Opening Bell: 6.2.15
Greece’s Creditors Reach Consensus on Proposal to Athens (WSJ)
Officials representing European institutions and the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday morning completed the draft of an agreement to unlock bailout aid for Greece, after key European and IMF leaders met in Berlin late Monday to overcome differences between Greece’s creditors, they said. Eurozone governments and the IMF have agreed to press Greece for far-reaching economic overhauls, while the IMF has softened its insistence that Europe offer explicit commitments to relieve some of Greece’s debt burden, the people said.
Reflections on Stress and Long Hours on Wall Street (NYT)
Most top Wall Street firms have sought to change their work policies for young investment bankers in recent years, in part to combat some of the problems and because they are increasingly in heated competition with Silicon Valley for top talent and are seeking to make themselves more attractive. Goldman, for example, has required that analysts take Saturdays off. Credit Suisse, too, has made employees take Saturdays off, with employees instructed to avoid even email. Bank of America has instituted a policy that requires analysts to “take four days off a month” on the weekends. And JPMorgan Chase has said that one weekend a month should be protected...As the economy has heated up and the deal-making market has improved, however, young bankers are once again working long hours. Perversely, young analysts now say that having Saturdays off has often added to their stress because late nights on Sundays have become the norm.
American Apparel gets restraining order against Dov Charney (Reuters)
The order temporarily restrains him from breaching terms of a standstill agreement signed last year, including seeking removal of the company's board members and making negative statements in the press against the company or its employees, American Apparel said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday...Charney was fired in December, six months after he was suspended for allegedly misusing funds and for allowing the posting on the Internet of nude photos of a former female employee who had accused him of sexual harassment.
A 99-Year-Old Wall Street Veteran Reveals Secrets of Her Success (Bloomberg)
As she nears 100, Irene Bergman has some advice for enjoying a long career on Wall Street: Don’t do anything stupid. Consider investment returns, the financial adviser at Stralem & Co. said in an interview at her New York apartment, where, surrounded by paintings from Dutch masters, she telephones her clients. While many investors nowadays obsess over quick profits, it’s best to wait at least three years, or better yet, many more, before evaluating holdings. But don’t be afraid of revising your thesis, she said. If thorough research favors a portfolio shift, have courage and make changes...Bergman, who stopped visiting the office in December and turns 100 in August, attributed her longevity to good genes, not any special diet. She said she stayed physically fit by riding dressage horses until she was 80 and mentally sharp by forgoing retirement. Bergman speaks with Stralem colleagues daily and talks with some clients every week.
Woman Jailed Over Loud Sex (HP)
Gemma Wale became subject to an "antisocial behavior order" forbidding her from bothering her neighbors after they complained to the Birmingham City Council that she'd been making a racket in her apartment. The woman, whose age was not given, had reportedly gotten into loud fights with her boyfriend, identified only as Wayne, the BBC reported. Neighbors reported that on Jan. 29, Wale had incredibly loud sex very early in the morning, thus violating the order. "Gemma started screaming and shouting whilst having sex, which woke us up," a neighbor said at a hearing in May. "This lasted 10 minutes."
Exodus From Pimco Fund Slows Down (WSJ)
The flood of money out of Pacific Investment Management Co.’s flagship Total Return fund slowed in May to its lowest level since last fall’s departure of star manager Bill Gross, people familiar with the matter said. Investors pulled about $3 billion in assets from the $110.4 billion bond fund last month, these people said. It was the fifth successive month that outflows dropped, according to fund-research firm Morningstar Inc., and the amount was the smallest since Mr. Gross exited abruptly last September.
Feds look to throw out hedgie’s lawsuit (NYP)
Federal prosecutors are looking to throw out hedgie David Ganek’s lawsuit against their own. Ganek, who ran Level Global, seeks damages from the fund’s closure. A pretrial parley on the suit is June 22.
Fifa denies Valcke authorised $10m payment (FT)
Fifa has denied that its secretary-general, Jérôme Valcke, authorised a $10m payment at the heart of a US corruption investigation. It said the $10m, made in three payments from its bank accounts in Switzerland to a Bank of America account in New York between January and March 2008, were authorised by the then chairman of its finance committee, Julio Grondona. Grondona died in July 2014. Fifa said the payment was part of the legacy programme of the 2010 South Africa World Cup, to “support the African diasporas in Caribbean countries”. US investigators claim the payment was a bribe to Jack Warner, the then head of Concacaf, the football federation that controls North and Central American and Caribbean football, to vote in 2004 for South Africa to host the tournament.
Hedge Fund That Bet on Bombing Judgment Takes Early Payouts (WSJ)
When hedge-fund manager Roni Dersovitz began raising money to buy stakes in a nearly $2 billion judgment against Iran for one of the deadliest terror attacks ever aimed at Americans, he billed it as a win-win for families of the victims and investors alike. So far, the judgment remains in limbo. But Mr. Dersovitz already is getting paid.
In Puerto Rico Debt Talks, Things Are Heating Up (WSJ)
Investors are waiting on lawmakers to wrap up a budget by July and sell an additional $3 billion in bonds. The government says it may have to shut down by September if it can’t raise fresh funds.
440 pounds of cocaine found in pineapples (UPI)
Spanish customs officials confiscated 440 pounds of cocaine found inside pineapples that traveled from Central America. The shipment arrived at the southern port of Algeciras from an undisclosed location in Central America. "Among the thousands of fresh pineapples inside the 12 containers, they found fruit hollowed out and stuffed with drugs and then covered with a yellow wax that simulated the color of pineapple pulp," an Interior Ministry statement said.