| February 03, 2025 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
Friday afternoon, the CME Group shared the sad news via LinkedIn that longtime CME member and former board member Mike Dowd had passed away. Dowd was 67 and was a co-founder of the Dowd Wescott Group. You can find his obituary in the Chicago Tribune HERE. Our condolences to the friends and family of Mike Dowd.
Dowd grew up in Glenview, the same town as I did. He attended Loyola Academy and was four years ahead of me, while I went to Glenbrook South High School. Like me, he spent time at MF Global and First Options of Chicago, though I was a customer. Later, he partnered with David Wescott to form Dowd/Wescott, following the collapse of U.S. Futures & Options & Company, a firm owned by John H. (Bud) Frazier. The company went bankrupt due to a rogue broker and significant wrong-way customer positions in the 1993 spring flood grain markets. Wescott's previous firm had introduced USFO to First Options, which was where the debits were. This opened the door for a new partner for Wescott and an opportunity for Dowd. Funny how lives can be intertwined, while in separate spheres.
Here are some of the headlines from editorials and commentaries from various newspapers and online media about Trump's tariff war against Canada and Mexico, and to a lesser extent China:
"The absurdity of Donald Trump's trade war;" Tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China will harm America's own economy and diplomatic power - Financial Times
"The Dumbest Trade War Fallout Begins;" Canada and Mexico vow retaliation in response to Trump's tariffs, amid new economic uncertainty. - The Wall Street Journal
"ECB Fiddles While Tariffs Start to Burn"; Trump tariffs could wipe out what little growth Europe expects. - Marcus Ashworth, Bloomberg
"How Trump's Tariffs Aim a Wrecking Ball at the Economy of the Americas;" After weeks of threats, a North American trade war has erupted. Businesses and investors are bracing for the fallout. - Shawn Donnan, Bloomberg's The Big Take
"Three Unsettling Lessons From Trump's Tariff Drama;" The US president doesn't appear to be listening to his own economic policy team much less market signals. - Jonathan Levin, Bloomberg
"Trump is sowing the seeds of an anti-American alliance;" By targeting allies and neighbours with tariffs, the US is playing into the hands of China - Gideon Rachman - Financial Times
Alexander Osipovich of The Wall Street Journal has picked up on the prediction market story with an angle about off-shore Polymarket listing contracts related to the Los Angeles fires. The contracts spawned criticism because of their potential to encourage arson. As legal and ethical debates intensify, prediction markets are increasingly blurring the lines between finance, gambling, and speculation on real-world events. Osipovich also found absurd examples, such as a contract on Kalshi where "users bet on whether Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell would say 'good afternoon' at his recent press conference, while Polymarket listed a contract on how many men the OnlyFans star Lily Phillips would have sex with in one day." Osipovich also mentioned the Super Bowl contracts, the assassination contracts and how the sports betting and trading worlds are coming together. Regarding the gambling contracts on the "Big Game," aka the Super Bowl, the story said, "In one of the last acts of the CFTC's departing Democratic leadership, the regulator announced a review of the Nadex contracts and asked Crypto.com to suspend them. Crypto.com declined to do so." Funny, I bet right on a politically emboldened Crypto.com telling the CFTC to pound sand.
Margaret Sullivan, a pro-democracy media critic and former public editor of The New York Times, in her Substack column, critiques mainstream media's fragmented response to a major exposé on Elon Musk allies gaining access to U.S. Treasury payment systems, a revelation that could pose serious national security risks. While The Washington Post and The New York Times broke the story, many outlets failed to highlight its significance. Sullivan argues that journalism must do more than report-it must contextualize and sound the alarm on escalating authoritarianism.
She warns that Trump's chaotic governance, from pardoning Jan. 6 rioters to crypto scams and anti-trans executive orders, overwhelms media coverage, leading to underplayed crises. Experts like Norman Ornstein call this a "five-alarm fire," yet networks fail to frame it as an existential threat to democracy. Meanwhile, billionaire media owners and legal intimidation further erode press independence. Sullivan urges stronger, more vigilant journalism to confront this moment, questioning whether the press is truly prepared to hold power accountable in a time of democratic crisis. It is a great question.
In a case where doing nothing was news, Microstrategy ended a streak of 12 consecutive weeks of buying bitcoin. "MicroStrategy bought more than $20 billion in Bitcoin during the period, increasing its overall holdings to around $44.7 billion, or more than 2% of all the tokens that will ever be minted," Bloomberg reported about the just-ended buying streak.
Here are the headlines from in front of FOW's paywall from some recent stories: Europex reshuffles regulatory experts after EEX's Stiers departure, CME launches cross-currency basis futures contract - FOW Data, LSEG taps Google MD who worked at Goldman to run Japan, ANALYSIS: Euronext deal with Nasdaq offers 'credible' Nordic power competition and ANALYSIS: Europe sticks to guns by extending UK clearing recognition.
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:
Over $10B in Bitcoin and Ethereum Options Expired Today: What to Expect from The Crypto Basic.
Options Market Recovers After Monday's Decline: Bybit & Block Scholes Analysis from FinanceFeeds.
Wall Street Fear Gauge Falls to End Wild Week from Barron's. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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| Sponsored Content |
Japan's Single Stock Options Markets Primed for Revitalization after Regulatory Improvements
The recent upturn in Japanese stock markets has drawn attention from domestic and overseas investors. Originally listed in 1997, Japan's Single Stock Options (JSSO) market is set for a dynamic revitalization, JSSOs are attracting both domestic and international investors. Together with Nikkei 225 and TOPIX derivatives, JSSOs are poised to be an important part of the Japanese equity derivatives markets.
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Cboe's David Brent Discusses Transparency, Global Access, and Future Trends at FIA Expo
JohnLothianNews.com
David Brent, global head of data & analytics sales at Cboe Global Markets, emphasized the critical role of transparency and data accessibility in modern trading during an interview with John Lothian News at the FIA Expo. Brent highlighted how electronic trading has revolutionized market operations by improving efficiency and providing traders with a competitive edge.
Watch the video »
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MarketsWiki Reveals Most-Viewed Pages for January 2025: Salim Ramji, Art Cashin, and ION Group Lead the List
JohnLothianNews.com
ETF markets, trading technology, and regulatory changes dominate interest, with the Corporate Transparency Act and GameStop short squeeze drawing continued attention.
MarketsWiki, the online knowledge base from John Lothian News, has released its list of most-viewed pages for January 2025, offering insights into the topics and figures capturing the attention of investors and financial professionals worldwide who actively use the site.
Read more »
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Micro Ag Futures at CME Group Could be Huge
JohnLothianNews.com
The CME Group's experience has taught it that small can be huge, so the exchange operator is expanding its micro offerings in the CBOT agriculture complex in order to grow.
The CME Group is set to launch a new line of micro agricultural futures contracts on February 24, 2025, offering traders smaller-sized options for corn, wheat, soybeans, soybean meal, and soybean oil, pending regulatory review. The CME already offers mini futures on its grain and oilseed contracts.
Read more »
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Robinhood Launches Super Bowl Event Contracts for Retail Traders
Paige Smith - Bloomberg
Robinhood Markets Inc. is getting in on the sports event contracts craze, offering retail investors the opportunity to place trades on the outcome of Sunday's Super Bowl. The contracts will be available starting Monday to eligible customers in all 50 states through the derivatives exchange Kalshi Inc., according to a Robinhood statement. "With an emerging asset class like event contracts, we recognize an opportunity to better serve our customers as their interests converge across the markets, news, sports and entertainment," the company said in the statement.
