| June 22, 2023 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
The FIA IDX gala was a success. Robbert Booij's Kilt Challenge hit the 25,000 pound mark, a record amount that includes 1000 pounds raised at auction at the gala from FIA Tech's Nick Solinger, who bought the Dutch cheese (and Dutch cheese slicer) Robbert carried with him on his cycling trip from Amsterdam to London. The gala as a whole brought in about 100,000 pounds.
Robbert passed the Kilt Challenge on to Rama Pillai of SGX, who accepted the challenge. The sporran was passed on to Rama, which is a somewhat new element of the Kilt Challenge that was added after my turn.
Thank you to FIA and FIA Tech for hosting the JLN team members at the gala. I wish I could have been there to see it all, but I was certainly there in spirit.
Walt Lukken posted a couple of selfies of the gala from the podium. In the first picture you can see a relaxed Jeremy Grant in the background in his tartan trousers, and to his right at another table are Robert Lothian (USA) and Nichole Price. In the second picture, you can see the people at Walt's table, including Robbert Booij, Jeremy Grant, Emma Davey, Jackie Mesa, Bill Herder, Bruce Savage, Allison Lurton, Guy Sheetz, Nick Rustad and the most interesting man in the world, Pat Kenny
The Wall Street Journal reported that "Large crowds of Druids, Pagans and tourists gathered at Stonehenge in England to celebrate the summer solstice by watching the sunrise on the longest day of the year." There are some senior futures industry executives who have wanted to run with the druids. Anyone have photos?
The Financial Times has a story we should all be interested in, as we were all at one time sperm. The title of the story is "Global sperm counts are falling. This scientist believes she knows why." The subheading is "Shanna Swan has been investigating the impact of chemicals on human fertility for decades."
I am waiting for one of the latest episodes of the U.S. culture wars to come out in favor of roosters. It seems the USDA has approved chicken grown from cells in steel tanks to be sold to U.S. consumers, The Wall Street Journal reported. This may be one where I am for the rooster-chicken romance in creating new chickens via the old fashioned way of laying eggs and feeding the baby chickens until they are big enough to cut off their heads and turn into a sandwich of McNuggets. OK, I guess I can see why some people might want to grow "cell-cultivated" chicken, which is grown outside the animal. There is no cutting off of heads or even plucking necessary.
Bloomberg has a well-timed story for those Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals fans headed over to London for the two games this weekend. It is titled "These Are the Nine Best New Bars in London Right Now." Of course, what I would want to know is where are the nine best pubs and the nine best places to get fish and chips.
Travel+Leisure.com reported that Vienna was once "again named the world's most livable city today. According to the newly released Economist Intelligence Unit's Global Liveability Index, the City of Music retained the spot it has held for eight of the last 10 semi-annual surveys."
I am sad that as a non-billionaire, I will never make enough money to own a Supreme Court Justice. It seems only billionaires can afford that luxury these days. I reference the recent story where ProPublica had questions for Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and he chose to answer them by writing an Op-Ed in The Wall Street Journal. ProPublica subsequently published their story.
The CFTC is hiring an IT Specialist (Project Manager) in its Washington D.C. Office.
For more details and to apply, go HERE.
Citadel would like you to know you can launch your investment career with the Citadel Associate Program. In the program, you can learn the skills, strategy and craft of investing at a "preeminent financial firm." For more details, go HERE.
Have a great day and stay safe and treat people the same way you want to be treated: with respect, equality and justice.~JJL
The Economist is hosting its 5th annual ESG and Climate Risk Week: Addressing climate and ESG risks while delivering impact, September 12-14, 2023, in London, UK at the Hilton Bankside and as a virtual event. Institutional investors, financial service stakeholders, as well as companies and solution providers are invited to attend an event that will provide practical scenarios on how companies are strengthening their climate disclosure through near-term target-setting and action-planning. Learn more and register here.~SAED
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Patomak Global's Jill Sommers discusses lessons learned working in - and watching - the regulated markets
JohnLothianNews.com
JLN spoke with Jill Sommers, chair of the Derivatives Practice Group at Patomak Global Partners, at the OIC Conference in Nashville in April. Sommers, who served two consecutive terms as a CFTC Commissioner from 2007 to 2013, discussed her work with Patomak and the evolution and sticking points for regulation in the crypto and rapidly evolving derivative markets.
Watch the video »
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NinjaTrader Offers MIAX SPIKES Futures, Providing Opportunity to Take Positions and Manage Risk on Volatility; First Retail Futures Broker to Offer SPIKES Futures and First Broker to Provide Commission-Free Access
NinjaTrader Group, LLC
NinjaTrader Group, LLC, a global leader in futures brokerage and advanced technology for active traders through its NinjaTrader subsidiary, today announced that its retail-focused futures brokerage firm is the first to offer access to MIAX's SPIKES Futures, which are traded and cleared on Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX), a subsidiary of Miami International Holdings, Inc. NinjaTrader is the first brokerage to offer the volatility products commission-free.
