“Aspecter haunts America: downward mobility. Every generation, we believe, should live better than its predecessor. By and large, Americans still embrace that promise. A Pew survey earlier this year found that 48 percent of respondents felt that their children’s living standards would exceed their own. Although that’s down from 61 percent in 2002, it’s on […]
“Slowly, over the last year, it’s begun to dawn on us: The economic recovery isn’t really making a dent in unemployment.” Read the full article here.
“When there are two powerful factions in Congress, one of which wants to take an action and the other of which wants to avoid it, what should Congress do?” “Both. “As the rules get written for Dodd-Frank, the financial reform law that Congress enacted last year, the essential contradictions in the law are being left […]
“AS European leaders scramble to save the euro and prevent Greece’s debt woes from spreading, the economic performance of euro zone countries is diverging at a fast clip.” Read the full post here.
“No wonder Occupy Wall Street took its protest this week to East 86th Street and the 28,500-square-foot limestone mansion owned by the billionaire hedge fund manager John A. Paulson. What better symbol of the excesses of Wall Street than Mr. Paulson, who made billions betting on the real estate collapse and whose opulent surroundings stand in […]
“Publicly, bankers say they understand the anger at Wall Street — but believe they are misunderstood by the protesters camped on their doorstep.” “But when they speak privately, it is often a different story. “Most people view it as a ragtag group looking for sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll,” said one top hedge fund […]
“Even as officials of the Group of 20 industrialized nations were gathering here on Friday to flesh out a solution to the European debt crisis, a new challenge confronted them, when ratings agencies warned that globally interconnected banks in France and elsewhere faced rising risks.” Read the full article here.
“Buoyed by the longevity of the Occupy Wall Street encampment in Manhattan, a wave of protests swept across Asia, the Americas and Europe over the weekend, with hundreds and in some cases thousands of people expressing discontent with the economic tides in marches, rallies and occasional clashes with the police.” Read the full story here.
“Mitt Romney has raised far more money than Mr. Obama this year from the firms that have been among Wall Street’s top sources of donations for the two candidates.”
“The New York bank — flush with $7.5 billion in fiscal 2006 profit, the biggest in its history — was going to be farming 11 parcels on the steppes of Ukraine.” “Morgan Stanley was primed for the investment. It was then the second-largest U.S. securities firm by market value, after Goldman Sachs, and chief executive John […]
“European officials working to address the region’s financial crisis have rejected key recommendations from the United States and the International Monetary Fund, casting doubt on whether an emerging plan will be as broad or fast-acting as hoped.” Read the full story here.
“The US and UK rejected suggestions from emerging market countries that the International Monetary Fund needed more firepower to fight the eurozone crisis, creating a discordant start to the Group of 20 finance ministers meeting in Paris.” Read the full story here.
“The lead negotiator for private holders of Greek debt has said that investors are unwilling to accept greater losses on their bonds than the 21 per cent agreed in July, jeopardising eurozone plans to finalise a second Greek bail-out by the end of next week.” “Charles Dallara, managing director of the Institute of International Finance, criticised […]
“Not long ago, someone suggested that I read “Since Yesterday,” a book by Frederick Lewis Allen, a popular historian of the 1930s and 1940s. Published in 1940, it turned out to be a shrewd, concise, wonderfully written account of America in the ’30s.” Read the full story here.
“President Obama and his team have decided to turn public anger at Wall Street into a central tenet of their reelection strategy. The move comes as the Occupy Wall Street protests gain momentum across the country and as polls show deep public distrust of the nation’s major financial institutions.” Read the full post here.
“Momentum is gathering behind the view that banks plan to shrink their way out of trouble – reducing risk-weighted assets, the denominator of capital ratios, rather than increasing equity, the numerator.” Read the full story here.
“European financials eroded strong gains made over the past week as equity indices came back under pressure on Thursday, with lenders unsettled by talk of new capital requirements from the European Union.” Read the full story here.
“When officials from 16 of the world’s securities regulators assemble on Friday in London for a round-table discussion on “high-frequency” trading and over-the-counter derivatives, it will be the biggest gathering of its kind yet convened to brainstorm on those issues.” Read the full story here.
“German bankers railed Thursday against European Union proposals that would force the Continent’s banks to raise capital and further write down the value of Greek debt on their books, arguing that the moves themselves could force the sort of financial crisis that Europe’s leaders are working to avoid.” Read the full story here.
“Americans’ incomes have dropped since 2000 and they aren’t expected to make up the lost ground before 2021, according to economists in the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey.” Read the full story here.
“Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and Citigroup Inc. (C) are among firms planning to repay rather than roll over their share of $231 billion raised under a U.S. loan program meant to help the economy as the business slowdown crimps demand for credit.” Read the full story here.
A new report by Better Markets, a nonprofit group advocating constraints on speculative trading, blames Wall Street for inflating prices at the gas pump and the grocery store. The study centered on commodity index funds, investments tied to the value of oil, wheat and other commodity futures contracts. The funds, according to the Better […]
Dennis Kelleher, president & CEO, gives a tour around the Better Markets’ office and offers an inside look into the goals and mission of the nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that promotes the public interest in the international and domestic capital and commodity markets.
“HOMES are the primary form of wealth for most Americans. Since the housing bubble burst in 2006, the wealth of American homeowners has fallen by some $9 trillion, or nearly 40 percent. In the 12 months ending in June, house values fell by more than $1 trillion, or 8 percent. That sharp fall in wealth […]
“Britain is facing a winter of rising unemployment after the jobless total rose to its highest level for 17 years in an illustration of how the painfully slow recovery from recession is taking its toll on the labour market.” Read the full story here.