/jlne.ws/3PYcqbc
***** This is not exactly an example of stealing from the rich to give to the poor.~JJL
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Tesla Sales Plunge 63% in EU's Second-Biggest EV Market; Company registered only 1,141 new cars in France in January; Automaker underperformed overall industry and EV segment
Craig Trudell - Bloomberg
Tesla Inc. registrations plummeted 63% last month in France, the European Union's second-biggest market for battery-electric vehicles. The manufacturer registered only 1,141 cars in January, the fewest since August 2022, according to French industry association La Plateforme Automobile. Tesla underperformed the overall industry and total EV sales, which dipped 6.2% and 0.5%, respectively. Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has inserted himself in European politics to an unprecedented degree in recent months, throwing his support behind the far-right Alternative for Germany party and taking on UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Labour government. It's unclear to what degree that's starting to take a toll on demand for Tesla cars in the region.
/jlne.ws/3CAMkb1
***** Those kinds of numbers will drain the energy right out of your batteries.~JJL
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Follow the Money; The financial markets are the only thing that can stop Trump's reign of chaos.
Jonathan V. Last - The Bulwark
1. Stop Loss: When the New York Stock Exchange opens on Monday at 9:30 a.m. we will see just how seriously the world takes the assault Elon Musk and Donald Trump launched on the American system of government. What follows is a guide for interpreting the drop. First, some ground rules. The securities markets have a system of circuit breakers to halt massive declines. There are three circuit breakers that are measured by calculating a percentage decline in the S&P 500 from the close of the previous day: Level 1 (7 percent), Level 2 (13 percent), and Level 3 (20 percent). If Levels 1 or 2 are tripped before 3:25 p.m., all trading is halted for 15 minutes. If Level 3 is tripped at any point in the day, trading is halted for the remainder of the day.
/jlne.ws/40YPZsJ
****** Follow the money flowing out of my securities accounts.~JJL
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Friday's Top Three
Our most clicked item on Friday was the notice of the status hearing that day on the CME's motion for summary judgment in the CME Group members' class action lawsuit, which was available via Zoom. Second was the Financial Times' Is Wall Street ready to stay up all night?, subtitled "The New York Stock Exchange is looking to trade for 22 hours a day - raising thorny questions about how equity markets function." And third was the November 2024 order from Judge Kathy Flanagan stating that If the summary judgment was not granted, a trial would start on July 7, 2025 with no more extensions.
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| Lead Stories | Donald Trump faces backlash from business as tariffs ignite inflation fears; Experts warn aggressive trade measures against US allies will hurt consumers and disrupt supply chains
Aime Williams and Joshua Franklin - Financial Times
Donald Trump faced a backlash from business groups and some in his own Republican party after kicking off a trade war by imposing steep tariffs on three of the US's largest trading partners. Trade associations representing consumer goods, oil, groceries and automakers lined up to warn that Trump's new tariffs - which included 10 per cent tariffs on imports from China, 25 per cent on all imports from Mexico and Canada, with a lower 10 per cent levy for Canadian energy - would push up prices for ordinary Americans and cause chaos in supply chains.
/jlne.ws/40Zaeq6
Want to Bet on the L.A. Wildfires? Prediction Markets Are Getting Edgy; Venues such as Polymarket and Kalshi are listing a stream of buzzy, ripped-from-the-headlines betting contracts to drum up business
Alexander Osipovich - The Wall Street Journal
Prediction markets, fresh off their success in calling the 2024 presidential election, are offering a wild array of betting contracts and testing the limits of what they can get away with. Polymarket, the unregulated offshore prediction market, has listed contracts related to the Los Angeles wildfires and Israel's war with Hamas. Kalshi, a rival platform subject to U.S. regulation, enabled bets on whether Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the fatal shooting of a UnitedHealth Group executive, would plead guilty, before backtracking. In January, Kalshi listed contracts tied to the Super Bowl, blurring the boundary between financial markets and sports gambling. Such trading venues are chasing growth when betting on sports, cryptocurrencies and meme stocks has gone increasingly mainstream. They are also expanding into new territory as President Trump ushers in an era of light-touch financial regulation, which will potentially ease constraints on what U.S. prediction markets can list. The president's oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., joined Kalshi in January as a strategic adviser.
/jlne.ws/4hpOMR6
Cboe Stock Exchange to Extend Trading to 24 Hours, 5 Days a Week; Chicago-based venue aims to offer investors nonstop trading; Firm joins Robinhood, Interactive Brokers in extending hours
Katherine Doherty - Bloomberg
Cboe Global Markets Inc. is extending trading on its equities exchange to 24 hours on weekdays, the latest venue to take advantage of the growing global demand for US stocks. The exchange operator will offer trading on its Cboe EDGX Equities Exchange - its main equities venue - through the US daytime and overnight, according to company executives. The plan, which is subject to regulatory approval, calls for trading Sunday night through Friday night, with breaks only on the weekends.
/jlne.ws/42DVQEP
**** Here is the link for the Cboe press release related to this news.~JJL
Texas Stock Exchange Raises $161 Million, Sees 2026 Trading Start
Joe Lovinger - Bloomberg
TXSE Group Inc., parent company of the proposed Texas Stock Exchange, closed its initial fundraising round at $161 million and said the TXSE has filed for registration as a bourse with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. If the registration is granted, trading would start in early 2026, the company said in a statement Friday. It had previously said trading would begin by the end of this year. The exchange - whose backers include BlackRock Inc. and Citadel Securities - is still targeting its first listings for next year.
/jlne.ws/4hj43mE
JPMorgan Plans $4 Billion US Gold Delivery Amid Tariff Fears
Jack Ryan and Jack Farchy - Bloomberg
JPMorgan Chase & Co. will deliver gold bullion valued at more than $4 billion against futures contracts in New York in February, at a time when surging prices and the threat of import tariffs are fueling a worldwide dash to ship metal to the US. The bank, which is by far the world's biggest bullion dealer, was one of several institutions to declare plans on Thursday to deliver bullion against contracts traded on CME Group's Comex that will expire in February. The delivery notices - which total 3 million troy ounces of gold - were the second largest ever in bourse data going back to 1994. Traders on Friday declared their intent to deliver another 1.1 million troy ounces on Tuesday, according to the latest notice from CME Group.
/jlne.ws/3WFHeRN
DeepSeek's Answers Include Chinese Propaganda, Researchers Say; Since the Chinese company's chatbot surged in popularity, researchers have documented how its answers reflect China's view of the world. Some of its responses amplify propaganda Beijing uses to discredit critics.
Steven Lee Myers - The New York Times
If you're among the millions of people who have downloaded DeepSeek, the free new chatbot from China powered by artificial intelligence, know this: The answers it gives you will largely reflect the worldview of the Chinese Communist Party. Since the tool made its debut this month, rattling stock markets and more established tech giants like Nvidia, researchers testing its capabilities have found that the answers it gives not only spread Chinese propaganda but also parrot disinformation campaigns that China has used to undercut its critics around the world.
/jlne.ws/4gpuHJb
DeepSeek gives Europe's tech firms a chance to catch up in global AI race
Supantha Mukherjee - Reuters
Hemanth Mandapati, boss of German startup Novo AI, was an early adopter of DeepSeek chatbots when he switched to the Chinese AI model from OpenAI's ChatGPT two weeks ago. "If you have built your application using OpenAI, you can easily migrate to the other ones ... it took us minutes to switch," he said in an interview on the sidelines of the GoWest conference for venture capitalists in Gothenburg, Sweden. DeepSeek's emergence is changing the landscape for AI, offering companies access to the technology at a fraction of the cost, according to interviews with more than a dozen startup executives and investors. It also has the potential to push other AI companies to improve their models and bring down prices.
/jlne.ws/4gvtzDH
Vanguard Delivers Its Biggest Fee Cut Ever. CEO Salim Ramji Explains Why; Asset manager says move at 87 funds will save investors $350 million
Jack Pitcher - The Wall Street Journal
Salim Ramji is betting the path to Vanguard Group customers' hearts is still through their wallets. In the first major initiative in Ramji's six-month run as chief executive, Vanguard on Monday slashed the fees on nearly half of its U.S. funds. By reducing the expense ratios by an average of 20% across 87 funds, it said it would save customers $350 million this year.
