| April 16, 2024 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
It is a sad day in Denmark and in the world of stock exchanges as the 400-year-old Borsen building, a 17th-century structure located next to the Danish parliament, was engulfed in flames today. You can see the blaze in this Wall Street Journal video. The Journal reported that onlookers and first responders rushed into the building to save paintings and artifacts from the flames. See more stories on this in our Lead Stories section.
Corties Draper recently interviewed Mark LeeMaster of Mark IV Brokerage on the CME trading floor for the Futures Discovery video series. Mark was so impressed with Corties, he offered him an internship for the summer as a floor broker with Mark IV Brokerage, where he will be operating in the SOFR options market. Corties will continue with his duties at John Lothian News after his trading floor duties are done. This is an incredible opportunity for Corties, who is graduating from Roosevelt University as a CCCF Fellow from the Heller College of Business and is headed to the Illinois Institute of Technology in the fall to be part of the Master of Science in management science and analytics program, specializing in quantitative finance. For someone today to have this kind of education, let alone the opportunity to work on the trading floor and train as a broker, learning market microstructure and gaining hands-on experience in executing orders within derivative markets, is just exceptional. Thank you Mark for hiring Corties and congratulations to Corties.
FIA Operations Americas Division will be hosting its "Chicago Baseball Outing 2024" on June 4, 2024 from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Wrigley Field Rooftops, Chicago. Enjoy dinner, drinks, a rooftop view of the game and good company while the Chicago Cubs take on the Chicago White Sox. The event wraps up with a raffle including prizes like an Apple watch or Bluetooth speaker. You can sign up for an individual ticket or purchase a sponsorship. To sign up or sponsor, go HERE.
Ketan B. Patel, policy advisor and head of financial markets risk analysis at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, has published an article in the Chicago Fed Letter, No. 492 titled "Why the Russian Invasion of Ukraine Moved Wheat Futures Prices More in the U.S. Than in Europe."
I love learning new words, even made up ones. Today Bloomberg has a story titled "Shale-Oil 'Fracklog' Shows US Oil Production May Be Slowing." According to my new friend Chat GPT,
"Fracklog" refers to a backlog of drilled but uncompleted wells in the oil and gas industry. These are wells that have been drilled but not yet subjected to hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to extract oil or natural gas. The term is often used to describe the situation when there is a surplus of drilled wells waiting to be completed due to various factors such as market conditions, regulatory issues, or operational constraints.
A quick Google search shows the phrase "Fracklog" first appeared in stories in 2015, and even my buddy Phil Flynn over at The Price Futures Group was quoted using it. Like I said, I love learning nine-year-old new words.
JLN received a $500 contribution to the JLN MarketsWiki Education GoFundMe Campaign 10 days ago from Dr. Robert Barnes, the co-CEO of BPX, which is seeking FCA authorization to operate a digital securities exchange for real estate investment funds. Barnes was inspired to contribute to the GoFundMe campaign after seeing the video interview Walt Lukken conducted with me for the FIA Hall of Fame. Barnes is a former CEO of Turquoise (2013-2022) and also of the UBS MTF (2010-2013). We last met back in 2006 in Burgenstock at the SFOA's annual conference, which was the year the U.K. sponsored and the Red Arrow jet fighters put on a display for the conference. Thank you to Robert for your contribution and support.
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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Our most read stories from our previous edition of JLN Options were:
- Catherine Clay, Global Head of Derivatives at Cboe Global Markets, Discusses Vision for Unified Derivatives Franchise from John Lothian News.
- The Cboe wants to 'debunk' some 0DTE myths from the Financial Times.
- Bullish Oil Options Traded at Record Pace Before Iran Attack from Bloomberg. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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Catherine Clay, Global Head of Derivatives at Cboe Global Markets, Discusses Vision for Unified Derivatives Franchise
JohnLothianNews.com
Catherine Clay, the global head of derivatives at Cboe Global Markets, recently shared insights into the strategic reorganization of the company's derivatives operations in an interview with John Lothian News at FIA's International Futures Industry Conference in Boca Raton, FL. This discussion was part of the JLN Industry Leader video series sponsored by Wedbush.
Watch the video »
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Roberta Karmel, First Female SEC Commissioner, Dies at 86; Securities lawyer appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 Dissented on enforcement actions she thought went too far
Laurence Arnold and Patrick Oster - Bloomberg
Roberta Karmel, the first woman to serve on the US Securities and Exchange Commission and a critic who said the agency too often tried to make policy through enforcement actions, has died. She was 86. She died on March 23 at her home in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, the New York Times reported, citing her son, Solomon Karmel. The cause was pancreatic cancer.
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***** She was a wise woman. She even named her son Solomon.~JJL
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The Securities and Exchange Commission Is Watching You; To prevent crime, the SEC plans to track the personal information of every investor in real time.
William P. Barr - The Wall Street Journal
The Securities and Exchange Commission is deploying a massive government database-the Consolidated Audit Trail, or CAT-that monitors in real time the identity, transactions and investment portfolio of everyone who invests in the stock market. As SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce describes it, by allowing the commission to "watch investors' every move in real time," CAT will make it easier to investigate insider trading or market manipulation. But as a lawsuit being filed Tuesday in Texas federal court makes clear, CAT crosses a constitutional red line. Accepting this sweeping surveillance would eviscerate fundamental privacy protections. That a few bad apples might engage in misconduct doesn't justify mass surveillance of everyone's private affairs.
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****** I am not worried about the SEC, it is Amazon that seems to have me under surveillance, driving up and down my street constantly, coming to my door several times a week, sometimes several times a day even. And when they get the drone fleet going, well, it is all over then.~JJL
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Monday's Top Three
Our most clicked story on Monday was Apex Fintech Solutions Completes First-Ever Account Transfer Using New Automated Customer Account Transfer Service Protocols, from Apex. Second was Charles Schwab revenue beats estimates on higher asset management fees, from Reuters. And third was Marex Group plc announces launch of initial public offering, from Marex.
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| Lead Stories | Denmark's historic stock exchange building suffers huge fire; Significant damage to 400-year-old Borsen is blow for country's cultural heritage
Richard Milne - Financial Times
The former home of the Copenhagen stock exchange, one of Europe's oldest trading floors, has been ravaged by fire just short of its 400th anniversary. Borsen, which opened in the autumn of 1624 as a commodities trading place and was home to the Danish capital's stock exchange until 1974, caught fire early on Tuesday and its iconic dragon-tailed spire collapsed within a few hours. "Terrible pictures from Borsen this morning; 400 years of Danish cultural heritage is in flames," Jakob Engel-Schmidt, Denmark's culture minister, wrote in a post on X.
