| October 28, 2024 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
|
| | | | First Read | | |
| | 2024 Newsletter Subscriptions: | |
Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
I have more sad news to report this morning. Anne Bagan, the retired CME clearinghouse executive and widow of MGEX CEO Mark Bagan, died on October 20th when her car became submerged in 15 feet of water about 20 miles north of Mauston, Wisconsin. Bagan, who lost her husband in April of this year, was known to her close knit group of friends as "Seg," signifying her role at the CME clearinghouse.
The CME Group issued this statement: "Anne Bagan was an important part of our clearing team for 25 years, helping to establish standards for financial surveillance that are used by exchanges and market participants around the world. She and her husband, Mark, were tremendous advocates for our industry and great friends to so many of us. Our hearts go out to Anne's children, family and friends."
Being a journalist in sensitive situations like this, when loved ones die and you need to get the facts to report, can be very difficult. It gets more difficult when you are in situations where it was sudden - an accident or shooting - and you are asking parents or brothers and sisters about the events. Sometimes passions run high and the role of the journalist is not appreciated.
Luckily, I have never been in that sensitive situation and I have never felt like I was the enemy, especially the enemy of the people. One of the candidates for president of the U.S. is blanketing the press, which would include me, with such a label. I consider myself an advocate for the people and for free and open markets.
Being able to talk to people in those delicate situations when someone has died involves developing trust, and a history of empathy. Trust and empathy are elements of being a friend, not an enemy.
Howard Lutnick found a friend he could trust to tell his 9/11 stories and other stories to in Anthony Pompliano, who is often called "Pomp." He is an American entrepreneur, investor, and Bitcoin advocate who has become a prominent figure in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry. He hosts "The Pomp Podcast," which has garnered over 50 million downloads and featured notable guests from tech, crypto, and venture capital. His YouTube channel has amassed 480,000 subscribers.
Lutnick was front and center at Donald Trump's Madison Square Garden event yesterday, explaining when America was last great (in 1900). Lutnick explained that back then there was no income tax, only tariffs. After World War I and World War II, when America embarked on rebuilding Europe and other parts of the world, it lowered its tariffs and instituted the income tax. Lutnick's rousing election presentation would have made you think he was the candidate.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has adopted new rule amendments and a rule aimed at enhancing the resilience and risk management of covered clearing agencies. These changes incorporate new requirements for intra-day margin collection, mandates for reliable risk-based margin systems, and elements for recovery and wind-down plans. The amendments established requirements for intraday margin collection, which include developing a risk-based margin system that can monitor intraday exposures, the authority to make margin calls as necessary, and documentation for when calls are not made. The rule also demands that clearing agencies use reliable data for their risk systems and has set two compliance deadlines: the first for filing proposed changes within 150 days and the second for implementing those changes within 390 days after publication in the Federal Register. These changes are significant for investors and the broader financial market because they aim to strengthen the infrastructure of clearing agencies, which play a vital role in the financial system by mitigating counterparty risk. By enhancing margin requirements and recovery plans, the SEC is working to ensure that covered clearing agencies can withstand financial shocks and continue to operate effectively, ultimately supporting market stability and investor confidence.
Robinhood is launching its first election betting contracts through the ForecastEx market, allowing users to wager on the outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. This move follows a federal court decision that effectively legalized election betting in the U.S. ForecastEx, owned by Interactive Brokers, debuted this year and expands Robinhood's reach into prediction markets. Starting with a limited rollout, eligible users can purchase contracts for either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump, with contract prices fluctuating between 2 and 99 cents based on demand. Correct predictions will yield a $1 payout per contract. There are stories by The Wall Street Journal, Blooomberg, CNBC, and Reuters, and the press release by Robinhood.
Here are the headlines from in front of FOW's paywall from some recent stories: HKEX to launch first Bitcoin, Ether index in November, ASX shareholders block executive pay rises for second time, CME in talks with regulator over US Treasury clearing filing, ANALYSIS: European traders warm to VSTOXX options ahead of US election and ANALYSIS: EEX to 'facilitate energy transition' with new products.
Phil Lesh, the innovative bassist and founding member of the Grateful Dead, passed away on October 25, 2024, at the age of 84, Bloomberg reported. Known for his unique approach to bass playing that redefined its role in rock music, Lesh was a crucial element of the Dead's improvisational style and psychedelic sound. Originally a classically trained violinist and jazz trumpeter, he joined the band in 1965 and remained an influential figure in the music world throughout his life. Lesh's contributions extended beyond music, as he was also recognized for his philanthropic efforts. His passing, surrounded by family, marks the end of an era for the iconic band that helped shape the San Francisco sound of the 1960s and beyond.
Have a great day and stay safe and treat people the same way you want to be treated: with respect, equality and justice.~JJL
*****
Our most read stories from our previous edition of JLN Options were:
- Futures Industry Still Grappling with Post-Trade Challenges, Expert Says from John Lothian News.
- Selling Stock Concentration Is the ETF Industry's New Big Idea from Bloomberg.
- Options Market Suggests Less Than 10% Probability of Bitcoin Reaching $100,000 by Year-End from Cryptonews. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
++++
Futures Industry Still Grappling with Post-Trade Challenges, Expert Says
JohnLothianNews.com
In an interview with John Lothian of John Lothian News, Joanna Davies, a managing director at OSTTRA, shed light on the ongoing challenges in the futures industry's post-trade processes. The discussion centered around the findings of an Acuiti report and the industry's response to issues that flared up in 2020. Davies emphasized that the Acuiti report served as a validation of OSTTRA's understanding of the problems plaguing the industry. "Two themes emerged," she noted. "The risk introduced by the heavy-handed position transfer process in the ETD market, and the complexity and cost of collateral and margin optimization." The reaction from clients to the report was one of fatigue, according to Davies.
Watch the video »
++++
Some billionaires, CEOs hedge bets as Trump vows retribution; With the race tight, some business elites are toning down past criticism of the former president.
Jeff Stein, Jacqueline Alemany and Josh Dawsey - The Washington Post
At a five-star resort in California last week, Wall Street executives, fast-food CEOs, a few dozen other industry titans and two former presidents gathered for off-the-record conversations. One subject that inevitably came up, according to two people familiar with the matter: The possibility that former president Donald Trump could return to the White House. The gathering of the Business Council - an invitation-only association of chief executives - at the Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach in Dana Point was not supposed to be about the election, but some attendees wound up discussing how to protect themselves and their companies if Trump wins the presidency next week and tries to use the power of the Oval Office against his perceived enemies, said the people, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.
/jlne.ws/3C28q5M
****** CEOs always hedge, but this time the stakes are a bit higher.~JJL
++++
How 1% of Polymarket Bettors Are Boosting Trump's Odds; An analysis of millions of transactions shows a handful of accounts with outsize impact.
Andre Tartar and Tom Fevrier - Bloomberg
Since Sept. 1, more than 102,000 Polymarket users have bet on whether Donald Trump or Kamala Harris will be the next president of the United States, propelling Trump's likelihood of victory to a high of 66.4% on Tuesday despite polls remaining close. According to trading activity, a small number of users are having an outsized impact on the odds.
