Opening Bell: 3.29.17
BlackRock Bets on Robots to Improve Its Stock Picking (WSJ)
BlackRock global head of active equities Mark Wiseman—who spent his first six months examining the strengths and weaknesses of the business with staff, consultants and clients—said the firm is trying to play offense as smaller rivals struggle. “We’re in really rough seas, but BlackRock is an aircraft carrier,” Mr. Wiseman said. “Everyone else is in dinghies, and they’re bailing like hell.”
Scoop: BuzzFeed going public in 2018 (Axios)
The pitch: BuzzFeed, with news and entertainment divisions, styles itself as a media-tech company with "the innovation obsessed culture and structure of a venture-backed tech company": "We are best known for exploding watermelons, The Dress, Tasty, award-winning news investigations, quizzes, and lists."
EU Blocks Deutsche Boerse’s $14 Billion Takeover of London Stock Exchange (BBG)
“The commission cannot allow the creation of monopolies, and that is what would have happened in this case," Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s antitrust commissioner, told reporters in Brussels. LSE was “not prepared" to sell a small unit that would have removed concerns that the combined firm could have weakened rival Euronext NV.
Deutsche Bank Said to Consider New Home Lending for Settlement (BBG)
The bank had planned to meet its obligations by providing financing to investors that would in turn offer borrower relief. That option has grown more expensive, because about a decade after the financial crisis, there are fewer soured loans from that era to work with, the person said. There were around 824,000 homes in foreclosure in February, down around two thirds from the peak in 2010.
Hedge-Fund Manager Wants to Rearrange GM's Stock (Levine)
Einhorn's proposal, then, is to take all of the current elements of General Motors, add nothing, subtract nothing, but just arrange them in a subtly different and more pleasing pattern, one that excites people more, one that people will pay more money for. That's what art is. This is art.
Regulators find ‘pervasive pattern’ of abuse at Wells Fargo (FT)
“The findings reflect an extensive and pervasive pattern and practice of violations across multiple lines of business,” the OCC said. “Bank management instituted policies, procedures and performance standards that contributed to the violations.”
Online competitors take on global banks in securities research shake-up (Reuters)
Though banks have scrambled to reorganize their research functions by focusing on top-tier clients to minimize costs, rolling out proprietary portals, or adopting a model where clients pay for research depending on what they need, analysts say the sheer volume produced on a daily basis means the research effort has a long way to go before becoming efficient. For example, about 40,000 research reports are produced every week by the world's top 15 global investment banks, of which less than 1 percent are actually read by investors.
Bunny Ranch Owner Plans Raiders-Themed Brothel Near Las Vegas (HuffPo)
“I’ve had a license for a seventh brothel near Las Vegas for some time now, but I was waiting for the right time to launch another house of debauchery,” Hof said in a press release. “The Raiders coming to Vegas will mean big business for me, so my next sex den will honor the ‘Men in Black’ and their ‘Raider Nation.’”