London Whale Harpoons Financial Markets
This morning, all of the major stock indexes around the world are trading lower. The catalyst for the decline comes as JP Morgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) reports a $ 2 billion trading loss caused by the a trader known as the “London Whale.” Traders are now wondering if other firms have similar trading losses out there. Just last week, Prudential Financial Inc (NYSE:PRU) plummeted after reporting earnings. The company sited a large derivative trading loss as the reason for the poor earnings results. This news from JPM is now the second report by a major firm that has admittedly taken a large loss from derivative trading. JPM has been one of the most outspoken firms against the controversial Volker Rule which would eliminate banks from proprietary trading. Other leading financial equities such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), ProShares UltraShort Financials (ETF) (NYSEARCA:SKF) and BlackRock, Inc (NYSE:BLK) are all likely to be very volatile today.
