Opening Bell: 1.25.16
A Struggle to Quell Investor Fears Over Unsettled Emerging Markets (Dealbook)
Traders and portfolio managers say that what worries them now is the sense that sophisticated institutional investors, who generally tend to take a longer-term view than their retail counterparts (and who might even be inclined to buy at these levels), have been the ones driving the selling over the last six months. Instead of taking advantage of bond and company valuations that are at historic lows, these investors are acting more like lemmings, unloading the good and the bad in their portfolios because that is what they see their peers doing. The panicky climate is also forcing managers to have a chunk of cash on hand to meet redemption requests.
Goldman's Cohn Says Sell Treasuries; Morgan Stanley Is Bullish (Bloomberg)
“If I had to trade it right now, I’d sell,” Cohn said in an interview Jan. 22. The benchmark 10-year yield will probably be in a range of 2 percent to 2.30 percent, he said. It was 2.05 percent Monday. “I’d look for the range to go back to 2.30,” he said. “The bull market is here,” Morgan Stanley wrote in a report dated Sunday by analysts led by Matthew Hornbach, the head of global interest rate strategy. Ten-year yields may fall to a range of 1.55 percent to 1.75 percent, according to the report.
Foreign Investors Bail on Russian Stocks (Bloomberg)
International investors are exiting their investments in some of the most liquid Russian companies as soaring volatility in the country’s stocks and currency push them to turn to less risky assets. They are getting out of Russian stocks faster than local traders are selling shares on the Moscow Exchange, causing the valuation gap between onshore and offshore-traded equities to narrow to levels not seen in as long as a year. The asset dump comes after oil, the country’s main source of revenue, plunged to a 12-year low last week and the ruble retreated the most among developing-nation peers.
At this year's Super Bowl, there's no such thing as cheap seats—or flights (CNBC)
According to TiqIQ, before this weekend's games the lowest Super Bowl 50 ticket price available was $3,100, although tickets prices on StubHub were starting at $3450, with passes just for parking at Levi's Stadium starting at $68...For "just" $550,000, Vivid Seats will sell you an Ultimate VIP Super Bowl package — for 20 people — that includes round-trip tickets on a chartered jet from anywhere in the continental U.S., 10 double-occupancy hotel rooms at a four-star Santa Clara resort for three nights. The trip also includes transportation and admission to the NFL Experience, industry party passes, assorted other perks and, naturally, tickets to the game.
The Bronx Zoo will let you name a Madagascar hissing cockroach after your Valentine’s Day sweetheart (Newsweek)
The Bronx Zoo is home to a lot of Madagascar hissing cockroaches. It may surprise you to learn that they don’t all have names. So, for Valentines Day, the zoo is offering to let you name one of these giant roaches as a quasi-grotesque romantic gesture, for $10 per roach. “Tens of thousands of roaches remain nameless and would make a great symbol of your love,” the zoo writes, under a banner with the tag line: “Elusive, resilient, and sometimes scary: Love is like a roach.”
Tyco International and Johnson Controls Are Said to Be Merging (Dealbook)
Tyco International, the remnant of the industrial conglomerate that was marred with corporate scandal and later broken up, is in late-stage discussions to merge with Johnson Controls for as much as $20 billion, a person briefed on the discussions said on Sunday.
Husband secretly divorced wife after wedding ‘to protect assets’ (NYP)
Cristina Carta Villa, 59, is suing her 90-year-old “husband,” Gabriel Villa, to nullify the divorce she never knew about — and keep him from selling an apartment they shared. The two met at a friend’s house, quickly tying the knot in a New York ceremony in 1994. She left her job teaching Italian literature at Boston College to be with the lawyer and travel agent more than 30 years her senior. “He was absolutely charming, and despite our age difference, it was love at first sight,” says Cristina Carta Villa. But all the while, Gabriel was apparently hedging his bets. Four months after the pair tied the knot, Gabriel Villa secretly arranged for a divorce in the Dominican Republic.
Darling of Davos, Lagarde has second IMF term sewn up (Reuters)
In a gesture of cross-Channel entente, British finance minister George Osborne formally nominated the center-right Lagarde, 60, within minutes of the appointment process opening. Endorsements quickly followed from France, Germany and Italy, as well as unofficially from the United States, which holds a blocking minority of votes on the IMF's board. More significantly, China, South Korea and Mexico signaled in Davos they would support Lagarde, ensuring there would be no joint move by the big emerging economies to try to wrest the IMF job from European hands, which have held it since 1946.
'El Chapo' shirt is big seller for California clothing firm (Reuters)
The shirt worn by wanted Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman in a photograph with American actor Sean Penn is a big seller for a California clothing firm. Guzman, who was recaptured last week in Mexico after escaping from a prison last year, was pictured wearing the Barabas shirt in a photo with Penn that accompanied the actor's recent Rolling Stone magazine article about the fugitive. The company posted on its Facebook page that "El Chapo" was wearing its shirt. It was reportedly sold out because of the spike in demand following the Rolling stone story.