Opening Bell: 5.10.16
Credit Suisse Swings to Loss but Wealth Unit Upbeat (WSJ)
Investors, who had been braced for a poor investment bank result, focused on more upbeat figures for Credit Suisse’s wealth management units and traded shares of the lender up 4%. Zurich-based Credit Suisse reported a first-quarter net loss of 302 million Swiss francs ($311 million), compared with a profit of 1.05 billion francs in the same period last year. Net revenue fell 30% to 4.64 billion francs.
This Activist Investor Doesn’t Have Time for Japan’s Nice Meetings (Bloomberg)
Tsuyoshi Maruki stands out like a lone wolf in Japan, where societal intolerance for aggressive shareholder campaigns has spurred a breed of friendly activists. Not Maruki. Where persuasion doesn’t work, he turns to techniques that include banding with other investors to oust management and filing lawsuits to overhaul corporate practices in order to boost returns for his 9.7 billion yen ($90 million) fund. “If one always adopts a friendly engagement style, such as having gentle and warm meetings, would the management really change?” said Maruki, 56, who founded Tokyo-based Strategic Capital Inc. in 2012. “After the meeting, it would probably end at a comment like, ‘They were nice.’"
Bank of America: 'Vortex of Negative Headlines' to Send U.S. Stocks Plummeting (Bloomberg)
In an appearance on BloombergTV on Monday, Savita Subramanian, Bank of America Merrill Lynch's head of U.S. equity & quantitative strategy, warned of a "vortex of negative headlines" coming in June that could soon push the S&P 500 to 1,850—back near its February lows. Among the factors she cited are the upcoming 'Brexit' vote, the June decision from the Federal Reserve, and the U.S. election.
U.S. investigates market-making operations of Citadel, KCG (Reuters)
Federal authorities are investigating the market-making arms of Citadel LLC and KCG Holdings Inc, looking into the possibility that the two giants of electronic trading are giving small investors a poor deal when executing stock transactions on their behalf. The Justice Department has subpoenaed information from Citadel and KCG (KCG.N) related to the firms' execution of stock trades on behalf of clients, according to people familiar with the investigation.
Judge spent 30 years trading sexual favors for lighter sentences (NYP)
Part-time Cross County District Judge Joe Boeckmann resigned after a state judicial commission presented him with new allegations, including one case when a man said he was taken to a courtroom, told to strip naked and photographed in handcuffs. Allegations were made public last year that Boeckmann had engaged in inappropriate sexual relationships including photographing and paddling defendants in exchange for lighter sentences.
Panama-Leak Database Makes 200,000 Shells Searchable Online (Bloomberg)
A searchable database of more than 200,000 Panamanian shell companies was released online Monday afternoon, as part of an international journalism group’s effort to reveal the secrets of the offshore financial world. The database features information derived from millions of leaked documents created by the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which specialized in setting up secret shell companies for clients ranging from corporate executives and wealthy celebrities to relatives and associates of heads of state like Russian President Vladimir Putin and British Prime Minister David Cameron.
More Reserve Currencies Would Bolster System, Fed’s Dudley Says (WSJ)
“Will more reserve currencies strengthen the international monetary system? My answer can be summed up in one word: yes,” said Mr. Dudley in remarks prepared for the High-Level Conference on the International Monetary System in Zurich. “The greater the number of countries that have such attributes [meeting the criteria of reserve currencies], the more stable and sound the global financial system is likely to be,” he said in remarks for the conference, which is co-sponsored by the International Monetary Fund and the Swiss National Bank.
Robin Hood Gala Raises $61 Million (Bloomberg)
The Robin Hood Foundation, dedicated to fighting poverty in New York City, took in about $61 million at its annual fundraiser with the help of wealthy donors from the financial industry and beyond. That’s less than last year’s $101 million, when two donors chipped in $50 million to smash the record. But it’s a bit more than the year before, when times were better by many measures. The decade’s low was $47 million in 2011.
Kid finds Mayan settlement while messing around on Google Maps (NYP)
A Canadian teenager has uncovered the remains of a lost Mayan city using only the night sky. William Gadoury, 15, named the city K’aak Chi or Fire Mouth, which could be the largest Mayan settlement ever discovered. After hours of study, the teen realised that the ancient people built their settlements according to the stars. He carefully analysed 22 constellations known to the Mayans and found that their position matched where the biggest cities were. His theory linked the constellations to 117 Mayan cities spread around Central and South America.