U.S. Stocks Fall After Chinese Markets Plummet

Last year, steep declines in Chinese stocks were periodically followed by dramatic, if less severe, declines in U.S. and European stocks.

On 2016's first day of trading, it's more of the same.

Chinese market chaos rooted in long-held but sporadically-acted-on fears of economic malaise, negative U.S. manufacturing data and instability in the Middle East combined to create an unfortunate grab bag of reasons for traders to sell.

5 Reasons Stocks Are Tumbling Worldwide On 'Black Monday'

NEW YORK -- Wall Street woke up to, if not a Black Monday, at least a Blackish Monday. 

Markets around the world tumbled toward historic losses amid a toxic cocktail of financial volatility. As the global sell-off hacksawed European and Asian markets, U.S. traders braced for the worst. The New York Stock Exchange invoked the rarely used Rule 48, allowing stocks to open without any price indications.

How China's Stock Market Volatility Undermines the Communist Party's Authority

HONG KONG -- At the very beginning of the Chinese stock market crisis in late June, many investors felt there were problems mostly related to liquidity issues. But gradually the concerns have grown to encompass more than the market itself. People have begun to talk about whether the government is capable of handling the stock market crisis, and whether this may end up as a broader crisis of governance.

Shanghai's Stock Market is Collapsing. Do Chinese People Care?

CHENGDU -- The Shanghai stock market has been one wild ride for the last few months. The world has watched as stocks soared for months before a precipitous plunge in recent weeks. Millions of "novice investors" got involved in the markets when prices dramatically increased last year, the Associated Press reported.

So what do normal Chinese people think about the roller coaster markets, now that they're in a meltdown?

Fear and uncertainty on Wall Street: investors, buckle up for a bumpy ride

Are we heading for another stock market crash? The signs are ominous. The New York stock exchange – the world’s largest stock market – shut down for three and a half hours due to a mysterious “technical issue” on Wednesday; China’s speculative stock market plunged still further, despite tens of billions of dollars of spending on the part of the government in a futile attempt to halt the carnage; Greece is sailing into uncharted territory and teetering on the brink of leaving the Eurozone; and meanwhile Puerto Rico is mired in its own debt crisis.

Greece ‘A Sideshow To China Meltdown,' Ex-BMO Chief Economist Says, And Canada Will Feel Impact

As the Greek debt drama plays itself out one 60-euro withdrawal at a time, some economic observers are saying the world is paying attention to the wrong crisis.

That's because in the space of three weeks, China’s Shanghai Composite stock index has lost nearly 30 per cent of its value, wiping out some $2.3 trillion U.S. in wealth. AsBloomberg News put it, that’s a loss of $1 billion for every minute of trading. Regulators have halted trading in more than 700 listed companies, and at least two dozen IPOs have been cancelled.

China Stock Market Plunge Prompts Suspension Of IPOs

BEIJING (AP) — More than two dozen companies in China are postponing initial public offerings and security companies are pledging more than $19 billion for a fund to stabilize the country's free-falling stock market.

The 28 companies, which had obtained permission from China's securities watchdog for IPOs planned in Shanghai and Shenzhen, said they would postpone them due to recent market fluctuations and refund money already paid, the official Xinhua News agency announced late Saturday. That followed reports that regulators were asking companies to postpone the IPOs.

China's Stock Market Is Crashing: What You Need To Know

NEW YORK — After a sizzling rally that more than doubled the value of China's main stock market over the past year, investors are now heading for the exit.

China's Shanghai Composite plunged more than 7 per cent Friday, one of its biggest drops in the last 10 years. The index is down 19 per cent since its recent high reached June 12.

Major Bank Asks Traders To Be Polite, They Promptly Quit

Deutsche Bank is losing some of its best-performing traders, the Financial Times reports. The bank says it's no longer keen on rewarding people to rig interest rates, manipulate foreign exchange rates and then send sweary emails bragging about it. So traders who like to get paid to do those things are leaving.

"Cultural change," in the words of Colin Fan, Deutsche Bank's co-head of investment banking, is sweeping through the company, and the message is clear -- you can't be vulgar, amoral or even, it seems, profitable. After all, this is a trading floor. "We definitely are seeing leakage," Fan told the FT, using inexplicably medical imagery. Traders who are "purely financially driven [are] going to less regulated spaces" like hedge funds or boutique firms, he said.

Hedge Funds Are Richer Than Ever

Things are looking pretty good for the superrich.

The largest Americas-based hedge funds are controlling more money than ever before, according to a new analysis by Absolute Return, a hedge fund news site.

Poseidon Concepts Cease Trade: Ten Of Millions In Revenue Vanishes

CALGARY - A cease trade order has been issued against Poseidon Concepts Corp. (TSX:PSN) after the oilfield services company said up to $106 million in revenue should not have been recorded as such in 2012.

The Calgary-based company says it will restate its financial results for the first, second and third quarters of last year.

Finance Stocks Dominate The Market In 2012 Despite Continuous Fines, Scandals And Fraud

Quick, what was the best-performing stock sector in the U.S. in 2012? Here's a hint: It was the sector that could not stop getting into trouble and paying billions of dollars in fines on a near-weekly basis.

Yes, financial stocks in the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index had a better 2012 than any other group in the stock market, jumping more than 26 percent for the year through December 26, according to FactSet data. That increase far outpaced the broader S&P 500, which gained a still-respectable 13 percent this year, according to FactSet.

Stock Market Outlook: Markets To Face Pressure From US Earnings, European Economy

TORONTO - Concerns about the state of Europe's economy will run against the start of U.S. earnings season this week, which could lead to unpredictable movements in stock markets.

With sparse economic data on the schedule, traders will be looking for any signs of where the global economy is headed in the coming months, and that could lead to erratic shifts or a sudden downturn in market sentiment.

Democracy bad for capitalism? Why the French and U.S. elections are unnerving investors

An increasingly tight French presidential race combined with signs America’s economic recovery may be slowing sent investors heading for the exits at the end of the week.

Global markets tumbled Friday for the second day in a row after the U.S. monthly jobs report came in below expectations and investors fretted over the outcome of the French election on Sunday.

The Toronto Stock Exchange fell 1.20 per cent on Friday, giving up all of this year’s gains and more. The market closed down 143.67 points at 11,871.23. The S&P/TSX composite index is now down 0.70 per cent since the start of the year.

In the U.S., the Standard & Poors 500 Index and Nasdaq also closed out their worst week this year after the world’s largest economy said it had created 115,000 jobs in April, raising concerns that America’s recovery may be slowing. Economists had forecast 160,000 new jobs in April.

America’s unemployment rate fell 0.1 per cent to 8.1 per cent, though much of that was due to more people giving up the search for work. Markets shrugged off the positive news that revisions to the previous two months added an extra 53,000 jobs.