| May 01, 2019 | | | |  | Jeff Bergstrom
Editor
John Lothian News | |
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| | | | Observations & Insight | | | 
OCC Developments To Consider Before the Options Industry Conference
JohnLothianNews.com
The Options Industry Conference kicks off today, May 1. Much has changed for the industry's central counterparty, the OCC, since last year's gathering in Amelia Island, Fla., and in this video, OCC CEO John Davidson walks viewers through those developments, such as alterations to its clearing fund methodology.
Watch the video »
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| | | | | | Lead Stories | | | Hedge funds pile into bets on continued calm
Joe Rennison - Financial Times
Investors are making record bets on stock market calm after a U-turn in monetary policy helped erase losses from a sharp sell-off in the fourth quarter of last year.
There has been a rush to sell derivatives tied to the Vix index, Wall Street's "fear gauge", expecting it to stay low. Large speculators, mostly thought to be hedge funds, were net short 178,000 Vix futures contracts last week, the biggest bet on record, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
/jlne.ws/2vBX16Z
Why European economy turmoil worries Wall Street chief risk officer Lara Warner
Marley Jay and Joe Ciolli - Business Insider
Lara Warner, the group chief risk officer for Credit Suisse, warned that Europe's economy is teetering on the brink and could suffer a disastrous downturn.
"I do worry that we are in a period where small earthquakes can lead to large tsunamis," she said during a panel discussion at the Milken Institute Global Conference. "It seems to be the place that is the most fragile."
/jlne.ws/2V85FJH
The Continuing Liberation of Futures from Spot, Part 1
Kurt Dew - TABB Forum
In the first of two articles that address innovations in the process of futures settlement that bring us closer to self-settling futures contracts, Kurt Dew considers a dubious proposal by Fed economists to use futures to determine the settlement value of a LIBOR replacement futures contract.
/jlne.ws/2V5huR3
Risk, Probability and Psychology  Talton Capital Management
Euan Sinclair - Talton Capital Management
It is important to remember that risk depends on the skills of a specific trader. Risk is all of the things outside our control. So traders with different sources of edge will have different remaining risk factors. If I have an edge in volatility prediction and you don't, volatility is my edge and your risk. This is true in most of life. For a heart surgeon, doing a bypass is a low risk operation. For me, it would be murder.
/jlne.ws/2V7ZVjn
| | | | | | Exchanges and Clearing | | | CME Group Inc. Reports First-Quarter 2019 Financial Results
CME Group
CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME) today reported financial results for the first quarter of 2019.
The company reported revenue of $1.2 billion and operating income of $631 million for the first quarter of 2019. Net income was $497 million and diluted earnings per share were $1.39. On an adjusted basis, net income was $579.2 million and diluted earnings per share were $1.62. Financial results presented on an adjusted basis for the first quarter of 2019 and 2018 exclude certain items, which are detailed in the reconciliation of non-GAAP results.
/jlne.ws/2V5cWKt
CME first quarter earnings top estimates on expenses
John McCrank - Reuters
CME Group Inc, one of the world's largest exchange operators, on Wednesday reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings, as tight expense management following the company's acquisition of NEX Group helped offset lower trading volumes.
/jlne.ws/2V87p5H
London Stock Exchange sees first-quarter boost from clearing
Philip Stafford - Financial Times
Banks around the world have poured in more of their vast swaps-trading volumes into the London Stock Exchange Group's clearing arm, shrugging off concerns that uncertainty over Brexit could see the business leave the UK capital.
The performance of the LSE's LCH unit in the three months to the end of March insulated the exchange group from the effects of subdued activity in its stock-trading business, and fewer new listings on its market, the group told shareholders at its annual meeting on Wednesday.
/jlne.ws/2vEMecB
| | | | | | Technology | | | Vela enters into strategic partnership with Enyx
Vela
Vela, a leading independent provider of trading and market access technology for global multi-asset electronic trading, and Enyx, a leading developer and provider of ultra-low latency technologies and solutions for the financial industry, today announced a partnership to provide Vela clients with access to Enyx's FPGA-based technology, initially focused on ultra-low latency market data solutions.
/jlne.ws/2GV3MY0
| | | | | | Strategy | | | Goodbye VXXB, We Hardly Knew Ye
Vance Harwood - Six Figure Investing
Effective May 2nd, VXXB and VXZB, Barclays' short- and medium-term volatility funds will be renamed to VXX and VXZ. This is a market maneuver by Barclays to recapture the brand value of the original, very successful, VXX and moderately successful VXB products introduced in 2009. The original products matured in January 2019 so Barclays had to create VXXB and VXZB as replacement products. However, there's nothing to prevent tickers from being reused so Barclays acted after only three months to recapture the brand value of these retired tickers.
/jlne.ws/2V9mcgG
CVX for APC: Diversification Illustrated
Sage Anderson - tastytrade
The recent attempt by Chevron (CVX) to purchase Anadarko (APC) provides investors with a strong reminder of the power of diversification. The fact that Occidental (OXY) recently stepped in with a sweeter offer only reinforces this lesson.
No matter which company ultimately lands Anadarko, the narrative of the deal can basically be summed up as a "big oil" buying into "shale oil." Shale companies emerged in the 21st century due to their embrace of new technologies such as hydraulic fracking and horizontal drilling - both of which has allowed them access to oil and gas reserves in the United States that were previously viewed as too expensive to reach.
/jlne.ws/2Vdm8g1
| | | | | | Miscellaneous | | | These 9 hedge fund managers made an insane amount of money in 2018
Arjun Reddy - Business Insider
Last year was a tough one for many hedge funds, with over 60% losing money, according to a report from Institutional Investor.
Despite the difficult year, which included extreme volatility in the fourth quarter, some leading hedge-fund managers received some insane levels of compensation.
/jlne.ws/2V6PrRl
Corporate Earnings Are Proving Perilous
John Authers - Bloomberg
It could have been worse.
Earnings season for the first quarter is more than halfway done. The salient point is that the results have not been bad enough to stop the U.S. stock market from getting back to an all-time high. But the numbers themselves, and the market's reaction to them, suggest that this is a complicated and perilous environment.
/jlne.ws/2ValJe0
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