“Mortgage rates for US homeowners are running half a percentage point higher than recent historical averages would suggest, complicating Federal Reserve efforts to boost economic growth .” Read the full article at the Financial Times
‘In a country where the rate of non payment of debts and home repossession has traditionally been very low, weekly repossession cases like these have become a potent symbol of the property boom and bust that last autumn catapulted Ireland into an EU-IMF bail-out. Anti-eviction protests have been held at several private houses in recent […]
“European authorities plan to set a higher than expected capital threshold for the region’s banks and give them six to nine months to achieve that level or face government recapitalisations under the auspices of the eurozone’s €440bn rescue fund, senior regulators said.” Read the full story here.
Dennis Kelleher and Stephen Hall of Better Markets speak after meeting with officials from the Financial Stability Oversight Council in July 2011 on its proposed Freedom of Information Act rules. The current proposal needs to be improved because it gives the council too much discretion to ignore or reject FOIA requests. The issue is very […]
“Federal regulators are facing a new and redefined wave of pressure from lawmakers to lessen the impact of the mountain of derivatives rules, as the calls for repeal appear dead and legislation mandating delays seem unnecessary, now that deadlines have been missed.” Read the full story here.
“Labor Department figures out Tuesday showed the number of U.S. job openings fell in August for the first time in four months, to about 3.1 million. At the same time, the number of unemployed rose to nearly 14 million. In other words, there were roughly 4.6 job seekers for every opening in August, up from […]
“Political gridlock is preventing rich-country governments from responding to what Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has delicately described as an economy that is ‘close to faltering.’ Once again, central banks are under pressure to step in. Which raises a question: Is too much being asked of them?” Read the full story here.
“At first blush, a proposal the Securities and Exchange Commission took up Wednesday appeared to be one of the more mundane chores the agency faces as it carries out a congressionally mandated overhaul of Wall Street rules.” Read the full story here.
“Yes, Morgan Stanley by any measure is a safe and solid investment bank. Except for one: The amount of trust people have in the whole financial and political system. It’s just about zero.” Read the full story here.
“The head of the U.S. futures regulator has the support he needs to pass a long-awaited rule that would curb excessive speculation in commodity markets, a source with knowledge of the agency’s rule-making told Reuters on Tuesday.” Read the full story here.
“The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday became the latest agency to support an initial version of the so-called Volcker rule, a new regulation aimed at curtailing risky trading on Wall Street. The agency, which voted unanimously to advance the proposal, also introduced a plan on Wednesday to deepen its scrutiny of major players in […]
“Tuesday’s announcement of the proposed Volcker rule came after months of meetings and letter-writing aimed at U.S. regulators. Now comes yet another burst of arm-twisting before the final rule is announced next year. Based on letter writing, Wall Street’s foes have a big advantage. But when it comes to face time, no one can top […]
“Wall Street trading appears headed for an inhibited new era after the U.S. government on Tuesday outlined a rule sharply limiting banks’ ability to make bets with their own capital.” Read the full story here
“For a decade, Grant Wilson toiled on a small trading desk at Bank of New York Mellon Corp. in Pittsburgh, buying and selling currencies for the bank’s biggest clients. Mr. Wilson also had another job: For the last two of those years he was a secret whistleblower, assisting currency-trading investigations of BNY Mellon, according to […]
“European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet warned Tuesday that the euro-zone crisis has “reached a systemic dimension” and said governments must swiftly push through fiscal reforms and coordinate a recapitalization of banks.” Read the full article at The Wall Street Journal
“Federal regulators unveiled a 298-page draft Tuesday outlining new rules to prevent big banks from trading for heir benefit rather than on behalf of customers, nearly two years after the Obama administration endorsed such a measure.” Read the full story here
“Europe’s plans to help Greece avoid piling up another mountain of debt are straightforward enough on paper: Get the government to cut its spending, mainly by trimming the large public sector, and increase its revenue, mainly by collecting the taxes it already has in place. “In practice, those goals require a fundamental overhaul of the […]
“One of Standard Chartered’s most senior executives has sharply criticised western regulators for using the wrong mechanisms to deal with the financial crisis, granting free rein to Asian markets where there has been a bias towards growth-focused regulation.” Read the full story here
“Pierre Mariani, chief executive of Dexia, bristled on Monday morning when analysts used the term “bad bank” to refer to what will remain of the stricken Franco-Belgian lender once the break-up is concluded. But the shape of Dexia after its dismemberment, imposed upon it after it received a second bail-out in three years, will be a far cry from […]
“The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has a mischievous bent. At a time when everyone including the Queen of England wonders why economists did not anticipate the financial crisis and still cannot agree a cure, the academy awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize (it is not technically a Nobel) to two American professors synonymous with economic modelling.” […]
“Global regulators insist the economic cost of implementing tough new rules on bank capital requirements will have only a tiny effect on global growth, with their latest estimate putting the impact at barely a tenth of the industry’s own projection.” Read the full story here
“Wall Street banks often boast that they hire the best and the brightest. Now, scrambling to bolster profits, they have become full-time headhunters for some of their biggest hedge fund clients, a role that is rife with potential conflicts.” Read the full story here
“Did you watch the markets on Monday? In the last 18 minutes of trading, the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index jumped more than 10 points with no news to account for the rally. If you were left scratching your head, you were not alone.” Read the full story here
“Wall Street loathes change. That could explain its displeasure with the Volcker Rule. The rule, unveiled by regulators on Tuesday, would overhaul how the banking industry carries out its trading activity. Regulators plan to limit banks from investing in hedge funds while also prohibiting proprietary trading, a major profit center where banks trade with their […]
“Why are the Occupy Wall Streeters so angry at bankers?” Read the full story here
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