| August 16, 2021 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
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John Lothian News | |
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$52,906/$300,000 (17.6%)
Douglas Engmann
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
The White House is weeks away from making an announcement that Rostin Behnam will be the nominee for the next chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Bloomberg reports. The CFTC still needs another commissioner named too, which may be a factor in the delay of the announcement.
But if Behnam does officially get the nod, as Bloomberg's report suggests, that would align with my suggestion that Commissioner Behnam should get the chairman post. I still have another commentary to write about the non-lawyer suggestions for the role of chairman from the non-lawyer participants of the industry, which could also provide the decision makers with some names to consider.
Reuters is reporting that the number of children hospitalized with COVID-19 has hit a record, with just over 1,900 children in hospitals across the U.S. -- Reuters
If you are an IBM employee and want to work in their offices rather than at home, you need to be vaccinated. After September 7, employees won't be allowed to work in the office unless they have the shot(s). -- Reuters
Douglas Engmann, the chairman of Sage Brokerage, is the latest to give to the JLN MarketsWiki Education GoFundMe campaign. He is also the owner of Engmann Options. He was once head of North American equities for Fimat/Newedge USA. He has also served as vice chairman of ABN AMRO North America. He served as chairman of Preferred Trade and for 11 months in 1987 served as executive chairman of the Pacific Exchange. I am sure he has some great stories to tell and I hope to get him in front of the camera soon. Thank you to Doug and all who have given and all who have yet to give. Support our efforts to preserve industry history and educate and motivate the next generation of industry professionals and market participants, by giving to our GoFundMe campaign.
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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Terry Patton, a former trader and Cboe member and founder of CannaTrac Technology, plans to draw a clear path between his past and present this afternoon when his company kicks off its "Rolling Tour" in Chicago's financial district, outside the Cboe and CBOT buildings. Patton says the idea of the 20+ city tour though Illinois and Missouri, complete with a company-branded tour bus, is to tout its CannaCard digital payment platform, an app that enables cash-free cannabis purchases. Having to rely on cash payments has been a long-running challenge for both cannabis retailers and buyers, one that the proposed Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act of 2021 aims to help rectify. (The bill would prohibit federal banking regulators from penalizing depository institutions for providing banking services to legitimate cannabis-related businesses.) More information on CannaTrac can be found here.~SC
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The Spread - August 13, 2021
JohnLothianNews.com
Volatility eases as summer draws to a close and earnings season ends; Treasury and Eurodollar options perk up on inflation worries; John Lothian delivers a tribute to the late Wayne Luthringshausen and talks market structure; Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing launches new options; Two economics professors take a poke at stock market bubbles; and tastytrade's Jermal Chandler talks about theta in the "Term of the Week."
Watch the video »
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The World May Never Reach Herd Immunity Against Covid-19
Michelle Fay Cortez - Bloomberg
Delta variant is moving the goalposts for ending the pandemic; Covid-19 may be present in the world for a century - or longer
As Covid-19 surged last year, governments worldwide touted the hope of "herd immunity," a promised land where the virus stopped spreading exponentially because enough people were protected against it. That's now looking like a fantasy.
/bloom.bg/37MqvT6
****** An important story. Drop your biases and just read it.~JJL
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'Mr White Hat:' The story behind a $600m crypto caper; How an alleged thief morphed into a self-styled vigilante who captivated the digital asset world
Philip Stafford and Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan and Miles Kruppa - FT
An hour after the world discovered an alleged hacker had made off with $600m in one of the largest-ever cryptocurrency heists, the thief tipped a bystander $42,000 for warning that some of the assets were being frozen. The apparent act of generosity was only the first unexpected twist in a virtual robbery that has gripped the crypto industry and left many observers scratching their heads.
/on.ft.com/2Xl31lN
***** This is a weird story, but then things that happen in the crypto world continue to not surprise me.~JJL
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State Street, Firm Behind Wall Street's 'Fearless Girl' Statue, Is Vacating New York City Offices; Boston firm tells its New York staffers they won't be returning to Midtown Manhattan offices
Dawn Lim - WSJ
Financial giant State Street Corp. is vacating its two New York City office locations. Executives at the Boston firm told New York staffers they won't be returning to its Midtown Manhattan offices, according to people familiar with the matter. It expects to sublease the two offices near Rockefeller Center to other companies.
/on.wsj.com/3g6P3us
***** "How much for the little girl?" H/T to John Belushi. ~JJL
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You've Never Heard of the Biggest Digital Media Company in America; Red Ventures has turned very specific advice into very big business.
Ben Smith - NY Times
Lindsey Turrentine first heard of Red Ventures last fall, when it bought the venerable tech news site CNET, where she is the senior vice president in charge of content. She sat down at her kitchen table in Berkeley, Calif., and frantically started Googling to find out what it was.
/nyti.ms/3jXRd0x
***** The headline writer is correct. I had not heard of them. But I know their brand. Interesting success story for the firm that owns Bankrate.com and Field & Stream.~JJL
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Friday's Top Three
Our most read story on Friday was Optiver's white paper, The PFOF You Didn't Know Existed: Exchange Marketing & Response Fees. Second was another white paper from Optiver, The Us Equity Options Market Is Overdue For An Update. And third was a third white paper from Optiver, Equity Options Specialists: Too Much Of A Good Thing? (A fourth Optiver white paper, Improving The Price Improvement Model, came in at number 5.)
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MarketsWiki Stats
26,518 pages; 235,278 edits
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| Lead Stories | Biden Said to Pick Behnam as Top U.S. Derivatives Regulator
Benjamin Bain and Robert Schmidt - Bloomberg
CFTC candidate has been acting head of agency since January; Behnam expected to focus on climate change issues as chair
President Joe Biden plans to name Rostin Behnam to lead the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which oversees much of the $582 trillion global derivatives market including cryptocurrency trading, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
/bloom.bg/3xVaNPY
Something Is Awry in the Treasury Market This Summer; Bond yields fell too far, then came back too strong; a real yield of minus 1.2% is hard to understand
James Mackintosh - WSJ
I get uncomfortable when I can't understand what's going on in the markets, and I'm not really happy with my explanation for the weirdness of the Treasury market over the past few months. Given that pretty much everything else rests on Treasurys behaving sensibly, my level of discomfort is high. The core of the problem is that as inflation soared, bond yields fell, creating an instant contradiction: Inflation is poison to bond investors, so they would normally be expected to sell. I have an explanation, but it isn't perfect.
/on.wsj.com/3m7BGhu
50 Years After Going Off Gold, the Dollar Must Go for Crypto; After Richard Nixon scrapped Bretton Woods, the U.S. currency's exorbitant privilege only grew — because the U.S. embraced innovation, not regulation.
Niall Ferguson - Bloomberg
It was Sunday night on Aug. 15, 1971, and many Americans were watching television — the most popular show that evening being the Western series "Bonanza." (Older readers will recall that it chronicled the adventures of the Cartwright family — Ben, his three sons and their Chinese cook — on their Ponderosa Ranch in Nevada.) At 9 p.m. Eastern time, the Cartwrights and their rivals on the other two networks were interrupted by the somewhat less popular figure of President Richard Nixon.
