Opening Bell: 8.17.17

Jamie Dimon makes bold stand against Nazis; Steve Bannon (accidentally?) grants lengthy interview on America First trade policy; Ackman uses protection; the perils of butt-dialing; and more.
Author:
Updated:
Original:
(Getty Images)

(Getty Images)

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon Issues Sharp Rebuke of Trump (Fortune)
In a message to employees, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said he “personally supported” the decision. He also spoke out against the president’s comments. “I strongly disagree with President Trump's reaction to the events that took place in Charlottesville over the past several days,” he wrote. “Racism, intolerance and violence are always wrong. The equal treatment of all people is one of our nation’s bedrock principles. There is no room for equivocation here: the evil on display by these perpetrators of hate should be condemned and has no place in a country that draws strength from our diversity and humanity.”

Steve Bannon, Unrepentant (The American Prospect)
“I’m changing out people at East Asian Defense; I’m getting hawks in. I’m getting Susan Thornton [acting head of East Asian and Pacific Affairs] out at State.” But can Bannon really win that fight internally? “That’s a fight I fight every day here,” he said. “We’re still fighting. There’s Treasury and [National Economic Council chair] Gary Cohn and Goldman Sachs lobbying. We gotta do this. The president’s default position is to do it, but the apparatus is going crazy. Don’t get me wrong. It’s like, every day.” SEE ALSO: Steve Bannon thought he wasn't giving an interview (Axios)

Sale of Once Hot High-Frequency Trading Firm Reflects Industry Troubles (WSJ)
RGM was among the innovators, but its business deteriorated amid the recent lack of market volatility. The firm made around $800 million in trading profits over its lifetime, but this year it has been losing money, prompting its owners to accelerate efforts to find a buyer, a person close to the firm said. RGM has also cut staff to around 70 employees, down from more than 100 a few years ago. This week, RGM agreed to sell the firm for what one person close to the deal said was less than $10 million.

Bill Ackman is getting worried about geopolitical risk, buys protection against market drop (CNBC)
Ackman said the firm took a "small position" in out of the money call options on a volatility index during Pershing Square Capital Management's second-quarter conference call Wednesday. This hedge "will protect against stock market risk," he said, specifically citing a potential conflict on the Korean peninsula.

Public Enemy (Harpers)
THE COURT: The purpose of jury selection is to ensure fairness and impartiality in this case. If you think that you could not be fair and impartial, it is your duty to tell me. All right. Juror Number 1.
JUROR NO. 1: I’m aware of the defendant and I hate him.
[SHKRELI's LAWYER]: I’m sorry.
JUROR NO. 1: I think he’s a greedy little man.
THE COURT: Jurors are obligated to decide the case based only on the evidence. Do you agree?
JUROR NO. 1: I don’t know if I could. I wouldn’t want me on this jury.

Reminder: Your “self-destructing” messages do not actually self-destruct (FT Alphaville)
The SEC is accusing Rivas of using his access to BofA’s tech systems to pass on nonpublic information about 30 deals between 2014 and 2017. The seven people charged (including his girlfriend’s dad, a former treasurer at Tullett Prebon) earned more than $5m from the trades, according to the complaint. Part of this alleged plan involved, hilariously, “encrypted, self-destructing messages”.

Robo Advisors Don’t Beat Traditional Index Funds (PragCap)
If you’re not too lazy to rebalance once every few years you could have allocated your assets across a simple 4 fund global 60/40 index using 30% VXUS, 30% VTI, 20% BND & 20% BNDX. This portfolio did even better with 11.27% 1 year returns and cost you just 0.07% per year. So, if you owned a Robo in the last few years there’s a very good chance that you paid an extra 0.3-0.6% in fees on average to own something that does what existing product wrappers already do. It all begs the question – are Robos a better product wrapper or are they just a product wrapper with better marketing?

Why This Fund's 256,766% Return Still Doesn’t Beat the Market (BBG)
From the late ’20s through July, an index composed of the largest U.S. stocks would have posted a cumulative return of roughly 673,360 percent. The Massachusetts Investors Trust, meantime, returned just 256,766 percent.

