As this year comes to a close, I find myself missing Europe. After so much attention from the breathless media in the earlier part of the year, I find myself, oddly, looking for EU news. I found some today, so I feel less wanting.

  • The European Union on Thursday approved a cash injection of 1.87 billion euros ($2.48 billion) into four former Spanish savings banks, the second phase of the overhaul of the country’s banking sector.

The slow slog toward recovery in the EU is still under way, as is the process toward greater fiscal and political integration. My guess is that the news from Europe in 2013 will be more good than bad, which, means less play in the media. Don’t worry, though. I’ve got money working there, so I will be looking for the news.

Sometimes, I get questions that are just impossible to answer because the writer structures the question in a confusing manner or the writer truncates the question to the point of me not understanding the question. Sometimes, the writer does both, as in the question below.

  • What do you think about and any insights into warrants, spin-offs, bankruptcies, LEAPS, restructurings, recapitalizations, and mergers?

To the first part of the above, I think about lots of things, too many things to enumerate in this column. To the second part, yes, I have insights into all those things, but what exactly is the question? Take a breath, think about what it is you want to know and then reframe the question so I can answer it. Please, give it a second shot.

  • Gross domestic product expanded at a 3.1 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said in its third estimate on Thursday, up from the 2.7 percent pace reported last month. It was the fastest growth since late 2011 and also reflected a slightly better pace of consumer spending than previously estimated.
  • Homes values gained an estimated 6 percent in the U.S. this year, the first increase since 2006, as the housing market began to recover from its worst slump since the 1930s, Zillow Inc. (Z) said today. Values have climbed more than $1.3 trillion to $23.7 trillion since the end of last year and probably will continue to rise in 2013.

Pundits will find much to quibble with in the above numbers, but the fact remains that the US economy is firmly in recovery. Oh! I just remembered another gem from earlier in the year – the US would tip back into recession. I hope no one bought into that wild bit of financial analysis.

Switching gears, the implementation of the Dodd-Frank financial rules has been under the radar, but it is still going on.

  • On October 15, top U.S. derivatives regulator Gary Gensler watched a mock ceremony to mark the start of a broad overhaul of the swaps industry that started that day. A groundswell of discontent about the CFTC’s handling of the rules was only to be expected, he said, as the $650 trillion derivatives industry – largely in use by financial speculators – is being regulated for the first time.

This is good news for market players, as well as the global economy. One of the structural reasons for the 2008 financial collapse was the unregulated derivatives industry, which, as one can see, channels a vast amount of market money. No wonder the cowboys who run wild in the swaps countryside are upset – no more shooting from the hip.

Trade in the day; Invest in your life …

Trader Ed