Financial Markets

Led by Sec Hank Paulson(Treasury), Ben Bernanke(Federal Reserve), Chris Cox(SEC), many institutions are working to resolve the problems related to mortgage related assets. This letter from the SEC is an example:

Sample Letter Sent to Public Companies on MD&A Disclosure Regarding the Application of SFAS 157 (Fair Value Measurements)
In March 2008, the Division of Corporation Finance sent the [...]

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Without any major news to drive the market, a slow day.
Earnings after the bell from AMD were even more negative than expected.

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 John Reed finally publicly comments on the difficulties Citigroup faces today. Walter Wriston and John Reed  built the global diversified financial services company over four decades(1960-2000);  Sandy Weil and Chuck Price pillaged and nearly destroyed it in 5 years.
In a rare interview, Mr Reed said it was unclear whether the company’s model or its management deserved the greater [...]

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This article in Barron’s looks at the participants in the commodities futures markets.
The agricultural futures markets were developed mainly at the CBOT(Chicago Board of Trade) in Chicago so farmers could hedge their risk on farm product prices. Today the markets are driven by speculators: investment banks, hedge funds etc. who are driving the prices higher . [...]

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