/jlne.ws/3YqRJZ6
****** Here is a market that no U.S. citizens are allowed to participate in, that is being used to influence the election through substantial trades by a concentrated interest. Does not sound like a market to me. Of course, U.S. citizens are likely accessing the market despite being prohibited from trading on it by U.S. law. ~JJL
++++
Friday's Top Three
Our top read story Friday was Bloomberg's Wall Street Takes Tax-Loss Harvesting to the Next Level. Second was ICE and Dun & Bradstreet to Launch Climate Data and Analytics for Broad Universe of Public and Private Companies, from Intercontinental Exchange. And third was another ICE press release, The New York Stock Exchange Plans to Extend Weekday Trading on its NYSE Arca Equities Exchange to 22 Hours a Day.
++++
++++
|
|  | | | |
 | |
| Lead Stories | Robinhood jumps into election trading, giving users chance to buy Harris or Trump contracts
John Melloy - CNBC
Upstart broker Robinhood is jumping into the prediction betting game, announcing Monday users can begin trading the 2024 presidential election that is eight days away. Users can trade a Kamala Harris or Donald Trump contract starting Monday, said the company, as long as they meet certain criteria that include being a U.S. citizen. The trading is being offered through its Robinhood Derivatives unit and ForecastEx, which is operated by Interactive Brokers. Robinhood jumps into a suddenly crowded politics prediction markets field that grew this month after platform Kalshi won a key ruling against the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which was seeking to stop the election outcome trading. The CFTC is appealing the ruling. Shortly after, Interactive Brokers launched various political contracts, including on the election.
/jlne.ws/40lNGA7
Robinhood Rolls Out Presidential Election Betting
Hannah Miao - The Wall Street Journal
Robinhood is launching contracts that allow customers to bet on the outcome of the presidential election, the brokerage said Monday. The contracts are Robinhood's first foray into prediction markets and come after a recent federal court ruling effectively legalizing election betting in the U.S. The launch on Robinhood-which has about 24 million funded customers-opens election betting to a far broader user base than those found on other platforms offering such betting to Americans, such as Interactive Brokers or Kalshi.
/jlne.ws/3NHNzqV
Asset managers roll out new ETFs to tap in to AI buzz
Suzanne McGee - Reuters
Exchange-traded funds focused on artificial intelligence are proliferating as asset managers offer investors new ways to tap in to the market enthusiasm for AI, even while it remains unclear which companies will emerge as the long-term winners from the latest technology revolution. More than one-third of the two dozen ETFs that include artificial intelligence or AI in their name have been launched in 2024 alone, according to data from Morningstar. In the past week, three more joined their ranks, including a cloud computing ETF rebranded and revamped to specifically target AI. The AI ETF group now has assets of $4.5 billion, drawing it closer to the $5.5 billion nuclear power-themed ETF universe, and pushing it well above the cannabis sector, with $1.37 billion in assets.
/jlne.ws/3YBMAid
European Banks to Extend Dealing With Indian Clearing Firms
Ruchi Bhatia and Saikat Das - Bloomberg
Market regulators in France and Germany asked their banks to continue dealing with India's clearing houses beyond an October-end deadline, after a dispute over supervisory powers threatened to derail trading, according to people familiar with the matter. Europe's authorities set the deadline last year after their request for co-supervision of European trades settled through Indian clearing houses was denied by the Reserve Bank of India. They've told their banks to consider alternate arrangements with local lenders, said the people, who included an Indian official.
/jlne.ws/40lqMZm
Election Loss Sparks Concern About Making Tokyo Financial Center
Nao Sano - Bloomberg
The shock loss of the majority for Japan's ruling coalition is making bankers in Tokyo worried about the new government's commitment to revitalizing financial markets including a push to boost its presence in asset management. A disastrous showing for the Liberal Democratic Party and the Komeito Party at lower house elections over the weekend was casting doubts about a pledge to make Japan a "leading asset management center." That had been a "positive factor" for the Japanese stock market, with clear appeal to overseas investors, said Masahiro Ichikawa, chief market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Co. The market will likely adopt a wait-and-see attitude to see whether the policy will be continued, he said.
/jlne.ws/3AelHro
Wall Street and Tech Royalty Fly to Saudi Amid Mideast War
Matthew Martin - Bloomberg
Saudi Arabia will host the biggest names in finance and technology this coming week in a test of investor appetite for the kingdom's ambitions of transforming itself into a global hub at a time of widening regional conflict. International executives will have to contend with a region rocked by geopolitical tensions, with the threat of further military confrontation between Israel and Iran at the highest levels in decades. And they will land in a country that is increasingly facing up to the fact that even its vast oil wealth has limits.
/jlne.ws/4hqpnqz
TradeStation Group Announces Inaugural Crossroads Summit; Summit will feature several keynote speakers, including ARK Invest's Cathie Wood, best-selling author Peter Zeihan and Jamie Metzl, Founder and Chair of One Shared World
TradeStation Group, Inc.
TradeStation Group, Inc., a Florida-based company whose main operating subsidiary provides award-winning*, self-clearing online brokerage services for trading stocks, options, futures, and futures options, is excited to announce the inaugural Crossroads Summit, which is scheduled to take place at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, from November 21-22, 2024. The Crossroads Summit is anticipated to be a high impact gathering for visionaries and industry leaders looking to navigate and capitalize on global change. The event will bring together global industry leaders, strategists, investors, traders, some of TradeStation's top customers, and multi-disciplinary thinkers to confront the challenges of an evolving geopolitical, economic, and technological landscape. The focus-Chaos Meets Innovation-aims to inspire attendees to forecast and strategize for the years ahead.
/jlne.ws/4eYm889
Jump Trading, Virtu and the 'hidden optical fibre cable' under an Ohio field; Skywave Networks accuses Wall Street titans of 'continuous racketeering and conspiracy'
George Steer - Financial Times
Financial markets are full of quirky, monetisable correlations. When, for example, the price of the S&P 500 E-mini (which is traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange) rises or falls, the Dax future (traded 7,000km away on the Eurex market in Germany) tends to do the same thing a few milliseconds later. A trader with a fast enough network could therefore make a (very) quick profit by buying or selling the FDAX whenever the E-mini moves accordingly and waiting for everyone else to catch up.
/jlne.ws/4f0zJvQ
Reports of bullying, discrimination surge in British financial services
Reuters
Reports of bullying, discrimination and other non-financial misconduct in Britain's finance industry surged almost 60% over three years to 2023 - and more than one third of firms did not report such cases to their boards, a regulatory survey showed. In the first comprehensive study of how banks, insurers and brokerages detect and handle such misconduct, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said on Friday that the number of reports, which rose to 2,347 in 2023 from 1,363 in 2021, could also point to a healthy "speak up" culture.
/jlne.ws/3YmJEEH
A special investigation reveals the places where farm animals endure "sadistic" abuse; These marketplaces are the backbone of the meat industry, where cruelty to animals is the norm.
Jessica Scott-Reid - VOX
In large barns across the US, packed with gates, crates, and hollering farmhands, animals are unloaded, pushed around, reloaded, and hauled away. Those who survive the chaos are sold to the highest bidder, to be killed for their meat. Those unable to cope with the hectic pace, intense heat, and harsh treatment are injured and sometimes die before they ever leave the grounds.
/jlne.ws/3C2Zjln
Europe Needs Clearing Competition, Not a Single CCP
Vikesh Patel, Cboe Clear Europe - LinkedIn
In early September, Mario Draghi sent ripples through Europe's post-trade industry. The former ECB President suggested the region should move towards the creation of a single central counterparty (CCP) and central securities depository (CSD) for all securities, replicating the US market structure, as a way of promoting more efficient, integrated and competitive European capital markets.