/jlne.ws/4hFXtq6
Climate Change to Wipe Away $1.5 Trillion in U.S. Home Values, Study Says; Rising home-insurance costs and more homeowners spurning some risky neighborhoods will drive these declines, according to First Street
Nicole Friedman and Deborah Acosta - The Wall Street Journal
Climate change will cause a $1.47 trillion decline in U.S. home values by 2055, according to a new study from climate-research company First Street. Rising home-insurance costs and more homeowners spurning some risky neighborhoods will drive these declines, First Street said.
/jlne.ws/4aLKH6V
That Giant Sucking Sound? It's Climate Change Devouring Your Home's Value.
Abrahm Lustgarten - The New York Times
Houses in the Altadena and Pacific Palisades neighborhoods were still ablaze when talk turned to the cost of the Los Angeles firestorms and who would pay for it. Now it appears that the total damage and economic loss could be more than $250 billion. This, after a year in which Hurricanes Milton and Helene and other extreme weather events had already exacted tens of billions of dollars in American disaster losses. As the compounding impacts of climate-driven disasters take effect, we are seeing home insurance prices spike around the country, pushing up the costs of owning a home. In some cases, insurance companies are pulling out of towns altogether. And in others, people are beginning to move away.
/jlne.ws/4hEXvhV
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Russia Bombards Ukraine With Missiles; School Hit in Kursk; Assaults follow recent UAV strikes on Russian refineries; Each side trades blame after bomb hits former boarding school
Bloomberg News
At least six people were killed and several injured in Ukraine on Saturday following a heavy Russian bombardment using missiles, drones and aerial bombs, Ukrainian authorities said. Later, Russia and Ukraine traded accusations after a former boarding school in Sudzha, a Ukrainian-controlled part of Kursk in Russia, was struck, killing four people. Ukraine's Air Force Command said in a Facebook post that Kremlin forces used a "controlled air bomb" to hit the site, where elderly civilians had been sheltering. Russia's defense ministry accused Ukraine of carrying out a targeted missile strike. Neither account can be verified.
/jlne.ws/3Enq316
Ukrainian Drone Surge Highlights Russian Oil Refining Risk; Analysts say say Russia can cope with fuel-supply situation; Crude processing disrupted at Ryazan, 120 miles from Moscow
Bloomberg News
Russia's ability to keep making fuel at the normal pace is looking increasingly precarious following a surge in Ukrainian drone attacks on the nation's oil refineries, including a fresh incident on Friday. For now, analysts who follow the nation's oil industry say that the attacks are manageable for Russia and not enough to cause serious concerns about fuel production, given that the proportion of the country's refining offline from the incidents is small. However, Ukraine appears set on ramping up attacks at its foe's energy infrastructure, raising the likelihood of further attempts.
/jlne.ws/40G6zMz
Moscow Has $2 Billion Stuck at JPMorgan. The U.S. Isn't Sure What to Do With It; The money was frozen after payments alarmed Justice Department investigators who found Russia, Turkey used nuclear plant to sidestep U.S. sanctions
Joe WallaceCostas Paris and Jared Malsin - The Wall Street Journal
A few months after invading Ukraine, Russia sent a series of huge payments to Turkey. In short order, it transferred more than $5 billion with the promise of more to come. To the outside world, the money was to pay for Turkey's first nuclear-power plant. Decades in the making and championed by Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, it was being built and financed by Russia's state atomic conglomerate.
/jlne.ws/3X836Wj
Is Russia's war machine finally facing bankruptcy?
Szu Ping Chan - The Telegraph
Vladimir Putin is nervous. Almost three years into his war in Ukraine, the Russian president is increasingly concerned about the state of the economy. The cost of borrowing has surged to painful levels, as interest rates of 21pc pile pressure on companies. The strain is such that Putin has reportedly been scolding officials over a drought in private investment. Unsurprisingly, Russia's oligarchs are squirming. Igor Sechin, the boss of Rosneft, and Oleg Deripaska, the billionaire aluminium magnate, are among those who have publicly criticised high interest rates.
/jlne.ws/3WMrcWl
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| Middle East Conflict | | News about the current conflict in the Middle East that began with the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. | US Citizen Is Freed in Latest Gaza Hostage-Prisoner Swap; Rafah crossing into Egypt to reopen for first time since May; Israel expected to release 183 Palestinians on Saturday
Galit Altstein and Fares Alghoul - Bloomberg
A fourth swap of hostages for prisoners moved ahead early Saturday as Israel and Hamas uphold agreements in the first stage of the Gaza ceasefire - including the reopening of the Rafah crossing into Egypt. Three hostages - Ofer Kalderon, Yarden Bibas and Keith Siegel - were handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza and have crossed the border into Israel. Separately, at least some of the Palestinian prisoners slated for release on Saturday arrived at the West Bank from Israel's Ofer Prison.
/jlne.ws/3WLfw61
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Cboe Europe promotes internally for new head of European cash equities; Further appointments include a new head of sales for European cash equities and a continental EU sales head.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
Cboe Europe has appointed Alex Dalley head of European cash equities, responsible for product, sales and execution consulting. Dalley has been promoted to the role, having previously served as head of Cboe NL as well as co-head of Cboe Europe's equities sales division. He was one of the first employees to join Cboe Europe (then Bats Europe) in 2008, where he held responsibility for building the MTF's trading participant community as head of sales.
/jlne.ws/4jWu8tx
Cboe Announces Plans to Launch 24x5 U.S. Equities Trading
Cboe
Cboe Global Markets (Cboe), the world's leading derivatives and securities exchange network, today announced plans to offer 24-hour, five-days-a-week (24x5) trading for U.S. equities on its Cboe EDGX Equities Exchange (EDGX), subject to regulatory review and industry developments. The proposed expansion aims to meet growing global customer demand for expanded access to U.S. equities markets.
/jlne.ws/3EnGXMY
Cash market trading volumes in January 2025
Deutsche Borse Cash Market
Deutsche Borse's cash markets generated a turnover of EUR129.01 billion in January (previous year: 105.01 billion / previous month: EUR104.86 billion). EUR124.97 billion were attributable to Xetra (previous year: EUR101.35 billion / previous month: EUR101.33 billion), bringing the average daily Xetra trading volume to EUR5.68 billion (previous year: EUR4.61 billion / previous month: EUR5.63 billion). Trading volumes on Borse Frankfurt were EUR4.04 billion (previous year: EUR3.66 billion / previous month: EUR3.53 billion).
/jlne.ws/3Ennnk5
ICE Mortgage Monitor: 2024 Saw Softest Home Price Growth of Any Year Since 2011; Mortgage Delinquencies Gradually Trending Higher
ICE
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading global provider of technology and data, today released its February 2025 ICE Mortgage Monitor Report, based on the company's robust mortgage, real estate and public records data sets. Home prices ended the year on an up note but 2024 was the softest year for home price growth in more than a decade. This month's Mortgage Monitor analyzes the latest trends shaping the housing market heading into 2025, including a deep dive into the local and broader impacts of the California wildfires, which hit while homeowners in southern states are still recovering from the most recent hurricane season.
/jlne.ws/4jB0KJ3
ICE Swap Trade Offers Single-name Credit Default Swap (CDS) Trading following SEC Approval for SBSEF Registration
ICE
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading global provider of technology and data, today announced that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved ICE Swap Trade's application for registration as a security-based swap execution facility (SBSEF) pursuant to the requirements of Regulation SE. With this approval, ICE Swap Trade can now offer single-name credit default swaps (CDS) trading for its dealer and institutional customers on its SBSEF, adding to ICE's suite of execution solutions within fixed income.
/jlne.ws/3Q0N9wY
Japan Exchange Group Trading Overview In January 2025
JPX via Mondovisione
Japan Exchange Group released Trading Overview in January 2025. Cash Equity Market - In January 2025, the daily average trading value for the Prime Market (domestic common stocks) was JPY 4.9184 trillion. - The daily average trading value for the ETF market was JPY 307.5 billion.
