Archive - Aug 23, 2009 - Story

Zero Hedge has long been discussing the impact of selective informational disclosure, be it in the context of trading or research asymmetries, which promote a two-tiered market, where privileged accounts of major broker dealers receive "tips" ahead of "everyone else." The quid's pro quo is that these "privileged" few end up executing the bulk of their trades with the broker-dealer, thus ramping up riskless agency revenues. In essence the clients' capital risk is mitigated, while the return to the "perpetrator" is augmented by collecting a disproportionate share of the bid/offer spread in the given security. Whether this tiering mechanism occurs via Flash orders, SLP provisioning, actionable IOIs, advance selective notice of a large flow order, a phone call, a limited Bloomberg blast, or an Instant Message, the ethics of the practice are undoubtedly shady, and potentially borderline criminal. But no one is the wiser, as both sender and receiver of information know to keep their mouth shut. Until today, when the WSJ blows one aspect of this practice out of the water, by focusing on Goldman's selective informational disclosure to preferred clients, and is likely to create much more headache for Goldman's PR department and its staunchest CNBC-based prosecutor-turned-supporter and soon to be Sellout author.

Spot the 20 differences between this text and the one historians (hopefully not Fed bankers) will write about our time period in 2109.

And no, no discussion of HFT, predatory algos or flash orders. Tune in for a broader, comprehensive market analysis.

So, the question becomes, when will the true “animal spirits” on Wall Street reveal themselves? It has not happened yet. And that says liquidity and momentum support for the markets is narrow and potentially volatile. Squeezing shorts and running technical stops can work well for a while. But what happens next if animal spirits broadly are not fully engaged? For now, margin debt is telling us animal spirits are very subdued. Very subdued.

"Are you stimulated yet? We hope you are, because we’ve just witnessed the largest
economic stimulus in the history of the world. Never before have so many government
dollars been thrown at the economy to prevent a depression. When added together, the
combined financial, monetary and fiscal stimuli in the US are more than the cost of the two
World Wars and “The New Deal” combined." - Eric Sprott

The challenge before regulators, politicians and anti-trust commissioners with regard to all these very salient issues is greater now than it has ever been in the history of a "free and fair" equity capital market. Whether the approach taken is one that will perpetuate the dominance and the increased profitability of a select few or will bring back a sense of democracy and remove the highly speculative element Mr. Merrin discusses, will be critical for the future of US capital markets, and the participation of retail investors in what was once the only way to reward success and punish failure. But then again, the last two seem to be no longer a key concern for the administration, which has taken a sharp detour from the primary tenets of the capitalist system that over the past 200 years managed to make America the greatest country in the world. We hope the right choice is made for the sake of continuing America's greatness, even if it means one quarter where a company like Goldman Sachs has more than 2 trading days of capital loss.

I sent this Op-Ed proposal to the New York Times on Friday. Perhaps they will print it. If so, I will donate the proceeds (don't they pay you $450?) to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

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