Opening Bell: 9.2.15
Blythe Masters Tells Banks the Blockchain Changes Everything (Bloomberg)
Blythe Masters is back. She isn’t pitching a newly minted derivative or trading stratagem to this room. She’s promoting something wilder: It’s called the blockchain, and it’s the digital ledger software code that powers bitcoin. Masters is the CEO of Digital Asset Holdings, a New York tech startup. She says her firm is designing software that will enable banks, investors, and other market players to use blockchain technology to change the way they trade loans, bonds, and other assets. If she’s right, she’ll be at the center of yet another whirlwind that will change the markets. “You should be taking this technology as seriously as you should have been taking the development of the Internet in the early 1990s,” Masters, a lithe 46-year-old Englishwoman with auburn hair and the proper diction of the Home Counties, explains to the rapt audience. “It’s analogous to e-mail for money.”
IMF's Lagarde warns of spillover risks from recent volatility (Reuters)
"What has been demonstrated in the last few weeks is how much Asia is at the core of the global economy, and how much disruption in one market in Asia can actually spill over to the rest of the world," Christine Lagarde told a conference in Indonesia's capital...Lagarde said the world economy was facing headwinds from China's rebalancing, Japan's slow growth, falling commodity prices and uncertainties surrounding higher U.S. interest rates.
Canada’s Commodity Perils (WSJ)
The energy- and mineral-rich country’s economy contracted for a second consecutive quarter between April and June, as low prices for base metals and crude oil erode business investment and exports. Gross domestic product fell 0.5% on an annualized basis in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said Tuesday, and the first-quarter decline in GDP was revised to a 0.8% drop from an earlier estimate of a 0.6% contraction.
Day Care Teachers Encouraged Kids to Brawl, Posted 'Fight Club' Videos to Snapchat: Prosecutors (NBC)
Erica Kenny, 22, and Chanese White, 28, were both issued summonses for fourth-degree child abuse, while Kenny was also charged with child endangerment. Both were ticketed after authorities learned they may have instigated fights between children at the Lightbridge Academy in Cranford on at least one occasion in August. Kenny also allegedly recorded the scuffles between the 4- to 6-year-old children with her cellphone, then shared the footage with friends on Snapchat...A voice similar in timbre and tone to Kenny’s can be heard referencing “Fight Club” as she encourages them to brawl. At one point, the adult even quotes the book and movie.
US corporate bonds going through a barren stretch (FT)
It is 10 business days and counting since a company last issued US investment-grade bonds, the longest stretch of inactivity excluding Christmases in the records of Dealogic, which go back to January 1995. The last US-marketed IG bonds, excluding financial institutions, were $600m-worth of debt issued by Hershey’s on August 18, the first day of what became a painful six-day rollercoaster in US equities.
Uber Drivers’ Suit Granted Class-Action Status (WSJ)
Uber Technologies Inc.’s effort to stifle a legal challenge to its business model was struck down on Tuesday by a federal judge, which granted class-action status to a lawsuit claiming the car-hailing service treats its drivers like employees without providing the necessary benefits.
Burger King to rivals: Let's create burger mashup (CNBC)
Following a rebuffed attempt by Burger King to collaborate with McDonald's on Peace Day, BK extended its offer to four more fast food chains Tuesday. Each chain had previously offered to collaborate with the burger giant. Burger King invited Denny's, Wayback Burgers, Krystal and Giraffas to join in crafting a burger mashup. Its offer to McDonald's still stands. Denny's has already accepted the offer. Burger King began courting McDonald's last week, hoping to craft a "McWhopper" using ingredients from the McDonald's Big Mac and Burger King's Whopper.
Job offer rescinded after applicant sends nude selfie (UPI)
An Illinois job applicant texted his way out of an offered position when he accidentally sent the human resources manager a nude selfie, police said. Elmhurst police said the human resources manager at a St. Charles company contacted authorities Aug. 14 to report receiving two nude pictures via text message Aug. 11 and 13 from a man who had been offered a position with the company. "There was a conditional offer of employment made to this particular applicant," Elmhurst Police Chief Michael Ruth told the Chicago Tribune. "He texted the HR director and sent a nude photo of himself." Ruth said the company learned the identity of the sender when he later used the same phone number for a follow-up call. Police said the man who sent the pictures told investigators the nude selfies were sent accidentally.