Blog, Advanced Trading

Risky Trading of Swaps in A.I.G. Insurance Unit?

February 02, 2010 @ 10:16 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

A.I.G. Financial Products was not the only subsidiary of American International Group trading risky derivatives, according to an article in the New York Times yesterday.

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Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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Carbon Trading After Copenhagen: What About U.S. Legislation?

January 27, 2010 @ 03:57 PM | By Ivy Schmerken

I went to a conference on Carbon After Copenhagen this morning that was very interesting and points to an emerging asset class in the U.S.

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Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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Chicago Pit Traders Coming to Hollywood in Floored?

January 20, 2010 @ 09:54 PM | By Kerry Massaro

If you're in Chicago, you might be able to catch the last night of a week premier of Floored tonight, a movie about the near extinction of Chicago pit trading. The movie takes a look at the personalities behind trading and how electronic trading changed their world. I haven't seen the movie, but the trailer looks captivating.

A Barron's column, by Steven M. Sears, describes it as:
His camera captures lots of broken men. Some are deformed by the pursuit of money; others struggle to reinvent themselves since computers do what they did cheaper, faster and better. The successful floor traders are magnetic. They’re overgrown kids with money, brains and a pathological need to release stress.”

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Topics: derivatives
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Is the Bank Tax Unconstitutional?

January 19, 2010 @ 11:58 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

Wall Street is getting ready for a legal battle over the proposed bank tax unveiled by President Obama last week and has hired a top litigator who has argued cases before the Supreme Court.

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Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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Bonus Backlash: M.I.T. Professor Proposes Windfall Tax

January 12, 2010 @ 10:45 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

With outrage over Wall Street bonuses back in the headlines, Simon Johnson, a professor at M.I.T.'s Sloan School of Management, who is a former chief economist at the IMF, says it's wrong for too-big-to-fail banks to pay out their profits to employees. Instead, Johnson insists that people who worked at banks that were saved — with assets totaling more than $100 billion — should get zero bonus in 2009.

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Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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Flash Orders: Bad for Equities, Good for Options?

January 07, 2010 @ 11:18 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

In case you thought the controversy over ‘flash trading’ that erupted in equities is over, think again. In a CBOE video, Edward Tilly, CBOE Executive Vice Chairman, contends the economics of flash trading in options and how this actually benefits the customer.

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Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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Mood of the Markets:Regret, A Powerful Motivator

January 06, 2010 @ 10:53 AM | By Kerry Massaro

Denise Shull, CEO of The Rethink Group, and Advanced Trading's recent Buy Side Trading Summit keynote, discusses the mood of the markets on CNBC. Shull says that there is a mix of optimism and caution.

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FXall's Acquisition of LavaFX Consolidates FX ECNs

January 04, 2010 @ 09:34 PM | By Ivy Schmerken

Kicking off 2010 with consolidation, FXall, a leading electronic foreign exchange marketplace focusing on asset managers and corporate treasurers, said it would purchase LavaFX from Citigroup, to become the multi-bank destination for the active trader market.

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Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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Loopholes in OTC Derivatives Bill?

December 16, 2009 @ 12:21 PM | By Ivy Schmerken

While the House of Representative passed a major financial reform bill last Friday, Kevin McPartland, senior analyst at Tabb Group, questioned in a a video posted on Youtubewhether there are some major loopholes in the OTC derivatives bill such as allowing voice brokers to register as swap execution facilities.

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Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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Tradeweb Calls Lynch Amendment "Anti-Competitive"

December 09, 2009 @ 05:04 PM | By Ivy Schmerken

With Rep. Stephen Lynch proposing an amendment to limit bank ownership of derivatives clearinghouses, Tradeweb's CEO Lee Olesky issued the following statement with regard to the Lynch Amendment and its impact on the development of clearinghouses and execution platforms.

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Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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The Lynch Amendment Stirs Up Battle in Derivatives Reform

December 08, 2009 @ 11:23 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

A battle is brewing over the so-called Lynch Amendment that would block large bank dealers from controlling the OTC derivatives clearinghouse.The Futures Industry Association has sent a letter to Congress opposing an amendment to the House of Representatives legislation on financial reform legislation, on the grounds that it reduces competition.

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Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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December Deadlines for OTC Derivatives

December 02, 2009 @ 11:27 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

December is a big month for deadlines in the OTC derivatives marketplace but don’t expect derivatives reform legislation to be finalized any time soon.

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Why Is ConvergEx Buying NorthPoint To Go Mini-Prime?

November 24, 2009 @ 10:45 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

Eyeing the boutique prime brokerage space as an attractive business, ConvergEx is acquiring NorthPoint Trading Partners LLC of Atlanta, Georgia, for an undisclosed price.

