Opening Bell: 6.28.17

Meal-kit maker Blue Apron cuts expected IPO price range (Reuters)
Online meal-kit company Blue Apron Holdings slashed the expected pricing range for its initial public offering amid growing concerns about the potential impact from Amazon.com's deal to buy Whole Foods. Blue Apron said on Wednesday it expects its initial public offering to be priced between $10 and $11 per share, down from its previous expectation of $15 to $17 per share. The new pricing range implies a valuation of up to $2.08 billion, compared with $3.2 billion earlier.

Cyberattack Hits Ukraine Then Spreads Internationally (NYT)
In Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, A.T.M.s stopped working. About 80 miles away, workers were forced to manually monitor radiation at the old Chernobyl nuclear plant when their computers failed. And tech managers at companies around the world — from Maersk, the Danish shipping conglomerate, to Merck, the drug giant in the United States — were scrambling to respond. Even an Australian factory for the chocolate giant Cadbury was affected.

How Warren Buffett’s $16-Billion Bet on Bank of America May Change With Fed Stress Test (WSJ)
Bank of America is expected to get a stress-test result from the Federal Reserve Wednesday that would allow it to boost its dividend. A higher dividend is something Mr. Buffett has said could prompt his Berkshire Hathaway to swap its preferred shares in the bank into about $16 billion worth of common stock. The move would make the famous stockpicker’s firm the largest shareholder of the second and third largest U.S. banks—the third being Wells Fargo—while also providing a vote of confidence for Bank of America stock.

Martin Shkreli’s ‘very evil’ reputation hinders jury selection (FT)
“From everything I’ve seen on the news, everything I’ve read, I believe the defendant is the face of corporate greed in America,” one man said, before being dismissed. “You’d have to convince me he was innocent.” Others described Mr Shkreli as “very evil”, “truly disgusting” and a “snake”. One woman said on Tuesday: “He just seems to care about himself.” A handful of individuals objected to serving on the jury because of what they thought about price increases involving the EpiPen, an anti-allergy device, even though Mr Shkreli had no involvement with it.

Suspect handed deputy 'Get out of jail free' Monopoly card during arrest (UPI)
Dakota County Sheriff's Office shared a photo of the "Get out of jail free card" the suspect handed Deputy Vai as he was preparing to arrest him for an outstanding warrant. "We appreciate the humor!" the caption read. "He carried this Monopoly card just in case. 'A' for effort!" Despite his clever attempt the suspect was not able to avoid the arrest.

Scaramucci finally lands gig in Trump administration (NYP)
The Long Island-born financier and loyalist to President Donald Trump was appointed Chief Strategy Officer of the Export-Import bank last week — roughly five months after his first promised White House gig failed to materialize. “Mr. Scaramucci’s main role is to assess how the Export-Import Bank can better capitalize upon opportunities to support American jobs by financing American exports,” a spokesperson for the bank said Tuesday.

Goldman says ‘buy and hold’ investing is broken (CNBC)
"Buying and holding" quality companies with high returns on capital, a measure of how effectively a firm can turn capital into profits, worked from 2005 to 2011, he said. The top 20 percent of companies as measured by return on capital outperformed their sector by 13.1 percent per year in that time period. However, the same strategy only beat its peers by 2.5 percent per year from 2010 to 2016. The strategist said returns have suffered because companies invested less, which led to lower sales growth. For example, the three-year trailing sales growth for the top 20 percent of companies as measured by return on capital went from 11 percent per year from the 2007 to 2009 and 2011 to 2013 time periods to 6 percent per year from 2014 to 2016.

Bill Ackman's Big Triumph Becomes His Big Problem (BBG View)
The taint of wrongdoing is the last thing Ackman needs, coming after the $4 billion he lost investing in Valeant, not to mention his long, failed crusade against Herbalife. The press would be merciless, Wall Street would be thick with schadenfreude, and his investors would probably be very unhappy. It would put another large dent in a reputation that has taken a few too many hits of late.

This Fund Manager Trains Algos to Copy His Brain (BBG)
Yesilhark says his models have shown encouraging performance in the short span he’s used them to find trades. Since September, when the money manager started testing them with his own capital, they returned 38 percent, helped by winning bets on Syngenta AG, seeds giant Monsanto Co. and battery maker Blue Solutions SA.

Say Goodbye to Your Desk (BBG)
It's a sit-or-stand desk, of course, outfitted with sensors that learn your habits and preferences through constant vigilance. When you've been sitting too long, a gentle vibration reminds you to stand. Your chair, also lined with sensors, tells the desk you stood up; the desk, which knows your height, adjusts accordingly. Your desk monitors your keystrokes and mouse clicks, offering you (and your boss) helpful advice on ergonomics—and productivity. Soon enough it knows whether you need a desk at all, a real question at $10,000 per desk per year , or if you can be consigned to the hot-desking pool, where employees are allotted workspace depending on their demands that week, or that day, or that hour. In other words, say goodbye to your last shred of dignity in the modern open office workplace.

Meet The People Doing Poop Transplants The Government Doesn’t Want Them To (BuzzFeed)
In a YouTube video that has been viewed 92,000 times, for example, a mom with a blender in her bathroom demonstrates how she prepared a transplant sample, using her own poop, for her daughter. In private Facebook groups, people solicit samples from young donors, and trade tips about battling side effects and diet swings. One Reddit user, LuckyJenny, shared that their wife “reported having a Dunkin' Donuts medium latte and a double chocolate donut prior to donating ‘the specimen.’”