Opening Bell: 08.30.13
Hedge Funds Seek Insight Into What Summers Would Do at Fed (Bloomberg)
Inquiries about Summers’s chances “are picking up a lot,” said Matthew Benjamin, an analyst at Medley Global Advisors LLC in Washington, a firm that provides political intelligence to hedge funds. “Wall Street is very interested in this, and there is a perception that there is a difference between Yellen and Summers” in their approach to monetary stimulus.
Ex-Employee Pays Fine For Defrauding Goldman Sachs (Reuters)
A former employee of Goldman Sachs Group was fined $500,000 for defrauding the investment bank in December 2007 by hiding trading positions, the U.S. derivatives regulator said on Friday. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ordered the ex-employee, Matthew Marshall Taylor, to pay the civil fine after finding he violated anti-fraud provisions.
Singer Hits Mysterious Note (NYP)
Billionaire hedge-fund mogul Paul Singer mysteriously canceled a hastily requested hearing before a federal judge yesterday. Singer’s Elliott Management requested the hearing over its epic legal battle with Argentina just 24 hours earlier — but pulled out yesterday without giving a reason, sources told The Post. Elliott requested the hearing with trial judge Thomas Griesa after recent statements made by Argentina President Cristina Kirchner about measures her government would take to side-step a US court ruling that it would have to pay Elliott and other holdout bondholders $1.4 billion whenever they paid holders of restructured bonds.
Ackermann Quit Zurich When Named in Suicide Note (Bloomberg)
Josef Ackermann’s abrupt resignation as chairman of Zurich Insurance Group AG came after Chief Financial Officer Pierre Wauthier mentioned him in his suicide note, the company said. “We were informed that such a letter exists and we are aware of its content,” Tom de Swaan, who became acting chairman yesterday after Ackermann quit, told analysts and reporters on a call today. “It’s correct that it related to the relationship between Pierre Wauthier and Joe Ackermann. It would be inappropriate for me to further elaborate on this.”
Phil’s stock ‘spin’ (NYP)
Billionaire investor Phil Falcone sent shares of Harbinger Group, the crown jewel of his otherwise troubled empire, up 6 percent yesterday after announcing plans to raise up to $100 million through a stock offering of its insurance arm. Harbinger, a holding company with a slew of assets — from the sexy lingerie retailer Frederick’s of Hollywood to the more staid Fidelity & Guaranty Life insurance subsidiary — has hired investment bank Credit Suisse to float the unit’s shares. Proceeds from the stock sale will go toward growing F&G’s business as well as toward a dividend payment to shareholders of Harbinger Group, the filing said.
Star-trodden red carpet for sale after Brooklyn bodega nabs section used at MTV VMAs show (NYDN)
A Brooklyn bodega owner wants you to have your very own red carpet moment — twerking optional. Employees at the Dubai Mini Mart on Dean St. nabbed a piece of the plush celebrity walkway after Sunday night’s MTV Video Music Awards and are now hawking the scrap on eBay. The 12-foot-by-12-foot section is all yours for the cool Buy It Now price of $5,000 — or you can open the bidding with a $500 offer. The bodega, located for the last seven years on the corner of Sixth Ave., unwittingly had prime billing outside the Barclays Center’s all-star music gala. Limos and Rolls-Royces used the spot to unleash stars Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus and rapper 2 Chainz on to hordes of screaming fans. Tween sensation Austin Mahone performed immediately in front of the store, putting its neon blue signage in full view of the TV cameras. It’s apparently a buyer’s market for the keepsake. There were no bids by Thursday on the celebrity stomping ground, and Upper East Side resident Michelle Carrington said she wouldn’t spend a dime on something trodden by Cyrus, whom she called “a hot mess.” “I just hope Selena Gomez doesn’t get like that,” Carrington said as she walked by the Barclays Center.
Treasuries Head for Fourth Monthly Loss Amid Fed Taper Prospects (Bloomberg)
Treasuries headed a fourth monthly decline, the longest losing streak in more than two years, as signs the U.S. economy is recovering backed the case for the Federal Reserve to reduce stimulus.
Euro-Zone Unemployment Falls (WSJ)
The number of people unemployed in the euro zone fell in July for the second month in a row, adding to tentative signs that a modest recovery under way in the currency bloc's economy is starting to erode its sky-high levels of joblessness. But a 15,000 decline in the number people out of work wasn't enough to bring down the rate of unemployment, which remained at an all-time high of 12.1% for the fifth consecutive month, according to figures from Eurostat, the European Union's statistics agency, on Friday.
GE Set To Exit Retail Lending (WSJ)
The decision to divest the business, amid concerns about the company's exposure to banking, marks an important moment in the evolution of GE and the country's three-decade long consumer credit boom. GE Capital expanded to the point that its portfolio of loans and other assets now would rank it as the country's fifth-largest commercial bank.
Lindsey Vonn on dating Tiger Woods (NYDN)
"There's really nothing about him that bothers me," the 28-year-old Olympian said. "He doesn't even leave the seat up! It's awesome."