analysts, competition, darwinomics, duopoly, economic crisis, monopolies, oligopoly
Even those who have not studied the works of Charles Darwin, readily equate the basic principle of 'survival of the fittest', otherwise known as the 'principle of natural selection', with the legendary evolutionist. This theory has two main elements to it: firstly, that nature is never static and a species that does not adapt to the ongoing changes in nature will eventually become extinct; and secondly, intense competition pervades any given habitat and only the fittest, or most adaptable, will survive. Recognizing that these principles apply to economics, the term Darwinomics was coined and...
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consumer sentiment, dow jones, nasdaq, united states, wal-mart
While the state of the economy of a number of European Union countries continues to be a cause for concern, and the Euro continues to flounder, US stock market players will no doubt be turning their attention to their home ground as they face a flood of reports indicating the economic health of the United States in the coming week. Among the reports expected this week are key readings on labor, individual income, housing, consumer sentiment and spending trends, and the country’s GDP.
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electronic trading, finra, regulators, sec, wall street
The dramatic 'flash crash' on Wall Street on May 6 served as a wake-up call to regulators that the growing trend of automated high-speed trading calls for updated regulations in order to deal with stock market volatility. With this in mind, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) filed a proposal for public comment on Tuesday 18 May whereby trading on individual stocks will be paused if the price moves either way by 10 percent or more within a period of five minutes. Should the proposal become a reality, it will most likely be instituted as...
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analysts, brokers, dow jones, high-speed trading, investors, stock exchanges
While talk of a stock exchange generally brings to mind the vibrant organized chaos of dealers on the floor shouting buy and sell instructions - scoring spectacularly, or failing dismally, wiping out fortunes in a heart-beat - the reality of modern-day stock market trading is quite different. The majority of today's trading is carried out by state of the art technology, often being referred to as high-frequency trading, or high-speed trading – an apt description by any measure. On Thursday May 6, the Read more »
continental, main street, merger, monopolies, united airlines, wall street
With any merger between two key players within an economic sector there are bound to be objections from many quarters, as well as concerns regarding competition, or rather lack thereof, and avoiding the creation of a monopoly. The merger of United Airlines and Continental Airlines (the third and fourth largest commercial airlines in the US) is no different, especially when taking into account that the merger will reportedly create the world's largest airline, with estimated revenue of around US$30 billion and carrying in excess of 120 million passengers annually. It...
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dow jones, exchange traded funds, nasdaq, sec, tokyo stock exchange
The gut-wrenching intraday drop of 998.5 points in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday last week has raised speculation that it was due to a so-called 'fat-finger' incident in which a trader inadvertently hits the wrong keys when placing a trade on the market. Unnamed, but apparently reliable, sources have been quoted as saying that a fat-fingered trade took place on the Nasdaq exchange involving an exchange-traded fund holding shares of some of the market's most widely traded stocks.
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credit rating, economic crisis, european union, investors, moodys
Following the downgrading of Greece's credit rating to junk earlier this week, as well as the downgrading of both Spain and Portugal, with speculation that Portugal is in the firing line for a further downgrading, the call for the creation of a European credit rating firm to balance out the US dominance of this function is gaining momentum. The credit rating reductions by US rating services such as Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service, has had a severe impact on worldwide markets, with investors selling bonds issued by the...
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continental, dow jones, financial sector, united airlines, wall street, warren buffet
The upward swing of the market over the past two months, with the Dow enjoying its longest run of positive performance in six years, was brought to an end last week. Heading into the month of May, there varying opinions among stock market investors as to whether the market is entering bear territory, or if this is a minor setback that will be resolved in the coming week.
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