Opening Bell: 3.7.17
The London Whale resurfaces: Bruno Iksil speaks out (FN London)
“I have to fight,” he says. “I have no choice… I have to make people be aware of what really happened.” To that end, Iksil is writing a book about the affair. He has written at least three drafts. The latest includes his allegations that senior executives at JP Morgan should take more of the blame for the losses. He has no publishing contract. “I've been waiting now for [almost five] years,” he says. “I think it's time to say the things. The truth has to be told.”
Hedge Funds Gird for Stock Selloff as Valuations Rattle Nerves (BBG)
To be sure, hedge fund portfolios still contain more financial stocks than usual, according to Credit Suisse. But since December they’ve reduced their net exposure to banks by 15 percent, which is atypical considering the pending rate hike, Connors said. Before rate increases in 2015 and 2016 hedge funds added finance shares.
Singapore Futures Trader Has Spent $2.3 Billion Amassing Enough Sugar to Fill 3,000 Swimming Pools (WSJ)
Wilmar has been scooping up sugar by physically settling tens of thousands of futures contracts and collecting the commodity from ports across South America and elsewhere. The effects of Wilmar’s moves have been the subject of debate among traders. At one point in 2015, when sugar prices were at multiyear lows because of a world-wide glut, Wilmar bought so much that traders say the company in effect mopped up that year’s global oversupply. In the rally that followed, sugar prices more than doubled.
Donald Trump's Worst Deal (New Yorker)
If, as Alan Garten told me, the Trump Organization learned in 2015 about “the possibility” that the Mammadovs had ties to the Revolutionary Guard, it is striking that the company did not end the Baku deal until December, 2016. During this period, Garten told me, the Trump Organization never asked its Azerbaijani partners about the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, but it did send several default notices for late payments.
State Street to Start Voting Against Companies That Don’t Have Women Directors (WSJ)
Nearly a quarter of the companies in the Russell 3000 index lack a female director, while 58% of the companies in the index have less than 15% women on their boards, according to Institutional Shareholder Services. American Railcar Industries Inc., Speedway Motorsports, Inc., and Nathan’s Famous, Inc. are among the companies in that index with no female directors, according to ISS, a proxy-advisory firm.
‘Movie buff’ Preet Bharara tweets his thoughts on Gordon Gekko (NYP)
The man dubbed the “most feared Wall Street prosecutor” in real life on Sunday was watching the 1987 Oliver Stone classic, and tweeted of Michael Douglas‘ infamous Gordon Gekko trader character: “Wall Street on Cinemax. Gordon Gekko just now: ‘Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works.’ Well, not always.”
BOE’s Hogg Failed to Disclose Barclays Family Links in 2013 (BBG)
Charlotte Hogg, who took over as the deputy in charge of markets and banking this month, revealed in a letter to lawmakers that she didn’t tell the BOE her brother worked for the bank when she was hired in 2013. BOE officials were grilled on the issue on Tuesday, but tried to downplay the seriousness of the offense. Deputy chair Bradley Fried said it was an “unwillful act of omission”… “I definitely don’t believe it’s a hanging offense,” Fried told Parliament Tuesday. “It’s terribly unfortunate. It warrants grumpiness.”
Americans having less sex than they once did (WaPo)
American adults have sex seven to nine fewer times per year than in the 1990s. Back then, the average person had sex 60 to 62 times a year, but in the early 2000s the frequency began to slip, and by 2014 it had declined to less than 53 times a year.