| Le rogue trader
TROUBLE had been expected but nothing like this. Widespread concerns that Société Générale, France’s second-largest bank by market capitalisation, had more subprime-related woes to reveal were proved right on Thursday January 24th, with the announcement of a €2.05 billion ($3 billion) write-down on its exposure to mortgage-related investments and to creaking bond insurers. But those numbers were a sideshow to something far more shocking. The bank also revealed that a single trader had racked up a further €4.9 billion loss by taking unauthorised bets on futures linked to European stockmarkets. Trading in SocGen’s shares were suspended on Thursday morning but it will not escape punishment. .
Derek Frey's Outlook
Derek Frey, Head Trader at Odom & Frey Futures Options and FOREX, will walk you through his weekly FOREX newsletter and offer you extensive insight into how, where, and why he feels the currency markets will move for the week ahead. The great part about this is, it is an open session in which he will answer any and all market related questions, giving you the chance to pick the brain of an experienced trader.Derek has been trading for over 15 years and specializes in Options. He has been a regular contributor here at FXstreet.com since 2004.Join him free and find out why traders around the world listen to his opinion every week. Who is Derek Frey? Derek Frey has been a futures trader since 1989 and is Head Trader and partner at Odom & Frey Futures & Options, a firm that specializes in high probability, defined risk option spread trades for the futures markets.
Evolution of economy will tell whether Fed overreacted
Monday was a holiday in the US – Martin Luther King day. But Ben Bernanke was in the chairman's office at the Federal Reserve, working through the holiday as he often does. On his desk his Bloomberg, Reuters and Dow Jones terminals flashed red as selling in global equity markets spread from Asia to Europe. The US markets were closed, but US stock futures were still trading, and they too started to plunge. When US markets reopened on Tuesday it looked as though there would be a bloodbath. .
Official warns Iran will respond to U.S. attack with 'more decisive ...
Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right, makes his way among Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Hasan Firouzabadi, center, Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammad Ali Jafari, second left, and Defence Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, left, in an army joint day-break ceremony in Tehran. .
US Dollar to Remain Weak as Fed Prepares for another 50bp Cut on Jan ...
The volatility in the financial markets caused panic at the Federal Reserve, resulting in the first intermeeting rate cut since 2001. Before the US stock markets opened, Bernanke slashed the Fed Funds rates by 75bp, the largest cut in 23 years. With Dow futures falling 500 points on Monday, the Fed refused to sit back and watch the US stock index plunge another 4 or 5 percent. They knew that they needed to act quickly and significantly to prevent US equities from wiping out billions of dollars off the value of publicly traded US companies. Did it work? Yes and no. The Dow did not fall 500 points, but it still ended the day down 128 points. Although the Fed's 75bp emergency cut indicates how serious they are about averting a deeper slowdown in US growth, it is not enough. According to the statement that accompanied the move, the Fed's primary concern was increasing downside risks to growth, a deepening housing contraction and softening labor markets (more details on the Fed's Emergency Rate Cut) Fed's Emergency Rate Cut).
Horse racing: Racing's rulers frustrated as Levy yield set to stay ...
Only the bookmakers expressed satisfaction yesterday as the minister for sport, Gerry Sutcliffe, announced the basis on which racing would be financed from April. As expected, Sutcliffe ignored all pleas to favour one side or the other and decided that the present Levy scheme should continue for another year. "Despite thorough consideration I have not been wholly persuaded by the submissions of either the bookmakers' committee or the British Horseracing Authority," said Sutcliffe, whose written statement concluded with sharp words to both sides. .
Obama's Hispanderama
Cardinal Murphy has word of a poll showing Obama tied in ... California. Yikes. Is the Hispandering working? That would fit with the Skurnik "Two Electorates" theory--most Latino voters, like most other voters, tune in only for the last few days, and what theynow see is Obama talking about giving drivers' licenses to illegals. ... 3:55 P.M. ________________________ The Annotated Pander: Barack Obama presented himself after Iowa as the candidate who "won't just tell you what you want to hear, but what you need to know." But that was then. Now, if you're a Latino voter, he'll just tell you what you want to hear. He's in the middle of a desperate Hispandering initiative, which culminated in this exchange last night, which I've annotated: CUMMINGS: This is from Kim Millman (ph) from Burnsville, Minnesota.
Egypt vows to help Gazans restock
Egypt has said it will continue to allow Gazans to cross the breached border and help them stock up on supplies. Hundreds of vehicles crossed from Gaza into Egyptian territory for the first time overnight, after bulldozers gouged two new breaches in the wall as security forces failed to stem the human flow into the Sinai peninsula. Fighting erupted at one petrol station on the Egyptian side of Rafah as stocks of one the most popular commodities to take back into the Gaza Strip runs out. .
McCain resignation talk swirls, Pederson, Barrett, Shadegg, Flake ...
U.S. Sen. John McCain's office Wednesday countered speculation that the Arizona Republican would resign this summer to focus on his presidential bid. McCain spokeswoman Melissa Shuffield told the Phoenix Business Journal that McCain has "no current plans" to step down from his Senate seat. A summer resignation could create a mad dash to succeed McCain in the November election. Gov. Janet Napolitano would appoint an interim senator to serve until the November election if McCain resigns. State law requires that appointment to be of the same party as the officeholder. Business and political sources familiar with the issue already are talking about possible interim contenders, including Phoenix attorneys Grant Woods and Patrick McGroder, McCain aide Deb Gullett and Secretary of State Jan Brewer.
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