The midday equity-market silence is deafening. Writing for the Wall Street Journal last week, Dan Strumpf roiled capital-markets constituents describing how stock-trading is now focused around the opening bell and the last half-hour, with volume dribbling otherwise. NYSE strategists are…
View pageWhat’s the purpose of life? We want simple answers to complex questions. Such as when management asks why the stock price is up or down. Since elementary explanations are often incorrect, there’s been a loss of confidence. “We broke through…
View pageSome energy-sector clients lost 40% of market-capitalization in three days last October. A year and a half cultivating share-appreciation and by Wednesday it’s gone. How so? To get there let’s take a trip. I love driving the Llano Estacado, in…
View pageIn 1884, British comedian Arthur Roberts invented a card game of trickery and nonsense for which he coined the name “Spoof.” In 2015, spoofing is a decidedly unfunny and ostensibly illegal trading technique in securities markets. But the joke may…
View pageAs Christmas Eve arrives in the US, market-structure circles are abuzz on tidings from Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), parent of the NYSE, about bold market reform. Is it the birth of opportunity or a winter fable? In case you missed it, word…
View pageSuppose you were an elevator operator. In 2013, the conservative Weekly Standard reported that the most senior member of the Senatorial coterie of button-pushers on the Hill pocketed about $210,000 in compensation, on par with investor-relations professionals. The elevators have…
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