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An Outsider’s Perspective On High Frequency Trading

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:18:00 GMT

I think it would be an understatement to say that there is a lot of confusion in the mainstream press and in the blogosphere regarding high frequency trading (HFT). For many of us, it is only in the last few weeks that we have started to add the words “co-location,” “flash trading,” and “predatory algorithms” into our lexicon. Fortunately for HFT novices like myself, blogosphere luminaries such as Karl Denninger of The Market Ticker and Tyler Durden of [More...]

S&P Follies

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:39:09 GMT

In case you had any doubts about the objectivity or even reasonableness of the credit rating agencies, consider this. From the WSJ: In a reversal in its evaluation of a clutch of mortgage bonds backed by commercial property, Standard & Poor’s on Tuesday raised the ratings on several securities it had downgraded a week[More...]

The Fledgling Conflicts Of Interest At The Nouveau Rating Agencies

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:41:57 GMT

A lot has been said recently over the much-maligned traditional rating agencies: S&P and Moody's. The rampant conflicts of interest over the past decade which everyone on Wall Street was all too aware of, somehow were a shock to politicians such as Barney Frank. In fact these very conflicts have been proposed to be the root of the credit and mortgage crisis (one can see how that is not a futile argument: if an excel workbook crashes your PC if you try to assume declining housing prices someone should have raised a red flag somewhere). Of course, that is a naive conclusion but not entirely without merit. In fact, odds are that the next time the market swoons by 40-60%, Barney Frank will refocus populist anger at exactly these rating agencies which have so far managed to escape relatively unscathed. But the crucifixion clouds are gathering. The administration realizes that the only purpose for keeping rating agencies alive is to[More...]

S&P: United States Safe... In Near Term

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:28:10 GMT

The good news: Currently, 17 of the 124 sovereigns we rate have 'AAA' long-term ratings and stable outlooks. These include close G7 peers, such as Canada, France, and Germany. We believe the U.S.'s key credit strengths include: -- A high-income, highly diversified economy, with unusually flexible labor and product markets. -- The unique[More...]

Just Can't Wait To Get On The Road Again

Thu, 14 May 2009 21:37:14 GMT

AAA announced this week that they expect a 1.5 percent increase in travel during the Memorial Day holiday weekend. AAA says about 11 percent--27 million people--will hit the road over the weekend....[More...]

To What Degree Were AIG’s Operating Insurance Subsidiaries Sound?

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:09:30 GMT

Hey, friends. My piece on AIG is done, and I will be posting over the next few days, and resume a more normal posting schedule. Here it is: Summary Aside from the mortgage insurers, the P&C subsidiaries were basically sound, though with some issues such as capital stacking, affiliated assets, etc., as mentioned below. The non-mortgage P&C subsidiaries didn’t have a great 2008, but they would have survived as standalone entities. The life and mortgage subsidiaries are another matter. Without the help of the US Government, many of them would have failed. Even now, given the levels of affiliated assets, capital stacking, deferred tax assets, etc., they are not in great shape now should there be another surprise. Profitability is likely to be lower in the future than in the banner years of the middle of the 2000s[More...]

Market Report For Friday: Apr 17, 2009

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:00:45 GMT

(7:11am ET) There was plenty of economic data released in the US during the day; however the equity market sidetracked until 2pm ET, when with prices at modest losing levels on the week until that point, suddenly, and for no discernable reason, there was a rally that left the indexes with small gains through Thursday. Perhaps traders were anticipating a positive quarterly report from Google (GOOG +2.4% on +151% of average daily trading volume)? After the close, the company did not disappoint, beating both revenue and EPS estimates. The company posted net income of $1.42 billion ($5.16/share), up +8% from the $1.31 billion ($4.84/share) recorded during the same period a year ago. Revenue for 1Q2009 increased +10% to $4.07 billion, from $3.7 billion, excluding traffic acquisition costs. On average, analysts had expected earnings per share of $4.93 and revenue of $4.08 billion, according to Yahoo Finance. For the first[More...]

