Wall Street Roundup: Investigating algorithms. Buffett criticizes Wall Street.

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Worrying figures. The number of jobs at private employers went down in September for the first time in seven months. In line with this worrying release, a Goldman Sachs economist said the economy was likely to either be ‘fairly bad’ or ‘very bad’ over the next year.

TARP costs decline again. The estimated cost of the Troubled Asset Relief Program is $29 billion (from a one-time estimate of $330 billion), with most of the losses coming from the bailouts of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and from the bailout of the car companies.

Investigating algorithms. The chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mary Schapiro, said her agency was investigating algorithmic trading after a report on the May 6 ‘flash crash’ pinned much of the blame on one particular algorithmic trade.

Buffett slams Wall Street. Warren Buffett compared Wall Street to a church that does good things but runs a casino on the side.

-- Nathaniel Popper