Industry news
Date: Feb 15, 2013
February 15, 2013: Nasdaq Weighs an Earlier Wake Up; Stock-Trading Glitches Are on the Decline; Moscow Bourse Raises $498 Million, Biggest Russia IPO Since ‘07
Nasdaq OMX is looking at shifting its “premarket” trading session even earlier in the morning. A study of multiple years of error corrections at exchanges suggest that despite recent headlines, the incidence of trade glitches is on the decline. Moscow Exchange completes its long road to an IPO, prices at the bottom of its range, and still manages to raises a tidy sum of cash.
First Read
OIC Announces Meyer “Sandy” Frucher to Receive Joseph W. Sullivan Award at the Annual Options Industry Conference
The Options Industry Council (OIC) today announced Meyer “Sandy” Frucher as the 2013 recipient of the Joseph W. Sullivan Options Industry Achievement Award in recognition of outstanding contributions to the growth and integrity of the U.S. options market. The award will be presented at the 31st Annual Options Industry Conference, to be held April 24-26 at the Green Valley Ranch in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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***** Congratulations to Sandy Frucher on winning the Sullivan Award.
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NYSE Technologies and SMA Announce Agreement to Distribute Social Media Analysis Data via SFTI
NYSE Technologies, the commercial technology division of NYSE Euronext, and Social Market Analytics (SMA) today announced an agreement to distribute sentiment statistics from SMA’s patent-pending social media monitoring engine through NYSE Technologies SFTI Network, and its normalized market data service, SuperFeed1. Social media has become a crucial source of information for the financial services community, in addition to corporate analytics groups in the non-financial sector. The SMA Sentiment Signature Feed will offer customers a first-of-a-kind tool for including social media sentiment in their market analysis and decision-making processes.
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**** SMA did some advertising with us last year. They have a very interesting product. Kudos to NYSE Technologies for their agreement to distribute SMA. Check out the SMA display on the lower right of the front page of New Kids on the Block firm Atrium Trading, http://www.atriumsecurities.com/
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ION Group agrees FFastFill acquisition
Finextra
ION Group’s acquisition spree shows no sign of ending, with the fintech firm’s Pattington subsidiary agreeing to buy FFastFill in a cash deal which values the UK derivatives trading vendor at £106.1 million.
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**** They are buying the rest of FFastFill they don’t already own.
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CBOE president: Buyout deal hasn’t been on radar
Jacob Bunge – Dow Jones
The parent of the Chicago Board Options Exchange hasn’t considered taking the company private, and running the options market as a public company has benefitted its customers, a senior executive said Thursday.
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**There are only three other major exchanges to ask if they are going private.
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CME Group Announces Open Interest Record in Benchmark Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) Futures
CME Group, the world’s leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, announced it reached a record in open interest for its global benchmark NYMEX Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures contracts yesterday, February 13, 2013. Open Interest for NYMEX WTI reached 1,665,014 contracts, compared to 1,664,400 on May 11, 2011, the last record for this contract
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***** Excessive speculation of excessive hedging? How about, there is a lot of oil out there.
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OptionsCity Metro wins “Best Options Trading Platform” award
OptionsCity announced that its flagship trading and market making platform, Metro, has been named “Best Options Trading Platform” by Wall Street Letter in the 2013 Institutional Trading Awards. This marks the second consecutive win for Metro in this award category.
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Correction
Correction: In yesterday’s story about John F. Gilmore, Jr., the date he became a Goldman Sachs partner was incorrect (typo). He as made a partner in 1988, not 1998. Thank you to the Goldman people who instantly saw this error.
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New Restoring Customer Confidence Video
The eleventh video in our Restoring Customer Confidence series deals with daily reporting of customer funds. Each week we will post a new idea answering the question – how do you restore customer confidence and bring traders back?
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| Restoring Customer Confidence | More ideas» |
Daily Reports: Tell Us Where The Money Is In the months and days since MF Global’s collapse and the Peregrine Financial Group’s fraud, some have argued simply for more transparency from futures commission merchants (FCMs). Scott Gordon, chairman and CEO of Rosenthal Collins Group, said his firm publicly discloses how customer funds are being invested and held by the firm. In Rosenthal Collins’ case, the firm reports its cash deposits held at US banks, funds held in US Treasury securities, as well as its how much is being held by clearing houses and clearing brokers and US banks. This type of transparency could be the difference in building customer trust or losing it. This video is sponsored by: +++++ About the Restoring Customer Confidence video series
Visit the video series page on MarketsWiki.tv over the next several weeks for new ideas and solutions. |
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At NYSE, The Data Deluge Overwhelms Traditional Databases
Forbes
NYSE and NYSE Technologies, its technology subsidiary, found that the continuing growth of stock market data, the demand for more analytics, and, thanks to regulators, lots more reporting, were too much for its Oracle database.
