Comment and analysis in the FT on Wednesday,
Editorial: Calibrating cojones
A study has linked trading and testosterone but what may catch people’s attention is the speculation that markets might be more stable if more traders were women
Martin Wolf on financial regulation
More regulation is on its way. After frightening politicians and policymakers so badly, even the most optimistic banker must realise this. The question is whether the additional regulation will do any good.
Short View on oil prices: ‘There will be blood’
Crude oil prices took another staggering leap upwards on Tuesday, to the hitherto unimaginable level of $113.93 per barrel, notes John Authers. Such prices, if sustained, can only have severe economic effects.
Insight: The problem with the Fed’s strategy
The Fed, in belated recognition that investment banks, hedge funds and other non-deposit-taking financial institutions are as vital as banks to both the financial and “real” economies, is — rightly – lending them massive amounts of capital through new facilities. The problem, says David Roche, president of Independent Strategy, is that it’s doing so without oversight or supervision of the borrowers.
News analysis: Derivatives crossroads in Vienna
A casual observer might deduce that Wednesday’s gathering of derivatives experts in Vienna for the annual meeting of the International Securities and Derivatives Association is a technical event, write Gillian Tett and Paul J Davies. In reality, the meeting marks a critical juncture for the derivatives world.
View of the day: Credit contraction and a decade of worry
The effects of the financial crisis will be felt in credit markets for a decade, according to a wide-ranging study from JPMorgan. Jan Loeys, the study’s co-author, says this will affect the size and make-up of the structured debt market, the willingness of investors to hold anything linked to mortgages and will increase the premium paid for term, liquidity and credit risks for at least a decade.