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John Lothian Newsletter
January 26, 2018 "Irreverent, but never irrelevant"
 
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Hits & Takes
JLN Staff

John Lothian News will be bringing our video team to Boca for the FIA International Conference in March. We will again be shooting our exchange and industry leader video series. If you have some suggestions for topical subjects or persons to interview, email me.~JJL

Yesterday we issued a Special Report for the Trading Technologies and GDAX/Coinbase news and Jim Kharouf shot a short video to introduce the story he wrote. I did a short Twitter live piece as an experiment to promote the Special Report. It went fine, except my tie was not quite right and I had to scratch my nose at the end, which was caught on video.~JJL

Did you know that if you are a paid Enterprise subscriber to this newsletter that your firm can have one FREE Special Report to the JLN Readership? Email me for more information.~JJL

Cboe FX hit an all-time single day volume record of $68.4 billion on January 25.~JJL

Another entry into the realm of Bitcoin-related crime: a trio of armed men unsuccessfully tried to rob a Canadian cryptocurrency exchange by forcing an employee to make an online transaction. One 19-year-old culprit was apprehended after falling in a ditch. Little bit of a "stupid criminal" vibe to it.~SD

To our venerable viewers - "The Spread," our weekly recap of notable options news, is merely paused and not gone. The host (read: me) succumbed to a nasty strain of influenza and then a sinus infection. Like a contagious phoenix, I shall rise. In the period of my ailment, Campbell's Soup (CPB) is up more than four percent; Kimberly Clark (KMB), maker of Kleenex, is up more than seven percent; and the SPDR healthcare ETF (XLV) is up nearly three percent - all beating the S&P 500.~SD

I am trying to figure out which joke is funnier. This one: I am so old we had to eat Tide out of a box when we were kids. Or, this one: My wife told me I was immature so I told her to get out of my (blanket) fort.~JJL


++++

THE Infrastructure Project: Trading Technologies and Coinbase's GDAX Partner On Deal To Connect Cryptocurrencies To Institutions
Jim Kharouf - John Lothian News
Cryptocurrency trading moved further into the mainstream today with the announcement that Trading Technologies and the Global Digital Asset Exchange (GDAX), one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, have partnered to offer the cash products on TT's platform.
jlne.ws/2Bs3GkV

**In case you missed our special report yesterday, here is the top story. ~JK

++++

William McDonough, N.Y. Fed Chief in Twin Crises, Dies at 83
Rich Miller and Brendan Murray - Bloomberg
Greenspan describes him as formidable force in world economy; McDonough was also first chairman of public accounting board
William J. McDonough, whose decade-long tenure as Federal Reserve Bank of New York president included dealing with the market scare of Long-Term Capital Management LP and the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, has died. He was 83.
/goo.gl/tQeKYo

***** When I met William McDonough at a CME Globex celebration in Chicago many years ago, the thing that struck me was his incredible eyebrows. The man's eyebrows were the biggest and bushiest I ever saw. He was a good man. ~JJL

++++

Robinhood adds zero-fee cryptocurrency trading and tracking
Josh Constine - TechCrunch
No-commission stock trading app Robinhood will let you buy and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum without any added transaction fees starting in February, compared to Coinbase's 1.5 to 4 percent fees in the US. And as of today Robinhood will let all users track the price, news, and set up alerts on those and 14 other top crypto coins, including Litecoin and Ripple.
/goo.gl/TkdnqY

**** Robinhood continues to come out bow and arrows ablazin' - keep in mind this is a month after it announced it is rolling out free options trading. It is unclear though what sort of plumbing/connectivity Robinhood will use for the offering, set to go live in February. When I first woke up, there were some 374k people signed up for early access. As of sending out the newsletter, there are more than 380k.~SD

++++

You're Ordering Wine Wrong; But it's not a lost cause; star sommelier Robert Bohr has advice on how to avoid common pinot pitfalls.
Kate Krader - Bloomberg
If there's one person who would be voted Most Likely to Intimidate at a restaurant, it's the sommelier. Wine lists can be confusing, even daunting territory for diners, plus alcohol invariably represents a good percentage of a restaurant check. You will recognize most of the bottles on a cocktail list; wines are another story, and it's well-documented that selections are invariably marked up at least 200 percent.
/goo.gl/XMZGL1

