Opening Bell: 2.8.16
More Wall Street Strategists Are Cutting Their S&P 500 Estimates (Bloomberg)
Just five weeks into 2016, seven of the 21 strategists tracked by Bloomberg have lowered their projections for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index amid a rout that wiped more than $2 trillion from prices. The cuts have reduced the average annual estimate, the first time that’s happened this early in a year since the Iraq war in 2003.
Citigroup bars DraftKings, FanDuel transactions in NY (NYP)
Citigroup has barred its New York customers from making credit card transactions with DraftKings and FanDuel, the two biggest fantasy sports sites. The ban will last until a decision on the sites’ legality is made by courts, said bank spokeswoman Jennifer Bombardier.
Emerging Markets Battle Capital Flight (WSJ)
Central banks in some emerging markets are stepping up efforts to flood their financial systems with cash, highlighting the pressure that they face from rapid capital flight. The moves amount to a collective turnabout from months of interest-rate cuts in 2015 that helped send emerging-market currencies down by as much as 20% to 30% over the past year against the U.S. dollar.
Russia Will Give Emerging-Market Growth a Boost: BofA (Bloomberg)
“Russian gross domestic product is a relatively big part of the emerging-markets GDP, and just by standing relatively still and not plunging too much, Russia helps developing nations in general because it doesn’t stand in the way of their growth,” Ades said by phone from New York last week. “We are not expecting any miracles in Russia this year, but the fact that things won’t be as bad as before is not a bad sign.”
A guy named Vermin takes on establishment in New Hampshire primary (SH)
Tuesday in New Hampshire, we will find out if a guy named Vermin Supreme has a chance at the presidency...Supreme's platform is as eclectic as his head gear, which is a rubber boot. "Hooves on the ground and boots on our heads," he replied when the Political Monitor asked his plan for defeating ISIS.
Yelp Needs Some Help (WSJ)
Sentiment has soured on the online-review service as it grapples with rising costs and slowing user growth. Less than one-third of analysts recommend the stock, close to the lowest levels of optimism in three years. And now, with fourth-quarter results on tap Monday, Yelp is getting close to falling below its $15 initial public offering price for the first time.
What's behind LinkedIn's Dramatic Fall? (CNBC)
...expectations of a robust subscription business are falling flat. "Companies with high predictability do get valuations that are at significant premiums to other Internet companies," said James Cakmak, an analyst at Monness, Crespi, Hardt & Co. "As a result of this lack of confidence in LinkedIn's topline, the valuations associated with this will be chopped in half from where we were yesterday. This is a confidence issue, a predictability issue, and it's not something that's going to be fixed overnight."
The World's Biggest Wealth Fund Is Unhappy With Volkswagen's Leadership (Bloomberg)
Norway’s $810 billion sovereign wealth fund, which holds a 1.2 percent stake in Volkswagen, takes ethical rules on human rights, some weapons production, the environment and tobacco into account when it makes investment decisions. It previously criticized Volkswagen’s shareholder structure in 2009, after the VW-Porsche takeover battle.
CFTC Can’t Give Whistleblower Money Away (WSJ)
Since its Whistleblower Program was launched in 2011, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has spent more on administrative costs than it has paid out in bounties, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of the agency’s data. The war chest, funded by CFTC sanctions, held $268 million at the end of September, which is more than the agency’s annual budget. The fund has paid out two awards, totaling $530,000, in its more than four years of operation.
Alabama Man Dressed In Clown Costume Arrested For Drunk Driving (TSG)
Acting on a tip from another motorist, a Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office deputy spotted a Ford SUV weaving across a road in Pinson, a city outside Birmingham. Upon stopping the car around 8:30 PM, the cop noticed that “the driver of the vehicle was dressed as a clown,” according to investigators. The motorist, Joel Allan Sloan, 51, told the deputy that he “just had a few drinks.” Sloan, police report, “gave no explanation for the clown costume.” In addition to being collared for DUI, Sloan was also charged in connection with an outstanding felony theft warrant. Sloan is being held in the county lockup in lieu of $2500 bond, according to jail records.