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Electronic Bond Trading Faces ‘Darwinian’ Struggle, HSBC Says
Bloomberg
Electronic corporate bond trading platforms face a “Darwinian” struggle over the next two to three years, Niall Cameron, global head of credit trading at HSBC Holdings Plc said in an interview yesterday.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren grills regulators, ending quiet first month in office
Boston Globe
After campaigning last year as a hard-charging, outspoken consumer advocate and Wall Street critic, Warren’s first month on Capitol Hill was relatively quiet. But that changed Thursday at the Massachusetts senior senator’s first hearing, when she rebuked federal regulators for settling civil cases with big banks instead of taking them to trial.
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***** Too Big for Trial is an interesting concept. Too Expensive for Trial is what the regulators use.
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Randall departs as Equiduct’s future hangs in the balance
Michelle Price
Peter Randall, the chief executive of Equiduct, is to step down with immediate effect as the retail-focused European trading platform fights for its future following the loss of its chief backer Citadel Securities
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Wasendorf Books May Be Headed for Shredder
Jacob Bunge – Deal Journal – WSJ
Russell Wasendorf Sr. is headed to prison, but officials unraveling his business empire face a new question: What to do with thousands of copies of financial-advice books authored by the disgraced Peregrine Financial Group Inc. founder.
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**** Personally, this is the one time I would burn books.
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WILD New York: WILD About Options
Women In Listed Derivatives invites you to learn about the equity options product – what it is and how it works. Hear from women in the derivatives markets and listen to our panelists compare their work experiences in options.
WHO Women in listed and OTC derivatives
WHAT Panel discussion and networking reception
WHEN Wednesday, February 27
WHERE New York Stock Exchange (2 Broad Street)
RSVP events@womeninlistedderivatives.org
COST $15; payment in advance is preferred, you can pay securely through PayPal
For complete details, visit
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***** Who booked the WILD event on Broad Street?
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MarketsWiki
MarketsWiki Recent Updates
People
Walter L. Lukken; Edward Kwalwasser; Scott Gordon; Laurie Ferber; Daniel A. Driscoll; Michael Dawley; John M. Damgard; James Koutoulas; Meyer (Sandy) Frucher
Companies, Organizations and Groups
International Organization of Securities Commissions; CME Group, Inc.
Miscellaneous
Statistics
34,913,419 pages viewed, 7,394 articles, 154,291 edits
MarketsWiki Statistics
Lead Stories
Nasdaq Weighs an Earlier Wake Up
MATT JARZEMSKY – WSJ.com
You have to get up pretty early in the morning to keep up with the U.S. stock markets. Try 4 a.m. For years, Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. has matched up “premarket” trades, or those executed ahead of the 9:30 a.m. Eastern time start of regular trading, in a short session that began at 7 a.m. Now the clock is turning back even further.
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Stock-Trading Glitches Are on the Decline
MATT JARZEMSKY – WSJ.com
U.S. stock-trading problems have grabbed headlines in recent months, but exchange data suggest errors requiring trades to be canceled are becoming rarer. The percentage of U.S. stock-trading volume that exchanges canceled last year was the smallest since at least 2004, according to the New York Stock Exchange, and the Nasdaq Stock Market in 2012 received only a fraction of the requests to cancel erroneous trades that were submitted five years earlier.
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Moscow Bourse Raises $498 Million, Biggest Russia IPO Since ‘07
Bloomberg
The Moscow Exchange raised $498 million in the biggest initial share sale on Russia’s bourse since 2007, pricing at the bottom of its target range.
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Deutsche Börse questions impact of a financial transaction tax
Deutsche Börse questions the sense of a financial transaction tax draft published today by the European Commission. The impacts of this potential tax show a striking discrepancy between political objectives derived from the financial crisis.
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Buysiders push to streamline interest rate swaps
Katy Burne – Dow Jones Newswires
A dozen investment firms, including Pimco and BlackRock, are in discussions to standardise terms on trillions of dollars of complex interest rate derivatives, officials at two of the firms said yesterday.
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Thomson Reuters FX Trading Service Temporarily Disrupted
Dow Jones
A Thomson Reuters electronic trading system used in the foreign-exchange market experienced a nearly two-hour outage Thursday, the company said.
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Broker draws Tullett into Libor scandal
Patrick Jenkins, Brooke Masters and Caroline Binham in London – FT.com
Tullett Prebon has been drawn into the Libor scandal after an individual at the interdealer broker was implicated in conversations about rigging the yen Libor rate, the Financial Times has learnt.
