Linkfest: Pensions chop hedge funds; Russia sanctions mostly show, not dough; Fed behind curve on financial sector risk, wages?

Categories: Linkfest

Today’s most shared:

  • Public pension funds pull back on hedge fund experiments after meager returns.
  • Europe weighs ‘far-reaching’ sanctions on Russia. But cutting back on purchases of Russian gas and commodities does not appear to be one of them. Despite discomfort with instability and brutal realpolitik, a wrist-slap is all Europe can afford, not to mention widespread acceptance of Ukraine remaining in Russia’s sphere of influence.
  • Fed too complacent on financial risk, wage rises? Some see signs of labor market tightening.
  • International accounting standards move banks from incurred-loss model to expected-loss model, no change yet in USA.
  • Ultra-secretive HFT shop makes mint on CME. Don’t tell anyone!
  • Who was calling the shots behind penny stock CYNK?
  • Summer lull in Washington and on Wall Street.

Calpers pulls back from hedge funds
Wall Street Journal
The largest public pension fund in the U.S. is expected to cut its hedge-fund investments this year by 40%. Other public pensions also are cutting or reconsidering investments in hedge funds.
shared by NYT Dealbook, Business Insider, @ritholtz, @ReformedBroker
 
EU to weigh far-reaching sanctions on Russia
Financial Times
EU diplomats will weigh sweeping Russian sanctions on Thursday that include a proposal to ban all Europeans from purchasing any new debt or stock issued by Russia’s largest banks, according to a proposal seen by the Financial Times.
shared by @YanniKouts, @FGoria, @OpenEurope, @humenm
 
Stalled recovery leaves Europe defenceless against economic shock from Russia
The Telegraph
Stagnation is automatically causing debt ratios to spiral upwards yet again across a large part of the currency bloc.
shared by @DougKass, @edwardnh, @Convertbond, @mhewson_CMC
 
The Fed in Denial by Simon Johnson
Project Syndicate
Senior US Federal Reserve officials seem to have slipped back into their pre-2008 ways, ignoring concerns about dangerous financial-sector behavior. That is not only unfortunate; it is also dangerous.
shared by @anatadmati, Naked Capitalism, @edwardnh, @nasiripour, @pdacosta
 
Economists worry rising wages may catch the Fed off guard
Reuters
Wages may be growing at a faster clip than envisaged by U.S. policymakers, with a recent raft of business surveys showing an increase in the number of companies raising compensation.
shared by @Fullcarry, reddit/Economics, @D_Blanchflower
 
Searching for Cynk: The $6 Billion Penny-Stock Debacle, From Belize to Las Vegas
Bloomberg Businessweek
Cynk had no assets and no revenue. But it got a $6 billion valuation. Then it blew up.
shared by @pkedrosky, @StockJockey, @kevinroose, @JacobWolinsky
 
Accounting standards change forces banks to alter view of losses
Financial Times
Tough new rules are set to push banks to take a hit on their balance sheets for losses they expect to make in the future in the culmination of a five-year project to make company accounts paint a more accurate picture.
shared by @volatilitysmile, @FGoria, @Ian_Fraser, @Kiffmeister
 
Don’t Tell Anybody About This Story on HFT Power Jump Trading
Bloomberg
Far from Wall Street in a Chicago neighborhood once synonymous with urban blight, two futures industry veterans are using secrecy and speed to mint fortunes.
shared by @JacobWolinsky, @ReformedBroker, @JoeSaluzzi, @ThemisSal, Reformed Broker
 
S&P faces securities fraud charges over mortgage ratings
Financial Times
Standard & Poor’s may face securities fraud charges for ratings given to six commercial mortgage-backed securities issued in 2011, the credit rating company said.
shared by @YanniKouts, @volatilitysmile, @FGoria, @munilass
 
Big Lull Has Overtaken Washington, Wall Street
New York
Despite chaos abroad, an end-of-summer malaise has settled in early this year and there’s no end in sight.
shared by @tylercowen, @moorehn, @ezraklein
 

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