Fault Runs Deep in Ultrafast Trading

High speed trading has been a controversial topic for some time now. It has reached the point where firms will pay big premiums to get their computers as close as they can to the stock exchanges. The closer the computers are to the exchange, the faster the can send and receive information. Fractions of fractions of a second swing the markets and make or lose huge sums of money. In Michael Lewis’ new book “Flash Boys” he places most of the responsibility on the traders, saying that they are taking advantage of the markets. That is the popular stance, but in his recent DealBook piece, Andrew Ross Sorkin shifts some of the blame to the markets themselves, whom he says play a larger role in high speed trading, as they are the enablers, and make a serious profit from the practice.

Read the article here…

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/03/31/fault-runs-deep-in-ultrafast-trading/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

What if the Bitcoin End Game is a Digital Dollar?

The Bitcoin has recently become a topic of great debate. Many see it as a financial freedom, some see it as a future market to be regulated and profited from, and others see it as a confusing alternative to something very familiar. Regardless of how it is perceived, the Bitcoin has gained incredible publicity late, both good and bad. While its future is very uncertain, the Bitcoin has changed the currency conversation, and will most certainly have an impact on the way we purchase goods in the future.

Read the article here…

http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/03/05/what-if-the-bitcoin-end-game-is-a-digital-dollar/

On Fifth Birthday, Aging Bull Market May Tire Easily

The current price of the market and it’s 5 year run make this type of article inevitable.  It’s always important to consider the investment climate from all vantages, and to maintain a disciplined long term perspective.

Read the article here…

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304585004579419344148630588?KEYWORDS=on+fifth+birthday&mg=reno64-wsj

Ex-Banker Heads Up ‘Broad’ Effort at Boosting Women in Business

When Sallie Krawcheck‘s relationship with her boss, then- Citigroup Inc. C -2.30% Chief Executive Vikram Pandit, soured in 2008, she called Zoe Cruz to meet for lunch.

Both had worked for Mr. Pandit and were two of the most powerful women on Wall Street, Ms. Krawcheck overseeing wealth management at Citi, and Ms. Cruz as the former co-president of Morgan Stanley. Until that lunch, they had never met; Ms. Krawcheck realized they should have done so sooner.

“That wasn’t the right time to have established that relationship,” Ms. Krawcheck recalled at a conference recently. “My generation of women on Wall Street, I think we did a poor job of connecting with each other.”

 Read the rest of the article here…

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304856504579340971127508490?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304856504579340971127508490.html

The Rationality Debate, Simmering in Stockholm

Are people really rational in their economic decision making? That question divides the economics profession today, and the divisions were evident at the Nobel Week events in Stockholm last month.

There were related questions, too: Does it make sense to suppose that economic decisions or market prices can be modeled in the precise way that mathematical economists have traditionally favored? Or is there some emotionality in all of us that defies such modeling?

Read the rest of the article here…

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/business/the-rationality-debate-simmering-in-stockholm.html?_r=0