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"Firms are doing what they have to do, legally. But women are coming into Wall Street in large numbers — and they still are not making partner and are not getting into the positions that lead to the executive suites. There's still an old-boy network. You just have to keep fighting." So said Muriel Siebert back in 1992.

The question now is whether things are meaningfully better for women.

The question is apt at Wall Street continues to mourn a true pioneer. Siebert paved the way for a lot of women in the industry. The New York Times offers a rich obituary replete with telling anecdotes, like the time she threatened to bring in a portable potty if the NYSE didn't build a women's bathroom on the seventh floor. Or the time when she was told she couldn't use the elevator at an exclusive social club.

No one could ever accuse her of not giving back. She donated millions to help other women get started and she served capably in public service for five years.
While she helped create a system more favorable to women, one has to wonder if the progress stalled? We could debate that one forever.

Companies are still doing what they have to do legally. In some cases, they are doing more. But ascending to the C-suite remains extremely difficult. Staying there, even more so. There are a lot of factors at play, including the notion that the industry just isn't amenable to women these days. The really disconcerting hypothetical trend, if it comes to pass, would be that the most talented women seek careers elsewhere.

For more:
- here's the obit

Read more about: Wall Street women
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2. Nasdaq faces cloudy future

By Jim Kim

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3. BATS-Direct Edge looms as new power

For the once-vaunted Nasdaq, nothing has come easy over the last few years---except problems. It was once considered the future of trading, with an all-electronic, floorless, multiple dealer-driven system that made the NYSE floor look archaic. But that time has passed, and so has its old reputation. No longer considered a technological marvel, it comes across, fairly or not, as less than competent technically and managerially.

The list of missteps is long. Nasdaq OX has failed miserably in its attempts to sell itself. Its attempts to merge with the London Stock Exchange most recently ended up a debacle. Its market share has been dwindling. It botched completely the Facebook IPO, incurring a $10 million, which does not bode well for its attempts to land the Twitter IPO. It has been at odds with regulators. And its technology has proven all too buggy, as the massive outage recently demonstrates.

The pressure was amplified by the news that BATS and Direct Edge are in talks for a merger, one that would push the Nasdaq down to the No. 3 spot.

To be sure, the company can point to some success in its efforts to diversify away from core exchange revenue. It has fared well in the platform business.

Still, the board has a lot to ponder, especially as the media critics emerge. The headline of one Bloomberg Businessweek article: "Nasdaq Goes Glitchy, and the Boss Goes Missing." The article started, "Where's Robert Greifeld when you need him? The Nasdaq (NDAQ) chief executive is getting slammed today for being invisible during the exchange's three-hour emergency shutdown Thursday, which affected trading in thousands of securities…."

The article noted that he was at a wake. During the Facebook IPO debacle, he was on a flight and out of pocket as well.

At some point, no one should be surprised if people start calling for some executive changes. The board no doubt has pondered this.

For more:
- here's the article

Read more about: Nasdaq, exchanges
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By Jim Kim

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4. KBW: JPMorgan would be worth more broken up

When will BATS-Direct Edge become the No. 1 stock exchange in the United States?

It could happen at any time, perhaps sooner rather than later. Together, the two new-era stock exchanges, both of which are largely unencumbered by the legacy baggage of the NYSE and Nasdaq, control about 24 percent of market share, according to the Financial Times. That puts it an effective tie for the top spot with the NYSE.

Many assume that the combined company will eventually become the top dog, which will mark an interesting milestone: the largest stock exchange will no longer reside in New York or the greater New York area or even Atlanta, where ICE is located; it will be headquartered farther away in tiny Overland Park, Kansas, though it will retain offices in New York and New Jersey.

This represents in some ways the triumph of the movement that so long ago began with so-called ECNs, which may yet vanquish the legacy exchanges. The most vulnerable right now would appear to be the Nasdaq, which has suffered a plethora of woes, including the inability to find a suitable merger partner. There could be some big changes ahead for the embattled company.

As for the NYSE, its future rests with the ICE. One can only hope that a thriving competition between ICE and BATS develops, the sooner the better.

One wildcard here is the anti-trust review. My sense is that there are so many execution options these days that the deal will not be blocked.

For more:
- here's an article

Read more about: exchanges
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By Jim Kim

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5. Capacity management in action at Wells Fargo

The break-up-the-big-banks debate ebbs and flows, with no real conclusion. It's not as if one of the big banks is going to do this when its stock value continues to rise. Still, it's interesting to note a recent analysis from Stifel Financial, which concludes that JPMorgan Chase would be worth 30 percent more if it were broken into four distinct pieces.

As noted by Bloomberg, the report by analyst Christopher Mutascio has found that JPMorgan's traditional banking, investment banking, asset management and private equity businesses are separately worth $255.7 billion. That compares with just $197 billion as of last week.

To reach his valuation, "Mutascio used the trailing 12-month net income for each of JPMorgan's four units, subtracted preferred dividends and applied a price-to-earnings multiple of a similar company to find the value of each segment."

The report says JPMorgan could "free up" about $20 billion in common capital if it were broken up. "That's because the individual units would need to hold less capital to reduce risk than the company as a whole."

Persuasive or not, the company isn't going to be breaking up anytime soon. That said, the stock has been sliding as of late, as compliance and litigation pressures intensify, losing ground relative to other big banks. That represents an attractive buying opportunity, the analyst concludes, even in the absence of a break up.

For more:
- here's the article

Read more about: Bank break ups, JPMorgan Chase
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By Jim Kim

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