Finra goes after algorithmic trading trickery

Today's <i>Breakfast with Benjamin</i> menu: Finra targets trading trickery. Plus: Credit Suisse pleads guilty to tax evasion, dealing with the Fed's giant balance sheet, Treasuries vs. gold and 10 great baseball movies to see this summer.

MAY 19, 2014

By Jeff Benjamin

Finra is investigating 170 instances in which brokerages may have used mathematical algorithms to engage in abusive trades. Examples include rapidly placing and then canceling trades to create the illusion of market demand. Waves of equity trades
Credit Suisse Group AG pleads guilty to U.S. tax evasion and agrees to pay a $2.6 billion penalty. Shares of Switzerland's second-largest bank rose on the news that the three-year investigation is over. Client data could be the next target for U.S. authorities
A plot twist in how the Fed might be dealing with its oversized $2.6 trillion balance sheet. The stockpile is so large it is going to interfere with the Fed's conventional process for setting short-term interest rates. Institutionalizing what was supposed to be an aberration
Are U.S. Treasuries better than gold? Vanguard thinks so. Gold is more volatile than stocks, doesn't protect against inflation
Ten great baseball movies, just in case there's some rain on your Memorial Day weekend plans. Bull Durham, my personal favorite