At issue is whether income from commercial properties was falsified to support larger loans - which often became part of mortgage securities. (The Wall Street Journal | Aug 15)
A slide in long-dated Treasury yields helped to flatten the yield curve, leaving the spread between the 2-year note and the 10-year note at its narrowest since 2007. A narrowing spread between yields for short-dated bonds and their long-dated peers tends to signal investors' fears over further central bank tightening or weaker growth prospects. Economists worry that a negative spread, or an inverted curve, would be a prelude to a recession, even though the timing of an economic slowdown after the bond market signal is triggered remains uncertain. (MarketWatch | Aug 15)
So-called superstar companies are becoming increasingly powerful, allowing some to widen the mark-ups they charge on products and services. As these highly profitable businesses become more dominant, workers are capturing a smaller slice of the economic pie, some
analysts say, contributing to income inequality. (Financial Times | Aug 15)
The Securities and Exchange Commission's spring 2018 regulatory agenda shows that the Division of Investment Management recommended that the Commission revisit the rules, despite a backlash when plans to impose them were first announced. (The Trade | Aug 14)
The Federal Reserve's wind down of its balance sheet has been handled without too much trouble by the mortgage sector to date - but now comes the deluge. As the Fed terminates the mortgage-backed security purchase program started a decade ago, the end to its buying should cause MBS supply from the central bank's wind down to jump about 50% in the second half of this year compared to the first six months. (ThinkAdvisor | Aug 13)
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Intel discloses 3 more possible chip flaws
U.S. chipmaker Intel Corp. disclosed three more possible flaws in some of its microprocessors that can be exploited to gain access to certain data from computer memory.
Employee training at all levels critical to cybersecurity
Email phishing scams and other attacks highlights the importance of cybersecurity training for employees at all levels. Companies should take additional steps to protect their systems, such as using two-factor authentication, hiring ethical hackers and using security software.
Ain't no way: Aretha Franklin, the undisputed Queen of Soul, 18-time Grammy winner, and the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame died on Thursday, of pancreatic cancer, at her home in Detroit.