/jlne.ws/42KG7El
JPXI And Snowflake Enter Partnership To Expand Japan Market Data Access
Mondovisione
JPX Market Innovation & Research, Inc. ("JPXI"), a leading global provider of Japan's financial market data, and Snowflake, the AI Data Cloud company, today announced a priority partnership between the companies to jointly disseminate data over Snowflake's market-leading platform. Data provision via Snowflake will enable market participants to enjoy improved access to JPXI's rich and varied data offerings and empower cost-effective development of data analysis environments.
/jlne.ws/4gs95M6
Ryu Hirayama joins LSEG as Country Representative, Japan
LSEG
LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) today announces that Ryu Hirayama has joined LSEG as its new Country Representative, Japan*. Ryu will assume the role on 1 April 2025, replacing Hideo Tomita who has decided to retire and will step down at the end of March. Hideo will retain an advisory role as Vice Chair, Japan. In his role, Ryu will drive the strategy, investment, operations and business performance in Japan across LSEG's divisions. Japan is the Group's third-largest market by revenue servicing more than 1,000 customers.
/jlne.ws/42F3b7f
B1G Numbers January 2025: Key Figures from SIX Swiss Exchange; Watch the new "B1G Numbers" video and get first-hand information about the trading and listing activity in the past month on the Swiss stock exchange.
SIX
The Swiss blue-chip index SMI started the year with a strong rise of 8.6%. At the end of January, it stood at 12,597.1 points. Trading activity on SIX Swiss Exchange also showed significant growth. Turnover in the equities segment amounted to around CHF 72 bn - 22.2% more than in the previous month and 18.2% more than in January 2024. In total, CHF 95.9 bn were traded in January, 23.3% more than at the start of 2024. The number of transactions reached close to 4.4 million, also well above the previous year's level with an increase of 6.7%.
Products with crypto-underlyings also recorded strong demand and seamlessly followed on from the previous positive months. In January, turnover reached close to CHF 500 mn with around 25,000 trades.
/jlne.ws/4jGBjpq
SIX Exchanges Figures: January 2025
BME-X
SIX publishes the monthly key figures for SIX Swiss Exchange and BME Exchange about the trading and listing activity in Switzerland and Spain
/jlne.ws/4jGpEqu
CHESS Batch Settlement Incident - ASIC Investigation
ASIC
ASIC has notified ASX that it has commenced an investigation into the CHESS Batch Settlement incident that occurred. on 20 December 2024. ASIC's investigation is into ASX Settlement Pty Limited's compliance with section 821A(1) of the Corporations Act 2001.
/jlne.ws/42MhyXg
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Meta's investment in virtual reality on track to top $100bn; Tech group reveals it put $19.9bn into its Reality Labs division, which develops its smart glasses and headsets, last year
Tim Bradshaw in London and Hannah Murphy in San Francisco - Financial Times
Meta's total investment in virtual and augmented reality is set to top $100bn this year, as its chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has declared 2025 will be a "defining year" for its smart glasses. In its latest annual report, Meta revealed it invested $19.9bn in its Reality Labs division last year, a new high after more than a decade of heavy losses. The unit develops its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, which Zuckerberg last week called a "real hit", as well as its Quest VR headsets, which have been slower to take off. The company sold 1mn sets of its Ray-Ban glasses in 2024, according to a person familiar with the matter.
/jlne.ws/42Esnus
Investec unveils new electronic trading platform; The platform - ZebrA-X - is designed to facilitate the efficient execution of block trades, The TRADE understands.
Claudia Preece - The Trade
Investec Bank is set to launch a new electronic trading platform aimed at facilitating low-touch equity trading, The TRADE can reveal. Named ZebrA-X, the platform will help mid-market clients "execute at scale with limited signalling". "Over the past 18 months, we have observed significant changes in the medium-scale electronic agency landscape, particularly due to recent mergers and acquisitions within the industry," Dominic Lowres, head of electronic trading and execution strategy, tells The TRADE.
/jlne.ws/4jK7Pqu
How DeepSeek and Open Source Models Are Shaking Up AI
Rachel Metz and Seth Fiegerman - Bloomberg
Tech companies and academics have long wrestled with the risks and rewards of building open source software. But the frenzy around generative artificial intelligence has lent new significance to the debate. The rise of the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has only added attention to the issue. DeepSeek recently released an open source model that it said rivaled software from the top American AI developers - and it claimed to have done so for a fraction of the development cost, using less powerful hardware.
/jlne.ws/4hBA8FQ
AI Is Wall Street's Modern Gold Rush. Here's How Investors Are Placing Their Bets; The financing bonanza echoes previous booms around fiber-optic cable and fracking
Matt Wirz and Vicky Ge Huang - The Wall Street Journal
Artificial-intelligence evangelists such as Sam Altman want to reshape the world, but they need mountains of money to do it. That is sparking a modern-day gold rush on Wall Street. Tech and power companies are raising cash every which way: issuing shares, loans and bonds on publicly traded markets and in private deals. Large firms, or hyperscalers, such as Amazon.com and Microsoft could easily spend about $3 trillion by 2030 to build and operate data centers for their businesses, according to BlackRock Investment Institute.
/jlne.ws/4aQ3G0j
Data Center Euphoria Starts to Ebb After DeepSeek; Some landlords and credit providers are starting to fret; Wider credit markets are comparatively sanguine so far
Kat Hidalgo, Jack Sidders, and Mark Bergen - Bloomb erg
The market turmoil sparked by DeepSeek's chatbot this past week has left some rethinking the credit frenzy around artificial intelligence. Corporate giants told money managers this week that the Chinese startup's cheaper models will only spur more demand for the technology and the sprawling infrastructure it requires. While big investors such as Blackstone Inc. President Jon Gray say that "digital infrastructure remains essential," behind the scenes landlords and credit providers say the situation is more nuanced, and some are starting to fret.
/jlne.ws/3WL0kWG
Payments Fintech GoCardless Shrinks Losses After Cutting Jobs; GoCardless said it lost £35 million in year through June; British firm is looking for acquisitions after buying Nuapay
Aisha S Gani - Bloomberg
GoCardless Ltd. shrank its losses after cutting about a fifth of its staff and moving others to Eastern Europe, which the payments firm hopes will stabilize its finances. The London-headquartered fintech posted a pretax loss of £35 million ($43.8 million) for the 12 months through June 2024, compared to a £78 million loss a year earlier. Revenue grew 41% year-on-year to £132 million.
/jlne.ws/3WGdvbu
Broadridge Appoints Stephen Wilkes As Senior Vice President, Head Of International Buy-Side Sales - Strategic Hire Underscores Broadridge's Commitment To Growth And Innovation In International Asset Management
Mondovisione
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Crypto Bears Brunt of Risk-Off Moves After Trump Unveils Tariffs; Dogecoin tumbles as investors retreat from cryptocurrencies; Moves signal risk-off tone when financial markets open Monday
Richard Henderson - Bloomberg
A slump in cryptocurrencies weighed heavily on some of the more speculative digital assets late Sunday in the US, a sign investors will slash risk when markets open Monday following new tariffs imposed by Donald Trump. Bitcoin fell as much as 4.3% in Sunday trading and Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, dropped as much as 8%, while selling in so-called alternative coins was more acute.
/jlne.ws/42yN9vH
Parents Ditch 529 Plans and Embrace Bitcoin for College Savings; Despite the risks and volatility, some families are investing in cryptocurrency to build wealth for their children.
Charlie Wells and Claire Ballentine - Bloomberg
Bitcoin FOMO has come for family finances. Most parents typically worry about funding 529 college savings plans, brokerage accounts or high-yield savings vehicles for their kids. Now, a subset are eschewing the old ways, pushing instead to pile up enough Bitcoin to help their children in the years ahead. Some say it's because stock gains aren't good enough. Others view it as reasonable diversification. Plenty are true believers - convinced that, despite a more than 500% gain since the depths of the last "crypto winter," Bitcoin's climb has only just begun. The world's biggest cryptocurrency surpassed the $100,000 mark for the first time in December, having changed hands for less than $16,000 in November 2022.
