What you need to know on Wall Street today

Getty/Win McNamee

Picture this: you're trying to buy a used car, and you're having trouble. There are many, many more cars out there now than there were a few years ago. The old go-to used-car dealers have smaller lots and less inventory, and they have been replaced by online dealerships. But it's a hassle to compare all of those at once.

That's pretty much the position bond investors find themselves in right now.

AllianceBernstein, the asset manager that oversees $498 billion, developed a solution to all this chaos. The system is called ALFA, which stands for Automated Liquidity Filtering and Analytics. AllianceBernstein has sold the intellectual property and technology behind ALFA to Algomi, a fixed income data platform.

"We are confident that Algomi will take ALFA to even higher echelons and bring the entire buy-side together on a world class platform," Jim Switzer, head of credit trading at AllianceBernstein, said.

Elsewhere in Wall Street news:

• Barclays has named a new leadership team for its capital markets unit
• Credit Suisse promoted two of its top dealmakers
• Wall Street firms are piling in to Saudi Arabia
• Philadelphia is suing Wells Fargo
• JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon just had to defend his alignment with President Trump
• Symphony, the secure chat app backed by some of Wall Street's biggest banks, has raised $63 million

In investing news, hedge funds that bet on Silicon Valley are crushing it. Billionaire Steve Cohen hired two investors from the CIA's secretive VC fund for a new Palo Alto office. And a $16 billion activist investor is reportedly handing over the reins to the next generation.

There's a need for co-opetition on Wall Street, according to Kevin McPartland at Greenwich Associates.

In markets news, there's a new biggest risk to global markets. Traders are piling into three safety trades. Stocks are shrugging off a troubling trend. And Goldman Sachs' top economist is losing confidence in the Fed's ability to raise interest rates.

Sears just followed through on its CEO's threats and sued a top tool vendor. The retailer has a bigger problem than plunging sales, according to Business Insider's Hayley Peterson.

In related news, Dick's Sporting Goods is getting clobbered after same-store sales missed. Another retailer has filed for bankruptcy. And huge demographic changes in the US could hit these 14 retail stocks, according to Credit Suisse.

In better news, Home Depot beat across the board and raised guidance

Ford will slash salaried workforce in North America and Asia by 10%. Wall Street has lost its mind when it comes to the car company, according to Business Insider's Matt DeBord.

In other news, Warren Buffett has upped his stake in American and Southwest Airlines. The founder of the solar company Tesla bought for $2 billion is leaving to start a new venture. And Yahoo is buying back $3 billion of stock before the Verizon deal closes.

Lastly, here's what a typical day is like at the New York Stock Exchange, which turns 225 years old this week.