/bloom.bg/3xLeNTf
The age of the ETF is looming; Exchange traded funds are much more than just passive index-trackers
Robin Wigglesworth - FT
Like an ageing boxer who is still on top but starting to lose some of their pace and power, the mutual fund is slowly but surely being supplanted by a newer, brasher invention: the exchange traded fund. Before dwelling on why, it is important to acknowledge what a phenomenal invention the open-ended mutual fund has been — arguably one of the greatest in financial history, whether ranked by success, longevity or social usefulness.
/on.ft.com/2VYp6GC
A Skeptical Stock Analyst Wins Big by Seeking Out Frauds; The activist short-seller behind Hindenburg Research has become known for research that sends companies' stock sinking. He says he's not in it just to move share prices.
Matthew Goldstein, Kate Kelly - NY Times
Last month, federal authorities charged the founder of the electric vehicle manufacturer Nikola, which had gone public in the summer of 2020, with defrauding investors. They were led there partly by the work of a little-known Wall Streeter named Nathan Anderson.
/nyti.ms/37Olrxe
A hedge fund revival? Industry hopes a dismal decade is over; Although the sector is enjoying a pandemic renaissance, some leading investors still believe many funds do not justify the high fees
Robin Wigglesworth and Laurence Fletcher - FT
Every January for the past two decades, a clutch of hedge fund titans and their top investors have cloistered themselves at Palm Beach's plush Breakers Hotel to wine, dine and gossip in the balmy Floridian weather.
/on.ft.com/3ANanNm
Vanguard calls for fund fee transparency; Asset manager says product costs should be as clear to public as calorie counts on food labels
Chris Flood - FT
Investment funds should publish easy-to-compare fee figures in the same way food labels carry nutritional values to make clear to the public when costs are "hazardous", according to Vanguard. Sean Hagerty, European head of the world's second-biggest asset manager, said ordinary UK investors were still unaware of the extent to which fund fees could limit their returns.
/on.ft.com/3gqaZ43
Hedge Funds Are Demanding Their SPAC Money Back; The special sauce that's flavored blank-check firms has become potential poison. It's time to reform their financial incentives.
Chris Bryant - Bloomberg
Last month, Atlas Crest Investment Corp., a blank-check firm created by investment banker Ken Moelis, spectacularly lopped $1 billion off the enterprise value off its $2.7 billion deal with flying taxi company Archer Aviation. Several factors contributed to this reset, including an intellectual property dispute with a rival and the fact Archer has yet to finish developing a fully operational prototype or agree to certification requirements with regulators, according to this filing.
/bloom.bg/2VXiN69
Crypto is reshaping the world economy, 50 years after Nixon ended the dollar's peg to gold. Here's how some are playing it; A Bretton Woods for the digital-currency era? Will we see more global coordination on digital assets?
Mark DeCambre - MarketWatch
Is the global economy steering toward a Bretton Woods for the digital-currency age? Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of what has been described as the dropping of a "monetary bombshell" on the world financial system, when President Richard Nixon announced that the U.S. dollar would no longer be pegged to gold GC00, -0.06%, effectively yanking America out of an international currency regime established by the Bretton Woods agreement.
/on.mktw.net/3xUJ8yC
Ex-Regulators Draw Top Pay to Help Firms Decode China Crackdown
Bloomberg News
Companies in China are scouring ministries and regulators for officials willing to cross over and help them navigate a sweeping crackdown on the private sector that has upended some of the nation's most high-profile firms. Officials at watchdogs in charge of the financial system, and those from ministries overseeing commerce, industry and information are the most sought after, with pay packages in some instances approaching half a million dollars, about 60 times the average for civil servants, according to headhunters.
/yhoo.it/3xPPgIo
Actually, it doesn't matter who runs the Fed; Edward Price argues central bank independence is too theoretical for any appointment to make a difference.
Edward Price - FT
Truth be told, it doesn't really matter who runs the Fed. Should that vex, consider this: if modern central banks are independent, why do they act as anything but? The evidence for this charge is plentiful.
/on.ft.com/3jWuj9Y
To prevent pandemics we need better science ecosystems; A well-funded multidisciplinary approach is the strongest tool in addressing global challenges
Edith Heard - FT
As the planet races to rid itself of Sars-Cov-2, the pandemic has shown that investing in multi-faceted scientific pursuit can ultimately save lives.Monitoring emerging virus variants, for example, requires a cross-disciplinary effort involving epidemiologists, geneticists, statisticians, immunologists and other specialists. Such collaborations have relied on existing investment (for research, data sharing, drug and vaccine development), as well as new funding to enable combined approaches to fighting the evolving pandemic.
/on.ft.com/3g8R35n
Severe Drought Could Threaten Power Supply in West for Years to Come; Water elevation at the Hoover Dam is at its lowest since Lake Mead was first filled
Lindsay Huth and Taylor Umlauf - WSJ
As drought persists across more than 95% of the American West, water elevation at the Hoover Dam has sunk to record-low levels, endangering a source of hydroelectric power for an estimated 1.3 million people across California, Nevada and Arizona.
/on.wsj.com/3AJYPdH
Wall Street Is Paying Over $100,000 To Junior Bankers. For Many, That's Not Enough
David Gura - NPR
For years, Wall Street was a top destination for star students like Tashrima Hossain, a class president at Stanford University with ambitions to change the world. Hossain had interned for nonprofits and was seriously considering going to graduate school. But she figured a detour to Wall Street would teach her useful skills and provide networking opportunities. And the six-figure paycheck wouldn't hurt.
/n.pr/3sjLar3
EY Announces Bill Capuzzi of Apex Fintech Solutions LLC as an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2021 Southwest Award Winner
Business Wire
Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced that CEO Bill Capuzzi of Apex Fintech Solutions LLC was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2021 Southwest Award winner. The annual Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards program is one of the preeminent competitive awards for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies. The award recognizes those who are unstoppable entrepreneurial leaders, excelling in talent management; degree of difficulty; financial performance; societal impact and building a values-based company; and originality, innovation and future plans. Capuzzi was selected by an independent panel of judges, and the award was announced during the program's virtual awards gala on August 4, 2021.
/bwnews.pr/3z5i953
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | The Value of a Vaccination, in Three Charts; How important is it to get your Covid-19 jab?
Lara Williams - Bloomberg
Do you know someone who is fully vaccinated but caught Covid-19 anyway? You're not alone. Breakthrough cases are causing anxiety for many as Covid transmission is on the rise again in the U.S. But the fact that some fully vaccinated people are contracting Covid-19 doesn't mean vaccines aren't working. No vaccine is 100% effective, and health authorities around the world have been expecting breakthrough cases. In fact, the data show us that the vaccines are doing their job quite effectively.