Court worker butt-dials reporter, admits he ‘barely shows up’ for $166K job (NYP)
“I spoke to [the reporter] on the record for awhile. I said, ‘I’m in a much less visible position; that doesn’t mean I’m not doing anything,’ ” Bookstaver said. “But, frankly, look, the bottom line: the story’s true. I’m not doing anything. I barely show up to work and I’ve been caught.”

Related

1024px-Jamie_Dimon,_CEO_of_JPMorgan_Chase
Opening Bell

Opening Bell: 3.15.17

Jamie Dimon still working on his Business Roundtable talking points; Ackman lost some money; sex toy snoops on users; and more.

Getty Images
Opening Bell

Opening Bell: 2.9.17

Lloyd Blankfein thinks everything is just fine; Steve Young is good at finance; Steve Bannon's Nazi-abortion-mutant film resurfaces; and more.

(Getty Images)
Opening Bell

Opening Bell: 7.31.17

JPMorgan rolls out trading robot; HSBC lives; Floyd Mayweather will make a "shit ton of money" from an ICO; the weird, sad world of bespoke porn; and more.

PeachEmoji
Opening Bell

Opening Bell: 9.19.18

China does the rope-a-dope; Theresa May still trying to make a Brexit deal; Danske boss takes a powder; Man rubs produce on his butt; and more!

GaryCohnHamlet
Opening Bell

Opening Bell: 8.25.17

Gary Cohn talks tax reform, Nazis; millennial quants want to drink your milkshake; Estonia wants to launch a sovereign bitcoin; the world champion in Excel; and more.

Opening Bell

Opening Bell: 1.7.16

CHINA; Bonuses; Morgan Stanley; "Another Chinese Billionaire Goes Missing"; Man Vows To Draw A Butt Everyday This Year; and more.

mnuching blingee
Opening Bell

Opening Bell: 9.14.17

Steve Mnuchin loves using government planes for personal matters; Ackman is a one-man good-cop-bad-cop; Equifax's login credentials were "admin/admin"; London's "total monster fatberg"; and more.

