| April 08, 2022 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
We are still rolling out videos from Boca, but the FIA is already promoting IDX. The FIA International Derivatives Expo is returning to The Brewery on Chiswell Street in London from June 6 - 8 for an in-person conference. The topics this year will be regulation (Time for a Reset in Europe?), the changing dynamics of market structure (which is a never ending discussion), the big picture (Impact of Macro and Geopolitical Developments) and the cost of compliance (The Practical Impact of Complying with Regulator and Exchange Rules). You can come for the full show with all the content, or just buy a pass for the exhibit hall and the networking. Your choice. Early bird rates end on April 30. Go to www.fia.org for more details.
A wind energy company pleaded guilty to charges of killing at least 150 eagles in the U.S. in violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Even though they did not try to kill the eagles, the blades of their wind turbines killed bald eagles and golden eagles unintentionally. The company paid an $8 million fine to move forward from the prosecution.
The horror of the war in Ukraine is creating a lot of bad will for Russia and Russian citizens. Today there is a report of a missile attack on a railway station in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk that killed 39 people and injured dozens more as they were fleeing the eastern Donbas region. This type of attack on civilians is something anyone can relate to, standing on a train platform.
Thirty-three years ago today I asked Cheryl Howard to become Cheryl Lothian while we were having dinner at the Royal George Theater in Chicago and were going to see the play "Steel Magnolias." She said yes and we were married five months later. It was one of the better decisions I have made in my life.
Have a great day and stay safe and treat people the same way you want to be treated: with respect, equality and justice.~JJL
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Giannis Antetokounmpo Put His Money in 50 Banks Until Bucks Owner Helped Him Invest
Claire Ballentine - Bloomberg
Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo had more banks than letters in his name before Avenue Capital Group founder Marc Lasry stepped in. The National Basketball Association's two-time most-valuable player had accounts open at 50 different banks, with each of them holding up to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. coverage limit. That shocked Lasry, who co-owns the Milwaukee team.
/jlne.ws/3ugj3vj
***** Diversification of risk is a basic premise of investing.~JJL
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Energy Crisis Threatens to Eclipse 1970s Shocks, Yergin Says
David Westin and Gerson Freitas Jr. - Bloomberg
The unfolding global energy crisis poses higher risks than the oil shocks of the 1970s, according to energy historian Daniel Yergin. "I think this is potentially worse" than the 1970s, Yergin said during a Bloomberg TV interview. "It involves oil, natural gas and coal, and it involves two countries that happen to be nuclear superpowers." The gravest exigency involves natural gas because supplies already were stretched long before Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Shunning Russian gas poses a serious problem because there's no ready replacement for those shipments despite U.S. efforts to boost exports of liquefied shale gas, Yergin said.
/jlne.ws/3raTnOR
****** I can remember the lines to get gas or only being able to buy so much each day. It was not fun. Back then I was driving from Wisconsin to Chicago and back every day, which took a lot of gas. My commute today from my bedroom to my home office is much less gas centric.~JJL
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Superyachts exist because the ultra-rich 'can't figure out what to do with their money,' FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried says
Grace O'Donnell - Yahoo Finance
Superyachts owned by Russian oligarchs have been snatched up by government officials around the world as a result of sanctions placed on close allies of Vladimir Putin, who is facing the economic wrath of the U.S. and European Union due to his invasion of Ukraine. These yachts are a symbol of the massive wealth its owners have accumulated, but not all billionaires spend their money in such a lavish fashion.
/jlne.ws/3v04k73
****** Superyachts exist for many reasons. Some people like to be away from the riff-raff. Some people like a place where they can party without concern about the law. And some people just like to show off their wealth. Of course, a yacht or boat is best defined as a hole in the water one pours money into.~JJL
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For this CEO, taking a trip to Ukraine now is personal and professional; The founder/CEO of JustAnswer offers an impassioned plea to U.S. businesses to step up, get creative, and move beyond promises and pledges to help Ukraine's people and its economy.
Andy Kurtzig - Fast Company
This spring break, my family and I are not packing swimsuits for our usual Hawaiian vacation. Instead, we're filling suitcases with medical and safety supplies to help our 258 Ukrainian JustAnswer colleagues and the people of Ukraine. Why would I bring my wife and three children to the edge of a war zone? After living in Ukraine in 2019, we all formed deep friendships there, so the five of us couldn't bear to have a "fun" spring break vacation while our Ukrainian colleagues, friends, and the people of Ukraine are suffering. So, instead, we're going to spend spring break helping the people of Ukraine and reinforcing in our kids the value of helping others in need.
/jlne.ws/3KrimVy
***** Forget the yacht, take the family on a vacation to Ukraine and help people truly in need. That is a super-jaunt.~JJL
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Thursday's Top Three
Our top story Thursday was the Wall Street Journal's Regulatory Uncertainty Is a Barrier for Wider Bitcoin Adoption. Second was A New SEC Definition for 'Exchanges' Has Big Implications for Crypto. And, shifting away from crypto for a moment, third was Wednesday's No. 1 clicked piece, the YouTube video The Incredible Logistics Behind Corn Farming.
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| All MarketsWiki Sponsors» | | | | | | | 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. | | | | | | | John Lothian News Editorial Staff: | | | John Lothian
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| Lead Stories | A Market Mystery: The 'Wheat Whale' That Came Out of Nowhere; Who was behind the surge of trading in wheat futures last month? Some point to a group of Reddit users who mobbed an E.T.F. offering exposure to the wheat market.
Emily Flitter - NY Times
In early March, just days after Russia invaded Ukraine, a strange thing happened in the market for wheat futures: Trading came to an unexpected halt. Prices of wheat had spiked soon after the war started. That made sense, since Russia and Ukraine together account for about 30 percent of the world's wheat exports and a conflict would probably cause shortages. But professional traders who speculate on the direction of wheat prices using so-called futures contracts, and businesses that use those contracts to lock in prices for the grain, couldn't figure out why the price of one of the most popular contracts had shot up so suddenly that it prevented them from trading.
/jlne.ws/3ul2DSk
Crypto-Like Digital Dollar at Least Several Years Away, Yellen Says; Treasury secretary talks about methods to speed payments in the U.S.
Andrew Duehren - WSJ
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the design and development of a digital dollar would likely take years if the U.S. chose to create one, while outlining the various questions the Biden administration is weighing as it considers ways to make payments faster in the U.S. As part of President Biden's executive order on cryptocurrency, the administration is studying the possibility of issuing a central-bank digital currency, following up on efforts at the Federal Reserve. Other countries including China have created a central-bank digital currency, or CBDC, as they try to keep up with the rise of cryptocurrencies.
