Opening Bell: 2.20.15
German-Led Bloc Willing to Let Greece Leave Euro: Malta (Bloomberg)
Germany and its allies are ready to let Greece leave the euro unless Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accepts the conditions required to extend his country’s financial support, according to Malta’s finance minister, Edward Scicluna. Greece’s creditors are cranking up the pressure on Tsipras as he seeks a deal to prevent his country defaulting on its obligations as early as next month. By bowing to German demands, the premier risks a domestic backlash from voters and party members whom he’s promised an end to austerity.
Meredith Whitney Fund Investor Moves Dispute to New York (Bloomberg)
The biggest investor in Meredith Whitney’s hedge fund moved a lawsuit seeking to recoup its $46 million stake to New York from Bermuda, where it was originally filed last year. BlueCrest Capital Opportunities Ltd., a fund connected to billionaire Michael Platt’s BlueCrest Capital Management, filed the new complaint against Whitney in state Supreme Court in Manhattan Wednesday.
27-year-old Seattle man says women fly across the country to be with him because he's a real-life 'Christian Grey' (BI)
During a Skype call from London, Olson told Business Insider that a few years ago a woman he dated briefly pointed out over lunch that he was similar to Grey. He had not yet read the book series, but over time more and more people started making the same association, he said. "I started getting messages from people I didn't know." Leading up to the movie, he said, about 1,000 fans of the book reached out over e-mail and through Facebook messages and friend requests. "I knew the movie would bring more attention, but I continue to be really surprised by the whole matter," he said. He said some women have even flown out to Seattle to meet him. He acknowledged he had gone on dates with some of them, too.
Argentina won’t meet with Paul Singer over disputed bonds (NYP)
The hedge fund mogul has tried at least three times this year to meet with Argentine government officials — but has been ignored, a mediator said Thursday. Singer and Argentina have been locked in a decade-long battle over $1.6 billion in defaulted bonds. Singer, looking to collect full face value of the bonds — plus interest — sought to thaw the frozen stand-off by proposing the meeting, which he hoped would lead to a settlement. It hasn’t worked. “Argentina has neither accepted nor otherwise responded to the invitation by the bondholders,” mediator Daniel Pollack said Thursday.
Accused Of Bomb Scare After Trying To Pay Bar Tab With Rock (HP)
Cops in Tallahassee, Florida say that on Wednesday, Jared Simpson, 24, visited the 4th Quarter Bar & Grill and rung up a $10 tab. When it came time to pay up, Simpson allegedly tried to get the bartender to accept a rock as payment. When the woman decided that a stone wasn't legal tender, Simpson responded by throwing a ripped-up dollar bill at her and saying he "would pay [her] in other ways," according to the probable cause affidavit.
Pimco’s Chief Economist McCulley Stepping Down (WSJ)
Pacific Investment Management Co. said Friday that Paul McCulley, who returned to the firm last May to help soothe nervous investors amid ongoing turbulence, has stepped down from his roles as chief economist and managing director. Mr. McCulley, who originally left the bond-fund behemoth in 2010 after serving as a senior executive, returned to Pimco at the urging of Bill Gross, a close friend and the firm’s co-founder.
David Einhorn‘s Greenlight Capital just makes ‘D’ grade (NYP)
In an annual report card handed out by hedge fund investors, the 46-year-old investor and minority owner of the Mets received the just-passing grade. Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital was ranked 53rd out of 58 hedge funds in the Hedge Fund Report Card put out by Institutional Investor’s Alpha on Thursday. Investors slammed Einhorn for his lack of independent oversight and transparency. It’s apparently not easy for investors to get their money out of the fund either — as they also gave Greenlight a poor ranking on “liquidity terms.” This is the second year in a row that investors polled by Alpha have given Einhorn a “D.”
Wall Street Staffing Falls Again (WSJ)
The number of investment bankers, traders, salespeople and research analysts at the world’s largest banks has fallen 20% globally since its recent peak in 2010, a report by Coalition Ltd., a London research firm, shows. The latest data come after the firms, 10 of the world’s largest, trimmed 4%, or 2,100 employees, in 2014 from a year earlier amid a challenging trading environment on fixed-income desks.
Citadel's Griffin sells downtown condo (Chicago Business)
Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin sold a three-bedroom downtown condominium for nearly $1.33 million, according to two real estate websites...Griffin, founder of Chicago-based hedge fund and financial services firm Citadel, paid nearly $1.02 million for the condo in 1995, according to Cook County property records.
Probe Clears World Bank Top Brass of Wrongdoing (WSJ)
An outside law firm investigating accusations the World Bank’s top brass may have mishandled a $1 billion Chinese loan to the bank’s poverty fund has cleared the institution’s management of any wrongdoing, according a summary of the firm’s findings released by the bank. “We found no evidence of fraud or dishonesty,” law firm Locke Lord Edwards said in a letter to the bank’s general counsel. “We found no governance violations.”
Maryland man plows snow with motorized toilet (UPI)
David Goldberg, owner of the Union Hardware store, said he created the motorized commode, dubbed "Loo-cille" or "Loo-cy" for short, for last summer's pride parade, and he is taking his hybrid vehicle out of the garage once again to clear snow from sidewalks. "This is Loo-cy. Our motorized toilet that we did this summer for the pride parade. We just added a snow plow and [we 're] ready for tomorrow morning's snow," Goldberg said in sending a picture of the toilet plow to WUSA-TV. Goldberg posted a video of the motorized toilet moving snow to YouTube. "Taking something very private and making it a spectacle is a jolt to the system by itself. But having it plow snow... Over the top!" he wrote in the video's description.