Professional Documents
Culture Documents
• German short sales – they first hit the tape on Reuters around 12pmET on Tues and were officially
unveiled later in the trading session; they will be in place until Mar 31, 2011. The ban covers so‐called
naked short‐selling of specific European financial stocks. Germany is also prohibiting investors from
buying credit‐default swaps on sovereign debt unless they own the underlying bonds. Germany
acknowledged however that its new rules might not have much impact as much of the naked CDS
trading takes place in London, which isn’t subject to the ban. Germany's ban on speculative short‐selling
will stay in place until corresponding European rules are implemented. WSJ• Short sales – no
coordination throughout Europe ‐ It was not clear whether other euro zone governments would follow
Germany's lead• Germany's economy is recovering again after an unusually harsh winter slump, the
economics ministry said Wednesday (DJ) – Once again, consider that in this whole sovereign mess,
Germany is getting the two big things it has really wanted over the last 3‐6 years: 1) more
power/influence within the EU; 2) a weaker Euro (for its export driven economy)
• Financial regulatory reform ‐ the Levin/Merkley amendment sees some tweaks made w/goal of
achieving more support
• Primaries – Specter loses in Pennsylvania as Rep Joe Sestak stages an upset; in Kentucky, Rand Paul
(son of Ron) beat the establishment favorite Trey Grayson. In Arkansas, Sen Blanche Lincoln had a slim
lead but will now face a runoff on June 8. Politico
• ‘Major Crash’ Likely If Stocks Break May 7 Lows, Richard Russell Says (editor of the Dow Theory)
• Geopolitics – Korea – South Korea to formally blame North Korea for a torpedo attack that sank one
of SK’s warships; South Korea's foreign minister says it is "obvious" that North Korea sank a South
Korean naval ship in March. BBC
S&P 500 since charges against Goldman Sachs
I don’t think this is a coincidence as investors risk appetite wanes in the face of regulatory uncertainty.