Opening Bell: 8.29.16

Herbalife may have misled investors, SEC on impact of FTC deal, one short-seller says (Reuters)
In its July 15 ‎settlement Herbalife agreed to restructure its U.S. business so distributors are rewarded for sales rather than for recruitment of sales agents and it agreed to pay a $200 million fine. But Herbalife's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission painted a much less optimistic picture than its presentation to analysts and investors, according to a private investor who flagged the differences to the SEC this month. Matthew Handley, an investor based in Lakewood Ranch, Florida alleged Herbalife made "purposefully deceptive statements" in its Aug. 3 quarterly earnings conference call and regulatory filings. Handley, who is betting Herbalife's stock price will fall, told Reuters about his outreach to the SEC and provided a copy of his letter to its whistleblower office.

Fed's Yellen sees stronger case for interest rate hike (Reuters)
The Federal Reserve is getting closer to raising interest rates again, the head of the U.S. central bankand other policymakers said on Friday in comments that left the door open for a hike as early as next month. Fed Chair Janet Yellen told a global monetary policy conference that the case for a rate increase had grown stronger, while Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer suggested a move could come at the central bank's September policy meeting if the economy was doing well.

Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley Reinvent Themselves (WSJ)
...both firms have turned to more basic banking businesses, betting that the cachet of their brand names can overcome relative lack of experience in dealing with the deposits and loans of middle-class Americans. The moves have surprised many and suggest capital-markets businesses have reached a turning point. “I would never have thought years ago that they would ever be doing this,” says Richard Kovacevich, Wells Fargo & Co.’s former chairman and chief executive. But as regulation and muted client activity hammers trading revenue, “you either shrink, or you try to replace” lost profits.

Warned of a Crash, Start-Ups Narrowed Their Focus (NYT)
The worst fallout may yet come, but many of the start-ups have hung on. Across Silicon Valley, engineers are still commanding annual salaries that average $136,000, according to Hired, a recruiting firm. Demand is brisk for $4 buttered toast, and office space rents remain near record highs. The biggest start-ups, like Uber and Airbnb, continue to land billions of dollars in funding. And investors are shoveling money into venture capital funds, which raised so much cash in the first half of this year that it rivaled the amount raised in all of 2015...That is not to say there has been no adjustment. Some smaller start-ups, like the live-streaming app Blab and the on-demand private chef company Kitchit, have collapsed into Silicon Valley’s dead pool. Other young companies have laid off staff. And many entrepreneurs are no longer able to demand whatever valuation they please for their companies. Yet it is precisely these adaptations that have allowed many Silicon Valley start-ups to stick it out — for now, at least.

New Mexico cop accidentally filmed himself stealing marijuana (NYDN)
A New Mexico police sergeant accused of unwittingly recording himself on a lapel camera taking marijuana from his office and giving it to his girlfriend has been released from jail...State police say Roshern McKinney was arrested Wednesday. An investigation was requested in July after the video recording was found. He faces charges of distribution of marijuana, conspiracy and felony embezzlement. According to state police, McKinney also allegedly embezzled $785 and an 8-ounce brick of marijuana not submitted to the department's evidence vault.

Anemic IPO Market Is Poised for a Rebound (WSJ)
A flood of share debuts is expected to invigorate the listless market for initial public offerings after the Labor Day holiday, but the revival might be short-lived. Companies in a wide variety of U.S. industries plan to go public after the long weekend. The level of new issuance should resemble what would normally be expected given record stock prices and historically low volatility. At the same time, the window for offerings is expected to shut about six weeks later amid political uncertainty ahead of the presidential election, bankers and analysts say.

Hustlers are selling EpiPens online amid 600% price hike (NYP)
Sellers told The Post they are simply filling a niche in the market — which has seen prices for epinephrine injection devices skyrocket to as high as $608 for a two-pack, infuriating patients who need the drug’s emergency antidote to allergic reactions. “We saw on the TV a few days ago that people couldn’t get them so we put up the ad,” said a Bronx man who gave his name as Mike Black and said his 5-year-old son has a peanut allergy. He said he was selling an extra EpiPen Jr. 2-pack on Craigslist for $300 to “help someone out.”

Japan Pension Giant’s Losses Could Mean a $53 Billion Stock Splurge (Bloomberg)
The $1.3 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund would need to spend $53 billion on domestic shares to meet its target for the asset, according to Bloomberg News calculations, after the fund said Friday that holdings fell to 21 percent of investments at the end of June. Its goal is a quarter of the portfolio. The fund also has scope to offload $56 billion in domestic bonds after falling yields boosted their weight to 39 percent of the total, above the 35 percent level it seeks to hold.

Man Bathes In Hot Sauce, Immediately Questions His Life Choices (HP)
YouTuber Cemre Candar submerged himself inside a bathtub filled with what he claims is spicy sauce for his latest stunt — and immediately regretted doing so. Video going viral shows the United Kingdom-based vlogger screaming out in agony as 1,250 bottles worth of the condiment quickly cover his body...Several hours after cleaning himself off, Candar claimed that his skin was still red and blotchy and he still felt a burning sensation across much of his body.