Opening Bell: 6.24.16
Britain Votes to Leave E.U.; Cameron Plans to Step Down (NYT)
Britain has voted to leave the European Union, a historic decision sure to reshape the nation’s place in the world, rattle the Continent and rock political establishments throughout the West...The stunning turn of events was accompanied by a plunge in the financial markets, with the value of the British pound and stock prices in Asia plummeting. The margin of victory startled even proponents of a British exit. The “Leave” campaign won by 52 percent to 48 percent. More than 17.4 million people voted in the referendum on Thursday to sever ties with the European Union, and about 16.1 million to remain in the bloc.
Nightmare Coming True for Stock Bulls Blindsided in Brexit Shock (Bloomberg)
Global investors better pray their hedges prove more reliable than the bookmakers. In a rout worsened by the mistimed bout of investor optimism that preceded it, equities plunged around the world Friday in waves of selling that grew as the prospect of U.K. secession became reality. In the U.S., futures on the S&P 500 tumbled 5 percent, triggering trading curbs. Equity indexes from Tokyo to Paris and Rome sank more than 7 percent. The selloff takes its place with the worst market meltdowns of the last decade, rivaling the crash of Aug. 24, 2015, in which $2.7 trillion was wiped from global stocks in 24 hours, and reminding traders of the rush to the exits that marked the latter half of 2008. Everything that could go wrong did: shares rallied in the last week and surged Thursday, partly on assumption speculators sussed out the U.K. results before they were tallied.
Lindsay Lohan live tweets rant on European Union referendum, attacks 'Brexit' voters (NYDN)
The former child star surprised many with how much she had to say on Twitter as the results began to trickle in on Britain's historic vote to possibly leave the European Union. "@Telegraph what would #MARGARETTHATCHER THINK OF #Brexit," one of her many tweets during her four-hour tirade stated. "For the love of #hermajestyqueen," she pleaded.
Biggest U.S. Banks Seen Weathering Severe Stress in Fed’s Tests (Bloomberg)
The Federal Reserve’s stress tests of big banks found all 33 have enough capital to withstand a severe economic shock, though Morgan Stanley trailed the rest of Wall Street in a key measure of leverage. The results mark the second straight year all firms passed the annual exams’ first phase. The biggest cleared the most severe scenario handily, with one exception. Morgan Stanley’s projected 4.9 percent leverage ratio tied for last place alongside a Canadian bank’s U.S. unit, falling within a percentage point of the 4 percent minimum.
Dodd, Frank blast ruling that MetLife not too big to fail (Reuters)
A federal court's striking down of the government's designation of insurer MetLife Inc (MET.N) as "too-big-to-fail" could undermine efforts to head off another financial crisis, authors of the landmark Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law said. In a brief filed on Thursday with a federal appeals court, former Senator Chris Dodd, former Representative Barney Frank and other Democratic party leaders said the designation was necessary to bring a key nonbank financial institution under an effective regulatory regime
Montreal dad gets wild squirrel to pull daughter's loose tooth (CNBC)
A Montreal dad enlisted the help of a wild squirrel for a bit of amateur dentistry -- removing his daughter's loose tooth. The video, filmed in a Montreal park, depicts David Freiheit and his daughter affixing some dental floss to the girl's loose tooth. The girl remains on the bench while Freiheit backs away to film. A squirrel shows interest in granola tied to the other end of the floss and pulls on it hard enough to remove the tooth. "Not many people get to say they did something for the first time in human history," Freiheit wrote online. "Today, my kid and I get to say that."
The ‘Anti-Business’ President Who’s Been Good for Business (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg: What industries would you think about going into? Obama: Well, you know, it’s hard to say. But what I will say is that—just to bring things full circle about innovation—the conversations I have with Silicon Valley and with venture capital pull together my interests in science and organization in a way I find really satisfying. You know, you think about something like precision medicine: the work we’ve done to try to build off of breakthroughs in the human genome; the fact that now you can have your personal genome mapped for a thousand bucks instead of $100,000; and the potential for us to identify what your tendencies are, and to sculpt medicines that are uniquely effective for you. That’s just an example of something I can sit and listen and talk to folks for hours about.
Millionaires in Asia reach a new milestone for wealth (CNBC)
According to Capgemini's World Wealth Report, released Thursday, millionaires in the Asia-Pacific region had $17.4 trillion in total wealth in 2015, up nearly 10 percent from 2014. That marked the first time wealth among millionaires in that region topped that of those living in North America. By comparison, North American millionaires had $16.6 trillion in wealth last year, representing growth of 2.3 percent.
Pandit-Backed CommonBond Said to Cut Capital Markets Chief Starr (Bloomberg)
CommonBond Inc., the student-loan venture backed by Vikram Pandit, cut 10 people including its head of capital markets hired just six months ago, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
David Duchovny Wants You To Film Your Dog Licking Your Face (HP)
David Duchovny launched the #LickMyFace campaign on Wednesday, with a video of him spreading organic peanut butter all over his face in order to entice his rescue dog, Brick, to lick it. For every lick from Brick, Duchovny will donate $1 to Target Zero — a nonprofit that mentors shelters, city by city, by teaching them the best practices to become “zero kill” or no-kill, meaning they will no longer euthanize healthy or treatable animals...Enter Fox Mulder and Brick — a short, stout, brick-shaped mutt who Duchovny’s assistant found roaming the streets of Los Angeles. “His other name is ‘Little Bear Fat Fox’ – but he seems somewhat offended by that,” Duchovny said. Offended or not, Brick seems to really dig the peanut butter smeared all over Duchovny’s face — bestowing him with 46 licks total. After the adorable lick-a-thon, Duchovny challenges his ex-wife, actress Téa Leoni and his “X-Files” co-star, Gillian Anderson, to do the same.