/jlne.ws/3vIh3Qg
The overlooked threats to the global financial system; As western governments shy away from debt reduction and structural reform, investors must reassess their view of 'safe' assets
John Plender - Financial Times
Since the great financial crisis of 2007-08 regulators have engaged in the biggest push to de-risk the global financial system since the 1930s. Yet instability and flawed risk management have proved extraordinarily resistant to this regulatory onslaught. The collapse last year of Silicon Valley Bank, the 16th largest in the US, exposed very basic mistakes, not least a failure to hedge against the risk of surging interest rates undermining the value of its US government bond holdings. There followed a deposit run of hitherto unimaginable speed at SVB and other regional banks. This, together with the forced sale in Europe of failing Credit Suisse to rival UBS, prompted AgustÃn Carstens, head of the Bank for International Settlements, to declare that "business models were poor, risk management procedures woefully inadequate and governance lacking".
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EU leaders set to revive capital markets union plan in search for defence funding; Rearmament and green transition prompt rethink of long-stalled integration of Europe's financial markets
Paola Tamma, Henry Foy and Javier Espinoza - Financial Times
EU leaders are set to revive plans for eliminating national barriers between the bloc's capital markets, as they race to find hundreds of billions to fund a rapid scale-up of the continent's defence capabilities and its green transition. A two-day EU summit starting Wednesday will commit to "advancing the Capital Markets Union," according to draft conclusions seen by the Financial Times. The CMU, first proposed almost a decade ago, has stalled amid resistance in national capitals to handing more powers to Brussels.
/jlne.ws/4aViNEv
Fire Engulfs Copenhagen Landmark Old Stock Exchange Building; Police evacuates parts on finance ministry as spire collapses; The 17th century building houses Danish Chamber of Commerce
Christian Wienberg - Bloomberg
A fire ripping through Denmark's old stock exchange building has torn down the structure's dragon-tail spire, a Copenhagen landmark. The protected 400-year-old building caught fire Tuesday, and police have evacuated the adjacent properties, including those belonging to the Finance Ministry, shutting down part of the inner city. The parliament is also next to Borsen, as the building is called. The building's iconic tower consisted of four intertwined dragon tails, topped by three crowns, symbolizing Denmark, Norway and Sweden. According to legend, the spire would guard the structure against enemy attacks and fires.
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China Ramps Up Scrutiny of Illegal Bond Trading on Bubble Risks
Bloomberg
China is looking into potentially illegal bond trading behavior by some financial firms, the latest sign that authorities are keen to cool speculation following a rally in the sovereign debt market. An entity backed by the People's Bank of China is investigating six financial institutions on alleged violation of rules when holding bonds for others or lending their trading accounts, according to a Friday statement. Some employees have "colluded" with outsiders to take advantage of lower yields and transfer benefits, the National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors said.
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Rusal Fears New Russia Metal Sanctions Put 36% of Sales at Risk; Company may be forced to cut production, person says; Most analysts have argued the sanctions won't affect supply
Bloomberg News
Russian aluminum giant United Co Rusal International PJSC fears that as much as 36% of its sales may be at risk as a result of sanctions imposed by the UK and US, according to a person close to the company. Rusal's preliminary estimate is that the sanctions could impact at least 1.5 million tons of its annual sales, compared to its production of 3.8 million tons last year and sales of 4.2 million tons last year, the person said, asking not to be identified as they weren't authorized to speak publicly. As a result, Rusal may be forced to reduce its production, the person said, comparing the situation to the global financial crisis that hit demand sharply in 2008.
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Winklevoss $4.5 Million Investment Highlights Bitcoin CheatCode Power
Susie Violet Ward - Forbes
The recent CheatCode Conference in Bedford aimed to educate attendees on bitcoin's role as a transformative tool in business, finance and technology. Peter McCormack, organizer and owner of Real Bedford, capped off the conference with an announcement of a $4.5 million investment by the Winklevoss Twins, showing bitcoin's practical impact on local economies. This investment, which makes them co-owners of the club, is aimed at boosting Real Bedford's facilities and supporting community development projects.
/jlne.ws/44hl3UJ
Shale-Oil 'Fracklog' Shows US Oil Production May Be Slowing
David Wethe and Devika Krishna Kumar - Bloomberg
Shale explorers are drilling wells faster than they're fracking them, a signal that US oil-production growth is slowing. Oil companies added to the number of drilled-but-uncompleted wells, known as the fracklog, last month for the first time in more than a year, according to a report from the US Energy Information Administration on Monday. The tally is a key indicator of near-term crude flows from US shale fields because fracking is one of the final steps in the process of bringing new wells online.
/jlne.ws/3W2Aoq4
Raiffeisen Bank trumpets Russia growth plans in dozens of job ads; Austrian lender, which has pledged to exit Russia, orders internal probe following FT findings
Chris Cook, Sam Jones, Euan Healy and Owen Walker - Financial Times
Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International recently posted dozens of advertisements for Russia-based jobs indicating ambitious plans to grow in the country, in apparent contradiction to its official pledge to exit the market. The Financial Times has found the offers among more than 2,400 job advertisements posted in Russia by the Austrian lender since December, of which almost 1,500 are for sales management and customer service roles.
/jlne.ws/3vXfjTd
Marex Group, Shareholders Seek Up to $323 Million in US IPO
David Morris - Bloomberg
Marex Group Plc and a group of the London-based firm's shareholders are seeking to raise as much as $323 million in a US initial public offering. The financial services platform and the selling shareholders plan to market a total of 15.4 million shares for $18 to $21 each, according to a filing Monday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. ION Investment Corp. has indicated an interest in purchasing as much as $50 million worth of shares at the IPO price, the filing shows.
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Ukraine says it 'ran out of missiles' to stop Russian strike ruining power station
Reuters
A lack of air defense missiles prevented Ukraine from thwarting a Russian missile attack last week that destroyed the biggest power plant in the region around the capital Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. Zelenskiy's comments, which follow repeated warnings from his government to its allies about scarce air defences, reflect the dire situation Ukraine finds itself in as Russia scales up strikes on its energy system.
