Opening Bell: 5.18.16
Bond Buyers Can’t Stop Themselves as Risks Hit a 15-Year High (WSJ)
“The pain is definitely two-way,” said Anthony Cronin, a Treasury bond trader at Société Générale SA. “There is a fear of missing out the next bond market rally in case U.S. yields continue to fall, but at the same time there are signs of an inflating bond bubble as more and more of the yields dip below zero.”
Good News For the Economy Is Bad for U.S. Stock Traders (Bloomberg)
Signs of a healing economy have been nothing to celebrate in the U.S. stock market. On a day when industrial production, housing starts and consumer inflation all exceeded forecasts, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 181 points, posting its fifth swing in six days of at least 1 percent. The selloff worsened as a pair of Federal Reserve officials played up the odds of at least two interest-rate increases this year.
Silicon Valley mocks Trump over his tech bubble warning (Reuters)
"You have a stock market that is very strange," the presumptive Republican nominee said. "You look at some of these tech stocks that are so, so weak as a concept and a company, and they're selling for so much money. And I would have said can that ever happen again? I think that could happen again." Some startup founders rejected Trump's generalization that all companies are burning cash and overvalued; certainly many of them are, and in the last several months a correction has started to rectify years of exuberant investments. Still, other companies continue to raise money successfully and turn profits. "So far he has been saying dumb things but they seem to be getting dumber and dumber," Vivek Wadhwa, an entrepreneur and Stanford University fellow, told Reuters. "I was going to tweet (the comments) while calling Peter Thiel and saying, 'Here is your buddy.'" Thiel, an influential investor well-known for his contrarian ideas, is one of the few Silicon Valley leaders to openly support Trump.
Activist Pushes Pandora to Put Itself Back on the Block (NYT)
Pandora Media, the largest Internet radio service, has become the target of an activist shareholder who is urging the company to renew plans to sell itself. Corvex Management, a hedge fund managed by Keith Meister, has taken a 9.9 percent stake in Pandora by acquiring 22.7 million shares and share equivalents, making it the largest shareholder, according to a regulatory filing on Monday. Corvex’s stake is worth about $230 million at Monday’s closing stock price.
Walmart Theft Suspect Told Cops She Was "Too Lazy" To Pay For Stolen Sex Toys (TSG)
A Walmart shopper arrested Saturday night for stealing a sex toy, lubricant, and a “vibrating penis ring” told police that she was “too lazy” to pay for the items, which she had stashed in her purse. Therasa Prine, 25, was collared after exiting a Walmart in St. Petersburg, according to an arrest affidavit. While Prine paid for some items, she allegedly sought to boost other goods, including a Trojan Ultra Touch personal massager, K-Y Intense Arousal Gel, and a LifeStyles vibrating ring. In addition to a shoplifting count, Prine is facing narcotics charges since cops found marijuana and the painkiller Dilaudid in her purse.
Standard Life Chairman Says Executive Pay Too High in London (Bloomberg)
Standard Life Plc Chairman Gerry Grimstone told shareholders at the firm’s annual general meeting in London that executive pay is “too high” across the U.K.’s financial services industry. Grimstone made his comments as investors holding 22.3 percent of Standard Life shares voted against the remuneration report. That compares with the rest of the resolutions, which all had more than 90 percent support, results from Edinburgh-based Standard Life showed.
The Commodity That No One Knows About But Everybody Wants to Buy (Bloomberg)
The world’s mines and steel plants got so devalued during the commodity slump that some were just given away by owners struggling to cut losses or debt. But there’s at least one metal that’s been attracting a lot of attention. Niobium -- named for a Greek goddess who became a symbol of the tragic mourning mother -- is used to produce stronger, lighter steel for industrial pipes and aircraft parts. It is mined in only three places on Earth, and the price of every kilogram is seven times higher than copper.
Philip Falcone’s HC2 Makes $1 Billion Offer for Andersons (WSJ)
Former hedge-fund manager Philip Falcone’s HC2 Holdings Inc. has made a bid to buy agricultural company Andersons Inc. for about $1 billion in cash. The offer, disclosed in a letter, values shares in Andersons at $37 apiece, a 43% premium over Tuesday’s closing price but well below the near $70 peak the stock hit in late 2014. The Wall Street Journal had reported on the bid and the letter earlier Tuesday.
Packed airports bring in ponies and clowns to ease traveler fury (NYP)
At Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, miniature horses from the nonprofit Seven Oaks Farms Miniature Therapy Horses in Hamilton, Ohio, are trotted in several times a month. “Animals help reduce stress and anxiety levels and put smiles on people’s faces,” airport spokeswoman Mindy Kershner told NBC News. “Unlike service animals, who are working and should not be touched, therapy animals can be patted and hugged.” Many airports use therapy dogs, but “we figured this is Kentucky, after all, so we need horses,” she said. San Diego International Airport is sending in clowns from the Fern Street Circus...Seattle’s Sea-Tac and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airports are providing musical performers to their pre-security areas...At Denver International Airport, customer service workers provide water, Hershey’s Kisses, Peppermint Patties and lollipops.