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at the new york stock exchange which has been <unk> by complaints from angry individual investors and the exchange 's own listed companies chairman john j. phelan jr. held an emergency meeting with senior partners of some of the big board 's N stock specialist firms |
the specialists a trader said were <unk> about mr. phelan 's recent remarks that sophisticated computer-driven trading strategies are here to stay |
many investors blame program trading for wild swings in the stock market including the 190-point plunge in the dow jones industrial average on oct. N |
a specialist is an exchange member designated to maintain a fair and orderly market in a specified stock |
mr. phelan 's meeting with the floor brokers comes as he prepares to explain the exchange 's position on program trading to key congressional regulators in a closed session tomorrow according to exchange officials |
a big board spokesman would only say we 're working the problem and looking at the issue and meeting with a broad number of customers and constituents to get their views and ideas on the issue |
the program-trading outcry was taken to a new level when giant contel corp. said it and N or more of the big board 's listed companies are forming an unprecedented alliance to complain about the exchange 's role in program trading |
the decision by merrill the nation 's largest securities firm represents the biggest retreat yet from program trading |
merrill has been the <unk> stock-index arbitrage trader on the big board this year executing an average of N million shares a month in such trades or about one million shares a day |
merrill 's move is one of the most sweeping program-trading <unk> of recent days because the big securities firm will no longer execute stock-index arbitrage trades for customers |
most wall street firms in pulling back have merely stopped such trading for their own accounts |
merrill has been one of the main firms executing index arbitrage for customers |
merrill also said it is lobbying for significant regulatory controls on program trading including tough margin or <unk> requirements and limits on price moves for <unk> financial futures |
merrill in a statement by chairman william a. <unk> and president daniel p. <unk> said index arbitrage has been clearly identified in the investing public 's mind as a contributing factor to excess market volatility so merrill wo n't execute such trades until effective controls are in place |
in stock-index arbitrage traders buy and sell large amounts of stocks with offsetting trades in stock-index futures and options |
the idea is to lock in profits from short-term swings in volatile markets |
last thursday painewebber group inc. also said it would cease index arbitrage altogether but the firm was n't as big an index <unk> as merrill is |
other large firms including bear stearns & co. and morgan stanley & co. last week announced a <unk> from index arbitrage but only for the firms ' own accounts |
kidder made an abrupt <unk> on program trading yesterday after a special meeting between the firm 's president and chief executive officer michael carpenter and its senior managers |
just a week ago mr. carpenter <unk> defended index arbitrage at kidder the most active index-arbitrage trading firm on the stock exchange this year |
index arbitrage mr. carpenter said last week does n't have a negative impact on the market as a whole and kidder 's customers were sophisticated enough to know that |
but yesterday mr. carpenter said big institutional investors which he would n't identify told us they would n't do business with firms that continued to do index arbitrage for their own accounts |
we were following the trend of our competitors who were under pressure from institutions he said |
kidder so far this year has executed a monthly average of N million shares in index-arbitrage trading and is second only to morgan stanley in overall program trading which includes index arbitrage |
most of kidder 's program trading is for its own account according to the new york stock exchange |
kidder denied that ge 's chairman and chief executive john f. welch had anything to do with kidder 's decision |
but at least one chief executive said he called mr. welch to complain about kidder 's aggressive use of program trading and other market sources said they understood that mr. welch received many phone calls complaining about kidder 's reliance on index arbitrage as a major business |
kidder has generally been sensitive to suggestions that ge makes decisions for its kidder unit |
our decision had nothing to do with any pressure mr. welch received mr. carpenter said |