/jlne.ws/4hkFOUS
Trump Memecoin Shows Limits of Crypto's Democratization Pitch
Leonardo Nicoletti and Muyao Shen - Bloomberg
At 9 p.m. on Jan. 17, then President-elect Donald Trump announced to his more than 8 million followers on TruthSocial that he was releasing his own crypto memecoin. The token, called Trump, featured an image of him captured shortly after a failed assassination attempt last year: In it, he's raising his right fist and looking defiant. Trump's message on TruthSocial, coming just days before his second inauguration, was simple: "It's time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING!"
/jlne.ws/4aLDgN3
MicroStrategy Ends Bitcoin Purchase Streak After a Dozen Weeks
Monique Mulima - Bloomberg
MicroStrategy Inc. said it didn't buy any Bitcoin in the prior week, halting a string of 12 consecutive weekly purchases that began in late October. The purchases had coincided with a record-breaking rally in the digital currency that had been driven in part by Donald Trump's embrace of digital assets and the subsequent industry-friendly agenda in the first weeks of his second presidential administration. MicroStrategy bought more than $20 billion in Bitcoin during the period, increasing its overall holdings to around $44.7 billion, or more than 2% of all the tokens that will ever be minted.
/jlne.ws/3CBjjfk
Leveraged Ether Traders Caught Off Guard in Trump Tariff Selloff; Ether fell as much as 27% on Monday as crypto markets slumped; Investors were forced to unwind bullish bets on the token
Sidhartha Shukla - Bloomberg
The unraveling of leveraged bets on Ether placed the token among the hardest-hit cryptocurrencies in a selloff on Monday, as investor sentiment soured after US President Donald Trump's tariff announcements. Ether, the second-largest digital asset by market value, tumbled as much as 27% to $2,135 on Monday, marking its steepest intraday drop since May 2021. By contrast, Bitcoin managed to limit losses to about 6%, while smaller rival Solana declined by 13%.
/jlne.ws/40GrUWk
Ether Falls as Much as 26.5% in Asia Trading After Trump Tariffs; The second-ranked token fell steeply on Monday morning in Asia; Smaller tokens and Bitcoin also plunged as investors cut risk
Ryan Weeks - Bloomberg
Ether suffered its steepest loss in nearly four years on Monday as investors slashed risk after tariffs announced over the weekend by Donald Trump. The second-largest digital asset sank as much as 26.53% to $2,135 on Monday morning in Asia, its largest intra-day decline in percentage terms since May 19, 2021, before paring losses, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The tariffs also weighed on other cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin at one point down nearly 6%.
/jlne.ws/4jHQCOr
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Musk Says DOGE Halting Treasury Payments to US Contractors; Musk Calls USAID 'a criminal organization' that should 'die'; Billionaire expanding his reach across government spending
Gregory Korte and Viktoria Dendrinou - Bloomberg
Elon Musk said his "DOGE team" of government efficiency enforcers is shutting down payments to federal contractors, suggesting that the world's richest man may have access to sensitive systems used at the US Treasury Department. "The corruption and waste is being rooted out in real-time," Musk posted on X, saying officials reporting to his so-called Department of Government Efficiency are "rapidly shutting down" payments to a Lutheran charity.
/jlne.ws/4aFA1a9
Elon Musk vows to cancel grants after gaining access to US Treasury payment system; System disburses trillions of dollars in US government spending each year, including social security
Joe Miller - Financial Times
Elon Musk has vowed to unilaterally cancel hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of government grants after apparently gaining access to review the US Treasury's vast payments system, a move that prompted the sudden resignation of one of the department's most senior officials. The world's richest man, who bankrolled Donald Trump's re-election campaign and was tasked by the president with running the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency, boasted on his social media site X that he was "rapidly shutting down ... illegal payments" after a list of grants to Lutheran organisations was posted online.
/jlne.ws/42GpmtW
The Sharpie Is Mightier Than the Sword - or at Least the Constitution; President Trump's most powerful weapon? The permanent ink he's used to sign more than 40 executive orders.
Tobin Harshaw - Bloomberg
This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a blunderbuss of an order of Bloomberg Opinion's opinions. On Sundays, we look at the major themes of the week past and how they will define the week ahead. Sign up for the daily newsletter here. Man oh man, has anybody ever gotten as great a run of product placement as the folks who make Sharpies have over the last 12 days? With President Donald Trump shedding executive orders like a loon molting in springtime, his SPIKY STABBY SCRAGGLY SHARPIE SIGNATURE was ubiquitous. All you can do is admire his allegiance.
/jlne.ws/3Q4brGt
USAID Website Goes Dark as Musk Calls Aid Agency 'Criminal'; Trump issued executive order to reevaluate all foreign aid; Officials placed on leave after denying access to Musk's DOGE
Alberto Nardelli - Bloomberg
The US Agency for International Development's website was off-line over the weekend as the Trump administration continues to review its future and the path forward for US foreign aid in general. A network error or blank page was encountered when attempting to access the site, usaid.gov, across various countries and devices. Top security officials at USAID were placed on leave on Saturday after refusing to allow staff from billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to access systems at the agency, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
/jlne.ws/3ClL2Rm
Elon Musk Inside the Treasury Department Payment System; What will he do now that he has access to trillions of dollars worth of federal money? A special episode of Elon, Inc. to discuss this news.
Reyhan Harmanci - Bloomberg
In a week of unprecedented action (and chaos) from both Elon Musk and the Trump administration, breaking news this weekend brought the Elon, Inc. team together for an emergency episode. The New York Times broke the news, and the Washington Post followed, that Musk's Department of Government Efficiency was given access to the Treasury Department's payment system. This system, which handles a big chunk of the government's money transfers, including Social Security, is normally administered by a small number of non-political appointees, and it was reported that Musk's desire to get in the gears drove a career Treasury official out of the department late this week.
/jlne.ws/4gp3g2d
Self-styled 'Tariff Man' shocks Wall Street with tariffs; The end to self-delusion?
Robin Wigglesworth - Financial Times
It's been fairly frequently remarked that markets seemed to believe that Donald Trump would do all the stuff that markets liked, and none of the things that markets don't like. Well, we now know how that turned out. As a reflection of just how suddenly Wall Street analysts have had to scramble to adjust to reality, Standard Chartered's (presumably pre-written) Sunday Macro Strategy note said that "broader tariff concerns have come off the boil slightly as Trump appears heavily focused on domestic issues in his first few weeks". Whoops.
/jlne.ws/3Q1GdzO
Canadian Oil Dodges 'Cataclysm' With Lower Tariffs, Gulf Outlet; Trump's 10% levy is less than half the 25% industry feared; Analysts see possibility of tariff-free exports off Gulf
Robert Tuttle - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4go37fi
US Aluminum Industry Urges Trump to Exempt Canada From Tariffs
Simon Casey - Bloomberg
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'Enough is enough': Trump tariffs inspire economic patriotism in Canada; US president's aggressive actions have kick-started a 'Buy Canadian' campaign across the border
Ilya Gridneff in Toronto - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/4b0CJr3
Ontario Cancels Starlink Deal, Bars US Firms From Government Contracts
Melissa Shin - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3WMvhK9
City of London Hit Harder Than Rest of Economy Since Brexit Vote; Financial services growth has been lower than wider economy; The sector has historically been a strong point for the UK
Tom Rees - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/412rauT
China builds huge new wartime military command centre in Beijing; Complex will be bigger than Pentagon and include bombproof bunkers for leaders, say US intelligence officials
Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington, Joe Leahy and Ryan McMorrow in Beijing, Kathrin Hille and Chris Cook in London - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/4ggpm6N
Taiwan Bars All Public Agencies From Using DeepSeek AI Services
Bloomberg News
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | SEC Staff Told to Seek Approval to Start Probes, Reuters Reports
Valentine Baldassari - Bloomberg
US Securities Exchange Commission staff have been told to seek permission from leadership before formally starting probes, Reuters reported, citing people briefed on the matter who weren't identified. The change, which marked a move away from recent norms, was made since since President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20, the people told Reuters. The news service didn't determine who ordered the change or whether the Commission had formally voted on it.
