Blog, Advanced Trading

Merkin’s Art Sale, Is it too murky?

July 02, 2009 @ 01:19 PM | By Ivy Schmerken

Victims of Bernard Madoff’s securities fraud may see some payback from one of the feeder fund managers that helped fuel Madoff’s global investment crime spree. New York money manager J. Ezra Merkin is selling his prized art collection of Mark Rothko paintings and Alberto Giametti sculptures, according to a report in the
The Wall Street Journal .

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SIFMA: Cost Cutting, A Double-Edged Sword?

June 25, 2009 @ 12:17 PM | By Ivy Schmerken

In my conversations at SIFMA I deliberately asked vendors and consultants how they were helping their clients in brokerage and asset management to cut costs and do more with less.

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Vanity Fair, Madoff and the Wall Street & Tech Connection

June 10, 2009 @ 04:20 PM | By Cristina McEachern

It’s not very often that I read my Vanity Fair and personally recognize a name or even know anyone quoted in the articles. The actors and famous types, of course, but not so much anyone in my circle.

But this past weekend as I hunkered down to read about cover guy Johnny Depp and then the Madoff sons I came across a very familiar name.

The article, “Did the Madoff Sons Know?” in the July issue explored whether or not Mark and Andrew Madoff might or might not have known about their fathers Ponzi scheme.

In the piece there was an attribution to Wall Street & Technology and specifically Anthony Guerra’s article featuring the Madoff family operation back in July of 2000.

Wall Street & Technology is Advanced Trading’s sister publication and at the time the article was published myself, Kerry Massaro (now Editor-in-Chief at AT) and Anthony were all working together.

And of course at the time Bernie Madoff was a revered Wall Street titan. Back then Madoff may have been featured in any number of financial publications but today he is featured in even more. From Vanity Fair to Golf Magazine, no magazine can ignore the salacious tale of Bernie and his Ponzi scheme.

Reading the Vanity Fair article it seemed to hint that the Madoff sons had to at least suspect something was up but might have left it at that as they were so ensconced in a certain lifestyle their family and business had created.

Then reading the WS&T article, entitled, “The Madoff Dynasty,” which focused on the family angle to the business it paints a very different picture of the Madoff's in the days before Bernie's scheme became public.

And it makes me wonder if others did really know what was going on behind the scenes. Guerra even points out in the first paragraph that Ruth, “helped with some bookkeeping.”

And Mark said of Bernie and the family in the article, "All of his family members grew up with this being our lives. When it is a family operated business you don't go home at night and shut everything off, so you take things home with you, which is how all of us grew up.”

I guess we may never find out how much or little the sons or Ruth for that matter knew but looking back and reading interviews with Bernie and the Madoff family does provide some interesting fodder.

In the days before the public knew something was amiss it seemed the family was quite close and would potentially know a lot about each other’s business. Now of course that is not the case.

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Topics: fraud
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Liquidnet's Tie-Up with NYSE Euronext

June 10, 2009 @ 11:27 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

A new partnership between Liquidnet and NYSE Euronext announced earlier this week promises to connect corporate issuers with institutional investors and make their interactions more efficient through technology.

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SEC's Agenda: Sponsored Access, Dark Pools, etc.

May 28, 2009 @ 11:04 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

At last week’s SIFMA’s Market Structure Conference, James Brigagliano, co-acting director, division of trading and markets at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ticked off a list of concerns on his mind. In the coming months, the SEC will be examining a number of issues, including, sponsored access, dark pools and pre-trade order and quote messages.

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What Hedge Funds Can Expect From The New Regulations

May 19, 2009 @ 12:01 PM | By Ivy Schmerken

Hedge funds are bracing for more regulation from the Obama Administration, which is seeking more dislosure on relationships with counterparties to prevent systemic risk.But rather than sit on the sidelines and wait for the new rules, one industry consultant urges alternative asset managers to prepare for more reporting requirements.

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Will Geithner Mandate CDS Trading on Exchanges?

May 14, 2009 @ 11:26 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

Yesterday,Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner signaled that regulators would mandate more transparency into OTC derivatives products and force trading of credit default swaps onto exchanges.