/jlne.ws/3NLebr7
Editor resigns, subscribers cancel as Washington Post non-endorsement prompts crisis at Bezos paper
Max Tani - Semafor
The Washington Post's leadership recently sought meetings with the Democratic and Republican nominees for president, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, people familiar with the requests said. Neither campaign scheduled the meeting, Post editors assured the Harris campaign a meeting wouldn't affect an endorsement. And insiders and outsiders alike assumed the Post would choose the Democrat, as virtually every American newspaper has in the last two elections.
/jlne.ws/3YlQOta
Hedge Funds Are Gaining Influence in Market for Europe Dividends; Euro Stoxx 50 dividend futures outstanding are at a low; Multi-strats are trading other types of dividend products
Christian Dass - Bloomberg
Hedge funds are increasingly reshaping the multi-billion dollar market for European dividends. Futures on Euro Stoxx 50 Index payouts have traditionally been heavily influenced by hedging flows from structured products. But shifts in issuance have allowed multi-strategy hedge funds to play a more prominent role in the market, often using other types of derivatives. As a result, the number of listed Euro Stoxx 50 dividend futures outstanding has dropped to its lowest average since 2010 this year. The broader market, which also includes options on payouts, now counts around 8 million contracts on Eurex, down from more than 9 million at the peak in 2021, according to a presentation in September.
/jlne.ws/40rGeDD
US market increasingly ready to embrace alternative trading systems; Almost 40% of US electronic traders have "a lot" of interest in having "more innovative" trading venues to choose from, according to the latest Coalition Greenwich report.
Claudia Preece - The Trade
As equity traders continue to seek ever more innovative ways to bolster their offerings, the rise of alternative trading systems (ATSs) has followed - currently executing around 16% of all US equity volume. When it comes to the industry's opinion on "new innovative trading venues", the latest Coalition Greenwich report found that an overwhelming 91% of both US low-touch brokers and their buy-side clients have between "a little" and "a lot" of interest in the venues.
/jlne.ws/4hmMRNe
Bond Trading Frenzy Risks Giving Market Makers a False Sense of Security; September was biggest corporate bond trading month on record; Liquidity could quickly dry up if global markets gyrate
Caleb Mutua - Bloomberg
On the surface, the corporate bond market has never looked more stable and liquid. In the US, the market recorded its busiest month ever for trading volume in September. But history suggests that the ability to trade smoothly is only there until you need it, and the International Monetary Fund warned this week that tight spreads are raising the risk of an abrupt repricing of credit.Typically, the volume of trades rises when investors crave risk, according to Blair Shwedo, head of fixed income sales and trading at U.S. Bank. Securities that are relatively easy to sell can also help money managers limit losses and return cash to investors redeeming when markets sell off.
/jlne.ws/3C26gmE
Franklin Templeton hit by record outflows as clients ditch troubled Western unit; SEC probe and poor returns prompt withdrawals just as group's rivals are benefiting from a rush into bonds
Madison Darbyshire - Financial Times
Franklin Templeton is battling the worst quarter for outflows in its history, as reputational damage and poor returns spurred tens of billions of dollars of withdrawals from its fixed-income business just as rivals are being boosted by falling interest rates. The group, which manages $1.7tn in assets, announced in August that the co-chief investment officer of its largest subsidiary had been put on leave amid a probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
/jlne.ws/3YEOCy7
Bangladesh central banker accuses tycoons of 'robbing banks' of $17bn with spy agency help; Conglomerate rejects claim it co-operated to siphon money out of the country during rule of ousted Sheikh Hasina
John Reed - Financial Times
Bangladesh's new central bank chief has accused tycoons linked to the toppled regime of Sheikh Hasina of working with members of the country's powerful military intelligence agency to siphon $17bn out of the banking sector during her rule. In an interview with the Financial Times, Ahsan Mansur - who was appointed Bangladesh Bank governor after Sheikh Hasina fled the country in August - said the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence had helped force takeovers of leading banks. Mansur said an estimated Tk2tn ($16.7bn) had been spirited out of Bangladesh after the bank takeovers, using methods such as loans made to their new shareholders and inflated import invoices.
/jlne.ws/40t3HUC
|
| | | |
|
| |
| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | How a Mumbai Drugmaker Is Helping Putin Get Nvidia AI Chips
Andy Lin (News), Shruti Srivastava, Advait Palepu and Viktoria Dendrinou - Bloomberg
Occupying the top three floors of an unremarkable office building in northern Mumbai, there's little to distinguish Shreya Life Sciences from the many other commercial businesses that keep the Andheri neighborhood of India's largest metropolis humming throughout the day. But this inconspicuous pharmaceutical company is part of a lucrative trade in leading-edge technology to Russia that has the US and its European allies worried at India's burgeoning role as an intermediary in the sales.
/jlne.ws/4fiT9fa
Russian attacks prompts Ukraine's Zelenskiy to ask allies for more resolve
Reuters
A string of Russian attacks killed and injured civilians in widely separated parts of Ukraine, prompting President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to issue a new call to Kyiv's allies on Saturday to intensify pressure on Moscow. Rescue teams in the central city of Dnipro completed operations on Friday after Russian missile attacks that killed five people, including a child, and injured more than 20.
/jlne.ws/48tsPN5
Ukraine Resorts to Shaking Down Nightlife Spots for Recruits as Troop Numbers Fall; Manpower is the decisive factor in a drawn-out war of attrition-with Russia's population four times the size of Ukraine's
Isabel Coles and Jane Lytvynenko - The Wall Street Journal
Ukraine is widening its dragnet in the search for troops to shore up its creaking front lines, conducting spot checks of men at upscale venues including a concert and a wine store in Kyiv and a street of hip eateries in Odesa. The stepped-up efforts show the difficulties Ukraine faces in raising new soldiers to backfill front-line losses as the war approaches the three-year mark. Tensions are rising in society over how some prominent figures, including state prosecutors, evade the draft through medical exemptions, leading President Volodymyr Zelensky's attorney general to resign last week.
/jlne.ws/4hncSfl
North Korean Soldiers Arrive on Russia's Front Line. How Ready Are They to Fight?
Dasl Yoon and Timothy W. Martin - The Wall Street Journal
The North Korean troops nearing Russia's front lines with Ukraine may not be the cream of the crop in Kim Jong Un's army. They are seemingly young-teenagers or in their early 20s-and likely in the early stages of military conscription, according to video footage and intelligence officials. The soldiers appear relatively short and slightly built, reflecting widespread malnourishment across impoverished North Korea, military analysts say.
/jlne.ws/3YDeRoH
|
| | | |
|
| |
| Israel/Hamas Conflict | | News about the recent (October, 2023) conflict between Israel and Hamas | Israel's Limited Attack on Iran May Help Spur Regional Deal
Ethan Bronner - Bloomberg
Israel's assault on Iran early Saturday, coordinated with Washington and limited to missile and air defense sites, was more restrained than many expected and may help diplomatic efforts to return hostages and limit the combat in both Lebanon and Gaza. Israel held off until US Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned to Washington from four days of consultations with Israeli and Arab allies.
