Week InReview
Markets are Worried
Friday | Oct 12, 2018
Everything that goes wrong when stocks and bonds fall together
Inverse correlation of U.S. bonds, equities has evaporated; inflation fears make stocks more sensitive to yield. The biggest post-crisis shift in the investment landscape may be looming, threatening more pain for investors besieged by an uptick in real interest rates and cross-asset volatility. (Bloomberg Markets | Oct 10)

A decade after Lehman, investors hunt clues for next crisis
Global debt has ballooned to a record $182 trillion; China, emerging markets and corporate debt among concerns. "It's something that happens every five to seven years" is how JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon once defined a financial crisis to his daughter. Queen Elizabeth II asked "why did nobody notice" the seeds of the last one. Stung by their failure to spot the turmoil of 10 years ago and two decades since Asian markets were roiled, policymakers traders, and economists are looking at the clock as they wonder when and where the next meltdown will hit. (Bloomberg Economics | Oct 10) 

Global financial stability risks rising with trade tensions, IMF says
Risks to the global financial system have risen over the past six months and could increase sharply if pressures in emerging markets escalate or global trade relations deteriorate further, according to the International Monetary Fund, whose autumn meetings with the World Bank got under way on the Indonesian resort island of Bali this week. The IMF also noted that while the banking system has been shored up by regulators in the decade since the 2008 global financial crisis, easy financial conditions are contributing to a buildup of vulnerabilities such as high debt levels and "stretched" asset valuations. (Reuters | Oct 10)
SEC's new strategic plan
Puts investors, innovation and performance at top
(Oct 11) -- The Securities and Exchange Commission released a new strategic plan for fiscal years 2018 through 2022 which they say will bring clarity to the standards of conduct governing investment professionals, modernize investor disclosures, and review outdated rules, as well as examine regulated firms' cyber and other system and infrastructure risks. The securities regulator's three-pronged plan sets out goals the agency plans to implement concerning investors, innovation and performance.
The Cyber Cafe
Cybersecurity news every Friday
The SEC dusts off a never-used cyber enforcement tool
Five years ago, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted a rule requiring investment firms to pay attention to identity theft. It never enforced it - until late last month.

U.S. government side with Apple and Amazon, effectively denying Bloomberg 'spy chip' report
The Department of Homeland Security said it has "no reason to doubt" statements by Apple, Amazon and Supermicro, which disputed claims that China had installed small chips on Supermicro motherboards powering Apple's and Amazon's servers, allowing the foreign nation to spy on leading global businesses. The three companies denied a Bloomberg report that their servers were tapped.

State securities regulators press for cybersecurity rule
The North American Securities Administrators Association last week released for public comment a proposed cybersecurity rule, which would require advisers to adopt policies and procedures to safeguard information physically and online and to inform clients about their privacy policies annually.  
Binge reading disorder
Hand-curated, chosen with love
10 years later: How the housing market has changed since the crash
Now that a decade has passed, industry insiders look back at where we were, what we learned and where we go from here to ensure that the trauma of the housing boom-and-bust and the Great Recession are not repeated.

The stock-market meltdown everyone saw coming: Barry Ritholtz
Now seems like the right time to offer an after-the-fact explanation in great detail and with complete and utter certainty of what just occurred in the markets, and why. We would have shared this explanation before the market dropped, had we been so inclined, but that would have spoiled the fun.

Not filthy rich enough: the billionaires too poor for 2018's Forbes 400
A billion dollars isn't what it used to be. This year, a record 204 billionaires weren't wealthy enough to crack the exclusive Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans. The cutoff to make the list was higher than ever: $2.1 billion, up $100 million from last year.
- Forbes