All The Reformed Broker

Traditional trading firms will not survive unless they evolve. Furthermore, the profession of trading could use a bit of de-romanticizing.

The disappointment of Microsoft's new Windows 8 operating system has rippled its way through the tech community – and investors are opting out.

Junk-bond market's growth signals underlying strength – or a bubble, depending on who you believe.

Hedge fund manager Seth Klaman runs his practice to avoid the short term in favor of long-term performance.

Somewhere between Schadenfreude Street and I-Told-You-So Avenue, Abelson finds his home turf as a market commentator, ribbing the bulls who've been using bad news as their cue to add even more exposure over the past month.

In a nice sign that the Facebook IPO debacle has finally subsided, tech companies are finally starting to come out publicly again to warm receptions. It's a nice sign that tech IPOs are back again, and Palo Alto and Kayak are both riding the IPO resurgence.

Breakaway brokers are gaining a lot of momentum, according to the Reformed Broker. One driver of the movement is the beating the bigger Wall Street houses took in the financial crisis, which has made investors wary of the large corporate firms.

While few people expect real fiscal reform in the always partisan lead up to the November election, Lloyd Blankfein writes that there may still be hope, if President Obama, Congress and Mitt Romney declare that Simpson-Bowles will be the basis of future reform.

A 200-year evolution followed by a 10-year devolution, progression turned to regression in no time at all. The exchanges went for-profit and a third of all trading activity migrated away into the dark recesses of a utility closet.

As stocks continue their decline, market analysts have revised Q2 estimates slowly but steadily downward for almost the entire spectrum of S&P sectors all spring and summer long. Not a lot of good news here, not that the Reformed Broker is surprised.

Wealth and aggression have been anecdotally linked before in discussions about what makes a successful businessman. But a new article in New York Magazine attempts to bring a more scientific approach to the debate.

Jobs growth remained tepid in the US this month, according to the monthly numbers released from the BLS today. Employers did not create enough jobs growth to keep up with the backlog of almost 13 million unemployed workers.

The scandal at Barclays continues to grow as emails dating back to 2005 attest to a pattern of greed and corrupt business practices. What is not well known is what the final cost could be to the world's financial institutions, and these costs could be enormous.

July 4th is upon us, complete with fireworks and celebratory picnics in honor of America's independence. Also in honor of American independence, the Reformed Broker has forwarded along some lovely tax facts. Enjoy!

A glut of research today may be less helpful than it seems. The Reformed Broker hopes analysts will start taking better advantage of datasets and improved transparency in order to bring a more novel research product to market. 

Microsoft has learned (the hard way) that it cannot sit idly by anymore hoping its partners such as Dell and Hewlett Packard will develop effective hardware. Microsoft now seems ready to become more proactive in its bid to compete with Apple.

The market may have sold off more after the Supreme Court's decision on universal healthcare today, but it was down anyways, says Joshua Brown. Spanish bond yields and Germany's employment numbers meant a risk-off day regardless.

Interesting data from a recent report on the saving and investing habits of investors shows that yes, stock fund purchasing is down, but the typical plan account is still majority equities.  And also, it's never just that simple.

They say never short a dull market. Joshua Brown never obsesses over one either. His team's not forcing any trades or making moves just for the sake of making moves. They're spending time on administrative stuff, client work and lots of research.

Germany's Angela Merkel made her most forceful comments yet on the possibility of providing shared eurobonds and an FDIC-like guarantee for bank deposits. The Reformed Broker composes a poem in honor of the occasion.