| | | | | | | March 26, 2025 | | | |  | Jeff Bergstrom
Editor
John Lothian News | |
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| | | | Lead Stories | | | Bitcoin's $12B Quarterly Options Expiry Unlikely to Cause Major Market Reaction, Deribit Says
Omkar Godbole - CoinDesk
Bitcoin (BTC) options worth billions of dollars will expire on Deribit on Friday. The impending settlement, though big, may not yield significant market volatility, the exchange told CoinDesk. More than 139,000 BTC option contracts, worth $12.13 billion, representing nearly 45% of the total active BTC contracts across all expiries, are due for settlement this Friday, according to data source Deribit metrics.
/jlne.ws/42dEi1P
Options Traders Cut Back Expectations for US Rate Cuts This Year
Edward Bolingbroke - Bloomberg
As President Donald Trump moderates his approach on tariffs, options and futures traders are betting that the Federal Reserve won't have to cut interest rates as much to fend off a recession.
Traders across many asset classes have been responding to signals from Trump that a coming wave of tariffs will likely be more targeted than anticipated when the levies are put in place on April 2. Given that tariffs were expected to weigh on economic growth - and force the Fed to step in to boost the economy - any relaxation of tariffs should relieve the pressure on the Fed to cut rates over the next year.
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US Stock Market Liquidity Drying Up as Trade War Concerns Mount
Jess Menton - Bloomberg
Worries over the economic effects of the global trade war are sapping liquidity in US stocks, creating a headache for institutional investors that could also boost volatility in broader markets.
Liquidity - the ease of buying or selling an asset without affecting its price - has been dwindling for years due to factors such as tighter regulations and the rise of automatic trading. Now, tariff concerns have introduced a new wrinkle, stoking gyrations in individual stocks that have made it harder for institutions to trade in size.
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"More Record Years Ahead" for ETF Assets
Shanny Basar - Traders Magazine
There are more record years ahead for assets invested in exchange-traded funds according to the Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) Global ETF Investor Survey, as the financial services group said it remains confident of its prediction that ETF assets will reach $30 trillion by 2033. Assets invested in ETFs rose 27.7% last year to $14.7 trillion due to strong market performance and significant cash flows according to the report. BBH surveyed 325 ETF investors in US, Europe and Greater China and 63% had ETFs as their top targets for fresh capital, followed by stocks and bonds at 51%, and mutual funds at 49%.
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Institutional ETF users fuel corporate bond volatility, IMF warns; Research found volatility is particularly marked at times of market stress
Steve Johnson - Financial Times
Institutional investors are increasing volatility in the corporate bond market by aggressively trading exchange traded funds, according to analysis from the IMF. This heightened volatility is particularly stark at times of market stress, when instability is most likely to bleed into real-world effects for corporate borrowers and the investors in their debt.
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Hottest Emerging ETF Sees Record Outflows as China Gains
Carolina Wilson, Zijia Song, and Ye Xie - Bloomberg
One of the most popular ETFs in emerging markets is quickly falling out of favor after a stellar two-year run as investors reassess the outlook amid global growth concerns and simmering trade tensions.
The largest emerging markets ex-China ETF saw record redemptions last week - leaving it on track for one of the few monthly outflows since 2022. It's an abrupt change for investors who had been piling in for 24 straight months, fueling a 745% surge in the fund's assets, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
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| | | | | | Exchanges | | | Nasdaq Announces Mid-Month Open Short Interest Positions in Nasdaq Stocks as of Settlement Date March 14, 2025
Nasdaq
At the end of the settlement date of March 14, 2025, short interest in 3,124 Nasdaq Global MarketSM securities totaled 13,066,514,117 shares compared with 12,765,719,651 shares in 3,117 Global Market issues reported for the prior settlement date of February 28, 2025. The mid-March short interest represents 2.14 days compared with 2.42 days for the prior reporting period. Short interest in 1,634 securities on The Nasdaq Capital MarketSM totaled 2,598,104,131 shares at the end of the settlement date of March 14, 2025, compared with 2,565,936,316 shares in 1,628 securities for the previous reporting period. This represents a 1.17 day average daily volume; the previous reporting period's figure was 1.00.
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NYSE Group Consolidated Short Interest Report
ICE
NYSE today reported short interest as of the close of business on the settlement date of March 14, 2025.
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Moscow Exchange trading schedule over May holidays in 2025; Moscow Exchange announces the trading schedule for its markets over the May 2025 public holiday period in Russia.
MOEX
On 2 and 8 May, which are the public holidays, the Equity and Bond, Deposit, Credit, Derivatives, Standartised OTC Derivatives Markets, FX and Precious Metals Markets will operate as usual. On these days, OTC transactions with the central counterparty (CCP) in the Standardised OTC Derivatives Market (SPFI) will be settled for all instruments, except for SPFI contracts involving obligations denominated in Russian roubles.
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| | | | | | Strategy | | | Long-Dated Box Spreads: A Better Way to Buy a Home
Guest Author: Joseph Wang, Cofounder, SyntheticFi - Cboe
Summary: Box Spreads can beat mortgages on interest rates. Plus, they require $0 down.
Real estate is often a client's largest purchase. With mortgage rates high, clients may consider alternative financing tools like long-dated Box Spreads - an exchange-traded options strategy that allows securities-backed borrowing at near-Treasury interest rates, while requiring zero cash down. Clients save money on interest rates, capitalize on additional interest deductions, and avoid liquidating assets.
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| | | | | | Events | | | WILD (Women In Listed Derivatives) Dallas is hosting a Networking Happy Hour on Wednesday, April 9 from 4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. CT at Eno's Pizza Tavern in Coppell, TX. The event is open to all WILD members and prospective members. Drinks and appetizers will be provided by WILD. You can go here to register. ~SR
| | | | | | Miscellaneous | | | Sports Illustrated to Roll Out Athletics-Linked Wagers Market
Paige Smith - Bloomberg
The Sports Illustrated brand is teaming up with UK-based media firm Galactic to launch a predictions market allowing users to bet on anything linked to athletic events - except the outcome of games. The platform, which will be known as SI Predict, joins a growing field of quasi-betting exchanges, including Polymarket and Kalshi, which offer products based on derivatives contracts. SI Predict will be available globally and feature bets on things such as football-game attendance or what song a halftime musician will perform, but not who will win a specific game.
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***** Oh this is fun. From the article: While SI Predict will comply with regulations put in place by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the US, "as a non-custodial platform, it does not need to be regulated," Stott said in an emailed response to questions. The platform's wagers aren't concerned with the outcome of a specific sports event, but rather on adjacent gambles, such as whether Taylor Swift will attend a certain game. SI Predict's products "are akin to futures contracts," Stott said.~JJL
The 'misery index' is creeping higher. Does that spell doom for stocks?; A gauge that shows how people feel about the economy is showing more 'misery' as Trump's tariffs rattle families and businesses
Joy Wiltermuth - MarketWatch
President Donald Trump's scattershot approach to tariffs has soured the mood among consumers and businesses, ratcheting up concerns that plans to "detox" the U.S. economy could actually tip the U.S. into a recession.
The jittery backdrop has brought focus back to an old, simplistic measure of hardship and the economy known as the "misery index," which bears watching as it has climbed off the lows of the past five years.
/jlne.ws/3Rqbo8k
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