Opening Bell: 11.07.13
Wall Street Bonus Outlook Is Mixed Bag (WSJ)
Year-end bonuses among 18 large banks, securities firms and asset managers could rise 5% to 10% this year, paced by higher payouts for asset-management and wealth-management employees, according to an analysis by compensation consultant Johnson Associates Inc. The mood may be more subdued on bond-, currency- and commodities-trading desks and within merger-and-acquisition departments—two of Wall Street's traditional power bases. Johnson forecasts a 5% to 10% drop in the bonuses paid to merger bankers, while fixed-income traders could see payouts fall more than 15%.
Twitter Raises $1.82 Billion Pricing IPO Above Offer Range (Bloomberg)
The sale, the largest IPO by a technology company since Facebook Inc.’s debut in May 2012, values the short-messaging website at $14.2 billion. Twitter sold 70 million shares at $26 each, after offering them for $23 to $25, the San Francisco-based company said in a tweet. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. led the sale, working with Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
BofA Chief Says Fed Will Keep Pace (WSJ)
Speaking at a Wall Street Journal event Wednesday in New York, Mr. Moynihan said he thinks the Federal Reserve will continue its current bond-buying program to keep interest rates low. He said the bank expects the U.S. economy to grow by about 2.5% over the next year, and the world economy to expand by 3.5%.
Goldman staff flustered over make-or-break promotions (NYP)
Hundreds of mid-level bankers at the gold-plated Wall Street firm will be sweating out the next few days, wondering if they will make the cut next week and be named a managing director. The promotion, one step below becoming a partner, is worth millions of dollars of added income over several years. But not getting named a managing director, or MD, could spell the end of a promising Goldman career. It’s one of the more excruciatingly tense weeks at Goldman — and this year the pressure is ratcheted higher than ever because it is the last annual set of MD promotions. CEO Lloyd Blankfein and the rest of the management team decided last year to make future MD promotions every two years.
Couple create gruesome wedding cake made of their own bloody severed heads (NYDN)
A film buff couple had a gruesome wedding cake made of their own severed heads. Natalie Sideserf, 28, a cake artist spent forty hours creating the cake to match her movie-themed wedding. Both heads are lifelike, with blank soulless eyes, hair matted with blood and bleeding severed necks. They were placed on a white board, with a banner draped on the base aptly reading: 'Til Death Do Us Part.' She said they chose it because her husband David Sideserf, 30, is a fan of scary movies. 'We were watching a horror movie, and I was always interested in sculpting lifelike cakes, especially in the face, so I thought, "How neat would it be if I did our severed heads?’" Mrs Sideserf said. 'And Dave was like, "That would be amazing,"' she told ABC.
Healthy Signs for Economy Before September Shutdown (AP)
A gauge of the American economy’s future health rose solidly in September, suggesting the economy was making gains before the 16-day government shutdown. The Conference Board said on Wednesday that its index of leading indicators rose 0.7 percent in September to a reading of 97.1. That comes after a similar gain in August and is the fifth increase in six months.
Goldman Raises Estimate Of Legal Tab (WSJ)
Speaking during a conference call with fixed-income analysts, Goldman Chief Financial Officer Harvey Schwartz said the New York firm had upped the top of the range of "reasonably possible" legal costs to $4 billion above what it has set aside in reserves. That was up from $3.5 billion at the end of June.
Twitter’s Debut Mints Fresh Crop of Millionaires (Bloomberg)
Williams, who co-founded Twitter in 2006 out of his failed podcasting startup Odeo, is among the biggest beneficiaries of the IPO. Others include early backers such as Rizvi Traverse Management LLC, which holds almost 16 percent valued at $2.21 billion. The insiders held onto their shares, indicating that they anticipate that Twitter will deliver on its promises to increase advertising revenue and add more users.
Biden, others call, congratulate wrong Marty Walsh (WCVB)
Moments after John Connolly conceded the Boston mayoral race, Marty Walsh's phone started ringing. The problem? It wasn't the mayor-elect's phone. Political consultant and former Edward Kennedy staffer Marty Walsh, not to be confused with Mayor-elect Marty Walsh -- got calls from Vice President Joe Biden, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the State House News Service reported. Not-mayor-elect Walsh said before he could tell Biden he had the wrong guy, the veep told him, "Marty, you did it, you son of gun." Not-mayor-elect Walsh said the name mixups have been happening for years and both laugh it off.