The work-from-home trader who shook global markets

FINANCIAL REVIEW

On March 9, US stocks had their biggest one-day point drop ever as the economic fallout from the novel coronavirus sank in. Within a week that record had been broken twice, only for the S&P 500 to register its greatest weekly gain in decades in April, after the Federal Reserve intervened by slashing interest rates and buying bonds.

This rattle of volatility arrives 10 years after another famously tumultuous episode in the markets – the so-called Flash Crash of May 6, 2010, when, without warning, the S&P 500 plummeted 5 per cent in four minutes, temporarily erasing $US1 trillion. read more »

Shelter-in-Place Orders Pose Challenges for Government Probes

WSJ

The novel coronavirus could slow investigations into corporate wrongdoing by prosecutors, regulators and federal agents as shelter-in-place orders and other restrictions force delays to crucial steps in their work.

Some investigative activities, including ones requiring travel or face-to-face meetings, are taking more time, and that could raise concerns for time-sensitive cases, said Daniel Kahn, a senior deputy chief in the U.S. Department of Justice’s criminal fraud section. read more »

Apple whistleblower goes public over 'lack of action'

THE GUARDIAN

A former Apple contractor who helped blow the whistle on the company’s programme to listen to users’ Siri recordings has decided to go public, in protest at the lack of action taken as a result of the disclosures.

In a letter announcing his decision, sent to all European data protection regulators, Thomas le Bonniec said: “It is worrying that Apple (and undoubtedly not just Apple) keeps ignoring and violating fundamental rights and continues their massive collection of data. read more »