Comments on: Savor These Days of Trashy News http://www.rickackerman.com/2009/07/savor-these-days-of-trashy-news/ Trading Newsletter for Gold, Silver, Stocks and Mini Indexes Mon, 13 Feb 2012 07:58:11 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Rich http://www.rickackerman.com/2009/07/savor-these-days-of-trashy-news/comment-page-1/#comment-1507 Rich Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:07:05 +0000 http://www.rickackerman.com/?p=7617#comment-1507 Amen Keith. Tired of having accurate posts deleted, so will shuffle on. As farewell gift, consider this impact on the Bailout Stim (BS) market: A Goldman Trading Scandal? GOLDMAN SACHS, TRADING, CRIME, THEFT, SERGEY ALEYNIKOV Reuters, CNBC.com | 05 Jul 2009 | 04:14 PM ET Did someone try to steal Goldman Sachs' secret sauce? While most in the United States were celebrating the Fourth of July holiday, a Russian immigrant living in New Jersey was being held on federal charges of stealing secret computer trading codes from a major New York-based financial institution. Authorities did not identify the firm, but sources say that institution is none other than Goldman Sachs . The charges, if proven, are significant because the codes that the accused, Sergey Aleynikov, tried to steal are the secret sauce to Goldman's automated stock and commodities trading business. Federal authorities contend the computer codes and related-trading files that Aleynikov uploaded to a German-based website help this major financial institution generate millions of dollars in profits each year. The platform is one of the things that gives Goldman an advantage over the competition when it comes to the rapid-fire trading of stocks and commodities. Federal authorities say the platform quickly processes rapid developments in the markets and using secret mathematical formulas, allows the firm to make highly-profitable automated trades. The criminal case has the potential to shed a light on the inner workings of an important profit center for Goldman and other Wall Street firms. The charges also raise serious questions about the safeguards that Wall Street firms deploy to protect these costly-to-build proprietary trading systems. The criminal case began to unfold on the evening of July 3, when Aleynikov was arrested by FBI agents at Newark Airport after returning from Chicago. Aleynikov apparently had just started a job with another big firm in Chicago after leaving his previous employer in New York in early June. It appears that the financial institution allegedly victimized by Aleynikov had alerted federal authorities that its former employee might be up to no good. On July 4, Aleynikov was processed on a "theft of trade secrets charge" in a criminal complaint. As of this morning, he was still being held at the Metropolitan Correction Center in Brooklyn. A Goldman spokesman declined to comment on the incident. Calls to Aleynikov's home in New Jersey, which he shares with his wife, were not returned. A spokeswoman for the United States Attorney's Office in Manhattan did not comment. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, in charging Aleynikov, says he began working for the major financial institution in May 2007 as a computer programmer and left in early June. That matches the description of a man named Serge Aleynikov on the social networking site LinkedIn (the difference in spelling of the first name could not be immediately explained). The biographical information for Aleynikov on LinkedIn says he joined Goldman in May 2007 and was vice president for equity strategy. The bio says he was responsible for "development of a distributed real-time co-located high-frequency trading platform." The case against Aleynikov may explain why the New York Stock Exchange moved quickly last week to stop reporting program stock trading for its most active firms. Goldman was often at the top of the chart — far ahead of its competitors. It's possible Goldman had asked the NYSE to stop reporting the number after it discovered that someone may have infiltrated the proprietary computer codes it uses. Here's the way the criminal complaint describes the Goldman trading platform: "The Financial Institution has devoted substantial resources to developing and maintaining a computer platform that allows the Financial Institution to engage in sophisticated high-speed, and high-volume trades on various stock and commodities markets. Among other things, the platform is capable of quickly obtaining and processing information regarding rapid developments in these markets." Federal authorities appear to believe Aleynikov may have had help. The German website that Aleynikov is accused of uploading the stolen information to is registered to a person in London. While the case is still unfolding, there is more information to unearth about Aleynikov. For instance, it appears that he and his wife are competitive ballroom dancers—there are videos of them on YouTube.com. Many questions remain. Which Chicago firm hired Aleynikov? The job he took in Chicago, according to the criminal complaint, paid nearly three times more than his $400,000 salary at Goldman. Also there's more to learn about anyone who might have been helping him and the fallout the case may have for Goldman. When he was arrested, Aleynikov told the FBI he "only intended to collect 'open source' files on which he had worked, but later realized that he had obtained more files than he intended." Quick, get this guy a good lawyer. One question investors need to ask is whether this incident will have any impact on Goldman's second-quarter earnings. The alleged wrongdoing by Aleynikov took place at the beginning of June—although it's not clear if it had any material impact on automated trading. URL: http://www.cnbc.com/id/31750907/ Amen Keith.
Tired of having accurate posts deleted, so will shuffle on.
As farewell gift, consider this impact on the Bailout Stim (BS) market:

