for breach of contract. "We are preparing our defense. We are surprised that Goldman is suing us," a spokesman said.
Facebook Unveils Service To Announce Locations (NYT)
Know where Vikram is at all times.
Columbia Biz Grad Demands Website Heckler's ID (NYP)
In a Manhattan Supreme Court suit, Carla Franklin says she has "suffered damages in the form of disress and mental anguish" from a mean-spirited posting in a comment calling her a "whore" attached to a video posting of her -- and she wants a judge to give her a court order to force Google and YouTube to turn over the poster's identity.
Home Aquariums As Decorating Elements (NYT)
KARIN WILZIG has a hard time choosing a favorite color from among the 64 that she and her husband can use to illuminate the 14 1/2- foot, 450-gallon aquarium in their TriBeCa town house. The default is fuchsia, which turns the dozen koi a deep pink. “Not pink,” said Mrs. Wilzig, 40, an artist and a mother of two small children. “Alan, go to the turquoise.” Her husband, Alan Wilzig, 45, a former banker who collects motorcycles and prides himself on the orange tanning bed in his basement, goes to the James Bond-like control panel in the kitchen, where a touch of a button turns the fish — which are specially bred to be colorless — a vivid blue. “I think they like that,” he said, walking down the steps to the sunken living room to admire the fish from another angle.
SEC Sues New Jersey Over Bond Offerings (WSJ)
In the New Jersey action, the SEC cited municipal bonds in 79 separate offerings totaling $26 billion from 2001 to 2007. Many of those sales occurred after the SEC said the state abandoned a plan to bring pension funding up to snuff.
Intel to Buy McAfee for $7.68 Billion (Bloomberg)
McAfee investors will receive $48 a share in cash, Santa Clara, California-based Intel, the world’s largest chipmaker, said in a statement today. That’s 60 percent more than McAfee’s closing price yesterday. Both boards have unanimously approved the deal, Intel said.
Wager 101: Students Bet on Their Grades (WSJ)
The website lets college students place wagers on their own academic performance, betting they will earn, say, an A in biology or a B in calculus. Students with low grade point averages are considered long shots, so they have the opportunity to win more money for high grades than classmates with a better GPA. But students can bet against themselves, too, wagering they won't achieve a high grade point average. And education experts—along with several of the schools Ultrinsic is targeting—say the use of money as a motivator for academic achievement is dubious at best. Questions remain about whether the venture will run up against laws restricting Internet gambling.
