Opening Bell: 9.11.15

David Tepper Not as Optimistic About Stocks as He Could Be (Bloomberg)
“I’m not as bullish as I could be because I have problems with earnings growth, problems with multiples,” the billionaire investor told CNBC Thursday, referring to price-to-earnings ratios. “I can’t really call myself a bull.” Tepper said that investors who are fully invested should take some money off the table. While Tepper said he currently doesn’t have a big equity portfolio, he would be a buyer if the market declined 20 percent. “We’re not talking about crashes here,” he said. “We’re talking about a market that should correct.”

Movie Finance Whiz Fights to Keep His Role (WSJ)
Ryan Kavanaugh’s salesmanship, smarts and charisma help explain how the founder of a company that has regularly experienced financial strains, lawsuits and executive turnover is also widely credited with leading a revolution in which Wall Street banks became comfortable investing in the notoriously high-risk movie business. But as he rose from outsider to CEO of one of Hollywood’s largest independent studios, Mr. Kavanaugh gained a reputation for hyperbole and for discounting critics. In recent months, as debt payments were missed and cash ran short at Relativity, the CEO insisted that employees focus on the positive: No one was allowed to discuss “bankruptcy” in front of him. Nonetheless, on July 30 Relativity filed for chapter 11 restructuring, declaring that it had a book value of $560 million and liabilities of $1.18 billion. It laid off 75 employees without severance, leaving 89.

G.E. to Seek Sale of Its Asset Management Arm (Dealbook)
General Electric has already been moving to shed its huge lending arm. Now the industrial conglomerate is potentially becoming even smaller. The company said on Thursday that it was exploring a sale of its asset management arm as part of its plan to focus on its core manufacturing operations. Any move to sell GE Asset Management would be separate from the sale of GE Capital, a huge endeavor that will involve disposing of hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of assets.

How Stanford Took On the Giants of Economics (TheUpshot)
Stanford University has lured an all-star lineup of economists to Palo Alto, Calif., in the last few years — and fended off Harvard’s and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s attempts to woo Stanford economists. The newest Stanford professors include a Nobel laureate — Alvin E. Roth, formerly of Harvard — but the shift is more noticeable among top young economists. Of the 11 people who have won the John Bates Clark Medal for best economist under age 40 since 2000, four are now at Stanford, more than at any other university. Two of them joined in the last few months: the inequality researcher Raj Chetty, who came from Harvard, and Matthew Gentzkow, who left the University of Chicago.

Rex Ryan has a framed photo of a woman's feet on his desk (NYDN)
In a photo shared on Facebook by the North Shore Animal League of America, Ryan can be seen sitting at his desk, smiling wide with a framed photo of a pair of feet sitting on his desk. Clearly, the new Bills coach doesn’t give a damn what people think about his foot fetish. The photo — meant to promote the group’s #GetYourRescueOn campaign (Ryan and his wife, Michelle, are dog owners) — is a closeup of women’s feet, and a blonde woman, presumably his wife, can be seen in the top corner of the framed photo. Ryan's love for his wife's feet is no secret. It was revealed roughly five years ago when a video — one of several posted — of her feet hanging out the driver’s side window of a car was found from an Internet handle "ihaveprettyfeet." In that video, the unseen cameraman's voice sounds very much like Ryan's.

John Paulson's hedge funds suffer losses in August: source (Reuters)
The firm's flagship Paulson Partners portfolio dropped 4.2 percent during the month but remains up for the year-to-date period with a 6.52 percent gain. The Paulson Advantage Fund, once a favorite with wealthy individual investors, lost 4.9 percent last month, leaving the fund down 3.6 percent for the year.

Avon Discusses Stake Sale With Private-Equity Firms (WSJ)
Avon Products Inc. is in discussions with private-equity firms about an investment that could help shore up the struggling cosmetics company, according to people familiar with the matter. Avon is running an auction process for what is known as a private investment in public equity, or PIPE, with firms including Cerberus Capital Management and Platinum Equity. Bids are due next week, the people said, with some adding that a PIPE is just one of the options the company is considering.

Why Sumner Redstone’s breakup makes his advisers so happy (NYP)
Sumner Redstone’s breakup is being seen by insiders, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, as good news for Viacom and CBS shareholders. The media mogul’s split last week from longtime girlfriend Sydney Holland is being met with a sigh of relief by a host of advisers to the ailing executive, who have long complained about feeling she kept them away from Redstone, 92, and left in the dark about his state of health, sources told The Post on Wednesday. These sources feel Holland, 43, controlled access to the mogul — to the detriment of his media companies, which he controls through his National Amusements Inc.

Why there was a Microsoft executive at Apple's event (CNBC)
"Hell froze over."

Cops: Woman concealed loaded gun in vagina (USAToday)
Just before 11 p.m. CT Monday, officers stopped a 1998 Toyota Land Cruiser at 15th and Blair in north Waco for a traffic violation. During the stop, officers said the driver of the vehicle, Gabriel Garcia, 30, had 2.7 grams of methamphetamine under the driver's seat. A further search of the car allegedly uncovered another 29.5 grams of meth and scales in the purse of the female passenger, Ashley Cecilia Castaneda, 31. Because the traffic stop occurred within 1,000 feet of an elementary school, both Garcia and Castaneda were arrested and charged with possession of methamphetamine in a drug-free zone, Waco police Sgt. Patrick Swanton said. While Castaneda was being transported to jail, she told an officer she had concealed a handgun in her vagina. Officers immediately stopped and a female officer searched the suspect, finding a loaded Smith and Wesson .22-caliber pistol with a round chambered in her vagina.