***** You mean picking a wine by how interesting the label looks is not the right way?~JJL

++++

Friday's Top Three
Apparently, one of the only ways to grab more attention than Bitcoin is to get busted. So it was with Chicago trader Thomas Lindstrom, in Bloomberg's Chicago Futures Trader Pleads Guilty to Fraud That Sunk His Firm. Order was restored for second and third with the Wall Street Journal op-ed from Jay Clayton and Chris Giancarlo in Regulators Are Looking at Cryptocurrency. Third went to Fortune's This Is What the Average Bitcoin Owner Looks Like. Hint, they are young. Yesterday's JLN Special Report on Trading Technologies deal with Coinbase was well read with JLN's THE Infrastructure Project: Trading Technologies and Coinbase's GDAX Partner On Deal To Connect Cryptocurrencies To Institutions taking the top spot. Have a great weekend everyone.

++++


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John Lothian News (JLN) is the news division of John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. (JJLCO). The online media and financial services firm is staffed by derivatives industry, journalism and technology professionals.
 
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Lead Stories
Deutsche Börse ends Asia expansion plans
Philip Stafford - FT
Deutsche Börse, Europe's largest exchanges operator, is ending plans to expand in Asia with investors preferring to trade popular instruments like Stoxx futures in its home German market. In a statement on Friday, Eurex, its derivatives business, said it "had decided to not further pursue the establishment of separate regulated entities in Singapore in order to reduce complexity and effort for its members."
/goo.gl/RzKSiF

NYSE, Nasdaq Fighting to Keep Their Grip on the Stock Market's Close; The SEC gave rival Cboe the green light for its closing-auction plan last week
Alexander Osipovich - WSJ
The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq are making a last-ditch effort to retain their grip on the crucial 4 p.m. closing auctions that determine end-of-day prices for thousands of stocks.
/goo.gl/Vs1SNa

Lee Hodgkinson to move on from Euronext
Finextra
Euronext, the leading pan-European exchange in the Eurozone, announces that Lee Hodgkinson, Head of Markets and Global Sales of Euronext and CEO of Euronext London Ltd, has decided to pursue a new professional project. Lee Hodgkinson, after more than 9 years at Euronext, will leave the company in early April 2018 and will serve as CEO of OSTC, a London-based proprietary trading firm which operates from 14 offices around the world. Lee Hodgkinson will actively participate in the transition process during his notice period.
/goo.gl/hb9Qz2

**** The press release here and The Trade here.

Asian Exchanges Woo Firms With Two Classes of Stock—But Investors, Companies Are Wary; Stock exchanges in Hong Kong and Singapore are planning to let companies with dual-class share structures list in their markets
Kenan Machado and Saurabh Chaturvedi - WSJ
If you allow it, will they come? Stock exchanges in Hong Kong and Singapore are planning to let companies with dual-class share structures list in their markets, moves widely seen as attempts to attract more IPOs and to avoid losing share to each other—and other exchanges.
/goo.gl/o4Y5cV

How Hedge Funds (Secretly) Get Their Way in Washington; Fake grass roots. An inflatable rat. Testimony with hidden ties. Billionaires are using DCI Group to make their bets pay off—while keeping the public in the dark.
Zachary Mider and Ben Elgin - Bloomberg
With swept-back silver hair and a prestigious résumé, James K. Glassman cuts the classic figure of a Washington wise man. He's a former undersecretary of State, think-tank founder, and best-selling author, with a considered opinion on just about any Beltway issue.
/goo.gl/cS2A6b

Eurex simplifies its corporate structure
Eurex
Over the last two years, the regulatory framework and market structure changed significantly. Eurex, one of the leading derivatives marketplaces, adapts its global structure to the new reality. To best serve its clients, reduce complexity and improve agility, the exchange will change its set-up in Switzerland and strengthen its offering in Asia. Eurex has decided against filing for a separate authorisation as Multilateral Trading Facility under the new Swiss Financial Market Infrastructure Act (FMIA). In agreement with the supervisory authority FINMA, Eurex Zürich AG will discontinue its operational trading activities by 31 March 2018.
/goo.gl/Nh1HiW

Cryptocurrencies Drop After Japanese Exchange Halts Withdrawals
Yuji Nakamura and Andrea Tan - Bloomberg
Cryptocurrencies slumped after one of Japan's biggest Bitcoin venues halted client withdrawals, spooking investors in a country that's still wary of digital-token exchanges four years after the collapse of Mt. Gox.
/goo.gl/wbVgqa

