This is what’s in the news for Tuesday May 22, 2012. The Wall Street Journal reports JPMorgan Chase’s (NYSE:JPM) recent trading mistakes are becoming a boon for some of its major competitors, including Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), who have scored profits that could total $500M-$1B on trades that sometimes put them directly against J.P. Morgan’s chief investment office. The Wall Street Journal also reports the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development today cut its forecasts for growth across the euro zone for this year and next, and warned that the area’s debt crisis could pull it into a downward spiral without the right policy action. Reuters reports China can now bypass Wall Street when buying U.S. government debt and go directly to the U.S. Treasury, in what is the Treasury’s first direct relationship with a foreign government. Reuters also reports just before Facebook’s (NASDAQ:FB) $16B IPO, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), the deal’s lead underwriter, unexpectedly delivered negative news to major clients: The bank’s consumer Internet analyst, Scott Devitt, was reducing his revenue forecasts for the company. Bloomberg reports the types of derivative swaps said to have led to a loss of at least $2B at JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) may be the first for which the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission would require guarantees by clearinghouses under the Dodd-Frank Act, according to the CFTC chairman Gary Gensler. Finally, Bloomberg also reports Metlife (NYSE:MET) may target annuities and U.S. retail life insurance for cost cuts as CEO Kandarian unveils his plan to improve returns.
