Whilst liquidity plays a central role in the functioning of financial markets, it is volatility that can be truly detrimental. Despite almost universal agreement among academics that HFT improves prices for investors and dampens volatility in equity markets, since the 6th of May 2010 the sector has come under intense scrutiny from regulators. On a day described as the ‘Flash Crash’, the U.S stock market experienced one of the most severe price drops in its history. In the matter of five minutes, the Dow Jones Industrial Index declined by 900 points, and then recouped the balk of those losses within the next 15 minutes. This unprecedented and unexplained volatility has fired public debate ever since. In the aftermath of the US ‘Flash Crash’, regulators were quick to pin blame on HFT. Within a week the chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission determined there was evidence that “professional liquidity providers” pulled out of the market when shares started declining exacerbating the fall. Perhaps irrationally, policymakers without any significant evidence believe HFTs pull out of markets at signs of stress, contributing to a sudden loss of liquidity and promoting volatility (Grant, 2011).Moreover, Andrew Haldane points to the ‘flash crash’ whens he determines that the ever increasing speed of trading is amplifying volatility. In my opinion, in the aftermath of the financial crisis when regulators received so much criticism, I believe they feel they must act immediately, even if they don’t know the true problem. I consider this evident from calls for increased HFT regulation from US Senator Charles Schumer, who bases his opinion on recent news reports (Zerohedge. 2010), rather than academic research or scientific re... ... middle of paper ... ...ttp://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2009/12/08/volcker-praises-the-atm-blasts-finance-execs-experts/. Last accessed 04/12/11. Jones, R. (2010). Institutional Investor: Flash Crash and CyberWar. Available: http://hftsecurityrisk.com/category/flash-crash-specific/. Last accessed 04/12/11. Pagnotta, E & Philippon, T. (2010). The Welfare Effects of Financial Innovation: High Frequency Trading in Equity Markets. Available: https://editorialexpress.com/cgi-bin/conference/download.cgi?db_name=SED2011&paper_id=1246. Last accessed 04/12/11. Mackenzie, M & Demos, T. (2011). Fears linger of new ‘flash crash’. Available: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d18f3d28-7735-11e0-aed6-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1fPJAVyJm. Last accessed 04/12/11. Geithner, T. (2007). Liquidity and Financial Markets. Available: http://www.newyorkfed.org/newsevents/speeches/2007/gei070228.html. Last accessed 05/12/11.
The attacks of 9/11 resulted in history’s longest stock market shut down since the 1930s. The New York Stock Exchange remained closed for six days after the attacks. Furthermore, Davis (2011) reports that upon reopening, the New York Stock Exchange fell almost seven hundred points, the biggest one day loss in history. Additionally, Jackson (2008) reports a 14% decline in the Dow Jones, a loss the Dow still felt almost a year later. But, it was American Airlines and United Airlines that experienced the greatest loss. Following the reopening of the stock market, American experienced a 39% decline and United experienced a 42% decline (Davis, 2011). However in face of discouraging numbers, Jackson (2008) reports that the U.S. markets rebounded second only to Japan, showing the great economic resilience of the U.S. While the stock markets present a bleak outlook immediately following the attacks, the financial loss is far from reassuring.
Not only were millions of Americans been put out of work due to these manager’s actions, the American financial markets themselves were pushed to the brink of collapse. Despite the fact that the global financial markets, in reality, are not perfectly efficient, there is a corrective mechanism built into the day-to-day trading in the market. When prices are driven down by large sells, either by large investors or a movement in a stock, there are usually new buyers for these stocks at the cheaper price. Managers of...
It is often said that perception outweighs reality and that is often the view of the stock market. News that a certain stock may be on the rise can set off a buying spree, while a tip that one may be on decline might entice people to sell. The fact that no one really knows what is going to happen one way or the other is inconsequential. John Kenneth Galbraith uses the concept of speculation as a major theme in his book The Great Crash 1929. Galbraith’s portrayal of the market before the crash focuses largely on massive speculation of overvalued stocks which were inevitably going to topple and take the wealth of the shareholders down with it. After all, the prices could not continue to go up forever. Widespread speculation was no doubt a major player in the crash, but many other factors were in play as well. While the speculation argument has some merit, the reasons for the collapse and its lasting effects had many moving parts that cannot be explained so simply.
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act’s policies haven’t really been implemented to the extent that regulators would have liked. Although the legislation takes many steps in addressing systematic risks in the United States financial system and improving coordination among regulators, some critics believe that alternative options might have been more effective. The coming years will give us a better understanding of how well the Dodd-Frank Act addressed these concerns.
Finally, investors went into “panic mode” on October 24th, 1929, and began trading and dumping their shares, totaling a record of 12.9 million. Of course, following “Black Thursday,” the more well-known “Black Tuesday” ensued as a result of this. Between Black Monday and Black Tuesday, the market lost 24% of its value, and investors bought and traded over 28.9 million stocks. These stocks, now worthless, were used as firewood for some investor’s homes. The Dow Jones Company is perhaps the greatest example for this crash. Dow Jones started at 191 points at the beginning of 1928, then more than doubling to 381 points by September 1929. The crash caused their record 381 points to plummet to less than 41 p...
