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How To Make Money In 3-D Printing.

Looking ahead, I believe 3-D Printing technology will revolutionize the world. Maybe not to the extent that computers did, but it wouldn’t be that far behind. Just imagine being in the middle of a jungle and having the ability to print any sort of a tool with nothing more than a flash card and a cheap 3-D printer. Amazing. 

With the industry expecting to grow over 500% over the next 5 years and some believing that the industry can achieve $10 billion in sales by 2021, only one question remains. How do you make a ton of money from this darn thing. Sure, you can invest in companies like HP, DDD, SSYS, but what else is out there? Printer manufacturing, printing materials, 3-D designs for various products, etc…. 

What is the best way to capitalize on the upcoming boom? Please share your thoughts. 

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How To Make Money In 3-D Printing.  Google

how to make money in 3-d printing

CNBC Writes: 3-D printing market to grow 500% in 5 years

Companies specializing in 3-D printing may have been branded the “most hideous” stocks recently, but the sector will continue to produce stellar growth over the coming years, according to latest research.

The size of the global market, including 3-D printer sales, materials and associated services, is predicted to reach $16.2 billion by 2018, according to independent research company Canalys. Its estimates show the sector stood at $2.5 billion globally in 2013 and will rise to $3.8 billion in 2014. And in five years the company believes the market will grow by over 500 percent with a year-over-year growth rate of 45.7 percent.

A MakerBot 3-D printer prints Nokia cellphone cases.

Matt Clinch | CNBC
A MakerBot 3-D printer prints Nokia cellphone cases.

“We are at the inflection point for 3-D printing,” Tim Shepherd, a senior analyst at Canalys said in a press release on Monday afternoon.

“It has now moved from a new and much-hyped, but largely unproven, manufacturing process to a technology with the ability to produce real, innovative, complex and robust products.”

3-D printing – creating three-dimensional solid objects from digital models – is gathering momentum and is transforming everything from medicine to home goods. Printers that once cost $30,000 now are priced closer to $1,000 and have the potential to rewrite the rules of global manufacturing.

There has been a wide variety of forecasts on just how much this new industry can blossom. Boston-based advisory firm Lux Research has previously estimated that the overall market size in 2025 will be $8.4 billion, led by automotive, medical and aerospace applications.

Jaw-dropping things to make with 3-D printers

Source: ODD Guitars

Meanwhile, Colorado-based Wohlers Associates expects it to continue strong double-digit growth over the next several years, predicting last year that the industry would reach $10.8 billion by 2021.

The new manufacturing technique has also attracted significant backing on crowdfunding site Kickstarter with some of the top “most funded” projects on the website being 3D printers.

Read MoreWhat investors need to know about 3-D printing

Nonetheless, the space hasn’t been without its fair share of hiccups. Stock analysts believe 3-D printing has become home to the “most hideous” stocks in the U.S stock markets, according to CNBC’s Jim Cramer. Shares of both Stratasys and 3D Systems saw huge price spikes in the past 12 months, before witnessing steady declines in recent weeks.

But the underlying fundamentals look good, according to Canalys, even if some investors have been caught out by the momentum trade. Shepherd added that the “main barriers” to uptake are being addressed, such as faster print times and the ability of the printers to use different colors, finishes and materials.

“This is a fast-evolving market, but it is still in its infancy. Expect to see new major entrants making a significant impact in the industry in the coming years, including giants such as HP,” he said.

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The End Of Bitcoin?

Bitcoin just can’t catch a break lately. With recent price collapse, Mt. Gox failure and bankruptcy, Chinese controls and the recent IRS ruling, Bitcoin has more twists and turns than a Mexican Telenovela. That has been my biggest problem with the Bitcoin since the start. No one on this earth can accurately predict where Bitcoin will be 2 years from now. It might be at $1 or at $1 Million. As such, Bitcoin is nothing more than a highly speculative asset. 

Further, I believe that recent IRS ruling classifying Bitcoin as an asset as opposed to a currency is the biggest death blow that no one is talking about. Just imagine buying a chocolate bar with Bitcoin and trying to figure out your capital gain/loss in the transaction. I fathom most people will give up after the first try. Whatever the future is, when it comes to Bitcoin, it is impossible to predict. That is precisely why I continue to maintain that most people should stay away from the currency. If you do want to make money from Bitcoin, this would a much better way. Click Here.    