/jlne.ws/3LSYHhx
ETNs Look Safe. Investors Could Get Bitten; Exchange-traded notes sound harmless, but most everyday investors need to beware
Rochelle Toplensky, Telis Demos - WSJ
Exchange-traded notes are wolves in sheep's clothing. While they sound like a close relative of exchange-traded funds, which have become popular for good reason, they are very different beasts. Most retail investors should steer well clear. British bank Barclays recently said it would take an almost $600 million hit on ETNs due to an administrative error, but more often these products are associated with losses for investors rather than for the banks that issue them. ETNs in the U.S. have burned through nearly half of the $26 billion invested in them since 2006, according to Ben Johnson, director of global ETF research at data provider Morningstar. Issuers argue that such calculations are deceptive, as most ETNs are used tactically by sophisticated investors to make short-term hedges or bets. Either way, the asset class is expensive, risky and complex.
/jlne.ws/36WFJIp
Food Prices Jump Most on Record as War Sparks Supply Chaos; UN gauge of world food costs climbed to fresh record in March; Higher prices are contributing to inflation and hunger crisis
Megan Durisin - Bloomberg
Global food prices are surging at the fastest pace ever as the war in Ukraine chokes crop supplies, piling more inflationary pain on consumers and worsening a global hunger crisis. The war has wreaked havoc on supply chains in the crucial Black Sea breadbasket region, upending global trade flows and fueling panic about shortages of key staples such as wheat and cooking oils. That's sent food prices -- which were already surging before the conflict started -- to a record, with a United Nations' index of world costs soaring another 13% last month.
/jlne.ws/3ulTzwJ
The Backdoor That Keeps Russian Oil Flowing Into Europe; European energy companies are finding workarounds to keep Russian crude flowing while placating public opinion
Javier Blas - Bloomberg
When is a cargo of Russian diesel not a cargo of Russian diesel? The answer is when Shell Plc, the largest European oil company, turns it into what traders refer to as a Latvian blend. The point is to market a barrel in which only 49.99% comes from Russia; in Shell's eyes, as long as the other 50.01 percent is sourced elsewhere, the oil cargo isn't technically of Russian origin.
/jlne.ws/3LNFvSu
Europe Must End Its Addiction to Russia's Natural Gas; Ridding itself of Putin's fossil fuels won't be easy. But there are ways to ease the pain — and the alternative is far worse.
The Editors - Bloomberg
The atrocities committed by Russian forces in Bucha and other Ukrainian towns make a decision that was already necessary even more urgent. The European Union, which has so far acted with commendable unity, must end its reliance on Russia's hydrocarbons as soon as possible. Ukraine, which is fighting for its survival as a nation-state, may not have more time than that to avert defeat or dismemberment.
/jlne.ws/3JoFz9w
CME Offers Reference Rates on Additional Cryptocurrencies
Emily Nicolle - Bloomberg
CME Group Inc. is set to offer investors broadened access to a greater range of cryptocurrencies on traditional markets, launching 11 new reference rates and real-time indices. Alongside its existing Bitcoin and Ether rates, the derivatives marketplace said its partnership with CF Benchmarks will expand to include reference rates and indices for Algorand, Bitcoin Cash, Cardano, Chainlink, Cosmos, Litecoin, Polkadot, Polygon, Solana, Stellar and Uniswap. Reference rates are usually used as a benchmark for other financial products.
/jlne.ws/3Jda2HG
Global Energy Upheaval Threatens Years of Natural Gas Shortages
Stephen Stapczynski - Bloomberg
The natural gas market's delicate balance is crumbling, putting the global economy under further strain as nations struggle to secure enough fuel. War, the energy transition, severe weather and surging demand are creating a period of upheaval that is tightening supply like never before. Nations and companies are grappling to secure enough gas amid a global power crunch as economies recover from the pandemic.
/jlne.ws/3v5v9Xz
https://jlne.ws/3v5v9Xz
U.S. FDIC asks banks for info on crypto activities, cites potential 'systemic risks'
Reuters
The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) on Thursday said the thousands of banks it supervises should notify the regulator of any crypto-related activities they have or are planning. Citing potential systemic risks from certain crypto assets and activities, the FDIC said any firm considering dabbling in crypto should tell the agency of its plans, and any institution already involved in such activities should "promptly" notify the FDIC, the regulator said in a statement.
/jlne.ws/3Jf1LDf
Bloomberg relaunches corporate actions platform; As a major player exits the corporate actions data vendor arena, Bloomberg is continuing to enhance its data offering while the market braces for a shake-up.
Rebecca Natale - Waters Technology
Capital markets firms routinely weigh their nice-to-have capabilities against their need-to-have platforms. In such a heavily regulated environment, the need-to-haves often tip the scales. While terms like "innovative" and "cutting-edge" tend to get reserved for front-office technologies and datasets, some vendors have attempted to give facelifts to the back office, where more esoteric functions like accounting, record maintenance, and reference data are managed.
/jlne.ws/3KpE3FB
The Coming Battle Over Cryptocurrency Regulation; Federal law already requires regulation of many crypto schemes — will Congress reinforce it or water it down?
Arthur Delaney - HuffPost
The creators of "Unicorn Hunters," an online reality show where budding entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a celebrity panel, are launching a new cryptocurrency. It may sound gimmicky, but the forthcoming "Unicoin" could come with a layer of accountability absent from most crypto tokens. That's because TransparentBusiness, the majority owner of the show, says it plans to register Unicoin with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
/jlne.ws/3xd8riE
The United States Sanctions Major Russian State-Owned Enterprises; In Combined Action, Treasury and State Target Major Russian Companies
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Today the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Alrosa, a Russian state-owned enterprise (SOE) and the world's largest diamond mining company, which is also responsible for 90 percent of Russia's diamond mining capacity. The Department of State also redesignated Joint Stock Company United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), as well as its subsidiaries and board members. USC is a Russian SOE that develops and constructs the majority of the Russian military's warships, likely including many of those used to bombard Ukraine's cities and harm Ukraine's citizens. These actions were taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14024. Through these designations, Treasury is cutting off additional sources of support and revenue for the Government of the Russian Federation (GoR) to wage its unprovoked war against Ukraine.
/jlne.ws/35RFg9B
As Bitcoin Market Expands, Demand for Regulatory Guidance Grows; Without clear regulatory standards, how crypto firms determine and manage their compliance risks and processes are a key business strategy, panelists said at the Bitcoin 2022 conference
Mengqi Sun - WSJ
Increased regulatory guidance is crucial to the continuing growth of the cryptocurrency sector in the U.S., said panelists Thursday at one of the largest bitcoin conferences of the year. But uncertainty about how the U.S. will write its cryptocurrency regulation remains one of the top barriers for both crypto firms looking to enter the U.S. market and for digital assets seeking to attract institutional investors, according to Compliance & Regulation panelists at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami Beach, Fla.
/jlne.ws/3KnriLD
Tokyo Stock Exchange launches shakeup to attract foreign investors; Japan's flagship Tokyo Stock Exchange launched its biggest shake up in decades to attract foreign investors. Alex Rankine explains why Japan's investment prospects are attractive right now.
