| February 10, 2025 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
ICE's Jeff Sprecher stars in a short splashy video shown on LinkedIn about how ICE is enhancing market access and transparency, starting with energy, expanding into fixed income, and now transforming the mortgage industry.
The Financial Times' Robin Wigglesworth's FT Alphaville column on sovereign bonds, titled "Trump's 'interesting problem' with Treasuries," tells the story of how President Donald Trump claimed that Elon Musk's government efficiency team had discovered irregularities in US Treasury data, suggesting that some Treasury items might not count-potentially indicating that the nation's debt is lower than believed. Speaking on Air Force One en route to the Super Bowl, Trump offered few details but speculated that these anomalies could lead to a re-evaluation of government debt figures. Musk's team, which has been examining Treasury payments data (mainly payments to contractors and grant recipients rather than bond-related transactions), had raised questions on social media, though neither the White House nor the Treasury Department provided further comment.
Many observers view Trump's offhand remark as yet another unpredictable statement from his administration-one that is unlikely to affect policy, as any suggestion of selectively defaulting on parts of US sovereign debt would risk triggering a severe financial crisis. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently emphasized the focus on lowering the 10-year Treasury yield, underscoring the delicate balance of fiscal management. In this context, Trump's suggestion is broadly dismissed by experts as a "brain fart" unlikely to have any lasting impact on market perceptions or US economic policy.
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) announced today that it has partnered with CanDeal DNA to launch a new service offering intraday price updates and bond analytics for Canadian fixed income securities, enhancing its existing pricing and reference data suite. Available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, the service delivers hourly updates-including pricing, spreads, and standard analytics-for over 80,000 CAD-denominated instruments, providing market participants with detailed insights into intraday price volatility. This collaboration aims to enable more informed investment decisions and improved risk management by supplying both intraday and end-of-day reference prices, marking a significant upgrade to ICE's real-time pricing and analytics capabilities in the Canadian fixed income market.
The London Metal Exchange (LME) today named former CME executive Harriet Hunnable as an independent non-executive director. Hunnable brings more than 30 years of regulatory and financial market expertise-including leadership roles at the FCA and involvement with the Bank of England, IOSCO, and the Financial Stability Board-to bolster the board's capabilities. She replaces Martin Fraenkel, vice chairman of S&P Global Platts, a division of S&P Global, who is stepping down to focus on other commitments.
Here are the headlines from in front of FOW's paywall from some recent stories: Bank of England to redraw European regulation in line with overhaul, LME welcomes regulatory veteran Harriet Hunnable to board, CBOT lists 200 grain and soybean options with weekly expiries - FOW Data, ANALYSIS: Cboe looks to 'additive' retail flow to boost options growth, Eurex wishes Korea Exchange well after terminating agreement and ANALYSIS: Firms breaking FCA reporting rules can expect fines - Kaizen.
I am pleased to announce that my daughter Katherine "Kat" Lothian has accepted a position with the Badgerland Girl Scout Council in Wisconsin as camping director and will start on March 2. Kat graduated from West Virginia University Institute of Technology in May with a degree in adventure recreation management. She has been looking for a position as a camping director in the midwest to return closer to home and family and she has succeeded in the goal. Unfortunately, because of the start of her new position, she will not be able to attend FIA Boca this year. She has attended the last five years and assisted with our video operations.
Her journey towards this job began when she went away to summer camp in Wisconsin at a YMCA camp, Camp Anokijig. But it began in earnest when the readers of this newsletter helped some of my Boy Scouts attend the World Scout Jamboree in Japan in 2015. She decided she wanted to attend it so she joined and I paid for her trip, some of the best money I ever spent. She came home full of Scout spirit. This eventually changed her college plans after she took a summer job at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia, the high adventure base of Scouting America, formerly Boy Scouts of America. She eventually would go back every summer. She stayed and attended school in West Virginia and worked for the Scouts all year round while going to school. Without the help of this newsletter's readers in sending my Scouts to Japan, I am not sure this journey would have started or ended this way. There is much more to the story, but thank you for your part in helping Kat.
Have a great day and stay safe and treat people the same way you want to be treated: with respect, equality and justice.~JJL
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Our most read stories from our previous edition of JLN Options were:
- Younger Investors Like Options and Crypto. They Might Be Sorry. from Barron's.
- Traders See Profits Evaporate in Minutes as Trump Convulses Bets from Bloomberg.