A Goldman Trading Scandal?
GOLDMAN SACHS, TRADING, CRIME, THEFT, SERGEY ALEYNIKOV
Reuters, CNBC.com
| 05 Jul 2009 | 04:14 PM ET

Did someone try to steal Goldman Sachs’ secret sauce?

While most in the United States were celebrating the Fourth of July holiday, a Russian immigrant living in New Jersey was being held on federal charges of stealing secret computer trading codes from a major New York-based financial institution. Authorities did not identify the firm, but sources say that institution is none other than Goldman Sachs .

The charges, if proven, are significant because the codes that the accused, Sergey Aleynikov, tried to steal are the secret sauce to Goldman’s automated stock and commodities trading business. Federal authorities contend the computer codes and related-trading files that Aleynikov uploaded to a German-based website help this major financial institution generate millions of dollars in profits each year.

The platform is one of the things that gives Goldman an advantage over the competition when it comes to the rapid-fire trading of stocks and commodities. Federal authorities say the platform quickly processes rapid developments in the markets and using secret mathematical formulas, allows the firm to make highly-profitable automated trades.

The criminal case has the potential to shed a light on the inner workings of an important profit center for Goldman and other Wall Street firms. The charges also raise serious questions about the safeguards that Wall Street firms deploy to protect these costly-to-build proprietary trading systems.

The criminal case began to unfold on the evening of July 3, when Aleynikov was arrested by FBI agents at Newark Airport after returning from Chicago. Aleynikov apparently had just started a job with another big firm in Chicago after leaving his previous employer in New York in early June. It appears that the financial institution allegedly victimized by Aleynikov had alerted federal authorities that its former employee might be up to no good.

On July 4, Aleynikov was processed on a “theft of trade secrets charge” in a criminal complaint. As of this morning, he was still being held at the Metropolitan Correction Center in Brooklyn.

A Goldman spokesman declined to comment on the incident.

Calls to Aleynikov’s home in New Jersey, which he shares with his wife, were not returned. A spokeswoman for the United States Attorney’s Office in Manhattan did not comment.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, in charging Aleynikov, says he began working for the major financial institution in May 2007 as a computer programmer and left in early June. That matches the description of a man named Serge Aleynikov on the social networking site LinkedIn (the difference in spelling of the first name could not be immediately explained).

The biographical information for Aleynikov on LinkedIn says he joined Goldman in May 2007 and was vice president for equity strategy. The bio says he was responsible for “development of a distributed real-time co-located high-frequency trading platform.”

The case against Aleynikov may explain why the New York Stock Exchange moved quickly last week to stop reporting program stock trading for its most active firms. Goldman was often at the top of the chart — far ahead of its competitors.

It’s possible Goldman had asked the NYSE to stop reporting the number after it discovered that someone may have infiltrated the proprietary computer codes it uses.

Here’s the way the criminal complaint describes the Goldman trading platform:

“The Financial Institution has devoted substantial resources to developing and maintaining a computer platform that allows the Financial Institution to engage in sophisticated high-speed, and high-volume trades on various stock and commodities markets. Among other things, the platform is capable of quickly obtaining and processing information regarding rapid developments in these markets.”

Federal authorities appear to believe Aleynikov may have had help. The German website that Aleynikov is accused of uploading the stolen information to is registered to a person in London.

While the case is still unfolding, there is more information to unearth about Aleynikov. For instance, it appears that he and his wife are competitive ballroom dancers—there are videos of them on YouTube.com.

Many questions remain. Which Chicago firm hired Aleynikov?

The job he took in Chicago, according to the criminal complaint, paid nearly three times more than his $400,000 salary at Goldman.

