Opening Bell: 5.29.15
Wall Street’s Young Guns Brace for First Big Test (Bloomberg)
This youth brigade -- call it Wall Street’s class of 2009 - - is about to learn what higher interest rates from the Federal Reserve look like first hand. Their inexperience has left older, more experienced colleagues wondering how these relative youngsters will fare. “What we’ve been through the past four years has been ‘what is the fastest, easiest money to find?’” said El Mihdawy, who studied economics at Columbia University. “If one day that narrative changes and investors no longer believe in the omnipotence of central banks, then it will bring back what was old school -- fundamental analysis and really caring about what’s going on.”
Lehman’s Fuld Says It Wasn’t His Fault (WSJ)
...the former chief executive, speaking Thursday to a crowd of more than 1,500 people at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Midtown Manhattan, was unrepentant about his late firm’s culture and its role in the financial crisis, largely placing the blame instead on misguided government and central-bank policy and irresponsible borrowers. At times jocular and reflective, the 69-year-old also flashed his combative side. When asked why he didn’t simply ride off into the sunset after Lehman’s collapse, Mr. Fuld responded, “Why don’t you just bite me?” He quickly followed up by saying he couldn’t give up and felt he had “no choice” but to start his new firm, Matrix Advisors LLC.
Breaking Silence, Richard Fuld Speaks on Love, Putin and ‘Rocky’ (Dealbook)
“What did Sigmund Freud say? ‘You can say whatever you want about me. I’m O.K. because I know my mother loves me,’ ” he said to a crowd of 1,300 financial professionals. “And my mother still loves me. She’s 96.” At another moment, Mr. Fuld offered a boxing analogy: “What did Rocky say? ‘It’s not how hard you hit but whether you get up after you’ve been knocked down.’ I love Rocky.”
Moody’s Upgrades Four Top U.S. Banks (WSJ)
In raising Morgan Stanley’s rating two notches, Moody’s determined that strategic changes at the investment bank in recent years have resulted in a safer business model and improved profitability. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. received one-notch upgrades as part of a broader Moody’s review of the largest global banks.
Stabbed Woman In BBQ Argument Over Last Rib: Cops (HP)
Sabrina A. Davis, 45, was arrested Sunday night after allegedly stabbing another woman who complained that Davis had taken the last rib, the Muncie StarPress reports. Witnesses told police that the victim was the daughter of the woman throwing the party. The victim allegedly confronted Davis about taking so much food from the house. Davis allegedly responded by plunging a serving fork into the woman's eye, which caused at least two small lacerations on the left eye, according to the Indianapolis Star. The victim's eyes were “swollen and bloodshot.” The suspect told police she acted in self-defense because the hostess was waving a knife in her face, according to the Metro.
Goldman tried to lure Hayes, court told (FT)
Goldman Sachs tried to lure Tom Hayes, now on trial accused of rigging the London interbank offered rate (Libor), away from UBS in 2008. The New-York based bank offered Mr Hayes, then a star yen derivatives trader in Tokyo, a $3m guarantee and an expanded role. The Swiss lender counter-offered a slightly lower amount and he stayed put, netting UBS about $89m in revenue that year, a court heard on Thursday. The career path of Mr Hayes emerged in Southwark Crown Court in London where he stands accused of rigging rates tied to the Japanese yen over a four-year period. Mr Hayes left UBS at the end of 2009 for an offer of higher pay at Citigroup but was fired when his trading behaviour was discovered, prosecutor Mukul Chawla QC told the jury. The court was shown a letter from UBS agreeing to boost the former trader’s pay to keep him.
Paul Singer: This is the new 'big short' (NetNet)
Billionaire investor Paul Singer says he has spotted the next big thing to bet against: bonds. "Today, six and a half years after the collapse of Lehman, there is a Bigger Short cooking. That Bigger Short is long-term claims on paper money, i.e., bonds," Singer wrote in a letter to investors of his hedge fund firm Elliott Management obtained by CNBC.com.
She’s bold, she’s beautiful and she’s a self-made billionaire (NYP)
Elizabeth Holmes is young, rich and beautiful — not to mention insanely smart. The 31-year-old founder and CEO of biotech firm Theranos is the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire, worth an estimated $4.5 billion, according to Forbes magazine. Last year, the Stanford dropout burst onto the tech scene with a novel approach to blood testing. Theranos promises a faster, cheaper and needle-free way to draw blood with just a prick of the finger. Holmes tops Forbes’ first-ever list of the nation’s top 50 most successful self-made women. Pop diva Beyonce, 33, is the second-youngest on the list, with an estimated net worth of $250 million.
Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch on the Market for $100 Million (Bloomberg)
Jackson bought the ranch in 1988 and turned it into a combination amusement park and zoo, where he entertained fans and was frequently seen with his pet chimpanzee Bubbles.
S.E.C.’s Kara Stein Takes Aim at Deutsche Bank (Dealbook)
In a scathing dissent this month to a decision to allow Deutsche Bank to avoid being labeled an “ineligible issuer” as a result of the criminal conviction of a subsidiary for manipulating Libor, the commissioner, Kara M. Stein, declared war on special treatment for the big banks. The S.E.C.’s waiver allows Deutsche Bank to keep all the advantages of being a “well-known seasoned issuer” — including instant access to investors in the capital markets and a streamlined securities registration process — that would normally have been revoked once the bank admitted to a criminal role in the manipulation of Libor. Instead, thanks to the waiver, the bank can continue to operate as if it had done nothing wrong.
Ex-FIFA official had $6,000-a-month Trump Tower apartment for unruly cats (WaPo)
It’s an unexpected end for Blazer, who operated with high-flying impunity for decades, inhabiting a world of private jets, famous friends, secret island getaways, offshore bank accounts and two Trump Tower apartments with sweeping views of Central Park and the crenellations of The Plaza hotel. CONCACAF’s offices took up the entire 17th floor, but Blazer often worked from two apartments where he lived on the 49th floor in $18,000-per-month digs for himself and an adjoining $6,000 retreat largely for his unruly cats, according to a source.