Economy & Banks

Nah Rich people whose countries are much deeper in the shit than our own continue to invest in the London property market like there is no tomorrow as it is seen as a relatively safe bet. That trend will probably continue.

Perhaps though I am referring to the massive local government cuts that are biting across the uk but not yet London because of the Olympics.
Expect more potholes, dirtier streets, etc

Perhaps though I am referring to the massive local government cuts that are biting across the uk but not yet London because of the Olympics.
Expect more potholes, dirtier streets, etc

cancels aluminium frame build goes for nice compliant steel frame

knight tradings algo's went rogue yesterday selling low and buying high estimated loss of $240mn
article linked below and the comments section below are a great read
Chinese Hackers / Iranians / The worlds going to hell in a handcart / Computers close to taking over the world ( think WarGames but with finance as the WMD's rather than nuclear weapons )
fantastic stuff conspairacy theories coming out of the woodwork corruption in high places ineffective government agencies FED allowing this to happen

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/what-happens-when-hft-algo-goes-totally-berserk-and-serves-knight-capital-bill

I'm hearing chat of the pretax loss being $440m.

Lolz

Expect more potholes

Training for Paris Roubaix has never been easier!

I'm hearing chat of the pretax loss being $440m.

Lolz

All of which will be written off against future tax bills, so the public gets screwed as well.

The tax system is so fucking stupid; people get taxed on both income and expenditure, companies only get taxed on profits, which they have a myriad of ways of hiding away. Hardly seems fair.

.

i used to work for knight back in the early naughties
used to sit in amongst the market makers
they seemed to have it under control back then although they weren't making a lot of money
knioght loses $440mn in one day annual profits $3mn

where's their white knight when they need it

The US Congress was forced to bring in the Onion Futures Act in August 1958 which banned trading in onion futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Onion prices had swung wildly in 1955 from $2.75 per bag to just 15 cents little more than the price of the bag holding the onions.
US farmers had alleged traders were attempting to corner the onion market, which led to the act being passed.

Onion futures .... well I never

Nice article on people trying to corner commodity markets
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/commodities/8543069/From-Mr-Copper-to-Choc-Finger-famous-commodity-squeezes.html

stories of inexperienced traders actually having to take delivery on contracts that expire always crack me up

"hello"
"yes this is dog"
"we have 25 tonnes of onions for you, where would you like delivery?"
"..."
"oh, you must be new to this"

You would need more than just an inexperienced trader - you would need an inexperienced front office, middle office, back office, risk, finance and compliance.

there are a few companies like that around, reeking of onions

You would need more than just an inexperienced trader - you would need an inexperienced front office, middle office, back office, risk, finance and compliance.

Yet this does still happen.

It only really takes front office to make the mistake and middle office (or back office depending on the setup) to not question it for this to occur.

Risk and compliance will of course have controls in place to prevent such an obvious error but as ever, this will just be a ticked box and nothing more. Why would finance affect this? It would be too late by the time they're involved.

i think he was having fun
and not taking it toooo seriously !!

Fuck the pound!

Yet this does still happen.

It only really takes front office to make the mistake and middle office (or back office depending on the setup) to not question it for this to occur.

Risk and compliance will of course have controls in place to prevent such an obvious error but as ever, this will just be a ticked box and nothing more. Why would finance affect this? It would be too late by the time they're involved.
I'm tempted just to blame HR.

Useless bags of fucking wind.

there you go ptr
he was only poking a bit of fun !

I might question if this has ever actually happened though - I mean, the exchange knows who can / cannot take delivery, as do the brokers.

If a trader is still long at expiry, they will most likely have an agreement that the position will be closed out.

HR are still a bunch of useless fucking windbags though.

never heard of 100,00 barrels of crude arriving at some small commodities house but that doesn't mean to say it hasn't happened
i'm gonna check the WWW

HR are still a bunch of useless fucking windbags though.

Indeed.

It always worries me when some firms use HR to conduct the first round of interviews. I know it's just to check you turn up in a suit and dont end the interview by flinging shit at the walls but I honestly believe the average HR bod would struggle to differentiate between a high achiever and a mentally deficient cretin who left a trail of faeces on his walk to the office.

a mentally deficient cretin who left a trail of faeces on his walk to the office.
A spot trader?

there you go ptr
he was only poking a bit of fun !

Fun? In the economy & banks thread?

Fuck. Right. Off.

hey, if you don't laugh, you'll only end up crying

hey, if you don't laugh, you'll only end up crying

That was my uncle's philosophy on life until he found treatment for bipolar disorder.