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Early Madoff Feeder Appears On PBS Frontline

May 12, 2009 @ 11:06 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

Tonight, PBS Frontline will air “The Madoff Affair”, an investigative news piece, which promises to get behind the world’s first global Ponzi scheme. While Madoff sits in jail awaiting sentence in June, the media is still trying to figure out how the fraudster perpetuated the scheme for decades.

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Less Money to Pay for Independent Research?

May 07, 2009 @ 11:31 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

A few years ago, experts were predicting that sell-side research was near death, while independent research was undergoing a rebirth. Fast-forward to the present time in which a number of economic forces are weighing on the institutional investors and hedge funds, making it harder for them to allocate commission dollars (or cash) to pay for independent research.

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Is the Buy-Side Risk Function Losing Status?

April 30, 2009 @ 11:25 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

Are buy-side institutions paying enough attention to risk management in light of the ongoing financial crisis? A recent study of 90 investment management organizations raises some alarm bells.

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T3 Live.com: Prop Traders Go Virtual

April 28, 2009 @ 11:00 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

With all the talk about social networks, it’s not surprising that traders want to interact and learn from each other. Proprietary trading firm T3 Capital launched an online trading community that reaches out to active traders and shares its positions with subscribers.

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Will Turquoise Survive the Heated Battle?

April 16, 2009 @ 11:43 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

The battle for market share has been escalating in the European equity trading landscape and now there are predictions that not all the multilateral trading facilities (MTFs) will survive.

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Should European Dark Pools Offer Better Prices?

April 14, 2009 @ 12:23 PM | By Ivy Schmerken

Today, NYFIX Euro Millennium MTF platform will temporarily amend its algorithm to offer matching at the midpoint of the reference market price. The move raises questions about whether European dark pools can offer better prices than lit markets.

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Westwater Ramps Up Risk Practice with FOF Due Diligence

April 08, 2009 @ 11:23 AM | By Kerry Massaro

I just spoke with Jim Leman, principal of Westwater Corp., about some of the things his firm is focusing on as a result of the credit crisis and recent market turmoil. We hadn’t caught up in a while and I wanted to know how the market was affecting his consulting firm.

According to Leman, Westwater has found several opportunities amid the turmoil on Wall Street. First, it has been able to take advantage of some good Wall Street talent that suddenly has become available. The firm hired Peter Jenkins, the former business development manager with the member and institutional community at NYSE. Prior to that Jenkins was the head trader at Scudder Stevens and Deutsche Asset Management. He will be lending his expertise to Westwater’s buy-side and sell-side business development efforts, Leman says.

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Topics: Kerry Massaro
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Fidessa's Fragmentation Index: Worth Watching

April 01, 2009 @ 11:42 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

Fragmentation is a hot topic in Europe these days.
Volumes have been shifting around since the Markets In Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) went into effect in November of 2007 and there has been an explosion in the number of new trading venues called multilateral trading facilities or MTFs to compete with the traditional exchanges.

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Madoff's Prison Number Wins NY Lottery

March 25, 2009 @ 11:12 AM | By Kerry Massaro

At least someone--other than the conman himself--- actually made money "investing in Madoff." The Daily News reported yesterday that a Queens construction worker used the swindler's prison number to play the lottery and won $1,500.

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Treasury Lacks Staff and Software To Run Toxic Asset Plan

March 24, 2009 @ 01:46 PM | By Ivy Schmerken

The U.S. Treasury’s unveiling of its toxic asset plan sent the stock market soaring yesterday as the government laid out its plan for selling off bad loans and other types of debt to unclog the credit markets.

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Madoff Accountant Arrested

March 19, 2009 @ 02:27 PM | By Cristina McEachern

It was only a matter of time before more people involved in the Bernard Madoff Investment Securities fraud would come out of the woodwork and now the dominoes might begin to fall.

On Wednesday, federal prosecutors charged David Friehling, the accountant who audited Madoff’s firm, with fraud.

Friehling was the only auditor at the firm of Friehling & Horowitz, which the government says was responsible for auditing Madoff’s firm beginning in 1991.

According to a statement released by the Department of Justice, Acting U.S. Attorney Lev Dessin, said, "Mr. Friehling is charged with crimes that represent a serious breach of the investing public's trust.”

