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DOJ is probing Barclays over whistleblower scandal (NYP)
Justice Department investigators are trying to determine whether officials at Barclays or USPS inspectors may have violated civil Dodd-Frank whistleblower protections or even criminal law by attempting to unmask the employee.
Flash-Crash Trader Jumps Into Currency Market When Others Flee (BBG)
Traders can get wiped out if they take the wrong side of a price move. Lieberman’s challenge, when he started the firm with his own money after leaving JPMorgan Chase, was to put together a team willing to risk their shirts. Frustrated by competition for engineers and mathematicians in New York, Lieberman said he found a tech whiz through his East Side synagogue. With the help of Roi Klein, an ex-army major from the elite 8200 intelligence unit of the Israel Defense Forces, he recruited a team in Tel Aviv.
A Dubious Key Witness Didn’t Sink This Insider Trading Case (NYT)
The challenge for the government was that Mr. Davis was hardly a model of propriety, admitting that he lied repeatedly to investigators, stole $100,000 from a battered women’s charity and used an escort service on multiple occasions. On cross-examination, he struggled to answer clearly, leading The Financial Times to describe him as a “human piñata” under the relentless questioning of the defense.
White House backs off firm deadline for tax reform (CNBC)
Spicer denied Monday that action on tax legislation was getting "pushed" but said that talking to lawmakers and stakeholders about how tax reform will take shape is "the beginning part of that process." The White House press secretary added that he hopes middle-income Americans have a tax cut by the time they file their tax returns next spring.
Book Pins Corporate Greed on a Lust Bred at Harvard (NYT)
In one instance, McDonald draws from a paper Michael Jensen co-wrote in which the professor recounted a well-known story about the playwright George Bernard Shaw. As the story goes, Shaw had asked “an actress if she would sleep with him for a million dollars,” Mr. McDonald writes. “When she agreed, he changed his offer to $10, to which she responded with outrage, asking him what kind of woman he thought she was. His reply: ‘We’ve already established that. Now we’re just haggling about the price.’” To Mr. McDonald, Harvard teaches its students that “we’re all whores.”
Small Caps Are Losing the Earnings Race (WSJ)
The main factor behind the Russell 2000's recent weakness is earnings growth. And as earnings season kicks off this week, a key change is should play out: Domestically oriented companies aren’t expected to grow as rapidly as those that derive more of their revenue from overseas.
Let's Talk About CEA-Chair Nominee-Designate Kevin Hassett! (DeLong)
I disagree with Noah Smith when he writes "Hassett did make a math blooper in Dow 36,000, but I absolutely disagree that this should discredit him for life!!" It's not one math error, Noah. It's not putting your thumb on a statistical or analytical scale, Noah. It's taking your fist, and hammering your fist down on the scale as hard as you can eight times in rapid succession. And it's doing so when you know better
NY Fed boss may have blabbed during blackout (NYP)
At one of the questionable Dudley meetings, in March 2011, the Fed’s blackout period ran from March 10 to 18. On March 11, Dudley met with Jan Hatzius, chief economist of Goldman Sachs. Dudley had once worked at Goldman, so he and Hatzius were friends. Dudley’s calendar says it was an “informal meeting” that took place from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Pound and Pence restaurant near the New York Fed. That was on Dudley’s calendar, as was the notation “PRE-FOMC BLACKOUT PERIOD,” written in bold, all caps. So his assistant was clearly trying to warn him about restrictions.
How corporate profit-shifting distorts the measurement of U.S. productivity (Equitablog)
Counting profits [booked overseas] ends up increasing economic activity by a significant amount. Total value added in the United States economy is at least 2.5 percent higher in 2010 after making these adjustments. Labor productivity growth per year from 1994 to 2004 is raised by 0.1 percentage points, while productivity growth from 2004 to 2008 increased by 0.25 percentage points.
This Guy Got Wrecked by a Deer on April Fools' and Nobody Believed Him Until They Saw the Surveillance Video (Gizmodo)
“I was like mom, I got hit by a deer in front of my hotel room and then she kind of laughed and said ‘I’ve heard better than that,’” McCook recalled.
