Opening Bell: 3.19.15
EU to tell Greece time, patience running out (Reuters)
Euro zone leaders will tell Greece on Thursday that time and patience are running out for its leftist-led government to implement agreed reforms to avert a looming cash crunch that could force it out of the single currency. Greece has been kept from bankruptcy by two international bailouts but now risks running out of money within weeks if it does not receive more funds. Greek banks reported the largest deposit withdrawals in a month, a sign savers are worried about the outlook for the country's finances and institutions.
Merkel Vows to Keep Euro Intact as She Dives Into Greek Standoff (Bloomberg)
“If the euro fails, Europe fails,” Merkel told German lawmakers in Berlin Thursday. “The eyes of the world are looking at how we deal with problems and crises in individual countries of the euro zone. The euro is more than a currency.”
Top Wall Street Lawyer Slams Regulatory Environment (WSJ)
One of Wall Street’s top lawyers says strains between banks and regulators have never been greater. After the record mortgage-related fines paid by banks over the last two years, “the regulatory environment today is the most tension-filled, confrontational and skeptical of any time in my professional career,” Sullivan & Cromwell Senior Chairman H. Rodgin Cohen said Wednesday at a banking legal conference in Phoenix.
Fed May Not Hit Neutral Until 10th Anniversary of Lehman Collapse (Bloomberg)
The Federal Reserve is signaling there will be no neutral for interest rates until at least 2018.
Lee County deputy on leave after failing to show up at 911 call (WN)
Operators stayed on the line, and a deputy named Yvan Fernandez was dispatched. Fernandez said he was on his way. But Scott says that a preliminary investigation shows Deputy Fernandez did not go, and it appears that instead, he may have gone to lunch.
Banks Struggle to Unload Oil Loans (WSJ)
Citigroup Inc.,Goldman Sachs Group Inc.,UBS AG and other large banks face tens of millions of dollars in losses on loans they made to energy companies last year, a sign of investor jitters in a sector battered by the oil slump. The banks intended to sell the loans to investors but have struggled to unload them even after cutting prices, thanks to a nine-month-long plunge that has taken Nymex crude futures to their lowest level since 2009.
Herbalife ‘victim’ subpoenaed by NY grand jury (NYP)
A Connecticut salon owner whose 2013 letter to a federal regulator urging it to investigate Herbalilfe because it “falsely markets itself as an easy business opportunity” was subpoenaed last month to appear before a federal grand jury in New York, according to a report. Israel Alvarez, the owner of Hartford’s Hair by Israel salon, feels “Herbalife’s recruitment techniques promise financial freedom with only a few hours of work, an enticing offer to immigrants and others struggling to find a job,” according to the letter, which addressed to Edith Ramirez, the chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission.
GoDaddy Seeks Up to $2.87 Billion Valuation in U.S. IPO (Bloomberg)
The company is offering 22 million shares at $17 to $19 apiece for, to raise as much as $418 million, a regulatory filing shows. GoDaddy is seeking a market value between $2.57 billion and $2.87 billion, according to Thursday’s filing.
Investors Raise Alarm Over Liquidity Shortage (WSJ)
Bond markets are “significantly less liquid than they used to be,” said Wolfgang Kuhn, head of pan-European credit at Aberdeen Asset Management Ltd. “The risks are becoming bigger with central banks pushing everyone [in the same direction]. You don’t want to be in a situation where this unwinds.”
Man Steals Back Xmas Gift He Gave To Neighbors: Cops (HP)
A Minnesota man who gave his neighbors some knives for Christmas has been charged with burglary after he allegedly stole the knives back. Alfred Joseph Guercio, 54, of Burnsville, was arrested March 11 after allegedly breaking into the neighbor’s home to take back the knives because the neighbor "did not appreciate it,” KSTP TV reports. The incident allegedly started when Guercio went to his neighbor's front door and complained that "she was not using the knives in the way they had agreed for her to use them and he wanted them back,” according to to The Smoking Gun.