/bloom.bg/3AN5bt2
Deadly Covid-Linked Condition in Kids Poised for a Comeback
Anna Edney - Bloomberg
Pediatric hospitals bracing for next wave of ICU admissions; Doctors in Covid hotspots fearful about what's likely to come
Pediatricians in U.S. Covid-19 hotspots are anticipating a delta-fueled swell of children with a rare, serious and sometimes deadly virus-linked condition as the fall resumption of school looms. The condition, called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, occurs in a small number of kids who've been exposed to the coronavirus. Children can develop the illness even if they haven't had Covid symptoms, and week-long intensive care unit stays are not uncommon.
/bloom.bg/3g7BBGK
Bank of Thailand Head Says Virus Fight May Need $30 Billion More
Suttinee Yuvejwattana and Prim Chuwiruch - Bloomberg
BOT chief proposes government raise borrowing to fund stimulus; Pandemic impact seen to be greater than estimated: Sethaput
Thailand's central bank governor called for an additional 1 trillion baht ($30 billion) in government spending to counter coronavirus, saying the blow to the economy from the pandemic is greater than from the Asian financial crisis in 1997.
/bloom.bg/2XxSELF
Vaccine patents battle intensifies as poor nations struggle in war on coronavirus; Pharmaceutical industry and health officials lock horns over intellectual property waivers for Covid-19 jabs
Donato Paolo Mancini - FT
As the world stood still in lockdown in April 2020, a group of Oxford researchers packed the cell cultures needed to make their experimental coronavirus vaccine and quietly shipped them to India's Serum Institute.
/on.ft.com/3jXJcIZ
Return to school and rising infections propel US child vaccine campaign; White House enlists TikTok influencers as less than half of youth are double-jabbed
Nikou Asgari - FT
US health officials are campaigning to vaccinate more children as coronavirus threatens to disrupt the autumn return to classrooms after a school year scarred by the pandemic.
/on.ft.com/3m8pNIa
The Covid Fear Isn't Going Anywhere for a While; The key is to first recognize your anxiety, and then find ways to deal with it
Kate Murphy - WSJ
Of the roller coaster of emotions experienced during the pandemic, the most pervasive and persistent has been fear. We have feared for ourselves, our loved ones and our way of life. We may have manifested this fear differently—from outright denial to suiting up in rubber gloves and face shields—but still, these are anxious times.
/on.wsj.com/3AOiDgm
NYC's COVID vaccine mandate begins Monday as businesses face new struggles
Will Feuer - NY Post
New York City's COVID-19 vaccine mandate kicks in Monday — meaning New Yorkers who want to dine inside restaurants, workout at a gym, or attend an indoor concert must show proof they've gotten at least one of their shots. The citywide mandate is a first-in-the-nation such requirement.
/bit.ly/381l2rH
German committee backs coronavirus vaccine for all teens; The committee has opted to change its recommendation, citing the latest safety.
Helen Collis - Politico
Germany's independent immunization committee Monday broadened its advice to vaccinate all children aged 12 to 17 against COVID-19 after a review of the latest data. The STIKO committee said in a statement the decision comes after examining new safety data, especially from the U.S., on around 10 million vaccinated teens.
/politi.co/3yUIrGM
Hong Kong Hikes Travel Curbs for 16 Nations on Delta Threat
Jinshan Hong and Bruce Einhorn - Bloomberg
The U.S., France, Spain moved to high-risk group for travelers; Reversal comes less than two months after initial easing
Hong Kong tightened its travel curbs for residents returning from 16 countries -- including the U.S., France and Spain -- less than two months after it started easing some of the world's strictest quarantine measures.
/bloom.bg/2Uozy9C
Texas Supreme Court Temporarily Suspends Local Mask Mandates
Laurel Brubaker Calkins - Bloomberg
The Texas Supreme Court temporarily suspended local mask mandates passed by a broadening array of counties, cities and school districts trying to tamp down the resurgence of Covid-19 in one of the nation's hottest infection zones.
/bloom.bg/3stBIBu
'I don't want to risk my life for a paycheck': immunosuppressed people grapple with returning to work
Victoria Knight & Kaiser Health News via Quartz
Elizabeth Groenweghe got a kidney transplant 14 years ago. She now takes several medications to prevent her body from rejecting her transplant organ. But these medications also weaken her immune system, putting her at higher risk of becoming seriously ill if she catches covid-19.
/bit.ly/2VW0WMG
'It's a pandemic of the young now': COVID-19 hospitalization rates for adults in their 30s hit record highs amid Delta variant surge
Adam Schrader - Daily Mail
COVID-19 hospitalization rates for adults in their 30s have hit record highs amid the surge of the Delta variant as experts worry it has become a 'pandemic of the young.' Dr. James Lawler, co-director of the Global Center for Health Security at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, addressed the alarming hospitalization rate in a weekly update on Tuesday.
/bit.ly/2VZBlT2
U.S. administers 355.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines - CDC
Reuters
The United States has administered 355,768,825 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Saturday morning and distributed 415,915,655 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
/reut.rs/2VYlRhQ
Children hospitalized with COVID-19 in U.S. hits record number
Gabriella Borter - Reuters
The number of children hospitalized with COVID-19 in the United States hit a record high of just over 1,900 on Saturday, as hospitals across the South were stretched to capacity fighting outbreaks caused by the highly transmissible Delta variant.
/reut.rs/3xOy8CL
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Former LSE boss Xavier Rolet unveils new $200m Spac; The new firm will focus on the fintech and financial services sector in Europe and the US
Paul Clarke - Financial News
The former chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, Xavier Rolet, is leading a new blank cheque vehicle that counts a number of other City grandees among its executives. Rolet is chief executive officer and chairman of World Quantum Growth Acquisition Corp, which outlined plans to raise $200m on the New York Stock Exchange through 20m shares valued at $10 each, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission on 10 August.
/bit.ly/3yQLdwJ
Former HKEX chief unveils new foreign investment platform to finance Chinese small businesses
South China Morning Post
The new global investment platform, Micro Connect, was launched in Hong Kong on August 3, 2021. Speaking exclusively to the South China Morning Post, former Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing chief executive and Micro Connect co-founder Charles Li Xiaojia, said the new platform aims to make it easy for global investors to fund the tens of thousands of Chinese small businesses with potential investment ranging from tens of thousands to several million yuan. The launch comes as China's 20 million...
/yhoo.it/3xRhvXk
Nadex Launches $0 Minimum Deposit Promotion
Mondovisione
Pursuant to Section 5c(c)(1) of the Commodity Exchange Act, as amended ("Act"), and section §40.6(a) of the regulations promulgated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the "Commission") under the Act (the "Regulations"), North American Derivatives Exchange, Inc. ("Nadex", the "Exchange") submitted to the Commission on August 13, 2021 its intent to launch a $0 Minimum Deposit Promotion, whereby applicants will be able to make an initial minimum deposit of less than the standard $250 minimum requirement, beginning on August 27, 2021 until the promotion termination date. Terms and Conditions apply.