Saloni Sardana - MoneyWeek
This week the Tokyo Stock Exchange launched its biggest shake up since 1961 in a bid to attract foreign investors. The exchange has scrapped a "cumbersome system of four separate boards" for a more streamlined split into three new sections - "prime, standard and growth", say Eri Sugiura and Leo Lewis in the Financial Times. A key part of the plan is to make prime a more exclusive category than the unwieldy "first section" it replaces. That includes tougher requirements on market capitalisation and corporate governance (an area in which Japan has long lagged).
/jlne.ws/37uhl0h
New Sanctions Add Pressure on Russia but Don't Shut Off Business; Europe's reliance on Russian oil and gas has been a factor in keeping the payments tap open
Patricia Kowsmann - WSJ
Waves of Western sanctions targeting Russian banks are hampering the country's ability to conduct business, but efforts continue to be constrained by Europe's reliance on Russian oil and gas. The campaign to isolate Russia financially over the war in Ukraine has blacklisted most of Russia's largest banks and taken aim at oligarchs. It also has targeted President Vladimir Putin's daughters, with the U.K. on Friday saying it would join the U.S. and European Union by freezing any assets they have in the country and subjecting them to travel bans.
/jlne.ws/3LMXiJB
Goldman Sachs just flagged the crypto curse of the first quarter
Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez - Fortune
Never miss a story: Follow your favorite topics and authors to get a personalized email with the journalism that matters most to you.
While it seems as if many investors are looking for stocks with blockchain exposure these days, they may want to place their bets on the wider S&P 500 instead. It's the latest bad news for investors coming out of the "crypto winter." Analysts for Goldman Sachs said over the weekend that they see a 38% chance of a recession over the next 24 months.
/jlne.ws/37zpO2E
Japan bans Russian coal imports after invasion of Ukraine; Tokyo targets energy sector for first time following similar action by EU and G7 allies
Antoni Slodkowski and Song Jung-a - FT
Japan will ban Russian coal imports, joining EU and G7 allies to target the country's energy sector for the first time following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. "I am banning imports of Russian coal. By gradually reducing the imports we will lower our energy dependence on Russia," prime minister Fumio Kishida said on Friday, adding that Japan would focus on renewables and nuclear power to replace lost supplies.
/jlne.ws/3KnPu0F
Buy-side institutions slam 'disconcerting' proposed equities consolidated tape revenue model; Asset manager members have written to politicians criticising current plans for the winning equities tape bidder to be the one that offers the highest returns to regulated markets.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
Buy-side asset management institutions have written an open letter to politicians imploring them to reconsider their proposals for a consolidated tape, in particular, the way it remunerates the tape provider and incumbent exchanges.
/jlne.ws/3KjeplQ
Traditional institutional involvement remains paramount for crypto derivatives trading, finds report; Acuiti report found that greater intermediation from traditional sell-side firms and more participation from the buy-side would have the biggest positive impact on the market.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
More involvement from the traditional buy- and sell-side remains the most essential to the development of the crypto derivatives market outside of regulation, according to a Acuiti report. Derivatives accounted for 63% of crypto trading in February earlier this year, while crypto exchange Binance saw an average daily volume of $600 billion in Bitcoin futures, Acuiti found.
/jlne.ws/3JkHXyb
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Russia's central bank says it will stop buying gold at a fixed price
Reuters
Russia's central bank said on Thursday that due to a "significant change in market conditions" it would buy gold from commercial banks at a negotiated price from April 8. On March 25, the bank had said it would buy gold at a fixed price of 5,000 roubles a gram until June 30.
/jlne.ws/3KkxvYY
Russia, U.S. Face-Off Boosts Default Risk; Prices of derivatives tied to the creditworthiness of the Kremlin are showing a high probability of a Russian default
Alexander Saeedy and Matt Wirz - WSJ
The derivatives market is flashing signals that the tit-for-tat between the U.S. Treasury and the Kremlin is increasing the likelihood of a Russian government default after Russia's Ministry of Finance announced Wednesday it will restrict the ability of some foreign investors to convert their payments into dollars. The cost of buying a five-year derivatives contract for protection against a Russian government default, also called a credit-default swap, jumped on Wednesday to around 75% of the total value of the debt insured, according to data from ICE Data Services.
/jlne.ws/37tDEDD
Sovcombank Is First Russian Lender to Miss Coupon Since War; Sovcombank suspends coupon payments on four dollar bonds; Oil services firm Borets seeks to extend maturity for a year
Luca Casiraghi and Irene García Pérez - Bloomberg
Sovcombank PJSC is the first Russian bank to say it will miss a payment on foreign-currency bonds due to sanctions imposed on the nation since its invasion of Ukraine. Russia's ninth-largest lender was due to make a $12 million interest payment on notes maturing in 2030 on Thursday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, but the bank said in a statement that it would stop payments on four notes issued by an Irish vehicle, Sovcom Capital DAC.
/jlne.ws/3r9zqrN
Russia laments 'significant losses' as Ukraine braces for major offensive
Natalia Zinets - Reuters
Russia on Thursday appeared to give the most damning assessment so far of its invasion, describing the "tragedy" of mounting troop losses and the economic hit as Ukrainians were evacuated from eastern cities before an anticipated major offensive.
/jlne.ws/3jjW64g
Chairman of Russia's Rusal calls for investigation of Bucha killings
Reuters
The chairman of Russian aluminium giant Rusal called on Thursday for an impartial investigation into the killing of civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, which he described as a crime, and urged an end to the "fratricidal" conflict. While the statement from Chairman Bernard Zonneveld, a Dutch national, did not touch on who was to blame for the deaths of civilians in the town, it is unusual for a large Russian company to comment publicly on the conflict. Ukraine and several Western governments have accused Moscow of war crimes after the bodies of civilians shot at close range were found in the town of Bucha following a Russian withdrawal.
/jlne.ws/3v1JELO
Sold Out: Asian Buyers Continue To Snap Up Russia's Far-East Crude
OilPrice.com
Asian buyers continue to buy one of Russia's key crude grades shipped from the Far East ports as the Sokol cargoes for May loadings for Asia are already sold out, traders told Bloomberg on Thursday. Crude from the Sakhalin I project, from which operator ExxonMobil said it would withdraw after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, was sold either on a term or spot basis to South Korea, China, and India, Bloomberg's sources said.
/jlne.ws/3Kq1Y7I
Russian Missile Attack Kills Dozens at Railway Station in Eastern Ukraine; Russia presses eastern offensive in Donbas area as Kyiv assesses scale of damage around the capital
Georgi Kantchev - WSJ
A Russian missile attack on a train station in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk killed 39 and injured dozens more people trying to flee the eastern Donbas region, Ukrainian authorities said Friday, as Moscow focuses its attention on a renewed offensive there.
