
Wall Street opposes increased taxes on securities transactions.
By Michael E. Lewitt, Global Credit Strategist, Money Morning • @MichaelELewitt -
Wall Street opposes increased taxes on securities transactions.
But there's one market subset that needs more taxes - for the good of the economy. This is it.
By Michael E. Lewitt, Global Credit Strategist, Money Morning • @MichaelELewitt -
But there's one market subset that needs more taxes - for the good of the economy. This is it.
By Cameron Saucier, Associate Editor, Money Morning -
Speculative trading for long positions on the Dow and S&P 500's rise are at record highs for this year.
But evidence is showing the bulls don't have much to be bullish about...
By Michael E. Lewitt, Global Credit Strategist, Money Morning • @MichaelELewitt -
The $650 trillion derivatives market is a nightmare scenario waiting to happen.
First problem: the size. It's 36 times the size of the U.S. GDP and over eight times larger than the world GDP, that is, the entire global output of the entire world in a year.
While credit default swaps (the type of derivative that played a huge role in the financial crisis) have shrunk significantly in size since the financial crisis, they remain large enough to constitute a potential time bomb inside the financial system that could blow up any time.
Second problem: the interconnectedness. Every derivative contract involves two parties. In a crisis, one of these counterparties may be unable and/or unwilling to meet his obligations, leaving a volume of broken contracts that will overwhelm these institutions and render them instantly insolvent.
That's why it's crucial we understand the ramifications of these instruments - because while the derivatives monster is ugly, there are things individual investors can do now.
Plus, one of the worst offenders could be your own bank...
By Jim Bach, Associate Editor, Money Morning • @JimBach22 -
The JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) stock price seems to be breaking out.
Last week, the JPM stock price hit an all-time closing high of $67.01. It's up about 380% since the end of the Great Recession.
By Jim Bach, Associate Editor, Money Morning • @JimBach22 -
A Greek default is inevitable. Years of piling up bailout loans without a reprieve in the Greek debt crisis prove that.
But it's not just the 300 billion or so euros in Greek debt are the problem. It's the complicated spider web of cross-collateralizations and derivative trades tied to Greek debt that are the real terror.
Here's how a Greek default could be a much bigger problem than you're being lead to believe...
By Shah Gilani, Chief Investment Strategist, Money Morning • @ShahGilani_TW -
You would think that after the 2008 financial crisis that regulators would have driven a stake through the heart of credit default swaps. A CDS lets big financial players bet on the demise of another financial entity, and can be very destabilizing - as we all found out five years ago. And yet nothing has changed.
In fact, this "game" has gotten even more dangerous...
By , Money Morning -
The global derivatives market is big. Really big. So big - and so unregulated - in fact that no one really knows exactly how big it is, but the very best estimates put the notional value at $1.2 quadrillion dollars. That handily beats the entire world's "GDP" of $71.8 trillion. The number is so big that it really defies anything on a human scale. Humans don't do quadrillions of anything - at least not usually.
Or think of it this way: There are about 2 quadrillion stars in the "El Gordo" cluster, the largest cluster of galaxies we've observed so far. The derivatives market is galactic in scope.
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By Shah Gilani, Chief Investment Strategist, Money Morning • @ShahGilani_TW -
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By Shah Gilani, Chief Investment Strategist, Money Morning • @ShahGilani_TW -
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By Keith Fitz-Gerald, Chief Investment Strategist, Money Map Report -
By , Money Morning -
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By Shah Gilani, Chief Investment Strategist, Money Morning • @ShahGilani_TW -
To see how the Obama bank-reform push could perpetuate the bull market, please read on...
By , Money Morning -
By , Money Morning -