/bit.ly/3iOscWc
Euronext says committed to growing Milan bourse's home business
Reuters
Pan-European stock exchange Euronext (ENX.PA) on Friday said it was "deeply committed" to fostering growth at the recently acquired Milan bourse following reports in the Italian press about impending job cuts at Borsa Italiana.
/reut.rs/3iPW70f
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | My Years on Wall Street Showed Me Why You Can't Make a Deal on Zoom
William D. Cohan - NY Times
For all the endless bravado and gobs of money sloshing through Wall Street, at their core, banking and trading are apprenticeship businesses. They are akin to the Florentine guilds of the Renaissance, in which the subtleties and intricacies of art and science were absorbed over many years through careful observation.
/nyti.ms/3CJVPjo
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Singapore phone company leaks personal data of more than 57,000 customers • The Register
Illinois News Today
StarHub, a pay-TV, internet and mobile phone provider in Singapore, emailed 57,191 customers that it was the victim of a cyberattack that leaked their national ID card number, mobile phone number and email address.
/bit.ly/3xTTL4G
Ondrej Vlcek, the cyber security mogul leading Avast into the big leagues
Hannah Murphy - FT
As a teenager in the early 1990s, Ondrej Vlcek hacked his way into owning his first computer. Since then, the 44-year-old has built his career firmly on the other side of the cyber battle. As chief executive of cyber security and antivirus software group Avast, his mission has been to help consumers protect their increasingly digital lives from audacious intruders and their growing armoury of hacking tools.
/on.ft.com/3m8BqyO
T-Mobile Investigating Claims of Data Breach on Online Forum
Nic Querolo and Yueqi Yang - Bloomberg
T-Mobile USA Inc. is investigating the validity of claims of a data breach that is said to involve personal data from more than 100 million people, some of which is up for sale in exchange for bitcoin.
/bloom.bg/2VZuLvO
Tech Hack Notification Delays Can Leave Corporate Customers in the Lurch
Catherine Stupp - WSJ
Some tech companies are slow to share details about hacks of their products, leaving customers vulnerable to disruptions and uncertain how to respond as information trickles out. Cyberattacks in which hackers target a service provider and then use that foothold to access their customers' networks are receiving scrutiny from policy makers in the U.S. and Europe.
/on.wsj.com/3yUEQbK
How Did the Cybersecurity Ecosystem Get So Clogged Up?
Gary Stevens - Tripwire
The need for diligent cybersecurity is critical, but clogging up security ecosystems with multitudes of tools is not effective. Organizations should focus on taking a more pragmatic approach to security by seeking to understand what devices are connected to their network, how they communicate, and what possible risks they might present. Digital tools that integrate and automate security processes are essential to productivity.
/bit.ly/3g7RSvk
Cyber Security Today, Aug. 16, 2021 - PrintNightmare bugs exploited, AlphaBay criminal marketplace returns, a threat to network inspection devices and check your router
Howard Solomon - IT World Canada
Ransomware gangs are starting to take advantage of recently-discovered printer-related vulnerabilities in Windows Server. Collectively, the three vulnerabilities are known as PrintNightmare. CrowdStrike says that one gang using a ransomware strain called Magniber was caught trying to exploit these vulnerabilities last month against organizations in South Korea. Microsoft has issued security updates for two of them, which by now Windows administrators should have installed.
/bit.ly/2VYg0tq
State Department 'pushing the envelope' by offering Dark Web informants cryptocurrency rewards for information on hackers attacking the United States
Alex Marquardt - CNN
As hackers and cybersecurity experts descended on Las Vegas last week for the famous cyber conference Black Hat, they may have noticed an open Wi-Fi network called "#Rewardsnotransoms." It's not the kind of place where a network is usually left unprotected but, in this case, that was the point.
/cnn.it/37Li3Dg
Microsoft Discovers New Morse Code Phishing Attack: Cybersecurity Experts Confirm It is Effective
Griffin Davis - Tech Times
Microsoft confirmed that hackers are now using an old and unusual method to conduct phishing attacks. The tech giant firm explained that online attackers and other cybercriminals now rely on Morse code to evade security detection.
/bit.ly/3slE4SF
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried donates $450,000 to a nonprofit that supports bitcoin developers
Isabelle Lee - Business Insider
Cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried has pledged nearly half a million to a nonprofit that supports bitcoin developers, in step with the 29-year-old's philosophy of "earning-to-give."
/yhoo.it/37Jtg7s
Elon Musk backs Mark Cuban's claim that dogecoin is the best cryptocurrency as a medium of exchange
Harry Robertson - Business Insider
Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban's claim that dogecoin is the strongest cryptocurrency as a medium of exchange has been backed up by long-time doge fan Elon Musk. Cuban told CNBC last week that "the community for doge is the strongest when it comes to using it as a medium of exchange."
/yhoo.it/2VVva2m
Are Crypto's High Trading Volumes a Scam?
Rakesh Sharma - Investopedia
Not surprisingly, the volume of trading in cryptocurrencies tends to soar as their prices rise, with new investors pile in, creating a feeding frenzy. But given their relatively short existence, cryptocurrencies manage to rack up trading volumes that would be the envy of a multinational corporation. In late July 2021, as the price of a bitcoin (BTC) reached $40,000, trading volume hit $9.2 billion. That marked a rebound in both price and volume. Daily average volume had been trending below $2 billion for months, starting to climb only in late November 2020.1
/bit.ly/3xUKl98
Bye-Bye, Miners! How Ethereum's Big Change Will Work
Matthew Leising - Bloomberg
Ethereum is making big changes. Perhaps the most important is the jettisoning of the "miners" who track and validate transactions on the world's most-used blockchain network. Miners are the heart of a system known as proof of work. It was pioneered by Bitcoin and adopted by Ethereum, and has come under increasing criticism for its environmental impact: Bitcoin miners now use as much electricity as some small nations. Along with being greener and faster, proponents say the switch, now planned to be phased in by early 2022, will illustrate another difference between Ethereum and Bitcoin: A willingness to change, and to see the network as a product of community as much as code.
/bloom.bg/3jZZMIk
Crypto Staking Firm Figment Raises $50 Million From Novogratz's Galaxy, Others
Joanna Ossinger - Bloomberg
Senator Investment, Liberty City Ventures led the fundraising; Round values Figment at about $500 million: person familiar
Crypto staking services provider Figment has raised $50 million in a new funding round for hiring and business expansion. The series B round was led by Senator Investment Group and Liberty City Ventures, according to a company statement on Monday. Mike Novogratz's Galaxy Digital, crypto platform Anchorage as well as investment firms Declaration Partners and Bonfire Ventures also participated in the fundraising. The round values Figment at about $500 million, a person familiar with the matter said.
/bloom.bg/3jVqamF
Retail Giant Walmart Seeking to Hire Digital, Cryptocurrency Lead
Greg Ahlstrand - Coindesk
Walmart, the largest U.S. retailer by total sales, is looking to hire a digital currency and cryptocurrency product lead.
