• News
• Videos
• Articles
• Forums
• StockMarkets.com ®
• Friday, 24 May 2013

Make this My Home Page | Tell A Friend | RSS

web StockMarkets.com

This Blog is also available as an RSS Feed

• Wall Street Reform Remains in Spotlight - 14 June 2012

In a published interview ahead of JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon's testimony before the Senate Banking Committee Wednesday, outspoken advocate for Wall Street reform and candidate for the Massachusetts Senate, Elizabeth Warren, gave her viewpoint on a number of issues on Wall Street, that directly or indirectly impact Main Street America. Warren continues to push for the strengthening of financial reform, and has voiced her concern that Congress and financial regulators may let the opportunity for using JPMorgan's multibillion-dollar trading loss as a motivating factor for tightening Wall Street regulations pass them by.

• US & Global Economies Still Under Spotlight - 3 October 2011

As Wall Street enters the final quarter of 2011, investors need to come to grips with some of the fears that drove stocks down on Friday, ending what has been declared as the worst quarter since the beginning of the financial crisis. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 240 points to close at 10,913, the S&P 500 fell by 30 points to close at 1,131, while the Nasdaq Composite slid 65 points to close at 2,415 – recording declines of 2.1 percent, 2.5 percent and 2.6 percent respectively. For the Dow it was the worst quarter since the first three months of 2009, while for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq it has been the worst since the final quarter of 2008. While investors are, of course, hopeful for improvements moving ahead, indications are that the problems plaguing the US economy, as well as the global economy, are likely to continue unabated for some time.

• Basel III Aims For 2013 Implementation - 13 September 2010

Consisting of representatives from twenty-seven countries, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) provides a forum for discussion and cooperation with regard to standardizing banking regulations of member countries. The BCBS was initially created by the central bank governors of the Group of Ten (G-10) nations – which consists of eleven member nations, being United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, the Netherlands, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Canada and Belgium, with Switzerland joining later. Other member nations participating in the BCBS are Australia, Argentina, Brazil, China, Hong Kong SAR, Indonesia, India, Korea, Mexico, Luxembourg, Russia, Singapore, Audi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey.

• The Role of the OCC in Banking Regulation - 22 March 2010

It is widely anticipated that Republicans will be offering hundreds of amendments to the financial oversight reform bill put forward by Democrat Senator Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. This indicates that there is a long road ahead in hashing out the details of the bill, and casting doubts on whether, in the likelihood of non-support by Republicans, Democrats will be able to gather the required 60 votes to take it to the next level – the Senate. One of the changes proposed by the Dodd's bill is for the Federal Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to take over regulating regional and community banks with assets below $50 billion, which is currently being done by the Federal Reserve.

• Fed Expected to Relinquish Oversight of Smaller Banks - 18 March 2010

Following the unveiling of a bill initiated by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd outlining financial oversight reforms, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke took the opportunity of appearing before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday (17 March) to defend the necessity for the Fed to retain its broad authority over banks of all sizes. In a prepared statement presented before a congressional hearing, Bernanke emphasized that the Central Bank's authority to supervise and regulate all banks, irrespective of their size, plays a significant role in improving the effectiveness of monetary policies, as well as carrying out its central banking functions, and thereby promoting financial stability.

• The Dow Breaks the 10,000 Barrier - 15 October 2009

Although many see it more as a psychological breakthrough for investors rather than a technical achievement, the fact that the Dow rose above the 10,000 point mark for the first time since October 3 last year had a buoyant ripple effect on stock markets in countries other than the United States, with Japan's benchmark Nikkei jumping by 1.8 percent. The advance on Wall Street was led by positive results from JP Morgan Chase, but was broad based with a total of 25 of the 30 Dow components increasing. These included Fortune 500 companies Caterpillar, Chevron, IBM, Hewlett Packard, United Technologies and Exxon Mobil.

• Investors Anxious for Details of Bank Bailouts and Economic Recovery Plan - 23 February 2009

Following the unveiling of a bank bailout plan two weeks ago which left many questions unanswered, financial stocks as well as the broader US market have taken a beating. The ability of banks to remain afloat in a recession, which is likely to continue for some time, remains a primary concern among the majority of stock market traders. Speculation that the government may be obliged to nationalize embattled banks served to push investor anxiety levels up a notch, negatively impacting on stock market performance last week with the Dow closing on Friday at its lowest ebb since October 2002 and the S&P500 ending the week just 18 points shy of an eleven year low.