If Wall Street Ran the Airlines…

Original Article from Seeking Alpha Editor’s Pick

The Baseline Scenario submits:

by James Kwak

New York Times headline: “U.S. Limits Tarmac Waits for Passengers to 3 Hours.” Just imagine …

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Regulating Wall Street Like Las Vegas: Yes We Can

Original Article from Seeking Alpha Editor’s Pick

Jake Zamansky submits:

One of the givens of Las Vegas is that the odds are always stacked in favor of the house. But to the credit of Nevada’s gaming commission, aggressive measures are taken to ensure that only individuals with squeaky clean records are allowed to operate casinos. Just associating with someone of questionable repute can lead to a revocation of a casino license.

The arrest Thursday morning of 14 more individuals accused of insider trading serves as yet another reminder as to why Wall Street must be regulated with the same aggressiveness and diligence as state-licensed casinos. With more than three decades of experience representing individual investors who were deceived or cheated by Wall Street firms I can say with considerable authority that unmitigated greed and dishonesty is rampant in the securities industry. While Federal prosecutors are to be commended for collaring nearly 24 alleged cheaters connected with Galleon Group for trading on inside information, they simply don’t have the resources to root out the legions of crooks that permeate the stock markets.

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Wall Street and Washington: The Referee Is Now a Major Player

Original Article from Seeking Alpha Editor’s Pick

Donald Marron submits:

A front page story in yesterday’s Washington Post (”In Shift, Wall Street Goes to Washington“) documents the Capital’s rising importance in the financial world:

J.P. Morgan Chase for the first time convened its board in Washington this summer, calling the directors to a meeting at the downtown Hay-Adams hotel, then dispatching them to Capitol Hill for meet-and-greets.

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Wall Street considers but declines China’s lead

News and views Wall Street considers but declines China’s lead. FX markets were subdued in the London morning but USD weakness resumed in NY, slicing about -0.9% from DXY. Recovery in US equities after a soft opening probably helped but EUR/USD demand reportedly from reserve managers didn’t appear news-driven. The pair had bumped around 1.4084 to 1.4135 for some hours before enjoying fixing demand and running up as high as 1.4267. AUD/USD sagged as far as 0.8175 before catching the sell-dollar

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Wall Street sees modest rise

NEW YORK – US STOCKS rose on Wednesday, shaking off a slide in China’s equity market, as investors responded favourably to a surprising drop in crude oil stockpiles that might suggest an improving demand outlook.

US front-month crude oil rose 4.7 per cent, or US$3.23, to settle at US$72.42 a barrel after a report showed the biggest drop in inventories since May.

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Vix index looks busy as Wall Street slumps

VIX – CBOE Vix index – Risk aversion is back with a vengeance on Monday’s early trade. Following through on Asian market weakness, S&P index futures were already 20 points lower pre-market and haven’t managed much of a bounce since the open. The Vix index has jumped 15% to 27.85 mid-morning, while the October Vix future is back above a reading of 30. In the November options it appears that one investor expects some follow through equity index weakness and positioned accordingly by selling

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Wall Street ends lower

NEW YORK – WALL Street stocks tumbled on Friday as a weak report on US consumer sentiment triggered renewed caution and prompted investors to lock in gains from the recent rally.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 76.64 points (0.82 per cent) to 9,321.55 at the closing bell, moving up from its worst levels of the day.

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Wall Street extends rally

NEW YORK – WALL Street posted modest gains on Thursday, as news of surprising economic growth in Europe offset weak US data a day after a rally fuelled by upbeat Federal Reserve comments about recovery from recession.

A late buying wave pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 37.64 points (0.40 per cent) to 9,399.25 at the closing bell in a choppy session a day after gains of more than one percent in the main indexes.

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Fed sparks Wall Street gains

NEW YORK – US STOCKS surged on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve held its key interest rate unchanged, said the recession-mired economy is stabilising and announced a scaleback in its massive pump priming effort.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 117.36 points (1.27 per cent) to 9,358.81 at the market close.

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Financials dog Wall Street

NEW YORK – US STOCKS slid on Tuesday after a prominent banking analyst warned that the sector’s fundamentals have not yet improved, sparking a sell-off in bank shares.

Economic data showing an unexpectedly large fall in in wholesalers’ inventories added to the bearish sentiment.

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