/yhoo.it/3jVYUEp
Digital Asset Trading Platform Market Reimagining Go-to-Market Strategies After the Pandemic with Bittrex, Kraken, Bakkt, CoinDesk, Interdax
Anita Adroit - The Market Writeuo
Detailed research added by Adroit Market Research offering a comprehensive analysis of the developments, growth outlook, driving factors, and key players of the Digital Asset Trading Platform market in the latest research report. The research study concisely dissects the Digital Asset Trading Platform and unearths valuable estimations pertaining to the profit projections; market size, sales capacity, and numerous other crucial parameters. Also, the Digital Asset Trading Platform Market report appraises the industry fragments as well as the driving factors impacting the remuneration scale of this industry.
/bit.ly/3yTbaf9
Malta Blockchain Firm Is Behind 'Fan Tokens' PSG Paid to Messi
Thomas Gualtieri - Bloomberg
A blockchain company based in Malta is behind the "fan tokens" that Paris Saint-Germain handed to superstar Lionel Messi when he signed for the French soccer powerhouse.
/bloom.bg/3yXXekk
Treasury Seeks to Quell Fears Crypto Tax Rules Are Overly Broad
Christopher Condon and Laura Davison - Bloomberg
Department to clarify it's seeking tax data from brokers only; Industry worries infrastructure-bill provision is too broad
The U.S. Treasury Department is set to clarify that only cryptocurrency companies it considers brokers will need to comply with proposed IRS reporting requirements, aiming to quell concerns over a provision in the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed by the Senate.
/bloom.bg/3yQM6Fz
Are Crypto's High Trading Volumes a Scam?
Rakesh Sharma - Investopedia
Not surprisingly, the volume of trading in cryptocurrencies tends to soar as their prices rise, with new investors pile in, creating a feeding frenzy. But given their relatively short existence, cryptocurrencies manage to rack up trading volumes that would be the envy of a multinational corporation.
/bit.ly/3xUKl98
Small Traders Pile Back Into Cryptocurrencies; Bitcoin, ether and others are surging again even as hedge funds and other large traders bet their prices will decline
Caitlin McCabe - WSJ
Small investors are piling back into the cryptocurrency market, helping drive prices higher even as traders face uncertainty over proposed tax regulations in Washington.
/on.wsj.com/37OMDfk
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | I Don't Want My Pension Funding Sunak's Big Bang; The U.K. government wants to co-opt long-term savings to build a brighter future. Pension fund trustees should be wary.
Mark Gilbert - Bloomberg
The U.K. government is calling on the nation's pension funds to participate in an "investment big bang" by allocating more capital to domestic and long-term illiquid investments. It's a proposal that's short on detail and fraught with difficulties, and one that pension fund trustees should treat with an abundance of caution.
/bloom.bg/3k1vK6K
The crypto crowd gets loud and proud on Capitol Hill; Money talks in Washington and the digital finance industry has plenty of it
Gary Silverman - FT
The US cryptocurrency industry has just revealed a significant new capability. It has proved conclusively that it can make itself heard on Capitol Hill. The crypto crowd piped up as the US Senate was finishing work on President Joe Biden's $1tn infrastructure plan. In the days before the proposal passed on Tuesday, the debate stalled as the industry furiously protested tax reporting requirements being proposed for crypto "brokers" in the interest of helping to pay for all that upkeep.
/on.ft.com/3AN8Xmc
Democrats' Debt Dare Risks Shutdown Fight With No Easy Way Out
Steven T. Dennis - Bloomberg
Democrats are betting Republicans will blink and agree to raise the debt ceiling before it expires, a risky wager after a weeks-long standoff that threatens the health of the financial markets and continued U.S. government operations.
/yhoo.it/3AJTTFH
Homeland Security Considers Outside Firms to Analyze Social Media After Jan. 6 Failure; Effort has spurred civil-rights debates at DHS and White House, would expand government's handling of social-media data
Rachael Levy - WSJ
The Department of Homeland Security is considering hiring private companies to analyze public social media for warning signs of extremist violence, spurring debate within the agency over how to monitor for such threats while protecting Americans' civil liberties.
/on.wsj.com/3m7SvbS
The Fallout from Afghanistan; The economic and political effects of the Taliban takeover will be felt around the world.
Andrew Ross Sorkin, Jason Karaian, Sarah Kessler, Stephen Gandel, Lauren Hirsch, Ephrat Livni and Anna Schaverien - NY Times
The 20-year American era in Afghanistan came to a swift, shocking close yesterday as the Taliban seized the capital, Kabul. Afghanistan's president fled the country, and a council of Afghan officials pledged to negotiate with the insurgents.
/nyti.ms/37OGi3M
Taxing Rich Peoples' Empty Homes Isn't Helping the Housing Crisis; Economists say levies on vacant homes are largely political theatre, and policymakers need to tackle other factors such as supply-demand imbalance.
Emily Cadman, Natalie Obiko Pearson - Bloomberg
As policymakers struggle to control an affordable housing crunch, officials in some of the world's biggest cities have their sights set on a tactic: taxing the empty homes of the rich.
/bloom.bg/3yUandX
Why Goldman Sachs Thinks Biden Has Gasoline Problems
Al Root - Barron's
Goldman Sachs has a couple of problems with Washington's push for OPEC to produce more oil so that prices fall at the pump—the Delta variant and the very real possibility that the whole idea could backfire.
/bit.ly/3yQyni4
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | For more regulatory, visit MarketsReformWiki, our website focused on current market reform efforts. | Biden Administration to Pick Acting Chairman Rostin Behnam to Head CFTC: Report
Sebastian Sinclair - Coindesk
U.S. President Joe Biden's administration reportedly plans to nominate Rostin Behnam, acting chairman of the Commodity and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), to lead the regulator.
/yhoo.it/3st5Eh6
Analysis-U.S. SEC prepares to take on corporate America over workforce disclosures
Katanga Johnson - Reuters
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is headed for a scuffle with corporate America over how much information public companies must disclose about their most important asset: employees.
/yhoo.it/3g658Rg
Central banks vs the data regulators; Who is on the hook when CBDCs get hacked?
Izabella Kaminska - FT
If column inches are any indicator, new central bank digital currency-based monetary systems (known colloquially as CBDCs) look on the cards for most Western jurisdictions. Those advocating these regimes say they stand to broaden financial accessibility and lower the cost of transactions.
/on.ft.com/2XvMhbM
Justice Department Appoints Foreign Bribery Chief; David Last, who was made acting head of the DOJ's Foreign Corrupt Practices Act unit in April, has been given the job on a permanent basis
Dylan Tokar - WSJ
The U.S. Department of Justice has appointed David Last chief of a high-profile unit that investigates and prosecutes companies for paying bribes to public officials overseas. Mr. Last, who was made acting chief of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act unit in April, was recently given the job on a permanent basis, a Justice Department spokesman said Thursday.
/on.wsj.com/3g9z7HI
CBA to publish misconduct notices for overcharging interest
ASIC
The Federal Court has made orders requiring the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) to publish notices on its website and its newsroom acknowledging the bank's false or misleading conduct when it overcharged interest on business overdraft accounts.
