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JLN Options
July 26, 2024  
 
Jeff Bergstrom
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John Lothian News
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Observations & Insight
 
Patty Schuler, senior vice president BOX Options, is the recipient of the STA Women in Finance Mentor of the Year Award, STA's Jim Toes announced on LinkedIn. ~JJL

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All Options CEO Allard Jakobs Talks About Running a Successful Trading Firm, What He Looks for From New Traders, and More in This Full Interview With JLN's Alex Teng
JohnLothianNews.com

In this Options Discovery interview, Allard Jakobs, the CEO of All Options, sits down with JLN's Alex Teng. In this interview Allard shares his thoughts on a variety of topics from hiring new traders to the All Options approach to market making. He also shares the history of how and why he founded his firm and how All Options has lasted for over 24 years.

Watch the video »

 
 
Lead Stories
 
Watch the Vix for clues about where stocks may be headed, Wall Street veteran says
Joseph Adinolfi - MarketWatch
U.S. stocks look poised for a rebound on Friday. Whether or not the market holds on to premarket gains through the close could set the tone heading into next week.
"Fridays often set the tone for the following week. If you can get a nice bounce back on Friday after what has been a pretty tough week so far, I think that is a pretty positive sign," said JJ Kinahan, CEO of IG North America and president of brokerage Tastytrade.
/jlne.ws/46mZHpO

Macro hedge funds to dump $45 billion in equities, says Morgan Stanley
Carolina Mandl - Reuters
Computer-driven macro hedge fund strategies on Wednesday sold $20 billion in equities and are set to shed at least more $25 billion over the next week after the stock rout, in one of the largest risk-unwinding events in a decade, Morgan Stanley said in commentary to institutional clients on Thursday. After disappointing earnings reports from Tesla and Alphabet, investors heavily ditched stocks on Wednesday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropping 3.6% in its worst day since October 2022.
/jlne.ws/3YlPyaS

Assets at Man Group, the World's Largest Listed Hedge-Fund Firm, Swell to Record
Caitlin McCabe - The Wall Street Journal
Assets under management at Man Group, the world's largest listed hedge-fund firm, swelled to a record $178.2 billion, boosted by net inflows from clients and strong investment performance. Man Group, which runs a swath of hedge-fund strategies, took in $900 million of new client money in the first half of 2024-compared to broader outflows for the hedge-fund industry. Man also recorded about $11 billion in investment gains.
/jlne.ws/4c3friZ

Fed's Favored Price Gauge Rises at Mild Pace, Spending Holds Up; Core PCE prices and real consumer spending each advance 0.2%; Measures of wage growth cooled in June as saving rate fell
Augusta Saraiva - Bloomberg
The Federal Reserve's preferred measure of underlying US inflation rose at a tame pace in June and consumer spending remained healthy, encouraging signs for officials looking to cool inflation without breaking the economy.
The so-called core personal consumption expenditures price index, which strips out volatile food and energy items, increased 0.2% from May. From a year ago, it rose 2.6%, according to Bureau of Economic Analysis data out Friday.
/jlne.ws/3Sp1Mvv

Market bubbles expand longer than many expect. But this metric shows valuations will matter.
Jamie Chisholm - MarketWatch
Wall Street has endured some choppy trading recently. The CBOE VIX index that gauges expected S&P 500 index volatility rose to 18 midweek, its highest since April, as savage selling of mega-cap technology stocks rattled investors.
Talk was all about the big rotation into smaller companies that may benefit from lower interest rates and a still-healthy economy - a move funded by supposed dwindling enthusiasm for AI-linked stocks.
/jlne.ws/3YgiOzV

 
 
Exchanges
 
ICE in small deal to boost options business
Reuters
IntercontinentalExchange Inc said on Friday it bought Ballista Securities, a registered broker dealer, to beef up the exchange operator's thin options business.
Ballista has an electronic trading platform for options, a growing asset class, focused on executing block-sized and more complex transactions, futures-oriented ICE said.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
/jlne.ws/4d9BfKO

 
 