/jlne.ws/3xbSZmY
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | AMERIBOR Term-30: 2022 First Quarter in Review and Post Fed Tightening Performance
AFX
During the first quarter of 2022, the American Financial Exchange's recently launched AMBOR30T one-month term rate benchmark remained the most consistent and representative one-month funding benchmark option for the overwhelming majority of US-based financial institutions. Closely tracking one-month LIBOR, both historically and during this quarter's first wave of tightening by the Fed, it serves as a "plug-in-and play" replacement for all lending and
investing applications where One-Month LIBOR has historically been applied.
/bit.ly/3jg4z8s
CME Group and CF Benchmarks to Launch 11 New Cryptocurrency Reference Rates and Real-Time Indices on April 25
CME Group
Expanded suite of non-tradable reference rates and indices to capture over 90% of investible cryptocurrency market cap today
CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, and CF Benchmarks, the leading provider of cryptocurrency benchmark indices, today announced plans to launch 11 new cryptocurrency reference rates and real-time indices, which will be calculated and published daily by CF Benchmarks, beginning April 25.
/bit.ly/3LSYvzc
CME Globex Notices: April 4, 2022
CME Group
Topics in this issue include: Critical System Updates, Product Launches, Product Changes, Events and Announcements
/bit.ly/3NVUrzI
Equity Index market briefing April 2022
Eurex
Zubin Ramdarshan, Head of Equity & Index Product Design, Eurex
This quarter will be remembered for all the wrong reasons, unfortunately. The subsequent spike in volatility for financial and commodity markets has reverberated into the real economy. Governments find themselves walking a tightrope of fiscal and monetary policy responsibility. The unstable macroeconomic and political picture has led to an immediate increase in demand to hedge and efficiently reposition portfolios. This naturally drives the high trading activity in futures and options at Eurex. Realized and implied volatility levels have remained above long-term averages after the initial shock from the Ukraine invasion. The March-June roll provided further impetus to this particularly pronounced volume uplift. Overall, we saw monthly records in March for Sector derivatives, the Micro-futures segment, Mini-DAX®, MSCI index derivatives and TRFs. New quarterly volume records were reached for our ESG and FTSE index derivative product suites.
/bit.ly/3LVdmJr
Forfeiture of Unclaimed Final Dividend for 2015
HKEX
As provided in the Articles of Association of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited
("HKEX"), any dividend unclaimed after a period of six years from the date for payment of
such dividend shall be forfeited and shall revert to HKEX. Accordingly, HKEX's final dividend
for 2015 of HK$2.87 per share, payable on 2 June 2016 and remaining unclaimed on
2 June 2022, will be forfeited and will revert to HKEX.
/bit.ly/3LT0VgT
JPX Monthly Headlines - March 2022
JPX
JPX group companies undertake various initiatives and disseminate information with the aim of providing the most attractive markets to all users. Every month, we showcase the highlights of these efforts in short and concise summaries just for you.
/bit.ly/3uWrcEc
The Operational Change of Trading Halt Regarding "NEXT FUNDS Russia RTS Linked Exchange Traded Fund (1324)"
JPX
TSE has halted trading of the ETF "NEXT FUNDS Russia RTS Linked Exchange Traded Fund (Securities Code: 1324)" listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange for the time being from March 17th as previously announced*. Considering the prolonged period of trading halt, TSE will change the operational method of trading halt for the ETF as described below.
/bit.ly/3v2ANts
List of mutual funds available on the stock market from April 8
MOEX
Starting April 8, 2022, 50 mutual funds will be available on the Moscow Exchange stock market .
We would like to remind you of the rules for trading on the markets of the Moscow Exchange from April 5 to April 8, 2022 .
/bit.ly/3LMV5Oj
Nasdaq March 2022 Volumes and 1Q22 Statistics
Nasdaq
Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) today reported monthly volumes for March 2022, as well as quarterly volumes, estimated revenue capture, number of listings, and index statistics for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 on its investor relations website. A data sheet showing the monthly volumes and quarterly capture rates can be found at: http://ir.nasdaq.com/financials/volume-statistics.
/bit.ly/3ukEpHU
TMX Group Equity Financing Statistics - March 2022
TMX Group
TMX Group today announced its financing activity on Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) for March 2022.
/bit.ly/37vX5vh
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Good Chip Results Won't Be Good Enough; Macroeconomic worries cloud semiconductor stocks even as shortage keeps revenue, earnings high
Dan Gallagher - WSJ
Such is the state of the chip industry that the better the numbers get, the worse investors seem to feel about it. The Semiconductor Industry Association reported Monday that global sales for the sector hit $52.5 billion in February. That is a new monthly record that's also up nearly a third from the same month last year—the best growth rate the industry has seen since 2010, when sales were half their current level.
/jlne.ws/3DU0dgD
The Huge Endeavor to Produce a Tiny Microchip; As the global chip shortage continues, we take an inside look at how semiconductors are fabricated.
Photographs and Video by Philip CheungText by Don Clark - NY Times
Some feature more than 50 billion tiny transistors that are 10,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. They are made on gigantic, ultraclean factory room floors that can be seven stories tall and run the length of four football fields. Microchips are in many ways the lifeblood of the modern economy. They power computers, smartphones, cars, appliances and scores of other electronics. But the world's demand for them has surged since the pandemic, which also caused supply-chain disruptions, resulting in a global shortage.
/jlne.ws/3ulaRKa
U.K. Brexit Border IT System Plagued by Outages as Queues Build; Goods vehicle movement service facing 'ongoing issues': HMRC; Lack of GVMS is adding to hassle for traders faced by queues
Joe Mayes - Bloomberg
A key part of U.K. government's post-Brexit border IT system is expected to remain out of service until at least Monday, adding to the headache for traders already facing long queues on the way to the country's busiest port.
/jlne.ws/3LNFzSe
Applied Blockchain, Inc. Announces Launch of Initial Public Offering
Applied Blockchain, Inc.
Applied Blockchain, Inc. ("Applied" or the "Company"), today announced it has launched an initial public offering of $60 million of its common stock, pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-1 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). In addition, Applied intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 15% of the offered common stock at the public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions. Applied intends to list on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol "APLD."
/yhoo.it/3ukMvjM
Israel's Crypto Bros Are Leading the Local Blockchain Trend
With a digital crypto bank in the works and no regulation, more and more Israelis are investigating in digital currencies
Haaretz
Trading in digital currencies and other assets has transformed from being a marginal and unregulated market into a major component of the economy of the future, says a study from TASC Consulting and Capital, which examined the digital currency market in Israel and the characteristics of its traders.
/bit.ly/3NZi3ni
Goldman Says 'Sell' Robinhood After 84% Rout From Post-IPO Peak; GS cuts to sell as growth slowing, path to profit unclear; Stock slides 3% premarket; down 84% from post-IPO record high
Thyagaraju Adinarayan and Swetha Gopinath - Bloomberg
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts cut Robinhood Markets Inc. to sell, less than a year after the bank led its popular initial public offering. It joined JPMorgan Chase & Co., the other lead IPO bookrunner, in turning bearish on the free-trading app that rose to prominence during the peak of the pandemic as homebound people turned to online trading to pass the time and make money. Goldman's William Nance cited continued weakness in account growth and path to profitability getting pushed further out as headwinds for Robinhood.