/jlne.ws/43YS6wi
Ukrainian Troops Staged A Daring Three-Night Raid To Steal A Russian Tank Fitted With A New Drone-Jammer; The raid nearly ended in failure in the depths of a bomb crater
David Axe - Forbes
The view from a 3rd Assault Brigade tank in 2023.3RD ASSAULT BRIGADE Starving for artillery ammunition after Russia-friendly Republicans in the U.S. Congress blocked further aid to Ukraine starting in October, the Ukrainian forces acquired tiny explosive drones as a firepower expedient. Today these drones-hundreds of thousands of them-are the most important systems in the Ukrainian inventory. This means tactical radio jammers, which can block the signals operators use to control their drones, are the most important systems in the Russian inventory.
/jlne.ws/3xCHsPX
Russia Is Trying to Force Ukrainians to Abandon Their Second-Biggest City; Ukraine, Western officials see Moscow plan to cut Kharkiv off; Kyiv increasingly asking for power supplies, air defense
Daryna Krasnolutska, Jennifer Jacobs, and Alberto Nardelli - Bloomberg
Ukrainian and Western officials see Russia's escalated bombardment of Ukraine's No. 2 city as a way to force the evacuation of civilians, they said. Kharkiv, a northeastern city less than an hour's drive from the Russian border, has been hit with an escalating barrage of missiles, drones and heavy guided bombs over the past month. The assault has battered power-generation infrastructure and left swathes of residential buildings in ruins.
/jlne.ws/4aYcYX8
Ukraine's eastern cities brace as Russian troops advance; With Moscow's forces slowly pressing forward, life is draining out of frontline communities
Christopher Miller - Financial Times
Hunkered down in a boarded newsroom, the editor of Ridne Misto (Hometown), is determined to keep printing what is now the last newspaper published in eastern Ukraine. Maksym Zabelya, 38, said war had been a constant in people's lives in the city of Myrnohrad, which means "City of Peace", ever since Russia fomented an armed conflict under the guise of a separatist uprising in the Donetsk region in 2014.
/jlne.ws/3UfaxK1
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| Israel/Hamas Conflict | | News about the recent (October, 2023) conflict between Israel and Hamas | Number of Palestinian & Israeli casualties caused by the Hamas-Israel war 2023
Statista Research Department
Since the terrorist organization Hamas launched its attacks on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023, around 1,200 Israelis died, and 5,431 were injured. Through retaliation attacks by the Israeli armed forces against Hamas in Gaza, 33,797 Palestinians were killed, and 76,465 were injured. As of April 15th 2024, the number of Palestinian deaths in the West Bank was 432, due to the on going conflict.
/jlne.ws/3w4KLie
Israel-Iran Conflict: See analysts predictions on potential retaliation and Middle East fallout; Analysts have warned that if Israel decides to hit back hard, it could plunge the wider Middle East into war.
Daniel Arkin - NBC News
The bitter conflict between Israel and Iran has long been confined to the realm of secret assassinations, audacious cyberattacks, nuclear sabotage and war-by-proxy. But that largely covert struggle burst into full view over the weekend with Tehran's retaliatory drone and missile strikes.
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Welcome to the dark side
Lucy Carter - Best Execution
Although lit markets may question the efficacy of dark pools, an increasing number of major exchanges are releasing their own dark platforms. Is opening these platforms exacerbating issues of dwindling lit liquidity, or is this a way to mitigate against further damage? BEST EXECUTION explores the current landscape, speaking to key players to understand the current differentiation between light and dark - and where the shades of grey are falling. The latest dark pool release from a major exchange was Mid-Point Match, launched by Euronext earlier this month. The platform allows users to assess liquidity in dark markets before moving to the lit book in a single trade sequence. This will help to mitigate information leakage, the company says, and will minimise market impact.
/jlne.ws/3TZ1Emz
CME Group Metals Complex Reaches All-Time Daily Volume Record
CME Group
CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, today announced that volume in its metals complex reached a record 1,728,362 contracts on Friday, April 12, 2024, surpassing the previous record of 1,670,920 contracts traded on February 28, 2020. "Amid shifting geopolitical conditions directly impacting the global metals trade and related sectors, market participants are utilizing our entire suite of metals products to adjust their portfolios and manage risk," said Jin Hennig, Managing Director and Global Head of Metals at CME Group. "In addition to Friday's single-day volume record, strong participation from every client segment is also driving our April ADV to a record 1 million contracts, up 92% year over year."
/jlne.ws/4aA3ktU
Successful launch of Euronext Mid-Point Match offering dark, mid-point and sweep functionalities
Euronext
Euronext, the leading pan-European market infrastructure, today announced the successful launch of Euronext Mid-Point Match, its advanced suite of dark, mid-point and sweep functionalities embedded within Euronext's Central Order Book. These enhancements allow trading members and buy-side firms to trade at the real mid-point, without incurring implicit latency costs, to access increased liquidity, while tapping into Euronext's unique pool of liquidity fostered by local brokers and investors. First introduced on the Brussels market on 18 March 2024, Euronext Mid-Point Match was launched across all Euronext markets on 8 April 2024.
/jlne.ws/3Q54S73
BME welcomes a new Amundi ETF benchmarked to the IBEX 35
BME
Amundi IBEX 35 UCITS ETF complements the French fund manager's offering of ETFs on the Spanish stock market, which chooses the IBEX 35 as the underlying for its Spanish exposures in Europe. BME's ETF segment is celebrating a debut. Amundi IBEX 35 UCITS ETF, which is benchmarked to the IBEX 35, starts trading today on the Spanish stock exchange, just like Amundi IBEX 35 UCITS ETF Dist ETF, which was already listed on BME's markets. The new ETF accumulates dividends instead of distributing them.
/jlne.ws/3Jlc8HW
LBMA Precious Metals Market Volumes for March 2024 and Their Significance
Rhona O'Connell, StoneX Financial Ltd - Nasdaq
Any views expressed here are of the writer and do not reflect a house view either from StoneX Financial Ltd., nor from NASDAQ. Daily March average compared with daily average for 2023
Source: LBMA Welcome to our monthly round-up of the LBMA OTC trading volumes in gold, silver, platinum and palladium, as recorded on a daily basis by the Association. These are split into spot, swap/forward, options and LoanLeaseDeposit (LLD) and give a flavor of the markets' activity and how they were influenced by external forces and news items.
