FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2011-190
Washington, D.C. , Sept. 27, 2011 - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that the national securities exchanges and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) are filing proposals to revise existing market-wide circuit breakers that are designed to address extraordinary volatility across the securities markets. When triggered, these circuit breakers halt trading in all exchange-listed securities throughout the U.S. markets.
The proposals being filed today would update the market-wide circuit breakers by among other things reducing the market decline percentage thresholds necessary to trigger a circuit breaker, shortening the duration of the resulting trading halts, and changing the reference index used to measure a market decline.
If approved by the Commission, the new market-wide circuit breaker rules would replace the existing market-wide circuit breakers, which were originally adopted in October 1988 and have only been triggered on one day in 1997.
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Here's Why Everything's Rallying on No Real News
By Andrew J. Johnson
Even as uncertainty over the euro-zone's sovereign debt crisis continues, the euro, and European stocks, and US stocks, and everything else risky, climb higher.
There are at least three reasons why, says GFT Forex's Kathy Lien :
1) Investors believe that European officials are finally serious about fixing their debt crisis, even if the process is not always pretty;
2) the quarter is also coming to an end and in order to rebalance their portfolios. Following the sharp sell-off in equities in Q3, money managers will need to buy stocks and high-yielding currencies; and
3) investors are optimistic about Tuesday's vote in Greece , in which the Parliament is widely expected to approve an unpopular increase in property tax.
Even as uncertainty over the euro-zone's sovereign debt crisis continues, the euro, and European stocks, and US stocks, and everything else risky, climb higher.
There are at least three reasons why, says GFT Forex's Kathy Lien :
1) Investors believe that European officials are finally serious about fixing their debt crisis, even if the process is not always pretty;
2) the quarter is also coming to an end and in order to rebalance their portfolios. Following the sharp sell-off in equities in Q3, money managers will need to buy stocks and high-yielding currencies; and
3) investors are optimistic about Tuesday's vote in Greece , in which the Parliament is widely expected to approve an unpopular increase in property tax.
EU Super-Bailout Option Slips Away
Posted by Terence Roth
And that was that. An idea that tantalized global financial markets came out of the weekend and immediately sank into the tar pit of European decision making.
The sensation at the IMF meetings in Washington was a vaguely formed idea to increase the lending capacity of Europe's EFSF bailout fund not from 250 billion euros to 440 billion euros as agreed in a July 21 summit, but to as high as 2 trillion euros by leveraging its assets. Only this, proponents argue, would persuade markets that the EU wouldn't allow Europe's government debt crisis to spread to Italy and Spain , potentially scuttling the euro as currency.
Financial markets rallied around the globe Monday as investors saw the first glimpse of real hope for containing the European debt crisis.
Problem was that the lead advocates of the deal, the IMF's Christine Lagarde and the European Commission's Olli Rehn, are bureaucrats who don't have to answer to electorates every few years.
And that was that. An idea that tantalized global financial markets came out of the weekend and immediately sank into the tar pit of European decision making.
The sensation at the IMF meetings in Washington was a vaguely formed idea to increase the lending capacity of Europe's EFSF bailout fund not from 250 billion euros to 440 billion euros as agreed in a July 21 summit, but to as high as 2 trillion euros by leveraging its assets. Only this, proponents argue, would persuade markets that the EU wouldn't allow Europe's government debt crisis to spread to Italy and Spain , potentially scuttling the euro as currency.
Financial markets rallied around the globe Monday as investors saw the first glimpse of real hope for containing the European debt crisis.
Problem was that the lead advocates of the deal, the IMF's Christine Lagarde and the European Commission's Olli Rehn, are bureaucrats who don't have to answer to electorates every few years.
Monday, 26 September 2011
Europe's Banks Face New Funding Squeeze
LONDON (Dow Jones)--An extraordinary dry spell in the market for long-term European bank funding is amplifying pressure on policy makers to devise a solution to the continent's banking crisis.
For the past three months, European banks have been largely unable to sell debt at affordable prices to investors, who are wary of the banks' vulnerability to risky euro-zone government bonds and other loans.
At $34 billion , the amount of senior unsecured debt issued by the continent's financial institutions this quarter is on track to be the smallest of any quarter in more than a decade, according to data provider Dealogic . Most of those were bite-sized deals of less than $500 million apiece. Traditionally, issuing such debt has been among the most popular ways for banks to finance themselves over the long term.
Bachmann Warns of Hezbollah Training Camps, Weapons in Cuba
Some humor for today:
By Neil King Jr.
Of all the world's woes-- Greece near collapse, the Taliban's surge in Afghanistan , jitters over the rise of China --presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann is giving it to Cuba .
She first laid into the less-than-vibrant island nation during last week's GOP debate in Orlando , noting that Cuba remains on the State Department's list of terrorist sponsors and condemning any push to normalize relations with the communist country.
Cuba came up again at a Bachmann campaign rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa , Monday when a supporter asked her to amplify on her debate comments. This time, the Minnesota congresswoman cited "reports" that Hezbollah , the militant Muslim group based in Lebanon , had established training sites in Cuba and might even set up missile sites 90 miles from U.S. soil.
She was referring to a story that ran in an Italian newspaper and was quickly picked up on various blogs earlier this month.
By Neil King Jr.
Of all the world's woes-- Greece near collapse, the Taliban's surge in Afghanistan , jitters over the rise of China --presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann is giving it to Cuba .
She first laid into the less-than-vibrant island nation during last week's GOP debate in Orlando , noting that Cuba remains on the State Department's list of terrorist sponsors and condemning any push to normalize relations with the communist country.
Cuba came up again at a Bachmann campaign rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa , Monday when a supporter asked her to amplify on her debate comments. This time, the Minnesota congresswoman cited "reports" that Hezbollah , the militant Muslim group based in Lebanon , had established training sites in Cuba and might even set up missile sites 90 miles from U.S. soil.
She was referring to a story that ran in an Italian newspaper and was quickly picked up on various blogs earlier this month.
Panel Puts Nuclear-Disaster Compensation at Upward of Y3Tln Nikkei
TOKYO (Nikkei)-Compensation for the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster will cost at least Y3 trillion to Y4 trillion, reckons a government-appointed panel looking into Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s (9501.TO) finances, the Nikkei reported in its Tuesday morning edition.
Tepco, as the utility is known, will run out of cash unless it restarts idle reactors at its workhorse Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture or charges more for electricity, according to projections that will be included in the panel's upcoming report.
The compensation estimates assume that the damaged Fukushima reactors are brought to the safe state, known as cold shutdown, early next year and that residents evacuated from the surrounding areas return home next fiscal year.
Oxygen Bio Chief Faked Resume, Abused Position, Audit Body Says
The former head of Oxygen Biotherapeutics Inc. (OXBT) was fired last month for allegedly falsifying his resume and abusing his position to personally enrich himself, according to findings from the company's audit committee.
Oxygen, which has never posted a profit, hopes to commercialize drugs it is developing to efficiently deliver oxygen to tissues for cosmetic and therapeutic purposes. The dismissal of Chairman and Chief Executive Chris J. Stern last month forced the company to push back its annual shareholders meeting to this Friday.
Stern purported to have a doctorate from Trinity University but instead earned the degree from Trinity College & University , an unaccredited institution, the audit committee said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. He also teaches at St. Galler Business School , not the more prestigious St. Gallen Business School , the committee said.
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