- Exchange operator Cboe's quarterly profit climbs as hedging activity surges from Reuters. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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Bob Pisani: Sticking With It - Life Lessons from the NYSE Floor
JohnLothianNews.com
Bob Pisani is the last of his breed. Pisani was hired in the summer of 1990, a year after CNBC went on the air, and is one of the last original hires from that first year of operation.
Pisani aspired to be both a physicist and a journalist and was determined not to follow his father's path into the real estate business. However, during his early college years, he discovered that his skills in physics were merely adequate, prompting a change in direction. Instead, he partnered with his father-an adjunct professor in real estate-to co-author a book on the subject. That book eventually led to an interview with the fledgling CNBC, and ultimately, a job offer to become the network's real estate correspondent.
Watch the video »
Dr. Pedro Gurrola-Perez and Richard Metcalfe - World Federation of Exchanges
Watch Part 1 »
Dr. Pedro Gurrola-Perez and Richard Metcalfe - World Federation of Exchanges
Watch Part 2 »
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Younger Investors Like Options and Crypto. They Might Be Sorry.; Members of Gen Z are starting their investing journey at younger ages than older generations did.
Andrew Welsch - Barron's
Thanks to smartphones, easy-to-use brokerage accounts, and zero-commission trades, everyone is just a swipe away from buying stocks or other financial instruments. As a result, Americans are starting their investing journeys at far younger ages than previous generations.
/jlne.ws/4hPylwY
****** I liked baseball cards and comic books, but I grew out of it. Then I ran into a guy at my first job who had a $30,000 comic book collection. ~JJL
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Crypto Firms on the Hunt for Well-Connected Washington Lobbyists; Wallet provider Exodus recently hired first director of policy; Industry wants to stay close to crypto-friendly administration
Teresa Xie - Bloomberg
A growing number of crypto companies are shopping around to hire well-connected lobbyists or policy experts to bolster their presence in Washington and have a line to the new digital asset-friendly administration. "Last year we had a couple conversations with crypto companies, but since the election, that number has gone up infinitely," Sam Geduldig, managing partner at Republican lobbying firm CGCN said. "Every day we're chatting with firms who want to know about access and strategy."
/jlne.ws/42UlEwV
****** It is not what you know, it is who you know, who knows what they know about who they know.~JJL
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The Investor Betting on People In Their 50s and 60s-Because Older Is Better; Forget what you think you know about brilliant young entrepreneurs. Most people who start successful companies are in middle age or beyond.
Ben Cohen - The Wall Street Journal
Bridget Johns has always been entrepreneurial. She had just never actually been an entrepreneur. She grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania and ran a corn stand in her driveway. Instead of getting an allowance, she got piglets that she raised and sold at the county fair. After college and business school, she held a series of jobs at luxury retailers in offshoot divisions that felt to her more like startups. Then she worked as an executive at an actual startup. But she had always dreamed of building a company of her own. A few years ago, she decided that if she didn't take the risk then, she never would. So she did. Johns became a first-time founder-at the age of 51.
/jlne.ws/3EsJp51
****** I founded John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. in 2003 when I was 42. I didn't make the cut for this story.~JJL
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A Super Bowl ad featuring Google's Gemini AI contained a whopper of a mistake about cheese
Irina Ivanova - Fortune
It's not as bad as suggesting putting glue on your pizza-but Google's AI still seems to have trouble getting its cheese facts straight. A Super Bowl ad meant to highlight "new and incredible ways [Google customers] use AI to transform how they work" instead has the internet talking about AI's propensity for making things up.
/jlne.ws/4jTZVLi
****** There was a hole in the cheese and it was not Gouda.~JJL
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Friday's Top Three
Our top story Friday was CFTC Acting Chair Pham Removes the HR Head Investigating Her, from Bloomberg. Second was CFTC Statement on False Allegations Targeting Acting Chairman, the CFTC's response to the Bloomberg article on Caroline Pham. Third was Traders See Profits Evaporate in Minutes as Trump Convulses Bets, from Bloomberg.
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| Lead Stories | Trump's 'interesting problem' with Treasuries; Debtcon 1
Robin Wigglesworth - Financial Times
Well, this is, uh, something. President Donald Trump suggested that Elon Musk's government efficiency team has found irregularities while examining data at the US Treasury Department, and intimated that may lead the US to disregard some payments. "There could be a problem, we've been reading about that, with Treasuries," Trump told reporters Sunday on Air Force One en route to the Super Bowl. It wasn't immediately clear whether he was talking about US government debt, or payments processed through the Treasury Department. "That could be an interesting problem because it could be that a lot of those things don't count," he said. "Therefore maybe we have less debt than we thought of."