/jlne.ws/37rgLR5
How Chief Technology Officers Are Investing Big in the Future; A survey of more than 3,000 executives across industries provides a crystal ball into how companies are spending today for tomorrow.
Alex Webb - Bloomberg
One way to anticipate the next tech revolution is to ask those spending the money: technology leaders. So Bloomberg Businessweek teamed with Bloomberg Intelligence, the analysis arm of Bloomberg LP, to survey 3,038 executives across industries. Their responses, detailed in the Bloomberg Digital Economy Index powered by Infosys, show where chief technology officers at leading companies are focusing spending—and why they're making those choices.
/jlne.ws/3Jldiks
FactSet's EMS integrates with Appital's bookbuilding platform; Integration will provide buy-side traders with more transparent bookbuilding and price formation.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
Equity capital marketplace Appital has integrated with FactSet's Portware Enterprise execution management system (EMS) to give mutual clients access to its bookbuilding platform. The integration will enable buy-side traders to place larger orders or participate in additional liquidity opportunities. In response to increased client demand, it will also provide the buy-side with a more efficient and transparent way to execute large-in-size orders with reduced market impact or risk of price erosion.
/jlne.ws/37rlmmj
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | The FBI silently removed Russian malware to thwart global cyberattacks
Mariella Moon - Engadget
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland has revealed that the United States secretly removed malware from computer networks around the world over the past few weeks to pre-empt Russian cyberattacks. As The New York Times reports, Garland's announcement comes shortly after the White House warned companies that Russia could attack critical infrastructure in the country, such as financial institutions and the electric grid. Apparently, the malware the US removed enabled the intelligence arm of the Russian military called the GRU to create botnets out of the infected computer networks.
/jlne.ws/3Jlm5CG
FBI Cybersecurity Strike Against Russian Botnet Is 'Awesome Moment' For MSPs
Shane Snider and Steven Burke - CRN
The FBI's successful pre-emptive strike that stopped a Russian-government-backed botnet aimed at taking down SMB and home-office networks is a landmark moment in the battle to protect Main Street from foreign cybersecurity attacks, said MSPs.
/jlne.ws/3rcoWHT
How a Cybersecurity Startup Jumped 3000% to Become a Unicorn in a Year
Ben Bergman - Business Insider
Panther Labs' 31-year-old founder and CEO, Jack Naglieri, found himself in the enviable position of being hounded by prospective investors last year, even as he politely rebuffed them.
"I wasn't ready yet," Naglieri said. "We had just raised our Series A less than six months prior. Things were still fairly early, and I wanted to wait for the business to grow a little bit more."
/jlne.ws/3NPF4sC
5 steps to strengthen cybersecurity defenses in wake of Ukraine-Russia crisis
Ivan Vinogradov - Security Magazine
With the ongoing events in Ukraine, it is to be expected that the type of cyberattacks will become more aggressive, advanced, and persistent due to the involvement of state actors and organized crime.
In fact, Conti, a ransomware gang affiliated with Russia, has gone public with the intent to engage in retributive actions against governments that introduce sanctions against its host state. These threats should not be taken lightly, as anyone can become a victim of these extremely threatening cyberattacks — both directly and indirectly.
/jlne.ws/3uVZh7y
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | EQIFi Launches DeFi Mobile App, Boasting Access to Yield Aggregator Product with Up to 70% APY; Powered by a regulated bank, EQIFi will provide app users is designed to democratize access to financial products and services
EQIFI
EQIFI, the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform for borrowing, trading, and investing in digital assets, backed by a regulated bank, has announced the launch of its mobile application, providing enhanced smartphone accessibility to the EQIFi DeFi product suite. The app provides access to EQIFi's most sought-after products, including the EQIFi yield aggregator which offers up to 70% APY. The app also offers peer-to-peer crypto transfers with zero fees, access to a variety of crypto wallets, and the ability to make purchases in crypto through DeFi credit cards.
/jlne.ws/3733NJw
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Calls Crypto 'Transformative' in Wide-Ranging Speech
Nikhilesh De, Jesse Hamilton - Coindesk
A digital dollar could become a "trusted money comparable to physical cash," U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in her first speech on digital assets on Thursday. Speaking to attendees at an American University event, Yellen highlighted the extreme divergence of perceptions about crypto, saying that's often the case with "transformative" technology.
/jlne.ws/37pQd2G
100% of proceeds from special edition NFTs will go to Ukraine relief efforts; GATE is eager to announce Ukraine Relief White Rabbit, a special edition NFT to be officially launched on April 13th.
GATE
Since its very inception, GATE has donated a total of $73,000 USD to various charitable foundations, such as the Autism Science Foundation and Save The Children. With the urgent situation of 2.5 million Ukrainians fleeing war, the company believes that there is a need to stand in solidarity with Ukraine and help in whatever way possible.
/jlne.ws/3rbLxoe
Ex-Barclays Traders Join Digital Art Craze With Bored Ape Tokens; Traders' collection features 70 Bored Ape Yacht Club images; Crypto and NFT boom resembles 1990s dot-com fever, they say
Laura Benitez and Abhinav Ramnarayan - Bloomberg
Two former Barclays Plc traders have swapped junk bonds for unique computerized art, amassing a collection of Bored Ape Yacht Club nonfungible tokens in a bet on the growing lure of digital collectibles. Ovie Faruq and Mike Anderson, former high-yield cash and derivatives traders, have amassed 70 images of apes in various states of boredom, and three Damien Hirst NFTs, among other digital images. They wouldn't reveal the value of their collection, or specific ID addresses, citing security concerns, but a Sotheby's auction in September of similar images gives a ballpark figure. A lot of 101 Bored Ape tokens was sold for $24.4 million -- and valuations have increased since.
/jlne.ws/3JgR433
Web3 is yet to take off despite the hype; So far, it's hard to discern mainstream uses for this technology
Richard Waters - FT
If the tech movement known as Web3 represents the internet's next big gold mine, then why aren't we hearing more about the truly useful applications that will be built on this new platform? And why aren't more developers flocking to it to make their fortune?
/jlne.ws/3v0uHd6
'Everything Everywhere All at Once' Redefines the Multiverse Movie; The gonzo martial-arts sci-fi comedy starring Michelle Yeoh has big-name directors openly rooting for it to rev up the indie moviegoing experience
John Jurgensen - WSJ
In an alternate reality, "Everything Everywhere All at Once" would be a big-budget streaming movie starring an All-American actor dude, with glossy visual effects, a PG-13 rating and zero sex toys used as weapons. In our current reality, "Everything Everywhere All at Once" stars 59-year-old Michelle Yeoh as a failing mom and wife who discovers countless versions of herself coexisting across a multiverse. As a mid-budget production in the $20 million range getting an ambitious push in theaters, it represents an increasingly rare thing in the movie world. As an R-rated sci-fi action comedy featuring a tender family story and martial-arts fights (including a few involving risqué weaponry), the film is objectively unique.