/jlne.ws/40FL8LK
****Here is the Reuters story.
Jail Sentence For Trafigura Powerbroker Shows Bribery Crackdown; Mike Wainwright this week made history as the first senior executive at a major commodity trading house to be convicted of corruption.
Jack Farchy, Archie Hunter, and Hugo Miller - Bloomberg
When a 22-year-old Mike Wainwright joined Trafigura as an accounts assistant in 1996, the quietly spoken Englishman could hardly have imagined that three decades later he'd be making history. By the time he left the company last year, Wainwright was one of the most powerful people in the secretive business of buying, selling and shipping commodities around the world. Now, he's just became the first senior executive at a major commodity trading house to be convicted of corruption.
/jlne.ws/3Q1RIXW
EU Prosecutors Target German Company in Indian Steel Fraud Case; Company suspected of falsely dubbing Indian steel as British; German, UK investigators raided company offices in December
Karin Matussek - Bloomberg
European prosecutors have raided the offices of a German company suspected of running a fraud scheme involving Indian steel imports. The European Public Prosecutor's Office in Frankfurt is investigating the mechanical-engineering company based in the Rhine-Neckar region, the agency said in a statement on Monday, declining to give any company names. As part of the case, Stuttgart tax investigators raided the German company in December. British investigators also raided the location of the seller of the steel in the UK, according to the EPPO.
/jlne.ws/4jHylAY
NBA Star Terry Rozier Under Investigation in Illegal Betting Probe; The gambling ring accused of conspiring with Jontay Porter to manipulate his performance in NBA games also bet heavily against Rozier in a 2023 game for the Hornets
Jared Diamond, Louise Radnofsky and Robert O'Connell - The Wall Street Journal
Federal prosecutors have been investigating whether veteran NBA player Terry Rozier manipulated his performance as part of an illegal sports betting scheme. The inquiry into Rozier is part of a wider government probe into a sprawling ring of gamblers and poker players who have allegedly rigged games across the sports landscape, people familiar with the matter said. The same investigation has already led to a criminal charge and a lifetime ban from the NBA for former Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter.
/jlne.ws/40O1mm6
CFTC Staff Issues Supplemental Letter Regarding No-Action Position on Reporting, Recordkeeping Requirements
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Division of Market Oversight and the Division of Clearing and Risk today announced they have taken a no-action position regarding swap data reporting and recordkeeping regulations. This position is in response to a request from KalshiEX LLC, a designated contract market, and Kalshi Klear LLC, a derivatives clearing organization, to modify CFTC Letter No. 24-15 to remove the condition prohibiting third-party clearing by participants and to cover fully-collateralized variable payout contracts.
/jlne.ws/4hIqAsE
SEC Charges Seven Individuals and Five Entities in the New York Metropolitan Area for Perpetrating a $70 Million Pre-IPO Fraud Scheme
On January 31, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged John S. Cangialosi, Jr., Peter N. Girgis, Gene "Jerry" Sarabella, Enrico A. "Ed" Carini, Caner "John" Otar, Chester E. "Chett" Scotland, and Franz H. Lambert II for their roles in a fraudulent scheme involving the purported sale of pre-IPO stock. The SEC also charged the following companies: Max Infinity Management LLC d/b/a Max Infinity Fund, Max Infinity Venture Partners, Inc., Elder Fund Management LLC, and JJRP United Corp, which were beneficially owned and controlled jointly by Cangialosi, Girgis, and Sarabella; and Grand Level Consulting Inc., which was owned by Lambert and controlled jointly by Cangialosi, Girgis, Sarabella, and Lambert.
/jlne.ws/4aKwCqz
Scam alert: ASIC warns consumers about investment bond scam impersonating Bunnings
ASIC
ASIC is warning consumers about scammers impersonating legitimate businesses and offering fake investments, such as the recent investment bond scam impersonating Bunnings. The scammers set up webpages that appear to be genuine by containing links back to the real businesses' websites including popular retail brands such as Bunnings and Australian financial service licensed entitles.
/jlne.ws/4hJ47fh
Anthony Paul Torre pleads guilty to fraud and stealing
ASIC
Former financial advisor, Anthony Paul Torre, has pleaded guilty to three counts of stealing and two counts of fraud resulting in the misappropriation of $1,030,000 of client funds. Mr Torre appeared before the District Court of Western Australia on 28 January 2025 in relation to the offences committed between March 2010 to January 2015.
/jlne.ws/42EuMW0
FCA confiscates over £500,000 from convicted insider dealer
FCA
The FCA has secured a confiscation order of £586,711.01 against Mohammed Zina, a convicted insider dealer. The order must be paid within 3 months, or Mr Zina will face a further 5 years in prison. The confiscation order amounts to all of Mr Zina's available assets. Therese Chambers, the FCA's joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight said: 'Insider dealing harms the integrity of our markets. As well as prosecuting insider dealers, we will not allow them to keep any part of their illicit profits. We have confiscated the entirety of Mr Zina's assets, demonstrating that crime does not pay.'
/jlne.ws/3X8HQ2H
Swiss Watchdog Steps Up Action Against Julius Baer on Benko
Bastian Benrath-Wright and Noele Illien - Bloomberg
Swiss financial regulator Finma said it had opened an enforcement procedure against Julius Baer Group Ltd., stepping up action against the bank over risk failures linked to the collapse of the Signa real estate empire. An enforcement procedure is a formal step that can lead to measures including a reprimand, confiscation of profits or a removal of banking licenses. Finma doesn't have the power to fine banks.
/jlne.ws/412E0uk
Samsung chair cleared of fraud and stock manipulation; Decision by appeals court allows Lee Jae-yong to focus on turning around troubled conglomerate
Song Jung-a in Seoul - Financial Times
Samsung chair Lee Jae-yong has secured a major legal victory with an appeals court clearing him of long-running accounting fraud and stock manipulation charges, allowing him to focus on turning around the group's struggling chip business.
/jlne.ws/3CoP7nR
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Exclusive: Trump's meme coin made nearly $100 million in trading fees, as small traders lost money
Tom Wilson and Michelle Conlin - Reuters
Entities behind President Donald Trump's crypto coin have accumulated close to $100 million in trading fees in less than two weeks, according to estimates from three blockchain analysis firms, a large windfall from a venture that has seen tens of thousands of small traders lose money. The meme coin, known as $Trump, was launched by the president on Jan. 17 and quickly surged, reaching a peak of over $14.5 billion in overall market value by Jan. 19, the day before his inauguration. It has since slumped by two-thirds.
/jlne.ws/4aQBURu
Bond Traders Warn of Inflation Shock as US Yield Curve Flattens; Short-end yields rise on inflation risk from US trade tariffs; Long-end rates fall on concern tariffs would hurt the economy
Ruth Carson, Masaki Kondo, and Alice Gledhill - Bloomberg
US bond markets are flashing a warning to US President Donald Trump that his move to unleash tariffs on top trading partners risks fueling inflation and stymieing growth. Short-end Treasury yields rose as much as eight basis points to 4.28% on Monday as longer-dated rates held steady, flattening the curve by the most since November. Such moves are typically associated with stagflation - when inflation and elevated interest rates harm bonds in the short term, only for subsequently weaker growth to make longer-term debt more appealing.
