Opening Bell: 2.25.15
How an Undocumented Immigrant From Mexico Became a Star at Goldman Sachs (Bloomberg)
The overachievers at Goldman Sachs aren’t all the same. Some have been valedictorians, or Navy SEALs, or the sons or grandsons of the company’s bankers. Some will stop at nothing to amass a fortune; others are patient. And at least one was an undocumented immigrant. Arce, who turns 32 in March, owed her bright career on Wall Street to fake papers bought for a few hundred dollars in a stranger’s living room in Texas. Over seven years at Goldman Sachs, she rose from intern to analyst, associate, then vice president, later becoming a director at Merrill Lynch. When her father died in Taxco hours after the 2007 phone call, she didn’t leave to see her family because with her bogus papers she couldn’t have come back.
Investors Who Held Nerve With Greece Reap World’s Best Bond Returns (Bloomberg)
Sticking with Greek securities through the election of the anti-austerity Syriza party a month ago -- and the turmoil of ensuing funding negotiations -- earned investors more than double the 4.2 percent profit on Danish securities, the next-best performers, according to Bloomberg indexes. Treasuries earned 1.2 percent in the same period.
Morgan Stanley makes embarrassing ‘Hunger Games’ parody (NYP)
“Margin Games: Manager on Fire,” as the spoof is called, was never shown to the 1,600 wealth management employees, said Chisty Jockle, a Morgan Stanley spokeswoman. The trade publication InvestmentNews first published the video on Tuesday. The video follows the basic plotline of the mega-popular movie franchise, which stars Jennifer Lawrence. Employees from the bank’s far-flung regions volunteer to kill each other for the approval of the “Home Office” — even with its own Katniss Everdeen, a vice president in wealth management in North Palm Beach, Fla.
Herbalife foes take fight straight to Icahn, Soros (NYP)
One of the company’s fiercest critics, the League of United Latin American Citizens, is urging the boldface financiers to sell their stakes in Herbalife, which it accuses of taking advantage of its largely Hispanic sales force. The group has fired off letters to Icahn and Soros asking to meet with them on Thursday, the same day Herbalife is set to report earnings.
BBQ Bandit Strikes Again (News4)
Augie's Barbed Wire Smokehouse on 3709 N. St. Mary's St. is the latest restaurant to be hit by a bandit that had hit three other area restaurants, stealing hundreds of dollars worth of brisket and pork from businesses over the last couple of months. According to their Facebook page, someone stole 13 briskets, 10 cases of beer and a brand new trash can last weekend. Management has posted a photo of the suspected bandit from surveillance video of the theft. B & B Smokehouse believes a brisket lover is behind a big theft on Jan. 31st, when someone stole 200 pounds of the meat, worth about $700. A brisket bandit also hit Two Bros. Meat Market on the North Side on Jan. 16. Someone broke in through the back of the property and stole 450 pounds of raw meat, worth $2,500. The Smoke Shack on Broadway was also hit in January. Chris Conger said 12 pork butts were stolen from the pit during the middle of the cooking process. He said it was a $500 hit for the business. All of the businesses have increased security.
Yellen looks to free Fed’s hand (FT)
In testimony to a Senate committee, Ms Yellen indicated that if the economy carried on strengthening, the US central bank would want to drop its pledge to be “patient” with interest rates and start considering rises on a “meeting-by-meeting basis”. She said this would mean that a move in the target rate could be considered at “any” of the Federal Open Market Committee’s regular policy gatherings.
Oil rises above $59 as Saudis say demand growing (Reuters)
The market also had a small lift from comments by Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi, who spoke to reporters in the port city of Jizan, southwest Saudi Arabia. "Markets are calm now ... demand is growing," said Naimi, who drove a change in the strategy of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries last year, when it decided not to adjust production despite a sharp fall in oil prices.
Apple Is Ordered to Pay $532.9 Million in Patent Case (WSJ)
Smartflash, which doesn’t make its own products, claimed that Apple violated the patents by using the technology in managing apps sold through its iTunes store, such as “Coin Dozer Pro” developed by Game Circus LLC and “Grub Guardian” and “WizardBlox,” developed by Kingsisle Entertainment Inc. The latter two companies had been defendants before being dismissed from the case.
RBS Said to Plan Cutting Footprint to 13 Nations in Revamp (Bloomberg)
Executives in markets affected will brief regulators and clients after the board meets Wednesday to approve the plan, the person said, asking not to be named before an announcement to staff. As part of the restructuring, code-named Project Brown, Edinburgh-based RBS intends to sell its U.S. loan commitments and related derivatives to Mizuho Financial Group Inc., the person said without elaborating.
Man smashes storefront windows to escape ‘flesh-eating zombies’ (NYP)
A drunken Brooklyn man said he was trying to escape flesh-eating zombies in Williamsburg when he shattered storefront windows at a shopping center, according to police sources. A boozed-up Jung Pryjma, 38, entered the artisan mini-mall on Kent Avenue near North 1st Street around 1 a.m. on President’s Day through a door that was left unlocked, sources said. The shops were all closed when Pryjma — who appeared to be severely intoxicated — picked up a fire extinguisher and began smashing the front windows, according to police sources. “It’s a zombie apocalypse!” Pryjma declared, sources said.