Regulation & Enforcement
 
US Accuses Short-Seller Andrew Left of Securities Fraud; SEC sues Left and Citron over stock short selling, research; Justice Department says Left committed securities fraud
Tom Schoenberg - Bloomberg
US authorities accused famed short-seller Andrew Left of committing fraud through stock trades, social media posts and research reports - their biggest move yet in a yearslong crackdown against traders who tout their bearish bets. The Securities and Exchange Commission alleged Friday that Left used his firm, Citron, to generate about $20 million in profits from illegal trading involving almost two dozen companies. The Justice Department also announced a criminal case against Left, accusing him of securities fraud. Left had no immediate comment.
/jlne.ws/3Wt0O2S

***** Here is The Wall Street Journal version of this story.~JJL

SEC Charges Andrew Left and Citron Capital for $20 Million Fraud Scheme; Boca Raton short seller used 'bait-and-switch' tactics to mislead investors
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against activist short seller Andrew Left and his firm, Citron Capital LLC, for engaging in a $20 million multi-year scheme to defraud followers by publishing false and misleading statements regarding his supposed stock trading recommendations.
/jlne.ws/4cWPkvs

 
 
Technology
 
Reducing latency in stock exchange order data transmission via wireless microwave networks
Back
Euronext
The financial industry relies heavily on the speed and reliability of data transmission to execute trades and manage orders. In the fast-paced environment of stock exchanges, where milliseconds can translate to significant financial gains or losses, the method by which order data is transmitted is crucial. Wireless microwave networks have emerged as a critical technology for order transmission, offering numerous advantages over traditional methods.
/jlne.ws/46jXb3J

 
 
Strategy
 
Here's how options traders are bullishly betting on a small-cap index as it overtakes mega-cap tech
Laila Maidan - Business Insider
The stock market is finally broadening after mega-cap technology names carried most of the gains for the highly concentrated S&P 500 over the past two years.
Where are investors going, you ask? It's probably toward small caps. The big market shift is now a sector rotation away from tech-heavy Nasdaq names and into the Russell 2000. The small-cap index entered a multi-day rip on July 9, up by about 10% since then. And it's coincided with a downturn on the Nasdaq, which reversed on July 10 and is now down by about 8%.
/jlne.ws/4ddxGTG

3 Defensive Moves for a Rocky Stock Market
Ian Salisbury - Barron's
This year's red-hot stock market suddenly looks a lot iffier. While the economy remains solid, it may be time for investors to tilt portfolios toward less volatile, more defensive areas.
/jlne.ws/3LEKHdh

Volatility Predicted
Cboe (Video)
Watch this week's #RUTreport, where @angiemiles discusses the Russell 2000 Index being up ~10% in the past month, $MRUT options trading activity and more.
/jlne.ws/4fnE5xu

 
 
Miscellaneous
 
Harvard's $465 Million in Tax Benefits Draw New Scrutiny; The university's vast wealth is getting attention from both politicians and local officials who are pushing for institutions to pay more
Nic Querolo, Amanda Albright, Janet Lorin, and Jeremy C.F. Lin - Bloomberg
Harvard University touts its gleaming science and engineering complex as its most significant new building in a generation. Sheathed in steel mesh and described as a living laboratory, it's home to a school named for the hedge fund billionaire John Paulson - an alumnus who donated $400 million to the university. The property stretches more than a city block in Boston's Allston neighborhood, where the buildings along Western Avenue exemplify the school's wealth and prestige. Nearby stands the Harvard Business School's Spangler Center, named for alumnus and banker Dick Spangler; a concert hall bearing the name of hedge fund manager and alumnus Seth Klarman; and a dorm overlooking the Charles River. Together, the parcels are valued at more than $290 million, according to the city's assessor. Were they owned by a corporation, Boston would reap millions from property taxes. Harvard's tax payout: $0.
/jlne.ws/4cWRoDG
 
 
 
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John Lothian News (JLN) is the news division of John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. (JJLCO). The online media and financial services firm is staffed by derivatives industry, journalism and technology professionals.
 
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