Goldfarb time

Jason Goldfarb, who pleaded guilty to passing inside information to an ex-Galleon Group trader, should get four years in prison, the US said.

Gold ratio

Equity investors sought refuge in bullion this week, sending the gold/S&P 500 ratio to its highest in 23 years. The ratio, calculated by di viding the price of an ounce of gold by the S&P 500 index, hit 1.6 on Wednesday, the highest since September 1988. Yesterday the ratio fell back to 1.5.

Fed folks

The Obama adminis tration is looking at Jer emy Stein, a Harvard University specialist in finance, and Richard Clarida, an executive vice president at money manager Pimco, to fill two empty seats on the Federal Reserve.

Good news

Johnson Associates said it expects invest ment bankers to re ceive a 5 percent to 10 percent boost in bon uses this year com pared with 2010.

Bad news

Top bank execs may see their bonuses cut by as much as 30 per cent this year, Johnson Associates said.