Opening Bell: 2.2.15

Ex-intern gets six-figures for ‘Screwing Wall Street’ porn (NYP, earlier)
Just two weeks after she posted her infamous seminude farewell selfies from her job interning in the alternative-investments marketing group at Lazard Asset Management, Veronica Vain’s boasting of landing a six-figure deal to star in her first porn film, charmingly titled, “Screwing Wall Street.” The skin flick, which starts filming in LA on Sunday, is being made in partnership with sugar-daddy matchmaking site arrangementfinders.com, and will parody the 1987 classic “Wall Street” starring Michael Douglas. “We don’t have to mess with the story that much to turn it into a porno,” the Web site’s president, Kayden Kross, told The Post’s Laura Italiano. “If you extended a lot of the scenes in the movie, they would naturally lead into hard-core sex.” Or, as Vain sees it, Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street” is “basically already written as a porno without sex . . . Like, ‘If you’re not inside, you’re outside.’ That’s what Michael Douglas says to Charlie Sheen in the limo scene.” OK, then. Vain, 23, will play the Sheen role, except she sleeps her way “from bedroom to boardroom,” explains Kross, who’s also writing the opus. “She’s the broker who is basically trying to become a player,” Kross said of Vain’s character. “She does what she needs to do to get to the top.”

Former Maryland Banker Reveals He Used to Work for the CIA (WSJ)
Edwin “Ed” Hale Sr., a retired bank executive known locally for his sharp-elbowed approach to business, installed video surveillance on his 186-acre farm and still sleeps with a sawed-off shotgun by his bed. His friends, former employees and even his own daughters were shocked to learn in his recently published biography that he had ample reason to do so: The former chief executive and chairman of Bank of Baltimore says he worked covertly for the Central Intelligence Agency for almost a decade in the 1990s and early 2000s. During that time, he said, he spoke regularly with a CIA handler and allowed the agency to create a fake company under his corporate umbrella, which included shipping and trucking companies he ran at the same time he led the bank. Operatives in the field used the fictitious firm as cover when traveling the world, complete with business cards and hats. Mr. Hale said he worked under “nonofficial cover,” in which his identity was unassociated with the U.S. government. In the early 1990s, Mr. Hale said, the CIA used agents posing as his employees to track Osama bin Laden’s whereabouts and gather information on the terrorist’s financing operations.

Justice Department Investigating Moody’s Investors Service (WSJ)
Justice Department officials in recent months have quietly met with multiple former executives of Moody’s Investors Service to discuss ratings of complex securities before the crisis, according to people familiar with the situation. The Justice Department lawyers probing Moody’s are still in the early stages of their investigation, according to people familiar with the matter. It isn’t yet clear whether it will result in a lawsuit, the people said.

IPO lands Shake Shack’s Danny Meyer $342M in 1st day (NYP)
New York restaurateur Danny Meyer, who conceived the cart to help restore a then-downtrodden Madison Square Park, saw his wealth increase by $342 million Friday as stock soared 118.6 percent above its initial public offering price of $21.00 per share to end the day at $45.90. Meyer owns 7.4 million of those shares for a 21 percent stake in the hot-dog cart he turned into a humble hamburger kiosk in 2004.

'Hooters on steroids': One NFL alum's second act (CNBC)
After eight seasons in the league, Crawford Ker entered his post-football life, a period that includes financial struggles for many former athletes. "That money you have has to last," Ker told CNBC in a phone interview. "You either get a job, or you take a risk. It's very humbling to get a job making $40,000 when you were making a million." He chose the latter option, co-founding a sports bar and grill in Florida with his last half a million dollars after his retirement in 1992. He describes the chain, Ker's WingHouse, as a "Hooters on steroids," featuring wings and scantily clad waitresses. Since its founding two decades ago, the chain has grown to 24 locations. In July, Ker sold the chain—which generated $60 million in revenue last year—to private equity firm Third Lake Capital for a "good multiple." He declined to share the exact figure, and has stayed on as a consultant. Ker said his experience in the NFL furthered his ability to make tough decisions, and helped him develop his work ethic. "In the NFL, it's about performance and if you do well, they reward you," he said. "I took that same idea to the business world."

For Only Third Time In Recorded History, Man Is Arrested For Driving Zamboni While Intoxicated (TSG)
Police were summoned to the South Sports Arena in Fargo by witnesses who reported that Steven Anderson, 27, was driving the ice resurfacing machine in an erratic manner. Anderson, a seasonal worker at the municipal facility, was operating the Zamboni between periods of a girls high school hockey game. Anderson was arrested after cops concluded that he was intoxicated. Charged with DUI, Anderson was booked into the county jail, from which he was released yesterday after posting bond. In a Twitter post with the hashtag “bumperzamboni,” a spectator at the arena reported that, “I’ve never seen a zamboni have so much trouble around the edges.” Anderson was fired after his arrest. According to Cass County court records, Anderson was busted in mid-December for drunk driving (a car) and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Hedge Fund Brevan Howard’s Fortunes Blighted by Billions in Outflows and Management Row (WSJ)
For more than a decade, Brevan Howard traced a smooth upward path to become one of the most powerful hedge funds in Europe. In recent months, its fortunes have waned. Its commodities fund was closed following a run of poor performance; assets under management dropped, with billions flowing out of its flagship fund in the second half of 2014; it posted its first-ever yearly loss and two of its co-founders locked horns in a high-profile legal dispute.

As Regulators Focus on Culture, Wall Street Struggles to Define It (WSJ)
As they emerge from years of bruising fines, layoffs and losses, big banks are trying more than ever to monitor employee attitudes and values to avoid future problems. But they also have little choice: Senior officials with the Federal Reserve and other agencies in recent weeks have made it clear that they believe bad behavior at banks goes deeper than a few bad apples and are advising firms to track warning signs of excessive risk taking and other cultural breakdowns. Still, even regulators acknowledge culture is a difficult thing to measure.

Morgan Stanley Shops Oil-Storage Unit Again (WSJ)
The collapse of the oil market has dragged down prices across the energy sector. One exception is the price Morgan Stanley is seeking for its oil-trading and storage business, which could profit from the recent slide. The New York bank, whose deal to sell the division to Russian energy firm OAO Rosneft for several hundred million dollars was scuttled last month, is seeking a similar price for the business this time around, according to people familiar with the matter.

Fed's 'solid' growth view faces test as Greek drama unfolds (Reuters)
The Federal Reserve's upgraded view that growth in the world's biggest economy is "solid", and so capable of withstanding an interest rate rise this year, will be put to the test by U.S. jobs data this week. Ructions over Greece's new anti-austerity government will also continue to grip markets, and could overshadow economic data in the coming days.

Washington man recieves $18,000 bridge toll bill (UPI)
A Washington man said he was floored when he received a bill of more than $18,000 for his son's unpaid tolls. Tom Rose said his son neglected to get a "Good to Go" pass and had crossed the 520 bridge linking Seattle and Bellevue every day for work at his first job, saying he "thought he'd be billed later for it." Rose told King 5 News that his son had been living "hand to mouth" and "thought he was picking the lesser of two evils. He could save up and pay for them later." No bill was received until Rose attempted to sell the car. He discovered $1,360 in unpaid tolls and over $16,000 in penalties. After contacting the Washington State Department of Transportation, Rose was told to take the issue before an administrative judge, though it likely would not do any good. A WSDOT spokesperson told King 5 News that bills had been sent to Rose but had been returned unopened, and that they were willing to seek a resolution.