TT + Coinbase....What's It All About?
Mike Unetich, VP Cryptocurrencies - Trading Technologies
By now, we hope you've heard the big news: not only will TT be expanding into a new asset class, crypto (!), but also we'll be doing it with a connection to Coinbase's Global Digital Asset Exchange (GDAX). "Why now?" "Why GDAX?" "How do I get involved?" "Will TT offer full functionality for crypto trading?" These are all questions we expect to be hearing in the upcoming days.
/goo.gl/r6VGVs

Inside the Bustling Comic-Con of ETFs (PODCAST)
Eric Balchunas and Joel Weber - Bloomberg
What do you get when you cross Comi-Con, the Catalina Wine Mixer and low-cost passive investing? You get "Inside ETFs," the world's largest ETF conference, which is getting bigger and more colorful by the year, in no small part to the growing mountain of flows coming into ETFs each year.
/goo.gl/ssW76Y

Don't Hold Your Breath Waiting for Bitcoin ETFs Amid SEC Review
Annie Massa and Erik Schatzker - Bloomberg
Regulators taking a cautious approach to Bitcoin ETF approval; SEC told several fund companies to pull Bitcoin ETF proposals
Although several Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have been proposed, they're unlikely to win U.S. regulatory approval soon, said Tom Farley, who oversees the New York Stock Exchange.
/goo.gl/2L5VEW

Why Are ABCD Singing the Blues?
Streetwise Professor
It's pretty clear that the major agricultural trading firms, notably the ABCDs - ADM, Bunge, Cargill, and Dreyfus - are going through a rough patch of tight margins and low profits. One common response in any industry facing these conditions is consolidation, and in fact there is a major potential combination in play: ADM approached Bunge about an acquisition.. I am unsatisfied with most of the explanations given. A widely cited "reason" is that grain and oilseed prices are low due to bumper crops. Yes, bumper crops and the resulting low prices can be a negative for producers, but it does not explain hard times in the midstream. Ag traders do not have a natural flat price exposure. They are both buyers and sellers, and care about margin.
/goo.gl/sOCGu

What's a Ping Pool? A VIP Lounge for Dark Trading
Annie Massa - Bloomberg
There are casinos that welcome everyone, by the busload. Then there are casinos that are by invitation only, designed for big rollers. In the markets, stock exchanges are the first kind. Ping pools are the second. And like anything else with a velvet rope, they're generating intense interest among those left outside.
/goo.gl/vpoYW6

The Big Bang: How SPY Changed the Investment Universe
James E. Ross, Chairman of the Global SPDR Business
Today, many investors use the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) as an integral part of their toolkits thanks to SPY's key characteristics: unparalleled liquidity, resiliency and persistent performance. But what often goes overlooked is the significant innovative impact that SPY's creation and subsequent success has had on the broader investment world.
/goo.gl/VFmjz6





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Exchanges, OTC & Clearing
Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities
Deutsche Börse drops plans for Asian derivatives hub; Regulated exchange and clearing hub in Singapore had originally been scheduled to launch in 2016
Vivek Ahuja - Financial News
Deutsche Börse has finally shelved its plans to set up a derivatives clearing and exchange hub in Singapore, nearly two years after the much-delayed project had been due to launch.
/goo.gl/Agn4tu

Trimming the Hedge: How can CCPs efficiently manage a default?
Fernando Cerezetti, Emmanouil Karimalis, Ujwal Shreyas and Anannit Sumawong - Bank of England Blog
When a trade is executed and cleared through a central counterparty (CCP), the CCP legally becomes a buyer for every seller and a seller for every buyer. When a CCP member defaults, the need to establish a matched book for cleared positions means the defaulter's portfolio needs to be closed out. The CCP then faces a central question: what hedges should be executed before the portfolio is liquidated so as to minimize the costs of closeout? In a recent paper, we investigate how distinct hedging strategies may expose a CCP to different sets of risks and costs during the closeout period. Our analysis suggests that CCPs should carefully take into account these strategies when designing their default management processes.
/goo.gl/rGHetK

