The Chicago based trading firm Buttonwood Trading Group is history after a rogue trading incident in the commodity market wiped their balance sheet in December. The firm employed some 50 employees and has a stake in several other trading companies across the world – according to their cheap website. By the way, they even appearRead more
First of all, a merry Christmas to all of you. And to stay in the mood, just read about the top seven financial donors to the city of Amsterdam. Charity is a good topic for today. Number five on the list, right behind the ultra wealthy folks from Heineken and TomTom : Allard Jakobs. TheRead more
Love is all around us this December. Getco buys Knight. NASDAQ buys TOM. Afraid to be alone with Christmas, ICE responds with buying NYSE Euronext. Well, they aren’t really after Euronext nor NYSE : the derivative trading business Liffe is the crown jewel. Time flies. Back in 2000 Euronext was formed with the merger ofRead more
Bad news from Beursplein 5. One of the three firms on the central trading floor has to shut the doors. Mijnbroker.nl is history as of January 1st. The online retail broker offered investors very competitive transaction fees, especially in options. Alas, the firm never managed to achieve critical mass. Investors didn’t switch their portfolios forRead more
While I was still fact checking TOM’s claim over 20% of the option executions find a better price than Euronext Liffe – something bigger is released. Willem Meijer found a better price for TOM itself. The NASDAQ OMX buys a stake of 25% in TOM with an option to expand its stake to 50,1% (press release).Read more
