Perhaps the Goldman gang's best claim to savvy was in buying up hundreds of billions of dollars of mortgages and packaging them into mortgage backed securities, and more complex derivative instruments, and selling them all over the world.
A more important directive should have tackled derivative instruments, which did worsen the credit crunch, Cohen said.
There are clearly times when the market is "more rational" than others, just as there are times -- many times actually -- when derivative instruments flash their "good" side, notably their ability to diffuse risk and to hedge and times when the "bad" or speculative side, emerges.
Many financial derivative instruments, like credit-default swaps, would come under supervision for the first time.
Oryx and Crake is, by comparison, a more derivative vision.
With such a high volume of derivative instruments being traded, opportunities should commonly arise.
More channels than ever, with more time to fill with more "content," means more derivative performers in more derivative formats than at any time in history.
Porsche, under attack for its multibillion gains from using obscure derivative instruments, has denied allegations of market manipulation or insider trading.
For this reason, the Sanders plan covers derivative instruments that would circumvent the FTT (for example, by allowing people to trade income streams on assets without trading ownership).
The administration is seeking the repeal of major portions of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, a law adopted in December 2000 that made sure that derivative instruments would remain largely unregulated.