NYSE National Creates A Stock Exchange Baker's Dozen
Themis Trading Blog
NYSE has decided to reopen the National Stock Exchange which it bought last January. According to their 798 page SEC filing, the new exchange will be known as NYSE National and will begin operations in the second quarter of this year.
/goo.gl/cNXWoR

Exchange Publishes Results of its Latest Review of Disclosure in Issuers' Annual Reports
HKEX
Disclosure in issuers' annual reports is satisfactory, generally; Areas for improvement include annual reports' MD&A sections and issuers' actions to address audit modifications
The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the Exchange), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), today (Friday) published a report on the findings and recommendations from its review of issuers' annual reports1 for financial year ended between January and December 2016.
/goo.gl/DAjPcP

GLMX reboots high-tech platform in post-crisis repo environment
Kate Duguid - Reuters
GLMX has raised $20 million in financing and updated its high-tech platform for trading repurchase agreements and secured lending to help clients comply with new regulatory reporting requirements, the company said on Thursday.
/goo.gl/iWtdzF

GMEX targets crypto markets with Fusion launch; Blockchain-powered service created to help traditional and crypto exchanges with technological challenges.
Hayley McDowell - The Trade
GMEX Technologies has developed a centralised, blockchain-powered exchange and post-trade service to meet demands from cryptocurrency exchanges.
/goo.gl/fR1tpt




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Fintech
A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors
Alt Data on the March with Machine Learning
Ivy Schmerken - The Industry Spread
The explosion of alternative data sources, such as satellite images, sentiment analysis, and geolocation data, is having a profound impact on the field of quantitative investing. Analyzing torrents of unstructured data requires sophisticated tools and technology, and this leads to opportunities as well as challenges.
/goo.gl/6cgCjr

Trading Technologies & Coinbase break ground on institutional cryptocurrency trading; Trading Technologies' clients will be able to trade cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Litecoin as of March this year.
Hayley McDowell - The Trade
Trading Technologies has teamed up with global digital asset exchange (GDAX) Coinbase to provide institutional investors cryptocurrency market access and trading.
/goo.gl/Vddgg8

Artificial Intelligence Nears the Summit of Hype in Davos
Jeremy Kahn - Bloomberg
The technology will be better than fire; lead to World War III; Karl Marx invoked; corporate decision-making in AI crosshairs
Artificial intelligence approached the summit of hype at this year's World Economic Forum.
/goo.gl/6TRGUa

Artificial Intelligence: The Next Step in Corporate Governance
David Townsend, CFA - CFA Institute Blog
In investment management, early is rarely a safe play. In a runaway bull market, going against the grain is lonely and unprofitable. However, getting in early on the artificial intelligence (AI) wave might buck this trend. AI's role in security selection and portfolio construction is well documented. Perhaps a better, albeit less sexy, use of AI is cultivating stronger corporate governance and leaders with a culture of better decisions and lifelong learning.
/goo.gl/iUPKTT

Billionaire George Soros Is Using Blockchain Technology to Help Migrants
Jen Wieczner - Fortune
George Soros, the billionaire investor and philanthropist working to ease the global refugee crisis, said Thursday that he's found a new way to help migrants: blockchain technology.
/goo.gl/23ZHWL

Credit Card Companies Don't Want You to Buy Bitcoin With Plastic
AnnaMaria Andriotis and Paul Vigna - WSJ
Some banks and credit-card companies have begun restricting customers' purchases of bitcoin, shutting down a popular way to buy the volatile digital currency.
/goo.gl/3qRZtp

Are Bitcoins More Real Than Boyfriends?
Malka Fleischmann - NY Times
Recently, my brother experienced a cryptocurrency windfall. Almost overnight, $300 ballooned into tens of thousands, and now he can remodel his basement. Maybe. I don't know. I suppose he can if he finds the money lurking behind the math.
/goo.gl/UN5f7G




Politics
An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets
For Mnuchin, a Lesson in How Words Can Move Markets
Peter Baker- NY Times
His name now appears on the dollar bill. But that does not mean it is safe for him to actually talk about the dollar.
/goo.gl/o9o1F

George Soros Says Trump Administration Is 'Danger to the World'
Katia Porzecanski - Bloomberg
Trump is 'temporary phenomenon' that may be gone by 2020; Calls out Facebook, Google as creating addiction among users
George Soros said President Donald Trump is risking a nuclear war with North Korea and predicts that the groundswell of opposition he's generated will be his downfall.
/goo.gl/eVAeeSY