/jlne.ws/44bkzOC
***** This is the kind of news that would have made my broker competitive juices started flowing as I always liked being first to a new product.~JJL
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Crypto shows we shouldn't venerate 'innovation' for its own sake; Just because something is new doesn't mean it is valuable or should avoid scrutiny
Jemima Kelly - Financial Times.
Big Crypto is in the midst of a big reckoning. Following a series of spectacular crashes and implosions last year, two of the most powerful and profitable crypto companies still standing - Coinbase and Binance - were hit by lawsuits from US regulators on successive days this month. A third, Ripple Labs, is still fighting a case brought against it in 2020, having spent more than $100mn in legal bills so far.
/jlne.ws/3Xs5LZO
****** Many times when someone writes something people don't like they attack the messenger rather than give a counterpoint. In this case, I would like to praise the messenger, Jemina Kelly, who is a generational talent as a journalist.~JJL
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How Today's Teens Get More Financial Firepower Than Past Generations; Teen accounts on payment apps offer financial freedom with oversight
Oyin Adedoyin - The Wall Street Journal
Teenagers used to nag parents for the car keys or a little extra cash. These days, they are just as likely to want Uber, Venmo and Amazon accounts. Access to a growing library of payment apps is now a rite of passage and easier than ever. In May, Uber and PayPal's Venmo launched accounts for children ages 13-17. Cash App, Fidelity, Amazon and others already offered similar services they pitch as a way to satisfy both adolescent desire for the apps and parents' anxiety about how to manage their use.
/jlne.ws/44dj42d
***** Kids have a lot more money and ways to spend it. I would get an allowance of 35 cents a week, assuming I did my end of the bargain.~JJL
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Chicago keeps pulling ahead of national return-to-office stats
Sophie Rodgers - Crain's Chicago Business
The average number of Chicago workers who are back in the office tops the nationwide average by 5 percentage points - and reaches a post-pandemic high. That's according to data from real estate technology firm Kastle Systems, which analyzes building security card swipes and compares current figures to early 2020.
/jlne.ws/3r2ki1S
****** When I see a new store front open out, I will believe the stats.~JJL
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Wednesday's Top Three
Our top story Wednesday was Bloomberg's What Really Happened the Night the Nickel Market Broke, about the LME and Matthew Chamberlain. Second was the Financial Times' The day nickel trades gave LME a rude awakening, also about the LME and Matthew Chamberlain. Third was Miami media - and a mayor's aide - give Ken Griffin a truly warm South Florida welcome, from Crain's Chicago Business.
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MarketsWiki Stats
27,346 pages; 245,322 edits
MarketsWiki Statistics
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| Lead Stories | On Wall Street, Lawyers Make More Than Bankers Now; Superstar attorneys can rake in more than $15 million a year, while banker pay has hardly budged
Cara Lombardo - The Wall Street Journal
Over the past few years, as the Manhattan real-estate broker Lisa Lippman took her well-heeled clients through $7 million-plus apartments with Central Park views and amenities including squash courts and lap pools, she noticed a change: It was no longer bankers making a lot of the offers. It was lawyers. "It used to be you'd say someone is an investment banker, and that was a big deal. Now it's like meh," Lippman, a former lawyer, said. "If I had to pick my favorite buyers, it would be big-time lawyers."
/jlne.ws/3PqKZb1
Bitcoin Options Volume Jumps to $3.3B as Price Rallies to Two-Month High; Traders are scrambling for bitcoin calls or bullish bets after the cryptocurrency's sudden rally to nearly $31,000.
Omkar Godbole - CoinDesk
Bitcoin's (BTC) sudden rally to two-month highs has spurred demand for calls and boosted activity in the options market The cryptocurrency's price jumped to $30,800 on Wednesday, the highest since April 14, cheering the recent flurry of spot bitcoin ETF applications by BlackRock (BLK), WisdomTree and Invesco (IVZ), which highlighted a sustained institutional appetite for the world's largest cryptocurrency.
/jlne.ws/46tZYHg
China's Cloud Computing Firms Raise Concern for U.S.; The Biden administration is exploring whether it can mount a campaign against Chinese tech giants like Alibaba and Huawei, potentially fueling tensions with Beijing.
David McCabe - The New York Times
In the digital cold war between the United States and China, American officials are increasingly turning their attention to a new target: Chinese cloud computing giants. Over the last 18 months, the Biden administration and members of Congress have ramped up their exploration of what can be done to address security concerns about the cloud computing divisions of Chinese tech behemoths like Alibaba and Huawei, five people with knowledge of the matter said.
