CFTC Camel Sticks Nose in ETF Tent
The alphabet soup of federal agencies involved in financial regulation is truly staggering. For ETFs the web is somewhat less tangled but still confusing. Now the Commodity Futures Trading Commission – an agency that sounds like it shouldn’t have much to do with ETFs – is flexing...
Insincere Concern – the Banning of Leveraged ETFs
Some brokerage firms are banning the sale of leveraged and inverse ETFs. They claim to be taking these steps out of concern for their clients, but the facts paint a different picture. This story has been 16 years in the making. Why all the fuss now? In June, FINRA issued a warning to brokers and...
More Leverage, Please: ProShares Goes 3x S&P 500
The appetite for risk is apparently healthy enough for ProShares that it launched its first 3x leveraged ETFs today. ProShares UltraPro S&P 500 (UPRO) and ProShares UltraPro Short S&P 500 (SPXU) will be the firm’s most aggressive products yet. UPRO and SPXU are clearly intended as a counter...
ZICAM, Banks, and the Illusion of Safety
Two days ago I remarked on the new, improved regulatory structure the Obama administration proposes for the financial services industry. On the same day, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) ordered a company called Matrixx Initiatives (MTXX) to stop selling its popular Zicam Cold Remedy. ...
New Financial Cops On The Way
On Wednesday President Obama is supposed to unveil his plan to overhaul the regulatory structure for banks and other financial institutions. Clearly such an overhaul is sorely needed. The SEC, CFTC, OCC, OTS, and assorted other agencies have been asleep for years. The question is whether the president...
Ten Banks Escape From TARP: Reason To Celebrate?
Today ten of the large banks that received money last year from Hank Paulson’s horribly-misnamed Troubled Asset Relief Program repaid the government a total of $68 billion. Combined with repayments by smaller banks and dividends paid to the Treasury, taxpayers will have recovered almost $75 billion...
Ron Paul: Why The Fed Must Be Audited
The history of the American banking system is a fascinating subject. Filled with intrigue, late-night Congressional approvals, and Presidential populism, our country’s official banks are not without scandal. Before the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, there were two other successful attempts to monopolize...
Fix Health Care, Fix The Economy
Earlier this week President Obama launched his campaign to reform the American health care system. He is not off to a good start. His White House appearance with representatives of various industry groups promised nothing more than baby steps toward cost-cutting. It won’t be enough. People...
Stress Tests Reveal: Banks Need More Money!
We at Invest With An Edge have been dubious about the Treasury’s so-called ’stress tests” on the country’s 19 largest banks. The testing is now complete and the banks have been informed of the results. The public has not – though some details are leaking out. As expected,...
How To Avoid Black Swans
Nassim Taleb, author of the eerily prescient books Fooled By Randomness and The Black Swan, has a very interesting column in the Financial Times. We have referenced Taleb before here at Invest With An Edge, and with good reason. He sees things most people miss. Black swans are the rare, almost unknown...