/jlne.ws/3CNtjlR
Euronext Mulls Moving All ETFs on Its Exchanges to One Venue
Emily Nicolle and Anna Irrera - Bloomberg
Euronext NV is in discussions with market participants about potentially moving all of the exchange-traded products listed on its bourses to a single trading venue. The European exchange operator is considering several options to consolidate the number of ETP listings across its seven bourses, including a solution that would bring them all together in Amsterdam, according to people familiar with the talks who are not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. It's also possible that Euronext would let each product issuer pick one exchange for all of their listings, one of them said.
/jlne.ws/4aPa7Rr
Crypto ETF Hopefuls View SEC's Latest Moves as Change of Pace; SEC is seeking comments on Solana ETF filing for first time; Issuers are hopeful new SEC will embrace pro-crypto choices
Emily Graffeo - Bloomberg
Donald Trump's pick to succeed Gary Gensler as chair of the SEC hasn't been officially installed yet, but the regulator is already taking incremental steps on a path to approving a handful of new cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds. On Thursday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission said its seeking public comments on Grayscale's Solana and Litecoin exchange-traded products, according to two filings. Industry observers say it's an encouraging sign and change of pace from the agency, which previously had not acknowledged filings for ETFs that track the spot price of Solana, one of the largest cryptocurrencies behind Bitcoin and Ether. The SEC began to seek comment for another Litecoin ETF in January.
/jlne.ws/4aQ8hzJ
For CEOs and Bankers, the Trump Euphoria Is Fading Fast; Deals market gets curtailed by uncertainty delivered in president's first weeks
Lauren Thomas, Ben Dummett and Chip Cutter - The Wall Street Journal
It took less than a month for the second Trump administration to cool the enthusiasm of chief executives and dealmakers. Consumer sentiment is down and inflation expectations are rising, driven in part by worries about the impact of a threatened trade war. The deals market just ended its quietest January in a decade. A Justice Department that was expected to wave through acquisitions instead sued to block a big technology merger.
/jlne.ws/3WWmwgF
Musk's DOGE Blocked From Treasury Data in State AGs Lawsuit
Erik Larson - Bloomberg
A federal judge temporarily blocked Elon Musk's government efficiency team from accessing some Treasury Department information and ordered the destruction of data they've already gathered in response to a lawsuit from a group of states. US District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan issued the temporary restraining order hours after 19 mostly Democratic-led states filed the suit against President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The order will remain in place until the judge rules on a longer lasting injunction sought by the states. He set a hearing for Feb. 14.
/jlne.ws/3CKsiLm
Musk calls for impeachment of judge who blocked DOGE access at Treasury
Ian Swanson - The Hill
Elon Musk is calling for the impeachment of the federal judge who made a decision early Saturday morning that the Treasury Department should block access to anyone "other than civil servants with a need for access to perform their job duties" from its payment systems. The order explicitly prohibits special government employees and those detailed from outside the department from getting access to the systems, a designation that would cover Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
/jlne.ws/40V7lp0
Donald Trump to impose 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports; US president's plans hit shares of some European and Asian steel producers
James Politi in Washington - Financial Times
Donald Trump said he would on Monday impose 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports, expanding his trade conflicts to the metals sector in a new burst of protectionism from Washington. The US president made the announcement during a briefing with reporters as he flew from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida to attend the Super Bowl in New Orleans on Sunday evening. Canada, China and Mexico were in 2023 the biggest exporters to the US of steel and aluminium products, but the proposed levies would potentially ensnare countries from Brazil to Germany to South Korea.
/jlne.ws/4hsEvTX
TD Bank seeks to raise $14 billion in Schwab stake exit
Christine Dobby - Bloomberg
Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO, TD) expects to raise about $14 billion through the sale of its entire stake in Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) as part of a corporate overhaul in the wake of its historic US money-laundering settlement. Toronto-Dominion will sell 184.7 million shares of Schwab's common stock, representing 10.1% economic ownership, it said in a statement Monday. Schwab has agreed to buy back $1.5 billion of its shares from TD.
/jlne.ws/3WSwNu6
Trump's second term requires a new playbook for equity investors
Esha Dey and Jessica Menton - Bloomberg
President Donald Trump's mercurial approach to his signature tariffs whipsawed markets last week. And investors trying to position their equity portfolios to manage this ongoing uncertainty are finding the playbook from his first term offers little help. What hasn't changed is Trump's strategy of pledging aggressive levies on trading partners and then quickly backtracking, either delaying them or canceling them completely. What has changed is basically everything else.