/jlne.ws/44cVZNf
Larry Fink Turned Some Bad Trades Into a Billion-Dollar Business; Investing giant BlackRock sees growth in tech services, analytics.
Marc Rubinstein - Bloomberg
Open up BlackRock Inc.'s annual report and - in case you didn't know - the company tells you what it does. "BlackRock provides a broad range of investment management and technology services to institutional and retail clients worldwide," it states. The investment management bit shouldn't come as a surprise. With $9.1 trillion under management and a franchise the spans the globe, BlackRock has a formidable presence in the industry. In technology services, though, the company is less well known. Yet nestled in with its active asset-management business ($5.4 billion of 2022 revenue), its exchange-traded funds business ($5.5 billion of revenue) and its alternatives business ($2 billion of revenue), there it is: Technology services contributed $1.4 billion.
/jlne.ws/3XhzYut
Lawyers say Wall Street should be 'on notice' after Epstein settlements; Two multimillion dollar payouts underline legal risks to banks over affiliation with criminals
Joe Miller - Financial Times
The large settlements extracted from JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank over their relationships with Jeffrey Epstein have put other US banks "on notice" about their potential exposure to a client's malfeasance, lawyers for women accusing the disgraced financier of sex abuse have said.
/jlne.ws/3qYudWx
Chicken Grown From Cells Heads to U.S. Dinner Tables; USDA gives Eat Just and Upside Foods permission to sell cultivated meat to consumers
Kristina Peterson and Jesse Newman - The Wall Street Journal
A new kind of chicken-raised from cells in steel tanks-is headed for U.S. dinner tables. The U.S. Agriculture Department gave the green light Wednesday for two California-based companies to sell "cell-cultivated" chicken, which is grown outside of animals, to U.S. consumers.
/jlne.ws/444vdGO
Buy-side on digital assets trading: A recognised custodian is essential; SIX research finds over 60% of traders desire a "safer" trading environment in digital assets; around 70% plan to include digital tokens in their portfolios in the next year.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
Over half of buy-side firms claim using a "traditional" and "recognised" custodian would make them more likely to trade digital assets, new research by SIX has concluded. Alongside a reliable custodian, regulated exchanges also appear to be a priceless piece in the crypto puzzle for buy-side traders.
/jlne.ws/3Xhyf8x
Coinbase waged unusual legal defense ahead of SEC's crypto crackdown
Jody Godoy - Reuters
Months before cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase became the biggest target of the U.S. crackdown on digital assets, the company launched an unusual legal offensive, recruiting top lawyers to try to shape court rulings in other cases.
/jlne.ws/42PcvSl
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Russia gas flows through Ukraine could stop next year, Kyiv says; Ukrainian energy minister said renewal of five-year transit contract to supply Europe was unlikely
Shotaro Tani and David Sheppard - Financial Times
One of the last arteries carrying Russian gas to Europe could be shut off by the end of next year when Ukraine's supply contract with Gazprom expires, the Ukrainian energy minister has said.
/jlne.ws/3pgqXoK
Ukraine attacks bridge between Kherson and Crimea, says Russia; Strike on key supply route disrupts operations for Russian troops battling Kyiv's southern counteroffensive
Roman Olearchyk - Financial Times
Ukraine's army struck a bridge that serves as a key supply line between the Crimean peninsula and the southern province of Kherson, Moscow-installed officials in both Russian-occupied regions have said. Coming weeks into Kyiv's counteroffensive to recapture territory in the south and east, the strike on Chongar bridge threatens to disrupt operations for Russian forces that are battling Ukrainian troops in areas north of the Azov Sea.
/jlne.ws/3XkGUqx
Ukraine says Russia considering nuclear plant attack, Moscow denies it
Tom Balmforth and Anna Pruchnicka - Reuters
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday Ukrainian spies believe Russia was plotting an incident to release radiation from Europe's largest nuclear plant, an allegation denied by the Kremlin.
/jlne.ws/448lMGe
Ukraine military reports 'partial success' in southeast, east fighting
Reuters
Ukraine's military on Thursday reported "partial success" in fighting in the southeast and east, where it said its troops were continuing to conduct offensive operations.
/jlne.ws/3NoUlBq
Ukraine Worried About Crucial Grain Deal's Chances of Extension
Jorge Valero and Megan Durisin - Bloomberg
Ukraine is "not optimistic" that the grain-export corridor that has allowed it to ship more than 30 million tons of crops amid the war with Russia will be extended beyond July, the country's infrastructure minister said Wednesday.