Daily Report For Thursday, Apr 16, 2009

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:36:24 GMT

(8:25am ET) The main focus of traders today will be the 1Q2009 earnings report from JP Morgan (JPM), and the close scrutiny of the data and hype that will follow. After hitting a low of $14.93 in early March, JPM has rallied +118.1% to yesterday’s close of $32.56. There was a high of $34.15 on Tuesday. http://tinyurl.com/da6dcv JP Morgan reported Q1 net income of $2.14 billion, or $0.40/share, down -10% from a year earlier, but beat analysts' expectations. Revenue increased +48% to $25.03 billion. WSJ reported that CEO Jamie Dimon said the firm extended about $150 billion in new credit to consumer and corporate customers during the quarter. With a last hour rally spurred by the real estate investment trusts (REITS) ($DJR +8.7%) and Banks ($BKX +5.1%) in the Financial sector (XLF +4.8%), the US equity[More...]

Daily Report For Tuesday, Apr 14, 2009

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:18:59 GMT

(9:30am ET) Stocks in NY sank at the open following various negative reports from TV talking heads, though trade volume was weak on the Easter Monday. After the close, Goldman Sachs surprised with unusually positive revenue and earnings. Today, President Obama will be making a speech on the state of the economy. Traders are confused. Yesterday was pretty much a lost day in the market. Very little of consequence happened. By the close, the DJIA’s small loss (-25.57 -0.32% to 8057.81) offset the small gain in the S&P (+2.17 +0.25% to 858.73), while the NASDAQ (+0.77 +0.05% to 1653.31) was flat. The Toronto Composite (+98.50 +1.07% to 9285.6) and the Toronto Venture Board (+11.89 +1.23% to 980.86) were stronger as the metal miners and goldminers enjoyed a good day. Except for Japan’s Nikkei 225 index (-0.92% to 8842.7), prices today were strong in the major international equity markets: Australia (+2.22% to[More...]

Daily Report For Tuesday: Apr 7, 2009

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 13:31:58 GMT

(8:05am ET) Stocks closed Monday's session in NY lower on a lightly-traded day, but much higher Week over Week. Through Friday, the major market indexes saw their largest four-week gains in seventy-six years. Now the market is preparing for 1Q2009 earnings season, which gets underway today with Alcoa (AA). On Monday, the DJIA (-41.74 -0.52% to 7975.85), S&P (-7.02 -0.83% to 835.48), and NASDAQ (-15.16 -0.93% to 1606.71) could not make headway against concerns the major banks may be preparing to release negative quarterly reports. The Toronto Composite (-49.59 -0.55% to 9016.17), and Venture Board (-12.42 -1.27% to 963.17) were also down on the day, but higher Week over Week. In international equity markets today, the closing prices showed losses except for Shanghai China (+0.80% to 2439.2): Australia -1.30% to 3648.5; Hong Kong -0.46% to 14929.0; India -1.80% to 10534.9; and Japan -0.28% to 8832.9. At 7:30am ET,[More...]

Peter MacLean Joins Allana Resources as SVP of Exploration

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 13:05:40 GMT

Allana Resources Inc., a company engaged in acquisition and development of potash assets, has appointed Dr. Peter MacLean as Senior Vice President of Exploration. Dr. MacLean will lead Allana's potash exploration program in Ethiopia.[More...]

Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada - Trade Resumption - Allana Res Inc. - AAA

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:00:00 GMT

VANCOUVER, July 20 /CNW/ - Trading resumes in: Issuer Name: Allana Res Inc. TSX-V Ticker Symbol: AAA[More...]

Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada - Trading Halt - Allana Resources Inc - AAA

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:17:00 GMT

VANCOUVER, July 20 /CNW/ - The following issues have been halted by Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC): Issuer Name: Allana Resources Inc[More...]