Credit default swaps (CDS) were thrown into the spotlight in late 2008 after the credit crisis put markets into a tailspin. Exchange efforts to develop central clearing facilities for CDS began last fall. After going through the regulatory approval process, The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) began clearing CDSs on March 9 and CME Group received its exemption from the SEC to clear and trade CDSs through its clearing venture with Citadel, CMDX, on March 13.
The scrape over AIG bonuses is an indication of the core problems of the current financial crisis—a complete lack of due diligence, a reliance on the fact that no one is paying attention and a media and public attention span of a two year old.
How else can Congress and the Administration express shock over these bonuses that were known beforehand. Futures Publisher Ginger Szala blogged back in January regarding AIG bonuses yet those whose job it was to look over the details of the various government sponsored bailouts express shock and anger!
Futures Industry Association President John Damgard said during the FIA conference in Boca Raton FL. that despite some comments that indicated otherwise, House majority leader Barney Frank is not looking to merge the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Securities Exchange Commission.
There was some optimism at the Washington outlook panel on Saturday that politicians and bureaucrats tend to say what people want to hear and may not exactly follow that to the letter.
When I spoke with ELX CEO Neal Wolkoff in an interview in October about his appointment to ELX, I asked him about the hold up in the new exchange actually starting to trade products. He said “We don’t feel it benefits us or the market to be performing on reality TV, so [launch preparations are] not being done in a public way, but [they're] being done.” Now all of the behind the scenes work has come to fruition as ELX has set a launch date for live trading. Futures trading in Treasury securities on ELX scheduled to begin in June, subject to CFTC approval.
A report entitled, “Sold Out: How Wall Street and Washington Betrayed America,” was released Wednesday claiming that “$5 billion in political contributions [from 1998-2008] bought Wall Street freedom from regulation and restraint.”
It is hard to argue with that conclusion when you look at the litany of regulatory exemptions, accommodations and rule changes along side the size of political contributions and lobbying budgets.
In case you haven’t already viewed it, here’s The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart’s must-see take on Rick Santelli’s now-infamous CNBC rant, and some biting commentary on the network’s reporting, or lack thereof. Enjoy!
Attention K-mart shoppers…pop quiz. Today 99 cents could buy you a) something tacky from the dollar store or b) one share of Citigroup? If you answered c) all of the above, you’re right! Citi actually closed out at $1.02, so add a few more cents and a share of the troubled investment bank could be yours tomorrow.
The market in general also tanked again today, with U.S. stock indexes finishing down 4%. Earlier this week the Dow hit its lowest level since 1997. With market performances like that, it could be time for everyone to start hitting the dollar store. Or the bottle.
