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European Union finance ministers approved a plan Thursday for dealing with future bank bailouts, forcing bondholders and shareholders to take the hit for bank rescues ahead of taxpayers. The new framework requires bondholders, shareholders and large

From the moment Bernanke spoke, Gold and Silver began to accelerate to the downside. Gold legged lower into the NYMEX pit close and faded further in search of the $1200 round number (trading at $1199.90). Down around 12% from the FOMC (gold is now

The dirty little secret of finance is that everyone is making it up on the fly. Economics is a social science focused on human behaviors. People have a habit of behaving in ways they "shouldn't." Other scientific pursuits have tangible answers where

Global markets have fallen sharply after the Federal Reserve signalled it may begin to scale back its stimulus of the US economy later this year. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones dropped 354 points, or 2.3%, to close at 14,758, while the S&P 500 had its

Believe it or not, Chairman Ben Bernanke may not be the most dovish person at the Federal Reserve. When the Fed published its FOMC statement this Wednesday, it noted two dissenters to the decision. One of those dissenters was St. Louis Fed President

After two huge stock market sell-offs, some traders were speculating that we could see a "dead cat bounce" today. But so far, the bounce has been pretty unremarkable. After trading up 100 points at the open, the Dow has lost all of its gains. All

The person with the most influence over the global economy was—given the required soberness of his position—practically ebullient. The committee he leads “sees the economy continuing to grow at a moderate pace,” he said. “Job gains, along with the

"If you believe that means what he says," explains Gloom, Boom, and Doom's Marc Faber to a spell-bound Trish Regan on Bloomberg TV, "then you believe in Father Christmas." Simply out, Faber adds, "we are going to see QE99," and while he notes that

What do you look at to tell a market has topped? MarketWatch reporters posed that question to investment strategists, traders and technical analysts as the U.S. stock market trades at record highs and the Federal Reserve plans to rein in its massive

Europe failed to agree on how to share the cost of bank collapses on Saturday, as Germany resisted attempts by France to water down rules designed to spare taxpayers in future crises. Almost 20 hours of talks late into the night could not forge a way

If investment looks too good to be true, it is, says Ponzi scheme architect Securities regulators are grossly underequipped to police financial markets, hedge funds are a danger to the market, and criminals have been scamming investors since the

Stocks worldwide fell after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s June 19 statement on U.S. monetary policy. Emerging markets were hit especially hard. The statement, and Bernanke’s comments afterward, shouldn’t have come as a surprise -- so

EU finance ministers have failed to agree on how to rescue troubled banks in any future crisis. After almost 20 hours of talks on Saturday, ministers are still split on whether savers should bear any of the cost of a bailout. The impasse will now be

News that UK regulators are investigating alleged manipulation in FX benchmarks has hit the headlines, but can it be compared to the Libor scandal? Anybody with even a cursory knowledge of the FX markets knows that the 4pm London fix is likely to

The probe of Libor manipulation is proving to be the tip of the iceberg as inquiries into assets from derivatives to foreign exchange show that if there’s a chance to rig benchmark rates in world markets, someone is usually willing to try

As we explained earlier, this week's Fed meeting is one of the most hotly anticipated Fed meetings in a long time. The recent increase in interest rates and growing talk about the Fed "tapering" its pace of bond purchases has everyone eager to parse

President Barack Obama hinted in an interview aired on Monday that he may be looking for a new chief of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, saying current Chairman Ben Bernanke has stayed a lot longer than he had originally planned. Obama, speaking to

Beginning construction of new U.S. homes increased in May and permits to build single-family houses rose to a five-year high, extending a rebound that is helping shore up the expansion. Housing starts climbed 6.8 percent, less than forecast, to a

The cost of living in the U.S. rose less than forecast in May, restrained by the first drop in food prices in almost four years and signaling inflation remains under control. The consumer price index was up 0.1 percent after falling 0.4 percent in

Do you have a computer? Good. Now you can be a quant trader. For years, complex algorithmic trading has been a major profit generator for Wall Street banks and hedge funds. It has also been a source of employment for programming prodigies — and a