He added, "Although Mr. Friehling is not charged with knowledge of the Madoff Ponzi scheme, he is charged with deceiving investors by falsely certifying that he audited the financial statements of Mr. Madoff's business. Mr. Friehling's deception helped foster the illusion that Mr. Madoff legitimately invested his clients' money."

The charges against Friehling include securities fraud, aiding and abetting investment advisor fraud and filing false audit reports with the SEC. If convinced Friehling could fact a maximum sentence of 105 years in prison.

According to the DoJ statement, Madoff’s firm paid Friehling between $12000 and $14500 per month for his services between 2004 and 2007.

This week the also saw the government’s intent to actively go after the assets of Madoff’s sons and wife.

According to a government filing on Tuesday, Madoff loaned sons Andrew and Mark more than $30 million since 2004. Reports say that the last of the loans – to Andrew for $4.3 million - occurred in October of 2008, two months before Madoff’s arrest.

Prosecutors have also indicated they are looking to seize Ruth Madoff’s jewelry collection which is valued at $2.6 million.

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Topics: Regulations
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Spitzer Weighs In on A.I.G.'s Payments to Trading Counterparties

March 19, 2009 @ 11:54 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

Along with the firestorm that has erupted over American International Group’s bonus payments to employees, former disgraced New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer spoke out against A.I.G. paying billions to its trading counterparties.

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The Morning Madoff Frenzy

March 12, 2009 @ 02:44 PM | By Cristina McEachern

It was obviously just speculation, but as soon as I got in this morning I started reading the blogs and news reports predicting the outcome of Madoff’s day in court. We've all been waiting for this right?

One was particularly foreboding - pointing out that Madoff entered the courthouse today without his usual jacket or overcoat. It was chilly this morning and so maybe Madoff knew his fate? Maybe he knew he was going to jail today and would not need a coat from here on out.

But then the blogs and preliminary hearing speculation also reported that there was no plea bargain arrangement with prosecutors in place. This guilty plea did not come with any stipulation that he cooperate with authorities or help in naming any co-conspirators. Interesting.

As the hearing got underway, the news flurry began with stories being updated and changed by the minute. Bernard Madoff has officially plead guilty to 11 charges relating to his $65 billion Ponzi scheme in U.S. District Court.

During the hearing today Madoff read from his 6-page plea allocution, which can be viewed in its entirety here.

Apparently there was applause. But still there was so much more that we all want to know.

This was the first time Madoff has spoken publicly about his crime since his arrest in December and although he did share some interesting details about his fraud, so many questions still remain.

We still don’t know who else, if anyone was involved, how they were involved and where exactly the money went. There is even still some discrepancy between how much the authorities think Madoff scammed and how much Madoff thinks he scammed.

But we do know that Madoff was lead away in handcuffs and will be in jail as he awaits sentencing on June 16th, most likely at the Manhattan Correctional Center according to published reports. But he may later be moved to another facility such as the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, New York.

I’m sure there will be more details to come and only time will tell the full depth of Madoff’s scheme and how it played out.

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Topics: Regulations
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Madoff's Guilty Plea: Did He Reveal Accomplices?

March 12, 2009 @ 11:22 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 criminal charges today in a Manhattan Federal Courthouse, in what is said to be the biggest Ponzi scheme is U.S. history. But will Madoff shed light on how he carried out the investment scam, who helped him and will he walk out a free man?

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Buzz On CCA Consortium Platforms: Announcement Imminent

March 05, 2009 @ 12:12 PM | By Ivy Schmerken

Once again there is buzz about a consortium of bulge-bracket brokers bringing out a consolidated platform for client commission agreements (CCAs). This week Integrity Research’s blog reported that a broker consortium is only weeks away from announcing a consolidated commission platform.

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Did 20/20 Invade Madoff's Privacy?

February 25, 2009 @ 01:09 PM | By Ivy Schmerken

Friday night, ABC’s 20/20 aired an investigative report on Bernard Madoff that showed the former financier under house arrest in his luxurious apartment working on his Apple Macintosh computer and drinking a beer. At one point, Madoff gets up to fluff his pillows.

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The Curious Case of J. Ezra Merkin

February 16, 2009 @ 11:12 PM | By Ivy Schmerken

Court papers filed by New York University against New York money manager J. Ezra Merkin reveal that Merkin, who invested $2 billion with Bernard Madoff, was taking investment advice from a convicted felon.

