1/27/2014 CEO OF BITCOIN EXCHANGE ARRESTED
http://www.businessinsider.com/report-ceo-of-major-bitcoin-exchange-arrested-2014-1
Charlie Shrem / BitInstant should have realized that
operating an unlicensed money transfer control business without proper
government reporting is illegal in the US. Otherwise it facilitates money
laundering. So was that the intent? We hope not. BitCoins are legitimate.
Illegally operating a money transfer business is not. Think of PayPal, Western
Union, MoneyGram - they are all registered money transfer control businesses
with proper licenses and reporting.
1/7/2014 Modulus Now Hiring!
Now hiring sales professionals and software engineers! Are you talented, goal
oriented, personable and a great communicator? Email your resume to
jobs@modulusfe.com
We're seeking sales professionals and developers to work in Scottsdale, Arizona.
We also recently brought on one of the nation's top IP law firms as a member of
Modulus.
This year is going to be exciting at Modulus, so consider joining our team!
4/9/2013 Quantum Networks Could be The Ultimate Force in High Frequency
Trading
The theory that entangled particles, once separated, are still capable of
communicating instantly is a phenomenon even Albert Einstein seemed unsettled
by, famously calling it "spooky." Decades after the great scientist's death,
however, researchers are ready to put it into action at a distance that's never
been seen before - 250 miles.
As explained in a proposal published by the Institute of Physics and the New
Physics Journal, researchers explain how, with only a few small changes to the
International Space Station (ISS), they would be able to test the theory of
quantum entanglement over a distance nearly three times that done so far.
http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/1289/20130409/quantum-network-experiment-change-way-communicate.htm
8/29/2012 Chinese-born American sentenced to 4 years in prison for
stealing trade secrets from Motorola
A federal judge sentenced a Chinese-born American Wednesday to four years in
prison for stealing millions of dollars in trade secrets from Motorola,
describing her as a soft-spoken, unassuming woman who carried out a “very
purposeful raid” on the company in the dead of night.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/chinese-born-american-convicted-of-stealing-trade-secrets-is-scheduled-for-sentencing/2012/08/29/8550f03a-f1de-11e1-b74c-84ed55e0300b_story.html
8/8/2012 What may have happened at Knight Capital - by Modulus
In early July, the NYSE Euronext received SEC approval to launch their Retail Liquidity Program (RLP) on August 1st, which is a trade execution alternative that allows retail traders access to better pricing on equity trades.
Upon hearing the news, market makers rushed to implement RLP into their software given just one month's time for software development and testing.
At Knight, programmers likely worked around the clock to get RLP implemented by August 1st.
It is our best guess that the Knight RLP update was deployed without proper testing and there was no automated off switch.
We think there may have been a conflict of interest.
To help prevent these situations, a CIO should ensure that everyone communicates and coordinates with others and follows protocols and standards.
The CIO should agree with management that if anything goes wrong, if sufficient testing hasn't been completed by the launch date, then the launch must be postponed.
The problem is that sometimes, the CIO is dealt with an "offer that he can't refuse".
3/2/2012 Artificial Intelligence in the Stock Market
ART CASHIN: "We May Have Just Witnessed The Presence Of Artificial
Intelligence In The Stock Market"
Wednesday morning, there was a violent sell-off in stocks that seemed to
start exactly at 10:00 AM. This had some New York Stock Exchange floor traders
scratching their heads.
Art Cashin, UBS Financial Services' director of floor operations, caught some of
the trader chatter and reported it in this morning's Cashin's Comments.
http://www.businessinsider.com/art-cashin-artificial-intelligence-stock-market-2012-3#ixzz1nzNlSlLK
3/1/2012 Modulus Updates
We've added 20 new technical indicators to all versions of StockChartX (COM,
WPF, Silverlight, etc.), released a new FIX engine, added a Wiki site for
TradeScript plus much more.
http://www.modulusfe.com
9/15/2011 UBS rogue trader loses $2 billion
Switzerland's UBS said on Thursday it had discovered unauthorized trading by
a trader in its investment bank had caused a loss of some $2 billion.
"The matter is still being investigated, but UBS's current estimate of the loss
on the trades is in the range of $2 billion," the bank said in a brief statement
just before the stock market opened.
"It is possible that this could lead UBS to report a loss for the third quarter
of 2011. No client positions were affected."
UBS shares immediately tumbled 8 percent at the open and were trading down 5.8
percent at 10.30 francs at 0714 GMT (3:14 a.m. ET), compared with a flat
European banking sector index.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/15/us-ubs-idUSTRE78E15I20110915
4/25/2011 E*Trade Unveils Secondary Offering Of 27.5M Shares By Citadel
E*Trade Financial Corp. (ETFC) said 27.5 million shares of its shares will be
sold by one of its holders in a secondary offering.
The online broker didn't say at what price the stock would sell. It said Citadel
LLC would sell the shares.
In after-hours trading, E*Trade shares fell 2.8% to $16.33. As of the close of
trading Monday, the stock had fallen 12% in the past year, though it had climbed
5% this year.
The company has about 221.2 million shares outstanding. E*Trade said it wouldn't
receive proceeds from the secondary offering.
Last week, E*Trade said it swung to a first-quarter profit as it set aside less
money to cover losses from bad loans, posted higher trading volume and recorded
its highest quarter yet for accumulating new brokerage assets.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110425-709781.html
2/07/2011 Nasdaq Confirms a Breach in Network
The company that owns the Nasdaq Stock Market confirmed over the weekend that its computer network had been broken into, specifically a service that lets leaders of companies, including board members, securely share confidential documents.
The fact that the Web-based service, called Directors Desk, was penetrated could lend credence to one theory that law-enforcement authorities investigating the matter are considering, namely that hackers may be aiming to extract nonpublic inside information that could be used illegally to gain a trading edge.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703989504576128632568802332.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
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
3/9/2010 Lindsay Lohan sues E-Trade for $100 M
Actress Lindsay
Lohan has filed a lawsuit against E*Trade for
$100 million, according to
Reuters. In
papers filed in Monday in Nassau County, New
York, the Mean Girls star claims that
one of the online brokerage’s recent TV ads
featuring a ditzy, “milkaholic” baby girl named
Lindsay is modeled after her and improperly
invoked her “likeness, name, characterization,
and personality” without permission, violating
her right to privacy. Lohan is suing for $50
million in compensatory damages and an
additional $50 million in exemplary damages. She
also demanded that E*Trade stop running the ad.
Calls for comment to lawyers on both sides have
not been returned. The ad, which aired during
the Super Bowl on Feb. 7, is part of a campaign
featuring smart-aleck toddlers who play the
market. In 2007, Lohan was ordered to spend a
day in jail, undergo an alcohol education
program, and spend three years on probation
after admitting to drunk driving and cocaine
possession. Still, the ad—and the lawsuit—has
already gotten people talking. In the fourth
hour of Today
this morning, Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb
addressed the controversy. (Read Mandi Bierly’s
take on the hour
here.)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19946367?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum&ordinalpos=5
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
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
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
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=
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 £90,000 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
This is ridiculous.
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
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.
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
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