/jlne.ws/4f0fRsO
Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 70 as UN chief calls civilians' plight 'unbearable'; One person killed as truck rams into bus stop in Israel, and Benjamin Netanyahu heckled at memorial event
Bethan McKernan - The Guardian
Approximately 70 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes in the past day, health officials in Gaza said, as Israel's renewed campaign in the north of the strip shows no sign of slowing despite the revival of ceasefire talks after a three-month-long hiatus. Separately, one person was killed when a truck rammed into a bus stop in Ramat Hasharon, north of Tel Aviv, on Sunday, in what Israeli police are treating as a suspected terrorist attack. About 40 people were injured to varying degrees, some seriously, and were taken to nearby hospitals, police said.
/jlne.ws/48wFSNR
How Biden pushed Israel to calibrate its strikes on Iran
Phil Stewart and Humeyra Pamuk - Reuters
Hours after Iranian missiles rained down on Israel on Oct. 1, President Joe Biden's administration sent an urgent message to Israel: Take a breath. Israel, Washington argued, owned the clock and had time to decide on how to best respond to an Iranian strike that the United States assessed could have killed thousands if Israel, with U.S. military support, hadn't been able to defeat the attack from its long-time foe.
/jlne.ws/4fiXfny
Iran says it will 'use all available tools' to respond to Israel's attack
Reuters
Tehran will "use all available tools" to respond to Israel's weekend attack on military targets in Iran, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday. Iran previously played down Israel's air attack on Saturday, saying it caused only limited damage, while U.S. President Joe Biden called for a halt to escalation that has raised fears of an all-out conflagration in the Middle East.
/jlne.ws/48rx7ED
|
| | | |
|
| |
| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Nasdaq Migrates ISE Options Market to Fusion
Shanny Basar - Markets Media
Nasdaq said it has migrated International Securities Exchange (ISE) to Fusion, so that four out of six of its US options markets and one European equity derivatives market are now running on Fusion, its next-generation derivatives platform.Adena Friedman, chair and chief executive, said on the third quarter results call on 24 October: "Four of our US options markets are running on Fusion, resulting in lower latency, higher throughput and overall increased productivity."
/jlne.ws/3UnTll7
HKEX to launch first virtual asset index series on Nov 15
Yuan Talks
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) will launch the HKEX Virtual Asset Index Series on November 15, in an aim to offer a reliable benchmark for virtual assets and support Hong Kong's development as Asia's leading digital assets hub, the HKEX announced on Monday. The Index Series provides investors with transparent and reliable benchmarks for Bitcoin and Ether pricing in the Asian time zone and it seeks to provide a single reference price for virtual assets, it said.
/jlne.ws/3C3HJxC
HKEX Welcomes Hong Kong Government Appointment to Its Board
HKEX
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) today (Monday) welcomed the Hong Kong Government's appointment of Mr Herbert Chia to its Board of Directors. The term of the new director will begin on 29 October 2024 and will end at the conclusion of the HKEX Annual General Meeting in 2026.
/jlne.ws/3YmS3Ir
Thailand Futures Exchange To List EUR/THB Futures And JPY/THB Futures On November 4
TFEX
Thailand Futures Exchange PCL (TFEX) announced the launch of two new currency futures on EUR/THB and JPY/THB on November 4, 2024. TFEX Managing Director Rinjai Chakornpipat said the two new contracts - EUR/THB Futures and JPY/THB Futures are cash-settled contracts. EUR/THB Futures has a contract size of EUR 10,000, while JYP/THB Futures has a contract size of JPY 100,000. Thus, including these new contracts, there will be five currency futures contracts available for trading in TFEX, namely USD/THB, EUR/THB, JPY/THB, EUR/USD and USD/JPY.
/jlne.ws/48oggm9
Results of Annual General Meeting
ASX
/jlne.ws/40lbyUg
Cboe Global Markets Declares Fourth-Quarter 2024 Dividend
Cboe
Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE), the world's leading derivatives and securities exchange network, today announced its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.63 per share of common stock for the fourth quarter of 2024. The fourth-quarter 2024 dividend is payable on December 13, 2024, to stockholders of record as of November 29, 2024.
/jlne.ws/4hpOzNS
Fast-Tracking EU investments onto the JSE: Euronext joins global exchanges network on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange
JSE
Euronext now stands alongside an esteemed group of global exchanges already recognised for the JSE's fast-track process, including Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (HKEX), the London Stock Exchange, Australian Securities Exchange, New York Stock Exchange, Toronto Stock Exchange, and the Singapore Stock Exchange. Established in 2000, Euronext has nearly 1,900 listed companies - some of which include investment giant Prosus, and beverage corporation Heineken - worth approximately EUR6.3 trillion in market capitalisation a as of the end of September 2024.
/jlne.ws/3YqMYyZ
Nasdaq to Join the American Bankers Association's Partner Network as a Premier Partner
Nasdaq
Nasdaq announced today that it will join the American Bankers Association (ABA) Partner Network as a Premier Partner. Through the newly established partnership, Nasdaq will provide ABA members with an extensive library of expert resources and software tools to help them tackle the most complex problems faced by the financial industry across risk management, anti-financial crime, as well as supporting better workflow and efficiency in how they manage governance and board activity. This partnership between the ABA and Nasdaq will support banks as they navigate an increasingly complex governance, regulatory and financial landscape by increasing resilience, streamlining processes and enhancing operational efficiency.
/jlne.ws/3AdYvJO
From Lucerne to the World: Emmi's 20 Years on SIX Swiss Exchange; At the top for 20 years: Emmi has developed from a national market leader into a successful global company. However, the path to success was no coincidence - the stock exchange listing played a key role.
SIX
Emmi, Switzerland's largest dairy company, is celebrating a special anniversary this year: 20 years on SIX Swiss Exchange. Since its IPO in 2004, Emmi has developed from a national pioneer into a global player. The listing on SIX Swiss Exchange played a decisive role in fulfilling the expansion plans and strategic acquisitions. In the last two decades, Emmi has acquired over 40 companies, mostly from other countries. Today, Emmi generates around 60% of its sales abroad.
/jlne.ws/4e3xM0g
|
| | | |
|
| |
| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | BlockFills Announces Further Push into Software with Expansion into Payments Market; Enterprise payments companies and FinTechs can now leverage BlockFills' trusted trading infrastructure for on-and-off ramp transactions between crypto and fiat
BlockFills
BlockFills, a leading digital assets technology and trading firm for institutions and professional traders, today announced the broad launch of a new service aimed at helping enterprise payments companies and FinTechs securely and efficiently process transactions between crypto and fiat. BlockFills unveiled the new market expansion at the first full day of the Money20/20 USA conference, the world's largest gathering of the global money ecosystem attracting more than 11,500 attendees from thousands of companies in the payments, fintech, financial services and other sectors.
/jlne.ws/4f1Qsie
Hong Kong Pledges More Licenses for Crypto Exchanges by Year-End
Kiuyan Wong and Suvashree Ghosh - Bloomberg
Hong Kong authorities expect to license more digital-asset exchanges by the end of 2024 after completing a five-month inspection period that had raised doubts about the prospect of further approvals. A finalized list of the platforms graduating from a provisional permit to fully licensed will be published by year-end, said Eric Yip, executive director for intermediaries at the Securities and Futures Commission, in a speech at the annual Fintech Week event on Monday.
