The more things change the more they stay the same. The market is different indeed – it now slowly rallies on less and less volume with each passing day, while the debts of all the fraudulent bankers are guaranteed on a global scale. The retail investor knows the deck is stacked against him so he has pulled money from equities for the longest time on record.
As the markets change, however, the more they stay the same: the bankers tell the Fed and the Treasury to jump and the response is – how high? Specifically, the derivatives market that trades CDOs, RMBSs, CLOs, CDSs etc and almost brought down the whole global economy is largely unchanged (as well as bankster bonuses). Moreover, the newly elected Congress will probably fight to keep any fledgling changes from happening.
By the way, has there been even one major bankster from JPM, BAC, GS, or MS arrested and thrown in jail for the housing fraud perpetrated on the American people? Nope…the more they stay the same and all that...
The New York Times had a good article on this subject and portions are printed below. The full piece can be found here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/business/12advantage.html?_r=3&pagewanted=2&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a2
On the third Wednesday of every month, the nine members of an elite Wall Street society gather in Midtown Manhattan.
The men share a common goal: to protect the interests of big banks in the vast market for derivatives, one of the most profitable — and controversial — fields in finance. They also share a common secret: The details of their meetings, even their identities, have been strictly confidential.
Drawn from giants like JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the bankers form a powerful committee that helps oversee trading in derivatives, instruments which, like insurance, are used to hedge risk.
In theory, this group exists to safeguard the integrity of the multitrillion-dollar market. In practice, it also defends the dominance of the big banks.
The banks in this group, which is affiliated with a new derivatives clearinghouse, have fought to block other banks from entering the market, and they are also trying to thwart efforts to make full information on prices and fees freely available.
Just how much derivatives trading costs ordinary Americans is uncertain. The size and reach of this market has grown rapidly over the past two decades. Pension funds today use derivatives to hedge investments. States and cities use them to try to hold down borrowing costs. Airlines use them to secure steady fuel prices. Food companies use them to lock in prices of commodities like wheat or beef.
The marketplace as it functions now "adds up to higher costs to all Americans," said Gary Gensler, the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates most derivatives. More oversight of the banks in this market is needed, he said. But big banks influence the rules governing derivatives through a variety of industry groups. The banks’ latest point of influence are clearinghouses like ICE Trust, which holds the monthly meetings with the nine bankers in New York.
The Department of Justice is looking into derivatives, too. The department’s antitrust unit is actively investigating "the possibility of anticompetitive practices in the credit derivatives clearing, trading and information services industries," according to a department spokeswoman.
Indeed, the derivatives market today reminds some experts of the Nasdaq stock market in the 1990s. Back then, the Justice Department discovered that Nasdaq market makers were secretly colluding to protect their own profits. Following that scandal, reforms and electronic trading systems cut Nasdaq stock trading costs to 1/20th of their former level - an enormous savings for investors.
"When you limit participation in the governance of an entity to a few like-minded institutions or individuals who have an interest in keeping competitors out, you have the potential for bad things to happen. It's antitrust 101," said Robert E. Litan, who helped oversee the Justice Department's Nasdaq investigation as deputy assistant attorney general and is now a fellow at the Kauffman Foundation. “The history of derivatives trading is it has grown up as a very concentrated industry, and old habits are hard to break."
Representatives from the nine banks that dominate the market declined to comment on the Department of Justice investigation.
If an investor trades shares of Google or Coca-Cola or any other company on a stock exchange, the price - and the commission, or fee — are known. Electronic trading has made this information available to anyone with a computer, while also increasing competition - and sharply lowering the cost of trading. Even corporate bonds have become more transparent recently. Trading costs dropped there almost immediately after prices became more visible in 2002.
Not so with derivatives. For many, there is no central exchange, like the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq, where the prices of derivatives are listed. Instead, when a company or an investor wants to buy a derivative contract for, say, oil or wheat or securitized mortgages, an order is placed with a trader at a bank. The trader matches that order with someone selling the same type of derivative.
Banks explain that many derivatives trades have to work this way because they are often customized, unlike shares of stock. One share of Google is the same as any other. But the terms of an oil derivatives contract can vary greatly.
And the profits on most derivatives are masked. In most cases, buyers are told only what they have to pay for the derivative contract, say $25 million. That amount is more than the seller gets, but how much more - $5,000, $25,000 or $50,000 more — is unknown. That’s because the seller also is told only the amount he will receive. The difference between the two is the bank’s fee and profit. So, the bigger the difference, the better for the bank - and the worse for the customers.
It would be like a real estate agent selling a house, but the buyer knowing only what he paid and the seller knowing only what he received. The agent would pocket the difference as his fee, rather than disclose it. Moreover, only the real estate agent — and neither buyer nor seller - would have easy access to the prices paid recently for other homes on the same block.
The rest of the article is interesting. Give it a read. .
