Monica Lewinsky, TED Speech

Monica Lewinsky and the Shame Game, The New Yorker

South Korea Says 290 Missing After Ferry Sinks

South Korea’s government said 290 people are missing after a ferry carrying hundreds of high school students sank en route to the resort island of Jeju, in what may be the nation’s worst ferry accident in two decades: From Bloomberg

Ignorance from a small number of people can cause tragedies to a large number of people. And people should stop staying quiet and stand up to fix the dysfunctional system, peacefully but persistently. We should not forget and let it happen again.

“First they came …”

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out– Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out– Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out– Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me–and there was no one left to speak for me.

Update: Let’s pray for them.

A 5-year old girl was rescued. Her 6-year old brother helped her put on life jacket.

Goldman Might Close Its Dark Pool

Goldman Mulls Closing Dark Pool, WSJ

Michael Lewis’s new book, ‘Flash Boys’ would have a real impact on the market if Goldman really closes its dark pool. Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs, among banks, have the largest dark pools.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS -1.26% is considering shutting down one of the world’s largest private stock-trading venues, according to people familiar with the matter.

In conversations with market participants over the past several months, Goldman executives have broached the subject of closing its so-called dark-pool trading operation, known as Sigma X, the people said.

Goldman executives are weighing whether the revenue that the firm generates from operating Sigma X is worth the risks that have been highlighted by a series of trading glitches and growing criticism of dark pools, the people said.

No decision is imminent, and Goldman could keep the business, according to the people.

A move to shutter one of the biggest dark pools could compel other big banks to take similar steps, potentially changing the way buy and sell orders from big investors course through the markets each day.

Dark pools are trading venues where investors are granted a greater degree of anonymity than in the public markets. About 14% of stock trading took place in dark pools in January, most of it routed through entities run by big banks, according to Rosenblatt Securities, which advises institutional investors. Goldman’s consistently ranks among the top five dark pools in the market, according to Rosenblatt.

The dark-pool business has hit a rough patch lately. Competition has increased in the already fragmented market as new dark pools have emerged. A recent spate of technological glitches in the stock market, meanwhile, underscores the risks that come with operating private trading platforms.

Last month, Goldman acknowledged that Sigma X suffered a pricing malfunction in 2011 that resulted in customers not receiving correct payments for transactions. The errors were related to market volatility between Aug. 1 and Aug. 9, 2011, according to a copy of a letter to an institutional investor reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Goldman sent checks to customers to reimburse them for losses, according to institutions that received the letters.

Another headwind for dark pools came last week with the publication of a book by Michael Lewis on high-frequency trading that fanned the debate over whether dark pools give certain investors unfair advantages. Regulators last month began ramping up scrutiny of brokers and dark pools, and since Mr. Lewis’s book came out, states have vowed to look into the matter as well.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, meanwhile, has opened an inquiry into the way brokers route customer orders and how they use their own dark pools in executing trades. Finra sent a letter to brokers last month asking for detailed answers on its order-routing practices, according to brokers who received the letter.

Stock trading is a big business for Goldman, bringing in $7.17 billion in 2013 excluding accounting charges. Goldman doesn’t break out revenue from operating Sigma X. Among the largest dark pools are those operated by Barclays PLC, Morgan Stanley and UBS AG, according to Rosenblatt.

Goldman has operated Sigma X since 2006. But recently it has become an advocate of market changes. Gary Cohn, Goldman’s president and chief operating officer, published an opinion piece in the Journal on March 20 that called for improvements to reduce the risk of technology failures and level the playing field for investors.

In an internal document sent to employees the same day the piece was published advising them on how to address questions about it, Goldman highlighted its relationship with an upstart trading venue called IEX Group Inc. In the message, Goldman said “While we think that a regulatory response may be needed to address these market structure issues, it would be best for the overall market if IEX achieved critical mass, even if that results in reduced volumes in our U.S. dark pool, Sigma X.”

Less than two weeks later, Mr. Lewis’s book, “Flash Boys,” was published. The book presents IEX as heroes taking on an industry in which markets are rigged to benefit exchanges, brokers and high-frequency traders at the expense of ordinary investors. The IEX platform uses a speed bump to level the playing field between fleet-footed and ordinary investors.

Goldman’s debate over Sigma X could be part of a broader effort to pare back on businesses Goldman doesn’t consider core to its position as a brokerage firm for institutional investors, according to the people familiar with Goldman’s discussions.

The firm also appears to be trimming its electronic-trading businesses. The bank is in advanced discussions to sell a market-making business based on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to IMC Financial Markets, a Dutch high-frequency-trading firm, for as much as $30 million, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Update: they revealed they have no plans to close the dark pool

Facebook Buying Oculus, Virtual Reality Headset Maker at Unreal Valuation of $2 Billion

From Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg “Our mission is to make the world more open and connected. For the past few years, this has mostly meant building mobile apps that help you share with the people you care about. We have a lot more to do on mobile, but at this point we feel we’re in a position where we can start focusing on what platforms will come next to enable even more useful, entertaining and personal experiences. This is where Oculus comes in. They build virtual reality technology, like the Oculus Rift headset. When you put it on, you enter a completely immersive computer-generated environment, like a game or a movie scene or a place far away. The incredible thing about the technology is that you feel like you’re actually present in another place with other people. People who try it say it’s different from anything they’ve ever experienced in their lives.”

