Goldman Defends Its Trading Practices, Claims It Does Not Front-Run The Market
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/05/2009 - 08:08"To our Goldman Sachs Execution & Clearing, LP clients -
Given the pace of change in the equities market structure and the recent public dialogue about trading strategies, market venues and order handling, we thought it would be an ideal time to affirm our practices relating to electronic order handling and we highlight these in a letter to our customers."
Goldman's 42 $100MM+ Trading Days In Q2 - An Absolute, Unprecedented Record; Just Two Days Of Trading Losses
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/05/2009 - 08:01
Goldman reported their $100MM+ trading days. It is a stunner: Goldman made over $100 million on 46 out of the 65 total trading days in Q2, 70% of total. Goldman made over $50 million on 58 of the 65 total trading days in Q2, 89.2% of total.
Frontrunning: August 5
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/05/2009 - 07:42- Flash trading reversal by SEC may hit Direct Edge, Boost NYSE (Bloomberg) - let's see what happens to the NYSE when dark pools are unwound next...
- Ethics, journalism, the web and the profits of brokerage businesses - oh, and Paul Krugman (Bronte Capital)
- Credit crunch part deux (DollarDaze)
- Why you've stopped watching CNBC (Slate)
- S&P downgrades UK bank debt (FTAlphaville)
- FDIC sends out warning on second mortgage loan accounting (The Truth About Mortgage)
Daily Highlights: 8.05.09
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/05/2009 - 07:09- Land prices are on the rise again in China, helped by easy credit.
- Asian stock markets were mixed on Wednesday as investors eye US econ data.
- Australia's trade deficit narrowed in June to a smaller-than-expected gap.
- Auto dealers are citing tight inventories as a threat to "Cash for Clunkers."
- Number of homes listed for sale declined again in many U.S. cities last month.
The New Wall Street Reality
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/05/2009 - 00:54Some of the cause and effect chains ahead of tomorrow's ominous full moon. In other news, voodoo dolls proven an effective shareholder proxy fight defense mechanism.
Latest DTCC CDS Update (Week Of July 31)
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/04/2009 - 22:52Due to popular demand, Zero Hedge is happy to bring back the weekly DTCC CDS gross/net open interest recap. The primary reason we dropped coverage of CDS data over the past month was/is our belief that both fundamental and technical analysis, in the face of a rapturous market is pointless, and the only thing that matters is the ticking sovereign debt timebomb, as indicated by various Federal Reserve disclosures such as the H.4.1, H.3, and Z.1. If you don't believe me, please call any fundamental analyst at either a sell or a buy side firm at 4:00:01 pm. Nine out of ten times you will get voicemail (which, all else equal, is better than a vibrating dildo). Nonetheless, for the sake of completeness, it is useful to see what this formerly very useful data point from the world of CDS indicates: so here is what the latest out of 55 Water street says.
And As For Thanking The Academy...
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/04/2009 - 19:28Some late night media perspectives courtesy of Wall St. Cheat Sheet. On behalf of all of us at Zero Hedge, we thank the academy (and Damien).
Possible Downtime
Submitted by Marla Singer on 08/04/2009 - 18:47We are doing some adjustments this morning at 03:00 ET. We might be sluggish, or down entirely, for about 20 minutes at this time.
The Takedown Of Sun Capital, Or The Sun Also Sets
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/04/2009 - 17:42An epic takedown of the once mighty private equity company by a very disgruntled limited partner.
ABC Consumer Confidence Index Turns Lower Again
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/04/2009 - 17:30
ABC Weekly Consumer Confidence has flatlined, and not only is it down to -49 from last month's reading of -47, it is at exactly the same place it was two months ago.
Daily Credit Summary: August 4 - Divergence
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/04/2009 - 16:35Spreads were broadly wider in the US as all the indices deteriorated (with HY underperforming IG and wider for the first time in over a week) as IG closed at its wides in direct opposition to the S&P closing at its highs. Indices typically underperformed single-names (with the IG skew now the tightest during this contract but intrinsics holding at the 118bps support level) with skews widening in general as IG underperformed but narrowed the skew, HVOL outperformed but widened the skew, ExHVOL's skew widened as it underperformed, XO underperformed but compressed the skew, and HY's skew widened as it underperformed.
"Bankrupt" Jefferson County Did Not Buy REITs Today, Summons National Guard To Maintain Order
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/04/2009 - 15:58Oddly enough, Jefferson county which got into a dash of trouble buying some interest rate swap or another without reading the prospectus which despite guaranteeing perpetual appreciation distinctly said in the invisible print that total loss of principal is another side effect of transacting with Wall Street, has apparently been unable to participate in today's 175/75 L/S unwind which blew the REITs into the stratosphere and got Bob Pisani's panties in a bunch.
PIMCO Now Added As TALF Collateral Monitor By NY Fed, Will Dispense Objective, Unbiased Praise Of Any And All Collateral
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/04/2009 - 15:28"Trepp will focus solely on CMBS. PIMCO will perform a broader role which encompasses the entire TALF portfolio, including both mortgage-backed and non-mortgage-backed ABS. The collateral monitors will not establish policies or make decisions for the New York Fed, including decisions whether to reject a CMBS as collateral for a TALF loan or exclude loans from mortgage pools."
Clarification From Charles Schumer On Flash Ban
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/04/2009 - 14:44"We of course expect the SEC to follow its procedures for the implementation of this new rule, but there is every expectation the Commission will vote for it. The bottom line is, this practice will be eliminated."
-- Charles Schumer
ITG Shares Its Perspectives On Flash Trades With Zero Hedge
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/04/2009 - 14:20Zero Hedge recently discussed Implementation Shortfall (slippage) costs courtesy of empirical data made available by ITG. We are happy to share with our readers some of ITG's perspectives on the topic of Flash orders and Dark Pools.