/jlne.ws/46hvU1i
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Aquis promotes from within for new sales head and new head of liquidity and trading strategies; Appointments collectively have over two decades of experience at the exchange; previously served at Instinet, AKJ, Curzon Securities, Liquidnet, and Chi-X Europe, The TRADE can reveal.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
Aquis Exchange has promoted two of its long-standing employees to take up new roles as head of sales and head of liquidity and trading strategies. Pasquale Crispi has been promoted to head of liquidity and trading strategies after serving at the exchange for just under 10 years as a director of sales and business development. In his new role, he will be responsible for overseeing the exchange's liquidity provider relationships.
/jlne.ws/3Plrgta
EEX publishes revised EUA 2023 auction calendar
European Energy Exchange
The European Energy Exchange (EEX) has published a revised auction calendar for EU Emission Allowances (EUA) for 2023, with adjustments for the period of July to December 2023. The calendar has been amended for the whole period in order to account for the volumes of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) pursuant to Articles 10e(2) and 10e(3) of the ETS Directive. The period from September to December has been adjusted to take into account the publication of the 2022 total number of allowances in circulation (TNAC) as basis for the Market Stability Reserve (MSR).
/jlne.ws/3NStbV7
HKEX Celebrates Opening Of New York Office, Supporting Clients Across North America; New York office to provide on-the-ground support to HKEX's North American clients; New location part of HKEX's commitment to broadening international participation in its market and enhancing global market connectivity
Hong Kong Exchanges And Clearing Limited
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), one of the world's leading exchange groups, was delighted to celebrate with its North American customers, as it opened its new office in New York.
/jlne.ws/3NJNLXF
LSEG provides corporate treasurers with risk management and full data integrity valuations to combat 'spreadsheet fatigue'
London Stock Exchange Group
LSEG has teamed up with Finmechanics, the Singapore headquartered provider of FM Converge, to help corporate treasuries reduce their liquidity and market risks, as well as their reliance on bulky, inefficient, spreadsheet-based processes. The Corporate Treasury Risk (CTR) app enriches the LSEG Eikon and Workspace platforms with post-trade analytics such as cash & liquidity forecasts, profit/loss and risk reporting, OTC derivatives valuations, as well as hedge effectiveness, ISDA margining and Credit Value Adjustment (CVA). A cloud-based managed service, CTR relies on micro-services and technology developed by Finmechanics.
/jlne.ws/3XkPQMB
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Twitter CEO Intervened to Mend Google Relationship After Cloud Payment Issue; Social-media platform is now paying for Google cloud services amid talks of broader partnership
Alexa Corse and Miles Kruppa - The Wall Street Journal
Twitter Chief Executive Linda Yaccarino intervened to help repair the relationship between the social-media company and Alphabet' Google after a payment issue, a person familiar with the matter said, an early example of the new CEO's management style.
/jlne.ws/42NXvUU
Virtu expands block trading workflow with automated dark liquidity seeking to tackle market fragmentation; New Alert+ solution automatically routes any residual from an order to Virtu's Covert algorithm to be executed in the dark once a match is completed on POSIT Alert.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
Virtu has upgraded its POSIT Alert block trading capabilities to include automated dark liquidity seeking in a bid to tackle fragmentation in the non-displayed markets, The TRADE can reveal. Named Alert+, the upgraded workflow solution allows users to immediately elect to route residual share quantities not filled on POSIT Alert to be executed in the dark via Virtu's Covert algorithm. The solution is intended to give traders an increased opportunity to execute any residual and reduce execution risk by sourcing incremental dark liquidity and completing orders more quickly.
/jlne.ws/3phiBNQ
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | The Best Password Managers for Keeping Your Digital World Safe; These digital password vaults keep your online life secure
Heidi Mitchell - The Wall Street Journal
Conventional wisdom (and some oft-cited research) says that humans can keep only about seven numbers in their head at a time, which makes remembering a 14-character alphanumeric password nearly impossible. Multiply that by the dozens of passwords we all have to pop into those empty boxes to get into our computer, email, bank account, streaming servicesâEUR¦the list goes on and on. While foolproof passkeys are (hopefully) going to replace passwords in the coming years, support for them is currently limited.
/jlne.ws/3NkYypM
Cybersecurity expert on how to protect your family from AI scams; Pete Nicoletti of Check Point Software Technologies weighed in.
GMA Team - ABC News
With the rise of artificial intelligence, more people across the country are falling victim to kidnapping and other scams. A cybersecurity expert spoke to ABC News about ways people can protect their families and themselves from the increasingly believable scams. Pete Nicoletti of Check Point Software Technologies, one of the largest cybersecurity firms in the nation, spoke to ABC's Whit Johnson, to explain the rapidly evolving technology. With a basic headshot and photos from social media, Nicoletti was able to alter reality.
