Money & Markets – Week of 7.29.12

Bank Of America Has Lost Money Trading On Only Three Days In 2012
Zero Hedge Aug 2, 2012
From the just released Bank of America 10-Q: “During the three months ended June 30, 2012, positive trading-related revenue

London Self-Regulatory System Proves Illusory in Libor Scandal
San Francisco Chronicle 16 July 2012
As long ago as June 2008, New York Federal Reserve President Timothy F. Geithner was warning the Bank of England.

CFTC Charges Joseph F. Welsh III, Former MF Global Broker, with Attempted Manipulation of Palladium and Platinum Futures Prices
Commodities Futures Trading Commision 14 March 2012
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced that it filed a federal court action.

Where Have All the ‘Good’ Jobs Gone?
Yahoo! Financial 1 Aug 2012
The U.S. workforce today is older and better-educated than it was in the 1970s.

India RBI slashes GDP view, stays pat on rates
The Wall Street Journal 31 July 2012
The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday cut its gross domestic product growth forecast for the current fiscal year to 6.5%

Fed Approves Final Risk Standards for Financial Market Utilities
Bloomberg 30 July 2012
The Federal Reserve approved a final rule setting risk management standards for transaction processing systems.

Dividend Tax Raise Could Increase Corporate Borrowing
Wall Street Journal 30 July 2012
Companies may decide to raise more debt rather than issue equity if the Bush tax cuts expire.

FSA warning prompts surge in suspicious transaction reporting
Financial News 30 July 2012
The monthly average of so-called “suspicious transaction reports” filed by financial institutions in the City of London.

Tate Modern Death Fall Man ‘Was Senior HSBC Banker’
The Telegraph 30 July 2012
A man who plunged 100ft to his death at the Tate Modern art gallery in London was a senior bank manager with HSBC.

Women as Directors Beat Men-Only Boards in Company Stock Return
Yahoo! Finance 31 July 2012
Companies with women on their boards performed better in challenging markets than those with all-male boards.

Small Bank Takes on Giants in Libor Lawsuit
CNN Money 30 July 2012
A small New York-based bank has filed a class action suit against 16 of the world’s largest banks.

At Least Three Banks Seen Central To Libor Rigging
Reuters 28 July 2012
New details from court documents and sources close to the Libor scandal investigation.

U.S. Cuts Estimates Of Corporate Profits During 2009-2011
Reuters 27 July 2012
Corporate America isn’t doing quite as well as the government thought, a report by the Commerce Department showed on Friday.

Earnings Perform Like 2009; Boos Then, Boos Now
Associated Press 29 July 2012
Nobody in Corporate America wants to go back to 2009, but by one measure companies are there right now.

Execs Battle Skills Gap In Hiring Despite High Unemployment
CGMA Magazine 26 July 2012
For the past six years, VASCO Data Security has dealt with a chronic problem: It hasn’t been able to easily recruit qualified workers.

A Completely Screwed Up System
Zero Hedge 29 July 2012
It should come as no surprise that individuals with the highest incomes pay the most in taxes.

TARP Was Even Worse Than You Think: “An Abysmal Failure,” Barofsky Says

Yahoo! Finance 27 July 2012
Most Americans have a sense TARP was a badly managed program that bailed out “fat cat” bankers at the expense of U.S. taxpayers.