/jlne.ws/3unM0Fy
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Biden Preparing to Announce Pair of SEC Nominees; White House is set to tap aides from each party to fill openings on the five-member commission
Paul Kiernan, Andrew Ackerman - WSJ
The Biden administration plans to nominate a Republican and a Democrat to serve on the Securities and Exchange Commission, filling the remaining vacancies at the top U.S. markets regulator. The White House said Wednesday that President Biden would tap Jaime Lizárraga, a top aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), to fill a Democratic seat currently occupied by commissioner Allison Herren Lee. Ms. Lee has said she plans to leave the agency once a successor is in place.
/jlne.ws/3NTAbPo
Progressives Want to Ban Trading of California Water Futures; A new bill would prevent traders, farmers, and industrial users of water from betting on price swings.
Lee Harris - Prospect.org
In September 2020, as wildfires lashed a drought-stricken West Coast and average water prices in California leaped to double what they had been a year earlier, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and NASDAQ announced a new tool to bet on the price of water. The exchanges were offering a futures contract—an agreement to buy an asset at a predetermined time—structured much like existing derivatives that allow investors to wager on changes in the cost of pork or palm oil. The launch prompted considerable distress from environmental nonprofits.
/jlne.ws/3Jj9LmK
Sens. Susan Collins, Raphael Warnock Test Positive For COVID-19; Several lawmakers have recently contracted the coronavirus.
Sarah Ruiz-Grossman - HuffPost
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) both tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, joining a slew of lawmakers and federal officials who have reportedly contracted the coronavirus in recent days.
/jlne.ws/3NVVOOS
Biden's Federal Employee Vaccine Mandate Upheld In Appeals Court; The administration argued that the Constitution gives the president, as the head of the federal workforce, the same authority as the CEO of a private corporation.
Kevin McGill - AP
President Joe Biden's requirement that all federal employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 was upheld Thursday by a federal appeals court. In a 2-1 ruling, a panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court and ordered dismissal of a lawsuit challenging the mandate. The ruling, a rare win for the administration at the New Orleans-based appellate court, said that the federal judge didn't have jurisdiction in the case and those challenging the requirement could have pursued administrative remedies under Civil Service law.
/jlne.ws/35RD7L8
Congress Votes Overwhelmingly To Suspend Russia's Trade Status And Ban Oil; President Joe Biden is expected to sign the measures into law.
Kevin Freking - AP
Congress voted overwhelmingly Thursday to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and ban the importation of its oil, ratcheting up the U.S. response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine amid reports of atrocities. House action came after the Senate approved the two bills with 100-0 votes. The measures now go to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.
/jlne.ws/3DW30pW
Germany Warns It Will Act to Secure Sufficient Gas Storage
Iain Rogers - Bloomberg
Germany will step in if gas-storage operators fail to fill facilities sufficiently to comply with new requirements, as the government takes a tougher line to secure supplies for next winter. Under the new rules -- approved by the upper house of parliament on Friday and due to take effect May 1 -- operators must fill storage facilities to 90% capacity by Nov. 1.
/jlne.ws/3unSXXv
France Would Halt Gas Power Stations First If Russia Cuts Supply; Government prepares plan to tackle any supply disruptions; GRTgaz is surveying large gas users to assess consequences
Francois De Beaupuy - Bloomberg
France would first halt large gas-fired power plants if any Russian supply disruption creates a shortage, while households would be the last in line, according to the country's main gas-transmission network operator GRTgaz SA.
/jlne.ws/3r8wmw4
Putin Has Fallen Victim to the Dictator's Disease; It's not just that longtime autocrats stop listening to anybody. Their supporters come to share in their delusions.
Hal Brands - Bloomberg
Last weekend saw the re-election of the man often thought of as Europe's proto-Putin: Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister who has attacked his country's democracy while seeking to weaken the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization from within. Yet Orban should be careful whom he emulates. If Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent performance is any indication, he has fallen victim to the dictator's disease — the tendency for absolute power to heighten the propensity for catastrophic miscalculation.
/jlne.ws/3jgXDrR
The US needs to aim its financial punishment at Putin himself; To sharpen its economic warfare strategy, Washington must overhaul its own restrictive rules
David Asher - FT
US deputy Treasury secretary Wally Adeyemo toured Europe last month on a drive to strengthen EU sanctions and bolster asset-freezing measures against Vladimir Putin and his nomenklatura. His message to Moscow's enablers was clear: "to anyone who may be in a position to help Russia take advantage and evade our sanctions . . . we will come and we will find you," he warned. But even in the face of unprecedented economic pressure, much of Putin's financial network remains functional.
/jlne.ws/3r7TAlO
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Student loan companies 'abusing the bankruptcy system' will face consequences: CFPB letter
Aarthi Swaminathan - Yahoo Finance
Student loan companies will face consequences if they mislead borrowers and collect on private debt that has been discharged by a bankruptcy court, according to a letter sent by the country's top consumer watchdog to Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) that was obtained by Yahoo Finance.
/jlne.ws/3Ji2GT9
BIS: Supervisory Practices For Assessing The Sustainability Of Banks' Business Models
MondoVisione
Banks rarely become weak overnight, and flaws in business models and strategies are often the root causes of banks' vulnerabilities and failures. While sudden shocks may be the immediate cause of banks' demise, the root causes are generally more structural. If not identified in time and allowed to fester, these vulnerabilities will make a bank's activities increasingly unsustainable, to the point where it becomes non-viable.
/jlne.ws/3KuUpNq
Federal Reserve Board issues enforcement action with former employee of Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
Federal Reserve Board
The Federal Reserve Board announced on Thursday that it permanently barred from the banking industry Joseph Jiampietro, a former managing director at Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Jiampietro agreed to the prohibition, stemming from his unauthorized use and disclosure of confidential supervisory information. Confidential supervisory information includes bank examination reports and other confidential reports prepared by banking regulators. It is illegal to use or disclose confidential supervisory information without prior approval of the appropriate banking regulator.
/jlne.ws/3raVmCN
Federal Court Orders Precious Metals Traders to Pay Penalties and Imposes Trading Bans for Spoofing and Engaging in a Deceptive or Manipulative Scheme
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced that Judge Steven C. Seeger of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issued final judgments and consent orders against James Vorley and Cedric Chanu, former precious metals traders, for spoofing and engaging in a deceptive or manipulative scheme, in violation of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations.
