iBanker.jp

Saw this pic in a presenation material and couldn't help googling it. Very persuasive! Found via Google Image search

Today's market opened with a surge, closely resembling the inverted version of the chart in my previous post. Source: http://markets.nikkei.co.jp/kokunai/ I find it hard to believe this is a sustainable gain, and my guess is Nikkei 225 will drop back below 9,000.

We all know that times are tough and bound to get even tougher. But when I was watching the Nikkei 225 plunging down 10% during the first hour of trading, it came to a point where I was seriously considering what I would do if the financial industry collapses altogether, and I will be facing the unpleasant task of finding a way to earn my living amid the World Great Depression II. Nikkei 225 Index first hour of trading Oct 10, 2008 Source: http://markets.nikkei.co.jp/kokunai/ Luckily, the stock market recovered just a little after that, suggesting the worst was over. Or maybe still to come.

To the Fed and the ECB: Congratulations, gentlemen! You have miserably failed. This is bad for you and for the world economy. Chart: First hours of trading in NY Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500, % change d-o-d Source: Google Finance The markets reacted to the joint actio n by Fed, ECB and several European central banks with a moment of optimism, and then continued their way downwards. For the invest ors it was too late too little once again. Now it is really hard to tell when the bottom will be reached. Or if.

I read this story a year or so ago, and recently just stumbled over it on the Internet. Looking back at what happened over this year, the ibanker clearly had a lot to learn from the humble fisherman. The American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The fisherman replied, only a little while. The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs. The American then asked, "but what do you do with the rest of your time?" The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full a

The Wall Street Journal's Asian Edition front page today features the world map, showing the countries where the stock markets tumbled yesterday in red. It looks like a one solid blood stain, because for all the countries shown, markets were down. So much for the decoupling theories... Source: Wall Street Journal

Revisitng the topic of CFA pass rates, below are the most recent pass rates as reported by the CFA Institute: June 2008 Level I: 35% Level II: 46% Level III: 53% December 2007 Level I: 39% The question is, will these change in 2009, when the three-choices answers replace the current four-choices structure? Below are some links arguing on the topic: CFA Institute claims that there will be no change, as any change in the absolute number of correct answers will be offset by the relative nature of assessment. However, Dr. R. Douglas Van Eatonon the Schweser CFA Blog provides a less straitforward, although similar viewpoint. In any case, there is a lot of hours to put into the exam preparation, no matter four choices or three.

Nikkei Shimbun, a leading Japanese business daily, reported today (original text in Japanese), that a plan to reorganize Morgan Stanley's (MS) securities business in Japan, including possibly bringing it under one roof with Mitsubishi UFJ (MUFJ), is under consideration. The strategy is to be elaborated by June 2009.

Bank of America is a big bank. In terms of total assets almost twice as big as Merrill Lynch that BoA is acquiring as a result of the unexpected deal arranged last month (USD 1,716 bn vs 966 bn; source: Google Finance ). And in terms of the current market cap, BoA is four times bigger. A giant and a dwarf, one might say. So, the deal looks logical in the American context. Not necessarily so in Japan, where BoA's both corporate and investment banking offices fit comfortably at the 15th floor of Sanno Park Tower, mostly known among financial professionals in Tokyo, as home to Deutsche Bank Securities; whereas ML has its iconic bull logo several feet across on the side of its office in Nihonbashi Ichome Bldg, an office in Osaka and several joint offices with Mitsubishi UFJ across the country. It is no coincidence that ML is so big in Japan. ML bought Yamaichi Securities in the late 90s, and the employees of the failed Japanese securities house are still the backbone of ML's Japane