this was a kidder peabody <unk> decision |
a spokeswoman for ge in fairfield conn. said absolutely no one spoke to jack welch on this subject and added anyone who claims they talked to jack welch is n't telling the truth |
supporters of index arbitrage have n't been publicly sticking up for the trading strategy as some did during the post-crash outcry of N |
but merrill lynch in its statement about pulling out of index arbitrage suggested that the current debate has missed the mark |
merrill said it continues to believe that the causes of excess market volatility are far more complex than any particular computer trading strategy |
indeed there are legitimate hedging strategies used by managers of large portfolios such as pension funds that involve program trading as a means of protecting the assets of their pension beneficiaries |
merrill 's index arbitragers will continue to do other kinds of <unk> program trading so there probably wo n't be any layoffs at the firm people familiar with merrill 's program operation said |
meanwhile bear stearns chairman and chief executive alan c. greenberg said his firm will continue stock-index arbitrage for its clients |
at the firm 's annual meeting last night he told shareholders that index arbitrage wo n't go away despite the public outcry |
if they think they are going to stop index arbitrage by causing a few wall street firms to quit they are crazy mr. greenberg said |
it 's not going to stop it at all |
mr. greenberg noting that stock-index arbitrage rises and <unk> with stock market 's volatility said that for the first four months of the firm 's fiscal year beginning in july stock-index arbitrage had been a break-even proposition for bear stearns |
in response to a shareholder 's suggestion mr. greenberg agreed that european firms will simply pick up the index-arbitrage business left behind by u.s. institutions |
pressure from big institutional investors has been the major catalyst for wall street 's program-trading <unk> |
and there was speculation yesterday that fidelity investments and other large mutual-fund companies might soon follow the lead of kemper corp. and other institutions in cutting off trading business to securities firms that do program trading |
a fidelity spokesman in boston denied the speculation saying the program-trading issue was more of a regulatory problem |
but a much smaller mutual fund company the <unk> investment management co. unit of <unk> san antonio texas said it informed nine national brokerage firms it will cease business with them unless they stop index-arbitrage trading |
<unk> with N mutual fund accounts manages more than $ N billion $ N billion of which is in the stock market |
michael j.c. roth <unk> executive vice president called program trading <unk> |
he said there is no valid investment reason for stock-index futures to exist |
a <unk> move is clearly on |
charles wohlstetter chairman of contel who is helping <unk> the alliance of big <unk> firms said he had no time to work yesterday because he received so many phone calls <unk> and letters supporting his view that the big board has been turned into a gambling casino by program traders |
we are reaching the moment of truth on wall street said rep. edward j. markey d. mass. chairman of the house subcommittee on telecommunications and finance |
wall street is beginning to realize as shakespeare said the trouble is not in our stars but in ourselves |
craig <unk> and anne <unk> contributed to this article |
an ancient <unk> <unk> <unk> or drinking cup was recovered <unk> at sotheby 's this spring and has been returned to the manhattan couple who lost it in a <unk> three years ago |
robert guy an associate <unk> at the princeton art museum was <unk> a june <unk> sale at the auction house when he recognized the <unk> which he as a specialist in <unk> <unk> and a careful reader of the stolen art alert in <unk> reports knew was stolen |
the timing of his visit was <unk> the man who had brought it in for an estimate had returned to collect it and was waiting in the hall |
to confirm mr. guy 's <unk> sotheby 's and <unk> exchanged photos by fax and the waiting man apparently innocent of knowledge that the <unk> was stolen agreed to release it |
the cup had been insured and in short order it was given over to a <unk> & son representative |
the original owners <unk> repaid the claim and took their <unk> home |
a former <unk> of the museum of <unk> art in <unk> <unk> n.y. pleaded guilty in july to stealing and selling original signed and dated comic strips among them N dick <unk> strips by <unk> gould N prince <unk> sunday <unk> by <unk> foster and a dozen walt disney <unk> <unk> according to barbara hammond the museum 's di... |
