Free Republic

The world's top commodity trading houses are being told by brokers and exchanges to deposit hundreds of millions of dollars in extra funds to cover their exposure to soaring gas prices, seven sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Glencore, Gunvor, Trafigura and Vitol are among the commodity merchants facing what are known as margin calls on their financial positions in natural gas markets, the sources said. The calls are forcing the traders to tie up more capital. Some, particularly smaller firms, are having to increase borrowing, leaving them with less cash to trade with and potentially hurting...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Quitting government service under fire for the second time, John M. Poindexter says he hopes Congress will save the less controversial parts of his much-criticized research project designed to predict terrorist attacks. The more controversial elements Poindexter's project - developing a futures market on Mideast developments and scanning public and private databases loaded with personal information about innocent Americans - drew a hail of criticism from privacy advocates and politicians in both parties. Poindexter said the project had been misrepresented and misunderstood. "I regret that we have not been able to ... reassure the public that we...

The financial world is watching for further contentiousness between United States and Chinese negotiators, as oil traders fear a potential global economic slowdown. Meanwhile, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is trying to push oil prices higher. There was a time when OPEC would have been able to do that. However, the oil markets are facing several supply disruptions and yet the price is dropping. As OPEC prepares to meet at the end of this month and hopes to prop up the price of oil, we can thank U.S. oil production for the lower prices. Because of the 12.4...

Tiny gap between private trade confirmations and public data feed can be exploited to detect market moves, critics say Five years ago, the world’s largest exchange operator vowed to fix a flaw in its systems that allowed high-speed traders to infer the direction of the futures market a fraction of a second before everyone else. Now, the defect is back at CME Group Inc.,traders say. And some allege it is yielding rich profits for ultrafast firms at the expense of ordinary investors. The problem arises from the two ways that CME distributes information about a trade. One is the private...

The election of Donald Trump proved beyond any doubt that the globalist Free Trader faction that dominates the upper echelons of the Republican Party, "Conservative" talk radio and Fox represents just a minuscule fraction of the Republican Party rank and file. The Republican party has a new ally in the the so called "Reagan Democrat". Without them Trump's would have never won on Tuesday and I am grateful for them. There is still a long term problem for the Republican Party however. The Republican Party, historically the protectionist party, could lose that legion of "Rust Belt" voters if they hang...

Having lived with the damaging results over the past decades, it should be no surprise that many Americans are against these corrupt special interest trade policies.

No country or civilization has ever risen to such wealth and power to have receded so quickly to stagnation, dependency and indebtedness. The reason is twofold: our disastrous “free trade” agreements and our membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO). “Free trade” sounds nice, but it is an extremely misleading policy. In actuality the practice has wrought havoc on the American economy. It appears as though our leaders are either apathetic or clueless when it comes to the United States’ involvement with free trade agreements (FTAs). In fact, “free trade” lines the pockets and ambitions of CEOs and politicians while...

Just in time for Warren Buffett’s release of his 2014 annual letter to shareholders this coming Saturday, Oracle-watchers last week were privy to another iteration of the “Buffett Rule.” No, not the one where he wants Americans who are trying to build a nice nest egg one paycheck at a time to pay far more in taxes than he does on his accumulated billions, but a broader interpretation of his quiet hypocrisy — that is, “Do what I say, not as I do.” In this case, the issue for Buffett and his Berkshire Hathaway came as the company was caught...

Traders confused: is the job market improving, or not? Markets were volatile again today, this time on signs that the jobs market may not be as strong as some hoped. A report on private sector employment by ADP was weaker than expected, as was an employment gauge released as part of a survey of purchasing managers in the services industry. That is causing some to consider lowering their estimates for Friday's critical May jobs report. This is confusing, because Fed officials have been talking about tapering their purchases of bonds as the job market improves. So which is it? To...

ART CASHIN: Veteran Traders Have Noticed A Peculiar Pattern During The Final Hours Of Trading Sam RoJan. 7, 2013, 11:11 AM Stocks have started 2013 on a positive note, closing at a five-year high on Friday. So, are people feeling bullish? Art Cashin, UBS Financial Services Director of Floor Operations, is a tad skeptical. He points to some imbalances during end-of-day trading in this morning's "Cashin's Comments": Some On-Close Support For the “New Money” Thesis – As we have noted repeatedly during this New Year’s rally, several of us old fogeys believe most of the fuel for the move...

