Opening Bell: 07.08.13
Greece's Economic Future 'Uncertain,' Creditors Say (WSJ)
Greece's international creditors acknowledged that all isn't well with the country's mammoth bailout program Monday as their representatives issued a statement saying the outlook for the critically ailing economy is "uncertain," even as they said progress has been made on reforms. The admission comes as talk of more money needed for the first euro-zone bailout intensifies. Euro-zone governments and the International Monetary Fund, having poured more than €200 billion ($256.64 billion) into the small economy, are set to clash in the autumn over the way to cut Greece's debt.
Larry Summers Circles as Fed Opening Looms (WSJ)
Mr. Summers, 58 years old, was a contender for the job once before. At the outset of the Obama administration, when the president picked him to run the White House's economic-policy shop rather than become his Treasury secretary, some administration officials believed Mr. Summers came away from internal discussions thinking he had been promised he would be moved to the Fed at the end of Mr. Bernanke's first term in early 2010. Ultimately, Mr. Obama appointed Mr. Bernanke to a second four-year term, which expires Jan. 31.
Many Paths Remain for a Case Against SAC Capital Advisors (DealBook)
For one, federal prosecutors are considering criminal charges against SAC related to the drug-stock trades and other activity, the people with direct knowledge of the inquiry said. The Securities and Exchange Commission is contemplating a civil lawsuit against Mr. Cohen. And the Federal Bureau of Investigation — which has agents in New York, Connecticut and Boston scrutinizing SAC — continues to examine more recent trading at the fund. The authorities, for example, have looked at SAC trading in the shares of Gymboree, the children’s clothing store, the people said. They also face an August deadline to file charges related to trading in Dell shares, a case that produced two indictments of onetime SAC employees, one of whom pleaded guilty.
Dell’s Leveraged Buyout With Silver Lake Backed by ISS (Bloomberg)
ISS, the biggest shareholder-advisory firm, cited a 25.5 percent premium to Dell’s unaffected share price, the certainty of value provided by an all-cash offer and the transfer of risk given Dell’s deteriorating PC business among reasons for supporting the bid. The chief executive officer proposed to repurchase Dell shares at $13.65 each with partner Silver Lake Management LLC. ISS’s influential recommendation could sway the final outcome because institutional investors look to ISS’s findings for guidance on how to vote their shares.
Mayor will cancel free Bloomberg Terminals for city after his term ends (NYP)
The free Bloomberg Terminals the mayor brought with him to City Hall will be leaving when he does, The Post has learned. If Mayor Bloomberg’s successor wants to use the data-rich computers, taxpayers will have to pay the going rate of $20,000 per terminal per year. With 60 terminals throughout the government — including 35 at City Hall — the tab would come to $1.2 million a year.
Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who resigned after prostitution scandal, to jump into race for city controller (NYDN)
Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer stunned the political establishment Sunday night by announcing he is running for city controller — joining mayoral hopeful Anthony Weiner as the latest disgraced politician looking for a comeback. In an odd twist, the ex-governor — who resigned in 2008 amid a high-priced call girl scandal — will be competing against Kristin Davis, the ex-madam who says she supplied him with hookers and who is running on the Libertarian line.
ECB drops old philosophy but is short of new options (Reuters)
The European Central Bank's vow last week to keep record-low interest rates "at present or lower levels for an extended period" is a big philosophical shift for a bank that used to insist it would not tie its hands. ... But the ECB's steer is more flimsy than the guidance offered by the Federal Reserve or even the Bank of England, which suggested last Thursday it could give more detailed guidance on monetary policy as soon as next month. ... "What they have done is very soft. We don't know what 'extended period' is," said Anders Svendsen, analyst at Nordea. RBS economist Richard Barwell agreed: "Nobody thought they were going to hike rates ... It was a statement of the obvious."
Basel Committee seeks views on complexity of bank capital rules (Reuters)
The Basel Committee of global banking supervisors on Monday sought further views on the complexity of new bank capital regulations designed to insulate the world's financial system from another crash. Basel Committee chairman Stefan Ingves said the regulators were "keenly aware" of the debate on whether the rules were too complex but had not yet decided whether they should be changed.
S&P to Argue Puffery Defense in First Courtroom Test (Bloomberg)
Standard & Poor’s, getting its first shot in open court at U.S. Justice Department claims it should pay as much as $5 billion in civil penalties, will defend itself by arguing reasonable investors wouldn’t have relied on its “puffery” about credit ratings. Lawyers for the McGraw Hill Financial Inc. unit are scheduled to argue today before U.S. District Judge David Carter in Santa Ana, California, that the government failed to adequately support allegations that the company defrauded investors, including federally insured financial institutions, by knowingly understating the credit risks of securities linked to residential mortgages.
Banks Take Different Tacks on 'Volcker' Provision (WSJ)
Typically, bank employees who meet certain wealth thresholds have been able invest in the bank's own private-equity funds, hedge funds and "feeder funds." Bank employees have enjoyed the potentially lucrative investment opportunity that offers. Meanwhile, many outside investors in the funds like financial firms to make their own significant investments so that managers have a vested interest in their performance. The current provision, as outlined, says that no directors or employees can invest unless they are "directly engaged in providing investment advisory or other services" to the fund. Banks say it isn't clear what "directly engaged" means, and regulators haven't provided much help.
Japan's Olympus to raise up to $1.17 billion in share issue (Reuters)
Japan's Olympus Corp said it will raise up to 118 billion yen ($1.17 billion) in a new share issue to expand its medical equipment business and rebuild its financial health, after an accounting scandal plunged the company into the red. The shares will be offered to overseas investors, mainly in the United States and Europe, the world's biggest endoscope maker said in a statement on Monday.
Geithner joins top table of public speakers with lucrative appearances (FT)
Tim Geithner, the former US Treasury secretary, has been elevated to the highest rank of public speakers, alongside former world leaders Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, after receiving about $400,000 for three speaking engagements. A speech at a Deutsche Bank conference last month netted him about $200,000, according to people familiar with the situation, underscoring the lucrative fees that former public officials can receive. ... Mr Geithner was also the main attraction at Blackstone’s annual meeting in April, and the following month appeared at Warburg Pincus’s annual meeting. He was paid no more than $100,000 by each of the private equity groups, according to people familiar with the matter.
Hedge Fund Sues Treasury Over Fannie, Freddie (CNBC)
A large hedge fund that invested in shares of the government-sponsored mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has sued the U.S. Treasury Secretary and the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency along with the agencies themselves, arguing that their attempts to wind down the companies violate a Congressional mandate. In a suit filed Sunday evening with a U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., Perry Capital asserts that a 2012 amendment to the Housing and Economic Recovery Act illegally changed the rules governing Fannie and Freddie as part of their move into federal conservatorship.
A Guide to Getting a Guy to Text You the Morning After, By America’s Favorite Sorority Girl (BroBible)
Editor's Note: We're very excited to introduce a new BroBible contributor. Rebbeca Martinson is a University of Maryland student who gained Internet notoriety this past April when her e-mail to her sorority sisters went viral. In her first BroBible column, she offers some advice to our female readers. ...
Dance, stick your tongue down his throat, grab his junk for an over the pants handy, whatever, just don't go home with him. Yeah he might go home with someone else that night, but the morning after he's going to remember the girl that proudly displayed her thong on her back like the Mona Lisa at the Louvre while rubbing it on his junk, not the nice Communications major that like, is so like into like, something he doesn't remember because it didn't relate to getting his D wet. The fact that you sort of half put out shows that you're more likely TO put out at some point in the near future, which is more incentive for him to text you.