Opening Bell: 3.27.17

Once golden, Robert Rubin's hedge fund proteges lose some luster (Reuters)
Goldman, for decades Wall Street's pre-eminent investment bank, no longer breeds such hedge fund scions because regulations brought in after the 2008 financial crisis - chiefly designed to reduce risk - have inhibited the type of trading it can do. "The old ways of hedge funds taking money out of the markets just are not as effective anymore," said Shakil Riaz, global chief investment officer for Rothschild Asset Management. "It really is an evolve-or-die world."

Reviving Deutsche Bank in US is priority for CEO John Cryan (FT)
One top banker at Morgan Stanley notes that Deutsche’s revenues from debt trading in the fourth quarter came to €1.38bn, in line with Morgan Stanley’s own. “But that’s their strongest business — and it’s our weakest,” he says.

A Correction Now Might Not Be So Bad, Some Investors Say (WSJ)
“It’s like dental work,” said Michael Farr, president of the money management firm Farr, Miller & Washington. “You dread it. You don’t want to get it. But you’re glad when it’s over and you feel better.”

Uber to Suspend Autonomous Tests After Arizona Accident (BBG)
In a photo posted on Twitter, one of Uber’s Volvo self-driving SUVs is pictured on its side next to another car with dents and smashed windows. An Uber spokeswoman confirmed the incident, and the veracity of the photo, and added that the ride-hailing company is suspending its autonomous tests in Arizona until it completes its investigation and pausing its Pittsburgh operations.

One CEO Got Paid $46 Million in a Month, but the Rest of the Year Is a Mystery (WSJ)
“Essentially, the rules provide that if you are an executive at an acquired company and your company goes away in the transaction, the compensation that was paid to you by your original company, it just evaporates,” said Mark Borges, a pay consultant with Compensia Inc. and a former special counsel in the SEC division that polices corporate disclosure.

Hedge Funds Are Training Their Computers to Think Like You (BBG)
Hedge funds lag in deploying deep learning because they lack expertise in applying it to complex financial data. Facebook Inc.’s image recognition -- the ability to identify a dog in a photo, for instance -- has succeeded because it draws on unlimited amounts of data, with fixed points like pixels, uploaded by social media users. Market data, on the other hand, is limited and constantly changing, making predictions of events like stock moves more challenging.

‘Project Scalpel’: Behind Big Banks’ Plan to Save $2 Billion (WSJ)
One effort, dubbed “Project Scalpel,” is aimed at cutting the administrative and operational costs involved with processing stock and bond transactions after a trade is struck, according to people familiar with the discussions. Talks around this effort are at an early stage but so far have included a number of banks, such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp., the people said. If the idea materializes, it could create a joint venture that allows banks to share trade processes and technology.

Man Named ‘Grabher’ Is Appalled He Can’t Have A ‘GRABHER’ License Plate (HuffPo)
Lorne Grabher had a vanity plate reading “GRABHER” made for his father in 1991 to honor their German last name. “It was to have our name be put on something and be proud of it,” he said. The plate made its way back to Lorne Grabher’s vehicle, but the Nova Scotia Registry of Motor Vehicles has taken issue with it. Grabher got a letter in December informing him the plate would be canceled because people could “misinterpret it as a socially unacceptable slogan.” Grabher is now accusing the government of “discriminating” against his name.