Opening Bell: 1.18.16
China’s Securities Czar Casts Wide Blame for Market Turmoil (WSJ)
In the statement, Mr. Xiao defended his handling of successive market meltdowns, blaming the “abnormal volatility” on “an immature market, inexperienced investors, imperfect trading system, flawed market mechanisms and inappropriate supervision systems.”
What Investors Need to Know About Entering Iran's Stock Market (Bloomberg)
...dozens of Europeans and Americans living in Europe have been on organized investor tours to Iran over the past year, assessing the landscape and visiting some of the large, listed manufacturers. Many obtained the necessary trading codes and licenses to prepare for the removal of sanctions. “Initially we’ll have the braver sort of family offices, fund managers who will come in in the first six to eight months," said Soltanzadeh. These will be “setups that have done this in a lot more dangerous places in the world and they understand risk," he said.
Biggest Banks Rue Millions Lost on Trader Who Failed Before (Bloomberg)
BNP Paribas SA and Nomura Holdings Inc. are among five banks nursing losses of about 120 million pounds ($171 million) on the demise of an obscure bond-trading firm called Invexstar Capital Management Ltd. They shouldn’t be surprised. Alberto Statti, 49, Invexstar’s manager and sole employee, helped run two firms before the London-based brokerage foundered last year. One ceased trading in 2008 with losses of 54 million pounds, while the other collapsed in 2013, owing about 12 million pounds to creditors including JPMorgan Chase & Co., according to U.K. regulatory filings.
Is Bitcoin Breaking Up? (WSJ)
“The fundamentals are broken, and whatever happens to the price in the short term, the long-term trend should probably be downwards,” developer Mike Hearn wrote on the blogging platform Medium. “I will no longer be taking part in bitcoin development and have sold all my coins.”
'Powerball Reimbursement Fund' Raises $800 On GoFundMe (HP)
A person by the name of Cinnamon Nicole set up a campaign page Thursday, saying she expected to win the $1.58 billion prize when she and her family spent a fortune on lottery tickets last week, despite there being a 1 in 292.2 million chance of actually winning the colossal jackpot. "Please help me and my family as we have exausted [sic] all of our funds. We spent all of our money on lottery tickets (expecting to win the 1.5 billion) and are now in dire need of cash," her since-removed GoFundMe page read, according to a remaining cached version and Pix11 News. “…I’m certain that we will be able to pick ourselves up from the trenches of this lost [sic] and spend another fortune trying to hit it big again!” read the optimistic page, titled "Powerball Reimbursement Fund."
Volkswagen faces shareholder claims over emissions scandal (Reuters)
Law firm Nieding + Barth said on Monday it would lodge a case with a regional court in Brunswick this week, seeking hundreds of millions of euros in damages on behalf of 66 institutional investors from the United States and Britain.
New film ‘Equity’ portrays female-driven Wall Street (NYP)
The film stars Anna Gunn from “Breaking Bad” as Naomi Bishop, a 40s-ish investment banker who, while fighting to get a promotion leads a controversial tech IPO. It’s being billed as the first post-financial crisis Wall Street film — where the regulations are new but the pressure to succeed is old. “We wanted to create a female Wall Street movie where the women aren’t hookers or wives but real bankers,” Reiner, of “Orange is the New Black,” told The Post.
Hedge funds eye sweet gains on corporate loans (NYP)
...hedgies are looking to jump into corporate lending in an attempt to corner a market estimated at as much as $500 billion in capital needs. It’s a sum that could threaten the financial system with huge investor losses, bankruptcies and job losses as signs of economic trouble appear, experts say.
Man on store video wanted for $1,500 chewing gum theft (UPI)
Surveillance footage posted to YouTube by York Regional Police shows the man entering the pharmacy in Markham holding a garbage bag after arriving by taxi. "A few moments later he re-enters the store, fills another garbage bag with chewing gum and walks out again," York Regional Police said in a statement posted to Facebook. "It is believed that the man loaded both garbage bags into the taxi that was waiting for him and left." Police estimate the cost of the gum at $1,528 and are seeking the public's help to identify the suspect.