Stock Funds Rocket Out Of The Ditch (Investor’s Business Daily)
Investor’s Business Daily – Stock mutual funds pulled a Lazarus in 2009. After falling into a deep hole, they leapt and rejoined the land of the living.

How the major stock indexes fared on Thursday (AP)
AP – The stock market closed out a remarkable 2009 with a loss as investors bet the improving economy will lead the government to pull back on its stimulus measures.

Bond Funds’ Nov. Flow Strong Again (Investor’s Business Daily)
Investor’s Business Daily – Investors pulled $2.78 billion from stock funds in November while stuffing $36.24 billion into bond funds.

London stocks ends 2009 with 22% gain (AFP)

AFP – The stock market closed higher in a half-day session on Thursday, the final trading session of 2009, to chalk up an impressive annual gain of more than 22 percent.

World stocks close out bumper 2009 with more gains (AP)

AP – World stocks edged up Thursday, with traders heading into the long New Year’s weekend in upbeat mood following a nine-month bull run that has seen many markets advance over 50 percent.

Financial reform is flawed, says CBOE chief
Bill Brodsky, chief executive of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, says the debate on Capitol Hill over reforming financial regulation is focusing on the wrong issues

Times Square, Nasdaq reopened after scare (Reuters)
Reuters – New York City’s Times Square was closed briefly and three buildings including the Nasdaq headquarters were evacuated in a security scare on Wednesday, a day before the traditional New Year’s Eve festivities in the famed intersection.

Most Gulf stocks rebound in 2009 (AFP)

AFP – Most Gulf stock markets on Thursday ended 2009 higher following massive losses in the previous year because of the global economic downturn, but their rebound was halted by the Dubai debt crisis.

Fox, Time Warner Cable ink deal to avoid blackout
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Time Warner Cable and News Corp’s Fox Networks Group agreed to a brief extension of their current carriage contract late on Thursday to avoid a blackout that would have prevented 13 million U.S. homes from seeing TV shows like “The Simpsons” and “House” as well as college and NFL football games.

Tetragon Financial Group Limited (TFG) Announces Update On Its Share Repurchase Program
LONDON, December 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — TFG today announces in furtherance of its share repurchase program announced on November 30, 2007, that for the period of December 21, 2009 through December 24, 2009 TFG purchased 145,000 of its shares for an average price of U.S. $3.74 per share.

Putnam Investments Survey Finds Americans Hopeful About 2010 Economy
Consumers make “saving more” their top New Year’s resolution.

Prognosticating About 2010 and the Magic 8-Ball
Regulatory changes, electronic trading solutions and international policy will dominate 2010. How so? ‘Reply hazy, try again.’

2010 Technology Forecast Is Anyone’s Best Guess
With the economy sending mixed signals, predicting how capital markets firms will spend their technology dollars is a difficult, though not impossible, task.

New year, old worries for U.S. stocks (Reuters)

Reuters – U.S. stocks closed out 2009 with the best performance in six years, but monthly employment figures in the first week of the new year will keep investors focused on what is likely to be 2010’s reality — the economy’s struggle to recover.

How BNY Mellon Built A Firm-Wide BI Platform
Business intelligence is giving BNY Mellon’s institutional salespeople views of projects and performance; in some cases they know more about a client’s business than the client does.

FBI Investigates $10 million Citigroup Hack
It is not yet known whether thieves gained access to Citibank’s systems directly or through third parties, according to the Wall Street Journal.

CME Group Thrives on Technology Innovation
As the operator of the Chicago Mercantile and other exchanges, CME Group’s competitive advantage increasingly is built on technology innovation.

Chi-X Global Hires Steven Silberstein As CIO
Former Lehman executive will oversee technology used by the international operator of alternative trading venues.

Prospecting for Stocks: DryShips
Building a successful stock portfolio starts with finding great businesses.

Natural Gas Executives Cash In Their Chips
Can we divine the commodity’s future from these insider actions?

Oil ends 2009 78 percent above year-ago level
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil finished the year above $79 a barrel on Thursday, climbing a whopping 78 percent in 2009 and notching the biggest annual gain in a decade.

United, Continental and ANA eye antitrust waiver
US carriers United Airlines and Continental Airlines and Japan’s All Nippon Airways are to seek a waiver of antitrust rules from the United States to allow them to co-ordinate flights and fares across the Pacific

Wall St struggles to push higher
US stocks struggled to push higher on Wednesday as the dollar strengthened and investors looked ahead to the end of the year

Latin American Markets: Mexico stocks fall, but 2009 gain stands tall
Mexican stocks fall Thursday, with metals and retail stocks among the session’s laggards, but the benchmark tracking the second-largest equity market in Latin America posts its strongest yearly gain since 2004.

