FINRA

Exchange says Nasdaq/Finra TRF -- a service dark pools and other off-exchange venues use to report stock trades -- is experiencing technical issue.

Ever since it started making complicated bets against some leveraged ETFs, Miller’s Catalyst Macro Strategies Funds has since grown from $500,000 in assets at the start of the year to about $170 million. It achieved a more than 50 percent return this year, placing it far ahead of its competitors.

It has been a seesaw session with U.S. stock index futures following their dramatic buying burst in the last half hour of market trading yesterday by first rising, then falling, then rising again alongside European equities both driven almost tick for tick with even the smallest move in the carry trade of choice, the USDJPY, even as Asian shares trade near intraday highs after China’s leaders signaled they will take further steps to support growth.

“To the intelligent man or woman, life appears infinitely mysterious, but the stupid have an answer for everything.” ~Edward Abbey

"Tengram has instructed its broker that it will not permit borrowing of any of its shares by short sellers who are only interested in reducing the value of the Company’s stock price for their short-term gain.  We urge each of you to contact your broker today and inform them that your shares may not be made available to be borrowed by short sellers.”

With at least 83 percent of these companies' operating cash being spent on debt repayments - the highest on record - the renewed collapse in crude oil prices of the last month has renewed focus on the tidal wave of defaults that the credit market is increasingly pricing in (and stocks not).

• Dollar at three-month high as payrolls paralysis sets in (Reuters)
• 5 Things to Watch in the October Jobs Report (WSJ)
• China to Lift Ban on IPOs (WSJ)
• ArcelorMittal Is Latest Victim of China's Steel-Export Glut (BBG)
• 'Hope to see you again': China warship to U.S. destroyer after South China Sea patrol (Reuters)
• Giants Tighten Grip on Internet Economy (WSJ)
• Questions Surround Valeant CEO Pearson (WSJ)

As DB so well-puts it, "Welcome to random number generator day also known as US payrolls." Consensus expects 185k jobs to have been added in October but it’s fair to say that the whisper number has edged up this week with slightly firmer US data. It is also fair to say that even if one knew the number beforehand, it would be impossible to know how the market will react.

Today, FINRA proposed a rule change that could have the greatest impact on private markets in over 80 years. 

"In a securities-based loan, the customer pledges all or part of a portfolio of stocks, bonds, mutual funds and/or other securities as collateral. But unlike traditional margin loans, in which the client uses the credit to buy more securities, the borrowing is for other purchases such as real estate, a boat or education..." The result was "dangerously high margin balances,' - the products became “the vehicle of choice for investors looking to get cash for anything.” Mr. Sica and others say the products were aggressively marketed to investors by banks and brokerages.

Dear SEC, SIFMA, FINRA, CFTC, and anyone else who refuses to pay attention to the man behind the curtain. Following the initial dump in Treasuries after Greek proposal news overnight, bonds started to rally back... it appears that was unacceptable as 'massive' spoofing was then put in place to signal the price of Treasuries lower (yields higher)...

Successive rounds of government bond monetization have worked to destroy the Treasury, JGB, and EU core markets while the post-crisis regulatory regime has seen dealers back away from providing liquity in the secondary market for corporate credit just as the very same monetary policy that broke government bond markets has led to an explosion of new issuance from corporate borrowers, creating the potential for a self-feeding catastrophe in the event of selloff in corporate bonds.

"When an HFT that is not a member of an association executes an off-exchange trade, the HFT’s identity is usually not reported to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, which is the only association currently in existence. This frustrates FINRA’s surveillance efforts as it cannot quickly link trades to the HFTs responsible for them. This is a serious problem because, according to FINRA’s current Chairman, certain market participants disperse their trading activity across multiple markets in an attempt to hide various forms of market abuse, including layering, spoofing, algorithm gaming, and wash sales."

- SEC Commissioner Luis Aguilar.

Correlation is not causation but the plunge began just as The SEC voted in favor of high-speed trading firms being registered with FINRA...