/jlne.ws/4fgCM2w
'AI will acquire a human form,' top Nvidia executive tells Nikkei forum; Speaking at same event, Hyundai CEO Chang says hydrogen to be a key focus
Akane Okutsu - Nikkei Asia
Artificial intelligence "will acquire a human form," a senior official at U.S. chipmaker Nvidia told an event in Tokyo on Monday, while the CEO of Hyundai Motor said the South Korean automaker would create a "hydrogen ecosystem." The executives were speaking on the opening day of the Global Management Dialogue, a forum organized by Nikkei and Swiss business school IMD.
/jlne.ws/4hg6vL7
Google to develop AI that takes over computers, The Information reports
Reuters
Alphabet's Google is developing artificial intelligence technology that takes over a web browser to complete tasks such as research and shopping, The Information reported on Saturday. Google is set to demonstrate the product code-named Project Jarvis as soon as December with the release of its next flagship Gemini large language model, the report added, citing people with direct knowledge of the product.
/jlne.ws/48rmeCI
|
| | | |
|
| |
| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Reuters exposé of hack-for-hire world is back online after Indian court ruling
Reuters
Reuters News has restored to its website an investigation into mercenary hacking after a New Delhi court lifted a takedown order it issued last year. The article, originally published on Nov. 16, 2023, and titled "How an Indian startup hacked the world," detailed the origins and operations of a New Delhi-based cybersecurity firm called Appin. Reuters found that Appin grew from an educational startup to a hack-for-hire powerhouse that stole secrets from executives, politicians and wealthy elites around the globe.
/jlne.ws/4eYted2
|
| | | |
|
| |
| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Coinbase introduces 'Based Agent' for creating AI agents in 3 minutes
CoinTelegraph
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has launched a new tool called "Based Agent," claiming it allows crypto users to set up their own artificial intelligence agent with a crypto wallet in under three minutes. Once created, the agent can handle various onchain tasks, from trades to swaps and staking. "Our goal here is to make it as easy as possible to start building your own AI agent," Coinbase developer Lincoln Murr said in a video posted to X on Oct. 26.
/jlne.ws/3UuwBQz
Crypto's 'Too Big to Fail' Token Tether Faces New Threat From US
Michael P. Regan and Olga Kharif - Bloomberg
Of all the legal actions taken against cryptocurrency companies by US regulators and prosecutors over the past year, arguably none threatens to shake up the digital-asset industry as much as a potential crackdown on Tether Holdings Ltd. Tether is the issuer of a namesake token known as USDT, designed to be a digital substitute for the US dollar, with a market capitalization of about $12O billion. It ranks as the third-biggest cryptocurrency by value, and is the most-traded token on a daily basis due to its role as a stand-in for the dollar in markets where traders aren't able to use traditional currencies for transactions.
/jlne.ws/3O35tVr
Stablecoin giant Tether rebuffs criminal investigation claims
William Farrington - Proactive
Stablecoin giant Tether did not mince words when responding to a bombshell Wall Street Journal article revealing a supposed US government investigation into the cryptocurrency firm. According to a WSJ report citing "people familiar with the matter", Tether is facing a criminal investigation into possible violations of sanctions and anti-money-laundering rules.
/jlne.ws/48nCAfM
America's "crypto election" enters the home stretch
Peter McKay - LinkedIn
Vox's Whizy Kim offered some eye-popping stats in a recent post about crypto-industry donations to U.S. political campaigns: "Crypto has spent a record $119 million in the 2024 federal elections, magnitudes more than it has ever spent before. This huge number means that crypto accounts for almost half of all corporate political contributions in this cycle. Its spending since 2010, totaling $129 million, puts the industry second only to fossil fuels, according to a report from the progressive consumer advocacy group Public Citizen." I should note: Those numbers were current as of mid-September, when Whizy's post was published. So the final tally on crypto donations will certainly be even higher by the time Americans go to the polls in person on Nov. 5. One other crucial detail to keep in mind for now: The winner of the presidential race will likely not be settled on Election Night.
/jlne.ws/4eZWlN2
Crypto exchanges turn to derivatives to lure cautious investors; New market entrants switch focus to offering leveraged bets
Nikou Asgari - Financial Times
Crypto trading venues are expanding rapidly into derivatives, hoping that tougher regulation and the promise of highly leveraged returns will lure cautious investors into the market. Next month Dutch crypto futures and options venue D2X will launch while London-based One Trading and GFO-X are both planning to launch early next year.
/jlne.ws/48rErQD
|
| | | |
|
| |
| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Introducing the Presidential Election Market
Robinhood
Robinhood will begin rolling out presidential election event contracts on October 28 through Robinhood Derivatives Two weeks ago, we hosted hundreds of Robinhood customers in Miami at our inaugural HOOD Summit. There, we announced Robinhood Legend, and that index options and futures would be coming soon, offered by Robinhood Derivatives, LLC (RHD). Now RHD is following up on this announcement with the launch of presidential election event contracts, ahead of the November 5 general election. Event contracts allow customers to trade on the outcome of specific events, such as whether a candidate will win an election. Robinhood's presidential election event contracts will begin rolling out to a limited number of customers today. Customers must apply and meet certain criteria to be approved for a RHD account, including being a U.S. citizen and more. Once approved, customers will be able to trade based on their prediction for "who will win the 2024 presidential election." There will be two contracts to choose from-one for Kamala Harris and one for Donald Trump.
/jlne.ws/4dZmqKV
Don't Cancel The Washington Post. Cancel Amazon Prime. The subscription money enriching Jeff Bezos could instead be spent on the journalism crucial to preserving democracy.
Ellen Cushing - The Atlantic
The biggest story in months about media and democracy wasn't an article-it was the absence of one. The news broke yesterday afternoon: For the first time in almost 50 years, The Washington Post would not be endorsing a presidential candidate. In fact, it would be ending the practice altogether. An endorsement-of Kamala Harris-had been drafted by "editorial page staffers," a Post article reported, but then came the decision not to publish it. That choice was made not by the paper's editorial board or newsroom leadership, the Post (and others) reported, citing anonymous sources, but by its owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
/jlne.ws/48rcvwd
Trump's nostalgia for 19th century tariffs has alarming implications for the world; The former president's trade team is playing with global fire
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - The Telegraph
Donald Trump has a mystical fixation with tariffs. His pin-up idol is the forgotten champion of 19th century protection, William McKinley. But which McKinley does he mean? The raw congressman from Ohio behind the McKinley Tariff Act of 1890, which lifted average tariffs to a 19th century high of 52pc and pushed the economy into depression? Or the chastened and wiser President McKinley, who changed his mind and came to view tariffs as leverage to secure "reciprocal" free trade deals? It matters enormously to the world - and to Britain - which of the two would inform a Trump presidency. There is evidence for both. Trump oscillates back and forth.
/jlne.ws/4fihLof
Robinhood jumps into election trading, giving users chance to buy Harris or Trump contracts
John Melloy - CNBC
Upstart broker Robinhood is jumping into the prediction betting game, announcing Monday users can begin trading the 2024 presidential election that is eight days away. Users can trade a Kamala Harris or Donald Trump contract starting Monday, said the company, as long as they meet certain criteria that include being a U.S. citizen. The trading is being offered through its Robinhood Derivatives unit and ForecastEx, which is operated by Interactive Brokers.