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Talking Numbers Writes: This could be the end of the Bitcoin era

Bitcoin may be thought of as an alternative currency – but just don’t say that to the IRS.

The US Internal Revenue Service says that Bitcoin is property, not currency. That means profits in Bitcoin get taxed at the lower capital gains rate rather than income rate. But, it also means that losses in Bitcoin are also at the capital gains tax rate. That helped Bitcoin’s value to drop 20% in just the past week.

CNBC contributor Gina Sanchez, founder of Chantico Global, this is yet another bad headline in a long stream of bad news.

“It’s a terrible thing,” says Sanchez of Bitcoin’s IRS categorization. “This is already a really negative story, in my opinion. What this says is every time you make a transaction, you basically have to keep track of your capital gains – every transaction.”

In general, Sanchez sees no reason for investors to trade their dollars for Bitcoin. “Bitcoin as a currency doesn’t make any sense,” she says. “You basically have a whole bunch of cyber geeks trying to tout themselves as a monetary authority. That’s just not going to fly.”

Talking Numbers contributor Richard Ross, Global Technical Strategist at Auerbach Grayson, was once fairly bullish on the future of Bitcoin. But, after a few scandals – from the MtGox collaps to the arrest of BitInstant founder Charlie Shrem – and a huge drop in value, Ross is now very bearish. 

“It hasn’t completely collapsed – yet,” says Ross. “This has transitioned from a trade into a scandal, which is like a duck transitioning to a l’orange; it’s not a good thing.”

Ross sees Bitcoin trading in a descending triangle with a base at the $500 level. Given that its peak was around $1,100, the triangle would project a downside of equal magnitude in the opposite direction. In this case, that would be negative $100.

“Now, that doesn’t really make sense,” says Ross. “But, given the recent history – given the MtGox scandal – I could see this thing at negative. It could actually cost you money to own this thing at the end of the day. It could just disappear that quickly.” 

“I don’t know what good could really come of it at this point.”

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Divorce: Another Sign Of The Stock Market Top?

Chinese couples are filing for divorce at the rate of 10,000 per day. In some areas of the country the number is reaching the size of epidemic proportions. What would have been unheard of in China just two decades ago is now normal with 33-50% of couples getting divorced.  We all  know of the skyscraper index, but no one has looked into “divorce index”. As you can imagine, it is infinitely more difficult to get divorced during depressions (due to lack of financial ability) as opposed to getting divorced during the peak of economic cycles where both parties are financially stable. Which begs the question. 

Is the divorce rate indicative of the stock market tops and bottoms? What do you guy think….

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Divorce: Another Sign Of The Stock Market Top?  Google divorce another sign of the stock market top investwithalex

Bloomberg Writes: Almost 10,000 Divorces Each Day in China’s Breakup Boom

China is facing a boom in breakups. Almost 10,000 marriages end in divorce every day, a figure that has been growing for the past decade, according to a report inChina Daily citing Zhang Shifeng, head of the department of social affairs at the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

In 2012, the last year for which figures were available, China counted 3.1 million divorces, up 133 percent over 2003. Big cities are the epicenter of China’s new wave of “conscious uncoupling,” including Shanghai, Tianjin, and Beijing. In the capital, 164,000 couples tied the knot in 2012, while one-third as many dissolved their marriages—pushing the number of divorces up 65 percent since 2011.

In most cases the irreconcilable differences at the root of China’s rising divorces are common ones around the world: Top of the list are extramarital affairs, domestic violence, and an inability to communicate, said Du Huanghai, a Shanghai attorney cited in the China Daily report. Urbanites in their 20s and 30s “lack the patience to adapt to each other or make the necessary compromises, so their marriages are often in a fragile state,” Du said.

But divorce is happening more, in part, because it keeps getting easier. Laws have been simplified over the previous decades, making the process less complicated, notes Sun Xiaomei, a women’s studies professor at China Women’s University. And with the unraveling of China’s former cradle-to-grave urban employment system, couples no longer have to seek permission from their danwei, or work unit, nor from neighborhood committees, the nosy monitoring associations that were often staffed by elderly women and were once ubiquitous across China.