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Technology whizz kid tackles Greek tax evasion
Reuters via Yahoo! News
ATHENS – Greece is pinning its hopes of boosting revenue from an antiquated tax system beset by massive evasion on Harry Theoharis, a boyish-looking 42-year-old who describes himself as an “I.T. monkey”.
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Shifting Blame Muddles S&P Suit
JEANNETTE NEUMANN – WSJ.com
Like many other collateralized debt obligations, Delphinus CDO 2007-1 got a triple-A rating and then defaulted within months, causing painful losses to investors. Who is responsible for the mess?
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EU’s FISH economies unsettle US investors
Gillian Tett – FT.com
For the past couple of years, investors in America (along with the rest of the world) have been panicking about PIGS, or even PIIGS. For as the eurozone woes intensified, the countries of Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain have been in the market spotlight – amid speculation that Greece would leave the euro.
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Regulatory
MF Global CFTC Proposal Said to Jeopardize Futures Brokerages
Bloomberg
A U.S. rule meant to protect futures industry customers’ money in a collapse like MF Global Holdings Ltd.’s may drive clients from the market and brokerages out of business, some of the affected firms said.
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***** See our special report for more details about this story.
Futures industry set to blast CFTC over new margin rules
Christine Stebbins and Ann Saphir – Reuters
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is bracing this week for a barrage of criticism over a proposed rule that brokerages say could cost the industry tens of billions of dollars.
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Russia Markets Watchdog Chief Says Over-Regulation Dangerous
Bloomberg
Russia needs to stimulate financial growth instead of increasing government oversight of markets, the head of the country’s financial watchdog service said.
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Implementing The CPSS-IOSCO Principles For Financial Market Infrastructures In Australia
In April 2012, the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) published
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Testimony Of Gary Gensler, Chairman, Commodity Futures Trading Commission Before The U.S. Senate Banking, Housing And Urban Affairs Committee, Washington, DC
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Exchanges & Trading Facilities
Moscow Exchange Announces IPO Offer Price
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[CBOE] Operational Systems Settings
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Program Trading Averaged 25.7 Percent of NYSE Volume during Feb. 4-8
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NYSE Member Firms Report Fourth-Quarter 2012 Results
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NYSE to Suspend Trading in the Third Cumulative Preferred Stock, $1.70 First Series of H.J. Heinz Company
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Therese Walsh – Independent Director Of NZX Limited
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Montreal Exchange Interest Rate Derivative Trading Will Cease At 1:00 P.M. Today
Interest rate derivative trading will cease at 1:00 p.m. today, February 15, 2013. Furthermore, the Exchange’s markets will be closed on February 18, 2013 (Family Day).
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Hedge Funds & Managed Futures
Fidelity says redemption fees OK for some money funds
Reuters via Yahoo! Finance
Fidelity Investments, the largest U.S. money market fund provider, said on Thursday redemption fees on stressed institutional prime funds could be a way to avert the kind of scare that roiled the industry during the 2008 financial crisis.
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Ex-UBS Exec Rosen Taps ‘Whale’ of a Trader for Fund
Katy Burne – Deal Journal – WSJ
Former UBS executive Eric Rosen has hired Henry Kim, a J.P. Morgan Chase trader who helped fix giant trading losses at the bank last year, to join his new hedge fund Reef Road Capital, according to two financial professionals familiar with the matter.
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Blackstone Says Most of Its $550 Million to Stay With SAC
Bloomberg
Blackstone Group LP’s hedge-fund unit said it would keep most of its about $550 million in Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors LP for another quarter while it awaits more information on the government’s insider-trading case against a former portfolio manager at the $14 billion firm.
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BlackRock fixed-income head Fisher moving to new role at firm
The Wall Street Journal
BlackRock fixed-income head Peter Fisher is moving to a new role at the investment-management company, according to an internal memo reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
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Pirc comes out against long-term incentive plans
David Thomas – Financial News
A leading investor advisory watchdog has decided to oppose all new long-term incentive plans for company directors, arguing that the concept is “fundamentally flawed”.
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Banks & Brokers
BGC Partners Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2012 Financial Results
Declares 12 Cent Quarterly Dividend; One-time $52.5 Million Gain from LME Sale and $7.4 Million Restructuring Charge (Both Excluded from Distributable Earnings Results); Conference Call to Discuss Results Scheduled for 10:00 am ET Today
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Integral Survey Reveals FX Retail Brokers Prefer Multiple Liquidity Providers
Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance
Integral Development Corporation today announced the results of its 2013 Retail FX Broker Survey, which reveals that over two-thirds of retail brokers believe they need more than six liquidity providers to get optimal liquidity and pricing.
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JPMorgan Said to Fire Traders, Realign Pay Amid Slump
Bloomberg
JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s equities unit dismissed about two dozen U.S. traders and sales staff and cut pay 4 percent to more closely align it with revenue after the industry’s worst year for stock trading since 2008.
