NEW YORK | There are more than 20.000 market makers only in the US. Now one of them –a very, very big one, JP Morgan– has broken for the first time a code of silence among investment banks by revealing how much they rakes in as a market-maker. A market-maker quotes bid and offers prices for specific stocks or other securities that it holds. Its aim is to make money by…
NEW YORK | Officials from the International Swaps and Derivatives Association have stated that Greece has not had a ‘credit event’ and credit default swap payments will not be triggered, at least not yet. The body’s decision has reignited the debate over the usefulness of CDS. CDS are a US$32 trillion market, which is more than twice the US gross domestic product and more than twice the national debt. They…
NEW YORK | “It’s the same Google experience that you’re used to, with the same controls,” said the company about its new privacy rules on Thursday. Really? Announced in January 24 and despite warnings from the EU earlier this week, Google’s highly controversial privacy changes took place on March 1st. European justice commissioner insisted they are in breach of European law. France’s regulator CNIL expressed its deep concern about the…
NEW YORK | General Motors and PSA Peugeot Citroën’s strategic pact announced Wednesday is meant to help both automakers squeeze $2 billion a year at their struggling European operations. The Detroit giant will acquire a 7% stake in French automaker PSA as part of a broad alliance that will include sharing vehicle architectures and pool the purchase of components. They will also cooperate in such areas as logistics and transportation to…
NEW YORK | One in seven Americans gets help from the federal government to feed themselves and their families. That is 46 million people, many of whom didn’t need help before the crisis. The current situation now leaves them no choice: their business collapsed, they were part of a company that filed for bankruptcy, they lost their home, bills started to pile up… there are many reasons to sign school-age children…
His message was clear, no frills: “We are paying the consequences of Germany and France breaking the Fiscal Pact in 2003,” stated Spain’s economy minister Luis de Guindos on Friday at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington. In his first official visit to the US, Mr De Guindos tried to spur US confidence, explaining the key points of financial and labour reforms in Spain. “Europe and Spain’s main problem…
“We have a plan to combine fiscal consolidation with structural reforms in order to jumpstart growth in the country and help stabilize the euro area.” This was the core message of the Spanish minister of Economy and Competiveness Luis de Guindos’ speech on Friday at the Brookings Institution, a center-left Washington-based think tank. In his first official trip to the US, De Guindos also held a meeting with the most…
NEW YORK | What makes an interesting CEO, a really charismatic one? And what kills all the charm? A survey by the 10 Company and Gotham Research Group conducted last December among business bloggers pointed out the worst sentences a manager could possible pronounce. Here is an excerpt of the article by Celeste Altus at Mediabistro. “Win-win situation”: I think this one hit its effectiveness peak in the 1980s. Bloggers point…
NEW YORK | All presidential candidates and the people who run all independent political action committees must file campaign finance reports with the Federal Election Commission. These Reports and statements filed by political committees may be inspected and copied by anyone. You can check them at: http://www.fec.gov/disclosure.shtml. Now that every candidate is relying on Super PACS, a type of political group that can raise and spend unlimited funds, the key is…
NEW YORK | US authorities’ investigation into insider trading at hedge funds is expanding quickly. The last case: a Goldman Sachs IT analyst may have leaked insider information to hedge funds. According to the Wall Street Journal, Henry King, senior technology analyst at the bank in Hong Kong and one of the big fish of his field, well-known for his apologetic forecasts about IT firms, allegedly advised Goldman Sachs clients…