NEWS / Foreign Exchange

How Shakespearean Is That...? (revisited)

Whom exactly did the Federal Reserve scare off on the Halloween day yesterday?
Themselves, perhaps, otherwise how come the US central bank pumps $40+ billion worth of liquidity to the financial system just hours after the key interest rate cut, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closes the day with a 362.14-point loss...?

A couple of days ago I noted here on FXstreet.com:

'Stanley O'Neal retired today as head of investment giant Merrill Lynch - apparently under pressure from a board frustrated with the largest quarterly loss in the 93-year old firm's history. 'It is a tragic Shakespearean story', said a management professor at Yale University.

Shakespearean or not, Wall Street must be the only place in the world where you're awarded a $160-million exit package for leaving $8+ billion in losses behind your back.'

And, there's more. According to The Wall Street Journal, Bear Stearns CEO James Cayne was playing bridge and golf far away from Wall Street during the most critical days of the global financial crisis in July, while the firm's hedge funds were collapsing.