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Why AT1s should be phased out; As Credit Suisse collapse showed, these popular investments often do not work as intended and can magnify risks
Satyajit Das - Financial Times (opinion)
The writer is a former banker and author of "Traders, Guns & Money", "Extreme Money" and "Banquet of Consequences"
In the wake of the financial crisis, new capital instruments were introduced to buffer the shock when banks ran into trouble. The inelegantly named Additional Tier 1 notes have since mushroomed into a major global market of around $270bn in size. But now they should be phased out, just as Australian regulators have announced they plan to do. Despite their appeal to investors seeking higher yields than traditional bonds, the collapse of Credit Suisse bank has shown they do not work well in countering distress or rescuing a non-viable bank.
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Three Years After Ukraine Invasion, Europe Still Deals With Energy Crisis; To wean itself off Russian natural gas, Europe has found new sources of energy, including imports from the United States. But high costs are straining the economy.
Stanley Reed and Liz Alderman - The New York Times
At a newly built dock along Germany's Elbe River, tankers from the United States unload liquefied natural gas to fuel factories and homes. In central Spain, a forest of wind turbines planted atop mountains helps power the energy grid. In French government buildings, thermostats have been lowered in winter to save electricity.
/jlne.ws/40I3hbB
EU Barely Meets Gas Storage Target as Restocking Challenge Looms
Elena Mazneva and Francois de Beaupuy - Bloomberg
Europe barely met its February target for natural gas inventories, with some nations missing their thresholds as supply concerns linger. Among the biggest energy consumers in the region, France's gas storage was 35.5% full as of Feb. 1 compared with a goal of 41% set by the European Commission. The European Union's executive arm considers countries that miss targets by five percentage points or less to be in compliance.
/jlne.ws/3WMYsMX
Energy Giant Vitol Targets Copper Market With Hire From Glencore; Veteran Glencore trader Bruno Porto will join Vitol in March; Adds to iron ore and aluminum hires in Vitol's metals push
Archie Hunter, Anna Shiryaevskaya, and Jack Farchy - Bloomberg
Vitol Group has hired a former Glencore Plc trader to develop a copper business, as the energy trading powerhouse seeks to enter the highest-profile metals market. Bruno Porto, a veteran copper trader who has been at Glencore since 2006, will join Vitol to build out a copper trading team from London, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named as the matter isn't public. He's set to start in March, one of the people said.
/jlne.ws/4hEp1Ms
Ship New to Russia Oil Trade Docks at Port Shaken by Sanctions; Aframax tanker Ling Hong berthed at Kozmino on Saturday; US penalties on Moscow's energy sector disrupted crude flows
Weilun Soon - Bloomberg
A tanker new to the Russian oil trade docked at the Pacific port of Kozmino over the weekend, as merchants seek to rebuild disrupted supply chains following broad US sanctions last month. The Ling Hong, a 17-year-old Aframax that changed its name from Suvretta in January, berthed at the port on Saturday, ship-tracking data compiled by Kpler and Bloomberg show. The unsanctioned vessel loaded more than 670,000 barrels of ESPO crude and is expected to deliver its cargo to Dongying port in China's Shandong province on Feb. 7, according to Kpler.
/jlne.ws/42Bq4sl
Illegal Gold Mining Contaminated This Land. Trees and Plants Are Healing It; Mercury left behind by wildcat miners polluted areas of northern Colombia. Restoring them to health depends on a surprisingly low-tech solution.
Andrea Jaramillo
Norelis Arias walks on land in northern Colombia that's brimming with greenery, birds chirping in the trees. It's a far cry from the red, barren terrain it was less than four years ago, after miners illegally stripped the site to get to the gold nuggets lying just below the surface. The miners also used mercury to isolate the yellow metal, and the toxic pollution leached into the water of communities nearby and downriver. Locals could no longer fish for bocachicos and mojarras at the nearby marsh or drink its water for fear of the health repercussions, Arias recalls.
/jlne.ws/4jWmtLN
'King Coal' Is Critical Mineral for South Africa, Minister Says; Critical minerals are key in the transition away from coal; Mantashe weighs in on Trumps comments on land expropriation
Paul Burkhardt - Bloomberg
South Africa's Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe said coal is making a comeback and should be considered a critical mineral for the nation because of its contribution to employment and the economy. "King coal is back," Mantashe told the audience at a mining conference in Cape Town on Monday, adding that the death of the dirtiest fossil fuel was declared prematurely. He also criticized the parameters by which critical minerals, essential to the transition away from coal, have been set. "In our assessment, coal is one of the critical minerals."
/jlne.ws/4aNlCsC
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Mizuho Profit Beats Estimates as Bank Achieves Record Goal; Lending income, gains from share sales fueled earnings; Joins Sumitomo Mitsui in exceeding analysts' expectations
Taiga Uranaka and Hideki Suzuki - Bloomberg
Mizuho Financial Group Inc.'s profit rose in the third quarter, propelling it past its record annual earnings projection ahead of schedule as rising interest rates boosted lending income. Net income at Japan's third-largest lender climbed 28% from a year earlier to ¥289.2 billion ($1.9 billion) in the three months ended Dec. 31, according to calculations based on nine-month results released Monday. That beat the ¥187.5 billion average of four analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
/jlne.ws/4aGl083
Barclays Customers Facing Third Day of Disruption
Rob Freeman, Rosie Shead and Danielle Desouza - The Press Association via Bloomberg
Barclays customers are facing a third day of disrupted services on Sunday following an IT problem. Online and mobile banking have been hit during the problem, which began on Friday. The bank said people could see an outdated balance with payments made or received not showing.
/jlne.ws/42BrGSH
UK's Banking Watchdog Probes Barclays Over IT Outage; PRA and FCA are in contact with lender after services failed App, online banking and payments were disrupted on Friday
William Shaw - Bloomberg
UK regulators are in close contact with Barclays Plc after a IT problem left thousands of customers locked out of their accounts for several days, according to people familiar with the matter. The Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority have both been speaking to Barclays, said the people, asking not to be named discussing non-public information. After such incidents the Bank of England expects firms to identify causes and share their internal processes for dealing with what happened, according to a reference manual. Banks must also identify lessons and implement appropriate measures as a result.
/jlne.ws/40XzZqF
After Banker Dies, Jefferies Vows Support and Slams Online Venom; CEO Rich Handler encourages junior bankers to ask for help; Memo follows death of 28-year-old banker Carter McIntosh
Todd Gillespie and Katherine Doherty - Bloomberg
Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Rich Handler assured junior bankers in a weekend memo that bosses will support them if they need help after the death of a 28-year-old investment banker. Handler said he went to Dallas to be with junior employees after their coworker, Carter McIntosh, died in an apartment earlier this week. The CEO emphasized that bankers should reach out to managers for support if they are struggling with the tragedy or feeling overloaded with work, and he encouraged colleagues to respect the contributions from junior bankers.
/jlne.ws/40NYjKG
NatWest Bonus Pool Set to Reach £450 Million, Sky News Reports
Marion Dakers - Bloomberg
NatWest Group Plc is finalizing a bonus pool of almost £450 million ($558 million) to pay out for 2024, Sky News reported Saturday. The British lender, which is close to returning to full private ownership after a bailout nearly two decades ago, is preparing to sign off on the bonus plan ahead of its annual results on Feb. 14, according to Sky.
/jlne.ws/42Gb5NI
HSBC app was missing targets before bank ditched it; Zing had fewer than 9,000 active customers in the month before its announced closure
Akila Quinio in London - Financial Times
HSBC's failed mobile app Zing had fewer than 9,000 active customers in the month before its closure was announced, falling short of the lender's own targets and underlining how big banks have struggled to create successful fintech offerings. HSBC launched foreign exchange service Zing in January last year to compete with fast-growing digital rivals such as Revolut and Wise, but said this month that it was closing the app, marking the latest failed digital venture by a traditional bank.
/jlne.ws/40DxiJL
Deutsche Bank's Domestic Woes Risk Making It an Also-Ran; CEO Christian Sewing needs to focus on retail banking at home.
