Holiday Bell: 10.8.18

Mike Pompeo and His Chinese Counterpart Trade Harsh Words [NYT]
In a face-to-face exchange with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the foreign minister, Wang Yi, chided the Trump administration for “ceaselessly elevating” trade tensions and “casting a shadow” over relations between the two countries.
Mr. Pompeo, who sat across the table from Mr. Wang at the start of talks in Beijing, said in a tart response that the United States had a “fundamental disagreement” on the issues that China raised.
The sharp tit-for-tat stripped away the customary veneer of diplomatic niceties during public remarks. It came days after Washington laid down a tough new China policy announced by Vice President Mike Pence, who declared in a speech that the United States would “not stand down.”

GE shares jump after Barclays upgrades to buy, sees possible upside to $20 [CNBC]
"Even the most hardened skeptic might want to re-consider following the CEO change," wrote analyst Julian Mitchell. "While we do not yet know the magnitude of the 2018 guidance cuts, talking to investors we believe they are broadly braced for EPS of $0.75 for 2018, FCF (free cash flow) of $0.50, and a dividend cut of 75 percent plus."
GE shares jumped 2 percent in premarket trading Monday, continuing their surge from last week. The stock jumped more than 16 percent last week, its best weekly run in nine years, after ousting CEO John Flannery and naming former Danaher CEO Larry Culp to replace him.

PIMCO's Amey says Britain to avoid disorderly Brexit, long sterling [Reuters]
Mike Amey said he held a moderately long position on sterling versus the euro, predicting a gradual rise, because the foreign exchange market was “too pessimistic” about the prospect for a disruptive Brexit.
“Our base case is there will be some sort of co-operative solution,” he told Reuters in a telephone interview. “We think both sides can achieve their political ambitions without creating a disruptive economic environment.”
However, Amey warned that risks remained and the pound would fall sharply - to as low as $1.15 GBP=D3 - if talks between London and Brussels deteriorated and the UK crashed out without a trade deal.

Tesla Is Looking for a Manager to Handle Elon Musk [Bloomberg]
Wanted: A seasoned executive with a steady hand, a passion for electric cars and the mettle to rein in a CEO with itchy Twitter fingers.
That’s pretty much the job posting Tesla Inc. agreed to as part of the settlement nine days ago with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which requires the company to appoint an independent chairman to replace Elon Musk and add two directors to the board. Names being floated as candidates for the chairmanship have ranged from former Vice President Al Gore to one-time CEOS including Jim McNerney of Boeing Co. and Alan Mulally of Ford Motor Co.

Elliott Management Goes on Charm Offensive [WSJ]
As the shareholder-activism landscape evolves and the influence of big index-fund managers like BlackRock Inc. and Vanguard Group grows, Elliott has been cultivating better relations with those investors and the companies it targets.
To spearhead the outreach to those investors, Elliott tapped its 30-year-old former research analyst, Christine O’Brien, whose job it is to market the firm as a force for sound corporate governance.
Ms. O’Brien’s mandate is to highlight “the corporate-governance work Elliott has quietly been doing all along,” she said in an interview.

Economics of climate change win Nobel Prize for U.S. duo [Reuters]
Americans William Nordhaus and Paul Romer, pioneers in adapting economic theory to take better account of environmental issues and technological progress, shared the 2018 Nobel Economics Prize on Monday.
In an award that turned the spotlight on the global debate over risks associated with climate change, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the laureates’ work helped answer fundamental questions on how to promote long-term sustainable growth and enhance human welfare.

Latest military mess causing trouble for Feinberg’s private equity firm [NYPost]
The billionaire gun enthusiast’s buyout firm Cerberus Capital took a hit this spring as its US gunmaker, Remington, finally went bankrupt as losses piled up and investors fled amid outrage over school shootings, starting with the Sandy Hook, Conn., killings in 2012.
Meanwhile, Cerberus has been struggling to unload DynCorp, a US defense contractor that trains troops and police forces overseas, sources told The Post.

Banksy Painting Self-Destructs Immediately After Being Sold For $1.4 Million [HuffPo]
Moments after the gavel came down on the sale of the enigmatic artist’s “Girl With Balloon” painting at Sotheby’s auction house in London, the painting passed through a shredder that had apparently been hidden in the frame. The painting only went partially through the shredder. leaving half a painting intact and half shredded at the bottom, according to The Associated Press.
The artwork, spray paint and acrylic on canvas, showed one of the artist’s most well-known images ― a young girl reaching her hand toward a red, heart-shaped balloon.