Thursday, February 28, 2008

Oops: Buried Under Wheat

From the Wall Street Journal's MarketBeat blog:

Yesterday in the Wall Street Journal, MF Global director of commodity research Rich Feltes was quoted as saying “we’re up here doing things in the wheat market we’ve never done before.”

He wasn’t just whistling Dixie.

The brokerage earlier today acknowledged $141 million in losses (72 cents a share) due to positions taken by one of its registered representatives, Evan Dooley, (who has been fired) in the wheat market, which has been subject to massive volatility and startling price increases. Mr. Dooley told the Wall Street Journal that the “computer system failed.”>>>MORE