/jlne.ws/43RAmlW
Cybersecurity firm finds compromised ChatGPT accounts on dark web; Group-IB, a cybersecurity firm, reports that more than 26,000 compromised ChatGPT accounts were detected on the dark web in May.
Scripps News
Thousands of ChatGPT accounts may be at risk. Group-IB, a cybersecurity firm, reports that more than 26,000 compromised ChatGPT accounts were detected on the dark web in May and were being offered for sale. There's concern about the type of information hackers could obtain through these various compromised accounts. According to Group-IB, more employers are using ChatGPT to optimize their work. Entries into the chatbot could include sensitive or proprietary information.
/jlne.ws/3Pr9N2G
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Stablecoins, DeFi Likely to Be SEC's Next Targets in U.S. Crypto Crackdown: Berenberg
Will Canny - CoinDesk
Stablecoins and decentralized finance (DeFi) are likely to become the next targets in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)'s crackdown on the crypto industry, Berenberg said in a research report on Tuesday. The investment bank said the SEC may now focus on bringing stablecoins, including the two largest by market cap, tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC), and decentralized finance protocols into regulatory compliance.
/jlne.ws/44ctUFW
Crypto firm Ripple gets in-principle payments license in Singapore
Ryan Browne - CNBC
Blockchain company Ripple said Thursday it received in-principle regulatory approval to operate in Singapore, in a rare moment of good news for the cryptocurrency industry globally as it faces tightening policy back home in the United States.
/jlne.ws/3plTEkf
How Crypto's $83 Billion Rebel Is Crushing the Competition; Tether's "stablecoin" could bring in $6 billion of profits this year. Following standard corporate rules is not part of its plan.
Jack Denton - Barron's
How do you make $6 billion a year in crypto? Trading Bitcoin could work, but it's dicey. A better way: Act like a bank. Take people's cash, stash it in reserves such as Treasuries, and sit back while the money earns a cool 5%. The company playing the bank is Tether Holdings, issuer of the largest and most widely used "stablecoin" on the market. Stablecoins are like crypto cash; they typically hold a $1 price, backed 1-to-1 by reserves. Tether is now the king, towering over the market with $83 billion in deposits.
/jlne.ws/44wpRo7
Shiba Inu Introduces 'Shibacals' to Link NFTs to Real-World Items; SHIB Jumps; Developers shared plans for an NFC-linked authentication service in a Thursday update.
Shaurya Malwa - CoinDesk
Shiba Inu ecosystem developers are working on a service that can be used to link real-world assets to NFTs to help prove ownership as part of their Shibarium ecosystem rollout Shibarium is a planned layer 2 blockchain focused on metaverse and non-fungible token (NFT) applications that will use shiba inu (SHIB), bone (BONE) and leash (LEASE) tokens to operate. The blockchain is expected to go live later this year, the developers say.
/jlne.ws/3PqBKaM
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Boris Johnson's Exit Marks a Win for UK Politics; Parliament restored some much-needed credibility by enforcing its own rules.
The Editors - Bloomberg
Last week, a bipartisan House of Commons committee found that former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had deliberately misled lawmakers about his staff's repeated violations of lockdown rules that had been imposed during the peak of the Covid-19 crisis. The committee's report makes for grim reading. But it also may mark a crucial first step toward restoring Britain's tarnished democracy.
/jlne.ws/3PtO2iv
To Beat Back New York, London Seeks to Tap Pension Pot; Government wants to shift more of the country's $3.6 trillion in retiree assets into stocks
Josh Mitchell - The Wall Street Journal
U.K. leaders desperately want to reclaim London's status as the world's hottest financial hub. To do that, they say, they need to change the investment behavior of people like Kerrin Rosenberg. Rosenberg heads the U.K. investment arm of private adviser Cardano Group, helping manage a big chunk of assets for British pension funds.
/jlne.ws/3NnkgZZ
Macron Urges Investors to Boost Climate Funding: Paris Update
William Horobin, Akshat Rathi and Viktoria Dendrinou - Bloomberg
French President Emmanuel Macron called on investors to provide a massive increase in financing to the poor countries facing the greatest threats from climate change as he opened a summit in Paris Thursday.
/jlne.ws/449PVVK
The World's Financial Architecture Is Failing Africa; Emmanuel Macron's summit to get the sustainable development goals back on track must focus on seven aims.
Akinwumi A. Adesina - Bloomberg
The United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, recently sounded an ominous alarm bell. The Sustainable Development Goals, which aim to significantly reduce poverty around the world and create a better quality of life for all, are off track, he warned. And so French President Emmanuel Macron called a global conference in Paris this month to address getting the 2030 SDG targets back on course. As world leaders from Barbados to Kenya to Germany gather, there are seven things they must focus on. This blueprint for prosperity is too important to let slide.
