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Federal Prosecutors Likely to Charge SAC Capital for Insider Trading

07/24/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ... SAC Sacked: Federal prosecutors are expected to announce criminal charges this week against hedge-fund giant SAC Capital Advisors for alleged insider trading, the papers are reporting through anonymous sources. The Times says such a charge would likely be a "death blow" to the firm already saddled with government investigations, potentially causing trading partners like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to pull out. The papers also focused on the firm's founder, Steven A.…

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U.S. Weighs Inquiry into Big Banks' Storage of Commodities

07/23/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ... Warehouse Probe: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is examining the warehouse operations used by Goldman Sachs and others for the storage of aluminum that has inflated prices to consumers, the New York Times reports Tuesday. The operations were the subject of a Times story Sunday. The CFTC has told Goldman and other firms to hold on to internal documents and emails, hardly a good sign. The Journal weighs in, claiming banks have…

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Dodd-Frank at 3; UBS to Settle

07/22/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ... Happy Anniversary, Dodd-Frank: The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was signed into law three years ago Sunday, and to mark the anniversary, the Washington Post reports on the progress of the financial regulation overhaul. "Federal watchdogs were tasked with writing 398 rules to flesh out the law, but they havemissed 62 percent of the deadlines set by Congress," the Post says. …

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Solid Big Bank Earnings May Serve as Reform Catalyst; Congress Bids Bernanke Adieu

07/19/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Here Come the Regulators: A few Times articles echo a sentiment the FT's Tom Braithwaite alluded to earlier this week: A healthy earnings season may serve as the go-ahead for more big bank regulation in the U.S. "In recent weeks, the Treasury Department, senior regulators and members of Congress have stepped up efforts intended to make the largest banks safer," a Dealbook article notes. "The banks have warned that more regulation could...

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JPM to Settle with FERC; Ben Bernanke Update; PayPal's $92 Quadrillion Error

07/18/13

Breaking News This Morning ...

Morgan Stanley Earnings: Morgan Stanley's profit rose 66% in the second quarter due largely to strong trading revenue. The firm also announced it is buying back $500 million worth of its own stock. Wall Street Journal, New York Times Receiving Wide Coverage ...

JPM to Settle with FERC: JPMorgan Chase appears poised to break a record Barclays set just yesterday. Various news outlets report the bank is in talks to settle allegations of...

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Cordray's Confirmation; Barclays' Latest Fine; NSA's Idea of Bank Virus Protection

07/17/13

Breaking News This Morning ...

BAC Earnings: Bank of America's profit rose 63% in the second quarter, due largely to strong trading revenue and cost-cutting. Wall Street Journal, New York Times, American Banker

More Earnings: PNC Financial Services; U.S. Bancorp Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Confirmed: Richard Cordray was confirmed yesterday as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, after Senate Republicans agreed not to block his nomination as part of last-minute compromise over President Obama's executive nominees. The compromise...

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Herb Allison Dies; Brokers Charged in U.K. Libor Probe; Second Take on Citi Earnings

07/16/13

Breaking News This Morning ...

Goldman Earnings: Goldman Sachs doubled its profit in the second quarter, thanks, in part, to strong trading revenue. Wall Street Journal, New York Times Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Herb Allison Dies: Herbert Allison Jr., one-time Merrill Lynch president, former Fannie Mae and, later, Troubled Asset Relief Program chief, died on Sunday in his home in Westport, Conn. His son, Andrew, said the probable cause of death was a heart attack. He was 69....

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Decoding JPM, Wells Earnings; Goldman Trader Trial; Glass-Steagall 2

07/15/13

Breaking News This Morning ...

Citi Earnings: Citigroup profit rose 42% in the second quarter, due, in part, to cost-cutting and growth in emerging markets. Wall Street Journal, New York Times, American Banker Receiving Wide Coverage ...

JPM, Wells Earnings Post-Script: Second-quarter earnings for JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo looked pretty good, but earnings season has been marred by interest-rate worries, particularly among bank execs. Still, the Journal's Heard on the Street column argues that big banks like...

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JPM, Wells Kick Off Bank Earnings; GOP's Housing Plan; A Return to Glass-Steagall?

07/12/13

Breaking News This Morning ...

JPM Earnings: JPMorgan Chase's profit rose by 31% in the second quarter, thanks, in part, to gains in its investment banking business. Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Bloomberg

Wells Fargo Earnings: Wells Fargo's profit rose by 19% in the second quarter, despite rising interest rates in the mortgage market. Wall Street Journal, New York Times Receiving Wide Coverage ... ...

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Interest Rate Oracles and Leverage Games

07/11/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Talking Rates: More communication and more interpretation. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's remarks at a conference Wednesday and the release of the minutes of the central bank's June policy meeting delivered two major themes. Like other officials recently, Bernanke sought to decouple tapering of the Fed's asset purchases, which could begin later this year, from views on its policy rate, saying that "the overall message is accommodation." Meanwhile, the minutes showed divisions...

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