Opening Bell: 12.17.15
Shkreli, CEO Reviled for Drug Price Gouging, Arrested on Securities Fraud Charges (Bloomberg)
Martin Shkreli, the boyish drug company entrepreneur, who rocketed to infamy by jacking up the price of a life-saving pill from $13.50 to $750, was arrested by federal agents at his Manhattan home early Thursday morning on securities fraud related to a firm he founded.
KaloBios Plunges 50 Percent After CEO Martin Shkreli's Arrest (Bloomberg)
KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc. plummeted 50 percent Thursday in early trading after the drug company’s Chief Executive Officer Martin Shkreli was arrested in New York Thursday morning on securities fraud charges related to one of his prior companies.
Beijing Probes Architects of Stock-Market Rescue (WSJ)
Communist Party graft busters are investigating whether officials inside the China Securities Regulatory Commission used their knowledge of the rescue effort to enrich their friends or themselves, say agency officials familiar with the probe. In recent weeks, they have been taking officials, one by one, to a hotel close to the agency’s headquarters to press them to come clean or report on others, the officials say.
Putin Praises `Absolute Leader' Trump as Colorful, Talented Guy (Bloomberg)
The Republican candidate is “a very colorful character and talented,” Putin said after concluding his three-hour annual press conference in Moscow. “He’s the absolute leader in the presidential race,” Putin said Thursday, in remarks first reported by the Interfax news service. “He’s said that he wants to move to a new level of ties, closer and deeper ties with Russia. How couldn’t we welcome that? Of course we welcome it."
Confident and clear, Yellen says rate path will be well signaled (Reuters)
The unanimous backing Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen got for the Fed's first rate hike since the financial crisis let her deliver a clear message: Don't expect further rate hikes for a while, and when we are ready, we'll tell you.
Are You Ready to Buy Bonds From Iran? (WSJ)
The Iranian government will likely offer at least $500 million in foreign-currency-denominated bonds to international investors in 2016, deputy economy and finance minister Mohammad Khazaee told The Wall Street Journal in a recent interview. The sale would be intended as a litmus test of interest in Iranian debt, he said—a crucial step if the country is to attract the investment it needs in infrastructure and energy to boost economic growth. "I think in 2016 we have to pull the trigger,” Mr. Khazaee said. “We have to test the market outside Iran.”
Court order to bring Lagarde to trial 'incomprehensible': lawyer (Reuters)
The lawyer of International Monetary Fund (IMF) boss Christine Lagarde said on Thursday he would recommend his client appeal a French court's decision to bring her to trial over her role in the Bernard Tapie/Credit Lyonnais affair. "It's incomprehensible," Lagarde's lawyer Yves Repiquet said on French TV channel iTele. "I will recommend Mrs Lagarde appeal this decision."
12-year-old with 20 prior arrests steals 89-year-old's car (UPI)
When police were able to apprehend the boy they were less surprised by his actions, as he had been arrested over 20 times since the age of nine. Police say no one was hurt, but Raferty's car was damaged during the incident. "I think he got into a car accident," Raferty told the Tampa Bay Times. "He probably couldn't even reach the pedals."