/jlne.ws/40lNGA7
Extremely Racist 'Comedian' Speaks at Trump Rally, Calls Puerto Rico 'Garbage'; Speaking at Trump's rally in New York, Tony Hinchcliffe said Latinos "love making babies" and called Puerto Rico "a floating island of garbage"
Naomi Lachance - Rolling Stone
Controversial comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made several racist comments about Latinos at former President Donald Trump's rally on Sunday at Madison Square Garden in New York City. "I welcome migrants to the United States of America with open arms. And by open arms I mean like this," Hinchcliffe said, waving his hands "no," then waving his hands forward to indicate that they should go away. He continued: "It's wild. And these Latinos, they love making babies, too, just know that. They do. They do. There's no pulling out. They don't do that. They come inside, just like they did to our country." He then cackled, adding: "Republicans are the party with a good sense of humor." Hinchcliffe then called Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, "garbage." "There's a lot going on," he said. "Like I don't know if you know this, but there's literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it's called Puerto Rico."
/jlne.ws/3NMj5Uw
France and Europe Need to Get Finances in Order, ECB's Knot Says
Mark Schroers - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4dZSCO1
How China Uses Mexico To Avoid U.S. Tariffs
CNBC (YouTube Video)
/jlne.ws/48ndPQY
Hong Kong Unveils AI Policy for Finance, Floats Tax Breaks for Crypto
Kiuyan Wong and Newley Purnell - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4fhM2Ua
When Japan's predictable politics go awry
Reuters
/jlne.ws/4e75HoV
|
| | | |
|
| |
| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Vietnam Considers Curbs on Retail Investors in Private Bonds, VnExpress Reports; Proposal places no restrictions on institutional investors; Securities law changes follow bond fraud cases rocking markets
Nguyen Kieu Giang - Bloomberg
Vietnam is weighing rules curbing the ability of retail investors to buy or trade private corporate bonds in a move to protect individuals from the sometimes risky and volatile debt market. The draft amendment to the securities law would limit retail investors to buying and trading corporate bonds offered by companies with credit ratings that are backed with collateral, or whose payments are guaranteed by a credit institution, according to a statement posted on the Ministry of Finance's website. The National Assembly will begin reviewing the proposal, which places no limits on institutional investors, this week.
/jlne.ws/3Ype7SB
Federal Court Orders Precious Metals Dealer, its CEO and President to Pay $49M for Fraudulent Misappropriation Scheme
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced U.S. District Judge Fernando M. Olguin, Central District of California, issued orders of default judgment against a company and two individuals: Regal Assets LLC, a California LLC; Regal Assets' owner and CEO, Tyler G. Gallagher, formerly of Los Angeles; and Regal Assets' former President Leah Donoso of Robinson, Texas.
/jlne.ws/3YmDrsr
SEC Adopts Rule Amendments and New Rule to Improve Risk Management and Resilience of Covered Clearing Agencies
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today adopted rule amendments and a new rule to improve the resilience and recovery and wind-down planning of covered clearing agencies. The rule amendments establish new requirements regarding a covered clearing agency's collection of intraday margin as well as a covered clearing agency's reliance on substantive inputs to its risk-based margin model. The new rule prescribes requirements for the contents of a covered clearing agency's recovery and wind-down plan.
/jlne.ws/4hkMenv
SEC Small Business Advisory Committee to Discuss Approaches to Venture Capital Fundraising and Challenges Facing Emerging Fund Managers
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission's Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee today released the agenda for its meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. The meeting will include a discussion of how venture capital fund managers are raising capital, including the limits of arm's length fundraising and challenges facing emerging fund managers. Members of the public can watch the live meeting via webcast on www.sec.gov.
/jlne.ws/4fEtqhB
Statement on Clearinghouse Resiliency, Recovery, and Wind-Down
Chair Gary Gensler - SEC
Today, the Commission approved amendments to help ensure the continuity of clearing services during times of significant stress. I am pleased to support the amendments because they enhance the resiliency of an important part of our market plumbing, clearinghouses, which are fundamental for the capital markets to operate. Clearinghouses facilitate what happens after one executes a transaction through the time that it settles. Working on a classic hub-and-spoke model, they sit in the middle of the markets and reduce risks amongst and between counterparties.
/jlne.ws/3UqeXNW
Federal Court finds HCF Life contract term was liable to mislead the public
ASIC
The Federal Court has found that a 'pre-existing condition' term in certain HCF Life Insurance Company Pty Ltd (HCF Life) policies was liable to mislead the public. The term was used in three contracts issued under HCF Life's 'Recover' range of products.
/jlne.ws/40lMmNF
Wise boss slapped with tax disclosure fine of £350,000; Kristo Kaarmann received a £365,651 fine from the FCA in February 2021; HMRC added him to their list of public tax defaulters seven months later
Harry Wise - This Is Money
The co-founder and chief executive of financial technology firm Wise has been fined £350,000 for failing to inform the City regulator of personal tax issues. Kristo Kaarmann would have paid a £500,000 penalty but received a 30 per cent discount because of his co-operation with the Financial Conduct Authority.
/jlne.ws/3YFw1lD
FCA fines Kristo Kaarmann £350,000 for failing to notify the FCA of significant tax issues
FCA
The FCA has fined Mr Kaarmann, the CEO of Wise plc and senior manager of Wise Assets UK Ltd, £350,000 for breaching a senior manager conduct rule. In February 2021, Mr Käärmann paid a significant fine to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) of £365,651. He was fined for deliberately failing to notify HMRC of a capital gains tax liability after he sold shares worth £10m in 2017. In September 2021, HMRC subsequently added Mr Käärmann to their public tax defaulters list.
/jlne.ws/3BUXrLd
BIS and Central Bank Partners Demonstrate that Policy Compliance can be Embedded in Cross-border Transactions with Project Mandala
MAS
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and its central bank partners have successfully demonstrated with Project Mandala that regulatory compliance can be embedded in cross-border transaction protocols.
/jlne.ws/3YoZVsV
MAS Announces Finalists for the 2024 Global FinTech Hackcelerator and FinTech Excellence Awards
MAS
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced today the 42 finalists for the 2024 Global FinTech Hackcelerator and the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) FinTech Excellence Awards. The winners will be revealed at the SFF FinTech Excellence Awards 2024 dinner on 7 November 2024.
/jlne.ws/3NJSPua
Encouraging progress made in asset management pilot use case in the Project Ensemble Sandbox
SFC
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) is pleased to announce a step forward in the realm of asset management, as one of the Project Ensemble Sandbox participants - a financial institution - successfully completed a first-of-its-kind simulation of the dealing and trading process of a tokenised money market fund (MMF) using tokenised deposits (TD) within the Sandbox environment.
/jlne.ws/3YEEcOU
New speech by Eric Yip: Keynote speech at Hong Kong FinTech Week 2024
SFC
A speech titled "Charting a Regulatory Roadmap for Hong Kong's Virtual Asset Market" delivered by Dr Eric Yip at the Hong Kong FinTech Week 2024 was posted on the SFC website today.
/jlne.ws/4eYtbOo
SFC sets out vision to foster a vibrant fintech ecosystem in Hong Kong
SFC
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) today sets out its vision for fostering a healthy and robust fintech ecosystem in Hong Kong by outlining several major areas of its initiatives to balance market development and investor protection.
