7/26/2010 Citi confirms critical bug in iPhone mobile banking app

Citigroup has urged customers conducting mobile banking from their iPhones to immediately upgrade because a security flaw in the older app secreted account information on the smartphone. A prominent iPhone security researcher said it would be trivial for someone to access the hidden file if they obtained a lost or stolen phone. In a letter to customers, the U.S. banking giant said its Citi Mobile app saved banking information -- possibly including account numbers, bill payments and access codes -- in a hidden file on the iPhone. The same concealed information may have also been saved to the Mac or Windows PC used to sync customers' iPhones via iTunes, Citi acknowledged. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the bug. Citi later confirmed that it had alerted mobile banking customers and upgraded the software on the App Store.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9179690/Citi_confirms_critical_bug_in_iPhone_mobile_banking_app

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3/9/2010 Lindsay Lohan sues E-Trade for $100 M

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19946367?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum&ordinalpos=5
 

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3/9/2010 Freeware "Snippet Manager" productivity software for developers

Software, web & database developers are welcomed to download our free "code snippet" productivity software at http://www.snippetmanager.net 

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1/4/2010 Can the ratio of your finger length determine your success in trading?

PubMed.gov article:

Traders in the financial world are assessed by the amount of money they make and, increasingly, by the amount of money they make per unit of risk taken, a measure known as the Sharpe Ratio. Little is known about the average Sharpe Ratio among traders, but the Efficient Market Hypothesis suggests that traders, like asset managers, should not outperform the broad market. Here we report the findings of a study conducted in the City of London which shows that a population of experienced traders attain Sharpe Ratios significantly higher than the broad market. To explain this anomaly we examine a surrogate marker of prenatal androgen exposure, the second-to-fourth finger length ratio (2D:4D), which has previously been identified as predicting a trader's long term profitability. We find that it predicts the amount of risk taken by traders but not their Sharpe Ratios. We do, however, find that the traders' Sharpe Ratios increase markedly with the number of years they have traded, a result suggesting that learning plays a role in increasing the returns of traders. Our findings present anomalous data for the Efficient Markets Hypothesis.
 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19946367?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum&ordinalpos=5
 

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11/13/2009 U.S. Charges Madoff Software Programmers

November 13th, 2009 NEW YORK -- Federal prosecutors in Manhattan brought criminal charges Friday against two men for allegedly being the technological brains behind Bernard Madoff's multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, and suggested charges against others could follow.

The case against two former computer programmers, Jerome O'Hara and George Perez, may help fill in key blanks in the timeline of how Mr. Madoff, who pleaded guilty to fraud earlier this year, masterminded a scheme that has cost thousands of investors more than $20 billion. The complaint hints at other unnamed "co-conspirators" at the Madoff firm who are now being targeted by prosecutors.
 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703683804574533483600301134.html?mod=rss_Today's_Most_Popular
 

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8/3/2009 SEC plans to ban flash orders

August 3rd, 2009 NEW YORK (AP) -- The Securities and Exchange Commission is moving toward banning a trading practice that gives some brokerages a split-second advantage in buying or selling stocks.

Flash orders give certain members of exchanges including Nasdaq, Direct Edge and BATS the ability to buy and sell order information for milliseconds before that information is made public. High-speed computer software can take advantage of that brief period to allow those members to get better prices and profits.

"I have asked the staff for an approach that can be quickly implemented to eliminate the inequity that results from flash orders," Schapiro said. Any proposal to eliminate the orders would still have to be approved by the entire commission and be open to public comment before being implemented.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/SEC-moving-toward-banning-apf-1986666746.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=4&asset=&ccode=
 

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7/27/2009 Beta Testers Needed

We are seeking software beta testers with active accounts at either MB Trading, TD Ameritrade, Interactive Brokers, Genesis Securities, or any broker that uses Trading Technologies or Pat Systems. You must be a software developer in order to participate in this test. Please contact support@modulusfe.com for details.

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5/21/2009 Peregrine Financial Group (PFG) acquires most of Alaron Trading Corp.

May 21, 2009 Peregrine Financial Group Inc. said Thursday it has purchased most operations of Alaron Trading Corp. in a union of two Chicago-based futures dealers.