/jlne.ws/3UtVA7f
SGX Group welcomes Soochow CSSD Capital Markets (Asia) Pte. Ltd. as Accredited Issue Manager and Catalist Full Sponsor
SGX
Singapore Exchange (SGX Group) is pleased to welcome Soochow CSSD Capital Markets (Asia) Pte. Ltd. (SCCM) as a newly accredited Issue Manager and Catalist Full Sponsor. SCCM is a wholly owned subsidiary of Soochow Securities CSSD (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. Its major shareholder is Soochow Securities Co. Ltd., a Chinese State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Soochow Securities Co. Ltd. is a full licensed securities firm, with a history spanning more than 30 years. It is known for its expertise in investment banking, securities brokerage, asset management and underwriting services in the financial services industry. SCCM is an investment bank focusing on emerging growth companies across Asia, providing a full suite of investment banking services, including equity capital markets, mergers & acquisitions advisory, equities research and private credit financing.
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The Moscow Exchange begins calculating the IPO index
MOEX
On April 19, 2024, the Moscow Exchange begins calculating and publishing a new indicator - the Moscow Exchange IPO Index . Index code - MIPO. Russian private and institutional investors will receive a convenient indicator of the share prices of companies that have recently completed an initial public offering. The index can act as a benchmark for creating exchange-traded mutual funds.
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | BMLL launches India trading data offering as part of continued APAC expansion; Equities data from the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE India) and the Bombay Stock Exchange will now be available to BMLL clients via its Data Lab.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
BMLL has moved to expand its regional Asia-Pacific offering with the launch of India equities trading data, The TRADE can reveal. Level 3 equities data from the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE India) dating back to January 2021 and Level 2 data from the Bombay Stock Exchange dating back across the same period will now be available to BMLL clients via its Data Lab.
/jlne.ws/3UkuQGb
Kepler Cheuvreux's KCx partners with Adaptive to create an event-driven equities trading system; Development will provide KCx with a new front-office equities execution platform which enables clients to observe and manage KCx's execution flow through one interface.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
Adaptive has partnered with Kepler Cheuvreux's execution division KCx to develop an event-driven trading system based on Aeron and its own Hydra technology. The collaboration will provide KCx with a new front-office equities execution platform which enables clients to observe and manage KCx's execution flow through one interface, offering new functionality and simplified workflows.
/jlne.ws/4aT04te
Bloomberg extends IBVAL front-office pricing to cover Europe; Backed by contextual metadata, the expanded solution delivers pricing across the liquidity spectrum covering USD, EUR and GBP credit markets.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
Bloomberg's Intraday BVAL (IBVAL) front-office pricing solution now covers all EUR and GBP investment grade and high yield credit bonds included in Bloomberg's flagship Europe and UK credit indices. The move becomes the latest expansion of IBVAL, which launched last year pricing USD credit securities.
/jlne.ws/3xNKdha
Bloomberg expands IBVAL front office pricing solution
Alex Pugh - The Desk
Bloomberg has expanded its pricing solution, Intraday BVAL (IBVAL) Front Office, to cover EUR and GBP investment grade and high yield credit bonds included in Bloomberg's Europe and UK credit indices New contextual features have also been released giving traders insight into IBVAL's pricing. Eric Isenberg, global head of enterprise data pricing, Bloomberg, said, "As credit markets transition to more electronic trading, there's increasing demand for rapid pricing insights, especially for less liquid securities, to actively manage client portfolios, develop credit algos, execute portfolio trades, and to inform trading decisions more broadly."
/jlne.ws/3UjtYl3
Intel to launch two AI chips for China with reduced capabilities
Reuters
Intel will release two AI chips with reduced capabilities for the Chinese market, in order to comply with U.S. export controls and sanctions. The two chips, HL-328 and HL-388, are scheduled for launch in June and September, respectively, according to a white paper on the company's website dated April 12. Tech outlet The Register first reported the plans from the white paper.
/jlne.ws/3JgQIMh
Goldman Sachs' CEO says AI is driving more companies to reinvent themselves: 'We're talking about a level of scale that is candidly unprecedented'
Will Daniel - Fortune
Goldman Sachs reported its first-quarter earnings on Monday and surprised analysts with a standout showing. Profits at the Wall Street giant surged 28% from a year ago, bolstered by a 32% rise in investment banking fees. In the company's follow-up conference call with analysts, CEO David Solomon provided some color about the growth in Goldman's business-and his comments were likely well received by AI bulls.
/jlne.ws/3vJDrsx
Microsoft to invest $1.5bn in Abu Dhabi AI group G42; Agreement is latest move by US tech company to extend its reach into fast-growing sector
Chloe Cornish in Dubai and George Hammond - Financial Times
Microsoft has agreed to invest $1.5bn in Abu Dhabi artificial intelligence group G42, its latest big bet on the technology that underscores deepening collaboration between the US and United Arab Emirates. The agreement gives Microsoft a minority stake in G42, and its vice-chair and president Brad Smith will have a seat on its board. It comes after G42 severed its links to Chinese hardware suppliers, which had been the subject of scrutiny by US lawmakers.
/jlne.ws/3TUmHqm
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | To make sure grandmas like his don't get conned, he scams the scammers
Emma Bowman - NPR
The gentle voice of an elderly woman named Edna is heard over the phone. "I'm going to call Ticketmaster and see if we can get us some tickets to a Taylor Swift concert, OK?" she says. "Will you call them with me?" She's speaking to a scammer from Nigeria on the other end of the line who is after her money. For months, he's spent a rough total of 20 hours on the phone with her, professing his love as he tries to get her to invest her millions in a house on the Moon. But the rambling Edna has been testing his patience with her absurd questions and tangents. When the scammer insists they marry in Nigeria, a place he says he's never been, Kitboga drops the act.
/jlne.ws/3Q8ArN5
US supreme court ruling suggests change in cybersecurity disclosure process
Evan Schuman - CSO
Decision puts pressure on CISOs and those crafting SEC filings as wording could be judged as "half-truths" and considered misleading.
The United States Supreme Court unanimous ruling on an SEC disclosure case on Friday could have direct consequences on how security executives report cybersecurity incidents.
/jlne.ws/3PZ7i6P
Cybersecurity Funding Shows Resilience In Q1
Chris Metinko - Crunchbase News
Venture funding overall was still sluggish, but cybersecurity startups saw some love from investors in the first quarter of 2024.
To be sure, this is not the salad days of 2021 - cybersecurity funding was still down year to year - but the sector saw its best funding quarter in three quarters.