/jlne.ws/3QbAEPd
China + 1 Trades in Focus as PM Modi Heads to US
Ashutosh Joshi - Bloomberg
Good morning, this is Ashutosh Joshi, an equities reporter in Mumbai. Nifty futures point to a positive start this morning, even as most Asian markets are down, weighed by President Donald Trump's pledge to impose tariffs on all imports of steel and aluminum. That said, Morgan Stanley is of the view that domestic growth is recovering, and so the ongoing correction in equities may be a good opportunity to start accumulating them.
/jlne.ws/4jT6Cxb
Behind the Oil Industry's Biggest Divorce: Chevron Versus California; The energy giant sank the state's first successful oil well, kicking off a boom that powered California's economy for more than a century; goodwill has since gone dry
Collin Eaton - The Wall Street Journal
After more than 140 years together, Chevron dumped California via text, in a split fueled by snubs, insults, accusations and the lure of a new partner. Chief Executive Mike Wirth tried to reach Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom for more than a week last summer and texted him, hoping to get the governor on the phone. He wanted to talk to Newsom about the company's plans to move its global headquarters from San Ramon, Calif., to Houston.
/jlne.ws/3EsckpQ
A Rothschild Who Crusaded for Kinder Capitalism Adjusts to the Trump Era; The turn against do-gooder capitalism is a fascinating case study in how investment fads get going, and how they die
James Mackintosh - The Wall Street Journal
Big companies have turned against diversity and environmental action as they try to curry favor with an avowedly anti-woke President Trump. Also turning away from the movements embodied by the acronyms DEI and ESG are academics and one of the leading campaigners for a friendlier form of capitalism, as the entire financial culture shifts. Lynn Forester de Rothschild is a friend of Hillary Clinton who raised funds for her White House campaign, and roped in Britain's now-King Charles III and the pope to try to reform capitalism a decade ago.
/jlne.ws/4gFgDLI
Big banks could be sidelined from future rescue deals - FSB; Exacerbation of too-big-to-fail means G-Sibs could already be too large to take extra assets
Luke Clancy - Risk.net
Banks like JP Morgan and UBS could be barred from bidding for failed lenders in the future. That is the view of the Financial Stability Board's secretary general, who has warned about creating institutions too large to safely fail. John Schindler (pictured) joined the FSB as secretary general in February 2023, prior to which he spent more than 20 years at the Federal Reserve Board, most recently as a senior associate director in its division of financial stability.
/jlne.ws/4hBcee3
More guidance, less enforcement: the SEC under Paul Atkins; Current and former insiders expect clearer crypto rules and an end to regulatory violation sweeps
Janice Kirkel - Risk.net
If Paul Atkins is confirmed as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission by Congress as expected, he will be no stranger to its offices at 100 F Street NE in Washington, DC - he has worked there twice before. His first stint as a lawyer at the regulatory agency ran from 1990 to 1994, and included working for then-chairman Arthur Levitt. From 2002 to 2008, Atkins was a commissioner during the administration of George W. Bush, working under three different chairmen. Since then, he has run
/jlne.ws/4gygnOI
Trump Says He Might Use U.S. Transit Agency to 'Kill' Congestion Pricing; In an interview with The New York Post, President Trump said that congestion pricing hurt New York City but indicated that he was still talking with Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Jeffery C. Mays - The New York Times
President Trump said that he was considering using the federal Department of Transportation to "kill" congestion pricing, which he claimed was deterring people from coming into Manhattan. But Mr. Trump, in a weekend interview with The New York Post, was vague about how he might try to stop the program. Options could include withholding federal transportation funds or revoking a key federal authorization to toll drivers. He also said that he was still in discussions with Gov. Kathy Hochul about the future of congestion pricing and other matters. The president also vowed in the interview to eliminate bike lanes, which are approved by the New York City Department of Transportation. "They're dangerous. These bikes go at 20 miles an hour. They're whacking people," he said. Charging most vehicles a $9 fee to enter Manhattan below 60th Street is "destructive" to New York, the president said.
/jlne.ws/40ULLkJ
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Zelenskyy confirms a new Ukrainian offensive in Russia's Kursk region
Associated Press
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed a new Ukrainian offensive in Russia's Kursk region and said that North Korean troops were fighting alongside Russian forces there. "In the areas of the Kursk operation, new assaults have taken place," Zelenskyy said during his Friday address, adding, "Russia has once again deployed North Korean soldiers alongside its troops." According to Zelenskyy, a "significant number" of enemy troops were destroyed. He gave no details but said the losses were in the hundreds.