The acquisition will help Peregrine extend its reach into managed futures accounts, which are similar to mutual funds except that they specialize in financial derivatives. Both Peregrine and Alaron have been leaders in marketing futures to individual traders, rather than investment firms.

The deal comes as many brokers have seen income decline with trading levels as the recession and credit problems force customers to scale back risky trading.
http://www.suntimes.com/business/1585388,peregrine-alaron-acquisition-052109.article

What Modulus has to say:
We had inside info about this several months ago. The terms of the deal weren't disclosed to the public however.

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5/4/2009 U.S. Stocks Advance as S&P 500 Index Erases Decline for Year

May 4 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks rose, erasing the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index’s 2009 loss, after home sales beat estimates and manufacturing in China increased for the first time in nine months, boosting confidence the global recession is easing.

Financial stocks rallied after a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategist boosted his rating on the industry, while Wells Fargo & Co. added 24 percent as Warren Buffett called it a “fabulous” bank. Alcoa Inc. and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. gained more than 6.9 percent as metal prices climbed. Lennar Corp. surged 9.3 percent, helping lift an S&P measure of 13 homebuilders by 9.2 percent.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a7iQ8yVvQjKA&refer=home

What Modulus has to say:
The S&P has soared 34.1 percent in the 39 trading days since the latest rally began. This is the greatest gain over that many days since 1933. The Dow is up 28.7 percent.

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4/21/2009 China Lures Derivatives Bankers After Futures Trading Rises 76%

April 21 (Bloomberg) -- China is attracting derivatives bankers, who lost money in the U.S. last year for the first time, after trading in its futures markets expanded 76 percent.

"We very much see China as a future market, as many others do," said Peter Weibel, Singapore-based chief executive officer for Asia at TriOptima, which helps banks cancel over-the-counter trades on derivatives. "The derivatives market there is at an early stage. We want to be there from the start."
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=a1BJVVdRpgZI&refer=asia

What Modulus has to say:
This report states that the value of the Chinese futures markets increased by 76% while the market increased 87% in volume at 682 million contracts. That is amazing however China has grown its futures markets while keeping most foreigners out. Their futures markets are all but closed to foreign traders.

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4/15/2009 CFTC Charges Jones, Lowe, & WeCorp., Inc. Of Hawaii With Operating $1.5 Million Ponzi Scheme

WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced today that it charged Stuart W. Jones, Payton Lowe, and WeCorp, Inc. (WeCorp), all of Hilo and Honolulu, Hawaii, with soliciting approximately $1.5 million from more than 20 people to trade off-exchange foreign currency (forex) contracts, but instead used the money to lease a lavish Honolulu home, luxurious cars, and other purchases.
http://www.cattlenetwork.com/Content.asp?ContentID=307100

What Modulus has to say:

Sadly, there are many forex scams out there and they seem to be increasing in numbers.
About.com has a list of warning signs that may help identify fraudsters:

http://forextrading.about.com/od/findingabroker/a/warningsigns_ro.htm

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4/13/2009 Nasdaq Boosts U.S. Stock Trading Fees as Much as 15%

April 13 (Bloomberg) -- Nasdaq OMX Group Inc., the all- electronic stock exchange that handles the most shares in the U.S., will pay its largest customers bigger rebates and increase trading fees for other customers after a pricing plan introduced two weeks ago failed to stem a drop in market share.

The new fees will apply to transactions that occurred after March 31, Nasdaq said in a notice to brokers today that was posted on its Web site. Nasdaq will also raise the rebate it pays to some of its biggest clients to as much as 29.5 cents per 100 shares, up from 28 cents a share.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a9cJjjhv0FJ0&refer=home

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4/9/2009 TD Bank Financial Group Partners With IBM on Breakthrough Supercomputing System

(NYSE: IBM) IBM unveiled a revolutionary prototype of the world's fastest automated options trading system. During the project, scientists at IBM Research collaborated with TD Securities to achieve a 21 times performance improvement on the volume of data consumed by financial trading systems.

Financial services firms must rapidly, capture, process and find value in massive volumes of data in order to maximize client returns and minimize risk. Traditional business intelligence approaches -- which rely on capturing, organizing and then querying a fixed snapshot of data -- can no longer keep pace.
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/23793.wss

What Modulus has to say:

We offer similar machines that costs just under $10,000 using off-the-shelf parts. The technology we use is not supplied by IBM. Email sales@modulusfe.com for info about our supercomputer automated trading systems.