/jlne.ws/3KpN0Pk
Florida-Based Companies and Their Owner Settle Mid-Trial for $1.8 Million for Fraudulent Forex and Digital Asset Scheme
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida entered an order for permanent injunction, monetary sanctions, and equitable relief against Alan Friedland of Florida and his Florida-based companies, Fintech Investment Group, Inc. (Fintech), and Compcoin LLC, for fraudulently soliciting customers to purchase a digital asset they falsely promised would allow customers to gain access to a proprietary foreign currency (forex) trading algorithm.
/jlne.ws/3DNRNHI
FCA launches three-year strategy to improve outcomes
FCA
The FCA has launched a new strategy to improve outcomes for consumers and in markets throughout the UK.
As the FCA's remit is broad and growing, the three-year strategy prioritises resources to prevent serious harm, set higher standards and promote competition. The regulator will also, for the first time, hold itself accountable against published outcomes and performance metrics.
/jlne.ws/3jfk9Ba
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | 'It's a huge issue': Here's why fertilizer pricing are soaring, impacting Mississippi farmers
Andrew J. Yawn - Mississippi Clarion Ledger
Farming is contingent on timing. And in February, when Mississippi cattle farmers normally fertilize their ryegrass to grow a sustainable food supply for their cows, the timing couldn't have been worse. That month, fertilizer prices hit all-time highs. Anhydrous ammonia, one kind of commonly used nitrogen fertilizer, reached nearly $1,500 a ton. Other types of fertilizer had doubled in price from $400-500 last year to approximately $1,000, said Andy Berry, a cattle rancher and executive director of the Mississippi Cattlemen's Association.
/jlne.ws/3E7CYA9
International Bonds Can Give Your Investments a Smoother Ride; The bond market is reeling, recording its worst performance in decades. International bonds might help your portfolio ride out the turbulence.
Tim Gray - NY Times
International bonds can baffle even experienced investors. Add to that the fraught state of the world, with warfare and a pandemic, and it's little wonder many people shy away from them. Yet international bonds may have a place in your portfolio. A mutual fund or exchange-traded fund that invests in them can diversify your bond allocation and reduce risk.
/jlne.ws/3unj40L
Staying the Course May Be the Key to Wartime Investing; Experts say investors should resist the urge to make drastic changes to their portfolios because of global turmoil.
Brian J. O'Connor - WSJ
Entire sectors of the global economy are in turmoil after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, leaving investors worried about how they should react. Should they buy energy stocks? Shares of defense contractors? What about agriculture? Is it time to go to cash?
/jlne.ws/3JoElLD
The Bogle Effect
Nicole Samoroukova - The Reformed Broker
Welcome to the latest episode of The Compound & Friends, a new podcast from your favorite financial and investing commentators. This week, Michael Batnick, Eric Balchunas, and Downtown Josh Brown discuss: Schwab/Fidelity direct Index, An Asset Gathering Machine, The Bogle Effect
/jlne.ws/3NUyXDn
Who Will Buy Bonds the Fed No Longer Wants? The new era of inflation has only just begun to wreak havoc
Marcus Ashworth and Mark Gilbert - Bloomberg
The bond-market beatings will continue until morale improves. It's not been much fun investing in fixed income in recent months. The three-year U.S. Treasury yield, for example, has risen fivefold since the start of October; the ascent shows little sign of abating. If bond traders are correct in their prognosis that inflation has raced to become endemic rather than transitory, the stock market better watch out.
/jlne.ws/3Krmg0E
A $430 Billion Cautionary Tale Inside Japan's Central Bank; The world's boldest monetary policy experiment landed the Bank of Japan with a vast portfolio it just can't quit.
Min Jeong Lee and Toru Fujioka - Bloomberg
In most of the world, exchange-traded funds are simply tools that allow investors to track a certain set of stocks. In Japan, they've been saddled with everything from propping up the market and boosting inflation, to accelerating economic growth, improving corporate governance and even encouraging gender equality.
/jlne.ws/3uiz4B0
U.S. Fuel Traders Ditch Storage as Holding Product Poses Risk; Less fuel in tanks means supplies prone to squeezes, spikes; Fuel storage tanks now cheaper to rent in Gulf Coast, New York
Chunzi Xu - Bloomberg
Traders of physical fuel in the U.S. are abandoning their annual storage contracts as holding onto products has become a losing proposition given current pricing structures. Futures markets for diesel, jet fuel and gasoline shifted into wide backwardations -- conditions in which future deliveries are priced lower than prompt levels -- after Russia's invasion of Ukraine tightened global oil supplies and sent prompt prices surging. The backwardations are easing this month, but it remains true that fuels are losing value every day inside a storage tank.
/jlne.ws/371YZny
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | The good and bad news about the current Covid-19 wave; Even if BA.2 doesn't spark a nationwide surge, it still poses dangers.
Dylan Scott - VOX
Evidence-based explanations of the Covid-19 pandemic, including how it started, how it might end, and how to protect yourself and others. The BA.2 omicron subvariant of the coronavirus has been on the country's radar for months — scientists conducting wastewater surveillance noticed it back in January. BA.2 first received widespread attention in early February as it appeared to drive a large wave of infections in the United Kingdom. And ever since, some health experts have been warning that this new iteration of the virus — even faster-spreading than the super-contagious original omicron variant — could create another wave in the pandemic.
/jlne.ws/36WJqhf
Shanghai residents warned about online posts over Covid lockdown; Internet regulator urges people to 'distinguish rumours from facts' after criticism and food shortages
Eleanor Olcott and Andy Lin - FT
Chinese officials have warned Shanghai residents about what they say online regarding the city's Covid outbreak, after many complained about conditions and food shortages almost two weeks after the city of 25mn was locked down.
/jlne.ws/3JoqgxQ
Shanghai's Omicron Outbreak Corners Chinese Leader; Xi Jinping looked to ease China's zero-Covid strategy until the highly contagious variant forced a return to strict lockdowns
Lingling Wei, Stella Yifan Xie andNatasha Khan - WSJ
After two years of relying on broad, hard-edged lockdowns to control Covid-19, Chinese leader Xi Jinping tried something new in Shanghai. Mindful of the economic toll and public anger from China's zero-Covid strategy, Mr. Xi gave the city leeway to tackle local outbreaks, people close to the government's decision-making said. The idea was to let Shanghai target only affected neighborhoods with lockdowns. If successful, the approach would offer a template for coexisting with the virus in the years ahead.
/jlne.ws/3xtSV2j
Foreigners Pull Record $15 Billion From Chinese Bonds; International investors have also trimmed their positions in onshore stocks
Rebecca Feng - WSJ
Foreign investors cut their holdings of Chinese bonds by more than $15 billion in March, in a record monthly retreat from the world's second-largest bond market. The selldown probably had several triggers, including concerns about the geopolitical risks of investing in China, broader economic uncertainty and the market's diminishing yield advantage compared with U.S. bonds, analysts said. Last month, global investors also withdrew more than $7 billion from onshore Chinese stocks through a trading link with Hong Kong.