/jlne.ws/3WQpVgQ
Don't Blink Now, Trump. Russia's Economy Is Cracking; The worst thing the US and Europe could do is engage in a fratricidal conflict.
Marc Champion - Bloomberg
For at least a year now, the Kremlin has been convinced - and persuaded many others - that it holds all the cards in Ukraine, with more manpower and ammunition, a bigger arms industry and, as a result, an advantage in the most important commodity of all for a war of attrition: time. This presumption proved a fallacy from the first day of the war, when Russian troops marched into Ukraine expecting instant victory, with parade uniforms in their backpacks but just a few days' worth of fuel and supplies. It remains false today, as difficult as Ukraine's position on the front lines has become - not least because Russia's economy is losing its near-miraculous Teflon shield.
/jlne.ws/3Es8xsC
'Be Cruel': Inside Russia's Torture System for Ukrainian POWs; In the early weeks of the war, prison authorities told top guards there would be no restrictions against violence
Thomas Grove - The Wall Street Journal
In the weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, the head of St. Petersburg's prisons delivered a direct message to an elite unit of guards tasked with overseeing the influx of prisoners from the war: "Be cruel, don't pity them." Maj. Gen. Igor Potapenko had gathered his service's special forces at the regional headquarters to tell them about a new system that had been designed for captured Ukrainians.
/jlne.ws/4hRGGjW
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| Middle East Conflict | | News about the current conflict in the Middle East that began with the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. | Trump says people should think of Gaza as 'a big real estate site' the US will own; 'We'll let other countries develop parts of it - it'll be beautiful', he chimed
Madeline Sherratt - The Independent
President Trump has doubled down on his call to transform Gaza from a devastated wartorn territory to "a big real estate site" that ultimately, the U.S. will own. Speaking with reporters Sunday during an Air Force 1 press gaggle ahead of the Superbowl in New Orleans, Trump spoke about his plans to rebuild the shattered territory following nearly 18 months of conflict between Israel and Hamas. "Think of it as a big real estate site and the United States is going to own it," he said, when pushed on Gaza.
/jlne.ws/4hT3TCq
How Hizbollah is using cash and WhatsApp groups to shore up power; Weakened by war with Israel, the group is deploying a vast patronage network to strengthen its base
Malaika Kanaaneh Tapper and Richard Salame in Srifa - Financial Times
After her son, a Hizbollah military officer, was killed in an Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon last year, Umm Hassan made lapel pins of his image to commemorate him. When the pain was at its worst, she told herself he had chosen this path. Umm Hassan, 56, was also consoled by the expensive private school her grandchildren would attend thanks to Hizbollah's Martyr Foundation. Though she was not a party member, she said the group "had not left anyone behind".
/jlne.ws/3EwcZqe
Frailty of Israeli Hostages Freed by Hamas Sparks Alarm; Families, government worried by three men's appearance as fragile cease-fire holds
Carrie Keller-Lynn and Summer Said - The Wall Street Journal
Hamas released three more hostages on Saturday under a three-week-old cease-fire deal that has become a test of wills between the militant group and Israel. The group freed Or Levy, 34, who was taken from the Nova music festival 16 months ago, and Ohad Ben Ami, 56, and Eli Sharabi, 52, who were kidnapped from their homes in Kibbutz Be'eri near the Gaza border. Israel reciprocated by releasing 183 Palestinian prisoners later in the day.
/jlne.ws/4hMbthU
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | ICE Expands Intraday Pricing and Analytics Offering for Canadian Fixed Income Markets with CanDeal DNA
ICE
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading global provider of technology and data, today announced the launch of intraday price updates and bond analytics data for Canadian fixed income securities through an agreement with CanDeal DNA, a premier source for Canadian fixed income and OTC derivatives pricing and analytics data. This new offering enhances ICE's existing suite of pricing and reference data for fixed income asset classes, including Canadian fixed income securities. ICE can now provide pricing, spreads and standard analytics fields updating at hourly intervals from 8AM to 5PM (ET).
/jlne.ws/3EtFq89
LME appoints Independent Non-Executive Director
London Metal Exchange
The London Metal Exchange (LME) is pleased today to announce the appointment of Harriet Hunnable as Independent Non-Executive Director of the Board. Harriet has more than 30 years of regulatory and financial markets experience. During her career, Harriet was responsible for financial benchmark policy at the FCA and led reform assessments of the integrity of major financial market benchmarks with the Bank of England, IOSCO and the international Financial Stability Board.
