Greece concerns remain despite agreement (FT)
...the mood in Athens is far from triumphant given that Alexis Tsipras, the prime minister, has repeatedly stressed his reluctance to accept three more years of harsh austerity. Elsewhere in the EU too, there are serious concerns that this putative deal still faces big hurdles. As well as doubts about Greece’s willingness to implement the package, there are reservations in Germany, the biggest creditor, that negotiators may have cut corners in reaching a deal much quicker than expected. There are also concerns about the willingness of the International Monetary Fund to help co-finance the programme alongside the ESM, the EU’s rescue fund.
Credit Suisse Nearing Record Settlement Tied to Wrongdoing at ‘Dark Pool’ (WSJ)
Credit Suisse operates the largest dark pool in the U.S. Called CrossFinder, it matched more than 430 million shares during the week beginning July 20, according to data from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. The case against Credit Suisse includes allegations that it provided unfair advantages to some traders, violated rules against pricing of stocks and didn’t adequately disclose to investors how CrossFinder works, according to the people familiar with the matter.
Matt Levine: Why Not Insider Trade on Every Company? (BloombergView)
Like everyone, I was aware of various conspiracy theories about shadowy forces controlling the market, but I did not give them much credence. Occam and Hayek and the rest all provided reasons to doubt a massive overarching conspiracy. And then today I learned that a shadowy foreign syndicate had access to basically every piece of corporate news before it was made public! (Allegedly! But, you know, according to the U.S. government.) And that it ran, like, a parallel criminal financial system with it.
33-Year-Old Florida Man Arrested 32 Times (AP)
A 33-year-old man has logged his 32nd arrest in Florida after deputies found drugs in his vehicle during a traffic stop. The Northwest Florida Daily News reports Willie Goldsmith was stopped Sunday. Walton County Sheriff's deputies say he was driving with a suspended driver's license. According to an arrest report, deputies searched the vehicle after a positive alert from a police dog and found a Red Bull can under the center console. Inside, they found 4.6 grams of ICE, a form of methamphetamine, 5.3 grams of marijuana, a spoon and several baggies.
Brazil Rating Cut by Moody’s to Cusp of Junk; Outlook Stable (Bloomberg)
Brazil’s grade was cut by one notch to Baa3, with a stable outlook. Standard & Poor’s cut its rating to the lowest investment grade in March 2014, the nation’s first downgrade in a decade.
From running with ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ to homeless (NYP)
The stockbroker — who was pals with “Wolf of Wall Street” Jordan Belfort — raked in the dough from plum jobs with Merrill Lynch and Oppenheimer & Co., living large in a Soho loft and driving around in a BMW. But the tall, blue-eyed-and-blond regular at downtown dance clubs partied too hard — sucking down Rémy Martin and Cokes and snorting mountains of cocaine. The good times turned into a downward spiral that lasted three decades — and led him to a life on the streets, sleeping on empty pizza boxes on a Greenwich Village sidewalk, his family says...A friend who worked an overnight shift with Preston last year at a company raising investment money for a tech firm recalled watching “The Wolf of Wall Street,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio, with him on cable TV. “He’s like, ‘All right, I used to work with these guys,’ ” said Jesse Catlin, 33. “He was giving me all the stories from the glory days.”
CME Eliminated 3% of Staff, With Half Coming From Technology (Bloomberg)
The world’s largest futures exchange dismissed about 80 workers on Aug. 6, Laurie Bischel, a spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed response to questions.
City lawyer demands to settle case ‘Game of Thrones’-style (NYP)
“This is a matter of honor,” said Richard Luthmann, 35, whose passing resemblance to Ser Gregor Clegane would make him a formidable opponent in the fighting ring. Luthmann made his demand in a brief filed in Staten Island Supreme Court on July 21. The legal tangle stems from a 2013 dispute between two investment firms. Luthmann represented the losing side. But his client disappeared and never paid more than $500,000 in judgments against him. “He’s in the wind, so they said, ‘Let’s whack on his lawyer’s malpractice insurance,’ ” Luthmann said. The opponents in the case filed a suit alleging that Luthmann helped his client hide assets to avoid the payout. “It’s a baseless claim,” the lawyer said, and it has dragged on for two years of motions and countermotions. “This is not a lawsuit anymore; this is an absurdity,” he said. “So I will give them absurdity in kind.” [...] In his brief, Luthmann “demands his common-law right to Trial By Combat,” and after cataloging eight pages’ worth of legal precedent, “respectfully requests that the Court permit the Undersigned to dispatch Plaintiffs and their counsel to the Divine Providence of the Maker.”