Intrade, the futures trading website, will no longer be available to residents of the United States as a result of “legal and regulatory pressures,” the Dublin, Ireland-based site announced Monday. The website allows people to buy and sell shares in possible outcomes. For example, before Election Day, users could buy shares that President Barack Obama would be re-elected. Those who did were paid out for those shares when Obama defeated Mitt Romney. Users who held shares in Romney becoming president lost money on those shares. “We are sorry to announce that due to legal and regulatory pressures, Intrade can no...

For weeks the headlines have screamed that U.S. gasoline prices have hit an all-time-record high for this time of year. Other media outlets continue to speculate on the impact of the EU's proposed ban on Iranian oil, which would keep refiners based on the Continent from using it. Some question whether this new record winter price for oil will derail what looks like a reasonably strong economic recovery. And speculation on how higher gasoline prices will affect new car sales seems popular. Welcome to 2012 and our longest-running national melodrama: Oil. Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/02/27/3765797/oil-the-never-ending-story.html#storylink=cpy

Some wiseacres in the Chicago Mercantile Exchange gave anti-Wall protesters another reason to keep protesting this morning. A demonstrator at Occupy Chicago, the offshoot of Occupy Wall Street, took this photo outside the Chicago Board of Trade Building, epicenter of the American commodities market.

"More than a dozen traders have quit Goldman Sachs... North American government bonds and derivatives trading desk in New York in recent months as the bank takes fewer risks and big bonuses for ambitious traders dry up," Lauren Tara LaCapra reports at Reuters. Apparently while salespeople have been rewarded with better compensation -- as well as promotions -- traders have largely been ignored as Goldman moves to focus on client trading. "[T]raders who left Goldman's rates desk complained they were hamstrung by aggressive risk managers who limited position sizes and second-guessed trades," Reuters reported. "They also said they were being...

Full Title: "Did China or Jihadists try to bankrupt America? Pentagon report reveals financial terrorists may have triggered economic crash" Terrorists and other 'financial enemies' were likely responsible for the near collapse of the U.S. financial system in 2008, a new Pentagon report has concluded. The 2009 report, Economic Warfare: Risks and Responses, said financial terrorism by Jihadists or countries such as China may have cost the global economy $50 trillion in a series of co-ordinated strikes against the U.S. economy. In an astonishing conclusion, the report claims two unidentified traders deliberately devalued trillions of dollars' worth of stocks at...

Do hedge funds have an impact on energy trading? While the answer might seem intuitive, the debate as to whether they actually do has come to resemble the medieval theological dispute about how many angels can dance on the head of the pin. Because, like angels, many trades in energy futures are invisible, and it is often not possible to pinpoint where they take place. And yet, for most of us, including lawmakers on Capitol Hill, it seems obvious that when hedge funds buy and sell billions of dollars worth of oil and gas futures, it must be having an...

Meredith Whitney Just Pulled Out The Hatchet On Goldman Sachs Joe Weisenthal Jan. 5, 2010, 12:38 PM Traders are buzzing over a fresh call from Meredith Whitney on Goldman Sachs (GS). Though the stock is in the black, the company fell about a buck right off the news. Specifically, she lowered her Q4 EPS estimate to $5.5 from $6.00 vs consensus of $5.41. And she lowered 2010 to $19.20 from $19.65 vs consensus of $18.25. So interestingly, she's still above consensus but obviously, she still has the power to move markets.

Tony Greenwich, Connecticut isn’t immune to the fear and loathing that has been seen at townhall meetings across the country during the Congressional recess this summer. Wall Street traders and their wives showed up fully charged to debate health care reform last night... It was a bit of a mob scene. At one point Congressman Jim Himes, who represent Greenwich in Congress, went out to speak to the fifty or so people locked out of the meeting because of space restrictions. He was escorted by 8 armed police officers. The Congressman was “rattled” by questions ... At one point the...

<p>When everyone is thinking the same thing, it never happens, and what everyone is thinking right now is that when August is over, and we get down to business, this market's going to be in for some hurt.</p> <p>Folks have been saying it all summer, as bulls make mincemeat of bears without mercy. And now traders are starting to place their bets on the wheels coming off soon.</p>

Nearly everyone on Wall Street is wondering how hedge funds and large banks like Goldman Sachs are making so much money so soon after the financial system nearly collapsed. High-frequency trading is one answer. High-frequency traders often confound other investors by issuing and then canceling orders almost simultaneously. Loopholes in market rules give high-speed investors an early glance at how others are trading. And their computers can essentially bully slower investors into giving up profits — and then disappear before anyone even knows they were there... It was July 15, and Intel, the computer chip giant, had reporting robust earnings...