Global millionaires' ranks increased by about 17 percent in 2009, with the Asia-Pacific region posting a 26 percent gain, according to a report by Capgemini SA and Merrill Lynch & Co.
Stocks are surging after positive reports on the U.S. jobs market and Chinese exports provided some relief to two issues that have had investors on edge for more than a month. And BP is bouncing back after hitting its lowest levels in more than a decade.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. fell to the lowest in more than a year in New York trading after reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission is probing the firm's $2 billion Hudson Mezzanine collateralized debt obligation.
The global millionaires' club expanded by about 14 percent in 2009 with Singapore leading the way, The Boston Consulting Group said.
Former Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson today said that last-minute authority given to the Treasury Department by Congress to save failing financial institutions probably averted another Great Depression.
The securities industry will receive proposals this week to improve record-keeping in the stock market and coordinate rules on erroneous trades, two concerns that were highlighted by the May 6 selloff.
Morgan Stanley said it hired Adam Parker from Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. as U.S. equity strategist.
The Dow Jones industrials climbed back above 10,000 Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said debt problems in Europe might only amount to a "modest" drag on the U.S. economy.
Declining share volume and strategies by fund managers to hold down the cost of buying and selling stock may lower Wall Street trading commissions in 2010, defying forecasts for an increase, Greenwich Associates said.