Mutual Funds Weekly: Fund investors deserve a happy new year
The market’s roller-coaster ride ended the decade on a high note for investors. May that good fortune continue for you and yours during a happy, healthy and prosperous new year.

Movers & Shakers: Thursday’s biggest gaining and declining stocks
MarketWatch’s daily rundown of major gainers and decliners in the U.S. stock market.

A look at economic developments around the globe (AP)
AP – A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Thursday:

Futures Movers: Oil rises, gaining the most in decade
Weaker dollar. hope of U.S. economic recovery push crude higher as 2009 ends.

Hickok Incorporated Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2009 Operating Results
CLEVELAND, Dec. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Hickok Incorporated (OTC Bulletin Board: HICKA.OB), a Cleveland based supplier of products and services for automotive, emissions testing, locomotive, and aircraft industries, today reported operating results for the fourth quarter and the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009.

Alliance New York Municipal Income Fund, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter Earnings
NEW YORK, Dec. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Alliance New York Municipal Income Fund, Inc. (NYSE: AYN), a registered closedend investment company, today announced earnings for the Fund’s fourth fiscal quarter ended October 31, 2009.

Neb.’s TierOne gets delisting warning from Nasdaq (AP)
AP – TierOne Bank’s owners say they have received a Nasdaq delisting notice because the company’s stock price has been below $1 for more than 30 consecutive business days.

Economy – Wednesday (Investor’s Business Daily)
Investor’s Business Daily – Inventories dropped by a less-than-expected 1.54 mil barrels to 326 mil in the week ended Dec. 25, the Energy Dept. said, as cold weather underpinned demand. Gasoline stocks fell by 366,000 barrels to 214.96 mil. Distillate stocks, including heating oil and diesel fuel, fell by 2.06 mil barrels to 159.28 mil. Refining capacity utilization edged up to 80.3%. Crude rose 41 cents to $79.28 a barrel, the highest close since Nov. 19. Oil has risen 14% since Dec. 14.

Princeton Financial Systems launches New Data Management Solution
MIG21 reduces data-related errors before compliance check.

Movers & Shakers: Thursday’s biggest gaining and declining stocks
MarketWatch’s daily rundown of major gainers and decliners in the U.S. stock market.

How BNY Mellon Built A Firm-Wide BI Platform
Business intelligence is giving BNY Mellon’s institutional salespeople views of projects and performance; in some cases they know more about a client’s business than the client does.

SunGard Releases New VPM Portfolio Accounting Solution For Hedge Funds
SunGard’s VPM version 9.0 provides hedge funds with an enterprise-level portfolio accounting application that is built on a service-oriented architecture for plug-and-play integration with a firm’s existing applications.

Global Axcess Corp Provides Year-End Business Update
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Dec. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Global Axcess Corp (OTC Bulletin Board: GAXC)( the “Company”), an independent provider of self-service kiosk solutions, today recapped its 2009 business activities and achievements.

Irvine Sensors Releases FY09 Results
COSTA MESA, Calif., Dec. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Irvine Sensors Corporation (Nasdaq: IRSN) today reported operating results for fiscal 2009, the 52 weeks ended September 27, 2009.

London, Paris stocks finish 2009 with big gains (AFP)

AFP – British and French stock markets rose Thursday in light holiday-shortened trade to finish 2009 with bumper annual gains of more than 22 percent amid growing investor confidence over economic recovery.

Subaye Announces Fiscal 2009 Year-End Results
GUANGZHOU CITY, China, Dec. 30 /PRNewswire-Asia/ — Subaye, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: SBAY)(”Subaye” or the “Company”) announced its financial results for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009.

Financial Fraud Prosecutions Dropped During Past Year
The U.S. Justice Department said prosecution of financial crimes dropped sharply in the past year, despite headlines centered on massive fraud cases.

SEC Charges Former Employees of Global Firms in Serial Insider Trading Scheme
According to the SEC’s complaint in the case, financial executives exchanged illegal tips through coded text messages and yellow sticky notes.

Solarflare, Cloudsoft, Citrix Partner to Build High-Speed Clouds
Cloud development platform and network switch adapters can enable 4.6 Gbps data speeds for internal clouds, the vendors say.

Nation – Wednesday (Investor’s Business Daily)
Investor’s Business Daily – New York City’s Times Square was closed briefly and 3 nearby buildings, including the Nasdaq stock exchange, were evacuated a day before New Year’s Eve festivities. A parked van with tinted windows, no plates and a bogus law enforcement placard led the NYPD to clear the area about 11 a.m. Wed. and send in a bomb squad. No explosives were found, and the area was reopened to traffic about 2 hours later.