/jlne.ws/440Y53S
NSA Publishes Guidance for Strengthening AI System Security
NSA
The National Security Agency (NSA) is releasing a Cybersecurity Information Sheet (CSI) today, "Deploying AI Systems Securely: Best Practices for Deploying Secure and Resilient AI Systems." The CSI is intended to support National Security System owners and Defense Industrial Base companies that will be deploying and operating AI systems designed and developed by an external entity. "AI brings unprecedented opportunity, but also can present opportunities for malicious activity. NSA is uniquely positioned to provide cybersecurity guidance, AI expertise, and advanced threat analysis," said NSA Cybersecurity Director Dave Luber.
/jlne.ws/3Q3W1T8
Navigating cybersecurity in telecommunications: The FCC's 7-day rule
Michael Isbitski - Security Magazine
The telecommunications industry underpins global communication and powers our digital world. Cybercriminals, however, have also become increasingly sophisticated in the threats they pose against such critical infrastructure. Recent developments, like the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) 7-day rule mandating that telecom providers report data breaches within seven days after initial discovery, underscore the growing urgency to fortify cybersecurity measures across this vital sector.
/jlne.ws/49GmSeN
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Here is everything you need to know about the bitcoin halving
Joseph Adinolfi - MarketWatch
Bitcoin is about to undergo its fourth "halving" since the cryptocurrency was officially launched in January 2009. But what does that mean, exactly? Those who aren't familiar with how the Bitcoin network functions might have questions: What is the halving, when will it happen, why is it necessary, and what impact could it have on the price of bitcoin? Let's start with what it is. What is the halving? Bitcoin was designed by its creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, to have a fixed supply, differentiating it with fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar.
/jlne.ws/49C5CaE
Hong Kong spot bitcoin ETFs could go live as soon as this month: OSL
Timmy Shen - The Block
OSL, which acts as sub-custodian and infrastructure service provider for two fund managers, said the spot bitcoin products aim to launch as early as late April, provided that interactions with the regulator proceed smoothly. ChinaAMC expects "substantial" demand for its upcoming spot bitcoin and ether ETFs. Hong Kong asset managers, including units of China Asset Management (ChinaAMC) and Harvest Global, may soon launch their spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds as early as later this month, OSL confirmed with The Block today.
/jlne.ws/4aAZEb4
Bitcoin From Rare 'Satoshi Era' Moves After 14 Years of Dormancy
Shaurya Malwa - CoinDesk
An early crypto miner moved 50 bitcoin {{BTC}} today after 14 years of leaving the holdings untouched, data shows, joining the rare instances where bitcoin from the "Satoshi era" have been transferred. The holdings, worth over $3 million as of Monday, were transferred to two wallets in Asian morning hours. Part of these transfers were eventually sent to crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN), analysis tool Lookonchain said in an X post.
/jlne.ws/43Zg8HK
Hong Kong Boards the ETF Express
Daniel Kuhn - CoinDesk
Hong Kong regulators on Monday approved the launch of spot bitcoin and ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs), according to local reports. It's the latest signal of the increasing institutionalization of the world's leading crypto assets, and perhaps a harbinger of things to come in mainland China, which banned virtually all crypto activity in 2021.
/jlne.ws/3JmquYQ
There Are Many Bitcoin Critics Left in Finance, Despite BlackRock's Newfound Love
Helene Braun - CoinDesk
Around the time it turned 15 and following years of scoffing by others on Wall Street, Bitcoin in 2023 won acceptance from one of the most powerful investors in the world, BlackRock. Other traditional finance firms had endorsed the original cryptocurrency, to be sure, but BlackRock's blessing - in the form of filing to create a spot bitcoin ETF and vocal praise from CEO Larry Fink - was widely viewed as a surprising and significant turn of events.
/jlne.ws/3Q52vRH
Ethereum liquid restaking protocol Puffer Finance reaches $200 million valuation in new token funding round
Yogita Khatri - TheBlock
/jlne.ws/442BzaF
Crypto Exchange OKX's Polygon-Powered Layer 2, 'X Layer,' Hits Public Mainnet; OKX's comes as other major cryptocurrency exchanges, like Coinbase and Kraken, have also pursued their own layer 2 networks over the last year.
Margaux Nijkerk - CoinDesk
/jlne.ws/3VVCIPx
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Trump's Fundraising Shows Reliance on Oil Sector, Wealthy Donors; Former president raises $23.6 million from wealthy donors; Biden and Democrats enter April with twice as much cash as GOP
Bill Allison - Bloomberg
Donald Trump relied on a small cadre of donors to contribute a hefty portion of his March fundraising haul, showing the early success of his pivot to wealthy benefactors to finance his presidential bid. The $23.6 million from deep-pocketed donors accounted for a substantial part of the $65.6 million he and the Republican Party raised that month, the latest disclosures to the US Federal Election Commission show. While overall figures were known earlier, the filings released Monday were the first to detail donors and other information.
/jlne.ws/43Z1yji
On a China visit, the German chancellor says Russia's invasion of Ukraine threatens global security
Associated Press
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Chinese leader Xi Jinping who hosted him in Beijing on Tuesday that Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine threatens global security, in an apparent call for China to apply greater pressure on its neighbor and close strategic partner to resolve the conflict.
/jlne.ws/4aYMftt
Singapore's PM-in-Waiting Embodies Broader Shift in Finance Hub
Faris Mokhtar and Philip Heijmans - Bloomberg
In Asia's wealthiest nation, where the education system is among the world's best, Singapore's prime minister-in-waiting has appeared surprisingly unassuming. Born to a roofing sales executive, Lawrence Wong -- named a deputy prime minister in a cabinet reshuffle on Monday -- chose to attend a public university in the U.S. for undergraduate studies under a government scholarship. The 49-year-old didn't immediately make it into the elite administrative service -- known as a breeding ground for future leaders -- though he was accepted later after working as a civil servant, according to people familiar with the matter.
/jlne.ws/4aMyEoW
FirstFT: House to vote on Ukraine aid; Also in today's newsletter, China's GDP jumps and western allies urge Israeli restraint
Nora Redmond - Financial Times
Good morning. The Speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson has said the chamber will vote this week on Ukraine and Israel aid, a move that could end months of inaction over support for Kyiv. Johnson made his proposal for votes on four separate bills, including funding Taiwan and another that would impose more sanctions on Iran and allow Ukraine to cash in on profits from frozen Russian assets.