he sold them well below market value to raise cash to pay off mounting credit-card debts incurred to buy presents for his girlfriend his attorney philip russell told <unk> |
the <unk> <unk> sherman <unk> of greenwich conn. had worked his way up from <unk> in seven years at the museum |
the theft was discovered early this year soon after ms. hammond took her post |
sentencing was postponed on aug. N when mr. <unk> was <unk> for depression |
his efforts to get back the stolen strips had resulted in recovery of just three |
but on oct. N he had reason to <unk> |
two days earlier his attorney met in a park avenue law office with a <unk> dealer who expected to sell N of the most important stolen strips to mr. russell for $ N |
instead new york city police seized the stolen goods and mr. <unk> avoided jail |
he was sentenced to N hours of community service and <unk> to the museum of $ N |
authorities at london 's <unk> airport are investigating the disappearance of a paul <unk> <unk> young <unk> woman in a red <unk> that has two <unk> on its <unk> opposite side |
valued at $ N million it was part of a <unk> shipment |
the <unk> number was changed en route and paper work showing that the <unk> had cleared customs was <unk> so it was a week before three of the four <unk> could be located in a <unk> warehouse and the <unk> discovered missing |
although <unk> authorities have been watching a group of allegedly <unk> <unk> <unk> for some time the <unk> may be lost |
chief inspector peter <unk> of the criminal investigation department at the airport said it is not uncommon for property to be temporarily <unk> or <unk> |
officials at the university of virginia art museum certainly would agree |
their museum had purchased an <unk> <unk> column <unk> and shipped it from london |
it was reported stolen in transit en route to washington d.c. in february |
months later the <unk> <unk> arrived in good condition at the museum in <unk> having <unk> traveled by a <unk> route through <unk> |
two mexican college <unk> not professional art thieves have been arrested for a N christmas <unk> <unk> from the national museum of <unk> in mexico city |
about N <unk> <unk> <unk> and <unk> <unk> including some of mexico 's best-known <unk> <unk> were taken |
the government offered a reward for the return of the <unk> but routine police work led to the recovery |
as it turned out carlos <unk> <unk> and <unk> <unk> garcia had hidden the haul in a <unk> in the <unk> family 's home for a year |
then they took the art to <unk> and began to trade some of it for cocaine |
information from an arrested drug <unk> led to the two men and the recovery of almost all the stolen art |
among other happy news <unk> from the german democratic republic the leipzig museum of fine arts announced that it has recovered cemetery in the snow a painting by the german romantic <unk> <unk> david <unk> |
the artist 's <unk> subjects bring high prices on the world market and the u.s. state department notified <unk> of the theft in february N |
according to a source at the east europe desk two previously convicted <unk> were charged tried convicted and sentenced to prison terms of four and N years |
the precious <unk> cut from its frame at the time of the theft was found in nearby <unk> hidden in the <unk> of an easy chair in the home of the girlfriend of one of the thieves |
no charges were brought against her |
<unk> <unk> painting is meant to fool the eye but robert lawrence trotter N of <unk> square pa. took his <unk> seriously |
he painted one himself in the style of john <unk> and sold it as a <unk> original to <unk> dealers in <unk> conn |
mr. trotter 's painting showed a wall of wood boards with painted <unk> tacked down in a <unk> <unk> behind the <unk> were <unk> <unk> faded and <unk> papers and currency |
mr. trotter 's fake <unk> was offered at a bargain price of $ N with a phony story that it <unk> to his wife 's late <unk> in new <unk> conn |
the dealers immediately showed their new acquisition to an expert and came to see it as a fake |
they persuaded mr. trotter to take it back and with the help of the fbi taped their conversation with him |
after his arrest the <unk> admitted to <unk> and selling other paintings up and down the eastern <unk> |
ms. <unk> is executive director of the international foundation for art research <unk> |
ford motor co. said it is <unk> about N of its <unk> <unk> because the <unk> <unk> was improperly applied to some cars |
separately ford and mazda motor corp. 's u.s. sales arm said they are <unk> about N <unk> mercury <unk> and N N N and N model mazda <unk> equipped with <unk> <unk> engines to replace the oil <unk> cap |
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