Opening Bell: 11.03.14

Investors Eagerly Await Alibaba’s Results (WSJ)
Alibaba will report quarterly earnings on Tuesday for the first time since its record $25 billion debut on the New York Stock Exchange. Scrutiny will be intense: Alibaba’s share price already has risen 45% since the initial public offering, giving it a market value of $243 billion as of Friday, bigger than Facebook Inc. ’s. Investors and analysts say they are looking for strong profit and revenue growth in the three months through September—estimates average around 45%—as well as guidance that suggests the good performance will continue, despite a multitude of challenges.

For Pot Inc., the Rush to Cash In Is Underway (NYT)
In October, 900 people flocked to a hotel in Midtown Manhattan for a $900-a-head, three-day East Coast Cannabis Business Expo, Educational Conference and Regulatory Summit, the first of its kind in New York. The event’s organizers were two veterans of the tanning salon business; the crowd ranged from venture capitalists to chocolatiers to people currently growing illegally, with a smattering of doctors and representatives of at least one nursing home conglomerate. There were vendors of supply-chain tracking software, security services and malpractice insurance, as well as a manufacturer of precision-grade scales from the diamond district. Not a single bong in the house. “This is sexy, this is drugs,” one speaker, Adam Bierman, a managing partner of MedMen, a California-based consulting company, told a crowded conference room. “This is something there’s already demand for. This is selling pot.”

Billionaire Phil Falcone’s Halloween display had UES howling (NYP)
A black hearse sits out front, with a black-clad grim reaper beheading a corpse popping out of the roof. Nearby, smoke billows from the mouth of a huge, glowing, growling gargoyle. A possessed little girl sits on a swing with a sign that says “Cemetery,” next to a crouching, howling witch with bat wings. But perhaps the most disturbing horror prop is a creepy, old, dwarfish crone with stringy gray hair and striped socks who’s holding a turgid, dead baby. Making the scene even more macabre are fake rats and dismembered baby limbs, skeltons and a sign that says, “Keep out.”

According to the Fed, the rich are getting richer (NYP)
The share of total income of the top 3 percent of Americans grew to 30.5 percent in 2013 (from 27.7 percent in 2010), according to new Federal Reserve numbers. Further, the top 3 percent saw their share of total wealth rise from 44.8 percent in 1989 to 54.4 percent in 2013, the central bank said.

Einhorn’s Greenlight Gained 2.2% in October Amid Swings (Bloomberg)
Greenlight Capital Inc., the hedge-fund firm led by billionaire David Einhorn, gained 2.2 percent in its main hedge fund in October, when peers on average posted losses amid violent market swings. The gain brings returns since the start of the year to 4.9 percent, according to an e-mail to investors obtained by Bloomberg News. The HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, which measures asset-weighted performance of hedge funds across various strategies, fell 1.7 percent in October, resulting in a year-to-date loss of 0.5 percent.

Alabama man allegedly robs 4 Subway stores in 4 days, blames ‘Jared Diet’ (NYDN)
Zachary Rapheal Torrance, 18, was captured in a Walmart store Thursday night after a shopper recognized him from photos posted on the local police's Facebook page, authorities said. "I don't know if he was kidding or not, but he said he had tried the Jared Diet and it hadn't worked for him, so he wanted his money back," said Hueytown Police Chief Chuck Hagler, according to the news site AL.com. Jared Fogle made national headlines when he lost 245 pounds 15 years ago by eating nothing but turkey Subway sandwiches.

Greenberg May Be Called to Testify at AIG Trial (WSJ)
Through five weeks of testimony in Maurice R. “Hank” Greenberg ’s $40 billion lawsuit against the U.S. government over the bailout of American International Group Inc., one figure has been conspicuously missing from the courtroom: Mr. Greenberg himself. That is likely to change soon, as the former AIG chief is on the list of potential witnesses as the government sets out its rebuttal arguments. In a trial that has lacked fireworks, the testimony could be a lively event, with the feisty 89-year-old squaring off against government lawyers who may seek to use Mr. Greenberg’s own words against him. Known as a sometimes brusque, hard-charging boss, Mr. Greenberg built AIG into a global insurance behemoth over nearly four decades before being pushed out in 2005, and he was its largest individual shareholder when the bailout occurred. The lawsuit, filed by his investment and charitable firm Starr International Co., accuses the government of overstepping its authority in demanding a 79.9% equity stake in exchange for providing an $85 billion emergency loan. Since the trial began Sept. 29, Mr. Greenberg hasn’t set foot in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, due to rules that don’t allow potential fact witnesses to sit in on other testimony. Reached on his cellphone last week, Mr. Greenberg said, “I’m in China. I just finished working out.”

British banker linked to gruesome Hong Kong slayings (Reuters)
A 29-year-old British banker has been arrested in Hong Kong in connection with the grisly murder of two women, a rare occurrence in a city known for its low homicide rate. Hong Kong police said in a statement on Saturday that a 29-year-old foreign man had been detained earlier that day after two women were found dead in an expensive apartment in Wan Chai, a central city district known for its night life. The man has not been charged. Police declined to give the name or the nationality of the man, whom local media and a source with knowledge of the situation have identified as being a Bank of America-Merrill Lynch banker.

FBI Opens Criminal Probe Into American Realty Capital Amid Accounting Meltdown (WSJ)
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has opened a criminal investigation into American Realty Capital Properties Inc., according to a person familiar with the matter, just days after the company revealed accounting errors that had been intentionally concealed from the public. On Wednesday, American Realty Capital announced that it had overstated its adjusted funds from operation, a measure of cash flow commonly used by real-estate investment trusts, from the first- and second-quarters of 2014. Although the amount of money involved--$23 million—was relatively small, the irregularities resulted in the resignation of the company’s chief financial officer, Brian Block, and chief accounting officer, Lisa McAlister.

Protesters mob Park Ave apartment after nanny debacle (NYP)
Elyse Slaine, ex-wife of fallen Galleon Group hedgie David Slaine, faced an angry mob of protesters in front of her posh Park Avenue apartment this week after her housekeeper said she was cheated out of wages. Marichu De Sesto told the crowd that Slaine — who has been described as one of Wall Street’s “most fascinating first wives” — fired her in May for requesting time off for medical appointments. After nearly 15 years of working as her housekeeper and nanny, Slaine told De Sesto to pack her bags and “be gone by the time she came back from the Hamptons,” De Sesto said at the Wednesday gathering outside Slaine’s apartment building on the corner of Park and 80th Street.

UBS Curbs Employees’ Personal Foreign-Exchange Trades (WSJ)
UBS’s tightened rules permit currency traders to carry out personal-account trades only when they are approved by managers and compliance staff, according to the person familiar with the matter. The trades must also be executed by preapproved brokers. UBS also relatively recently banned the use of mobile phones from its trading floors, this person said.

Mustache Hall of Fame accepting nominations (UPI)
The American Mustache Institute announced the first inductees into the International Mustache Hall of Fame will be announced on Burt Reynolds' birthday. The institute and sponsor Wahl Trimmers announced nominations are now being accepted for the International Mustache Hall of Fame and the first inductees will be announced Feb. 11, the birthday of actor Burt Reynolds, "one of the greatest mustached Americans in history." "The global facial hair and attractiveness communities have been pining for a proper place to honor those who have brought great mustaches to our world," said Adam Paul Causgrove, chief executive of the American Mustache Institute. "We've been working with noted halls of fame honoring everything from baseball to hot dogs to ensure we provide an appropriate experience."