Opening Bell: 12.7.15
Silicon Valley Bank Sees Big Profits From Relationships With Startups (WSJ)
The bank offers invitation-only mortgages to company founders and venture-capital executives and helps venture-capital firms fund their investments. The bank’s parent, SVB Financial Group, owns warrants in 1,625 companies. Warrants give SVB the right to buy shares in those companies. “It’s a whole ecosystem we are building,” says Gregory Becker, president and chief executive of Silicon Valley Bank and SVB.
Samsung Insider-Trading Probe Involves President-Level Executives (WSJ)
A probe into suspected insider trading at the Samsung conglomerate includes president-level executives and could be expanded to more than the nine officials previously revealed to be under investigation, an official at South Korea’s financial regulator said Monday. The nine executives belong to three or four “major” Samsung companies, the official said, declining to elaborate further.
Martin Shkreli, the Bad Boy of Pharmaceuticals, Hits Back (NYT)
Rather than cower as he takes a beating, Mr. Shkreli seems to relish his time in the ring. He taunts his critics on Twitter or wherever he can. (Mr. Shkreli on Bernie Sanders to Fox Business Network: “I don’t think he understands pharmaceuticals at all.”) Most recently, he live-streamed hours of himself at his desk, talking to co-workers and viewers about medical research and investments and tapping at his computer (action high point: hair-twirling). Last month, he and a group of investors took a large stake in another drug company. He sparred contemptuously with an executive of Express Scripts at a recent Forbes conference. And he still has time to occasionally post pictures of cats rolling in cash on Twitter.
Man Caught Trying To Have Sex With Campervan (HP)
He tried to lower himself onto the metal tow ball of the vehicle on a busy, well-lit street in Cornwall, southwest England, at 1:30 a.m. one night last week, reports the Cornish Guardian.
JPMorgan, Goldman See Bond Traders' Hubris Ending in Tears (Bloomberg)
The stakes could hardly be higher. With the size of the global bond market ballooning to about $100 trillion, any missteps could be magnified and ripple across financial markets. While Fed officials have repeatedly said the central bank plans to move gradually, all those statements come with one big caveat: it depends on just how much the economy improves. Faster growth and inflation could prompt the Fed to raise rates more quickly than traders are pricing in and prompt a sudden selloff in bonds.
SocGen Says Buy Oil Now as OPEC Must Cut Output to Stop Bleeding (Bloomberg)
Brent crude will climb to $60 a barrel at the end of 2016 as production cuts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will help balance supply and demand, the bank’s head of global asset allocation Alain Bokobza said on Monday. The bank recommends increasing exposure to oil-related assets with a view that commodity prices are bottoming out.
Deutsche Bank launches 'robo adviser' for equities investors (Reuters)
Deutsche Bank's tool, dubbed AnlageFinder, uses questionnaires and algorithms to put together individual equities portfolios for customers of its branded online investment platform and was developed in cooperation with financial technology company Fincite, Deutsche Bank said on Monday.
Winston Churchill refused to pay his tailor's bills (Reuters)
Refusal to pay the bills of one's tailor was famously almost a point of honor among English gentlemen in past centuries and Winston Churchill was no exception, newly released archives show. Britain's World War Two leader had racked up a bill of 197 pounds by 1937 - around 12,000 pounds ($18,000) at today's prices - with Savile Row tailor Henry Poole and Co before he was finally asked to pay up. He took offense, refused to settle the bill and never darkened Poole's door again. Despite the arrears, the tailor had continued to make clothes for Churchill, said James Sherwood, a historian who has examined Poole and Co's archives.