Paul J. Davies - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3Q31hpG
Julius Baer announces 400 job cuts, executive board revamp
Noele Illien and Bloomberg via Fortune
/jlne.ws/4jGvTuA
Wells Fargo Executives Plot Life After $36 Billion Punishment
Hannah Levitt - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3EnVlEW
Trump Media's ETF ambitions could push into Strive's space; Truth.Fi's rollouts will potentially put it head to head with asset manager founded by Vivek Ramaswamy
Joe Morris, Ignites - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/42H9QOe
Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman says he will move management company out of Delaware
Katie Balevic - Business Insider
/jlne.ws/4aGh4Ej
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | How Much Your Wall Street Bonus Is Really Worth; When is $100,000 not $100,000? On Wall Street.; As compensation season takes off, an analysis of the bonus currencies for 12 of the world's biggest banks helps demystify the awards.
Laura Noonan, Phil Kuntz and Demetrios Pogkas - Bloomberg
Picture this: It's Wall Street bonus season. The year is 2022. A Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trader is handed $100,000 in deferred stock. Her uptown rival at Bank of America Corp. is given an identical award on the very same day. Now, three years on those awards have fully vested with wildly divergent results: The Goldman staffer would have been able to clear more than $113,000. The Bank of America trader, though, would have netted less than $83,000.
/jlne.ws/40RVnxM
LinkedIn to Tell Job Seekers How Likely They Are to Get a Response; Top job sites like LinkedIn and Greenhouse are stepping in to try to make the hiring process less miserable.
Jo Constantz - Bloomberg
More than 14 million job seekers' applications went completely ignored in a single quarter last year, according to one hiring platform. Now, sites like Greenhouse and LinkedIn are experimenting with new ways to hold companies accountable for making the hiring process so miserable for applicants. Three of the biggest job search sites - LinkedIn, Indeed and Greenhouse - have put tools in place to highlight which companies frequently respond to applicants in a timely manner.
/jlne.ws/4gpoLja
The DEI backlash: employers 'reframing not retreating'; Most companies looking for middle ground between quitting schemes and provoking conservative activists
Anjli Raval, Emma Jacobs and Taylor Nicole Rogers - Financial Times
US companies ending programmes promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in recent weeks have chimed with the political zeitgeist and tapped into public fatigue towards such schemes. Meta, McDonald's and Target are among those that have ditched DEI goals, prompting "anti-woke" activist Robby Starbuck to claim he was "enjoying every second of this". Yet while some companies are retreating from initiatives set up to improve the representation of their workforces, executive teams and boardrooms, others are doubling down.
/jlne.ws/3Enzldm
The office sycophant will always be with us; But the early days of the Trump administration highlight the pitfalls of sucking up
Pilita Clark - Financial Times
Everyone loathes a sycophant. Management experts warn about the poisonous influence of the flatterer. Academics cite the business risks of being surrounded by servile toadies. Leaders insist they are never swayed by suck-ups. And yet sucking up persists. Why? Because it works. Or rather, it works often enough to justify the indignities involved.
/jlne.ws/4hhlS5B
New York's Selective Return to Office Is a Problem; Amenity-rich buildings are filling up fast, with landlords already pointing to a supply crunch. Older spaces are unloved.
Conor Sen - Bloomberg
New York City encapsulates the two-sided recovery of the US office market currently underway. Millions of square feet of antiquated office space await repurposing or demolition across Manhattan, while trophy buildings in Midtown are full. At a time when the city is trying to address its long-running housing shortage, it will soon run into the additional challenge of creating more of the kinds of office space that employers and workers want.
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Alcohol's Cancer Warning Risks Escalating Another US 'Epidemic'; Americans face negative health impacts from drinking and social isolation as more people imbibe at home.
Ben Steverman and Claire Ballentine - Bloomberg
After another Dry January, a month that promises hangover-free mornings and more money in the bank, temporary abstainers face a choice: Go back to drinking again, or heed the US Surgeon General's latest health warnings about alcohol and swear off happy hour forever. There's a big problem with that binary. Alcohol is almost certainly bad for you, but so is social isolation.
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CDC Information, Datasets Disappear From Agency's Websites; Landing pages for HIV data, LGBTQ youth can't be accessed; Changes come after President Trump's executive order on gender
Dana Hull - Bloomberg
Key information and datasets have vanished from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's websites, alarming epidemiologists, other scientists and concerned American citizens. On Friday evening US time, the CDC's landing page for HIV data said "The page you're looking for was not found." Disparities known as the Social Vulnerability Index and Environmental Justice Index, as well as information about LGBTQ youth were also no longer accessible.
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | For Hong Kong, family offices and IPOs are major growth engines: Deloitte
South China Morning Post
Wealth management and family offices will be a major growth engine for Hong Kong, as many prominent clans in Asia have shown an interest in setting up entities to manage their fortunes, according to Deloitte's regional head. Dennis Chow Chi-in, Asia-Pacific chairman of the accounting and consulting firm, believes this will mainly be down to the appeal of the city's capital market, as more companies from mainland China and the region list here and look to raise funds via other avenues.
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The future of international economic institutions is up for grabs; Preserving the status quo on global development will not work
Adam Tooze - Financial Times (opinion)
As much of the world obsesses over artificial intelligence and US President Donald Trump's latest disruption, another historic megatrend is creeping up on us. Next year, if UN predictions are to be believed, the number of working-age people in sub-Saharan Africa will overtake that in the developed world. The demographic balance of the world economy is shifting. And yet it will barely trouble the headlines because Africa's economies are so poor. What they lack are well-functioning institutions, capital and technology. According to World Bank estimates, the capital per worker in low-income countries - predominantly in Africa - is just $5,000 a head, one-fifth that in their middle-income counterparts.
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Moscow Property Rivals London as Rich Russians Bring Cash Home; High-end real estate in the city is seeing a surge in demand as Russians invest back home and turn away from overseas deals because of sanctions.
Bloomberg News
Three years into the war with Ukraine, Russia's wealthiest are increasingly bringing their money home, fueling an unlikely rebound in high-end Moscow real estate. Faced with fewer options to spend abroad as international sanctions force banks to crack down, many Russians are repatriating cash and parking it in the safe haven of domestic property. Others are using real estate as a hedge against inflation that has surged since the invasion of Ukraine, forcing the central bank to jack up rates to record highs.
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BlackRock Said to Explore Office in Kuwait, Deepening Gulf Ties
Fiona MacDonald and Matthew Martin - Bloomberg
BlackRock Inc. is exploring plans to open an office in Kuwait, according to people familiar with the matter, marking the asset manager's latest effort aimed at deepening ties to the oil-rich region. The firm is in discussions with regulators and could make a final decision as soon as this month, the people said, declining to be identified as the information is confidential. A representative for BlackRock declined to comment. Its chief executive officer, Larry Fink, was in Kuwait on Monday and met with the ruling emir, Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, as well as the crown prince, state-run KUNA news agency reported earlier. BlackRock has close links to Kuwait, and Fink typically visits the country annually. The firm counts the $1 trillion Kuwait Investment Authority as one of its top shareholders, according to a recent proxy statement.
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Horst Kohler, former German president and IMF chief, dies at 81; Mr. Kohler led the International Monetary Fund before serving as Germany's president from 2004 to 2010.
AP via The Washington Post
Horst Kohler, a onetime head of the International Monetary Fund who became Germany's president before stunning the country by resigning amid an uproar over comments about the country's military, died Feb. 1 in Berlin. He was 81. The office of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier announced the death in a statement. No cause of death was noted.
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India may change crypto policy due to international adoption: report; The Indian government has a reputation for being harsh on crypto, but a regulatory sea change in the United States may cause a pivot.
Vince Quill - CoinTelegraph
The Indian government, which has historically been opposed to crypto, is reviewing its regulatory policy in response to adoption by other nation-states. According to Reuters, India's economic affairs secretary, Ajay Seth, said that digital assets "Don't believe in borders" - signaling that India does not want to get left behind in the digital asset revolution. News of a potential policy shift came amid a new tax of up to 70% on previously undisclosed crypto gains as part of India's Income Tax Act.
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