March 11th, 2010 
Before You Invest Thursday, March 11, 2010 is the start of stock index futures roll-over at both CME Group and ICE Futures U.S.
Rollover is when a new contract month becomes the dominant contract in terms of new volume, for both pit (open outcry) and electronic trading sessions.
March 11th, 2010 Before You Invest (Bloomberg) — The trade deficit in the U.S. unexpectedly narrowed in January as imports fell for the first time in five months, indicating demand is cooling following the fastest pace of growth in six years.
The gap shrank 6.6 percent to $37.3 billion from $39.9 billion in December as refineries imported the fewest barrels of crude oil in a decade, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington.
March 11th, 2010 Before You Invest The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) filed an application with the U.S. 
March 11th, 2010 Before You Invest
(Crain’s) — Federal banking regulators are seeking bidders for as many as seven troubled local banks, including Rockford-based Amcore Bank. Bids for Amcore are due April 15 to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Crain’s has learned.
March 11th, 2010 Before You Invest 
Three money managers who called the turn in March 2009 see big gains ahead; a fourth dissents
Veteran money manager Laszlo Birinyi will never forget the moment a year ago when the last ounce of confidence disappeared.
March 10th, 2010 Before You Invest Greek prime minister George Papandreou has called on US president Barack Obama to introduce tougher regulation on currency traders and hedge funds.
George Papandreou
The European country is currently in the midst of a financial crisis which has seen three packages of cuts passed in the past three months by the government.
Last week, further debt-cutting measures were introduced including pay cuts for citizens working in the public sector, as well as tax rises on goods such as fuel.
Mr Papandreou has stated that hedge funds are making the economic situation worse in Greece by betting on the country defaulting on its debts.
“Europe and America must say ‘enough is enough’ to those speculators who only place value on immediate returns, with utter disregard for the consequences on the larger economic system,” he stated.
Last month, Fitch Ratings downgraded the credit rating of four top Greek banks in response to the growing crisis.
March 10th, 2010 Before You Invest The anticipated exodus of many bankers and finance professionals from the UK may be prevented by a tax ruling against a British entrepreneur, a broker has claimed.
Terry Smith, chief executive officer (CEO) at Tullet Prebon, told the UK’s Times newspaper that the company had offered its workforce the opportunity to escape new tax legislation via opportunities in Geneva and Zurich.
However, less staff than anticipated had agreed to take up the invitation, which the CEO blamed on a legal battle between entrepreneur Robert Gaines-Cooper and the UK’s tax authority HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
A recent ruling by the Court of Appeal stipulated that Mr Gaines-Cooper would need to pay UK taxes as, despite spending less than 91 days a year in the UK, “the centre of gravity of his life and interests” is still located there.
Mr Smith told the news provider that the ruling means the company does not anticipate many of its staff taking up the offer of working abroad.
“[They] don’t know now whether even coming back on a client visit would mean they would qualify as residents. I wouldn’t say that it’s not possible but it’s less feasible than it was before,” he explained to the Times.
The invitation followed an announcement by chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling in his pre-Budget report that a new 50 per cent tax is to be levied on all banker bonuses above £25,000.
Mr Darling had also unveiled plans to raise the top rate of income tax to 50 per cent.
March 10th, 2010 Before You Invest Financial services provider UBS is to launch a “dark pool” Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) to allow cross trading in Europe.
According to the firm, UBS MTF will work alongside the existing UBS Price Improvement Network (UBS PIN) by offering a wider array of liquidity to its members.
The MTF is still awaiting regulatory approval and will be based on a Central Counterparty (CCP) model, which will allow investors to mitigate certain amounts of risk.
Dr Robert Barnes, head of Market Structures at UBS Investment Bank, said: “As we developed the architecture and interactivity model for UBS MTF, we were committed to greater simplicity, lower transaction costs and reduced market impact.
“As a global bank and one of the top equities trading firms, we aim to leverage our broad and deep market experience to help us to bring innovation, quality liquidity and a unique value proposition to our clients.”
All completed transactions will be reported in real-time to Markit Boat following the trade.
Previously, global investment bank Nomura announced the launch of NX MTF in December 2009, the first broker-owned dark pool MTF of its kind.
March 10th, 2010 Before You Invest 
London is to become one of the most expensive global centres for bankers to work in after the forthcoming introduction of a revised income tax banding for high earners, new research has shown.
March 10th, 2010 Before You Invest
(Bloomberg) — Hedge funds that trade currencies are taking hits from politicians casting them as speculators out to sink the euro and push Greece into insolvency.
