Opening Bell: 6.3.16
Silicon Valley Finds Trump’s Disruption Unwelcome (Dealbook)
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee wants to restrict immigration while bringing back manufacturing. He compulsively uses tech products like Twitter but is not in awe of the people who built them. He made his fortune the old-fashioned way, by going into the family business, in the old-fashioned industry of real estate. He’s not the valley’s kind of entrepreneur. Worst of all, Mr. Trump is revealing Silicon Valley’s vulnerability. In recent years, technology companies have extended their enormous reach while becoming ever wealthier and more powerful. Yet Mr. Trump has paid no political price for attacking them, with broadsides in recent months against Jeff Bezos at Amazon, Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook and Timothy D. Cook at Apple. For all these reasons, support for Mr. Trump here [in Palo Alto] is minimal.
Ex-Barclays employees tell jury of ‘humiliation’ and pressure (FT, earlier)
Five former Barclays employees on trial for allegedly conspiring to rig interest rates have taken the stand in their own defence, with several telling the jury of the stress and pressure they felt while working at the UK bank.
Jonathan Mathew described how his boss used to call him a “deaf git” and “humiliate” him by “whacking” him on the back of the head with a 12-inch baseball bat. And Alex Pabon testified: “You definitely follow instructions from your boss.” He also fought back tears as he told the jury that by 2006, “I was kind of burnt out and ready to leave.” Mr Pabon, 37, Mr Mathew, 35, Jay Merchant, 45, Stylianos Contogoulas, 44, and Ryan Reich, 34, are all on trial at Southwark Crown Court for conspiring to manipulate US dollar Libor for more than two years before September 2007. They deny wrongdoing.
ECB Stands Pat, Won’t Rule Out Future Stimulus (WSJ)
Despite a recent rise in oil prices, the ECB’s economists barely raised their inflation forecast for this year, and left their projections for next year and 2018 unchanged. That indicates further stimulus may be needed if policy makers are to meet their inflation target of just under 2%. Consumer prices have been falling in the bloc for much of this year.
The death of the boozy business lunch: British workers are too busy to leave their desks (Telegraph)
The glory days of boozy business lunches are long gone because of the time restraints and financial pressures placed on British workers, a new report has claimed. Nearly half of all British workers are too busy to even leave their desks for lunch, according to the results of research conducted by restaurant reservation service Bookatable. The study found that the traditional business lunch has been in steady decline since its “heyday” in the 1980s, despite 40pc of British workers saying lunch with prospective clients is the most important factor in sealing a business deal. And more than a third of workers admitted they would be more likely to renew a contract or use a supplier if they were wined and dined in a restaurant.
Cop-hating vandal paints ‘no cronut’ on NYPD cruiser (NYP)
A man with a taste for high-end pastries — and an apparent hatred of cops — vandalized an NYPD squad car in Brooklyn. The words “Bad Cop” and “No cronut” were discovered spray-painted on the police vehicle parked at Montrose Avenue and Broadway in Williamsburg early Wednesday, police sources said.
JPMorgan sheds light on currency trade practice (FT)
JPMorgan has released new guidelines to provide clarity on why it rejects some currency trades in the latest effort by the world’s biggest banks to improve a public image muddied by scandals. The bank has explained why it sometimes rejects trade requests at the very last moment, shining a light on the controversial practice known as “last look”. The move comes less than a week after the Bank for International Settlements released a code of conduct for the industry.
Steph Curry's New Emoji App Is Making Bank (Bloomberg)
Stephen Curry’s social media following extends to more than 20 million fans, more than enough to make the guard’s new app a top seller in less than 24 hours. The $1.99 Stephmoji keyboard went on sale Wednesday afternoon and, by Thursday morning, was the best-selling paid app in Apple Inc.’s store, beating out Kim Kardashian’s emoji and the mobile version of Minecraft.
Uber owes its drivers millions: lawsuit (NYP)
The suit, by the group of Uber drivers, led by the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, will claim that the rideshare app should have classified them as employees — and because they were not, were denied millions of dollars in minimum wage and overtime pay.
'Selfie statue' in Sugar Land, Tex. sparks social media snark (NYDN)
A decision by the town of Sugar Land, Tex. to erect a “selfie statue” showing two women posing for a cell phone self-portrait outside of their City Hall has drawn mixed reactions online. The $32,500 bronze statue was built as part of a series of public art intended to depict “activities common in the plaza,” according to a press release last week announcing its construction. Social media backlash ranged from outrage to amusement at the odd artistic choice. “If sugar land is gonna have a statue of two girls taking a selfie then can I have a statue of me twerking,” Twitter user Lee Drones quipped on social media. The Texas town defended the statue, saying that it “reflects the public’s strong desire for art that beautifies the city,” according to a statement obtained by ABC News.