As the markets change, however, the more they stay the same: the bankers tell the Fed and the Treasury to jump and the response is – how high? Specifically, the derivatives market that trades CDOs, RMBSs, CLOs, CDSs etc and almost brought down the whole global economy is largely unchanged (as well as bankster bonuses). Moreover, the newly elected Congress will probably fight to keep any fledgling changes from happening.
By the way, has there been even one major bankster from JPM, BAC, GS, or MS arrested and thrown in jail for the housing fraud perpetrated on the American people? Nope…the more they stay the same and all that...
The New York Times had a good article on this subject and portions are printed below. The full piece can be found here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/business/12advantage.html?_r=3&pagewanted=2&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a2
On the third Wednesday of every month, the nine members of an elite Wall Street society gather in Midtown Manhattan.
The men share a common goal: to protect the interests of big banks in the vast market for derivatives, one of the most profitable — and controversial — fields in finance. They also share a common secret: The details of their meetings, even their identities, have been strictly confidential.
Drawn from giants like JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the bankers form a powerful committee that helps oversee trading in derivatives, instruments which, like insurance, are used to hedge risk.
In theory, this group exists to safeguard the integrity of the multitrillion-dollar market. In practice, it also defends the dominance of the big banks.
The banks in this group, which is affiliated with a new derivatives clearinghouse, have fought to block other banks from entering the market, and they are also trying to thwart efforts to make full information on prices and fees freely available.
Just how much derivatives trading costs ordinary Americans is uncertain. The size and reach of this market has grown rapidly over the past two decades. Pension funds today use derivatives to hedge investments. States and cities use them to try to hold down borrowing costs. Airlines use them to secure steady fuel prices. Food companies use them to lock in prices of commodities like wheat or beef.
The marketplace as it functions now "adds up to higher costs to all Americans," said Gary Gensler, the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates most derivatives. More oversight of the banks in this market is needed, he said. But big banks influence the rules governing derivatives through a variety of industry groups. The banks’ latest point of influence are clearinghouses like ICE Trust, which holds the monthly meetings with the nine bankers in New York.
The Department of Justice is looking into derivatives, too. The department’s antitrust unit is actively investigating "the possibility of anticompetitive practices in the credit derivatives clearing, trading and information services industries," according to a department spokeswoman.
Indeed, the derivatives market today reminds some experts of the Nasdaq stock market in the 1990s. Back then, the Justice Department discovered that Nasdaq market makers were secretly colluding to protect their own profits. Following that scandal, reforms and electronic trading systems cut Nasdaq stock trading costs to 1/20th of their former level - an enormous savings for investors.
"When you limit participation in the governance of an entity to a few like-minded institutions or individuals who have an interest in keeping competitors out, you have the potential for bad things to happen. It's antitrust 101," said Robert E. Litan, who helped oversee the Justice Department's Nasdaq investigation as deputy assistant attorney general and is now a fellow at the Kauffman Foundation. “The history of derivatives trading is it has grown up as a very concentrated industry, and old habits are hard to break."
Representatives from the nine banks that dominate the market declined to comment on the Department of Justice investigation.
If an investor trades shares of Google or Coca-Cola or any other company on a stock exchange, the price - and the commission, or fee — are known. Electronic trading has made this information available to anyone with a computer, while also increasing competition - and sharply lowering the cost of trading. Even corporate bonds have become more transparent recently. Trading costs dropped there almost immediately after prices became more visible in 2002.
Not so with derivatives. For many, there is no central exchange, like the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq, where the prices of derivatives are listed. Instead, when a company or an investor wants to buy a derivative contract for, say, oil or wheat or securitized mortgages, an order is placed with a trader at a bank. The trader matches that order with someone selling the same type of derivative.
Banks explain that many derivatives trades have to work this way because they are often customized, unlike shares of stock. One share of Google is the same as any other. But the terms of an oil derivatives contract can vary greatly.
And the profits on most derivatives are masked. In most cases, buyers are told only what they have to pay for the derivative contract, say $25 million. That amount is more than the seller gets, but how much more - $5,000, $25,000 or $50,000 more — is unknown. That’s because the seller also is told only the amount he will receive. The difference between the two is the bank’s fee and profit. So, the bigger the difference, the better for the bank - and the worse for the customers.
It would be like a real estate agent selling a house, but the buyer knowing only what he paid and the seller knowing only what he received. The agent would pocket the difference as his fee, rather than disclose it. Moreover, only the real estate agent — and neither buyer nor seller - would have easy access to the prices paid recently for other homes on the same block.
The rest of the article is interesting. Give it a read. .
Trade Date: 12/11/10
E-Mini S&P Trades*
(before fees and commissions):
E-Mini S&P Trades*
(before fees and commissions):
- No “Secrets” trades filled today.
- Algorithm positions (5)
- “Reading the Tape” positions (0) …combined Secret’s, Algo, & “Reading the Tape” total… -5.00
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