If policymakers want to stem the vow-breaking, they do have some leverage in the tax code. “Many couples opt to end their marriage for tax reasons, to purchase property [given Beijing’s restrictions on multiple purchases by couples] or get greater compensation for demolition of property,” as China Daily explained. Perhaps, if Chinese couples are separating for financial reasons, they could be persuaded to stay together for the same.

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Warning: Facebook’s #2 Sells Half Her Shares. Time To Short?

According to recent regulatory fillings, Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s COO and an official #2, sold over half her stake in the company. A number of “fundamental” reasons were given, but as the saying goes, money talks and bullshit walks. 

So, the question is…..is it time to sell or even short Facebook? 

It is. First, Facebook is highly speculative and overpriced. It’s valuation is nowhere near reasonable (even if massive growth materializes) and I believe that today’s price is indicative of a speculative bubble within it’s shares. In addition, Facebook left a large gap around $25 in July of 2013 that it must close before any sustained rally in it’s share price can take place. Finally, as per our mathematical and timing work, the bear market of 2014-2017 is nearly here. When it starts, most speculative issues, such as Facebook will decline at X multiple to the overall market. Forecasting a large, 50-60% drop in its share price over the next 2 years.

Once you find a good entry point, it would make a lot of sense to go short here. One thing is for sure, I wouldn’t be holding any shares long. If you would be interested in learning when the bear market of 2014-2017 starts (to the day) and it’s internal composition, please Click Here. 

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Warning: Facebook’s #2 Sells Half Her Shares. Time To Short?  Google facebook's #2 sells half her shares investwithalex

FT Writes: Sheryl Sandberg slashes Facebook holdings

Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s number two executive, has shed more than half her stake in the social networking company since its initial public offering less than two years ago, according to an analysis of recent regulatory filings.

The series of disposals, some of which were made to satisfy tax bills, are likely to add to persistent questions about whether Ms Sandberg is eyeing an eventual departure from the company for a future in government or as head of another large company.

However, her name has yet to be closely linked to any senior corporate positions and she has denied any plans to compete for political office – most recently in January, when she said that politics was “not for me”.

Also, even after the disposals, Ms Sandberg’s stake worth about $1bn still makes her one of the largest individual investors in Facebook with a 0.5 per cent stake.

As chief operating officer, the former Google executive was brought in at a critical time in Facebook’s development, when the company was first looking to ramp up its revenues and a young Mark Zuckerberg was still trying to find his feet.

The Facebook chief executive has since developed a greater management self-assurance and taken on many of the company’s key decisions, for instance in his personal handling of deals such as the acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram.

Ms Sandberg has frequently been talked of as a candidate for high office in Washington. A former chief of staff to Larry Summers at the time he was treasury secretary under Bill Clinton, she was said to have been considered for that position during the first Obama administration.

Ms Sandberg has sold about 10m shares worth some $400m since Facebook made its stock market debut in May 2012, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The sales were made under the “blind” trading plans that corporate executives use to spread their disposals out over a period of time, reducing the risk of being accused of trading on privileged information.

She also sold nearly 16m shares in late 2012 to settle a tax bill that fell due when restricted stock she had in the company vested to become ordinary shares.

Along with a number of other small disposals, that has taken Ms Sandberg’s overall stake down to 17.2m shares, restricted stock units and options in the social networking company. At the time of the IPO, she held about 41m shares, most of them in the form of restricted stock units.

facebook's #2 sells half her shares investwithalex

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The End Of High Frequency Trading

Known as Wall Street’s dirty little secret and brought into the main street view by 60 Minutes on Sunday, high frequency era might be coming to an end. With recent FBI investigations into the practice and New York’s Attorney General Eric Schneiderman looking into lawsuits, it is just a matter of time before most high frequency trading operations are rendered unprofitable. Either through legal or regulatory channels. It’s about time. Now, what will the next chapter in Wall Street scamming the main street saga be? Perhaps mortgage backed IPOs? 

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The End Of High Frequency Trading  Google

end of high frequency trading investwithalex 

Bloomberg Writes: FBI Investigates High-Frequency Traders for Abuse of Information

Federal agents are investigating whether high-frequency trading firms violate U.S. laws by acting on nonpublic information to gain an edge over competitors.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s inquiry stems from a multiyear crackdown on insider trading, which has led to at least 79 convictions of hedge-fund traders and others. Agents are examining, for example, whether traders abuse information to act ahead of orders by institutional investors, according to an FBI spokesman. Even trades based on computer algorithms could amount to wire fraud, securities fraud or insider trading.

