Free Republic

Strippers with sob stories or hookers with hearts of gold are often the way that Hollywood glamorizes the career paths of exotic dancers. One combination that you don't hear about often is the stripper turned Wall Street trader. Niki Marx, 27, is that case.

Even Willy Wonka might struggle to use this much chocolate. Yesterday, somebody bought 241,000 tonnes of cocoa beans. The purchase was enough to move the entire global cocoa market, sending the price to the highest level since 1977, and triggering rumours and intrigue in the City. It is unclear which person, or group of traders, was behind the deal, but it was the largest single cocoa trade for 14 years. The cocoa beans, which are sitting in warehouses either in The Netherlands, Hamburg, or closer to home in London, Liverpool or Humberside is equivalent to the entire supply of the...

It was a day of carnage that left 56 people dead and a dark shadow for ever cast over the history of London. But for Jérôme Kerviel, the French rogue trader, 7/7 was the jackpot. Mr Kerviel, whose wild bets on the stock market ended with record losses, celebrated as Britain’s worst terror attack helped him to register a €500,000 profit and to continue a winning streak that brought him “orgasmic pleasure”. The trader made the confession as he told the newspaper Le Parisien how he had lost touch with reality in the pursuit of money-making at Société Générale, the...

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States, responding to a key demand of developing countries, said on Saturday it would discuss giving more temporary access to foreign professionals, injecting renewed optimism into world trade talks. The U.S. offer -- its second this week in make-or-break talks to secure a breakthrough in long-running trade negotiations -- had ministers and businessmen talking optimistically about improved prospects for a deal. "When it comes to temporary entry of business professionals we signaled that we are ready to have that conversation in the context of the Doha round," U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab told reporters....

A hunt has been launched for a stock market trader who may have made £100 million in a "modern day bank robbery" after an attack on the share price of the country's biggest mortgage lender. Shares in Halifax Bank of Scotland fell by 17 per cent as traders attempted to make a fortune by betting on the bank's falling stock. Malicious rumours circulated by speculators were blamed for the run, which saw more than £3 billion wiped off the bank's value. Britain's financial watchdog launched a criminal investigation to hunt down "ruthless" rogue traders, including one speculator thought to have...

PARIS (AFP) - Accused French rogue trader Jerome Kerviel walked free after judges placed him under formal investigation Monday for his role in seven billion dollars of losses at Societe Generale but stopped short of charging him with fraud. Shares in the French bank took a battering as allegations emerged that a board member was guilty of insider trading related to the scandal. Kerviel was freed on bail after being placed under formal investigation for "breach of trust", "falsifying and using falsified documents," and "breaching IT procedures", said his lawyer Elisabeth Meyer. Judges rejected a bid to charge Kerviel, accused...

Hillary's donor linked to China missile traderAerospace mogul Bernard Schwartz acted as Hsu's patron on college board Posted: September 2, 2007 10:36 p.m. Eastern © 2007 WorldNetDaily.com Hillary Clinton and Norman Hsu A shady Chinese megadonor to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign has close ties to an aerospace mogul accused of placing his business interests before national security by sharing missile secrets with Beijing during the Clinton administration. Before his forced resignation last week, Norman Yuan Yuen Hsu sat on the board of trustees of the liberal New School university in New York with former Loral Corp. head Bernard L. Schwartz,...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Nick Leeson, the rogue trader who brought down Barings Bank the early 1990s, wants to make a comeback in the business that made him famous. His timing, for once, couldn't be better. Leeson, 40, told Bloomberg on March 2 that he is contemplating a return to full-time trading turning his back on his recent career as an author, marketer for an Irish soccer club and motivational speaker. For now, Leeson says he might only play with his own money, but you never know. "You wouldn't believe how many people have asked me to manage their money,"...

Genghis Khan, law giver, free trader and diplomat, is back with a new image By Richard Spencer in Ulan Bator (Filed: 11/07/2006) The Mongolian capital has been swamped with images of its former potentate, Genghis Khan, in honour of the anniversary of his unification of the nation in 1206. At the climax of celebrations in Ulan Bator yesterday, soldiers in traditional uniform and bearing yaks' tail standards heralded the unveiling of an enormous statue of the Great Khan in the main Sukhbaatar Square. The monument in which it is set contains earth and stones from the holy and historic places...

"Wanted: psychopaths to make a killing in the markets." Such an advert will not be appearing in the world's newspapers any time soon, but it may have a ring of truth after research revealed the best wheeler-dealers could well be "functional psychopaths." A team of U.S. scientists has found the emotionally impaired are more willing to gamble for high stakes and that people with brain damage may make good financial decisions, the Times newspaper reported Monday. In a study of investors' behavior 41 people with normal IQs were asked to play a simple investment game. Fifteen of the group had...

Out scouring starts with "Hate Speech".

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A San Diego stock adviser who is accused of bribing an F.B.I. agent to give him confidential government information may have had prior knowledge of the Sept. 11 attacks, a federal prosecutor said yesterday. In a court hearing in San Diego, Kenneth Breen, an assistant United States attorney, said the adviser, Amr Ibrahim Elgindy, tried to sell $300,000 in stock on the afternoon of Sept. 10 and told his broker that the stock market would soon plunge. "Perhaps Mr. Elgindy had preknowledge of Sept. 11, and rather than report it he attempted to profit from it," Mr. Breen said. Mr....

ZAMBOANGA CITY — A Chinese-Filipino businesswoman kidnapped by suspected Abu Sayyaf members escaped after almost four months in captivity, the military said yesterday. Marine products trader Gertrudes Tan, 50, eluded her captors in a coastal village in Maimbung, Sulu last Monday night, said Lt. Gen. Roy Kyamko, chief of the Armed Forces’ Southern Command. Kyamko said Tan drifted into the sea using a small plastic jug as float until fishermen found her at about 2:30 a.m. the following day. The fishermen brought her to the Maimbung town proper where she took a passenger jeepney that brought her to the capital...