/bit.ly/3snrRNC
ASIC prosecutes 124 people for failing to assist registered liquidators
ASIC
In the period 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2021, ASIC prosecuted 124 people in relation to 224 contraventions of the Corporations Act 2001. Those prosecuted were involved in companies that went into liquidation and had registered liquidators appointed.
/bit.ly/2UkZlPU
SEC Obtains Emergency Relief, Charges Two Florida Companies and their Principal Officer with Operating a Ponzi Scheme
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it filed an emergency action and obtained a temporary restraining order, an asset freeze, and the appointment of a receiver to stop an alleged Ponzi scheme and misappropriation of investor proceeds perpetrated by Coral Springs, Florida resident Johanna M. Garcia and two entities she controls.
/bit.ly/3sin2Fa
SEC Obtains Court Order to Stop Investment Adviser's Alleged Ongoing Offering Fraud
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the filing of an emergency action against Martin A. Ruiz of New York, and two entities he controls, Carter Bain Wealth Management, LLC (Carter Bain) and RAM Fund, LP (RAM). Shortly after filing the complaint, the SEC obtained a temporary restraining order and asset freeze against Ruiz, Carter Bain, and RAM to stop an allegedly ongoing fraudulent securities offering through which Ruiz and his entities allegedly misappropriated millions of dollars from investors.
/bit.ly/3xSr8Vs
Joint Statement on Joe Brenner Concluding His Tenure at SEC
Chair Gary Gensler, Commissioner Hester Peirce, Commissioner Elad L. Roisman, Commission Caroline A. Crenshaw
Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw, Commissioner Allison Herren Lee - SEC
On his last day with the Commission, we would like to thank Joe Brenner for his decade-long service to this agency as our Division of Enforcement's Chief Counsel. Joe came to the SEC with many years of experience practicing securities law and wanted to put that expertise to work for the benefit of American investors and markets. Under Joe's leadership, Enforcement's Office of Chief Counsel grew in expertise and responsibility and serves a critical role in advising the Director of Enforcement as well as the rest of the Enforcement staff on investigations and recommendations to the Commission. Joe has always been a staunch supporter of his team, the Enforcement staff, and the agency's enforcement program. We have truly appreciated Joe's extensive knowledge, his wise counsel, and his strong commitment to protecting investors and our markets.
/bit.ly/3yQd6oU
FINRA Alerts Firms to a Phishing Email Campaign Using Multiple Imposter FINRA Domain Names
FINRA
FINRA warns member firms of an ongoing phishing campaign that involves fraudulent emails (see sample in Appendix) purporting to be from FINRA and using one of at least three imposter FINRA domain names:"@finrar-reporting.org", "@Finpro-finrar.org", "@gateway2-finra.org"
/bit.ly/37NLVza
FINRA Reminds Firms of their Supervisory Obligations Related to Outsourcing to Third-Party Vendors
FINRA
Member firms are increasingly using third-party vendors to perform a wide range of core business and regulatory oversight functions. FINRA is publishing this Notice to remind member firms of their obligation to establish and maintain a supervisory system, including written supervisory procedures (WSPs), for any activities or functions performed by third-party vendors, including any sub-vendors (collectively, Vendors) that are reasonably designed to achieve compliance with applicable securities laws and regulations and with applicable FINRA rules. This Notice reiterates applicable regulatory obligations; summarizes recent trends in examination findings, observations and disciplinary actions; and provides questions member firms may consider when evaluating their systems, procedures and controls relating to Vendor management.
/bit.ly/3iOaEJH
CFTC Orders Tyson Foods to Pay $1.5 Million for Position Limit, Reporting, and Recordkeeping Violations
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today filed and settled charges against Tyson Foods, Inc., for exceeding the CFTC's position limits for soybean meal futures contracts traded on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and for failing to comply with reporting and recordkeeping obligations regarding its cash positions in grains. The order requires Tyson to pay a $1.5 million civil monetary penalty and to cease and desist from violating the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations as charged
/bit.ly/3iNzmtV
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | ECB's Lagarde not attending Jackson Hole conference of central bankers
Reuters
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde will not be attending the high-profile annual Jackson Hole conference of central bankers in late August, an ECB spokesperson said. The Sunday Telegraph reported earlier that Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey would also not be attending.
/yhoo.it/3yQvPkd
We're Getting '70s Flashbacks in Markets Too; The echoes of that decade are everywhere, but a shock to match Nixon's breaking of the dollar's link to gold are unlikely without an inflationary crisis first.
John Authers - Bloomberg
Discomfiting memories of the 1970s are everywhere. The U.S. administration understandably bridles at comparisons of Kabul to the fall of Saigon in 1975, but the parallels are obvious and painful for Americans (and anyone who dislikes the philosophy for which the Taliban stands).
/bloom.bg/3CSbZHp
Treasury Yields' Grip on Emerging Markets Keeps Traders on Guard
Netty Ismail and Karl Lester M. Yap - Bloomberg
Slowing economic recovery amid a resurgent pandemic is leaving emerging-market currencies vulnerable to a selloff if Treasury yields rise again. While the influence of U.S. borrowing costs on developing-nation currencies has waned in recent months, it may return to prominence for riskier assets as the cushioning effects from China's growth rebound and low inflation weaken, according to money managers including Fidelity International and Credit Agricole CIB.
/yhoo.it/3m8Gz9Y
Fed Officials Weigh Ending Asset Purchases by Mid-2022; Reducing bond buying sooner could provide more flexibility to raise interest rates if inflation stays high and unemployment falls rapidly
Nick Timiraos - WSJ
Federal Reserve officials are nearing agreement to begin scaling back their easy money policies in about three months if the economic recovery continues, with some pushing to end their asset-purchase program by the middle of next year.
/on.wsj.com/3CPYg46
Companies Are Hoarding Record Cash Amid Delta Fears; Cash and short-term investments on corporate balance sheets rose in the second quarter
Anna Hirtenstein - WSJ
Companies are sitting on a record amount of cash amid lingering uncertainty about disruptions from Covid-19, defying expectations earlier this year that a waning pandemic would unleash a spending spree. Cash and short-term investments on corporate balance sheets globally are at an all-time high of $6.84 trillion, according to data from S&P Global, extrapolated from second-quarter earnings reports. That is 45% higher than the average in the five years preceding the pandemic and a 2.6% increase from the previous quarter.
/on.wsj.com/2W2LL4t
The Delta Variant Is Already Leaving Its Mark on Business; The Covid-19 variant is damping demand and raising costs after a spring and summer that seemed to promise a rapid recovery
Theo Francis, Gwynn Guilford and Inti Pacheco - WSJ
Repercussions from the Delta variant of Covid-19 are starting to ripple across companies, raising staffing costs in senior housing, disrupting production of potato chips and leading some companies to rein in profit projections. Still unclear: whether the highly contagious strain of the virus will be a momentary stumble in an improving global economy—one that businesses and consumers are now better equipped to handle—or something more serious.
