Last night the Senate passed a new regulatory reform bill, it now must reconciled with the House version.  Among the provisions is one that forces large U.S. banks to spin off or close swap desks and bans the banks from proprietary trading.  This is now contributing to the worldwide market turmoil.This is another step in the disorderly regulatory crackdown on banks and financial institutions in the United States and Europe.  Earlier Germany unilaterally banned naked short selling.  The Euro remains under intense pressure as the debt problems in many European countries continue unresolved.   In Greece public protests over wage cuts continued unabated. A disappointing jobs report in the U.S. revived fears that any economic recovery in the United States could prove short lived.Market makers in European bonds said the market was no longer functioning for the weaker economies of Portugal, Spain and Greece.   There is now a growing fear that banks...(Read Full Post)