Cantor Fitzgerald Hopes to Bring Spread Betting to Las Vegas Casinos
Brokerage’s Cantor Gaming subsidiary already makes markets for spread betting in the U.K. and sports wagering in Las Vegas resorts. Next, it hopes regulators will permit spread betting in Nevada.

ACTIV Financial Expands U.S. and European Operations to Equinix Singapore Data Center
ACTIV clients are seeking additional hosted direct feed solutions to support their high frequency trading requirements in the region, the vendor said.

CME Group Thrives on Technology Innovation
As the operator of the Chicago Mercantile and other exchanges, CME Group’s competitive advantage increasingly is built on technology innovation.

Prognosticating About 2010 and the Magic 8-Ball
Regulatory changes, electronic trading solutions and international policy will dominate 2010. How so? ‘Reply hazy, try again.’

BATS To Compete with NYSE and Nasdaq for Listings
Kansas City exchange hopes to attract small companies, exchange-traded funds.

Mutual Funds and Cost Basis Compliance: Plan Now to be Prepared in 2012
The fund industry’s procrastination in implementing cost basis reporting systems may have a dramatic impact on investor satisfaction over the long-term.

Sri Lanka stock market ends 2009 up 128 percent (AFP)

AFP – The Sri Lankan stock exchange more than doubled in value in 2009, figures showed Wednesday on the last day of trading for the year.

FTSE 100 gains 22% in 2009 (AFP)

AFP – The leading stock exchange closed higher in a half-day session on Thursday — the final trading session of 2009 — to chalk up an impressive annual gain of more than 22 percent.

London, Paris stocks finish 2009 with big gains (AFP)

AFP – British and French stock markets rose Thursday in light holiday-shortened trade to finish 2009 with bumper annual gains of more than 22 percent amid growing investor confidence over economic recovery.

Nation – Wednesday (Investor’s Business Daily)
Investor’s Business Daily – New York City’s Times Square was closed briefly and 3 nearby buildings, including the Nasdaq stock exchange, were evacuated a day before New Year’s Eve festivities. A parked van with tinted windows, no plates and a bogus law enforcement placard led the NYPD to clear the area about 11 a.m. Wed. and send in a bomb squad. No explosives were found, and the area was reopened to traffic about 2 hours later.

US jobless claims fall to 17-month low
First-time claims for unemployment benefits fell to the lowest level since July 2008 last week as US businesses backed off from firings at the end of the year

Wall Street drops, but on track for best year since 2003 (Reuters)

Reuters – U.S. stocks fell on Thursday despite data that showed the number of people filing for jobless benefits fell to the lowest level in about 17 months.

Wall Street Waits as SEC Fails to Bring Madoff-Inspired Reforms (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg – Dec. 30 (Bloomberg) — Mary Schapiro, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, said she wanted to show that her agency was cracking down after missing Bernard Madoff’s $65 billion Ponzi scheme. In May, she proposed that almost 10,000 money managers undergo surprise inspections to make sure they weren’t ripping off clients.

Neb.’s TierOne gets delisting warning from Nasdaq (AP)
AP – TierOne Bank’s owners say they have received a Nasdaq delisting notice because the company’s stock price has been below $1 for more than 30 consecutive business days.

BofA on fighting form as blue-chips flock in
Bank of America Merrill Lynch has bounced back from the disruption caused by its acquisition of Merrill, becoming the second-biggest corporate broking adviser among UK blue-chips

Algo Provider Deep Value to Use NYSE’s Hosted Ticker Plant
Deep Value will test and fine-tune algos via the hosted ticker plant, which NYSE says handles 1.2 million messages per second.

World markets mixed after Wall Street slips (AP)

AP – European stock markets were mixed during sluggish year-end trading Wednesday after Wall Street snapped a six-day advance overnight and Asian markets fluctuated.

RTS Realtime Systems Offers Low-Latency Access to London Stock Exchange Group Markets
RTS is providing hosted-access to LSE Markets through the RTS London primary and secondary data centers.

Neb.’s TierOne gets delisting warning from Nasdaq (AP)
AP – TierOne Bank’s owners say they have received a Nasdaq delisting notice because the company’s stock price has been below $1 for more than 30 consecutive business days.

ACTIV Financial Expands U.S. and European Operations to Equinix Singapore Data Center
ACTIV clients are seeking additional hosted direct feed solutions to support their high frequency trading requirements in the region, the vendor said.

4 settle SEC claims against defunct Pa. firm (AP)
AP – Three former officers of a defunct Pittsburgh-area medical staffing company and an attorney who worked for them have agreed to settle stock fraud claims filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

CME Group Thrives on Technology Innovation
As the operator of the Chicago Mercantile and other exchanges, CME Group’s competitive advantage increasingly is built on technology innovation.