From junk bonds to emerging-market stocks, market turnover is through the roof, reaching multi-year highs. Within the S&P 500 Index, investors traded more than $2.9 trillion worth of shares in each of the past two quarters, a feat last achieved in early 2008. (Bloomberg Quint | Jul 5)

It had the trappings of stock market trading - yet was closer to a punt at a bookie. Traded by risk-hungry speculators, binaries brought riches to the few and hefty losses to the many. They inhabited that tantalising grey area between financial investment and gambling, luring us in with promises of mega returns and pictures of people on Twitter with Lamborghinis. Instead, most were left red-faced with empty pockets. (Financial Times | Jul 5)

Rising money-market rates have forced Federal Reserve officials to take unprecedented steps to maintain control over their key policy benchmark -- and the job is about to get harder. With the Treasury continuing to ramp up bill issuance and the central bank's balance sheet unwind accelerating, the front-end is poised to take center stage in the second half of the year. (Bloomberg Economics | Jul 3)

As the Bank for International Settlements has repeatedly warned, there is a record level of indebtedness  in the global economy. There is now  $63 trillion  of sovereign debt outstanding, with total debt at  $237 trillion , a full $70 trillion above pre-Lehman levels. There are only 11 sovereigns and only  two U.S. firms  left with a AAA rating, and there is a continuing decline in the average credit quality of outstanding loans and bonds. (Bloomberg Opinion | Jul 3)

Banks had option to freeze their payouts at recent levels, get a 'conditional non-objection' grade and avoid failing. (The Wall Street Journal | Jul 2)