| 13 August 2009

When times are slow, as they are today and probably will be tomorrow, we're given an opportunity to reflect on the recent activity we've witnessed in an otherwise active summer. 

So what has been the hottest financial news story this summer? Could it be the latest product hot potato – the leveraged ETF – confounding less-sophisticated investors and keeping compliance officers up at night. Or perhaps it’s the explosion in high-frequency trading which, by the way, now accounts for HALF of all stock trades in the U.S.

What about the Auction-Rate Securities debacle? Everyone lost money when the market for ARS tanked. While most brokers are throwing in the towel and just giving customers their money back, Schwab and Wells Fargo are two interesting holdouts claiming no-foul. You bought it, you suffer the consequences.

One thing is clear, the summer has been anything but boring, even without a TALF, TARP or PPIP to fill our days. The summer doldrums are clearly a myth. In fact, we did an article about this over at Learning Markets. Check it out here.

Given all that activity, why is it so quiet today? And should we worry? What new scandals or hot products are about to grace our virtual doorstep. Stay tuned, because when it breaks, we'll be there.