/jlne.ws/3Jj4489
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Shell's 13-Year Journey From Discovery to First Oil Shows Why U.S. Output Is Flat
Paul Takahashi - Bloomberg
Questioned by U.S. lawmakers this week, chief executives from the nation's biggest oil companies took great pains to explain why they haven't raised production fast enough to tame skyrocketing energy prices.
/jlne.ws/37r398r
Balancing on the net-zero tightrope - speech by Sarah Breeden; Given at TheCityUK International Conference
Bank of England
Sarah Breeden talks about the economy's transition to net-zero, and the role central banks can play to support it. She says that while governments must lead the transition, central banks can explain how the different paths we take to net-zero might impact the economy, and the financial system. She explains that there will be different choices available to reach net-zero, so it is important that we consider the benefits and drawbacks of each.
/jlne.ws/3unioIL
BlackRock fails to win support for iShares ETF switch to ESG index; Manager to investigate why shareholder meeting failed to reach quorum
Alf Wilkinson - FT
BlackRock will not go ahead with plans to switch a EUR1.4bn iShares corporate bond exchange traded fund to an environmental, social and governance index, after a shareholder meeting to approve the change failed to reach quorum. Last month the world's largest asset manager proposed changing the index for its EUR1.4bn iShares EUR Corp Bond ex-Financials Ucits ETF to the Bloomberg MSCI Euro Corporate ex Financials Sustainable SRI index.
/jlne.ws/3jldeGS
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | 1MDB Fraud Vehicles Now Being Used to Recover Stolen Money
Jeremy Hill - Bloomberg
Once conduits for hundreds of millions of dollars looted from 1MDB, a group of offshore entities are being repurposed to try to track down the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund's stolen money.
/jlne.ws/3KmFTaa
Macro funds lead broader hedge fund recovery in February -HFR
Reuters
A strong performance by macro funds helped hedge funds recover in February from a bruising start to the year, despite a surge in volatility following Russia's invasion of Ukraine late in the month.
/jlne.ws/3JmDvPm
Energy Funds Lead Again, but Ukraine War Makes Future Uncertain; High oil prices have lifted the shares of energy companies, making that the best-performing sector among funds in the first quarter.
J. Alex Tarquinio - NY Times
The wild ride that energy markets have been on shows no signs of abating. After topping the charts in 2021, funds that invest in energy stocks once again turned in the strongest performance of any sector in the first quarter. But some investors wonder how much longer that streak can continue in the face of mounting uncertainty, with European leaders debating cutting off Russian imports, and as sanctions, inflation and the pandemic threaten global growth.
/jlne.ws/3KAoIlu
Carlyle Group's CEO on Why the Deals Keep Coming
Reshma Kapadia - Barron's
Amid a period of tectonic shifts in markets, the economy, and geopolitics, Kewsong Lee , chief executive of Carlyle Group , has reshaped the alternative-asset manager, diversifying beyond the company's private-equity roots to capitalize on the explosive demand for private assets. Lee had a long career as a deal maker at Warburg Pincus before making the jump to rival Carlyle (ticker: CG) in 2013. Since becoming co-CEO in 2018 and taking the reins solo in 2020, Lee has expanded the company beyond its roots in private-equity leveraged buyouts. He has shifted the focus from traditional performance fees to more-predictable fee-related earnings growth that analysts say drives shareholder returns.
/jlne.ws/3v5rd9a
Ex-Goldman executive banned from banking over mishandling of documents, Fed says
Reuters Staff
A former Goldman Sachs GS.N managing director has been permanently barred from the banking industry over mishandling confidential documents leaked from the New York Federal Reserve, the U.S. central bank said on Thursday.
/jlne.ws/3ujxPS7
Ex-Goldman banker banned by Fed over misuse of confidential information; Bank has paid $86.3mn in fines in connection with long-running case involving documents from NY Fed
Joshua Franklin - FT
The US Federal Reserve has permanently banned former Goldman Sachs banker Joseph Jiampietro from working in the banking industry over improper use of confidential information. The decision by the Fed, one of the US banking industry's main regulators, capped a long-running case that started in 2014 when Goldman fired Jiampietro for allegedly accessing confidential information from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
/jlne.ws/3NPMuvY
Adelphi Capital to become a family office after run of poor performance; One of London's oldest hedge funds has struggled to deal with sharp sell-offs in equity markets
Laurence Fletcher - FT
Adelphi Capital, one of London's oldest hedge funds, is to convert into a family office following a recent run of poor performance, in the latest sign that equity managers are struggling to navigate a sharp sell-off in markets.
/jlne.ws/3DRv2CG
Venture trusts raise more than £1bn; Investors pile in record funds despite risk concerns
Akila Quinio - FT
UK investors poured more than £1bn into venture capital trusts in the tax year just ended, in a record fundraising season for the early-stage businesses investment vehicles. Figures published by the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) show that a record £1.13bn was invested in venture capital trusts in 2021-22, a 65 per cent increase compared with the previous tax year.
/jlne.ws/3JlMws7
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Lockdowns in China Block Truck Shipments and Close Factories; China's Covid lockdowns and restrictions are holding up truck drivers who carry crucial components among factories and bring products to ports, posing a new disruption to the global supply chain.
Keith Bradsher - NY Times
BEIJING — China's mounting Covid-19 restrictions are creating further disruptions to global supply chains for consumer electronics, car parts and other goods. A growing number of Chinese cities are requiring truck drivers to take daily Covid P.C.R. tests before allowing them to cross municipal borders or are quarantining drivers deemed to be at risk of infection. The measures have limited how quickly drivers can move components among factories and goods from plants to ports.
/jlne.ws/37vV3eD
Chinese Tech Giants Lose Shine as Growth Stalls; Beijing's anti-Covid measures are likely to exacerbate a slowdown in revenue growth for companies including Alibaba and Meituan
Clarence Leong - WSJ
Revenue growth is slowing at some of China's biggest technology companies, reducing one of the industry's key selling points for global investors. After a sustained regulatory onslaught, the sector is confronting forceful antipandemic measures, which threaten to further damp consumer demand in the world's second-largest economy. The challenges are feeding into broader skepticism about Chinese stocks, since tech makes up a large chunk of the offshore market.
/jlne.ws/3xaQktR
Russia Cuts Interest Rate as Financial System Stabilizes; Central bank reduced its key rate to 17% from 20%, a slight stepping back from the emergency measures taken in response to punishing Western sanctions
Paul Hannon - WSJ
Russia's central bank cut its key interest rate following an unscheduled meeting of policy makers Friday, a sign that efforts to stabilize the country's financial system are having an effect. In a statement announcing the reduction in the key rate to 17% from 20%, the Bank of Russia said the ruble's rebound from sharp losses in the days immediately following the Feb. 24 invasion had reduced the risk that inflation would move sharply higher.
/jlne.ws/3xdUX6c
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