NEW YORK (AP) — Trading on the biggest exchange for financial options resumed Thursday following an outage caused by software problems.
Business Headlines
Business Headlines
Options exchange reopens after half-day outage
Showing posts with label exchange. Show all posts
Showing posts with label exchange. Show all posts
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Monday, April 22, 2013
Autopsy Of A Dead Market: The Google Flash-Crash
Still chasing US equities up and down each day? Buying-and-holding large caps for their ‘safety’? Reassured that money-on-the-sidelines will take us higher? Waiting for the Great Rotation? Perhaps the following post-mortem from Nanex on today’s flash crash in the stock not of some microcap but of nearly $ 300 billion market cap behemoth Google, will reduce just a little of the fervor over what so many call the stock ‘market’ and its ‘free’ and ‘efficient’ nature.
This was no ‘fat finger’ as we are supposedly reassured by the media; but as BusinessWeek notes on trader’s comments:
“Funny how two years ago this would have been a big issue. Now the market has almost become complacent of these errors.”
Via Nanex,
On April 22, 2013 at 9:37:11.500 (ET), Google Flash Crashed. The price dropped from $ 796 to $ 775 in about 3/4 of a second, then rebounded to $ 793 a second later. The drop invovled 307 trades and 57,255 shares from 10 exchanges + dark pools. During the drop, there were 5 orders placed for every trade executed (meaning 4 orders placed/canceled for every trade).
1. GOOG – Showing trades color coded by exchange.
2. GOOG – Showing bids and asks color coded by exchange.
Plenty of quotes, but few lasting long enough.
3. GOOG – Showing trades color coded by exchange.
Zooming in from Chart 1.
4. GOOG – Showing trades color coded by exchange.
This is one second of data!
5. GOOG – Showing bids color coded by exchange.
There are 5 times as many buy orders as trades. Buy orders were placed and canceled during the 3/4 second drop!
     |
Autopsy Of A Dead Market: The Google Flash-Crash
Thursday, April 18, 2013
BitCoin Exchange BitFloor Shuts Down
In an amusing development, one of the key alternative BitCoin exchanges, BitFloor, has just announced it is forced to shut down immediately. It is amusing, because one of the primary reasons attributed by the BTC pundits for the recent crash from $ 260 to $ 50 was errors and faults in the primary bitcoin exchange MtGox. Well, with alternative exchanges forced to shut down, this may mean the only “faulty” marketplace will sees it monopoly power increase further. It is also ironic because as BitFloor disclosed it “can no longer provide the same level of USD deposits and withdrawals as we have in the past.” Whatever happened to decentralized, and unencumbered by legacy fiat currencies?
The Verge has some more:
Bitcoin exchange BitFloor is closing its doors, halting trading and announcing that it will return everyone’s funds. In an announcement on its main site, the company’s founder, Roman Shtylman, says that “due to circumstances outside [BitFloor’s] control” it “must cease all trading operations indefinitely.” More specifically, BitFloor says that because its US bank account is closing it won’t be able to provide the same level of dollar deposits and withdrawals that it has been up to this point. The news comes after weeks of DDoS attacks and technical problems at leading exchange Mt. Gox and a roller coaster ride of price fluctuations that saw Bitcoin tank from a high of over $ 200 back down to a low below $ 70. The news was reported by The Next Web.
Back in September, BitFloor was hit with a $ 250,000 theft after an attacker got access to an unencrypted backup set of keys for the exchange’s wallet — the software through which people (and organizations) access and transfer their coins. The exchange managed to get back online within a few weeks, with Shtylman announcing his intention to repay the stolen funds.
Overall, BitFloor is tiny compared to Mt. Gox — it does less than four percent of that exchange’s trading volume — but it represented an important alternative in the highly concentrated market. At this point it’s still unclear what exactly happened with BitFloor’s US bank account that required such a speedy exit, but a Reddit user points out that the exchange is registered with FinCEN — the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network — indicating that everything was seemingly above board with the US government. We’ve reached out to Bitfloor for comment on what precipitated the closure, and will update if and when we hear back.
In other news, and from the main, and apparently only remaining BitCoin exchange we get:
- Dear Mt. Gox customers. We are currently experiencing a downtime and will update ASAP. Apologies for the delay.
With the electronic market in limbo, at least demand for physical BitCoins appears to be solid to quite solid… Oh wait.
     |
BitCoin Exchange BitFloor Shuts Down
Thursday, April 4, 2013
When can you join a health insurance exchange? Few know.
