| August 06, 2021 | | | | | Jeff Bergstrom
Editor
John Lothian News | |
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| | | | Observations & Insight | | | The rebooted The Spread weekly video series about options is getting better and better. We have a new format, multiple contributors, including outside experts offering The Term of the Week. Patrick Lothian redesigned the look and feel of it and my son Robby Lothian actually does the editing as a side gig. Suzanne Cosgrove is the producer of the series and a major contributor. It is short of snark, but longer on quality content. This week I look at the success so far of MIAX's SPIKES futures and MEMX's volume numbers. I also comment on Howard Lutnick's new futures exchange, though I will have more to say on that later when more details are known. But hey, it is a new era of exchange competition with MGEX now part of MIAX and startup exchanges The Small Exchange and FairX bringing innovation to customers.
| | | | | | Lead Stories | | | Investors Hunker in Money-Market Funds to Flee Confusing Markets
Joanna Ossinger - Bloomberg
Investors are showing increasing signs of risk-aversion at the start of August, a historically difficult month for asset allocations, highlighting uncertainty about inflation and the delta variant of Covid-19.
Flows data showed that over half the $44 billion taken in by EPFR-tracked fund groups in the week through Aug. 4 went into money-market cohorts. Equity funds, which have seen net inflows every week this year, registered the fourth-smallest intake year-to-date, according to the financial-data firm. Inflation-protected bond funds recorded their 37th straight inflow, while gold-related cohorts had their biggest takings in about two months.
/bloom.bg/3yzo8i4
Crypto Exchange Binance Halts New Hong Kong Futures Accounts
Joanna Ossinger - Bloomberg
Binance Holdings Ltd. will no longer allow users from Hong Kong to open new futures accounts. The largest crypto exchange by reported turnover said in a Twitter post that the move is effective immediately. "We will be restricting Hong Kong users in respect of derivatives products (including all futures, options, margin products and leveraged tokens) in-line with our commitment to compliance," Binance said in a post on its website.
/jlne.ws/2U0PD5a
Southeast Asia Assets Go From Bad to Worse as Delta Hurts Region
Bloomberg News
The combination of delta variant surge and low vaccination rates has made Southeast Asia the world's worst virus hotspot and its financial markets are feeling the brunt. Stocks have slumped as deaths in the region soar, with benchmarks in the Philippines and Vietnam leading global declines over the past month. Del Monte Philippines delayed its initial public offering this week citing market volatility from rising caseloads, and some analysts are predicting more losses for Southeast Asian currencies that have lagged the broader region this quarter, with the Thai baht at its weakest since 2018.
/yhoo.it/3itF9EK
Investors Can Sell a Lot of Robinhood Stock. It's Not All Bad News.
Al Root - Barron's
Stock in the brokerage app Robinhood Marketsâthe company that says its mission is to democratize finance for allâwas down big on Thursday on news that early investors can sell stock. Large stock drops are unnerving, but like the decline on the company's first day of trading, Thursday's plunge isn't a big deal.
Shares closed down 27.6%, at $50.97. The S&P 500 finished the day up 0.6%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.8%.
/bit.ly/3AeYy2g
Ether Options Activity Increases as London Hard Fork Goes Live, $50K Call Most Popular
"There was a flurry of call buying and put selling after the London fork," one trading firm said.
Omkar Godbole - Coindesk
The level of activity in the ether options market is picking up as traders speculate on the impact of Ethereum's London hard fork. The bulk of the activity is concentrated in the higher strike, longer duration calls, or bullish bets.
Data provided by Switzerland-based Laevitas shows ether volumes on Deribit, the largest crypto options exchange, have increased by more than 50,000 ETH to 153,000 ETH ($424 million) in the past 24 hours. That takes it to the highest level since the end of May. On Deribit, one ether options contract represents 1 ETH.