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Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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Ten Take Aways from Our Trading Summit

November 18, 2009 @ 10:57 PM | By Kerry Massaro

I just got back from Advanced Trading’s fourth Buy Side Trading Summit. And although the event is off the record (no reporting using traders' or company names — a way to ensure the buy side feels free to open up —) I figured I’d share the top general takeouts from the event.

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Topics: Regulations
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Catching Up On OTC Derivatives Reform

November 11, 2009 @ 10:20 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

I’ve been catching up on my reading about OTC derivatives reform bills that were passed by the House Financial services and Agricultural committees last month. Though I am a little behind, I’ve concluded that not much has changed except that regulators really want to mandate clearing and trading on exchanges (or alternative swap execution facilities) to bring transparency into the market and save taxpayers a fortune from bailing out the banks again. At the same time, industry participants are worried about unintended consequences of these reforms.

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Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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London Stock Exchange Crashes Again

November 10, 2009 @ 10:22 AM | By Kerry Massaro

The London Stock Exchange crashed yesterday due to a technical problem related to a server. The outage affected one in twelve stocks for 40 minutes from 3:04 until the market closed. Check out this story on the outage.)

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Topics: Exchanges
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Madoff's Ex-Auditor Pleads Guilty

November 04, 2009 @ 08:41 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

David Friehling, the accountant who audited Bernard Madoff’s books, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday. Friehling claimed he was unaware of Madoff’s Ponzi scheme even though he served as an independent auditor for Madoff’s money management business from 1991-to 2008. He told the judge that his biggest mistake was trusting Madoff, according to CNBC.

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Wall Street Bands Rock Out for Charity

October 29, 2009 @ 09:23 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

Despite the tough environment for fundraising, Wall Street employees are still finding ways to give back to their communities. Tonight, mortgage traders and other fixed income professionals who play in Wall Street bands are hoping to have fun and raise a ton of money.

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Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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Liquidnet In Rwanda

October 29, 2009 @ 09:20 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

There are many other examples of charitable works driven by Wall Street employees. Check out the amazing work that global electronic marketplace Liquidnet is doing in Rwanda , where it’s the primary corporate partner developing the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV), an innovative concept to help traumatized orphans caught in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

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Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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ITG Testifies at SEC Hearing on Dark Pools, Etc

October 28, 2009 @ 10:51 AM | By Kerry Massaro

Bob Gasser, CEO, of ITG is testifying today before the Senate Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs on the topic of dark pools, flash orders, high frequency trading and other market structure issues.

His testimony can be read :
http://www.itg.com/news_events/Senate_Testimony_102809.pdf

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Topics: dark pools
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Madoff Friend Jeffrey Picower Takes Secrets to His Grave

October 27, 2009 @ 12:03 PM | By Ivy Schmerken

Bernard Madoff’s billionaire friend Jeffry Picower, who was found dead at the bottom of a pool on Sunday at his Palm Beach mansion, was the biggest beneficiary of the Madoff scam, according to this ABC News video report.

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Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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Madoff Workplace Allegedly Rife with Cocaine, Sex

October 22, 2009 @ 09:16 AM | By Kerry Massaro

And the saga continues. CNN's Chloe Melas reports on a recent lawsuit filed by former Madoff investors claiming that "Madoff's workplace was rife with cocaine and sex." The 264-page law suit claims Madoff "financed a cocaine-fueled work environment and a "culture of sexual deviance."" The complaint alleges Bernard Madoff Investment Services was known by insiders as the ""North Pole", in reference to the excessive amount of cocaine use in the work place." The law suit also
claims that "Madoff diverted money to his London, England, office when he believed federal authorities were closing in at home."

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Topics: fraud
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Schumer/Niederauer Call on Regulators to Create Level Playing Field for Dark Pools and Exchanges

October 20, 2009 @ 11:35 AM | By Kerry Massaro

A media advisory from Senator Charles Schumer’s (D-NY) office was released today announcing that he will hold a conference call with Duncan Niederauer, CEO of NYSE Euronext today at 12:30 to urge the Securities and Exchange Commission to institute a series of reforms to better regulate dark pools.

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Topics: Regulations
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Revelations from Book "Too Big To Fail"

October 20, 2009 @ 10:59 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

New York Times Reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin discussed his new book “Too Big To Fail” with CNBC today in which he discloses some behind-the-scenes conversations that took place at Goldman Sachs and at Lehman Brothers when Wall Street was forced to work with Washington to save the banking system.

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Topics: Ivy Schmerken
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Penson's Letter To SEC On Matt Taibbi

October 07, 2009 @ 04:29 PM | By Kerry Massaro

Check out this developing story on Penson Financial Services, which was accused of a serious securities law violation (approving a large naked short) by Rolling Stone columnist Matt Taibbi. Penson wrote a letter to the SEC denying any wrong doing.

Here is a story that appeared in The Business Insider that recounts what happened.

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Topics: fraud
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