Holiday Bell: 12.28.15
Why It Feels Like You're The Only One Working (CNBC)
Sitting at your desk wondering where all of your co-workers went? Welcome to the club — but there are only a handful of members. Only 59 percent of U.S. workers will work at least part of the week of Dec. 28 — and over a quarter, or 28 percent, will take the entire week off, according to a recent report by staffing firm Robert Half. Of those still stuck at the office, just 79 percent expect to be productive. Even fewer expect to be highly productive in the final days of 2015.
These Will Be Wall Street's Most In-Demand Jobs Next Year (Bloomberg)
Oil and gas bankers, restructuring bankers, rate traders, electronic trading personnel, fintech, wealth management, corporate finance.
Goldman, JPMorgan Seen as Fintech Winners While AmEx Suffers (Bloomberg)
The two firms have the best track record of implementing technology and will be able to successfully learn from new entrants in payments, blockchain and automated investing, said Brian Foran, an Autonomous Research LLP partner who ran the research firm’s survey this month. Eighty-five percent of the 150 executives and investors predicted selected disruption or a mix of winners and losers, while 14 percent thought banks face a significant threat.
Citigroup’s New Office Plan: No Offices (WSJ)
The nation’s third-largest bank is making the shift to an open-plan layout—a vibe more identified with tech startups than global banking conglomerates—where no one, not even CEO Michael Corbat, will have a door. Most employees won’t even get their own desks.
The Tax Sleuth Who Took Down a Drug Lord (Dealbook)
It ultimately took Mr. Alford, 38, more than three months to gather enough evidence to prevail upon his colleagues to take his suspect seriously. After he convinced them, though, the man he identified, Ross W. Ulbricht, was arrested and Silk Road shuttered. The night of the arrest, Mr. Alford got an email from one of the other special agents at the center of the case: “Congrats Gary, you were right,” it said.
Lis Smith gets the cat in split from Eliot Spitzer (NYP)
Eliot Spitzer won’t have a constant, furry reminder of his torrid affair with much- younger ex-girlfriend Lis Smith — because she’s keeping the cat they adopted earlier this year.
Pawnshops Emerge as Solid Lender in Post-Austerity Spain (NYT)
Lax lending and deadbeat borrowers nearly brought down the Spanish banking system a few years ago. That’s why the remnants of some of the failed banks are resorting to a time-honored form of loans with can’t-miss collateral: pawnshops. When borrowers cannot repay, there’s another way to recoup the money.
Hot Startups Prep 2016 IPOs (WSJ)
Four technology startups with billion-dollar-plus valuations are preparing for initial public offerings in early 2016, a sign that the tech IPO market is poised for a turnaround after one of its slowest years on record. Nutanix Inc., Okta Inc., Twilio Inc. and Coupa Software Inc. are in various stages of preparing for IPOs, according to regulatory filings and people familiar with the matter. The companies have all been valued by private investors at $1 billion or more over the past 18 months.
Jet.com’s Strategy: Low Prices, Fast Delivery, Happy Workers (NYT)
Jet supplies its employees with typical start-up perks like free food (weekly lunches, plus Red Bull in the refrigerator and protein powder in the kitchen cabinet), four months of paid parental leave, unlimited vacation and an ownership stake that could one day be worth a lot. But it also has some decidedly less common policies, like standardized, no-negotiation pay packages and worker-friendly employment agreements. Employees can see, every day, how the business is doing.
Steve Cohen donates private tour of his art collection (NYP)
The art tour — which will likely include a glimpse of the $101 million Alberto Giacometti sculpture “Chariot” Cohen picked up at auction at Sotheby’s earlier this month — was presented as a bid item during the gala’s live auction at Stage 48.
Warren Buffet’s housing firm exploits minorities: report (NYP)
Clayton Homes, a manufacturer and retailer of modular homes owned by billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, steers homebuyers to more expensive mortgages offered by a Berkshire-owned lender, a move illegal under federal law, according to a recently published investigative report. The lender, Vanderbilt Mortgages, charges minority buyers more for mortgages than white buyers earning less, the 5,000-word story alleges.
Meth user arrested after joyride on Walmart motorized cart (UPI)
For one Florida woman, a wild weekend joyride through an area Walmart ended with shoplifting and drug paraphernalia charges and jail. Citrus County police arrested 25-year-old Josseleen Elida Lopez after she was detained by a Walmart employee who found her eating stolen food and drinking stolen wine while cruising through the store in a motorized shopping cart. Lopez was found to have drunk two bottles of wine and eaten sushi, a rotisserie chicken, cinnamon rolls and mini muffins. Lopez's damages totaled $44.53. Police officers also found two used syringes in Lopez's possession. The 25-year-old admitted using the syringes to inject crystal meth earlier in the day.