/jlne.ws/43SZI2K
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Ex-Goldman Banker Convicted of Passing Insider Tips to Squash Pal-Turned-Informant; Brijesh Goel's squash buddy became prosecution's star witness; The two men also enjoyed drugs, music festivals together
Bob Van Voris, Chris Dolmetsch and Greg Farrell - Bloomberg
A former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker was found guilty of passing inside information on deals to a once-close friend and squash partner who became the prosecution's star witness. Brijesh Goel was convicted Wednesday of tipping off former Barclays Plc trader Akshay Niranjan about deals at Goldman. Niranjan made some $280,000 in illegal profits trading on the information but later flipped on his friend, recording their conversations and cooperating with federal investigators before taking the stand at Goel's trial in Manhattan federal court.
/jlne.ws/3r3JxRq
Federal Court Orders Florida Man to Pay Over $1 Million in Penalties for Fraudulent Solicitation and Misappropriation in a Commodity Pool Scheme
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida entered an order of final judgment against Rico Cox of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The order resolves the CFTC's May 31, 2022 lawsuit against Cox and finds him liable for fraudulently soliciting investments in commodity futures and misappropriating at least 14 pool participants' funds. [See CFTC Press Release No. 8537-22].
/jlne.ws/3CHkmXB
Commissioner Johnson Hosted a European Financial Markets Supervision Roundtable with U.S. Ambassador to Spain and Andorra
CFTC
CFTC Commissioner Kristin Johnson and the Honorable Julissa Reynoso Pantaleón, U.S. Ambassador to Spain and Andorra, today hosted a financial markets roundtable with leading voices in global prudential and capital markets regulation at the Ambassador Residence in Madrid, Spain.
/jlne.ws/3phEOeE
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Top Pork Producer Says Loss-Making US Farmers Will Shrink Herds; Growers are losing as much as $80 a head, Smithfield says; "This industry is in an incredibly difficult cycle," CEO says
Michael Hirtzer - Bloomberg
American pig farmers are losing so much money that some may soon start selling the corn they would normally use to feed animals, according to the world's largest hog producer. It's a sign that producers will soon take steps to shrink their herds, with growers losing as much as $80 a head, said Shane Smith, chief executive officer of Smithfield Foods. Demand from top buyer China is waning at a time the cost to feed animals is surging.
/jlne.ws/3NHFKST
Traders Bailed Out of Nasdaq ETF Just as It Started Falling; QQQ sees largest redemption this year with $3 billion outflow; AI stocks have taken a breather as Powell stays hawkish
Emily Graffeo - Bloomberg
For all of the times this year that Wall Street has been caught off guard by the moves in technology stocks, the last few days have proved many investors right. Traders dumped $3.1 billion from the Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 ETF (ticker QQQ) on Friday, just as the exchange-traded fund snapped a six-day winning streak. The product, which tracks the Nasdaq 100, has now fallen nearly 2% since the cash exit. Traders have continued to move away from the fund this week, pulling an additional $1.3 billion on Tuesday.
/jlne.ws/43QjXxW
Big Firms Want Normal Crypto Markets; Also corporate discount rates, AT1 markets, sesame allergies and Masayoshi-Son-flattering chatbots.
Matt Levine - Bloomberg
Institutional crypto
I think even a year ago it was possible to imagine the traditional financial system learning something from crypto. Crypto built its own financial system that does things differently from traditional finance. For instance:
/jlne.ws/44fNtNh
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Countries on Front Lines of Climate Change Seek New Lifeline in Paris; Hundreds of representatives from about 80 countries are gathering in Paris to talk about rebuilding a monetary system many say is ill-suited to a changing planet.
Catherine Porter - The New York Times
An unusual if guarded optimism has descended upon Paris, along with hundreds of world leaders, bankers and climate activists. They have come for a two-day conference billed as the new Bretton Woods. The reference is to the 1944 gathering in New Hampshire where diplomats hammered out the monetary institutions to rebuild countries after World War II - the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Now, the goal is to rebuild those systems to weather a looming crisis: the entwined dangers of poverty and climate change.
/jlne.ws/3r141KY
The Trillion-Gallon Question; Extreme weather is threatening California's dams. What happens if they fail?
Christopher Cox - The New York Times
On the morning of Feb. 7, 2017, two electricians were working on a warning siren near the spillway of Oroville Dam, 60 miles north of Sacramento, when they heard an explosion. As they watched, a giant plume of water rose over their heads, and chunks of concrete began flying down the hillside toward the Feather River. The dam's spillway, a concrete channel capable of moving millions of gallons of water out of the reservoir in seconds, was disintegrating in front of them. If it had to be taken out of service, a serious rainstorm, like the one that had been falling on Northern California for days, could cause the dam - the tallest in the United States - to fail.
