Its Columbus day here in the US on Oct 12. But that means nowt. Wall St was still trading and the banks were open today - I walked in a deposited a cheque.
I'm calling it like it is.. BS..
It was a bank holiday. Some banks just stayed open for their customers, but the federal reserve which is the back bone of the banking system was closed along with the government. Nothing official could be completed today.
Its a federal holiday. Federal govt closed, bond markets were closed but the banking system continued. On Wall St the DJ 100 industrials closed near to 10,000 (see http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/12/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm?postversion=2009101218). Out in the street, people filled their cars with gas, stores sold goods and there was generally nothing much different from a regular Monday. Given all those financial transactions the fed has to settle these and there's no "don't settle" on a federal holiday rule in the ACH book I've studied.
Regardless of the state of the US federal govt, why would a US federal holiday stop a charitable organization or hedge fund or whatever SS has up his sleeve from announcing anything about a venture in the UK? THe statement about a bank holiday is convenient, but it doesn't pass a reasonableness test. Pure hogwash!