/jlne.ws/4hpvJWS
Cboe Global Markets to Present at the BofA Securities 2025 Financial Services Conference on Cboe
Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE), the world's leading derivatives and securities exchange network, announced today that Fredric Tomczyk, Chief Executive Officer, Jill Griebenow, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, David Howson, Executive Vice President and Global President, and Chris Isaacson, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, will present at the BofA Securities 2025 Financial Services Conference in Miami, Florida on Wednesday, February 12 at 12:10 p.m. ET. The live webcast and replay of the presentation will be accessible at ir.cboe.com, under Events and Presentations. The archived webcast is expected to be available within an hour of the presentation.
/jlne.ws/3Cw2AKE
Nasdaq, Inc. Announces Cash Tender Offers for Up to $200 Million Outstanding Debt Securities
Nasdaq
Nasdaq, Inc. (Nasdaq: NDAQ) ("Nasdaq" or the "Company") today announced its offers to purchase for cash up to an aggregate principal amount of $200,000,000 (the "Aggregate Notes Cap") of its outstanding Notes, comprised of (i) up to $40,000,000 aggregate principal amount (the "2028 Notes Cap") of the Company's 5.350% Senior Notes due 2028 (the "2028 Notes"), (ii) up to $50,000,000 aggregate principal amount (the "2034 Notes Cap") of the Company's 5.550% Senior Notes due 2034 (the "2034 Notes") and (iii) up to $110,000,000 aggregate principal amount (the "2052 Notes Cap") of the Company's 3.950% Senior Notes due 2052 (the "2052 Notes"). The 2028 Notes, the 2034 Notes and the 2052 Notes are referred to collectively herein as the "Notes," such offers to purchase are referred to collectively herein as the "Tender Offers" and each a "Tender Offer," and the 2028 Notes Cap, the 2034 Notes Cap and the 2052 Notes Cap are referred to collectively herein as the "Series Notes Caps" and each a "Series Notes Cap."
/jlne.ws/4gxrOpJ
Delisting of the Coal (API 2) cif ARA (Argus/McCloskey) Future-Style Margined Option on Calendar Futures Strip Contract
CME Group
/jlne.ws/3Q7TEya
JSE encourages South Africans to check if they have unclaimed dividends owed to them
JSE
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) today launches its Claim It campaign, urging South Africans to check if they are potential shareholders owed a portion of the R4.5 billion in unclaimed dividends.
/jlne.ws/4gB2LCn
LMAX Exchange names new Canadian head of buy-side sales; New appointment brings over 25 years of buy-side experience, having most recently served as director of trading at OMERS.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
LMAX Exchange has appointed Daniel Lavigne as head of buy-side sales for Canada. Lavigne brings more than 25 years of buy-side experience, with relationships across the FX market spanning peers, banks and platforms, the exchange said. He joins LMAX Exchange from Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), where he served as director of trading, responsible for FX trading and products.
/jlne.ws/4hHMeO0
Key Players of the Swiss Structured Products Industry Announced
SIX
The 'Swiss Yearbook for Structured Products' has selected two representatives of SIX Swiss Exchange among the 30 most important players in the structured products industry in Switzerland. Discover their names along with in-depth views of market developments.
/jlne.ws/4jO94oP
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | 360T strikes deal to host new Quantitative Brokers FX algo suite; New partnership will see Quantitative Brokers leverage 360T to launch FX-optimised versions of its flagship algorithms.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
Foreign exchange trading platform 360T and execution algorithms and analytics provider Quantitative Brokers have collaborated to launch a new set of FX algos. The algos will be powered by Quantitative Brokers and made available via 360T's trading platform across both disclosed and anonymous liquidity pools. David Kalita & Matt O'Hara Launched on Monday, the new offering features newly FX-optimised versions of Quantitative Brokers' flagship algorithms Strobe FX - for schedule-based execution for TWAP and VWAP benchmarks - and Bolt FX - which is an implementation shortfall algorithm built to minimise execution costs relative to arrival price.
/jlne.ws/4aX298W
State Street unveils updates to its digital trading and FX platform; The new platform, LINK, is part of the firm's GlobalLink solutions and is set to "allow clients to make more efficient and effective trading decisions using next-gen infrastructure".