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Deutsche Bank Reins In Top Trader After $1.8 Billion Loss

February 10, 2009 @ 11:27 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

The definition of Master of the Universe is changing at large investment banks like Deutsche Bank where chess players were given wide latitude to take risky bets with the firm’s capital.

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FSA Considers Classifying Broker Dark Pools as MTFs

February 05, 2009 @ 12:26 PM | By Ivy Schmerken

I recently heard that the UK’s Financial Services Authority has been eyeing dark liquidity pools operated by investment banks to figure out whether their internalization engines should be reauthorized or registered as MTFs — systems to buy and sell financial instruments — under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive or MiFID.

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Digging for Madoff Evidence: 20 Million Documents in Queens

January 29, 2009 @ 05:14 PM | By Ivy Schmerken

While Senators grilled SEC officials this week on how the regulator missed the warning signs of the Madoff fraud, the real action in the case was occurring in a Queens warehouse.

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Psychoanalyzing Madoff

January 27, 2009 @ 11:19 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

Much has been written about the two sides of Bernard Madoff — the successful Wall Street trader who had the ear of regulators vs. the man who confessed to a giant Ponzi scheme that allegedly lost $50 billion and ruined the lives of thousands of investors. Now there's a theory that Madoff has the personality characteristics of a psychopath.

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John Thain’s $1.22 Million Redecorating Spree

January 22, 2009 @ 05:47 PM | By Ivy Schmerken

I was surprised by John Thain's sudden resignation from Bank of America where he was the head of global banking, securities and wealth management. Thain is leaving only a week after BofA’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch closed on Jan. 1st. This morning, we know this was not a resignation. Thain was reportedly forced out in a showdown with the bank's CEO Kenneth Lewis who was furious about the way Thain handled the surprise $15.31 billion fourth quarter loss that the Wall Street firm suddenly uncovered and heaped on its new parent.

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New Era in Hedge Fund Transparency?

January 20, 2009 @ 11:26 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

Just as President Barack Obama is expected to call for a new era of responsibility and accountability in America at his inauguration today, hedge funds and fund-of-funds are going to be asked to do the same.

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Judge Rules Madoff to Remain Free on Bail

January 12, 2009 @ 02:21 PM | By Ivy Schmerken

A judge ruled today that Bernard Madoff can remain free on the $10 million bail he posted and continue to live under house arrest in his luxury apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan while awaiting for his trial on securities fraud charges, media outlets reported.

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Judge’s Decision on Madoff Bail Due Today

January 12, 2009 @ 10:48 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

A Federal judge will decide today whether accused financier Bernard Madoff can remain in his luxurious apartment or whether to revoke the conditions of his bail and order him to spend time in jail.
A decision by a New York City Judge is expected around noon today, and could have ramifactions around the globe since thousands of investors both at home and across Europe lost assets in the alleged scam.

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Alternative Research Providers Buck the Contraction Trend

January 06, 2009 @ 10:45 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

Despite grim predictions of spending declines on investment research, some players in alternative research are seeing a reason to expand their offerings or test new models for independent research. According to Sanford (Sandy) Bragg, CEO and president of Integrity Research Associates, LLC, who posted a blog yesterday titled “Damn the Torpedoes,” there are firms whose models could do well in this recessionary environment.

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Madoff Hearing: SEC Inspector Says Possibility SEC was Complicit

January 06, 2009 @ 10:18 AM | By Cristina McEachern

Congress was technically not in session yesterday but that didn’t stop Representative Paul Kanjorski, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, from convening a meeting of the House Financial Services Committee on the alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme perpetrated by Bernie Madoff.

During the meeting many lawmakers were openly calling for regulatory reform, saying they had lost confidence in the Securities and Exchange Commission. On hand to testify were David Kotz, the SEC Inspector General; Stephen Harbeck, president of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC); and Allan Goldstein, a Madoff investor who lost his life savings.

Kotz was adamant that his office would diligently undertake an investigation of what happened within the SEC when dealing with the Madoff complaints which began years ago, as well as why the many red flags raised by Madoff’s operation went unchecked.

One lawmaker asked Kotz how sure he was that there were not people within the SEC that were complicit in the fraud and enabled it to happen, to which he replied he wasn’t sure. Kotz responded, “On its face it certainly looks as if there may be that possibility.”