The FBI joins a roster of authorities examining high-frequency trading, in which firms typically use super-fast computers to post and cancel orders at rates measured in thousandths or even millionths of a second to capture price discrepancies.New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman opened a broad investigation into whether U.S. stock exchanges and alternative venues give such traders improper advantages.

Regulators have focused for years on whether high-speed trading hurts market stability. More recent law enforcement investigations are shifting the focus to unfair practices and possible criminal activity.

Critics including some investors and regulators have said such trading, which captured the spotlight in the May 2010 flash crash that shook U.S. equities, serves little purpose, may distort the market and may leave individual shareholders at a disadvantage.

Services Scrutinized

Schneiderman is examining the sale of products and services that offer faster access to data and richer information on trades than what’s typically available to the public. Wall Street banks and rapid-fire trading firms pay thousands of dollars a month for these services from firms including Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. and IntercontinentalExchange Group Inc.’s New York Stock Exchange.

Robert Madden, a spokesman for Nasdaq, and Eric Ryan at the NYSE, declined to comment on the FBI’s inquiry. Jim Margolin, a spokesman for Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, declined to comment when asked if the office was looking at high-frequency trading.

The FBI began focusing on high-frequency traders last year, before Schneiderman disclosed his inquiry this month. Market regulators have asked for years whether new restrictions on rapid-fire trading were needed.

Daniel Hawke, the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s market-abuse unit, said in 2012 that the agency was examining practices such as co-location and rebates that exchanges pay to spur transactions. Last year, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced a review of speed trading and sought industry input.

Federal prosecutors have scored dozens of insider trading convictions in recent years, including several linked to SAC Capital Advisors LP, the hedge-fund firm run by Steven A. Cohen that is changing its name to Point72.

SAC agreed in November to pay a record $1.8 billion and plead guilty to securities fraud to settle allegations of insider trading. As part of the settlement, Cohen agreed to close SAC’s investment advisory business.

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Rejoice: Markets To Surge In April

There is no such thing as a sure bet in the market. Yet, it seems as if the WSJ found it. Simply go long in April and you are golden. The S&P 500 has averaged a 1.7% gain in April over the past 40 years, the best-performing month of the year, according to Schaeffer’s Investment Research. Yep, it’s that simple. 

The reality is, of course, a little bit different. While seasonality in the stock market does exist, it has nothing to do with “Monthly” time frames and has everything to do with cyclical composition of the market. One cannot safely assume that the stock market will move up or down based on what month it is. It just doesn’t work that way. It is the cyclical composition (some spanning for days while other spanning for decades) that determines what the stock market will do in the month of April. Simply put, anyone who follows such an idiotic WSJ premise and analysis will have their head handed to them. 

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WSJ Writes: Morning MoneyBeat: Bulls Rejoice for April

An uncertain economy, frothy valuations and a harsh winter have tested investors’ faith over the past three months. Fortunately for the bulls, the calendar flips to April, the hottest month of the year for U.S. stocks.

The S&P 500 has averaged a 1.7% gain in April over the past 40 years, the best-performing month of the year, according to Schaeffer’s Investment Research. The only other months that have averaged at least 1% gains are January, March, October and December. The S&P 500 rose 1.8% last April, which at the time was the market’s sixth straight monthly gain.

With the S&P 500 gaining 1.3% throughout the first three months of the year and sitting just 0.3% off last month’s highs, the question once again is just how much more momentum is behind the recent gains. Blindly assuming the rally will continue because it’s April might be a mistake, as slow earnings growth and the dialing back of stimulus from the Federal Reserve could crimp this month’s performance.

Once again, central-bank policy played a key role in the market’s recent performance. Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen gave investors a fit at last month’s news conference when she signaled that rate increases might come sooner and be a touch more aggressive than originally expected.

“The Fed moved the conversation from stimulus ending to increasing interest rates, but after an initial negative impact the market accepted it,” said Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices, while noting an actual rate increase is seen as being at least a year away.

But stocks rallied Monday as Ms. Yellen said the U.S. economy still requires support from the central bank’s low interest-rate policy. The comments helped ease concerns that the Fed under the new chairwoman had plans to raise interest rates sooner than expected.