A new report by InsuranceQuotes.com finds 90 percent of Americans don’t know they can start signing up for insurance through health exchanges in October. The exchanges are websites that let people compare and buy insurance. The exchanges are also one of the key provisions of the Affordable Care Act, which was passed three years ago. By the end of 2013, people will have to join a plan to avoid penalties.
“We want to make sure we do what can to inform consumers and give them the education that they need to make the right decisions,” says Laura Adams, with InsuranceQuotes.com, which compares insurance rates for consumers.
Alan Weil, the executive director at the National Academy for State Health Policy, is not surprised people aren’t aware of health exchanges yet, since many states are just now ramping up publicity efforts. He says the real trick is getting people to use them once they are open.
“In the long run, if a large number of people eligible for participation in the exchange fail to participate, we have a problem on our hands,” says Weil.
According to Weil, if healthy people don’t sign up, insurance premiums could jump, undermining one of the Affordable Care Act’s goals of making health insurance affordable.
When can you join a health insurance exchange? Few know.
Monday, March 11, 2013
NYSE Matched Volume Drops To New Decade Low In February
Someone is obviously not complying with the central-planner script and rotating fast enough into equities.
In February, total NYSE matched volume (defined as the number of shares of equity securities and exchange-traded products executed on the NYSE Group’s exchanges), dropped 13.6% from a year ago, 9.4% from January, and at 20.5 billion shares in the 19 trading days of February, represents a fresh decade low for the exchange (source).
Perhaps it is time for central planning to take it up a level and restore some more confidence in equities as an asset class, by having the Chairman release some 30 minutes before the start of trading what the closing price for the DJIA will be every day. Only this way can one truly the Fed’s dedication to getting every hotdog vendor back into the ponzi scheme that are global stocks, which unlike the last time the Fed lost control and saw the S&P cut in half in a few months, will never happen again.
Cause this time it’s different.
 |  |
NYSE Matched Volume Drops To New Decade Low In February
Monday, February 18, 2013
ECB President Draghi Urges Less Talk and More Talk (On the Same Subject)
When it comes to currency wars, ECB president Mario Draghi made an amusing set of statements as excerpted from the Bloomberg article Draghi Seeks to Quiet Talk About Global Currency War
- “I find really excessive any language referring to currency wars.”
- “The less we talk about this, the better it is.”
- Draghi said he had “urged all parties” to exercise “very, very strong verbal discipline”
- The relative strength of the euro “is important for growth and price stability” and that “to the downside,” an “appreciation of the euro is a risk.” He said the E.C.B. would assess whether the exchange rate was having an effect on inflation.
Let’s see if I have this straight: “The less we talk about currency wars the better, but we need to exercise very, very strong verbal discipline because currency war talk is excessive and the exchange rate may have an effect on inflation.”
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
ECB President Draghi Urges Less Talk and More Talk (On the Same Subject)
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Sinking Yen a "Byproduct, Not a Focus" of Trade Wars Says Japan; G-20 Takes Harder Line on Currencies
Japan is in the forefront of the news with ridiculous statements such as a the sinking yen is a “Byproduct, Not a Focus” of its foreign trade policy. I have a simple question “Even if that statement is believable, what difference does it make?”
The answer is none. Regardless, statements from Japanese politicians are not believable in the first place. That helps explain the following Bloomberg headline G-20 Takes Harder Line on Currencies.
Two days of talks between G-20 finance ministers and central bankers ended in Moscow yesterday with a pledge not to “target our exchange rates for competitive purposes,” according to a statement. That’s stronger than their position three months ago and leaves Japanese officials under pressure to stop publicly giving guidance on their currency’s value.With the yen near its lowest level against the dollar since 2010, policy makers are attempting to soothe concern that some countries are trying to weaken exchange rates to spur growth through exports. The risk is a 1930s-style spiral of devaluations and protectionism if other countries retaliate to safeguard their own economies.
“Politically-motivated devaluations can’t sustainably improve competitiveness; they don’t solve structural problems and they set off reactions,” Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann said yesterday. “The clear language in the communiqué underlines this unity and will allow the debate in the future to take place with a less excited tone.”
Japanese officials in Moscow denied driving down their currency, arguing its fall was a byproduct — not a focus — of their effort to revive the world’s third-largest economy.
Japanese officials aren’t alone in accepting a cheaper currency as good for growth.
Bank of England policy maker Martin Weale said in a speech yesterday that although U.K. central bankers don’t “target the exchange rate,” there is reason to tolerate any inflation resulting from the pound’s six-year decline.
