Opening Bell: 2.3.15
Money-Laundering Fears Fuel an RBC Retreat (WSJ)
Canada’s largest bank, Royal Bank of Canada , is exiting from once-promising businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean after being swept up in the net of global money-laundering probes. Over the past 18 months, RBC has moved to close many, if not all, of its wealth-management offices across Latin America, prompted by scrutiny of potential money-laundering activities in its accounts in at least three countries, according to people familiar with the matter. The bank also is shutting wealth-management offices in the Caribbean.
Greek Finance Minister Wants Bridge Agreement on Debt (WSJ)
Greece’s new premier Alexis Tsipras and Mr. Varoufakis are in the midst of a tour of European capitals in an effort to convince fellow European leaders to reverse the stringent terms of Greece’s €240 billion ($272 billion) bailout. Mr. Varoufakis said that “what is needed is a bridge agreement that gives us some time—for example a month or six weeks starting from late February—to find an agreement that we would then put in place starting from June 1.”
Merkel Expects Greek Funding Talks to Drag On for Months (Bloomberg)
Greece would not immediately go bankrupt at the end of February because it has resources to last beyond that point and Germany is ready to hold off until there is a more urgent need to strengthen its bargaining position, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing internal talks. Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is still assessing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s motives, is taking a tough approach with the new premier and wants to avoid being drawn into a duel with him, another official said. No one from the chancellery has met with him yet.
Dunkin' Donuts 2015 drink expansion includes frozen Dunkaccinos (Reuters)
Dunkin' Donuts is expanding its U.S. menu with cold blended drinks, including a milkshake-like frozen Dunkaccino, as it and other fast-food chains seek to boost sales in a competitive market, an executive told Reuters on Tuesday...Tests of the new frozen beverages suggest that they will be popular in the afternoon and evening, when coffee chains work to lure customers.
Texas boy suspended for 'Hobbit' ring threat (UPI)
Jason Steward, of Kermit, Texas, said it's "unbelievable" that his 9-year-old son was suspended from school for threatening to make another student disappear. Steward's son, Aiden, recently brought a ring to Kermit Elementary School after seeing The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies, in which Bilbo Baggins carries a magic invisibility ring. Jason told the Odessa American that the school suspended Aiden when he said he could make a classmate invisible with the ring. "I assure you my son lacks the magical powers necessary to threaten his friend's existence," Jason told the school in an email. "If he did, I'm sure he'd bring him right back."
Inflation at Five-Year Lows in Developed Economies (WSJ)
Inflation rates across the world’s developed economies have fallen to their lowest levels since the recession that followed the global financial crisis, likely prompting further cuts in benchmark interest rates or other easing measures by central banks around the world. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Tuesday said the annual rate of inflation in its 34 members fell to 1.1% in December from 1.5% in November, the lowest level since October 2009.
BP Chief: No Hope of $100 Oil for a ‘Long Time’ (Bloomberg)
“The fundamental supply and demand does remind me of 1986 a bit, where we could go into a period in this decade of lower oil prices,” Dudley said a Bloomberg TV interview, adding prices may stay in a range below $60 for as long as three years. “It will be a long time before we see $100 again.”
MBAs Are Shunning Industries That Create Jobs (Bloomberg)
...business schools, a breeding ground for the next crop of chief executives, are churning out a minuscule number of graduates who want to make their money in manufacturing. Just 4 percent of all MBAs who graduated last year took jobs in the industry, according to a Bloomberg Businessweek survey of close to 10,000 students conducted as a part of the 2014 ranking of business schools. Compare that to consulting, which drew almost 25 percent of those who got an MBA in 2014, or banking, where 19 percent of graduates landed.
Buy LinkedIn Before Earnings: Goldman (CNBC)
LinkedIn, the social network often overshadowed by Twitter and Facebook stealing headlines, is a "buy" before earnings later this week as new products take hold and mobile advertising improves, according to Goldman Sachs. The firm, which has correctly called the run in the stock over the last two years, sees an additional 25 percent upside from here.
Gunmen Thwarted By Karate (Reuters)
Three Albanian gunmen met their match when they held up three Chinese contractors only to be outwitted and overpowered by the karate skills of their would-be victims. The Chinese contractors re-enacted for Albania's News24 TV on Monday what they said had happened on a mountain road in northern Albania on Sunday after they were held up at gunpoint. "They were masked and armed and stopped us, putting the gun below the chin of our friend. They wanted our mobile phones, money and the sacks with our goods," said one of the Chinese men, whom News24 did not name. Speaking in Chinese, the three agreed to fight their attackers, he said. The man's demonstration of his techniques for the camera included powerful hand blows and frontal and back kicks. Having overpowered the gunmen, the Chinese men called the police and had them arrested.