Opening Bell

Opening Bell: 04.23.12

IMF And World Bank Meetings End With Little Agreement (NYT) To be sure, the additional $430 billion in lending capacity contributed by developed economies like Japan, Britain, Saudi Arabia and South Korea was seen as a major achievement. The contributions came after I.M.F. economists determined that countries around the world might require up to $1 trillion in new loans because of the combined effects of the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and sluggish global economic growth. The I.M.F. agreed to raise about half that amount if Europe would raise the other half. But finance ministers are still at odds over the effect of debt reduction on economic growth. Geithner urges 'aggressive' action to fight financial crisis (DowJones) US Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner said Saturday that the eurozone needed stronger action from authorities, including the European Central Bank, to tame a potential deterioration in the debt crisis. "The success of the next phase of the crisis response will hinge on Europe's willingness and ability, together with the European Central Bank, to apply its tools and processes creatively, flexibly and aggressively to support countries as they implement reforms and stay ahead of markets," Geithner told the International Monetary Fund's policy steering committee. Hedge Fund Short-Sellers to Target Wal-Mart Mexico (Reuters) Hedge fund managers are bracing for selling pressure in shares of Wal-Mart Stores on Monday, but market experts said it is the retail giant's less visible Mexican unit that could be the more attractive target for short sellers. The New York Times reported on Saturday that Wal-Mart de Mexico, which is 69 percent owned by Wal-Mart Stories, had orchestrated a widespread bribery campaign in 2005 to win market dominance. The investigative article alleged that senior Wal-Mart executives knew about the matter and tried to cover it up. "I would not consider Wal-Mart shares expensive, but I definitely would not be a buyer at these levels in the 60s. I'm more interested in shorting the Mexico traded 'pure play,'" said private activist investor Daniel Yu, who has presciently shorted such stocks including Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and Sino-Forest. Wal-Mart said in a statement on Saturday that it was "deeply concerned" about the allegations in the Times report and began an investigation into its compliance with anti-bribery laws last autumn. MF Global Customers Press JPMorgan For Funds (WSJ) In a letter set to be sent to regulators and lawmakers on Monday, an MF Global customer group calls for J.P. Morgan to "return hundreds of millions of dollars in MF Global customer funds transferred" to J.P. Morgan in late October. The group, called the Commodity Customer Coalition, urged U.S. officials to "demand" that the New York bank "disgorge all MF Global customer property immediately." J.P. Morgan is cooperating with the ongoing investigation, has said it did nothing wrong and lost some of its own money in the Oct. 31 bankruptcy because it was a creditor of MF Global. Vietnam Funds Beat India, China in Attracting Investors (Bloomberg) Vietnam-focused stock funds became the only emerging market equity assets in Asia to lure investors every week this year as the nation’s benchmark index rose to an 11-month high, Emerging Portfolio Fund Research said. Table Hockey, on Ice Since Heyday in 1970s, Makes a Comeback (WSJ) Carter Campbell leaned over the stick-figure hockey players, loosening up his wrists and hopping from one foot to the other. The 14-year-old's cap was turned around. His iPod blared tunes from the classic-rock band Rush. Across from him, 35-year-old, No. 1 ranked table hockey champ Mark Sokolski hunched over his own players. "I'm gonna stomp this kid," Mr. Sokolski said. At stake was a slot in the elite eight of this year's Canadian Table Hockey Championships, the best-attended North American tournament that the game has seen in decades. Across the U.S. and Canada, a resurgence of table hockey is under way, drawing younger players and women to a sport that has long been the domain of older men in their basements reliving a game that hasn't been popular since they were kids. Global Crisis Not Over, China Reforms to Go On: Wen (Reuters) The global financial crisis is not over and technical innovation and investment will be key to sustaining what remains a "tortuous" recovery, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Sunday during a visit to Germany. Wen also said China, the world's biggest exporter and second largest economy, would press on with reforms aimed at creating better legal protection for foreign investors — a major concern for the growing number of German firms active in the country. Buffett Joined by 12 Families Pledging Wealth to Charity (Bloomberg) Twelve families promised to donate most of their wealth to philanthropy, joining the Giving Pledge initiative started by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates. The families include hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman and his wife Karen, Tesla Motors Inc.’s billionaire owner Elon Musk and film producer Steve Bing, according to an e-mailed statement from the initiative. Arthur M. Blank, Edgar M. Bronfman, Glenn and Eva Dubin, Red and Charline McCombs, Michael Moritz and Harriet Heyman, John and Ginger Sall, Henry and Susan Samueli, John A. and Susan Sobrato, John Michael Sobrato, and Ted and Vada Stanley also signed the pledge. Aiming for Clarity, Fed Still Falls Short in Some Eyes (NYT) But as Mr. Bernanke prepares to meet the press for the fifth time Wednesday afternoon, after a scheduled meeting of the Fed’s policy-making committee on Tuesday and Wednesday, there are reasons to doubt that the efforts are increasing public understanding of monetary policy. Experts and investors have continued to disagree about the plain meaning of the Fed’s recent policy statements. Some say the increased volume of communication is creating cacophony rather than clarity. Political criticism of the Fed has continued unabated. Man's nightmare since NYPD labeled him ‘Gentleman Groper’ (NYP) A citywide manhunt ensued after four Manhattan women were fondled in tony neighborhoods in a 35-day stretch. On April 13, authorities paraded their main suspect past snapping cameras. He defied the conventional image of a creepy perv. He was young, handsome, well-dressed, affluent, educated, a churchgoer. A gentleman groper. That suspect, Karl Vanderwoude, says if the scene seemed implausible — that’s because it was. “I didn’t do it. I wasn’t even in the vicinity of these incidents,” he said in his first interview since his arrest. “It’s a case of mistaken identity.” The 26-year-old Bible-study leader’s nightmare began 10 days ago, when he left early from his job as an operations coordinator at a Flatiron District private equity firm because he felt sick. He was in his Park Slope apartment for about an hour when the doorbell rang. “I thought it was my roommate who had been locked out and forgot his keys, which has happened, so I go to answer the door,” he recalled. Instead, two NYPD detectives were standing in the threshold. “They’re like, ‘Are you Karl? May we speak with you?’"