/jlne.ws/3Yo6trV
|
| | | |
|
| |
| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | China Gold Demand Plunges as Record Prices Deter Jewelry Buyers
Bloomberg
Gold demand in China - the world's biggest consumer - plunged by more than a fifth in the third quarter as record prices and a sluggish economy dented consumption, especially for jewelry. Total demand fell by 22% to 218 tons in the three months to September, according to Bloomberg calculations based on data from the China Gold Council on Monday. Jewelry consumption tumbled 29% to 130 tons, while for bars and coins there was a 9% drop to 69 tons. Gold prices have rallied by about a third this year, hitting a fresh peak last week, on increased purchases by central banks, as well as sustained haven demand from investors. That surge has made jewelry purchases much more expensive at a time when many Chinese consumers are already feeling the strain from a prolonged slowdown in the economy.
/jlne.ws/48tsDNR
This Little-Known Private-Equity Firm Booked a 79-Fold Return; Energy investor Lime Rock generated an outsize gain from riding the West Texas oil boom over 17 years
Luis Garcia - The Wall Street Journal
Patience paid off in a big way for Lime Rock Management. The private-equity firm recently sold the shares it received as part of the August sale of its majority stake in oil-and-gas producer CrownRock, notching what is perhaps one of the buyout industry's biggest scores. Energy-focused Lime Rock grossed 79 times the $96.5 million it had invested in Midland, Texas-based CrownRock since forming the oil patch operator some 17 years ago, according to fund investors and people familiar with the matter. The return includes dividends representing roughly 15 times Lime Rock's outlay that were paid from CrownRock's cash flow over the life of its investment, the people said.
/jlne.ws/40ncgAl
Millennial Mining Heirs Bet the Family Business on Argentine Copper; The Lundin Brothers, Adam and Jack, share the family appetite for risk.
Jacob Lorinc - Bloomberg
When he was 16, Adam Lundin was lowered by helicopter into the remote wilderness of northern Canada. For the son of a wealthy mining mogul, this was something of an initiation. He spent the summer hunting for gold - shadowing grizzled prospectors and geologists, bushwhacking through the Boreal forest. He even dug holes for where the outhouses would go. "I just wanted to be kept busy," he said.
/jlne.ws/4hfSjS6
Next Hurdle for Treasuries Is Whether US Keeps Debt Sales Stable; Dealers see long-term debt auctions held steady for now; Focus of refunding guidance will be on coming quarters
Liz Capo McCormick - Bloomberg
With its confidence in future interest-rate cuts shaken by US economic resilience, the Treasuries market is also facing doubts about how much longer the US government can avoid ramping up its borrowing. Even as the US continues to clock historically large fiscal deficits, the Treasury Department since May has issued guidance that it will hold note and bond auction sizes as-is "for at least the next several quarters." The next so-called quarterly refunding announcement is due Wednesday.
/jlne.ws/4fnsJJ4
China Jan-Sept gold consumption slides 11% as high prices deter buying appetite
Amy Lv and Joe Cash - Reuters
/jlne.ws/3NF6enn
|
| | | |
|
| |
| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | BlackRock wants to talk about retirement. Climate, not so much; The US asset manager is promoting its pension and infrastructure offerings, after an ESG backlash
Brooke Masters - Financial Times
More than two years after BlackRock ran into a buzz saw of criticism from US conservatives over its advocacy for sustainable investing, the world's largest money manager is attempting to change the subject. Chief executive Larry Fink has not used the word "climate" on an analyst call since January, and he mentioned climate, sustainability or the word green just eight times - out of 11,000 words - in his closely watched annual letter in March.
/jlne.ws/3YEEl51
Russia 'withholding' vital climate data in the Arctic, warns Nato; Official says accurate modelling of global warming is being hit
Alice Hancock and Attracta Mooney - Financial Times
Nato has warned that Russia is withholding vital data needed for scientists to model the scale and effects of climate change from the Arctic, a strategically important region that is the fastest warming part of the planet, as part of a wider misinformation campaign being waged against the west. "They are withholding some of the important information that is needed for the [climate] reporting," a senior Nato official told the Financial Times.
/jlne.ws/3YDd17h
Free Electricity, Anyone? Britain Tries New Tricks to Green Its Grid.; A utility sends phone alerts when wind power is cheap. A builder sells "zero bill" houses. They're among several experiments to redefine how people value electricity.
Somini Sengupta - The New York Times
Were Heathcliff to roam the blustery moors around Wuthering Heights today, he might be interrupted by a ping on his cellphone saying something like this: The wind is raging, so power is cheap. It's a good time to plug in the car. OK. So the 18th-century literary occupants of these windswept hills received no such pings.
/jlne.ws/3UreTxc
Five ways a Trump presidency would be disastrous for the climate; Second Trump term would restore climate denialism to an Oval Office efficiently dismantling protections"
Oliver Milman - The Guardian
The climate crisis may appear peripheral in the US presidential election but a victory for Donald Trump will, more than any other issue, have profound consequences for people around a rapidly heating world, experts have warned. During his push for the White House, Trump has called climate change a "hoax" and "one of the great scams of all time" while vowing to delete spending on clean energy, abolish "insane" incentives for Americans to drive electric cars, scrap various environmental rules and unleash a "drill, baby, drill" wave of new oil and gas.
/jlne.ws/3YmUF9d
Filling in the Blanks on Kamala Harris' Climate Agenda; Climate hawks are putting forward plans to accelerate clean technologies and impede fossil fuels, pushing beyond President Biden's legacy.
Jennifer A Dlouhy and Ari Natter - Bloomberg
Kamala Harris hasn't laid out a detailed vision for addressing climate change and energy if she's elected president - but she's already getting plenty of advice. Environmentalists and former advisers have outlined their prescriptions for ways a victorious Harris could build on Biden-era climate initiatives - including the sweeping Inflation Reduction Act - to drive more US clean energy deployment and winnow planet-warming pollution worldwide.
/jlne.ws/3YDM9nG
Antarctica's Fate Will Impact the World. Is It Time to Give The Region a Voice at Climate Talks?; A new declaration aims to make the southernmost continent an autonomous legal entity, akin to a nation-state, with inherent rights to participate in decision making that affects it.
Katie Surma - Inside Climate News
With the Earth at its most degraded point in recorded history, and humans making insufficient efforts to prevent the destruction of ecosystems, a growing number of scientists, lawyers and activists are proposing a potential solution that challenges more than 350 years of global governance. The idea is to get countries and civil society to sign onto a declaration that recognizes Antarctica and its surrounding Southern Ocean as its own autonomous legal entity, similar to a sovereign country. Along with that status comes the right of Antarctica to participate in decision making that affects it, like the United Nations conferences on climate and biodiversity.
/jlne.ws/3Ai2SDK
Current climate pledges still fall way short on Paris goals, UN body says
David Stanway - Reuters
National pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions still fall far short of what is needed to limit catastrophic global warming, the United Nations said on Monday as countries prepare for the next round of climate change negotiations in November. The "nationally determined contributions" (NDCs) already submitted by countries to the U.N. are enough to cut global emissions by 2.6% from 2019 to 2030, up from 2% last year, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said in its annual assessment.
