This post is a guest contribution by Paul Kasriel* of The Northern Trust Company.

On November 7, 2008, Bloomberg LP sued the Federal Reserve Board under terms of the Freedom of Information Act to obtain the names of borrowers of funds from the Federal Reserve as well as lists of the collateral posted by the borrowers. On August 25, 2009, a U.S. District judge ruled in favor of Bloomberg, ordering the Federal Reserve Board to turn over to Bloomberg the requested information within five days. At this writing, the Fed has yet to comply and has yet made a decision to appeal the ruling. The Fed has been reluctant to reveal the names of its borrowers allegedly out of a concern that such a revelation could have an adverse competitive impact on the borrowers.

The reason I bring this up is that it is similar

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The Bloomberg Euro-Zone Retail Purchasing Managers' Index ("PMI(R: 28.26, 0, 0%)"), based on a mid-month survey of more than 1,000 executives in the euro area retail sector, provides data one month ahead of government-issued figures. The PMI rose from 42.3 in February to 44.1 in March, signaling the smallest monthly drop in the value of sales in five months. The first quarter has seen an average monthly decline that was less steep than the record drop seen during Q4 of last year. The March decline remained strong by the survey's historical standards, and sales have now fallen for ten consecutive months. br /br /German retail sales dropped for a 10th month in March as Europe’s largest economy grappled with a recession, the Bloomberg purchasing managers’ index showed. The index dropped to 44.4 from 45.4 in February when adjusted for seasonal swings. A reading below 50 signals contraction. The gauge is ...

Citigroup, who is becoming a symbol of the Wall Street buildup of the past 20 years, is now fittingly breaking apart. The joint venture of their brokerage unit Smith Barney with Morgan Stanley will create the largest firm of financial advisers. But is this "super-brokerage" really what consumers want right now? While the strength of conglomerates has often been praised for their synergies and the amount of services they can provide, the model hasn't been that successful. This joint venture probably isn't being done for the sake of creating a big brokerage, but necessity. Citigroup needs capital, and they are looking to re-shuffle the organization.br /br /p/pblockquotepThe venture, which New York-based Morgan Stanley will control with a 51 percent stake, would employ 20,390 brokers in more than 1,000 branches. The new entity would surpass the 16,000-strong “thundering herd” of brokers at Merrill ...