/jlne.ws/44cvUOb
Arizona Is Running Out of Cheap Water. Investors Saw It Coming; The state just moved to restrict housing construction around Phoenix as groundwater demand outstrips supply. But fast-growing towns are already buying water from elsewhere - and investors' bets are paying off.
Leslie Kaufman, Jeremy C.F. Lin and Linda Poon - Bloomberg
With sand-colored houses overlooking an ornamental lake and a vast pool complex, Harvest in Queen Creek, Arizona, is typical of the developments that have multiplied on the fringes of Phoenix in recent years. The homes abutting the Sonoran Desert start at $400,000 and are being snapped up by young families and retirees even as mortgage rates rise.
/jlne.ws/46kZmDN
Hundreds of Sea Lions Are Dying. Is an Algal Bloom to Blame?; Rescuers have been inundated with calls about sick and dying sea lions and dolphins along California's central coast. They believe the cause is a toxin produced by a harmful algae.
Livia Albeck-Ripka - The New York Times
The calls came in, one after the other, with reports of sea lions swaying their heads back and forth, foaming at the mouth, or slumped, lifeless on the beach. Rescuers along the central California coast struggled to keep up as they captured the sick animals in the hopes of saving them. Already, hundreds of sea lions and dozens of dolphins had died.
/jlne.ws/43UisPj
Bitcoin Miners Went Dark as Texas Power Grid Teetered on Brink; Moves spurred by elevated prices and incentives to conserve; Threat of power shortage lingers amid prolonged heat wave
Naureen S Malik, David Pan and Joe Carroll - Bloomberg
Bitcoin miners in Texas curbed operations, crimping power usage, as a heat wave drove electricity prices sky-high Tuesday and threatened to cripple the grid in the second-largest US state. The extent of the intentional shutdown and the amount of power conserved for other uses - such as residential air conditioners, medical centers and municipal water systems - was not yet immediately clear. But the curtailments were confirmed by industry participants and grid manager the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or Ercot.
/jlne.ws/3NHzlXH
China's dominance of solar poses difficult choices for the west; The unpalatable truth is that green technologies mean we will have to find ways to co-operate with Beijing
Graham Allison - Financial Times
According to the International Energy Agency, global spending on solar energy production in 2023 will for the first time in history outpace spending on oil production: $380bn on solar compared with $370bn on oil.
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ESG investors play the long game; 'Green' funds' performance has suffered, but clearer labelling should help consumers
Alice Ross - Financial Times
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In-house lawyers grapple with ESG demands; Amid greater numbers of increasingly complex rules, legal teams are guiding businesses on sustainability
Sarah Murray - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/42YgoV8
Oil Drillers Are Saving the Planet and Their Investors; Oil-field-service companies are repurposing their tools for clean energy
Jinjoo Lee - The Wall Street Journal
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Deutsche Bank's Sewing Sees Trading Recovery After Slump; CEO sees momentum after US resolved debt ceiling impasse; Bank has warned trading will decline 15%-20% in second quarter
Guy Johnson, Steven Arons and Nicholas Comfort - Bloomberg
Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing said fixed-income trading should improve in the second half, with momentum returning to the business in recent days after the US resolved the debt ceiling impasse.
/jlne.ws/46kcZCU
After $29 Billion Wipeout, Star Invesco Investor Plots Comeback; Leverenz has reopened EM stock fund to new clients this year; China regulation, Russia's war caused assets to drop from peak
Ye Xie - Bloomberg
Minutes into an hours-long interview in his downtown Manhattan office, Justin Leverenz, the star emerging-market stock investor at Invesco, starts comparing himself to Odysseus. It's something about choppy markets and tying himself to the mast of the ship to focus on a handful of big, bold, long-term bets. But underneath the grandiosity of it all, what Leverenz is driving at is this: He considers himself the dominant player in the market and, after a pair of wrong-way bets in Russia and China wrecked his returns the past two years and sparked an investor exodus from his fund, he's determined to climb back to the top.
/jlne.ws/3Nm5NOf
Europe's digital retail ETF market catches State Street's attention
Ed Moisson - Financial Times
State Street Global Advisors is exploring digital distribution of exchange traded funds as European retail investment platforms continue to grow in popularity. Inflows to ETFs from retail investors without financial intermediaries have been rising, particularly in Germany, where savings plans have encouraged the use of low-cost products.
/jlne.ws/3JtjDx7
Goldman Sachs Fund Replaces Outside Managers With Internal Quants; Goldman Multi-Manager Fund will slash annual management fee; Fund's assets shrank amid pullback from liquid alternatives
Miles Weiss - Bloomberg
Computer-driven algorithms are dethroning external money managers at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. alternative mutual fund that's seeking to slash fees and rebuild its dwindling assets. The quantitative investment strategies team will run the bank's Multi-Manager Alternatives Fund as of September, according to a recent filing. It will replace members of Goldman's alternative investments and manager selection group - now known as External Investment Group - which helped the fund allocate its capital among 11 outside firms as of March.