The focus now shifts to upcoming economic data and the start of earnings season next week.

Friday brings the March jobs report. The hope is this report will be free from any wintry-weather distortions that have hurt the economy over the past few months. Earnings, however, are unlikely to escape the impact of the bitter cold and snowy weather.

S&P 500 companies are expected to post a profit decline of 0.6% in the first quarter, according to FactSet, which would be the first drop in earnings since the third quarter of 2012. At the same time, many of these companies have issued profit warnings in near record numbers. Some 93 companies have warned that profits will fall short of forecasts, the second-highest overall number of companies issuing negative guidance on record, according to FactSet’s count.

A poor earnings season could keep a lid on this year’s rally.

“In the grand scheme of things and after such a powerful rally last year, the market really needs continued good news to go further from here,” said Wasif Latif, who helps manage $50 billion in assets as vice president of equity investments at USAA in San Antonio.

“The challenge is that we’re still in the backdrop of an overall anemic economic environment,” he added. “The market really needs that next level in the form of improving guidance of future earnings and revenue growth. We’re just not there yet.”

As the calendar turns to April, at least the stock bulls still have history on their side.

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Stock Market Update. March 31st, 2014. InvestWithAlex

 Daily Chart March 31, 2014 investwithalex

A strong up day with the Dow Jones up 135 points (0.82%) and the Nasdaq up 43 points (1.04%)

In Friday’s update I suggested that the DOW/Nasdaq are set for a significant bounce over the next few trading days. Further, the market continues to perform just as per our forecast (available in premium section). While consistent up days, all time highs and positive news continue, this never ending up drive higher is in the final stages of it’s development. If fact, this latest surge higher offers people with the perfect opportunity to liquidate most (if not all) of their long positions.

The bear market of 2014-2017 will start within a relatively short time window and when it does, it will quickly retrace most of the gains since February 5th low. If you would be interested in knowing exactly when this bear market will start (to the day) and it’s internal composition, please Click Here.  

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Stock Market Update. March 31st, 2014. InvestWithAlex Google

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Hey Wall Street, Spain Called, They Want Their Jews Back

After expelling most of the Jews over 500 years ago, Spain now wants them back. Why? Exactly for the same reasons they were expelled back in 1492 in the first place…..to bring talent, ideas and money to Spanish economy.  Upon hearing the news, Wall Street Masters of the Universe offered Spain to buy high yield grade AAA Mortgage Back Securities while loading up on short-term call options for the DOW 50,000. Assuring Spain that such steps will bring Spain out of it’s financial crisis mush sooner than by simply sending over a few Jews.  It was reported that Spain’s Prime Minister couldn’t contain his excitement after transferring another $50 Billion into Spain’s Goldman Sachs account to execute this exciting trade.  

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Hey Wall Street, Spain Called, They Want Their Jews Back  Google

There’s a whiff of desperation in Spain’s latest plan to naturalize descendants of the Jews the country’s rulers expelled back in 1492.

The initiative — advertised as righting a historic wrong — began seven years ago, and since then Spain has granted citizenship to 746 Sephardic Jews, mostly from Venezuela and Turkey. A proposed billis meant to ease the citizenship process for 3.5 million descendants, many of them living in Latin America and Israel.

The question is why now? Spain is barely clawing its way back from the deepest economic crisis in almost half a century. Unemployment hovers around 26 percent — youth joblessness is an eye-watering 50 percent — and the state has cut health, education and other entitlements. Plus, frustrated, unemployed Spaniards aren’t toowelcoming of foreigners.

In reality, Spain’s immigration bill is the latest attempt to attract talent, ideas and money to an economy in need of all three. It’s almost poetic justice. After all, what is worse: kicking out Jewish people because of their faith, or calling them back more than 500 years later because of the notion — prevalent in Spain — that Jews are educated, industrious and excel at business? Spanish politicians would do well to explain why such a spirit of historic justice doesn’t extend to the descendants of the almost 300,000 Muslims Spain cast out in 1609.

In fairness, the bill is well-intentioned. For starters, it means Spain recognizes the need to shake up things and bring in new blood. The bill would also allow Jewish beneficiaries to keep other citizenships instead of asking them to renounce them. This suggests Spanish politicians are finally grasping that openness to national diversity makes countries such as the U.S. powerful magnets for international talent. Moreover, immigrants tend to have a solid work ethic; Spain’s Chinese community, for example, has thrived amid the country’s economic woes.

