#235 hedgefunds & derivatives

I read about hedgefunds and derivatives needing more regulations on US news.
However I do recall in February of 1995, the Barings Bank founded in 1762 in Britain was bankrupted by a rogue trader who was then posted to Singapore to manage its securities arm of the bank. He speculated on some derivatives contracts that left a $1.4 billion [...]

#234 thot-provoking

I read this piece on blog ‘a baseline scenario’ written by Sanjiv Gupta for Huffington Post (?) dated on 10 March 2009 under the title — The Change We Need I: A Bank for America — :
 …Rather, I want to use the crisis in our financial system to pose a fundamental question about our political system.
Consider: [...]

#228 transparency

There was so much talk about transparency in corporate managment and in politics…today, news revealed there was NO transparency at all. If there were, it was selective transparency. As a matter of fact, there were lots of cover-up!
The latest: bonuses given to top executives at Merrill Lynch on the quiet! The bargain to pay out bonuses were kept for these [...]

#207 who do you trust?

Having money is a problem these days. Putting money in the bank is no consolation either.
You lose your hard earned cash when a financial institution collapsed. I was told you could file for misrepresentation — that the profile of products bought did not suit the personality of one. How does this work?
The high turnover of officers serving you in [...]

#205 economic crunch

This is an average Singaporean trying to understand that said by our leaders.
Any average young in the workforce can tell there will be job losses without the finance minister making that pedantic remark on economic crunch.
What concerted effort and plan to lift us out of the economic crunch or job creation?
Commercial property rentals will continue [...]

#200 spend first pay later

‘Spend first, pay later’ – was the slogan to attract the use of credit cards.
Living on borrowed money was the vogue for the past 40 years conservatively. Instead of regarding this as debt, it was sugared as ‘credit’.
There was a time when it was regarded smart to travel first — to enjoy life first — then pay [...]

#198 bail-out plan?

What if there were no bail-out for those scoundrel and irresponsible investment banks? How will this financial quake affect the US and the world economy?
Why such jittery around the world?
According to some pundits, if there were no bail-out, this will filter every aspect of life and economy in the US! 
Was there no regulatory controls for these financial institutions?
It appears those investment [...]