/jlne.ws/4cWKEGi
Lawmakers Question Bank of America About Leon Black's Payments to Epstein; A Senate committee sent a letter asking the bank whether it had adequately followed procedures before clearing $158 million in payments.
Matthew Goldstein - The New York Times
A U.S. Senate committee investigating the tax avoidance work that Jeffrey Epstein, the registered sex offender, did for the private equity mogul Leon Black has questioned Bank of America over Mr. Black's hefty payments to Mr. Epstein, according to a letter viewed by The New York Times. This month, Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, sent the bank a letter asking about the extent of due diligence it conducted before processing $158 million in payments that Mr. Black made to Mr. Epstein from 2012 to 2017 for that tax work.
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | German watchdog finds EY's Wirecard audits grossly negligent; Apas stops short of establishing criminal intent in Big Four firm's conduct
Olaf Storbeck - Financial Times
EY's audits of collapsed payments group Wirecard were "at the very least" negligent and in some cases grossly negligent, according to people with direct knowledge of the details of an investigation by the German audit watchdog. Apas, however, did not establish criminal intent in the Big Four firm's conduct and while its assessment is unflattering, it has been greeted with relief inside EY for this reason, said people familiar with the firm's internal discussions.
/jlne.ws/49Dya3l
Federal Court Orders California Man and His Company to Pay $9 Million in Restitution and Penalties for Forex Fraud
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced the entry of a consent order in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California imposing restitution and a civil monetary penalty against Eshaq M. Nawabi, d/b/a/ Nawabi Enterprise, and Hyperion Consulting Inc. The order requires the defendants to pay $4.5 million in restitution to victims of the fraud and a $4.5 million civil monetary penalty.
/jlne.ws/49ysEzb
Remarks at Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement Spring Conference 2024
Gurbir S. Grewal - SEC
One of the hallmarks of PCCE is that it brings together academics, regulators, and industry professionals, and allows us to have candid conversations about corporate misconduct and the ways in which we can all work together to improve compliance.
And that's precisely what I'd like to do this afternoon. As we gather to mark ten years of dialogue, I think it's important to both summarize what we've learned during this period and see how we can leverage those lessons to effect better compliance in the future.
/jlne.ws/4aBX1Gf
There's Got to Be a Better Way: Statement of Dissent Regarding Wayzata Investment Partners LLC
Commissioner Hester M. Peirce - SEC
Today the Commission instituted and settled an administrative proceeding under the investment adviser pay-to-play rule.[1] The facts here are similar to those of other pay-to-play cases: In April 2022, a covered associate of an investment adviser made a campaign contribution to a candidate for elected office. The office the candidate sought had influence over selecting investment advisers for a state investment board. The Commission's order, however, does not allege any link between the donation and the investments. In fact, the state investment board had invested in closed-end funds advised by Respondent several years prior to the contribution. Respondent's violation stems not from any attempt to obtain additional investments from the state investment board, but from the fact that it continued to provide advisory services for compensation in connection with the board's longstanding closed-end fund investments. This case is yet another illustration of the overbreadth of the pay-to-play rule and another reminder of the way the rule hampers legitimate political participation. Accordingly, I did not support the case.
/jlne.ws/4arGm89
Court Orders Relief Defendant in Fraudulent Microcap Scheme to Pay Over $2 Million
SEC
On April 15, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a final judgment against relief defendant Dori-Ann Stubos, ordering her to pay more than $2.3 million in disgorgement and prejudgment interest. In June 2022, the SEC charged George Stubos for engaging in a deceptive scheme involving several microcap companies. Dori-Ann Stubos, George Stubos' wife, allegedly received illicit proceeds from George Stubos' fraudulent scheme for no legitimate purpose or consideration.
/jlne.ws/3vTC0Yk
SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Former Private Equity Firm Consultant Charged with Insider Trading
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today the entry of a final consent judgment against Gil Friedman, a former consultant for private equity firm Francisco Partners Management, L.P. Friedman agreed to settle the charges that he engaged in insider trading ahead of the April 9, 2018 public announcement that Francisco Partners had agreed to acquire payment systems company Verifone Systems, Inc.
/jlne.ws/3JpMC4c
SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Infinity Q's Former Senior Officer for Role in Massive Valuation Fraud
SEC
On April 12, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission obtained a final judgment against defendant Scott Lindell, whom the SEC previously charged with misconduct concerning a more than $1 billion overvaluation scheme. Lindell is a former senior officer of SEC-registered investment adviser Infinity Q Capital Management LLC.
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Jittery Investors Snap Up Options Across Markets
David Marino - Bloomberg
Volatility is perking up across markets as investors seek protection amid concern that the conflict in the Middle East could widen and as the selloff in the bond market deepened. The premium for one-month put options to protect against a pullback in US equities reached the highest since October. At the same time, currency-options volatility is climbing from multiyear lows. A key gauge jumped to levels last seen in January as strong US economic data leads traders to trim the degree of Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts expected this year, driving up Treasury yields as well.
/jlne.ws/3Jmo4te
Derivatives trading rules need to evolve to improve liquidity
Jennifer Keser, Head of Market Structure & Regulation, Europe & Asia - Tradeweb (opinion)
To address structural changes in the global marketplace, derivatives regulations across different jurisdictions must align. The $20 trillion over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market plays an important role in the global economy, offering numerous and flexible ways for investors to hedge risks, gain exposure to interest rates, and improve market liquidity. It is also a case study in understanding the critical links between large-scale financial reform and underlying market structure and liquidity. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, OTC derivatives became the subject of significant reform by regulators, following a build-up of large counterparty exposures between market participants.
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Joe Biden hits US oil drillers with first royalty rate increase in a century; Move comes as White House tries to mobilise progressive voters ahead of November election
Myles McCormick and Aime Williams - Financial Times
The Biden administration has increased the cost of oil and gas drilling on public lands, raising royalty rates for the first time in a century as part of a sweeping crackdown on the industry ahead of November's election. The Bureau of Land Management said on Friday it had finalised a rule to raise the royalties drillers must pay to the government for the first time since 1920 and the bonds needed to cover the cost of clean-ups for the first time since 1960.
/jlne.ws/3vVZ8We
Heat Stress Is Plunging the World's Coral Reefs Into Crisis; A second global bleaching event this decade is underway, threatening marine ecosystems that support an estimated $2.7 trillion of economic activity.
Todd Woody - Bloomberg
Surging ocean temperatures have triggered a second global coral bleaching event in a decade, threatening crucial marine ecosystems that underpin an estimated $2.7 trillion a year of goods and services. The occurrence - only the fourth on record - began in February 2023 and has affected coral reefs in every major ocean basin across 54 nations and territories, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a statement.