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Barclays’ Rich Ricci Says He’s Not Leaving
Dow Jones
Rich Ricci, the head of investment banking at Barclays, said management was overly optimistic about the global fee pool when it chose to expand the business in the wake of the Lehman Brothers acquisition.
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Citigroup Tapping Bond Market in 10-Year Deal
Dow Jones
Citigroup Inc. borrowed $1.5 billion through the issuance of 10-year bonds Thursday.
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Commerzbank chief to forgo bonus
James Wilson in Frankfurt – FT.com
Commerzbank’s chief executive will get no bonus after admitting the German bank’s overall results were unsatisfactory and warning of a tough year of restructuring ahead.
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[Goldman Sachs] Op-Ed in The Times of London: The City Knows an EU Exit Spells Disaster
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Goldman Sachs Conference Call to Announce First Quarter 2013 Results
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Clearing & Settlement
Omgeo Announces Pricing Changes
Omgeo, the global standard for post-trade efficiency, today announced its ongoing commitment to a pricing strategy designed to reduce costs and overall risk in the financial markets by incentivizing industry best practice. Omgeo was able to offer these pricing changes as a direct result of cost efficiencies gained within the firm from ongoing investments in infrastructure and technology.
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EEX creates Pan-European OTC Clearing Service Offering – Three further products to be launched in February
The European Energy Exchange (EEX) is expanding its range of OTC clearing services step by step, to include additional products not traded on EEX or other European Commodity Clearing (ECC) partner exchanges. Together with the clearing house ECC, EEX will launch three further products for OTC clearing on 25 February 2013.
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LCH.Clearnet triples annual profits
Daniel Schäfer in London – FT.com
LCH.Clearnet has almost tripled its net profit in the past year as the clearing house, which is soon to be majority owned by the London Stock Exchange, is gearing up for a capital increase in the coming months.
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LCH.Clearnet Group Limited results 2012
Net revenues increased by 24% to E426.2 million
Headline operating profit grew by 89% to E127.5 million
Clearing fees increased 7% to E253.9 million
Net underlying investment income was E132.3 million, down 5%, while average cash and collateral under management rose 13% to E83.6 billion
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Indexes & Products
Technology
RECOMMENDED CASH OFFER FOR FFASTFILL PLC BY PATTINGTON LIMITED
The boards of Pattington Limited, a member of the ION Group, (“Pattington”) and FFastFill Plc (“FFastFill”) are pleased to announce that they have agreed the terms of a recommended cash offer to be made by Pattington for the entire issued and to be …
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Enforcement
S.E.C. Looks at Trades a Day Before Heinz Deal
BEN PROTESS – NYTimes.com
Regulators are scrutinizing unusual trading surrounding the planned $23 billion takeover of the food company H. J. Heinz, raising questions about potential illegal activity in one of the biggest deals in recent memory, a person briefed on the matter said.
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Former Executives Of Stanford Financial Group Entities Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison For Roles In Fraud Scheme
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Former Hanlong Mining executive jailed for insider trading
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Another Two Capital + Merchant Directors Plead Guilty To New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority Charges
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Environmental & Energy
Asia-Pacific
No Easy Path to Yuan Trade in Singapore, Says OCBC CEO
Wall Street Journal Blogs
OCBC chief executive Samuel Tsien isn’t giving up on Singapore becoming a major offshore center for Chinese yuan trade following the Hong Kong model. But he’s clear-eyed about the challenges.
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Thai Bourse To Adjust Rule For Securities Traded In Cash Balance Account
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) announces the extension of the period of trading using cash balance account for securities showing abnormal trading patterns, for which investors are required to deposit the full purchase amount prior to trading, to six consecutive weeks, from the previous minimum of three weeks, to be in line with the current trading situation and protect investors from damage.
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HKEx: Changes Of Designated Securities For Short Selling
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Osaka Securities Exchange: Request For Public Comments On Developing Rules And Regulations In Connection With The Integration Of Clearing Organizations With Japan Securities Clearing Corporation (Draft)
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Frontier Markets
The growth continent: why investors are flocking to Africa
William Mitting
Africa is the last true growth market in the world and is bursting with potential. However, there have been many false dawns since the continent threw off the shackles of colonialism in the mid 20th Century and it remains the least developed habitable continent on earth.
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Malawi Stock Exchange Weekly Trading Report
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Miscellaneous
‘Frustrated’ Madoff Now Second Guessing His Guilty Plea
CNBC
Bernie Madoff says he is frustrated. Writing to CNBC from the federal prison where he is serving a life sentence for his epic fraud, Madoff said he is not getting credit for what he calls his “instrumental” role in returning money to his victims.
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