Claudia Preece - The Trade
State Street has today unveiled an update to its suite of trading solutions, GlobalLink, compiling a suite of trading, analytics, and research solutions into a single digital environment - known as LINK. The update is set to "allow clients to make more efficient and effective trading decisions using next-gen infrastructure," said the firm. The move also includes a comprehensive rebranding effort, wherein GlobalLink Digital will be replaced by LINK, with State Street launching a 'modernised' visual identity.
/jlne.ws/4hpzknQ
Google AI Chief Says DeepSeek's Cost Claims Are 'Exaggerated'
Yazhou Sun and Tom Mackenzie - Bloomberg
The notion that China's DeepSeek spent under $6 million to develop its artificial intelligence system is "exaggerated and a little bit misleading," according Google DeepMind boss Demis Hassabis. Last month, DeepSeek shocked the world by releasing a popular chatbot and AI model using far less money than US rivals, such as DeepMind and OpenAI. Hassabis, who runs the AI unit of Alphabet Inc.'s Google, told Bloomberg Television that DeepSeek "seems to have only reported the cost of the final training round, which is a fraction of the total cost."
/jlne.ws/40VdeCL
How Affirm's AI is revolutionizing underwriting, fraud prevention
Josh Lipton and Julie Hyman - Yahoo Finance
As the use of artificial intelligence continues to expand across industries, companies like Affirm (AFRM) are leading the charge in integrating these technologies into their daily operations. Affirm CEO Max Levchin joins Market Domination to discuss the growing trend of artificial intelligence (AI) and how his company is utilizing this technology. He explains that Affirm has been an AI-driven company from its inception, focusing on machine learning for underwriting and using AI for customer support, with two-thirds of inquiries now handled by chatbots.
/jlne.ws/4jR7mD6
The AI investment frenzy, charted
Robin Wigglesworth - Financial Times
Here's a pretty remarkable chart from last week's BlackRock Investment Institute report. The chart shows the investment in research and development from the U.S. government and corporate investment from the "magnificent seven" stocks: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla. Like many great charts, there are several interpretations depending on your perspective. You might look at this and marvel at how little research and development the US government does. Yes, it has obviously gone up a lot, but it hasn't really kept pace with the ballooning size of the economy. Over the past three decades, federal R&D has grown approximately threefold, while GDP has roughly quadrupled in size.
/jlne.ws/4gCndCP
Macron unveils plans for EUR109bn of AI investment in France
Melissa Heikkila and Leila Abboud in Paris and Antoine Gara in New York - Financial Times
French President Emmanuel Macron has announced EUR109bn worth of investments in artificial intelligence in France over the coming years, as Europe seeks a greater foothold in the fast-growing industry dominated by the US and China. Macron touted the new funding ahead of the AI Action Summit in Paris which starts on Monday, featuring discussions between world leaders and AI executives such as OpenAI's Sam Altman. It comes after US President Donald Trump last month hailed a $500bn AI infrastructure project known as Stargate, to be built in America and led by OpenAI and SoftBank.
/jlne.ws/42O5CUY
France to Tout EUR109 Billion in Total AI Investment at Summit
Gaspard Sebag - Bloomberg
France is set to announce a total of EUR109 billion ($113 billion) in investment in artificial intelligence projects in the country by companies, funds and other sources over the coming years, President Emmanuel Macron said on the eve of a two-day AI summit in Paris. Speaking in an interview on France 2 TV on Sunday, Macron referenced a previously announced investment of between EUR30 billion and EUR50 billion on a new campus for data centers in France by a fund from the United Arab Emirates.
/jlne.ws/4jVHsOL
AI Laggards Can Win the Long Game of Adoption; Europe can lose the tech innovation sprint, but win the implementation marathon.
Lionel Laurent - Bloomberg
Europe can't afford to miss another technological revolution - that was the message of Mario Draghi's report last year, and it's one that French President Emmanuel Macron is taking up with the promise of EUR109 billion ($112.5 billion) in artificial-intelligence investments over coming years. The problem is that in a world where the US has a wealth of resources, from Big Tech to cutting-edge Nvidia Corp. chips, and where China's ambition and scale make it the obvious No. 2 contender, the Old Continent already looks overtaken by events.
/jlne.ws/4jKHXep
Intel's AI Chief to Leave Chip Maker in Wake of CEO Exit; Justin Hotard will take the top job at European telecom-gear maker Nokia
Mauro Orru - The Wall Street Journal
Intel's head of data-center and artificial-intelligence operations is leaving the group to take the helm of European telecommunications-gear maker Nokia, the latest high-profile executive shuffle at the chip maker as it struggles to revamp its business.Justin Hotard, who joined Intel in February last year, will be succeeding Pekka Lundmark as Nokia's chief executive as of April 1. The executive, who previously served as executive vice president and general manager of high-performance computing, AI and labs at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, had been leading efforts at Intel to cash in on AI.