Dutch Spied on Russian Group Linked to 2016 U.S. Election Hacks
Wout Vergauwen - Bloomberg
Dutch agency hacked 'Cozy Bear' network in summer of 2014; Newspaper investigation cites six people with direct knowledge
The Dutch intelligence service passed on "crucial evidence" to the FBI about Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant reported Friday, citing the results of an investigation.
/goo.gl/udopN2

Trump Ordered Mueller Fired, but Backed Off When White House Counsel Threatened to Quit
Michael S. Schmidt and Maggie Haberman - NY Times
President Trump ordered the firing last June of Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel overseeing the Russia investigation, according to four people told of the matter, but ultimately backed down after the White House counsel threatened to resign rather than carry out the directive.
/goo.gl/zWSeFG

****Bloomberg here.

What Facebook, Google and Twitter Told Congress About Russian Misinformation
Wall Street Journal
Congress on Thursday published responses from Facebook Inc.,Twitter Inc. and Google to questions about how Russian actors used their platforms to spread misinformation before and after the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
/goo.gl/QcqhwW



Regulation & Enforcement
For more regulatory, visit MarketsReformWiki, our website focused on current market reform efforts.
The TRADE launches first event of 2018, MiFID II Check In; The MiFID II Check In event will be held in London on 28 February at Merchant Taylors' Hall.
Editors - The Trade
The TRADE is pleased to announce the next in its series of MiFID II events, Check In, a full-day conference on 28 February reviewing the first two months of operating under the new regulation.
/goo.gl/5PhY6B

BitConnect's 'Crypto-Wonderland' Hit With Investor Lawsuit
Olga Kharif and Christie Smythe - Bloomberg
Complaint says thousands lost money in 'wide-reaching' scam; Digital currency cratered after state regulators intervened
A group of investors sued BitConnect, alleging that the cryptocurrency exchange platform was a "wide-reaching Ponzi scheme" and seeking potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.
/goo.gl/Bm4Frb

SEC Weighs a Big Gift to Companies: Blocking Investor Lawsuits
Benjamin Bain - Bloomberg
To spur IPOs, agency is said open to requests to ban lawsuits; Businesses want to use arbitration to settle investor disputes
In its determination to reverse a two-decade slump in U.S. stock listings, a regulator might offer companies an extreme incentive to go public: the ability to bar aggrieved shareholders from suing.
/goo.gl/zsCCZv

SEC Invites Regulated Entities to Voluntarily Submit Self-Assessments of Diversity Policies and Practices
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI) today introduced its Diversity Assessment Report for Entities Regulated by the SEC.
/goo.gl/542fFo

Podcast: CFTC Talks EP028: Citi Global Head of Commodity Research Ed Morse
CFTC
This week on CFTC Talks, we bring on Citi's Global Head of Commodity Research Ed Morse. We discuss what's driving the...
/goo.gl/J8qSyM

FCA publishes decision notices against One Call Insurance Services Limited and John Lawrence Radford
UK FCA
The Financial Conduct Authority has today published Decision Notices in respect of One Call Insurance Services Limited (One Call) and its Chief Executive and majority shareholder John Lawrence Radford.
/goo.gl/5Se2Ct

Building cyber resilience
UK FCA
Speech by Robin Jones, Head of Technology, Resilience & Cyber at the FCA, delivered to the PIMFA Financial Crime Conference, London.
/goo.gl/GuppBL








Investing & Trading
Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities)
What to Watch in Metals Markets in 2018
Neil Hume and Henry Sanderson - CME Group OpenMarkets
Aluminum, Steel and Iron Ore could be boosted by China demand; Metals for electric cars poised for growth
The rally in equities may have stolen much of the attention in 2017, but metals and minerals were also buoyant. Helped by solid global economic growth, metals returned 24 per cent last year, according to the S&P GSCI Industrial Metals Total Return index.
/goo.gl/46HmnZ

Is fossil fuel divestment the only way to address climate change risk?
Fong Yee Chan, senior product manager, sustainable investment - FTSE Russell Blog
On January 10, New York City officials announced plans to divest its pension funds of about $5 billion in fossil fuel investments. As a growing number of investors seek to address climate change risk, this initiative represents one of the more significant divestment efforts to date. The headline is indicative of a larger trend, as it comes on the heels of a recent letter to Norway's finance ministry from Norges Bank, recommending that the country eliminate all oil and gas securities from the index tracked by its pension fund—an allocation comprising nearly 6% of the index.
/goo.gl/UqfV7t

