Archive for the ‘Regulatory/actions’ Category
Thursday, July 21st, 2011
Today is the one-year anniversary of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Funny as it only seemed like yesterday that we were trying to understand the various components of the massive legislation as Congress debated it.
There hasn’t been a piece of legislation so debated, maligned and blamed for negative consequences prior to most of the underlying elements of it going into affect since, well since the Obama Heath Care reform, the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or PPACA.
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Tags: bailout, CFTC, Financial Regulatory Reform
Posted in Credit crisis, Federal Reserve, Regulatory/actions, economy | No Comments »
Monday, June 27th, 2011
Earlier this month we asked, “Is government manipulation of markets the answer?” in reaction to the release of a study by the United Nations Counsel of Trading and Development (UNCTAD).
Earlier this week the answer from the Obama Administration appears to be “yes” as they decided to open up the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) along with the International Energy Agency (IEA)to make-up for lost Libyan production. The decision to release 30 million barrels of oil from the U.S. SPR over the next 30 days seems to be a stretch of the emergency role of the SPR and could be an omen of a slippery slope towards more government intervention. (more…)
Tags: manipulation, markets, oil, regulation, strategic petroleum reserve
Posted in Markets, Regulatory/actions | 1 Comment »
Friday, June 24th, 2011
It’s not easy being a regulator these days, especially in the foamy wake of the Dodd-Frank Act’s tsunami crashing ashore at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (we island dwellers are authorized to use maritime analogies). Congress (remember them?) told the CFTC to create scores of new rules by July 16 (two days after the hang-over from Bastille Day, by the way). That is exactly 360 days after the 200+ page tome was enacted (I will leave it to numerologists to explain that). (more…)
Tags: CFTC, Congress, dodd-frank, regulation
Posted in Regulatory/actions | No Comments »
Thursday, June 23rd, 2011
It was nearly two years ago when ELX Futures L.P. proudly announced that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) had approved their exchange of futures for futures (EFF) rule.
It was a considerable victory for the upstart exchange because it would make it easier for end users to transfer their open interest to its clearinghouse from the CME Group clearinghouse or vice versa. (more…)
Tags: CFTC, CME Group, EFFs, ELX Futures, futures exchanges
Posted in Markets, Regulatory/actions | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 8th, 2011
Well now the United Nations has wandered into the analysis of what is going on in commodity markets, releasing a report this week, and appears to have fallen into the blame speculators camp. While I did not read the 80-page report cover to cover, some of the recommendations in the UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) report are downright scary.
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Tags: Federal Reserve
Posted in Inflation, Manipulation, Regulatory/actions, Spec limits | 6 Comments »
Wednesday, May 18th, 2011
When I first heard of the Nasdaq OMX/Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) counteroffer for the NYSE Euronext, which has a merger agreement in place with Deutsche Börse, my first thought was that it could not stand up to a Department of Justice review. You are talking about the two biggest stock markets in the United States that account for all or nearly all of new offerings.
I remember arguing with a colleague that merging the two largest U.S. stock exchanges would not be allowed. We talked about the Chicago Mercantile Exchange acquisition of the Chicago Board of Trade and how some folks thought it could be held up by antitrust concerns. I recall that the CME and CBOT’s argument was that they did not compete against each other directly as the CME’s main products were short-term interest rates, equity indexes and meats while the CBOT concentrated on long-term interest rates and grains. Obviously that is an argument that could not be made with a Nasdaq and NYSE hook-up.
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Tags: regulation, Too big to fail
Posted in Buy outs, Mergers, Regulatory/actions | No Comments »
Friday, May 6th, 2011
A lot already has been written about today being the one year anniversary of the “Flash crash.” Most of the articles out there are throwing out a couple numbers and giving a perspective of whether changes made since then are having any sort of effect to prevent another “incident.” That’s fine, but sometimes it’s important to just go back and remember why this was a big deal. (more…)
Tags: CFTC, Financial Regulatory Reform, Flash crash, May 6, May 6 Flash crash, SEC, Stock market
Posted in Markets, Regulatory/actions | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, May 4th, 2011
There has been a debate raging for more than three years as to the role of speculators in the ongoing bull market in commodities. It hit a head in 2008 when crude oil spiked to $147, subsided during the credit crisis and is back with us in force.
Henry Jarecki, chairman of Gresham Investment Management, a long-time figure in both cash and futures metals markets and the subject of our May cover story gave a lecture in April at Georgetown University titled, “The Relationship Between Commodity Futures Trading and PhysicalCommodity Prices.” (more…)
Tags: CFTC, Congress, Gary Gensler, speculators
Posted in Regulatory/actions, Speculators | 2 Comments »
Monday, April 25th, 2011
First, let’s be thankful it exists (the human spirit thing that is). Many of our greatest inventions and cures arose from a refusal to say “no.”
So why be worried when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) whacks a natural gas trader for $30 million based on a finding that he manipulated the price of natural gas futures (an activity assigned by Congress 40 years ago for policing EXCLUSIVELY by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission) on the New York Mercantile Exchange (also supervised EXCLUSIVELY by the CFTC)? (more…)
Tags: CFTC, FERC, regulation
Posted in Regulatory/actions | No Comments »
I was in Washington D.C. the night President Obama announced the finding and killing of Osama bin Laden. I got the news alert just as I was going to bed and must admit, I was elated. As I was staying about two blocks from the White House, a couple hours later I was awakened by the collective partying in the streets.