Opening Bell: 06.25.13

Walking Back Bernanke Wished on Too Much Information (Bloomberg)
“Will the Fed try to walk back from how the market has perceived its comments?” Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive officer of Pacific Investment Management Co., said yesterday in an interview on Bloomberg Radio’s “Bloomberg Surveillance” with Tom Keene and Mike McKee. Pimco, based in Newport Beach, California, manages the world’s biggest bond fund. “The central-bank brand, this notion that the markets had that they were wise, they were powerful and were effective is under assault,” El-Erian said. “The Fed has to be very careful what it does with its reputation here.”

Falling Debt Prices Roil Market (WSJ)
Trading desks at Wall Street firms are increasingly worried about the demand for bonds, or liquidity, they can expect from investors, and they don't want assets that could stick them with losses if prices fall further. Many investors and banks close their books for the second quarter of 2013 at the end of the week. ... "We're coming from an environment where liquidity was already difficult," said Andrew O'Brien, partner and portfolio manager at Lord, Abbett & Co., whose group manages $45 billion in bonds. He said that, unless there is a buyer already lined up, it is difficult to trade anything.

U.S. Civil Charges Against Corzine Are Seen as Near (DealBook)
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal agency that regulated MF Global, plans to approve the lawsuit as soon as this week, according to law enforcement officials with knowledge of the case. In a rare move against a Wall Street executive, the agency has informed Mr. Corzine’s lawyers that it aims to file the civil case without offering him the opportunity to settle, setting up a legal battle that could drag on for years.

For Third Point Manager, It's Not Easy Being Short (CNBC)
Amid a 10 percent Standard & Poor's rally this year, some of Third Point's short holdings have held it back, as even the most beaten-down companies have staged remarkable comebacks. Against that backdrop, Jim Carruthers, the Third Point partner who handled the company's research-driven small-stock short positions from San Francisco, is retiring from the company this summer, according to a recent investor letter.

Tory minister breaks foot after table-dancing in Soho (Telegraph)
Mark Harper, a Conservative minister has broken his foot after dancing on a table in Soho. Mr Harper, an immigration minister responsible for the policing of Britain's borders, revealed the accident happened during a night out on the town. He was quick to point out that his wife was with him at the time of his visit to the trendy London district, which is also known for having a seedy side. In a statement, the minister said: "I was dancing on a table in a bar in Soho when I fell off and broke my foot. "My wife Margaret was with me - but thankfully she’s a far better dancer so didn’t fall off."

Short Term, Markets Are Oversold: Marc Faber (CNBC)
"Treasury bonds, gold and equity markets are oversold in the near-term and they can rebound for the next ten days or even the next month," Faber, the author of "The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report," said on Tuesday.

PBOC Addresses Cash Crunch (WSJ)
Speaking at a news conference in Shanghai, an official of the city's central bank branch said that recent volatility in interbank credits—some rates spiked to 30% last week—was temporary and that the People's Bank of China would be flexible in managing liquidity. "We will continue to closely monitor changes in liquidity in the interbank market," said Ling Tao, a deputy director of the Shanghai branch of the People's Bank of China. "And we will step up communication with the market to stabilize expectations and guide market interest rates into a reasonable range."

Qatar emir hands power to son, no word on prime minister (Reuters)
Qatar's emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani handed power on Tuesday to his son, Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim, taking the rare step for a Gulf Arab ruler of voluntarily ceding power to try to ensure a smooth succession. But the 61-year-old emir made no immediate mention of the public face of Qatar's assertive foreign policy, prime minister and foreign minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim, a veteran politician who had been expected also to step down.

Mark Carney confirms plan for Libor reform committee (FT)
The steering committee, to be chaired by Martin Wheatley of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority and Jeremy Stein from the US Federal Reserve, will also solicit recommendations from a panel of market participants. ... Mr Carney said the oversight group would be considering “the ease of potential transition” to a new way of calculating an interbank benchmark and would “recognise there is considerable improvement being made” over how Libor is presently derived, through submissions from panel banks.

Misjudged Annuity Guarantees May Cost Life Insurers Billions (WSJ)
Life insurers in the U.S. face charges against earnings potentially totaling billions of dollars from miscalculations about the number of customers who would exercise lifetime-income guarantees sold with the retirement products known as variable annuities, according to a new report from Moody's Investors Service. Variable annuities are a tax-advantaged way to invest in stock and bond funds, and these particular guarantees promise steady payouts if owners' fund accounts become depleted. ... Over the past couple of years, many insurers have clamped down on fund choices, raised fees, forbid additional account contributions and sought to buy back the contracts. In one of the latest efforts, Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. is requiring owners of certain of its guarantees to move at least 40% of their money into bond funds—and lose their guarantee if they fail to transfer the money out of stock funds.

Men's Wearhouse founder clashed with CEO, mulls comeback (Reuters)
Tensions started rising at Men's Wearhouse Inc over the past six months, as founder and executive chairman George Zimmer increasingly butted heads with his handpicked CEO over the clothing retailer's strategy. ... Zimmer, who is known to U.S. TV audiences for his advertising catch phrase "you're gonna like the way you look - I guarantee it," was seen by company directors to be undermining Ewert's authority. ... Zimmer, who was shocked by the decision, quit the board on Monday, and is now mulling his options, they added. While Zimmer is still unclear what those options might be, an attempt to stage a comeback at the company is possible. He is talking to his advisers, including legal counsel Cooley LLP, but a decision is not imminent, the sources said. Industry bankers and lawyers said these options could involve teaming up with private equity firms to launch a buyout bid or trying to wage a proxy battle with the help of shareholder activists or institutional investors.

Crocs Answers Clog Haters With Leopard-Print Ballet Flats (Bloomberg)
Chief Executive Officer John McCarvel is all too aware of the Crocs animus and how it complicates his strategy to attract new customers and double sales in five years. The clogs still generate 47 percent of sales because lots of people like them, especially medical professionals and kids. Yet to hit his target, McCarvel must persuade the haters to buy the company’s other footwear. That’s why Crocs is telling the world all about its wedges, sneakers and leopard-print ballet flats -- and hiding Crocs in the back of stores the way grocers do with milk. “Our milk are those clogs,” McCarvel said in a telephone interview on June 5. “If someone wants them, make them walk through all the new stuff first.”

Connect the snots: The new 'Harvard' club for the digital age (NYP)
[P]otential IvyConnect members’ applications include a résumé, a photo, a list of cities they frequently visit (there is a pull-down menu of 50 acceptable ones to choose from) and a checklist of personality traits. (When asked to fill out the form, Triebel checked off “open-minded” and “driven,” whereas Meric highlighted “adaptive” and “optimistic.”) ... “I think from the outside looking in, with a name like IvyConnect, sure, it seems elitist, but that’s taking the easy look,” says member Jean-Claude Homawoo, 33, an exec for e-commerce site The Cools. “Dating and social connections are always a matter of perceived affinities initially. It’s self-selected.”