The immigration bill also helps account for why many Brazilians seem eager these days to explore their Jewish ancestry and obtain a Spanish passport even though Brazil’s economic troubles are arguably more manageable than Spain’s. It is no secret that immigration has flowed the other way in recent years, with a generation of young Spaniards heading to the U.S. and Latin America looking for a better life.

If Spain wants immigrants to help overcome its economic difficulties it could do much more. True, Spain already began cutting taxes to stimulate growth. But it should tailor and promote more attractive tax advantages for those who create companies and generate new jobs. Spain might also learn something from Chile — it’s former colony — where the government has offered money and tax breaks totechnology startups willing to set up shop in Santiago.

Getting a country back on its feet takes more than a passport, a handshake and talk of redemption. If Spain is really so intent on making amends for the wrongs it committed so long ago, there’s a whole region called Latin America that wants its gold back.

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When Will The IPO Market Tank?

We have already discussed, a number of times before, why today’s IPO market bubble is reminiscent of the 2000 Nasdaq top (search IPO on the right side).  The question becomes, when will this IPO bubble pop? 

This is rather easy. As soon as the stock market breaks down and begins it’s bear market. Based on our timing and mathematical work that time will arrive shortly. Once the market breaks below 15,000, most of the animal spirits associated with “hot yet highly speculative” IPOs will go out the window. Just as it should. If you would be interested in learning when the bear market of 2014-2017 will start (to the day) and it’s internal composition, please Click Here.

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When Will The IPO Market Tank?  Google

When Will The IPO Market Tank Investwitalex

CNBC Writes:Good times roll for IPOs: How long will boom last?

This has been a record year so far for European stock market listings – traditionally a sign that a region’s economy has returned to health.

The average size of fundraisings in Europe this year so far is $259 million, the highest on record, according to Dealogic. With the region’s economy still growing at a relatively slow rate, this is not just about greater confidence in the economy.

(Read more: Is the IPO market in a bubble? )

“First, there was a strong amount of cash available for investors in equities,” Klaus Hessberger, co-head of ECM EMEA at JPMorgan, told CNBC. He advised on the $6.9 billion sale of UK government shares in Lloyds Banking Group, the biggest deal in the region so far in 2014.

“Second, IPOs need some preparation time, usually more than six months – so this was a reflection of a positive market from summer onwards. Third, U.S. equity money is still coming into Europe because of the continued lower interest rate environment and fourth, there was also cash raised for M&A.”

Plenty of action is also driven by private equity groups “clearing out aging investments from their portfolios,” as Maria Pinelli, Ernst & Young’s global vice-chair of strategic growth markets, pointed out. She thinks the first half of 2014 at least will continue to be a good year for the IPO market.

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Good times roll for IPOs: How long will boom last?

Jin Lee | Bloomberg | Getty Images

With all the cheap money in the system, bankers believe the IPO boom has further to run. There is pent-up demand and a number of appetizing companies waiting to come to the markets.

“There is still some way to go to capture all the liquidity,” as Hessberger said.

In Europe, Goldman Sachs is topping the leaderboard of advisors in terms of value of IPO deals completed, with a market share of 13.6 percent in this year’s deals so far, followed by JPMorgan (9.7 percent) and Deutsche Bank (9.4 percent).

However, it isn’t quite 2006 all over again at investment banks.

There are still risks to continued outperformance, such as worse economic performance, as Hessberger pointed out.

Some of the more recent listings have been less well received, such as Candy Crush game maker King Digital, whose shares fell by 16 percent on their debut. And the most recent Lloyds sale featured a greater discount than the last tranche sold by the UK government.

There are also suggestions that some banks are having to resort to different measures to get in on IPOs, such as observing stricter guidelines against working with particular clients’ competitors and even waiving fees to be listed as part of deals they didn’t work on for existing clients.

The M&A and debt markets have not recovered in the same way. Revenues for these kind of deals are down 6 percent for M&A, and 22 percent for debt capital markets globally, according to Dealogic figures.

While there are a number of big money deals like the Time Warner Cable purchase pushing up M&A figures, the actual number of deals is down 14% compared to 2013 at this point, making 2014 the slowest year-to-date period by number of deals since 2003, according to Thomson Reuters data.