/on.wsj.com/2XqEBY5
Why Gold Bugs, Bond Bears and Amazon Skeptics Think Alike; Investors often prefer to stick their heads in the sand rather than confront the evidence in front of them
Jason Zweig - WSJ
Investing should be about seeing the future. That's hard to do when you are willfully blind. As the new book "The Cult of We: WeWork, Adam Neumann and the Great Startup Delusion," by my colleagues Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell, makes embarrassingly clear, the office-space provider didn't implode without warning. Some of the world's most-renowned investors—including SoftBank Group Corp. 9984 -2.14% of Japan and venture firm Benchmark Capital—watched the entire train wreck transpire in slow motion. For months and years, they stood by, unwilling or unable to get out of the way.
/on.wsj.com/3ANcYqM
BHP Considers Sale of $15 Billion-Valued Petroleum Business; The world's biggest mining company says it is in talks to sell the division to Woodside Petroleum, among other options
Rhiannon Hoyle - WSJ
The world's biggest mining company is plotting a new future. It wants to focus solely on mining. BHP Group Ltd. said it is considering selling its oil-and-gas business in what would rank as one of the energy industry's biggest deals this year: Analysts estimate the unit could be worth at least $15 billion. It is talking with Australia's Woodside Petroleum Ltd. about a possible deal in which BHP shareholders would receive Woodside stock.
/on.wsj.com/3mbxPjl
Summers Says 'Bizarre' for U.S. to Borrow So Much in Short-Term
Simon Kennedy and Benjamin Purvis - Bloomberg
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said the Federal Reserve's massive bond-buying program is resulting in a "bizarre" situation in which the government's funding structure is overly focused on the short-term.
/bloom.bg/3snyrUk
Edward Bonham Carter: 'Brexit makes UK assets ripe for takeovers'; The flamboyant former chief executive of Jupiter is looking at ways to transform the City, make London more attractive — and encourage sustainable investment
David Ricketts - Financial News
Edward Bonham Carter is in a hurry when we connect via a video call. The 61-year-old, who is wearing a luminous cycling jacket and a grey neckerchief, reveals he has another pressing engagement immediately after our chat — a visit to his mother on the other side of London.
/bit.ly/37LXAyh
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | China Has Thousands of Hydropower Projects It Doesn't Want; As President Xi Jinping calls for greater environmental protection, officials are eager to demolish badly-planned dams. But the country will need vast amounts of clean hydroelectric power to meet its net-zero goal.
Bloomberg News
China is trying to wean its massive economy off coal and fossil fuels to meet its ambitious goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2060. So why is it trying to shut down as many as 40,000 hydropower plants?
/bloom.bg/3AN7jkk
Cost to Bury Carbon Near Tipping Point as Emissions Price Soars
Rachel Morison and Samuel Etienne - Bloomberg
Market for removing, storing carbon could be worth $2 trillion; U.K. wants to be a leader in industrial use of the technology
Skyrocketing carbon prices and a "code red" warning about the threat posed by climate change are giving fresh momentum to a technology that captures and removes greenhouse gas emissions so they can be buried.
/bloom.bg/3CJN5K6
US coal and oil demand on the rise again in blow to climate goals; Petrol consumption reached a record in July while power plants shift away from natural gas
Myles McCormick and Justin Jacobs - FT
America's appetite for fossil fuels has come roaring back as the economy cranks into gear, providing a boost to energy groups but flying in the face of Washington's drive to slash emissions.
/on.ft.com/2W16K7V
Boom times for modellers of climate change; Extreme weather events and mandatory disclosure rules for companies spur demand for risk assessments
John Dizard - FT
Much has been made of this week's release of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, as well as the more Wagnerian interpretations of its central findings.
/on.ft.com/2XAxuwB
After Bankruptcy, Shale Pioneer Chesapeake Touts Natural Gas Again; Company has agreed to purchase Vine Energy, positioning itself for the export market
Collin Eaton - WSJ
Chesapeake Energy Corp. CHK -3.43% , a fracking pioneer, is once again betting big on natural gas after recently emerging from bankruptcy, agreeing last week to buy another gas company to position itself to sell the commodity in Europe and Asia.
/on.wsj.com/2XnhPAm
Tesla-Loving Norwegians Refuse to Cut Their Oil Addiction
Frances Schwartzkopff and Lars Erik Taraldsen - Bloomberg
Norwegians own more electric cars per capita than anyone else on the planet. But their obsession with Teslas has done little to persuade the nation that there's a future without oil.
/bloom.bg/2UneRef
Can the Future of Food Be Sustainable in a Rapidly Growing World? Cargill's CEO Says They're Investing in It
Eben Shapiro - Time
The scale and reach of Cargill, the nation's largest private company, is staggering. The Minnesota-based company, which operates in 70 countries and has 155,00 employees, is involved in a range of businesses across the food chain, from selling feed to farmers, to commodities and meat processing. Cargill had revenues of $134.4 billion in its most recent fiscal year, which is equal to about .06 percent of the nation's GDP. On Aug. 9, Cargill entered the U.S. poultry market by joining Continental Grain in acquiring Sanderson Farms for $4.3 billion, one of the largest deals in Cargill's 156-year history.
/bit.ly/3so0GSt
As Electric Air Taxis Land on Stock Markets, Investors Need a Flight Guide; Investors may soon face a choice between first movers like Joby and more niche payers such as Lilium and even air-ambulance startup Dufour
Jon Sindreu - WSJ
A few years ago most investors had never even heard of "air taxis." Now they need to decide whether to board early movers with a high-altitude but low-definition view of the potential market, or else wait for the technology to land somewhere more specific.
/on.wsj.com/3yTNnM2
Droughts shrink hydropower, pose risk to global push to clean energy
Sharon Bernstein and Jake Spring, David Stanway - Reuters
Severe droughts are drying up rivers and reservoirs vital for the production of zero-emissions hydropower in several countries around the globe, in some cases leading governments to rely more heavily on fossil fuels.
/reut.rs/3yMjKfL
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | George Soros Abandons Shares Bought During Implosion Of Archegos Bill Hwang
Bibhu Pattnaik - Benzinga
George Soros's Investment Company, which shares sold off during the collapse of Bill Hwang's Archegos Capital Management, exited the positions.
/yhoo.it/2VVH8Jl
HSBC increases Singapore wealth focus with Axa deal; Europe's largest lender to pay $575m for insurance assets in city as part of pivot to region
Tabby Kinder - FT
HSBC has agreed to buy Axa's insurance business in Singapore as Europe's largest lender accelerates its investment in Asia as part of a years-long "pivot" to the region.
/on.ft.com/3jVhzAs
Nomura to provide Asian eFX pricing to buy-side via DMALINK platform; DMALINK has expanded its ECN with eFX pricing from Nomura to buy-side clients in New York, London and Singapore.
Hayley McDowell - The Trade
Nomura has joined emerging markets focused electronic communication network (ECN) platform DMALINK to provide Asian FX pricing to buy-side traders in New York, London and Singapore.