Not all G-20 policy makers want a weaker currency. Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann said in a Feb. 13 interview that “the exchange rate of the euro is broadly in line with fundamentals” and “you cannot really say that the euro is seriously overvalued.”
Mathematically Impossible
As I have commented numerous time recently, global currency wars are heating up as every nation believes it can export its way out of a slump.
In spite of statements by Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann, it’s important to note that Weidmann does not set ECB policy. Realistically, Weidmann appears to have as much influence on ECB policy as hawks have on Fed policy (and that is not much).
The ECB wants a cheaper euro, the Fed wants a cheaper dollar, China wants a cheaper yuan, and Japan wants a cheaper yen.
Mathematical reality says that’s impossible, yet that is what every country wants to achieve.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Sinking Yen a "Byproduct, Not a Focus" of Trade Wars Says Japan; G-20 Takes Harder Line on Currencies
Saturday, February 16, 2013
G20 defuses talk of "currency war", no accord on debt
MOSCOW |
MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Group of 20 nations declared on Saturday there would be no ‘currency war’ and deferred plans to set new debt-cutting targets in an indication of concern about the fragile state of the world economy.
Japan’s expansive policies, which have driven down the yen, escaped criticism in a statement agreed in Moscow by financial policymakers from the G20, which groups developed and emerging markets and accounts for 90 percent of the world economy.
After late-night talks, finance ministers and central bankers agreed on wording closer than expected to a joint statement issued last Tuesday by the Group of Seven rich nations backing market-determined exchange rates.
A draft communique seen by delegates on Friday had steered clear of the G7′s call for fiscal and monetary policy not to be targeted at exchange rates but the final version included a G20 commitment to refrain from competitive devaluations and stated monetary policy would be directed at price stability and growth.
“The language has been strengthened since our discussions last night,” Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told reporters. “It’s stronger than it was, but it was quite clear last night that everyone around the table wants to avoid any sort of currency disputes.”
The communique, seen by Reuters ahead of publication, did not single out Japan for aggressive monetary and fiscal policies that have seen the yen drop 20 percent.
The statement reflected a substantial, but not complete, endorsement of Tuesday’s statement by the G7 nations – the United States, Japan, Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Italy.
“We all agreed on the fact that we refuse to enter any currency war,” French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici told reporters.
NO FISCAL TARGETS
The text also contained a commitment to credible medium-term fiscal strategy, but stopped short of setting specific goals.
A debt-cutting pact struck in Toronto in 2010 will expire this year if leaders fail to agree to extend it at a G20 summit of leaders in St Petersburg in September.
“Advanced economies will develop credible medium-term fiscal strategies … by the St. Petersburg summit,” the communique said.
The United States, which has resorted to massive monetary stimulus and higher government borrowing to drive growth and cut jobless queues, blocked a push from Europe to commit to reducing budget deficits.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said the G20 had failed to reach agreement on medium-term budget deficit levels.
“We expect by April countries will have made progress on reaching a balanced approach to establishing new budget indicators on both, deficit and the level of government debt,” Siluanov said.
Russia, this year’s chair of the G20, also expressed concern about ultra-loose policies that it and other big emerging economies say could store up trouble for later.
Siluanov said a rebalancing of global growth required more than an adjustment of exchange rates.
“Structural reforms in all countries, either with a positive or negative balance of payments, should play a bigger role,” he said, adding that spillover effects of unconventional monetary policy, conducted by central banks in some countries, should be closely monitored.
The G20 put together a huge financial backstop to halt a market meltdown in 2009 but has failed to reach those heights since. At successive meetings, Germany has pressed the United States and others to do more to tackle their debts. Washington in turn has urged Berlin to do more to increase demand.
On currencies, the G20 text reiterated its commitment last November, to move towards “exchange rate flexibility to reflect underlying fundamentals and avoid persistent exchange rate misalignments”.
“The G7 made a very clear statement this week. I think you’ll see the G20 echo what was said, and say that currencies should not be used as a tool of competitive devaluation,” Britain’s finance minister, George Osborne, said in Moscow.
“Countries shouldn’t make the mistake of the past of using currencies as a tool of economic warfare.”
(Additional reporting by Randall Palmer, Lesley Wroughton, Tetsushi Kajimoto, Jan Strupczewski, Lidia Kelly and Jason Bush. Writing by Douglas Busvine. Editing by Timothy Heritage/Mike Peacock)
- Link this
- Share this
- Digg this
- Reprints
G20 defuses talk of "currency war", no accord on debt
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)