A LOOK AT CORPORATE TAX LOOPHOLES Â |Â Individuals have long sought to take advantage of dozens of tax deductions and loopholes, but corporations have excelled at this game, Andrew Ross Sorkin writes in the DealBook column.
Companies paid an average effective federal tax rate of 12.6 percent in 2010, the last time the Government Accountability Office measured the rate. That compares with the nominal federal tax rate of 35 percent, so all those accountants appear to have done their jobs in exploiting the loopholes in our tax code, Mr. Sorkin writes. Read his full column for a list of some of the most egregious corporate tax loopholes and some unexpected beneficiaries.
MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS’ ENTERPRISE UNIT SOLD FOR $3.5 BILLION  | The Zebra Technologies Corporation agreed on Tuesday to buy Motorola Solutions’ enterprise business for $3.5 billion in a deal that will allow Zebra to expand its global presence, Mark Scott writes in DealBook. Zebra, whose technology helps companies to track products in the supply chain, will buy Motorola Solutions’ unit that manufacturers everything from bar code scanners to two-way radios.
COURTS ILLUSTRATED  | If not for Elizabeth Williams, scenes from the trials of some of the most notorious Wall Street criminals might be lost to memory. But when the mighty stumble, Ms. Williams, a court illustrator, captures it forever, Alexandra Stevenson writes in DealBook. Ms. Williams has covered the trials of terrorists and murderers, but she finds white-collar criminals the most fascinating. “I think it’s the greatest soap opera there ever was,†she said.
Ms. Williams, who started her career as a fashion illustrator, was in the courtroom when Bernard L. Madoff was handcuffed and whisked away to a cell after he admitted to running a $65 billion Ponzi scheme. She was there when Michael R. Milken, head in palm, wept. She drew Ivan F. Boesky, one of the world’s most powerful financiers in the 1980s, who was convicted of masterminding Wall Street’s biggest insider trading scandal at the time, and Raj Rajaratnam, the hedge fund manager and Sri Lanka’s richest man, who was at the heart of a network of insider traders in the 2000s.
Ms. Williams’s drawings “are often the only recorded images from these trials,†Ms. Stevenson writes, adding, “Flipping through the three decades of courtroom drawings by Ms. Williams, one gets the sense that history repeats itself. The actors change, but the characters stay the same.â€
HEDGE FUND MANAGER BETS ON G.M. Â |Â General Motors has come up against a tide of criticism, but there is at least one person outside the company who is willing to defend it: Kyle Bass, the hedge fund manager who made a name for himself betting against subprime mortgages, Alexandra Stevenson writes in DealBook. Mr. Bass is now betting on G.M., which is under political scrutiny for a decade-long delay in dealing with a defect that has led to 13 deaths.
Mr. Bass’s $2 billion hedge fund, Hayman Capital, owns eight million shares of G.M., a stake that is small relative to the size of the $51 billion company, but it is the fund’s single biggest holding. In the months since the automaker said it would recall millions of cars because of a defective ignition switch that could shut off the engine and disable air bags in certain models, the company has lost $17 billion of market value â€" representing a steep loss for Mr. Bass.
But Mr. Bass is undeterred in his conviction. Part of his thesis is based on a provision in the company’s 2009 bankruptcy and $49.5 billion bailout by the government. That provision, in his view, eliminated any future liability claims. And going back to the numbers, Mr. Bass argues that the company will be hugely profitable despite the liabilities it faces.
ON THE AGENDA  | The Consumer Price Index for March is out at 8:30 a.m. The Empire State manufacturing index for April is also out at 8:30 a.m. The National Association of Home Builders housing market index for April is out at 10 a.m. Janet L. Yellen, chairwoman of the Federal Reserve, delivers remarks via videoconference at 8:45 a.m. to an Atlanta Fed conference on financial markets. Yahoo reports first-quarter earnings after the market closes. Google Glass is available for sale through the Google Glass website for one day only, starting at 9 a.m. Happy Tax Day â€" don’t forget to submit or postmark your individual tax returns by the midnight deadline.
GOOGLE GETS INTO DRONES, TOO Â |Â Google said on Monday that it had purchased Titan Aerospace, a maker of high-altitude drone satellites, which the company says will be used to take photos of the earth and to connect people to the Internet, Nick Bilton writes in the Bits blog. The terms of the deal were not disclosed
It seems as if a lot of top tech firms want flying objects at their disposal. Facebook recently bought Ascenta, a British company that makes a similar type of drone, and earlier reports said Facebook had been in talks to buy Titan Aerospace.