Major banks are cutting back on some of their legally permitted operations, such as- market making, and that has led to liquidity issues in the bond markets. Proprietary trading could become unregulated if more banking activities continue moving towards the shadow banking system. This would essentially defeat one of the main purposes of Volcker Rule. [d] The third major unintended consequence has been the degree by which the Federal Reserve has become the main regulator of the finance industry. In order to discourage future bailouts similar to the ones during the financial crisis, the Dodd-Frank Act limited the Fed’s emergency powers. However the liquidity and capital standards now imposed by Fed has purportedly become one of the most important regulatory developments of the Dodd-Frank Act.
The events that unfolded on September 11th and the days that followed also profoundly effected the stock market. It is the purpose of this paper is to examine what happened to both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the NASDAQ after September 11th and how it is similar to events such as the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Oklahoma City bombing, and the Gulf War in terms of how the stock market experienced a blow and bounced back after a while.
The stock market crash of 1929 is the primary event that led to the collapse of stability in the nation and ultimately paved the road to the Great Depression. The crash was a wide range of causes that varied throughout the prosperous times of the 1920’s. There were consumers buying on margin, too much faith in businesses and government, and most felt there were large expansions in the stock market. Because of all these...
In October 1929, the United States stock market crashed due to panic selling. This crash started a rippling effect that contributed to a world wide economic crisis called the Great Depression. This crash was such a shock because of the economic expansion of the 1920’s when the Dow Jones average reached an all time high of three hundred eighty one. The year 1928 was a time of optimism and the stock market had become a place where everyday people truly believed that they could become rich. People everywhere were talking about the market and newspapers were reporting stories of ordinary people such as chauffeurs, maids, and teachers making millions off the stock market. People who didn’t have the money bought on margin. The stock market was booming and the excitement about the market caused a lot of over speculation. People ignored the small signs of the impending crash until Black Thursday, October 24, 1929. Four days later the stock market fell again.
Goodhart, C. & Taylor, A., 2004. Procyclicality and volatility in the financial system: The implementation of Basel II and IAS 39, London: London School of Economics.
In early 1928 the Dow Jones Average went from a low of 191 early in the year, to a high of 300 in December of 1928 and peaked at 381 in September of 1929. (1929…) It was anticipated that the increases in earnings and dividends would continue. (1929…) The price to earnings ratings rose from 10 to 12 to 20 and higher for the market’s favorite stocks. (1929…) Observers believed that stock market prices in the first 6 months of 1929 were high, while others saw them to be cheap. (1929…) On October 3rd, the Dow Jones Average began to drop, declining through the week of October 14th. (1929…)
Howells, Peter., Bain, Keith 2000, Financial Markets and Institutions, 3rd edn, Henry King Ltd., Great Britain.
The history of stock markets or exchanges is long and complex, and dates back before the birth of America. Early records of stock markets go clear back to the 1600’s when it consisted mostly of spice trades and shipping. The stock markets as we know them today are much different of course, and that is because of their vast ability to facilitate business all over the world. The American stock market, which we will be focusing on, was adapted from the English stock market, which during the early years was the biggest of all markets. Not until America won its independence was a stock exchange considered in the new world. Since its inception the American stock exchange has played a vital role in the success of this country, while at the same time also causing some unforeseen and devastating problems for both the businesses involved and the country and world as a whole. An analysis of the stock market throughout history will reveal that the stock market can be dangerous and costly to the country, but is still effective tool for helping businesses to be successful. Before jumping right into it let us first discuss what a stock market or exchange is and what it does for us.
Chapter 11 closes our discussion with several insights into the efficient market theory. There have been many attempts to discredit the random walk theory, but none of the theories hold against empirical evidence. Any pattern that is noticed by investors will disappear as investors try to exploit it and the valuation methods of growth rate are far too difficult to predict. As we said before the random walk concludes that no patterns exist in the market, pricing is accurate and all information available is already incorporated into the stock price. Therefore the market is efficient. Even if errors do occur in short-run pricing, they will correct themselves in the long run. The random walk suggest that short-term prices cannot be predicted and to buy stocks for the long run. Malkiel concludes the best way to consistently be profitable is to buy and hold a broad based market index fund. As the market rises so will the investors returns since historically the market continues to rise as a whole.
Computer technology has revolutionized the way people can invest their money. Online trading has become the newest fad for people trying to get more bang for their buck. Virtually anyone with access to the Internet can set up an online brokerage account. With just a click of the mouse people can buy and sell stocks. This advanced computer technology for personal investing has its pros and cons. It has made it much easier for the average person to take care of his/her finances in an inexpensive manner. It has alos made it easier for people to become addicted to trading, which can become an expensive habit.