Also there’s more to learn about anyone who might have been helping him and the fallout the case may have for Goldman. When he was arrested, Aleynikov told the FBI he “only intended to collect ‘open source’ files on which he had worked, but later realized that he had obtained more files than he intended.”

Quick, get this guy a good lawyer.

One question investors need to ask is whether this incident will have any impact on Goldman’s second-quarter earnings. The alleged wrongdoing by Aleynikov took place at the beginning of June—although it’s not clear if it had any material impact on automated trading.

URL: http://www.cnbc.com/id/31750907/

]]> By: Keith http://www.rickackerman.com/2009/07/savor-these-days-of-trashy-news/comment-page-1/#comment-1506 Keith Sun, 05 Jul 2009 01:58:17 +0000 http://www.rickackerman.com/?p=7617#comment-1506 I'm sick and tired of the gold bulls. If and when the stock market crashes gold WILL crash with it. I’m sick and tired of the gold bulls. If and when the stock market crashes gold WILL crash with it.

]]> By: robert richards http://www.rickackerman.com/2009/07/savor-these-days-of-trashy-news/comment-page-1/#comment-1504 robert richards Sat, 04 Jul 2009 05:53:33 +0000 http://www.rickackerman.com/?p=7617#comment-1504 THE FULL FAITH AND CREDIT OF THE UNITED STATES ,SO THE US CANT DEFAULT ? I KEEP IN FRONT OF ME A BEARER BOND ,ISSUED BY THE S.E RAILWAY COMPANY OF RUSSIA, WHICH ENJOYS "THE ABSOLUTE GUARANTEE OF INTEREST AND REPAYMENT OF CAPITAL BY THE IMPERIAL RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT." IT WAS ISSUED IN 1914 -ALL THE COUPONS HAVE BEEN CUT OF AND PRESUMABLY THE INTEREST PAID, UNTIL THOSE OF 1917 WHICH ARE STILL ATTACHED THE FULL FAITH AND CREDIT OF THE UNITED STATES ,SO THE US CANT
DEFAULT ?
I KEEP IN FRONT OF ME A BEARER BOND ,ISSUED BY THE S.E RAILWAY COMPANY OF
RUSSIA, WHICH ENJOYS “THE ABSOLUTE GUARANTEE OF INTEREST AND
REPAYMENT OF CAPITAL BY THE IMPERIAL RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT.”
IT WAS ISSUED IN 1914 -ALL THE COUPONS HAVE BEEN CUT OF AND PRESUMABLY
THE INTEREST PAID, UNTIL THOSE OF 1917 WHICH ARE STILL ATTACHED

]]> By: Ray http://www.rickackerman.com/2009/07/savor-these-days-of-trashy-news/comment-page-1/#comment-1503 Ray Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:27:48 +0000 http://www.rickackerman.com/?p=7617#comment-1503 I think that New York beat California to the punch. The talk swirls of "nobody knows who is in charge." Baloney! They can't get any work done because they don't have any money to spend! Tax revenues have virtually dried up - Wall street firms may be touting increased earnings to the press, but you can be sure that the tax collector gets the REAL story. I think that New York beat California to the punch. The talk swirls of “nobody knows who is in charge.” Baloney! They can’t get any work done because they don’t have any money to spend! Tax revenues have virtually dried up – Wall street firms may be touting increased earnings to the press, but you can be sure that the tax collector gets the REAL story.

]]> By: Rick’s Picks Weekend Edition | Rick's Picks http://www.rickackerman.com/2009/07/savor-these-days-of-trashy-news/comment-page-1/#comment-1502 Rick’s Picks Weekend Edition | Rick's Picks Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:04:25 +0000 http://www.rickackerman.com/?p=7617#comment-1502 [...] Read the Rest of the Article | Comments [...] [...] Read the Rest of the Article | Comments [...]