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TIAA-CREF to Buy Nuveen Investments for $6.25 Billion  | The acquisition of Nuveen will bring the retirement giant TIAA-CREF’s assets under management to about $800 billion and bolster its mutual fund offerings. DealBook »
Endurance Bids $3.2 Billion for Aspen Insurance  | Endurance Specialty Holdings, a provider of casualty and property insurance, made an unsolicited $3.2 billion takeover bid for Aspen Insurance Holdings. DealBook »
Maker Studios Rejects Relativity Media Bid  | Relativity Media, a film and entertainment company, offered a counterbid on Sunday in a last-minute attempt to spoil a deal between the Walt Disney Company and Maker Studios, an online video company, The Wall Street Journal writes. But Maker Studios said on Monday that its deal with Disney had been approved by its board and a majority of its shareholders and would close in the next few weeks. WALL STREET JOURNAL
Juniper Networks Said to Be Exploring Sale of Mobile Security Unit  | Juniper Networks, a networking equipment company that is under pressure from the hedge fund Elliott Management, is said to be considering a sale of its mobile security unit Junos Pulse, Reuters reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation. REUTERS
In Annual Letter, BlackRock Chief Says Firm Will Keep Speaking Out  | In BlackRock’s latest annual letter, the firm’s chairman, Laurence D. Fink, wrote that he planned to continue to use the firm’s financial might in speaking out for investors on matters like corporate governance. DealBook »
Citi Profit Exceeds Forecasts  | Along with its generally positive earnings report, Citigroup said it had uncovered a second instance of fraud in its Mexican operations. DealBook »
Citi’s Stock Seems Priced for More Mediocrity  | Despite Citi’s strong earnings, the bank is trading at just 83 percent of its tangible book value, the only major financial firm currently stuck at less than its net worth, Antony Currie writes in Reuters Breakingviews. DealBook »
Barclays Finance Chief Faces Question of What to Do With Investment Bank  | In recent private meetings with analysts and investors, Tushar Morzaria, Barclays’ chief financial officer, is said to have admitted that the bank did not have a credible plan for what do with its sprawling investment bank, according to participants at the meeting, The Wall Street Journal reports. WALL STREET JOURNAL
Blackstone and Goldman to Buy Ipreo, a Financial Information Provider  | The deal with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is the latest instance of private equity firms buying holdings from one another. DealBook »
Blackstone to Slow Down Home Purchases  | The private equity firm Blackstone Group will continue to slow down its purchasing of properties this year, MarketWatch reports, according to an official at the firm. In July, Blackstone’s Invitation Homes unit reached its peak purchase pace of about $125 million worth of homes a week. Since then, its weekly pace has dropped to about $30 million to $40 million and will likely fall further this year. MARKETWATCH
Canada’s Onex and Cineplex in Lead to Buy Dave & Buster’s  | A team of the Canadian private equity firm Onex and the entertainment company Cineplex has emerged as the leading contender to buy the restaurant and arcade chain Dave & Buster’s, The Wall Street Journal writes, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation. WALL STREET JOURNAL
Third Point Defends Its Fight Against Sotheby’s  | In a 30-page document, Daniel S. Loeb’s Third Point hedge fund laid out its case to shareholders about why it should win three seats on Sotheby’s board â€" and defended Mr. Loeb’s art world credentials. DealBook »
GrafTech Drama Headed for Proxy Fight  | After being ousted from the board of GrafTech International, Nathan Milikowsky is expected to wage a proxy fight to elect himself and five proposed directors to the board. DealBook »
Fed Paper Says Hedge Funds Helped Spur Global Financial Crisis  | Hedge funds helped spur the global financial crisis just like banks and insurance firms, according to new research published by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, The Wall Street Journal writes. WALL STREET JOURNAL
Twitter’s Biggest Shareholders Say They Won’t Sell Stock  | Top officers and directors of the social network, as well as its largest outside shareholder, say they will hang on to their shares when they get their first chance to sell in May, the Bits blog writes. NEW YORK TIMES BITS
Hong Kong I.P.O. Structure Is Fine as Is, Investor Survey Finds  | After Hong Kong lost Alibaba’s initial public offering, a survey shows that more than 90 percent of respondents oppose allowing partnership control structures like Alibaba’s in Hong Kong. DealBook »
Storefront, an Airbnb for Retail Spaces, Raises $7.3 Million  | Enough sellers have used Storefront, the equivalent of an Airbnb for retail locations, that on Monday, the company announced that it had secured $7.3 million in a Series A round of venture funding, the Bits blog reports. The money will be used to help the company expand and entice more brands to use the service to set up temporary quarters. NEW YORK TIMES BITS
Mozilla Names Interim Chief  | Mozilla, the maker of the popular Firefox web browser, announced on Monday that it had appointed Chris Beard as interim chief executive of the company, the Bits blog reports. In July, 2013, Mr. Beard became an executive-in-residence at Greylock Parners, the venture firm that is home to a current Mozilla board member, Reid Hoffman, and a former Mozilla chief executive, John Lilly. NEW YORK TIMES BITS
Amazon Will Not Accept Bitcoin Anytime Soon  | Tom Taylor, a vice president at Amazon who oversees its payment initiatives, said in a recent interview with ReCode that Amazon would not be accepting Bitcoin anytime soon. “We’re not hearing from customers that it’s right for them and don’t have any plans within Amazon to engage Bitcoin,†he said. RECODE
U.S. Venture Firms Raised $8.9 Billion in First Quarter  | Venture firms in the United States raised $8.9 billion in the first quarter, the most in six years and almost double the amount raised in the same period last year, Reuters reports, according to a report. REUTERS
Lawsuit Contends CME Gave High-Speed Traders Special Access  | A group of traders has sued the CME Group, which operates the world’s biggest derivatives exchange, contending that the exchange sold market data to high-frequency traders, Reuters reports. REUTERS
2 Executives Leave G.M. After Wide-Ranging Recall  | The departures are the first major executive changes under Mary T. Barra, who took over as chief executive in January, The New York Times writes. NEW YORK TIMES
Tax Preparers’ New Role: Health-Coverage Advisers  | As tax professionals help with tax returns, they are also offering advice on costs of premiums and potential fines under the Affordable Care Act, The New York Times reports. NEW YORK TIMES
Rising Retail Figures Revive Market  | Solid earnings by Citigroup and strong improvement in retail sales as winter weather eased led investors to regain some ground lost in the previous week. ASSOCIATED PRESS
In Many Cities, Rent Is Rising Out of Reach of Middle Class  | More households are being priced out of more areas. An analysis found 90 cities where the median rent is more than 30 percent of the median gross income, The New York Times writes. NEW YORK TIMES