But one thing glaringly missing from yesterday’s meeting was any sort of discussion addressing how Madoff was able to pull off his fraud and how he was able to continue it for so long. There was no focus on where the money Madoff purportedly stole went, or who was involved if anyone else.

There was mention that the Madoff broker-dealer arm and the investment advisory business were technically the same legal entity, and that obviously the broker-dealer arm had filed false reports with the SEC and with FINRA over the years involving it in the fraud. But no real talk about how he
defrauded all of his investors and where the money might be.

By now we all know what the “red flags” were that should have tipped off the SEC and/or FINRA to Madoff’s fraud. The small accounting firm, with one accountant for a $17 billion client; the steady positive returns even in economic downturn; the complaints raised and articles written about the supposed Ponzi scheme dating back to 1999, and the list goes on.

But how did he actually do it? Where did the money really go and who was actively involved in the fraud?

The Congressional meeting was definitely a platform for lawmakers to push for regulatory reform and what many called “a 21st Century regulatory scheme for the 21st Century.”

I’m interested in this as well, and will even be focusing a feature for the next issue of Advanced Trading on regulatory reform and what will the potential new SEC look like.

But as a trading industry observer I’d really like to know the details of how Madoff pulled it off, both in terms of the level of deception and his trading operations.

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Congress to Examine Regulatory Gaps at Today’s Madoff Hearing

January 05, 2009 @ 10:27 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

While there has been outrage over the Madoff scandal, so far there are questions but few answers on how the financier was able to evade detection by regulators in the face of numerous examinations and allegations. The House Financial Services Committee will hold an open hearing today to discuss Bernard Madoff’s alleged $50 billion securities fraud. The session titled, "Assessing the Madoff Ponzi (Scheme) and the Need for Regulatory Reform,” is scheduled for 2:00 pm EST.

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Credit Suisse to Pay Bonuses With $5B in Illiquid Assets

December 18, 2008 @ 12:00 PM | By Kerry Massaro

A story just posted on Bloomberg says that Credit Suisse plans to pay bonuses to directors and managing directors using $5 billion in illiquid assets. The story says, "Credit Suisse Group AG's investment bank has found a new way to reduce the risk of losses from about $5 billion of its most illiquid loans and bonds: using them to pay employees' year-end bonuses."

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Options Trading Surfaces In Madoff Fraud

December 16, 2008 @ 01:52 PM | By Ivy Schmerken

As new details emerge from Bernard Madoff’s alleged investment fraud, today’s Wall Street Journal reports that options trading played a central role in his strategy, and that red flags about options trades should have been raised in Madoff’s customer statements.

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Regulators Comb Through Madoff Records; Victims Speak Out (Video)

December 15, 2008 @ 11:57 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

Regulators spent the weekend poring through the records of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities to check if any assets remain in the firm owned by Bernard Madoff who ran a $50 billion investment scam, according to today’s media reports.

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Madoff: Reflections and Reactions

December 12, 2008 @ 03:51 PM | By Ivy Schmerken

News of Bernard Madoff’s arrest by federal agents on charges of securities fraud against his firm Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC are shocking and personally disturbing.

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Madoff: "The Owner's Name is On the Door"

December 12, 2008 @ 10:40 AM | By Kerry Massaro

As everyone in the industry must know by now Bernard Madoff, founder of Bernard Madoff Investment Securities has been arrested for fraud. He allegedly admitted that his firm is just a giant Ponzi scheme---one that lost $50 billion in investors money.

It’s ironic that it says this on the firm’s Web site, “In an era of faceless organizations owned by other equally faceless organizations, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC harks back to an earlier era in the financial world: The owner's name is on the door. Clients know that Bernard Madoff has a personal interest in maintaining the unblemished record of value, fair-dealing, and high ethical standards that has always been the firm's hallmark.”

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Bernard Madoff Arrested: Firm Giant Ponzi Scheme

December 11, 2008 @ 04:59 PM | By Kerry Massaro

Wow, I second Ivy Schmerken on this who said I nearly fell off my chair when I read this:

"Bernard Madoff arrested over alleged Ponzi scheme."

There aren't too many details yet, but Bernard Madoff, founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, was arrested today, according to an article reported in the Wall Street Journal.