/jlne.ws/48mfGWf
Germany to Cut Some Solar Farms Off Subsidies Amid Oversupply; Too much renewable power has led to rising costs for state; Draft law aims to lower threshold for direct marketing
Eva Brendel - Bloomberg
Germany plans to narrow the pool of solar producers that are eligible for subsidies after an oversupply of renewable power has led to rising costs for the government. The country's rapid solar expansion has led to wholesale power prices frequently turning negative during hours when supply exceeds demand - for instance on particularly sunny days. Since the government ensures producers get paid a minimum feed-in tariff, it has had to shell out the difference, with renewable subsidies estimated in May to hit EUR20 billion ($21.6 billion) this year, and possibly total EUR18 billion in 2025.
/jlne.ws/4e7c2kd
Pemex CEO Inherits One of World's Most Inefficient Oil Companies
Scott Squires - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3BUYYAX
Sardinia's wind farm nightmare - and what it means for Britain
Henry Bodkin - The Telegraph
/jlne.ws/48qEGf5
Senegal energy contracts review leaves investors uncertain; Audit threatens African nation's hard-won reputation as reliable place to do business, critics warn
Aanu Adeoye and David Pilling - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3YBUPLb
|
| | | |
|
| |
| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Cash Is No Longer King, but It's Hardly Trash. That's Trouble for Brokers.
Telis Demos - The Wall Street Journal
The flight of cash out of brokerage accounts might be slowing, or even reversing. But what is sticking around might still be costlier to hold on to. Since the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates in 2022, brokerages have seen a key revenue source come under big pressure: What they can earn on customers' uninvested cash. When rates were super low, brokers could earn a good margin by sweeping that money into banks, either for fees from partners or as an ultra-low-cost deposit in their own banks to then deploy for a higher yield.
/jlne.ws/48qB5NY
U.S. Banks Sitting on $750 billion In Losses On Real Estate Debt Related Securities-Which Sectors Are Most Exposed?
Eric McConnell - Benzinga
The 2008 financial crisis exposed numerous flaws in America's financial system, such as the inherent danger of America's largest banks being overleveraged. Significant dangers remain despite a slate of reforms designed to keep banks on sound financial footing going forward. A recent article in Cryptopolitan magazine revealed that American banks' potential loss exposure on real estate-related securities skyrocketed to $750 billion in Q3 2024.
/jlne.ws/3NJeeUa
Kepler taps Bank of America for new head of sales trading hire; Incoming appointment previously held positions at Bank of America and JP Morgan Cazenove.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
Kepler Cheuvreux has appointed Oliver Mudie as head of sales trading, US client zone, KCx, based in London. Mudie joins Kepler from Bank of America (formerly Bank of America Merrill Lynch), where he spent the last 18 years.
/jlne.ws/3A3LZww
|
| | | |
|
| |
| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | Elon Musk Beats Biden's Regulators on Free Speech; The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overrules the National Labor Relations Board over deleting a tweet.
The Editorial Board - The Wall Street Journal
Elon Musk scored a First Amendment victory on Friday when the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the National Labor Relations Board can't take away his speech rights (Tesla v. NLRB). The Fifth Circuit's 9-8 en banc decision reverses a ruling that the NLRB could force Mr. Musk to delete a 2018 tweet that the United Auto Workers claimed was coercive. The National Labor Relations Act makes it an unfair labor practice for an employer "to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise" of their labor rights.
/jlne.ws/48qDDMb
|
| | | |
|
| |
| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Alzheimer's Link with Gut Health Revealed by New Study
Hatty Willmoth - Newsweek
Scientists at Florida State University (FSU) have discovered a potential link between gut bacteria and the likelihood of developing Alzheimer's disease. An estimated 6.7 million older adults have Alzheimer's disease in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-a figure that is expected to double by 2060. The most common type of dementia, the disease involves memory loss and cognition issues that gradually get worse over time as the brain deteriorates. But FSU scientists have discovered a potential reason why some people might be more likely to develop Alzheimer's, paving the way for potential preventative treatments-and it's all to do with the gut.
/jlne.ws/4f2SwXm
Experts sound the alarm over unexpected contributor to worsening mental health crisis: 'It's a threat multiplier' "All have negative mental health consequences."
Margaret Wong - The Cool Down
Climate change is not only affecting our planet, but it is also taking a toll on our mental health. What's happening? As reported by Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine, experts are finding that climate change leads to an uptick in climate anxiety. Climate anxiety comes from confronting environmental uncertainty and the devastation of natural disasters. Johns Hopkins researchers point out that people exposed to severe weather events are experiencing depression and PTSD at higher rates, particularly in affected communities.
/jlne.ws/4hqpDpx
Dengue fever is rare in L.A. That could start to change because of climate change
Alejandra Borunda - NPR
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes have spread into Southern California in the past decade, likely introduced from the U.S. Southeast, where technicians photographed these mosquitoes trapped on a sticky pad. Unlike California's native mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti are capable of spreading dengue fever- a disease common in the tropics, but still rare in most of the United States. Last year was the first time the disease spread locally in Southern California.
/jlne.ws/3Us7QEy
|
| | | |
|
| |
| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Coffee Regions in Vietnam Soaked by Heavy Rain as Harvest Starts
Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen - Bloomberg
Tropical Storm Trami has dumped heavy rain across some parts of Vietnam's key coffee-growing region, just as the world's biggest producer of robusta starts harvesting beans. The provinces of Gia Lai and Kon Tum in the Central Highlands bore the brunt of the downpour, with some areas getting as much as 160 millimeters (6 inches) of rain since Saturday, according to the local weather bureau. Vietnam's coffee harvest typically runs from October to April.
/jlne.ws/48wrAwQ
Egypt Says Delayed Russian Wheat Shipment Expected in November
Abdel Latif Wahba - Bloomberg
Egypt will begin receiving a delayed Russian shipment of 430,000 tons of wheat in November, Supply Minister Sherif Farouk told Bloomberg on Monday. Farouk didn't provide additional details and declined to lay out the reasons behind the delay in the deal that was reached in September. The shipment had been planned for October, with delivery no later than the first week of November.
/jlne.ws/3YmtBqA
Nigeria Signs Naira-Funding Deal With IFC to Cut Currency Risks; IFC plans to provide more than $1 billion in financing; Currency devaluation exposes firms to risks on dollar loans
Emele Onu - Bloomberg
Nigeria's central bank and the International Finance Corp. signed an agreement to facilitate local-currency financing, hoping to boost demand for naira while helping firms to avoid the the exchange-rate risk of borrowing in foreign currencies. "The IFC aims to significantly scale up its financing of critical sectors in Nigeria, with a goal of providing more than $1 billion in the coming years," the institutions said in joint statement on Monday. "The partnership will allow the IFC to manage currency risks and increase its investment in Nigerian naira across priority sectors" including agriculture, housing, infrastructure and energy, they said.
/jlne.ws/4f6sbrp
|
| | | |
|
| |
Disclaimer: All John Lothian Newsletters, JohnLothianNews.com, MarketsWiki.com and MarketsReformWiki.com are products of John Lothian News, a division of John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. The opinions expressed in all John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. publications are strictly those of their respective editors. They are intended solely for informative purposes and are not to be construed, under any circumstances, by implication or otherwise, as an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy or trade in any commodities or securities herein named. Information is obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but is in no way guaranteed. No guarantee of any kind is implied or possible where projections of future conditions are attempted. Security futures are not suitable for all customers. Futures and options trading involve risk. Past results are no indication of future performance. Nothing on any John J. Lothian & Company site should be considered an endorsement by any sponsor of any website or newsletter content.
© 2024 John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
|
|
