Opening Bell: 2.16.17
Snap Seeks to Raise as Much as $3.2 Billion in U.S. IPO (BBG)
Snap Inc. is seeking to raise as much as $3.2 billion in its initial public offering in what could be the third-biggest technology listing of the past decade. The maker of disappearing-photo application is offering 200 million Class A shares for $14 to $16 apiece. At the high end of the range, that would give it a market value of about $18.5 billion, based on the total shares to be outstanding after the offering.
Frozen Out by CEOs, Solar’s Most-Hated Bear Sticks to His Guns (BBG)
Johnson dismisses talk that he is, as he puts it, similar to a broken clock that gets it right twice a day. “There’s no luck in making a short call,” he says. While most companies ignore his questions, SolarCity is among the exceptions, even if it didn’t invite him to a conference. His bearishness certainly doesn’t diminish his standing where he works, he says. “My boss doesn’t care about my negativity,’’ says Johnson, who says he has about 400 clients, mostly hedge funds. “He just cares that I make commission.”
Lloyd’s of London adopts no-drinking rule for employees (NYP)
One of the world’s biggest names in insurance is saying goodbye to the liquid lunch. Lloyd’s of London, the giant marketplace for many types of insurance, has alerted its 800 employees that they are no longer allowed to drink alcohol from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
A $14 billion hedge fund is venturing where others fear to tread (BI)
The strategy – in hedge fund jargon called risk or merger arbitrage – is risky since deals often fall through. Canyon cites the gutting of Wall Street banks' proprietary desks, which used to trade the banks' own money, and the travails of many event-driven hedge funds which have suffered and can't take big positions any more.
Trump Tax Cuts Could Boost Profit $12 Billion at Big U.S. Banks (BBG)
The six largest U.S. banks could see annual profit jump by an average of 14 percent if President Donald Trump delivers on his promise to cut corporate taxes. The lenders, which stand to benefit more than other industries because they typically have fewer deductions, could save a combined $12 billion a year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
North Korean defector Hyeonseo Lee on escape and the secretive state (FT)
Lee was astonished to discover from television and from Google that there were things called “human rights”, even “animal rights”. She suddenly reaches across the table and shows me a picture of a cat on her smartphone. “In New York, last week — it’s my friend’s pet. And on her birthday, often, actually, she eats nice sushi. She loves sushi.” The cat? I ask, incredulous. “Yes. She loves sushi. Then whenever I see those pictures, I feel so sad. People who live in North Korea, they die for food, but living in the free world, the cat even eats expensive sushi.”
Big U.S. banks to push for easing of money laundering rules (Reuters)
Faced with record penalties in recent years over failures to alert authorities to criminal activities, banks say they now over-report, filing hundreds of thousands of SARs out of fear of later falling foul of regulators. “Now we tell banks to file a (report) on everything that might be criminal," said Gary Shiffman, CEO of compliance software maker Giant Oak. “But when everything is a priority nothing ends up being a priority.”
The Green Angels, she tells me, are selling a fantasy of an attractive, well-educated, presentable young woman who wants to get you high—a slightly more risqué Avon lady. Not all of the Angels are working models, but they are all young and attractive. In eight years, they have never been busted by the cops. The explanation is simple: Good-looking girls don’t get searched.