Small Caps Need No Style To Accelerate With GDP
Jodie Gunzberg, Managing Director - S&P Dow Jones Indices
The first estimate of US GDP for the fourth quarter is set to be released this Friday and the median forecast is 3.0% according to MarketWatch, which if met or exceeded will be the first time 3 consecutive quarters to show at least 3% growth since the first quarter of 2005. While this is supportive for the entire U.S. equity market, small-caps may gain most (except small-cap telecom.)
/goo.gl/N6Nva9

Dell considers return to stock market; PC maker's board to look at idea of initial public offering 4 years after going private
Richard Waters and James Fontanella-Khan - FT
Michael Dell is considering a return to the stock market, a little over four years after he took his PC company private in a highly contentious $25bn buyout. He followed that deal with the $67bn purchase of storage company EMC in the tech industry's biggest-ever deal, to create one of the world's largest and most diversified IT groups.
/goo.gl/szVxTr

Head of $1 Trillion Manager Hasn't 'Felt This Good' Since 2007
Fabio Benedetti Valentini and Erik Schatzker - Bloomberg
The head of Natixis SA's $1 trillion asset-management arm said he hasn't "felt this good since 2007," amid worldwide economic growth and stable interest rates.
/goo.gl/dzMfDG

Wall Street Loves Hock Tan. Not Everyone Else Is There Yet; Broadcom and its CEO have been on a $50 billion shopping spree. Some people don't like his habits with new purchases.
Ted Greenwald - WSJ
In the innovation-obsessed technology industry, Broadcom Ltd. AVGO -3.73% Chief Executive Hock Tan unapologetically favors surefire profits over visionary projects.
/goo.gl/acBTZf

A Doomsayer's Guide to the Dollar and Why It Could Keep Plunging
Jacob Bourne and Robert Fullem - Bloomberg
Technicals flash warnings that greenback rout just beginning; Latest drop leaves few support levels to buffer futher losses
The dollar's worst start to a year since 1987 may get a lot worse. Regardless of whether the Trump administration wants a strong U.S. currency or not, this week's plunge is breaching technical barriers that had stood as proverbial last lines of defense against a significant gap lower.
/goo.gl/r2bJpw

The Daily Prophet: 'Ultimately' Is Now for the Currency Market; Connecting the dots in global markets.
Robert Burgess - Bloomberg
A day after his Treasury Secretary tanked the dollar by commenting that a weaker currency is good for the U.S. economy, President Donald Trump sought to make things right by saying the remarks were taken out of context. In fact, Trump told CNBC, "ultimately I would like to see a strong dollar."
/goo.gl/DtbbpY




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Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds
The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures
Ex-TCW Executive Says Firm Fired Her for Alleging Sexual Harassment; Former managing director who led the money manager's distressed-debt group files lawsuit seeking at least $30 million in damages
Justin Baer - WSJ
A former TCW Group Inc. executive alleged in a lawsuit Thursday that she was fired from the money manager in December for filing a sexual-harassment complaint against her boss.
/goo.gl/ki8Khi

Bank Bans 'Not Surprising' Given Bitcoin Risks, Sweden Says
Niklas Magnusson and Kati Pohjanpalo - Bloomberg
Swedish minister comments following Nordea's employee ban; Finance unions have challenged such limits on staff freedoms
As Nordea Bank AB's Bitcoin ban for staff has unions questioning the legality of the move, Sweden's minister in charge of financial legislation says it's understandable that the industry is resorting to such measures.
/goo.gl/3v2CfP

Ex-Banker's Trial Ends With Money Problems, $1 Million Gifts
Hugo Miller - Bloomberg
Former Credit Suisse banker's deceit undiscovered for years; Lescaudron's trial ended Thursday with verdict due Feb. 9
The trial of the former Credit Suisse Group AG banker accused of defrauding his clients wrapped up after eight days with a personal plea.
/goo.gl/nDQBwj