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FBI Taps Ex-Lehman IT Exec as CIO

December 11, 2008 @ 02:32 PM | By Ivy Schmerken

The U.S. government is becoming one of the top employment agencies for CIOs leaving Wall Street firms. On Tuesday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported hiring bankrupt Lehman Brother’s former IT executive Chad Fulgham, as the Bureau’s chief information officer.

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Holiday Drinks for the Bailout Season

December 09, 2008 @ 10:27 PM | By Ivy Schmerken

A PR firm Cognito that caters to journalists covering finance and technology is hosting a holiday party on Thursday evening with themed cocktails and descriptions that reflect the current news events. One that is bound to be popular is Cosmo Paulson, described as “a generous bailout of vodka, triple sec, cranberry juices and lime.”

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Hedge Fund Manager's Ordeal in Mumbai Terrorist Attack

December 04, 2008 @ 10:21 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

I was surfing last night and found a harrowing but humanizing account of a New York hedge fund manager who survived the Mumbai terrorist attack last week.

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How Has Trading Changed for You?

December 02, 2008 @ 04:25 PM | By Cristina McEachern
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Wall Street Rallies on Geithner Pick and Citigroup Bailout

November 24, 2008 @ 03:32 PM | By Ivy Schmerken

Wall Street is reacting positively to the government’s latest bailout of Citigroup and President-Elect Barack Obama’s pick of New York Fed Chief Timothy Geithner as his Treasury Secretary.

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Mandatory Clearing for CDS, No Surprise

November 24, 2008 @ 10:24 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

It was reported last week that dealers are backing a mandatory central clearing counterparty or CCP model for credit derivatives to avoid an alternative plan to move trades onto an exchange.

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AIG's Bailout Spend: Parties and Seminars, Okay?

November 12, 2008 @ 12:12 PM | By Ivy Schmerken

Controversy is swirling again over whether American International Group used some of the bailout money it received from Congress to entertain and conduct seminars for financial advisors that sell its insurance products.

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AIG's New Bailout Package: Banks Can Unload CDOs

November 12, 2008 @ 11:03 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

Banks that bought credit default swaps from the American International Group are emerging as the winners in the Treasury Department’s revamped bailout plan for the insurance giant, reports today’s Wall Street Journal.

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Risk Models Missed the Human Factor

November 05, 2008 @ 12:50 PM | By Ivy Schmerken

While many of us are marvelling this morning on the results of this historic U.S. presidential election, there’s another story that deserves your attention and one that Senator Barack Obama ought to read before he appoints his cabinet of regulatory czars to fix the financial mess.

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Wall Street Bonuses in a Bailout Year?

October 28, 2008 @ 11:23 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

Wall Street firms are setting aside billions of dollars to make bonus payments to employees after receiving $1.25 billion in taxpayer money this week from the government to shore up their balance sheets.

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More Wall Street Job Losses: Mergers and the Redundancy Factor

October 28, 2008 @ 09:24 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

There is some buzz that additional mergers are on the horizon. According to a CNBC news report yesterday, Goldman Sachs had a flirtation with Citigroup but Citi’s CEO Vikram Pandit turned down the overture.

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Catching Up With Mike Plunkett

October 23, 2008 @ 11:24 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

When Mike Plunkett, who was president of Instinet North America, left the electronic brokerage firm two weeks ago, it came as a surprise to many of in the media that had talked to him over the years.

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Michael Douglas' Gekko Character is Back!

October 16, 2008 @ 10:36 AM | By Ivy Schmerken

Hollywood wants to cash in on the global financial crisis. Actor Michael Douglas is interested in reprising his role as Gordon Gekko, in a sequel to the 1980s movie “Wall Street.”

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An Agency Trader Reflects on Panic Selling

October 10, 2008 @ 02:17 PM | By Ivy Schmerken

With the stock market falling 600 points on the open this morning after yesterday’s huge loss, this is definitely taking a toll on everyone especially traders who are on the front lines. I picked up the phone and called back Joe Saluzzi, a sales trader at Themis Trading, an institutional agency-only broker in Chatham, New Jersey. I spoke with Saluzzi yesterday right after the close when the Dow had plunged 679 points or 7.3 percent to finish at 8579.19.

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