Opening Bell: 02.02.11
Mubarak Moves to Regain Streets as Turmoil Hits Yemen (Bloomberg)
“There is no chance Mubarak can last until September, there is too much water under the bridge,” said Rime Allaf, associate fellow of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at London’s Chatham House. “The protests won’t stop until he leaves or is ousted. The opposition is clear that they want the fall of the regime, not just Mubarak.”
Another Rajaratnam Named in Ring (WSJ)
The government's move emerged in recent days in court filings related to charges against former Galleon trader Michael Cardillo, who pleaded guilty last week in a New York federal court to securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud. In filing charges against Mr. Cardillo, prosecutors cite a co-conspirator, or "CC-1," whom they allege participated in an insider-trading scheme with Messrs. Cardillo, Rajaratnam and others. "CC-1" is Raj's brother, Ragakanthan Rajaratnam, a Clorox Co. vice president, according to people familiar with the matter; he worked at Galleon between 2006 and 2009 as a portfolio manager. Prosecutors haven't disclosed any charges of wrongdoing against Ragakanthan Rajaratnam, 49, in the insider-trading investigation.
Wall Street Pay Hits Record $135 Billion (WSJ)
In 2010, total compensation and benefits at publicly traded Wall Street banks and securities firms hit a record of $135 billion, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal. The total is up 5.7% from $128 billion in combined compensation and benefits by the same companies in 2009.
Nevsky’s Taylor Scales Back With $800 Million Fund (Bloomberg)
Nevsky Capital LLP’s Martin Taylor, who decided a year ago to step away from the “intensity” of running a $3.3 billion hedge fund, is starting a new version one-fourth the size, said two people with knowledge of the plan. Taylor, 41, and partner Nick Barnes, 36, aim to manage a fund with no more than $800 million when they shut their London- based Nevsky Fund Ltd. at month’s end, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Requests by clients to join the new fund, which will invest mainly in global stocks with a focus on emerging markets, have exceeded the amount Taylor and Barnes want to oversee.
Marc Faber: Bernanke, BLS Lie About Inflation (CNBC)
“I guarantee you … the annual cost of living increases are more than 5 percent, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics is lying,” Faber told CNBC at the Russia Forum in Moscow.
Facebook, Twitter Valuations Fuel Trading Surge to $7 Billion (Bloomberg)
Xpert and Gate will be competing with SecondMarket Inc. and SharesPost Inc., which gained popularity last year as investors poured billions of dollars into Facebook, Twitter Inc. and Groupon Inc. The value of the transactions may almost triple to $6.9 billion in 2011 from $2.4 billion in 2009, according to Nyppex LLC, a New York research and advisory services firm.
Sex Tape Sends Pop Star To Prison (WSJ)
The 29-year-old Nazril Irham—lead singer of a popular band in Indonesia called Peterpan and known to his fans and friends by the nickname "Ariel"—was sentenced to 3½ years in jail and fined $28,000 for two blurry, homemade sex videos seen by Internet users across Indonesia, the world's most-populous Muslim-majority nation. One video shows him and his current girlfriend, a well-known actress. The other shows him with a former girlfriend, also an actress.
Deutsche Bank’s Moscow office raided (FT)
Russian police raided the Moscow offices of Deutsche Bank, Germany’s largest lender, on Wednesday, as part of a fraud investigation into one of the bank’s clients. Russia’s Prosecutor-general’s office said the search was part of an investigation into a suspected $87m fraud in the construction of the Hotel Moskva, just off Red Square, one of the most blighted construction projects in Moscow which has been under way since 2003.
Another Huge Winter Storm Disrupts US Flights, Traffic (AP)
Flight tracking service FlightAware has logged almost 6,000 cancellations for Tuesday.
