Stock market
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This year's hottest IPO: A mortgage broker
Nationstar is benefiting from a resurgent home loan market and Washington gridlock.
Update: 3:30 PM, 10/24
I guess I called the top. On Wednesday, Nationstar lost out to rival Ocwen in its bid to take over servicing the mortgage portfolio of GM's former finance arm ResCap. In late afternoon, shares of Nationstar had tumbled 10% to $31. That makes Nationstar still one of the best performing IPO of the year. But no MORE
Stephen Gandel, senior editor - Oct 24, 2012 5:00 AM ET -
Who's better for stocks: Obama or Romney?
Wall Street loves a Republican president, right? Not so fast. With history as our judge, the answer is not so clear.
FORTUNE -- One of the questions I get asked these days is whether a win by Mitt Romney or by Barack Obama would be better for the stock market. To which the only honest answer is "I have no earthly idea." Any competent and dispassionate market analyst will tell you MORE
Allan Sloan, senior editor-at-large - Sep 19, 2012 5:00 AM ET -
Pros lose confidence in the market
The reason for stock market skittishness might be more mundane than high-frequency trading and computer algorithms gone amuck.
FORTUNE -- The TABB Group, a research firm that specializes in stock trading and technology, is out with what appears to be a concerning stat: Just 2% of professional investors completely trust the market.
It's become a common line to say that Knight Capital's recent trading glitch, the bungled Facebook IPO and the 2010 MORE
Stephen Gandel, senior editor - Aug 23, 2012 11:04 AM ET -
In Knight Capital fiasco, a flurry of rule changes
An increase in stock trading rule changes is making it hard for firms to keep up.
FORTUNE -- Perhaps the only thing moving faster than high-frequency traders are the changes to the rules that govern how they trade.
On the day of the flub that cost Knight Capital Group (KCG) $440 million in 45 minutes and briefly caused turmoil in over 100 stocks, the New York Stock Exchange issued three changes to MORE
Stephen Gandel, senior editor - Aug 8, 2012 2:40 PM ET -
Why Knight won't be the only one
Building error-free trading software is impossible, and that makes today's stock markets even more fragile.
FORTUNE -- One question keeps arising in the saga of Knight Capital and its $440 million software glitch: why did Knight, one of the premier U.S. market makers that handles more than 10% of total stock trading, introduce glitchy software into the market?
CEO Thomas Joyce explained in a television interview that the company's new software program MORE
Scott Cendrowski, writer-reporter - Aug 3, 2012 2:17 PM ET -
Inflation likely to continue to fall
New study suggests that stocks do a better job of predicting inflation than gold, real estate or anything else.
Fortune -- Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke often gets criticized for overreacting to the stock market. But maybe that's exactly what he should be doing.
QE2 and Operation Twist were announced after market drops. And the recent swoon in the Dow, despite rebounding yesterday, along with some rather weak economic data, have reignited MORE
Stephen Gandel, senior editor - Jun 15, 2012 6:00 AM ET -
Investors predict the market will drop, but not yet
FORTUNE -- Is the market too calm?
Despite some recent bumps, shares have mostly raced up this year, and investors seem to be getting less and less worried about risking their money in stocks. The VIX (VIX), which is sometimes called the fear index because it tracks how many people are buying insurance against a market drop, fell 5% on Tuesday to just over 18. That capped a big recent drop MORE
Stephen Gandel, senior editor - Apr 25, 2012 6:00 AM ET -
Why profits won't plunge
Earnings growth is slowing, but it's not going to disappear.
Fortune -- Aloca (AA) may be more than a one-off.
The recent downturn in the market has been fueled mostly by a growing fear that corporate earnings growth is tapped out. The string of stock drops snapped on Wednesday after the giant metal producer said it made money in the first quarter. Analysts had been expecting a loss. The question is whether MORE
Stephen Gandel, senior editor - Apr 12, 2012 6:00 AM ET -
Bill Gross says it's time for investors to plan a "Great Escape"
Bond king Bill Gross says it's time to get your portfolio ready for a long-period of lower market returns.
FORTUNE -- Apparently, Bill Gross picks movies as well as investments.
Bond investor Gross, who runs the world's largest mutual fund Pimco Total Return (PTTRX), is known for his quirky letters to investors. In the past he has dispensed love advice (specifically for Europe) and written about why he hates automatic flush toilets. MORE
Stephen Gandel, senior editor - Mar 28, 2012 5:00 AM ET -
Stock market's next hurdle: Peak Earnings
Now that the economy finally seems to be firmly in recovery mode, it may be time for investors to brace themselves for a slowdown.
FORTUNE -- There is always a disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street. But that has been more true in this recovery. Corporate profits have zoomed higher, while the economy has only slowly added jobs. Usually that disconnect narrows when the economy improves. But because it has been MORE
Stephen Gandel, senior editor - Mar 22, 2012 2:40 PM ET
