25 years after the Big Bang we ask: Was it a good idea? October 26, 2011 YES Eamonn Butler SOMETHING had to happen. London had once been the world’s major financial centre, but by the 1980s it had been overtaken by New York and that lead was growing. The City remained an old-fashioned world: to outsiders like me, more like a private gentlemen’s club than a place of business. Its leading [...]
Ex Goldman director hit with insider trading charges October 26, 2011 Rajat Gupta, one of America’s best-connected businessmen, has been arrested by US federal authorities over the insider trading probe that saw former hedge fund tycoon Raj Rajaratnam jailed for 11 years this month. Gupta, a former head of McKinsey and ex-director of Goldman Sachs, has been charged with the criminal offences of securities fraud and [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 20, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES EU PUTS BANKS’ SHORTFALL AT JUST €90BN Europe’s grand plan to strengthen its banking system is set to fall well short of current market expectations identifying a capital shortfall of less than €100bn (£87bn) that must be made up over the next six to nine months, according to the latest official estimates. The EU’s [...]
Trader tops NYSE ranking October 17, 2011 A LITTLE-known brokerage in New York toppled Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley from the top of the New York Stock Exchange’s ranking of trading companies for the past two weeks, it has emerged. Latour Trading topped NYSE’s weekly list of the biggest programme traders, which use an automated system to execute large trades buying or [...]
Fear gauge up as US stocks plunge October 17, 2011 US stocks suffered their worst loss in two weeks yesterday after comments from Germany’s finance minister caused investors to fear Europe’s solution to its debt crisis may not come fast enough. The S&P index had risen for two straight weeks for the first time since July, riding a wave of euphoria built on optimism that [...]
Weak results slow Wall Street October 13, 2011 THE Dow and S&P 500 slipped yesterday after JP Morgan’s earnings and China’s soft trade data revived worries about the impact of slower growth on profits. The declines put an end to three straight days of gains that capped off a 12 per cent increase in the S&P 500 since hitting a low on 4 [...]
Wall Street stays flat ahead of vote October 11, 2011 US stocks were little changed yesterday, with major indices seesawing between gains and losses before a key vote by Slovakia on expanding the Eurozone rescue fund. The back-and-forth moves on Wall Street follow several days of sharp gains. The S&P 500 has risen 8.7 per cent over the past five days, its biggest five-day move [...]
Key week for Burberry amid China worries October 9, 2011 INVESTORS will be eagerly awaiting first half figures from Burberry this Wednesday, as the luxury fashion house seeks to reassure that its expansion remains on track despite uncertainty in key Asian markets. Amid general market turmoil and fears over a slowdown in the Chinese economy, which accounts for 15 per cent of the company’s retail [...]
… but our writer disagrees. Algos mean no harm October 6, 2011 THE avarice and greed of traders leading themselves and others to ruin. The creation of powerful computer-driven algo systems that nobody understands. Another creation by grasping bankers trying to churn and burn viable publicly listed businesses as fast as they can. Whipping up uncontrollable market volatility. Exacerbating terrifying sounding “flash crashes.” All happening in the [...]
Wall Street gains again on tech talk October 5, 2011 US stocks rallied for a second day yesterday, as investors bid up materials and energy shares on rising commodity prices and poured into beaten-down tech names after days of selling. Stocks continued to recover from a decline that briefly took the S&P 500 into bear-market territory. That turned abruptly on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 [...]