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4/8/2009 Artificial Intelligence To Tackle Rogue Traders

ScienceDaily (Apr. 8, 2009) — As the Credit Crunch continues to affect the worldwide markets the need for efficient methods to combat financial fraud has become more important than ever. Now researchers at the University of Sunderland are working on a smart computer that they believe will be able to detect insider trading fraud within the stock exchange almost instantly.

CASSANDRA (Computerised Analysis of Stocks and Shares for Novelty Detection of Radical Activities) aims to create a prototype software tool to tackle financial fraud. The project has been awarded Ј90,000 by Northstar Funding to investigate the feasibility of combining Artificial Intelligence technologies with headline analysis techniques to track suspicious share dealing.

The Financial Times recently quoted as many as 25% of UK share dealing may be tainted by insider trading. A study commissioned by the New York Times suggested as many as 41% of North American deals may be similarly affected.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090408074359.htm

What Modulus has to say:

This is ridiculous.

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4/8/2009 SEC advances 5 options on short-selling rules

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal securities regulators are considering several ways to place restrictions on traders who bet that stock prices will fall, as investors and lawmakers clamor for brakes on moves they say worsened the market's downturn.

One option the Securities and Exchange Commission advanced Wednesday is restoring a Depression-era rule that prohibits short sellers from making their trades until a stock ticks at least one penny above its previous trading price. The goal of the so-called uptick rule is to prevent selling sprees that feed upon themselves -- actions that battered the stocks of banks and other companies over the last year.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-ap-meltdown-uptick-rule,0,7057620.story

What Modulus has to say:

Just as the SEC's Mary Shapiro stated "there is no specific empirical evidence" that the removal of the uptick rule caused the market downturn - she has no empirical evidence that it did not cause the market downturn. The most simple (and likely correct) explanation due to the timing is that the removal did at least contribute to the market downturn.

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4/7/2009 SEC is floating options to limit short sales

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal regulators are floating several options for reining in the practice of short-selling stocks, as investors, corporations and lawmakers clamor for restrictions on moves they say gutted vulnerable companies and worsened the market's downward spiral.

Members of the Securities and Exchange Commission are meeting Wednesday to vote on new rules restricting short-selling, in which traders try to profit from a stock's decline by selling borrowed shares. Several proposals are expected to be put forward for public comment.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-ap-meltdown-uptick-rule,0,7057620.story

What Modulus has to say:

Mary Schapiro: Just undo the stuff you guys did in July of 2007. Don't make things worse!

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4/6/2009 Some Revile Plan to Limit Short-Selling

WASHINGTON — Responding to the depressed financial markets, regulators for the second time in less than a week are preparing to take steps that could have the effect of temporarily shoring up stock prices. But in the process, some critics say, the measures could undermine the integrity of the markets.

On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission plans to announce several proposals to permanently restrict traders from making bets that stock prices will decline when those prices are already dropping.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/06/business/06short.html?ref=global-home

What Modulus has to say:

The SEC conducted a pilot program from May 2, 2005 to July 3, 2007 prior to removing the uptick rule on July 7, 2007. <sarcasm>They studied their data for three entire days (subtracting the 4th of July holiday). The SEC found that removing the uptick rule decreased returns by "only" 4% or 5%, therefore it wasn't very important.</sarcasm>

They "studied the trading patterns of 1,000 stocks" that were unprotected by the rule during the study.

First, to be able to "study" the "trading patterns" is like saying "the SEC knows how to predict the stock market". There's more to the formula than just buy-and-hold as the markets change at the quantum level. We're talking Chaos theory as it applies to stock movements on a millisecond level, not annual buy-and-hold returns.

What does this mean for automated trading systems that are trading millions of shares per hour, making decisions on the millisecond level using supercomputers on fiber connections, located next door to the stock exchanges? Accumulatively, IT MEANS A LOT! But the SEC didn't understand this.

Aside from automated trading systems... as it applies to the rest of us, the SEC removed the uptick rule because 4% or 5% was not statistically significant enough in their opinion. However, if your average annual ROI was 5%, then "4 or 5%" could be equivalent to all of your annual ROI if you normally buy-and-hold.

Which direction has the market been going since July of 2007? Coincidence?