Silicon Valley is for young people, who regard useful, entertaining and personal experiences most important. When people grow older and have family, they come to think about something more than entertaining personal experiences: health, children and real things. There are some merits in growing older. Does Silicon Valley really change the world into a better place? It is fun to play a game, probably more fun to play a virtual reality one…But, don’t we have many more important real matters to deal with first than virtual reality ones? Chronic illnesses, health care, food poisoning, violence, human dignity, environmental issues… Silicon Valley has been replacing Wall Street in prestige, wealth creation and importance to the world. Now in big gambles as well. Given proprietary trading has been closed at banks, Silicon Vally comes to become a large player in option trading (they are buying the private companies at the unreal valuations as an option to protect their trillions of dollars of collective market capitalizations).

Facebook’s $2 Billion Deal for Oculus, NYT

Why Facebook’s $2 Billion Oculus Buy Is a Bet Too Far, Wired

Update: Facebook share price was at $60.38 down 6.94% on Wednesday. $10+ billion market cap disappeared. Market has learned Zuckerberg and the insiders might think current Facebook stock price is overvalued and why Facebook makes deals aggressively with its stocks.

Amazon Raises Fees due to Netflix, ShopRunner Waves

The New York Times—People like getting their toys fast. They also like getting them cheap. Amazon is gambling they care more about the first than the second. The retailer told the 25 million members of its Amazon Prime program on Thursday that it was increasing the annual fee for the two-day shipping service by 25 percent, to $99. The new price takes effect on the renewal dates for existing customers, starting April 17.

At least one competitor quickly moved to secure some Amazon customers. ShopRunner, a network of retailers from Neiman Marcus to PetSmart that offers two-day shipping, said it would waive its fees for Amazon Prime members for a year. ShopRunner usually costs $79.

Amazon blamed rising costs of fuel and transportation for the increase in the Prime fee, but Ms. Dias said the real problem was the cost to Amazon of all the content that it includes with Prime membership. Amazon has now moved into original programming, part of its continuing competition with Netflix.

“Psychologically no one wants to pay more for something,” wrote Gene Munster, one of the analysts, in a Thursday report. He estimated that a quarter of the Prime base was highly sensitive and might rebel. That might cut $800 million, or about 1 percent, from Amazon’s revenue. On the other hand the increased fee from more easygoing customers would add $150 million to the bottom line, which for Amazon would be a lot.

Obama on Deportation Practices more Humanely

Washington (AP), Josh Lederman: Seeking to pacify frustrated immigration advocates, President Barack Obama is directing the government to find more humane ways to handle deportation for immigrants in the U.S. illegally, the White House said Thursday.

With prospects for an immigration overhaul in Congress appearing ever dimmer, immigration advocates have been ramping up pressure on Obama to halt all deportations — a step Obama has insisted he can’t take by himself. By announcing he’s open to changing how the U.S. enforces its current laws, Obama is signaling he may be growing more inclined to test the limits of his authority in the face of congressional inaction.

“He told the members that he has asked Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson to do an inventory of the Department’s current practices to see how it can conduct enforcement more humanely within the confines of the law,” the White House said in a statement.

Since Japan Radiation, Global Eco-System, Food

It was Mar. 11th, 2011 when the most powerful earthquake ever to hit Japan triggered a tsunami with waves that reached as high as 144 feet. But it is rarely an event in the past: about the Nuclear Nation from The New Yorker this week. China’s shocked that Japan’s nuclear plant was still leaking radioactive water.

No one knows how much impact the event would have had on the global eco-system and food poisoning. Some think Japan radiation might have been poisoning America:

“Vast amounts of sea stars are melting off the west coast of North America.

Killer whales are dying off the coast of British Columbia.

There is an epidemic of sea-lion deaths due to starvation along the California coastline…

Polar bears, seals and walruses along the Alaska coastline are suffering from fur loss and open sores.

Along the Pacific coast of Canada and the Alaska coastline, the population of sockeye salmon is at a historic low.

Something is causing fish all along the west coast of Canada to bleed from their gills, bellies and eyeballs.

Experts have found very high levels of cesium—137 in plankton living in the waters of Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and the west coast, affecting the food chain in a process…”

The truth is that we don’t know what we are eating: either antibiotics, GMO or radiation poisoning.

Carl Icahn, eBay, PayPal, Marc Andreessen

Icahn campaigns PayPal should be split from eBay with his letters

eBay disagrees: the press release

Andreessen responds

Musk believes PayPal would be better standalone

eBay stock price opened $55.10 on Feb. 24th when Icahn initiated

According to Forbes, Musk was direct: “It doesn’t make sense that a global payment system is a subsidiary of an auction website. It’s as if Target owned Visa or something. PayPal will get cut to pieces by Amazon Payments, or by others like Apple and by startups if it continues to be part of eBay.”