Opening Bell: 10.16.17

A ‘Crazy’ Stock Market Is Punishing Sellers (Businessweek)
At Credit Suisse Group AG’s prime brokerage desk in midtown Manhattan, the phone hardly seems to ring anymore. Its hedge fund clients don’t call about Donald Trump’s tweetstorms and the stock market or ask what to do when terrorists attack. And there was barely a whiff of panic when North Korea erupted in August. “Two rockets flew over the land mass of Japan and nothing happened,” says Mark Connors, Credit Suisse’s global head of risk advisory. “There were no calls. That’s absolutely crazy.”

The Mystery Of Wilbur Ross' Missing Billions (Forbes)
Between the November election and January inauguration, Ross had quietly moved a chunk of assets into trusts for his family members, leaving more than $2 billion off of his financial disclosure report—and therefore out of the public eye. Ross revealed the existence of those assets, and the timing of the transfer, when Forbes asked why his financial disclosure form listed fewer assets than he had previously told the magazine he owned. The hidden assets raise questions about whether the Secretary of Commerce violated federal rules and whether his family owns billions in holdings that could create the appearance of conflicts of interest.

The Crash of '87, From the Wall Street Players Who Lived It (BBG)
LEWIS: It makes everybody uncomfortable when something dramatic happens with prices, and no drama in the world could explain such movement. It makes the market seem absurd. And so that was the feeling. To me it was like, Corporate America is not worth whatever percent less today than yesterday.
MARKS: People think that if stocks went down 20 percent in a day, it must be the end of the world. That is, they impute intelligence to the market—and that’s a mistake.

Jim Grant says he was wrong to imply something suspicious was going on at Bridgewater (CNBC)
"We were wrong to question the relationship between the auditor and Bridgewater," Grant said. "Bridgewater is a secretive and eccentric firm and I let my suspicions of that get in the way of our ordinarily comprehensive due diligence." ... "Our failure to get the facts ... It pains me greatly," he added. "I ought to know better."

Everyone’s Fed Up With GE’s Accounting Tricks (BBG)
Last quarter, GE reported earnings of 28 cents a share. Also 13 cents a share, 19 cents a share and 15 cents a share -- all at the same time. The numbers represent profit that includes or excludes certain items, such as pension costs and discontinued operations. While most big U.S. companies release adjusted earnings that deviate from generally accepted accounting principles, GE stands out for the sheer head-scratching complexity of its quarterly reports. It’s one of only 21 S&P 500 companies that release more than one adjusted EPS figure.

Executive Mentors Wanted. Only Millennials Need Apply. (NYT)
Companies like Mastercard, Cisco Systems and Mars Inc. have experimented with these mentoring programs. Inga Beale, 54, the chief executive of the insurance marketplace Lloyd’s of London, has said that her junior mentor, who is 19, has a “totally different perspective” and leaves her “inspired.” Melanie Whelan, 40, the chief executive of SoulCycle, holds monthly meetings with her younger mentor, whom she has credited with helping her get ��hip with what the kids are doing these days.”

The Coming Renaissance of Macro Investing (Barron's)
Recent developments in technology and geopolitics, however, have already ignited a process to bring an end to the financial system predicated on petrodollars, which will have a profound impact on global financial markets. The 40-year equilibrium of this system is being dismantled by the exponential growth of technology, which will have a bearish impact on both supply and demand of petroleum. Moreover, the system no longer is in the best interest of key participants in the global oil trade. These developments have begun to exert influence on financial markets and will only grow over time. The upheaval of the petrodollar recycling system will trigger a resurgence of volatility and new price trends, which will lead to a renaissance in macro investing.

First Evidence That Online Dating Is Changing the Nature of Society (Technology Review)
Loose ties have traditionally played a key role in meeting partners. While most people were unlikely to date one of their best friends, they were highly likely to date a friend of a friend, for example. In the language of network theory, dating partners were embedded in each other’s networks. This has long been reflected in surveys of the way people meet their partners: through mutual friends, in bars, at work, in educational institutions, and so on. Online dating has changed that. Today, online dating is the second most common way for heterosexual couples to meet. For homosexual couples, it is far and away the most popular.

Peak Zuckerberg: There’s a new digital magazine coming that only analyzes photos of Mark Zuckerberg (Recode)
Hwang posted a call for entrees in July, and says he’s received between 60 and 70 submissions for the magazine, which will publish the best half dozen or so essays in early November. Some of the submissions focused on images you may have seen: young Zuckerberg sitting at a picnic table in front of a Stanford frat party; Zuckerberg strolling past the virtual reality army he’s helped create; Zuckerberg sweating profusely onstage at the D Conference in 2010.

Woman Trades Packet Of McDonald’s Szechuan Sauce For New Car (HuffPo)
The 23-year-old graphic designer is a huge fan of “Rick And Morty,” which featured the condiment as a key plot device in the Season 3 premiere, which aired in April. In the episode, series lead Rick Sanchez declares it his life mission to get the sauce, which was made in 1998 to promote the Disney animated feature “Mulan.” Since then, fans have craved the sauce ― including Marie. “When McDonald’s said they were bringing it back, I thought it would be cool to get a sauce,” she told HuffPost.