Opening Bell: 4.26.17

Trump’s Tax Plan: Low Rate for Corporations, and for Companies Like His (NYT)
Republicans are likely to embrace the plan’s centerpiece, substantial tax reductions for businesses large and small, even as they push back against the jettisoning of their border adjustment tax. The 15 percent rate would apply both to corporations, which now pay 35 percent, and to a broad range of firms known as pass-through entities — including hedge funds, real estate concerns like Mr. Trump’s and large partnerships — that currently pay taxes at individual rates, which top off at 39.6 percent.

Banks Get Serious About Moving Jobs to Frankfurt on Brexit (BBG)
“Nothing concrete happened last year, but that all changed in the first quarter of this year,” said Carsten Ape, head of office leasing for Germany at U.S. property broker CBRE Group Inc. “Banks are now looking in earnest at specific locations.”

Are Traders Getting an Early Glimpse at U.K. Government Data? Currency Markets Suggest Yes (WSJ)
The average change in the pound’s value one hour before and after such economic data announcements is 0.127%, meaning around half the shift associated with the statistics came ahead of their official release. […] But in the hour ahead of public dissemination, the krona drifted only 0.003% in the direction it would end up going after publication.

Contra Einhorn (Reformed Broker)
More importantly, when Einhorn asserts that “There was no catalyst that we know of that burst the dot-com bubble in March 2000,” he’s not correct. There was one. It was a Barron’s article, published over the weekend leading into Monday, March 20th. That was the top for the Nasdaq Composite (the rest of the market – aka “Old Economy” stocks had already begun selling off as no one wanted anything non-dot com).

In Dot-Com Bubble Time, It's Still Only 1997 for U.S. Equities (BBG)
As in 2000, growth prospects explain much of the interest, with tech firms offering profits that are expanding almost twice as fast as in the S&P 500. A deeper look, however, shows a less typical attraction -- With debt levels and effective tax rate already trailing many other industries, tech shares also serve as a shelter with less sensitivity to changes in taxes and interest rates.

Can Facebook Fix Its Own Worst Bug? (NYT Mag)
During our first meeting in January, I posed this question to Zuckerberg: “When you see various problems in the media, do you say to yourself, ‘I run Facebook, I can solve that?’ ”…“Um,” he started, and then paused, weighing his words as carefully as American presidents once did. “Not usually.”

White Collar Crime Risk Zones (The New Inquiry)
White Collar Crime Risk Zones uses machine learning to predict where financial crimes are mostly likely to occur across the US.

Credit Suisse Will Raise $4 Billion and Scrap I.P.O. of Swiss Unit (NYT)
“This capital raise will allow us to continue to invest in growth at highly attractive returns; to strengthen balance sheet resilience for our clients and other stakeholders; and to afford the costs associated with our ongoing restructuring plans,” Mr. Thiam said Wednesday.

JAMIE DIMON: Companies 'have a moral obligation' to do more for society (BI)
From stagnating wages and growing income inequality to a lack of quality education and failure to arm our young people with job skills, there are clear signs that many of our communities are struggling. The net result is that too many people are not getting a fair shot at getting ahead. Clearly, the private sector cannot solve this alone, but it is uniquely positioned to contribute by driving economic growth and creating more opportunity.

Things I Learned About Finance Bros By (Briefly) Dating A Finance Bro (New Yorker)
They put their work calls on speaker when you’re hanging out. This may be foreplay. You will never be sure. But they will repeatedly make it clear that they think you should write a New York Sex Diary about them. Like, obviously they don’t want you to, but it’d be kind of funny if you did. No, but you totally should, though. If you want. It’d be nice to leave a legacy somewhere—you know?

Simon the giant rabbit, destined to be world's biggest, dies on United Airlines flight (Fox News)
Breeder Annette Edwards, of Stoulton, Worcestershire, said: “He was fit as a fiddle. I’ve sent rabbits round the world, nothing like this happened.” United’s reputation is at rock bottom after film of a doctor being dragged from a jet went viral.