/bit.ly/37JNeyP
Former UBS COO nominated as chair of risk committee at Credit Suisse; Axel Lehmann has been nominated to lead the risk committee at Credit Suisse after departing UBS earlier this year.
Hayley McDowell - The Trade
Credit Suisse has nominated a former group chief operating officer at UBS to head up its risk committee following the investment bank's $5.5 billion loss from the collapse of Archegos Capital Management in March. Axel Lehmann has been nominated as chair of the risk committee at Credit Suisse after stepping down from his position as president of personal and corporate banking and president of UBS Switzerland in January this year.
/bit.ly/37J9glz
Wide-scale adoption of DLT and tokenisation expected from asset managers, finds BNY Mellon study; Survey shows that 84% and 72% of respondents plan to develop blockchain and asset tokenisation solutions respectively.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
Blockchain, distributed ledger technology (DLT) and asset tokenisation are expected to be increasingly leveraged by asset managers, according to a new survey from BNY Mellon. The study showed that blockchain and DLT to synchronise data and digital processes was cited as one of the top priorities for asset managers, as 84% of respondents stated they are planning to develop these solutions within the next three years to drive operational transformation.
/bit.ly/3yQr0av
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | China's Oil Refining Tumbles to 14-Month Low Amid Crackdown
Alfred Cang - Bloomberg
Daily processing below 14m b/d for first time since May 2020; Covid-19 resurgence is hampering fuel consumption this month
China's oil refining slumped to the lowest level in 14-months as private processors scaled back operations amid a crackdown by authorities. Daily crude processing fell below 14 million barrels a day last month for the first time, and to the least since May 2020, according to Bloomberg calculations based on government figures released on Monday. The independents trimmed refining rates by 8% in July from a month earlier, data from OilChem show.
/bloom.bg/2XxRkIH
Russia's Fight Against Inflation Is Winning Over Bond Investors
Aine Quinn - Bloomberg
Morgan Stanley says buy Russian debt and sell Treasuries; Market sentiment is starting to turn as sanctions fears ease
Russia's hard and fast battle against inflation is finding favor in the bond market. Foreign investors are pouring billions into Russian debt, and strategists have started urging clients to open bullish trades. They're tapping into a belief that the central bank's aggressive rate hikes will be enough to rein in inflation and there's less risk of sanctions coming from the U.S.
/bloom.bg/3mbqdxh
Delta variant and floods spark anxiety over Chinese growth; Biggest Covid outbreak this year coincides with signs of deeper structural shifts in the economy
Thomas Hale - FT
China's economy sharply underperformed in July, with widespread flooding and an outbreak of the coronavirus Delta variant exacerbating concerns that the country's growth trajectory would continue to lose momentum.
/on.ft.com/3AI7g9B
Pakistan bonds hit as investors brace for Afghanistan fallout; Uzbekistan's debt also under pressure on rising concern over regional fallout
Tommy Stubbington - FT
Pakistan's international bonds came under selling pressure on Monday, with debt issued by Uzbekistan also weakening, as emerging market investors braced themselves for the fallout from the crisis in Afghanistan.
/on.ft.com/3m78dUP
A Storm Soaks Austin and the Texas Corridors of Power; Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday declared an "all hands on deck" response to the flooding inside the State Capitol.
Azi Paybarah - NY Times
Driving rain that soaked Austin, Texas, and gave rise to flash flood warnings on Sunday also left the corridors of power inside the State Capitol looking like a tributary of the Colorado River.
/nyti.ms/3xQ8duw
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Leaders must stop blaming their bad management on remote workers; Managers should take this opportunity to reset how teams are run, wherever they are
Andrew Hill - FT
There is never a great moment to launch an anonymous public attack on the people who work for you. Still, some sort of award for bad timing should go to the faceless UK government ministers and officials who chose the late stages of an exhausting pandemic to complain about the output of remote-working civil servants.
/on.ft.com/2XnbQeS
'It's like retreating into your own private world': Lionel Barber on the joys of cycling ; For the former FT editor, few things beat taking to two wheels — wherever he is on the planet, from Thailand to Tynemouth
Lionel Barber - FT
In early spring 2020, with barely a cloud in the English sky, I took to my bicycle. Nothing compares to being "in the groove" on a bike, not even a cracking cover drive or a spiralling rugby punt. It's like retreating into your own private world, one with its own cadence and rhythm, always unforgettable, more so in the middle of a pandemic.
/on.ft.com/3ACKb8e
These Core Exercises That Keep Ballet Dancers Tall and Strong Can Help Anyone; A physical therapist who works with the New York City Ballet offers a workout focusing on abs and obliques
Jen Murphy - WSJ
When a ballerina spins on one foot to perform a pirouette, it isn't just her leg doing the work. "A strong core keeps her posture perfect," says Kristen Kurie, a physical therapist with the New York City Ballet. "If the dancer had a weak core, they'd wobble like a top." The body's core muscles include the back muscles and abdominals. Many core exercises focus on the so-called six-pack abs and the obliques, which run along the sides of the body, she says.
/on.wsj.com/3k2zwNz
In a Hybrid Office, Remote Workers Will Be Left Behind; It may not be fair, but in-office employees will get more attention—and more promotions. Blame it on human nature.
Companies with a hybrid workplace will have two tiers of workers—and those who are in the office will be on top.
Peter Cappelli - WSJ
It's a common refrain these days: Let workers decide where and when they work. The impetus, of course, stems from the pandemic, when employers sent office workers home for a year and a half, with surprisingly few hiccups. Productivity didn't suffer, and workers enjoyed their newfound freedom. Now, we're told, companies can't go back to the old, controlling ways without workers revolting.
/on.wsj.com/3m8zhTt
Michael Thomas, Writer and Bête Noire of the Moneyed Class, Dies at 85; His early careers as an art historian and Wall Street financier informed his financial thrillers, which often savaged the rich and powerful.
Katharine Q. Seelye - NY Times
Michael M. Thomas, an acerbic columnist and novelist who wrote chiefly about money and how people got it, what they did with it and what it did to them — people he dismissed as "social climbers, stock market papermongers, real estate shills and assorted other virtuosos of hype and blather" — died on Aug. 7 in Brooklyn. He was 85.
/nyti.ms/2VXryg6
Why won't anyone hire this 60-year-old?
Michael Lubell - MarketWatch
Ageism isn't very sexy, and it is certainly not as provocative or prominent in the news as sexism or racism. But as someone in my 60s, I've been living with ageism for years while looking for work, without writing or complaining much and it quite simply is time to speak up.
/on.mktw.net/3spe6xU
The Limits of Vacation; During the pandemic, some companies have expanded their vacation policies to reduce burnout. Experts say there's a better way.
Jenny Gross - NY Times
Companies that want to retain talent are looking for ways to reduce burnout, which can lead to reduced productivity and higher turnover. One strategy they've embraced is encouraging — or in some cases, forcing — employees to take vacation.
/nyti.ms/3z3Npkw
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