Opening Bell: 10.26.11
Rajat Gupta To Face Criminal Charges (WSJ)
The 62-year-old Mr. Gupta is expected to surrender to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Wednesday on criminal charges of leaking inside information to Galleon Group hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam, according to people familiar with the matter...Gary Naftalis, Mr. Gupta's lawyer, said in a statement that he is innocent and "has always acted with honesty and integrity." Mr. Gupta "did not trade in any securities, did not tip Mr. Rajaratnam so he could trade, and did not share in any profits as part of any quid pro quo," Mr. Naftalis said, adding that he would fight any charges...Specific details of the expected charges, which were sealed, couldn't immediately be determined. But prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission have said in filings and in court that Mr. Gupta gave Mr. Rajaratnam details he had learned at Goldman board meetings in 2008 about a $5 billion investment in the bank by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and about Goldman's first ever quarterly loss as a public company.
Europe Struggles For Crisis Cure Ahead Of Summit (Bloomberg)
The euro’s stewards are back in Brussels today for an emergency summit struggling to heed the world’s calls to once and for all eradicate what U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner called the “catastrophic risk” of the debt crisis. A potential Greek default threatens shockwaves that could engulf Italy and France, jolt the banking system and spell havoc for the global economy. “Buck up, this crisis is going to be with us still for a while,” Barry Eichengreen, an economics professor at the University of California at Berkeley, said on “Bloomberg Surveillance” with Tom Keene and Ken Prewitt. “I fear they’re not going to take the kind of steps to resolve it.”
Nomura Whets Scalpel For Cutting (WSJ)
Scaling back its ambitions to become a full-service global investment bank, Nomura Holdings Inc. is planning a major cost-cutting drive that will likely land heaviest on its money-losing European operations, people familiar with the matter said. Executives inside Nomura are debating the plan, with some calling for cutting as much as $1 billion a year while refocusing the bank on profitable businesses in the U.S., Japan and the rest of Asia. Others argue that the firm, Japan's biggest brokerage, will miss out on any rebound in the markets if it cuts too deeply. "Nomura cannot be everything to everybody, but will choose the areas where it's strong," a person familiar with the discussions said.
Yahoo Board Renews Emphasis On CEO Hunt (WSJ)
The people familiar with the matter added that given the uncertainty surrounding Yahoo's fate, the pool of potential candidates for CEO might not be large. Yahoo directors currently have no list of candidates for its top job, these people said.
Investors Abandon Reeling Netflix (WSJ)
Except one.
Ex-FBI Chief To Secure SATs (NYP)
The fallout from a mushrooming SAT cheating scandal on Long Island will affect how the college- entrance examination is administered. Speaking at a state Legislature hearing on the scandal yesterday, red-faced executives at ETS, which administers the exam, said that they’ve hired a risk-management firm headed by former FBI chief Louis Freeh to tighten security. In September, seven Long Island, New York, students were charged with "taking part in a scheme in which six of them paid the seventh to take the SAT college-admissions test on their behalf, prosecutors said. Six current or former students were accused of paying Samuel Eshaghoff, 19, to impersonate them so they could get higher scores on the test. He was paid $1,500 to $2,000 for each test, and took the exam for free for a female student."
Geithner: Obama Didn't Fumble Focus On Jobs (CBS)
Geithner said Mr. Obama did not take his eye off the ball on jobs. "Absolutely not. He was relentlessly focused on it." When asked if unemployment will increase, Geithner claimed if Congress doesn't act, then yes, "absolutely," and "growth will be weaker."
Berlusconi Reaches Deal on Pensions; To Resign? (AP)
The deal with the Northern League averts an immediate government crisis that put Berlusconi's leadership at risk and could give fresh impetus to an EU summit Wednesday aimed at saving the euro from the widening sovereign debt crisis...Newspapers La Stampa and La Repubblica have speculated that Berlusconi stepping down and allowing for early elections may have been a condition for the deal to be reached.
Ketchup Moves Upmarket, With Balsamic Tinge (NYT)
Heinz Tomato Ketchup Blended with Balsamic Vinegar, which substitutes balsamic for the traditional white vinegar, will first be available on Nov. 14 — but not in stores. Rather, consumers will be able to buy the ketchup only through the brand’s Facebook page until the product begins to appear in supermarkets in late December. Facebook visitors will be encouraged to “experience the richer, more sophisticated side of America’s Favorite Ketchup.” In photographs, the new condiment will be paired with a more genteel class of food, such as “Haute Dog,” “Hamburgeur” and “French Frites.”
Perry Proposes 20% Flat Tax For Individuals, Companies (Bloomberg)
The Texas governor brandished a postcard-sized tax return he said would replace the web of paperwork and complex calculations Americans now face with an optional 20 percent flat tax for individuals. Americans “aren’t searching for a reshuffling of the status quo, which simply empowers the entrenched interests,” Perry said yesterday in South Carolina. “This is a change election, and I offer a plan that changes the way that Washington does business.”
Rikers Cons Flood Zuccotti Park For Free Eats (NYP)
Newly sprung ex-cons and vagrants rousted from other parks are crashing the Occupy Wall Street protest, where gourmet meals are free and boozy, drug fueled parties are on tap, the movement’s leaders griped yesterday. “They’re telling people who leave prison to go to Zuccotti Park,” lamented Daniel Zetah, a leader of the OWS community-relations group. Volunteer Lauren Digioia, 26, said, “We have drug dealing going on here, gang activity, public intoxication. There are a lot of instigators. There are a lot of vultures. “Everyone knows we give out free food and sleeping bags, and it’s a perfect opportunity for squatters.”