Wall Street Journal (August 7)
In China, the Government is estimated to have spent more than 10% of GDP ($1.3 trillion) “since the market panic started in late June,” producing only questionable results. “The failed bailout reinforces the expectation that Beijing will attempt to manage the financial markets in the future. This moral hazard means the volatility will continue, along with the costs of future bailouts. The first lesson of investing, buyer beware, has yet to be learned in China.”
Tags: Bailouts, Beijing, China, Financial markets, GDP, Government, Moral hazard, Panic, Volatility
Financial Times (June 25)
“For thrill and spills, you cannot beat Chinese share markets. Recent wild price swings on the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses—and the fortunes being made, or lost, by individual retail investors—have made for gripping tales. They have raised fears of a highly-inflated equity bubble about to burst spectacularly. But how much should the rest of the world worry?” This shouldn’t simply be shrugged off “as a local story without wider significance for global financial markets.” The volatility should reinforce concerns that China is “in a bumpy economic transition phase that threatens significant ripple effects in distant parts of the world.”
Tags: Economic transition, Equity bubble, Financial markets, Markets, Price Swings, Retail investors, Shanghai, Shares, Shenzhen
Institutional Investor (October 29)
“The U.S. is finally enjoying a self-sustaining economic recovery, but slow global growth remains a concern, and financial markets are bouncing up and down by the day.”
Bloomberg (August 19)
The annual meeting of central bankers kicks off this week in Jackson Hole and it’s worth paying attention. “Central bankers, a group of largely independent technocrats, wield more power over the fates of politicians, investors and regular folk than ever before. In the absence of government action, they are bearing most of the burden of supporting economic recoveries in the U.S. and Europe. With their bond purchases and other unconventional policies, they have become a major force holding up financial markets around the world.”
Tags: Bond purchases, Central bankers, Economic recoveries, Europe, Financial markets, Government, Investors, Jackson Hole, Politicians, Power, U.S.
The Economist (November 23, 2013)
Impatient with European dithering, “the Federal Reserve will soon publish rules governing the operations of big foreign banks that will, in effect, throw up a wall around America’s financial markets.” This is understandable, but likely to lead badly as the Europeans retaliate with their own restrictions, fragmenting the global banking system. Instead, “America should give global banking rules—and Europe’s dilatory regulators—one last chance.”
Tags: Europe, Federal Reserve, Financial markets, Global banking rules, Regulators, Restrictions, Retaliation
Financial Times (September 2)
Expectations of tapering by the Federal Reserve have “increased market volatility. And, as in past episodes of Fed tightening, emerging markets are at the centre of the turmoil…. No matter how gradual the tapering of QE, abrupt adjustments will occur. It is in the nature of financial markets to overreact and overshoot.”
Tags: Adjustments, Emerging markets, Expectations, Fed, Financial markets, Overreact, Quantitative easing, Tapering, Tightening, Volatility
Wall Street Journal (June 18)
“It is easier to get on the bull than to get off.” Financial markets have been lurching at the mere hint of change by the Federal Reserve. “The biggest question about the Fed’s policy of near-zero interest rates and unlimited quantitative easing has always been: What happens when the music stops?… Our view is that the sooner the Fed begins to unwind, the better.”
Securities Technology Monitor (August 6)
High frequency trading “can wreak havoc in the global financial marketplace by amplifying moves on the up- and down-sides.” The “Knightmare on Wall Street” focused attention on this issue when a software glitch at Knight Capital caused almost 40 NYSE-listed stocks to move more than 10% in less than 60 minutes. “The problem with the rising popularity of High-Frequency Trading is that it may be distorting global financial markets significantly, increasingly destabilising those markets and causing the rise of systemic risk.”
High frequency trading “can wreak havoc in the global financial marketplace by amplifying moves on the up- and down-sides.” The “Knightmare on Wall Street” focused attention on this issue when a software glitch at Knight Capital caused almost 40 NYSE-listed stocks to move more than 10% in less than 60 minutes. “The problem with the rising popularity of High-Frequency Trading is that it may be distorting global financial markets significantly, increasingly destabilising those markets and causing the rise of systemic risk.”
Institutional Investor (February 14, 2012)
With “engines running at speeds faster than the eye can see,” a constant arms race is taking place in “the high-tech machinery of modern financial markets.” The Singapore Exchange (SGX) illustrates this race. SGX utilizes technology solutions from Nasdaq OMX with the goal of running “the fastest bourse in the world, with transaction speeds well under 100 microseconds.”With “engines running at speeds faster than the eye can see,” a constant arms race is taking place in “the high-tech machinery of modern financial markets.” The Singapore Exchange (SGX) illustrates this race. SGX utilizes technology solutions from Nasdaq OMX with the goal of running “the fastest bourse in the world, with transaction speeds well under 100 microseconds.”
Tags: Exchanges, Financial markets, SGX, Transaction speed
New York Times (May 22)
“Weak regulation is a recipe for disaster,” so the New York Times applauds the senate for finally passing a financial regulations bill. The work of Congress is not yet done. The House and the Senate must now work out the differences between their bills. Then, the joint version will require passage by both bodies. During the reconciliation process, revisions should be made to better protect investors, restore confidence in financial markets and avoid another meltdown.
“Weak regulation is a recipe for disaster,” so the New York Times applauds the senate for finally passing a financial regulations bill. The work of Congress is not yet done. The House and the Senate must now work out the differences between their bills. Then, the joint version will require passage by both bodies. During the reconciliation process, revisions should be made to better protect investors, restore confidence in financial markets and avoid another meltdown.