]]> By: Terry S http://www.rickackerman.com/2009/07/savor-these-days-of-trashy-news/comment-page-1/#comment-1498 Terry S Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:46:40 +0000 http://www.rickackerman.com/?p=7617#comment-1498 "...you should already have more gold coins in your safe box than dollars in your savings account." This piece of advice alone would have saved your subscribers the cost of their subscription (apart from the trading touts). But make sure your safe box is, indeed, safe! *I watched 'The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer' last night (a good snapshot of the States' money issues; but fast forward through the talking heads) and was left with these two words: Got Gold? (ps. I had a good chuckle reading this one, Rick - thanks for the delightful write.) “…you should already have more gold coins in your safe box than dollars in your savings account.” This piece of advice alone would have saved your subscribers the cost of their subscription (apart from the trading touts). But make sure your safe box is, indeed, safe!
*I watched ‘The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer’ last night (a good snapshot of the States’ money issues; but fast forward through the talking heads) and was left with these two words: Got Gold?
(ps. I had a good chuckle reading this one, Rick – thanks for the delightful write.)

]]> By: Keith http://www.rickackerman.com/2009/07/savor-these-days-of-trashy-news/comment-page-1/#comment-1497 Keith Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:36:04 +0000 http://www.rickackerman.com/?p=7617#comment-1497 What I've learned is this- stick with the market action. The dollar is driving everything perfectly and until that changes don't place any bets otherwise. Also, I won't be making any bets on the side of "the government is going to print money" and "inflation is going to soar". I'll believe it when it happens and I'll be ready to jump on it. Until it happens don't bet on it. Have patients and keep watching the action of the market. What I’ve learned is this- stick with the market action. The dollar is driving everything perfectly and until that changes don’t place any bets otherwise.
Also, I won’t be making any bets on the side of “the government is going to print money” and “inflation is going to soar”. I’ll believe it when it happens and I’ll be ready to jump on it. Until it happens don’t bet on it. Have patients and keep watching the action of the market.

]]> By: PS Thoo http://www.rickackerman.com/2009/07/savor-these-days-of-trashy-news/comment-page-1/#comment-1496 PS Thoo Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:11:54 +0000 http://www.rickackerman.com/?p=7617#comment-1496 Fundamentally, I believe US Dollar should have been in depressed mode. However in reality, i believe there is a strong behind-the-scene forces supporting the dollar artificially as too many people cannot afford a crashing dollar. These people are the ones holding on to it in various forms, particularly in the form of reserves and treasury bills, and we know who. Fundamentally, I believe US Dollar should have been in depressed mode. However in reality, i believe there is a strong behind-the-scene forces supporting the dollar artificially as too many people cannot afford a crashing dollar. These people are the ones holding on to it in various forms, particularly in the form of reserves and treasury bills, and we know who.

]]> By: Robert http://www.rickackerman.com/2009/07/savor-these-days-of-trashy-news/comment-page-1/#comment-1495 Robert Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:39:45 +0000 http://www.rickackerman.com/?p=7617#comment-1495 An equally intersting question is what will happen to stocks if if the FED starts printing to bail out the states? Stocks typicaly move inverse a falling dollar (showing some credibility as assets), but with the DIA now completing a near textbook Head and Shoulders top, will stocks join the dollar on the slide? If so, I would think this can only be more bullish for bullion and for rising rate ETF's like TBT. An equally intersting question is what will happen to stocks if if the FED starts printing to bail out the states? Stocks typicaly move inverse a falling dollar (showing some credibility as assets), but with the DIA now completing a near textbook Head and Shoulders top, will stocks join the dollar on the slide? If so, I would think this can only be more bullish for bullion and for rising rate ETF’s like TBT.

]]> By: Occdude http://www.rickackerman.com/2009/07/savor-these-days-of-trashy-news/comment-page-1/#comment-1493 Occdude Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:26:51 +0000 http://www.rickackerman.com/?p=7617#comment-1493 The interesting question is, what will the bond market do if the US guvmint starts printing money? The vigilantes will be out in force, a force equal, nay, superior to the force of monetization. The bond market will raise interest rates so fast and hard that even "Big Ben" Bernanke will have to go back to the drawing board. Of course his cure will be more of the same but, he'll at least give the bond market a nod before continuing on his ruinous course. The interesting question is, what will the bond market do if the US guvmint starts printing money? The vigilantes will be out in force, a force equal, nay, superior to the force of monetization. The bond market will raise interest rates so fast and hard that even “Big Ben” Bernanke will have to go back to the drawing board. Of course his cure will be more of the same but, he’ll at least give the bond market a nod before continuing on his ruinous course.

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