Bank of England says technology glitches hit limited number of transactions
Reuters Staff - Reuters
The Bank of England said on Thursday it was experiencing intermittent technology problems that are indirectly affecting its ability to process a limited number of transactions for wholesale counterparties.
/goo.gl/gVvRAs

Exclusive: Commodities fund Jamison Capital to shut - source
Catherine Ngai, Maiya Keidan - Reuters
Jamison Capital Partners LP, a New York-based macro commodity hedge fund run by former Morgan Stanley trader Stephen Jamison, will shut its nearly $1.5 billion fund by the end of the month, according to a source familiar and an investor letter.
/goo.gl/ya9tfr

Capital One Jettisons Online Brokerage Accounts in E*Trade Deal
Jennifer Surane - Bloomberg
Bank to sell 1 million accounts to E*Trade for $170 million; Lender says asset sale will probably result in job cuts
Capital One Financial Corp. is selling more than 1 million brokerage accounts to E*Trade Financial Corp. for $170 million as the bank exits the self-directed online investing business.
/goo.gl/ge9xPZ

Goldman, Barclays, SocGen interested in Commerzbank unit: Handelsblatt
Reuters Staff
Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Britain's Barclays Plc and French lender Societe Generale SA are interested in buying the Equities, Markets and Commodities (EMC) division of Germany's Commerzbank AG, Handelsblatt reported on Thursday.
/goo.gl/BY77Jw

Hedge Fund Wins Bid to Block Quant Fraudster's China Deportation
Jeremy Hodges - Bloomberg
Ke Xu convicted of stealing trading algorithms from Trenchant; Firm wants Xu in U.K until he gives whereabouts of spoils
A London quant analyst convicted of stealing millions of pounds worth of secret algorithmic trading strategies has been stopped by his former employer, Trenchant Ltd., from being deported to China.
/goo.gl/9fPUcC




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Regions
Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions
Swiss Central Bank Shares Up 75% This Month, Just Don't Ask Why; The SNB has listed shares but doesn't behave like a regular company or bank
Brian Blackstone - WSJ
Shares in Switzerland's central bank are starting this year as they finished last—surging. The Swiss National Bank was one of Europe's hottest stocks Thursday, soaring 10% to 6,000 francs before giving up some of those gains later in the session. It tacked on another 16% Friday morning, pushing its share price to 6,800.
/goo.gl/Y2dE31

2,000% Stock Gains Vanish From Hong Kong
Fox Hu - Bloomberg
Average new listing rose 23% in first day in past 12 months; Stock exchange, regulator took steps to rein in speculation
The world's most volatile new stocks are vanishing from Hong Kong after regulators tightened oversight of the city's small-cap Growth Enterprise Market.
/goo.gl/6zSzto








Brexit
Financials stories regarding the decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union
Carney Says Brexit Has Cost Economy `Tens of Billions' of Pounds
Brian Swint and Catherine Bosley - Bloomberg
Says U.K. could 'recouple' with global economy this year; BOE governor says weaker investment holding back growth
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said Brexit has already cost the the U.K. economy billions of pounds in lost output and it's not benefiting yet from a global pickup.
/goo.gl/LV1KFB

London should remain Europe's financial centre after Brexit to 'balance' New York, says UBS
Iain Withers - Telegraph
Swiss investment bank UBS has said it wants London to remain Europe's financial hub and it will try to keep as many staff in the City as possible after Brexit.
/goo.gl/3ndNez

Brexit Drags Down U.K. Economy as Neighbors Soar; U.K. idles as neighbors reap benefits of global growth
Wiktor Szary and Jason Douglas - WSJ
The U.K. economy in 2017 grew at the slowest pace in five years, highlighting how Britain isn't reaping the full benefits of the recent upsurge in global growth as it prepares to leave the European Union.
/goo.gl/q2uLyD








Miscellaneous
Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections
Careless tweets can cost your place at business school; Admissions offices are checking digital profiles, so what should you avoid?
Seb Murray - FT
A tweet can have unintended consequences. In 280 or fewer characters, Twitter has fuelled revolution across the Arab world, sent stocks plummeting and triggered countless spats among the rich and famous.
/goo.gl/4QLcNa

Nutella 'riots' spread across French supermarkets
BBC
A discount on Nutella has led to violent scenes in a chain of French supermarkets, as shoppers jostled to grab a bargain on the sweet spread.
/goo.gl/686AK3








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