/bit.ly/2VugpDH
Why the Rise of Crypto Options Could Be a New Paradigm for Price Prediction
Ernest Hamilton - Tech Times
The crypto market has ballooned into a trillion-dollar ecosystem, making it one of the fastest rising industries within the past decade. This new area of innovation has created opportunities for tech-savvy developers and market analysts, including Wall Street veterans.
With the crypto market coming of age, stakeholders have introduced sophisticated market instruments such as derivatives. These financial instruments have gained popularity in the crypto space within the past few years and are now a significant part of the crypto market price movements.
/bit.ly/3fEGgQe
| | | | | | Exchanges | | | CME Group Declares Quarterly Dividend
CME Group
CME Group Inc., the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today declared a third-quarter dividend of $0.90 per share. The dividend is payable September 27, 2021, to shareholders of record as of September 10, 2021.
/bit.ly/3xtRcpK
| | | | | | Regulation & Enforcement | | | Top Senate Democrat Targets Derivatives Investors in Tax Bill
Laura Davison - Bloomberg
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden is looking to overhaul how derivatives are taxed as Democrats beginning crafting a giant spending bill funded in part by levies on the richest American businesses and taxpayers.
Wyden's proposed legislation, which he has been refining for years, would require derivatives investors to pay tax annually on unrealized gains. It would also tax any appreciation at income-tax rates; President Joe Biden has proposed boosting the top marginal rate to 39.6% from 37%. Investors would be able to deduct losses.
/bloom.bg/3s0p4ty
| | | | | | Strategy | | | 'We will see a war over the next couple months between Robinhood enthusiasts and Robinhood skeptics'
Andrew Keshner - MarketWatch
After Robinhood's share price surged on Wednesday, the company announced Thursday that it has filed to sell up to 97.9 million more Class A shares over time.
The no-fee trading app popular with young, often novice, retail investors registered the investor-held shares in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. This makes them eligible for sale.
"The timing and amount of any sale are within the sole discretion of the selling stockholders," Robinhood HOOD, 10.97% said in the filing.
/on.mktw.net/3jwBcP2
Robinhood shares dive 27.6%; filing sparks worries early investors could sell
Reuters
Shares of Robinhood Markets Inc (HOOD.O) tumbled on Thursday, snapping a four-day winning streak, after the newly public online brokerage said early investors may sell nearly 98 million shares.
Robinhood's shares finished down 27.6% at $50.97 a day after they jumped more than 50%. The company went public on July 29 at $38, with its shares initially falling below the public offering price before galloping higher.
/reut.rs/2VCEpUF
| | | | | | Miscellaneous | | | Cathie Wood Emerges as Guiding Light for Meme-Stock Generation
Michael Wursthorn - WSJ
Fans of fund manager Cathie Wood have built websites that track her every investment move. They sell T-shirts with her picture in the style of the Barack Obama "Hope" poster and with the ticker symbol of her flagship exchange-traded fund, ARK Innovation. On social media, they call her "Mamma Cathie," "Aunt Cathie" and, in South Korea, "Money Tree."
Behind the adoration is her unchecked enthusiasm for a certain kind of speculative investment: companies that generate little or no profit but have what she says is the potential to change the world through "disruptive innovation." Her asset-management firm, ARK Investment Management LLC, has bet heavily on buzzy sectors including alternative-energy businesses, space exploration and digital currencies.
/on.wsj.com/3yHHxh3
Elon Musk received $6.7 billion in compensation in 2020, eleven times more than the second highest-paid US CEO
Stephen Jones - Markets Insider
Tesla's self-styled "Technoking" Elon Musk received $6.66 billion in compensation in 2020, nearly twelve times more than America's second highest-paid CEO, according to Bloomberg's annual Pay Index.
2020's second highest-paid executive was Mike Pykosz, CEO of Oak Street Health, who received $568 million.
Musk hasn't received his billions in cash. His compensation was comprised of option awards, giving him the right to acquire Tesla shares at a set price.
/bit.ly/37mTFb0
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