Opening Bell: 4.18.17

Larry Fink Q&A: “I Don’t Identify as Powerful” (BBG)
Let’s say you have a thousand baseball players. The majority hit .250. We’ll have 45 who hit .300, and we’ll have 10 to 15 who can hit consistently over .300. I don’t believe investing is much different, and I believe the trend will still be toward beta, factors, smart beta.

BofA's profit boosted by surge in trading (Reuters)
Excluding special items, the bank's trading activities brought in $4 billion, a 21.2 percent rise. Revenue from fixed-income trading surged about 29 percent, while equity trading revenue rose about 7 percent, boosted by volatility around the Fed's interest rate hikes.

Steve Ballmer Serves Up a Fascinating Data Trove (NYT)
As he looked for a new endeavor — before he decided to buy the Clippers — his wife, Connie, encouraged him to help with some of her philanthropic efforts, an idea he initially rejected. “But come on, doesn’t the government take care of the poor, the sick, the old?” Mr. Ballmer recalled telling her. After all, he pointed out, he happily paid a lot of taxes, and he figured that all that tax money should create a sufficient social safety net.

Silver Lake Raises $15 Billion Fund for New Tech Deals (NYT)
Silver Lake plans to announce on Tuesday that it has closed its fifth buyout fund at $15 billion, one of the biggest ever dedicated to technology deals. That exceeds the $12.5 billion fund-raising target that the firm had previously aimed for and brings the firm’s total assets and committed capital to about $39 billion.

What's the benefit of catching traders who spoof the markets? (The Hill)
The price impacts of spoofing are trivially small. The government’s own expert in the Sarao case estimated that a large spurious order moved prices by just 0.003 percent. Moreover, since the strategy regularly reverses direction, spoofing causes oscillations of such tiny magnitudes, rather than persistent price dislocations.

How An ETF Gets Too Big For Its Index (ETF.com)
The ETF has gotten so big that it now owns giant stakes in its underlying holdings, three-quarters of which are Canadian companies. According to an analysis by Scotiabank, there are 10 Canadian companies that the ETF owns where its ownership percentage is more than 18%. For six of those companies, the percentage would be even greater, but presumably, the fund doesn't want to exceed the 20% level, which would force the ETF "to automatically extend a takeover offer to all remaining shareholders at the same terms," according to a Scotiabank report.

Securities-based loans are scaring fiscal experts (NYP)
At least one concerned financial executive is in talks with lawyers to file a whistleblower case over the issue against a major bank with the Securities and Exchange Commission, The Post has learned. “When the market does turn, and it will at some point, it will be a major disaster,” said the exec, who requested confidentiality in exchange for speaking on the issue with The Post.

A 9,800% Stock Increase Exposes Hong Kong's Billionaires on Paper (BBG)
Take Wong Wing-wah, who used to be a fishmonger before starting a civil engineering firm. He took his company public last year -- and its stock then soared 9,800 percent. Wong and a partner, who together own nearly all of the stock, are each now worth roughly $1 billion. Their company, Luen Wong Group Holdings Ltd., reported just $1 million in profit last year.

Decorated Navy SEAL investigated for alleged side job as porn star (The Hill)
Schmidt’s wife, porn star Jewels Jade, said her husband got involved in the porn business to help the family pay its bills. “It helped our family. It got us out of a lot of financial issues we were going through,” Jade told the Tribune. “I could take care of the children. I could try to get us out of financial debt.”