/jlne.ws/440FZPo
*****This story from Inside Climate News.
'Empirically accurate': Amazon develops new AI model to slash packaging waste
BusinessGreen staff
Retail giant lifts lid on AI tech that can automatically choose most appropriate and efficient packaging for deliveries. Amazon has lifted the lid on new artificial intelligence (AI) technology it has developed to select the most appropriate and resource efficient packaging for products it ships out to customers. Unveiled today, the Package Decision Engine learns over time and has been trained by Amazon engineers by showing the AI model millions of examples of products that have been delivered in various types of packaging both with and without damage.
/jlne.ws/3Uh22OI
New wind installations hit a record last year, report says
Nina Chestney - Reuters
The global wind industry installed a record 117 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity last year but needs to add triple this amount annually by the end of the decade to meet climate targets, according to an industry report on Tuesday. The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) report said capacity installation last year was 50% higher than the year before. Last year, new onshore wind accounted for 106 GW of the amount installed, while offshore wind accounted for 10.8 GW.
/jlne.ws/3UgtgF0
EPA denies energy industry petition to shield turbines from air rules
Valerie Volcovici - Reuters
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday denied a years-old petition by energy industry groups who sought to get the agency to remove limits on emissions of harmful pollutants from stationary turbines, arguing that the risk causing cancer remains high. The agency denied the joint petition filed in 2019 by groups including American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers and the American Petroleum Institute who asked to delist combustion turbines from the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Pollutants (NESHAP), which imposes curbs on emissions of known carcinogens like formaldehyde and benzene.
/jlne.ws/3U1A08l
EU to spend 3.5 bln euros to protect the ocean, environment chief says
Reuters
The European Union will spend 3.5 billion euros ($3.71 billion) to protect the ocean and promote sustainability through a series of initiatives this year, the EU's top environment official said on Tuesday. The 40 commitments range from fighting marine pollution to supporting sustainable fisheries and investments in the so-called blue economy - sustainable use of marine and freshwater resources for economic activity.
/jlne.ws/442A3pl
Negotiators seek money for climate action at spring meetings; World Bank becomes focal point for efforts to raise up to $9tn a year to fight global warming
Aime Williams and Attracta Mooney - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/442SnyC
Coal Keeps Powering India as Booming Economy Crushes Green Hopes; The world's most-populous nation has signaled that it will reduce its dependence on the fossil fuel. But growing energy needs complicate the equation.
Rajesh Kumar Singh - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3TSnM1K
German Coal Mines Emit Much More Methane Than Reported, Study Says; The nation has committed to helping slash global methane emissions 30% by the end of this decade.
Aaron Clark and Petra Sorge - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/443wUFO
How Amazon Became the Largest Private EV Charging Operator in the US; To install 17,000 delivery van chargers at 120 warehouses, the company had to be flexible, patient and spend a lot of money.
Matt Day - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/49D6xYc
Tesla supplier Piedmont Lithium gets key North Carolina mining permit
Ernest Scheyder - Reuters
/jlne.ws/49C7sIA
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Bank of America profits drop as key lending revenue weakens
David Hollerith - Yahoo Finance
Bank of America (BAC) said Tuesday that first-quarter profits dropped 18% from a year ago as a key revenue source weakened, offering the latest example of how even the biggest banks are increasingly challenged by high interest rates. Net interest income at Bank of America fell 3% from the year-earlier period "as higher deposit costs more than offset higher asset yields and modest loan growth," the bank said in a release.
/jlne.ws/4cYK0rB
UBS Is Said to Face $20 Billion Capital Hit Under Swiss Plan
Bastian Benrath and Paula Doenecke - Bloomberg
UBS Group AG faces an increase in regulatory capital requirements that could reach around $20 billion under reforms proposed in the wake of the collapse of Credit Suisse. Swiss Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter is aiming for systematically important lenders to have full capital backing against their foreign units, according to a person familiar with the matter. For UBS, the changes would likely translate into a capital hit in the middle of the $15 billion to $25 billion range that analysts and media have estimated, the person said, asking not to be identified discussing internal deliberations.
/jlne.ws/4azCfqt
Morgan Stanley's profit beats as investment banking rebounds
Tatiana Bautzer and Manya Saini - Reuters
Morgan Stanley's first-quarter profit beat estimates on Tuesday, fueled by a resurgence in investment banking led by equity underwriting where revenue more than doubled, sending its shares up 3.8% before the bell. Investment banking revenue climbed 16% from a year ago, while fixed-income underwriting did well for a second quarter in row, driven by higher bond issuance. Wealth management was also a bright spot in the first quarter.
/jlne.ws/3Q0GbZe
Lacking access to mainland Chinese investors, Hong Kong's crypto ETFs will be 'nickels and dimes' compared with U.S. versions
Niamh Rowe - Fortune
Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission has granted approvals for three spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds. Following the conditional authorization, to become officially listed, the asset managers issuing the products will apply to Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, the SFC added. Initial approvals-conditional on products satisfying certain requirements and conditions-have been given to Harvest Global Investments and a partnership between HashKey Capital and Bosera Asset Management (International), according to separate statements from the companies. The Hong Kong unit of China Asset Management announced it has also received approval from the SFC to provide virtual asset management services and is allocating resources to develop the products. In a statement, OSL Digital Securities said it would provide custodial services for the products.
/jlne.ws/3JiRMzd
Morgan Stanley's wealth juggernaut helps power 14% profits rise; Traders outperformed and wealth management division attracted billions more in client assets than expected
Joshua Franklin - Financial Times
Morgan Stanley's profits rose 14 per cent in the first quarter, fuelled by a rebound in its investment banking and trading business and a better than expected performance from its juggernaut wealth management division. Morgan Stanley said net income in the first three months of the year was $3.4bn, up from $3bn a year earlier, and comfortably ahead of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg of $2.7bn. The quarter was the first under new chief executive Ted Pick, and highlighted the ability of Morgan Stanley's wealth management business to add new client assets on a large scale.
/jlne.ws/3vUV3S8
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | Businesses need to focus less on work-life balance and more on work-life inclusion; Too many organisations have supposedly 'family friendly' policies that potentially alienate certain staff groups experiencing different challenges, argues Krystal Wilkinson
Krystal Wilkinson - People Management
'Work-life balance' has been a key concept in human resource management for some time. Policies and cultures aimed at improving work-life balance are said to be 'win win' for both employees and employers: increasing wellbeing and satisfaction for employees, and improving recruitment, retention, performance and employee engagement for the employer.