/jlne.ws/3palcJr
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | Why we are all so angry at work; We look into the reasons behind so many staff seeing red, plus our Office Therapy advice column
Isabel Berwick - Financial Times
That hushed atmosphere in your professional workplace may well conceal raging emotions. And I am not talking about love. Anger is on the rise at work - and it's especially heated in the UK. New Gallup data from its huge State of the Global Workplace Report 2023, with information from more than 122,000 respondents, shows that almost one in five UK professionals (19 per cent) report feeling angry at work. The global average is 21 per cent, but what's significant this year is that UK anger levels have risen 4 percentage points - and its workers are now far angrier than the European average (14 per cent).
/jlne.ws/44eyzao
Bosses' New Task Is Figuring Out Who's High at Work; With one in six American adults saying they smoke marijuana, companies change how they police use of the drug at work
Te-Ping Chen - The Wall Street Journal
More Americans are using marijuana. Their employers are trying to decide how much that matters. One in six American adults now says they smoke marijuana, a share that has eclipsed the number of cigarette smokers, according to recent Gallup data, and expanding legalization of the drug has led more companies to scrap employee drug-testing. Instead, many are leaning on managers to spot signs that workers are impaired on the job and determine what to do when they are.
/jlne.ws/3JtDH2q
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | The U.S. Population Is Older Than It Has Ever Been; New census data shows that the country's median age is now over 38. In 1980, it was 30.
Dana Goldstein - The New York Times
The median age in the United States reached a record high of 38.9 in 2022, according to data released Thursday by the Census Bureau. It's a rapid rise. In 2000, the median age was 35, and in 1980, the median was 30.
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Singapore Buys Record Amount of Used Cooking Oil From China; Exports of used cooking oil jumped 18% in May from April; Neste's refinery expansion in city-state drove increase
Alfred Cang - Bloomberg
Chinese exports of used cooking oil to Singapore jumped to a record last month, likely due to more demand from Neste Oyj's renewable fuel refinery. Shipments of UCO rose to 48,832 tons in May, 18% more than April and almost double the amount from a year earlier, according to data from Chinese customs. The surge was mainly attributable to the Finnish company's plant, which completed an expansion this year, said biofuel traders who asked not to be identified as they aren't authorized to speak publicly. The facility is the world's biggest renewable diesel refinery and largest producer of sustainable aviation fuel, according to Neste.
/jlne.ws/46l0G9J
Samurai Bond Market Lures EDF With Busiest Start in Five Years; EDF sold Samurai bonds Thursday, KAL also offering a note; Diverging borrowing costs are boosting debt sales in Samurai
Kazumi Miura - Bloomberg
Dovish Bank of Japan monetary policy is fueling the busiest start to issuance in Japan's domestic bond market for overseas issuers in five years, with Electricite de France adding to an uptick in deals on Thursday.
/jlne.ws/3Xs4Okc
China's Cnooc Plans Offshore Oil, Gas Exploration in Tanzania; Cnooc and TPDC to search for resources in deep-sea blocks; Equinor, Shell developing LNG terminal in East African nation
Fumbuka Ng'Wanakilala - Bloomberg
China's Cnooc Ltd. is planning offshore oil and gas exploration with state-owned Tanzania Petroleum Development Corp. as the East African nation seeks to boost the development of its natural resources.
/jlne.ws/3XhrJi5
Indian stock market surges as foreign funds buy into national growth story; Economic rebound has helped total market value of equities surpass those of France and UK
Hudson Lockett and Chloe Cornish - Financial Times
The overall value of India's stock market has surged more than 14 per cent in the past three months as foreign investors buy into the robust economic growth of the world's most populous country. The $440bn increase in the value of Indian equities to more than $3.5tn means India has climbed well above both France and the UK to regain the status of the world's fifth-largest stock market after the US, China, Japan and Hong Kong.
/jlne.ws/3CMsBS4
What Happens When the Lights Go Out? The horrors South Africa has endured thanks to its unreliable power grid may be visited upon other countries that aren't paying attention.
Timothy L. O'Brien - Bloomberg
We all take for granted that nifty little miracle that happens when we flip a switch on our walls or lamps and the lights go on. Electricity is a modern marvel. It's the juice that fuels much of what people mean when they talk about "civilization": Roads are illuminated, kids can do their homework at night, food gets preserved in the fridge, computers boot up, elevators move, etc. Coal-fired power plants also have a major downside: pollution and environmental degradation.
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