Juggling Dynamite

Bart Chilton, Commodities Futures Trading Commission, explains why he’s going after a high frequency trading practice (HFT) that artificially boosts volume. Here is a direct link.

Mohamed El-Erian, Pimco CEO and co-CIO, discusses the controversial bailout plan for Cyprus which would tax bank deposits, and explains how the proposal has inflamed the situation by including small depositors.
Here is a direct link.

Also see El-Erian’s summary re Cyprus developments and potential outcomes here: What you should know about the Cyprus controversy.

Meanwhile Archbishop Chrysostomos, the island’s influential spiritual leader, has called for Cyprus to leave deposits intact, leave the eurozone and readopt its former currency, the Cyprus pound. See: Cypriot authorities in revised deal talks

JP Morgan has been touted by politicians, the Fed and egomaniac CEO Dimon himself as the best of the US banks. This gives us a sense of how low the bank standards and ethics really are. Graham Fisher’s Josh Rosner and Keefe Bruyette & Woods’ Fred Cannon discuss JPMorgan’s banking practices. Here is a direct link.