/jlne.ws/4aGaIUv
Managers can boost productivity by changing one word in their questions; Inquiry-based managing could boost productivity and engagement.
Dominic Ashley-Timms - Fast Company
Leaders are grappling to understand and cope with emerging technologies, cybersecurity challenges, social and economic upheaval, and environmental sustainability. But their top concern, according to IBM, is productivity: 48% of CEOs now believe this will be their highest priority over the next three years.
/jlne.ws/3w496op
Big Tech Is Downsizing Workspace in Another Blow to Office Real Estate; Pullback marks a sharp reversal after years when companies had been bolstering their office footprints
Konrad Putzier - The Wall Street Journal
Big technology companies are cutting back on office space across major coastal cities, leaving some exposed landlords with empty buildings and steep losses. The pullback marks a sharp reversal after years when companies such as Amazon.com, Meta Platforms' Facebook and Google parent Alphabet had been bolstering their office footprints by adding millions of square feet of space.
/jlne.ws/3xF2ddT
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | How to Avoid One of the Deadliest Forms of Skin Cancer; We asked experts what to know about melanoma symptoms, treatment and prevention.
Ted Alcorn - The New York Times
When spring turns to summer and warm weather lures more people outside, skin cancer may be at most a distant concern. But experts said it's important to take the risk seriously. The ultraviolet rays in sunlight are a leading risk factor for skin cancer, which will affect one in five Americans over their lifetime. That includes melanoma, among the deadliest types. About 100,000 people are diagnosed with melanoma each year in the United States, and about 8,000 die from it annually, according to the American Cancer Society.
/jlne.ws/49CQauO
Zillow Home Sale Booster Trends Feature Wellness Enhancers
Jamie Gold - Forbes
Zillow is out with a new list of features that reportedly help homes sell faster or for more money. It's probably not a surprise that many of these support facets of wellness design. It's thus fair to say that these benefits are not only financial; they're also physical and mental. Let's take a look at the numbers, and some insights from real estate sales professionals around the country on what they're seeing in their markets.
/jlne.ws/4aWyGdT
Consumers are dedicated to improving health and wellness, grapple with cost of better-for-you products, Nutiani finds
Ryan Daily - Food Navigator
The premium price associated with better-for-you products might be a purchase barrier for consumers, almost half (41%) of whom say these products cost too much, according to data from Nutiani's global trend report.
/jlne.ws/43ZhJ06
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | China's Factories Drive Uneven Economic Recovery; World's second-largest economy grew 5.3% to start the year, but consumption lagged behind
Jason Douglas - The Wall Street Journal
China's economy picked up pace in the first quarter as Beijing's plan to boost growth by pouring money into factories began to show results. WHAT'S NEWS China's Economy Picks Up, Even as Foreign Firms Look Elsewhere SUBSCRIBE Add to Queue Explore Audio Center But that approach is leading to a lopsided recovery and stoking trade tensions overseas, with Western governments and some big emerging economies crying foul over a growing wave of cheap Chinese imports that they say threaten domestic jobs and industries.
/jlne.ws/3vQ9kQ5
Kotak Sees India Index Inclusion Improving Liquidity for Banks
Preeti Singh - Bloomberg
Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. expects the addition of the country's sovereign bonds to JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s global indexes from June to boost banks' liquidity and reduce the need to aggressively pursue deposits in the short term.
/jlne.ws/4aAJEWK
EU faces decline without market reform, report warns; Former Italian premier Enrico Letta was asked by European leaders to report on state of single market
Paola Tamma and Henry Foy - Financial Times
The EU must integrate its financial, energy and telecommunications markets or face losing its "economic security" and falling further behind the US and China, the author of a new report has warned. Enrico Letta, the former Italian prime minister tasked by European leaders to assess the state of the EU's underperforming single market, told the Financial Times that further European integration was a matter of survival in the global economy.
/jlne.ws/3UfsVm6
Canada's Trans Mountain Project Seen Spelling Trouble for OPEC Member Iraq
Robert Tuttle - Bloomberg
Canada's newest oil pipeline may spell trouble for a Middle Eastern country almost 7,000 miles away: Iraq. The Trans Mountain pipeline's expansion, which will almost triple Alberta oil-sands producers' ability to ship their heavy crude to the Pacific Coast, will most directly affect a similar grade called Basrah Heavy that's produced in OPEC member Iraq, Susan Bell, a Rystad Energy analyst, said in an interview. "When you look at the yield profile of that crude oil, the distillation profile of that crude oil, it's very similar to Canadian heavy - so it's very substitutable," she said in Calgary.
/jlne.ws/3Q3rTak
In Photos: Orenburg Flooding Peaks as 'Colossal' Waters Rise in Neighboring Regions
The Moscow Times
Ten days after the Ural River burst a dam in the city of Orsk and forced the evacuation of thousands, historic flooding continues to threaten Russia's southern Urals and western Siberia as well as the neighboring country of Kazakhstan. A combination of heavy rainfall and an unusually warm spring has led to dams bursting and rivers overflowing their banks across the area. In the Kurgan region which neighbors the Orenburg region, Governor Vadim Shumkov said Monday that a "colossal" amount of water was expected to engulf the regional capital.
/jlne.ws/3Q1Su7u
Taiwan asset managers report 28% rise in ETF fee income in 2023; Sixteen onshore issuers scoop average of 32% of total revenue from ETF management fees
Sinyi Au - Financial Times
Taiwan fund houses earned NT$9.1bn ($281.1mn) in management fees from exchange traded funds last year, up 28 per cent from 2022, as the local ETF boom drove the market to record highs. The 16 onshore ETF issuers in the market generated 32 per cent of their total revenue from ETF management fee income, as well as 40 per cent of their overall management fees, according to data from Keystone Intelligence.
/jlne.ws/3W0C03r
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Judge dismisses some claims against Meta's Zuckerberg over social media harm
Nate Raymond - Reuters
Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Monday won the dismissal of some claims in a dozen lawsuits accusing him of concealing from the public that Facebook and Instagram were harmful to children. The ruling, by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, came in the sprawling litigation by children pursuing hundreds of lawsuits accusing Meta and other social media companies of addicting them to their platforms.
/jlne.ws/43YTb7k
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