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Musk DOGE Pick Led Cybersecurity Cuts at Citrix. Hacks Followed; Tech CEO Tom Krause dismissed engineers and slashed expenses after the remote-work company's leveraged buyout. His company says defenses improved. Now he's consulting at the US Treasury.
Jordan Robertson and Paula Seligson - Bloomberg
Billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has a key ally in the US Department of the Treasury: Tom Krause, a veteran technology executive who's now a special government employee, or consultant, at the agency. Until a federal judge temporarily blocked DOGE's access on Saturday, Krause had "read-only" access to Treasury's payments system, which handles more than 1.2 billion transactions a year. The government calls it "America's checkbook," an essential window into the federal spending that President Donald Trump is looking to slash by $1 trillion or more. Krause, 47, who's serving as fiscal assistant secretary at Treasury, will keep his day job: chief executive officer of Cloud Software Group, which owns a company called Citrix Systems. His deep cost-cutting there shows why he may have appealed to Trump and Musk, the president's adviser and Tesla Inc.'s CEO-and also why some people familiar with Krause's record are unsettled about his new government role.
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | DOGE-Backed Halt at CFPB Comes Amid Musk's Plans for 'X' Digital Wallet; Government-efficiency team's initial 'read-only' access expanded quickly to encompass closely guarded data, internal emails say
Jason Leopold and Evan Weinberger - Bloomberg
In another weekend takeover of a federal agency's operations, staffers from an efficiency initiative led by billionaire Elon Musk helped to effectively shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau - as they gained access to an array of the bureau's protected information. The actions began last Thursday, when four young staffers working under Musk for the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, showed up at CFPB's Washington headquarters. At first, they had what was described as read-only access to a limited array of documents, including the agency's internal personnel files, procurement records and budgeting and financial data, according to an email shared among CFPB officials.
/jlne.ws/4gC187o
Saylor's Strategy resumes bitcoin purchases after posting loss
Monique Mulima - Bloomberg
Strategy (MSTR), the self-styled Bitcoin (BTC-USD) Treasury company that until recently was called MicroStrategy Inc., said it acquired $742.2 million of the digital asset over the past seven days, resuming weekly purchases that began in late October. The Tysons Corner, Virginia-based enterprise software company turned leveraged Bitcoin proxy has announced purchases of the cryptocurrency in 12 of the last 13 weeks. Strategy now owns around $47 billion of the original cryptocurrency, or more than 2.5% of all the tokens that will ever exist.
/jlne.ws/40Yo0s2
Bitcoin Hoarder's Stock Soars 4,800% in Japan on Crypto Rally
Alice French - Bloomberg
The ripple effects of US President Donald Trump's pro-crypto agenda are fueling a surge in Bitcoin demand in Japan, where one hotelier's pivot to stockpiling the cryptocurrency is delivering eye-watering returns for shareholders. Shares of Metaplanet Inc. are up around 4,800% over the past 12 months, the largest gain among all Japanese equities in that period and one of the highest globally, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Bitcoin itself hit a record high of $109,241 on Jan. 20 as Trump was sworn in for his second term, although it's since erased some of those gains as his trade policies fanned global instability.
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Trump Muses About a Third Term, Over and Over Again; The president's suggestion that he would seek to stay in office beyond the constitutional limit comes as he has pushed to expand executive authority.
Maggie Haberman - The New York Times
Standing inside the Capitol for the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, President Trump declared his plans to resurrect an idea he had in his first term: to create a national garden filled with statues of notable Americans. The choice of who would be included would be "the president's sole opinion," Mr. Trump said, chuckling. And he was giving himself "a 25-year period" to make the selections. A short time later, at a breakfast at a Washington hotel, Mr. Trump flicked again at the prospect that his time in office could extend beyond two four-year terms.
/jlne.ws/3WSLflQ
AOC rips into her colleagues for insider trading - says Republicans are 'far more honest' about it
Jing Pan - Moneywise
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is calling out what she sees as a glaring problem in Washington - lawmakers profiting off the stock market while shaping the very policies that influence it. During a recent appearance on "The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart," Ocasio-Cortez didn't hold back on the issue of insider trading in Congress. "It's so crazy ... People think that everyday people are stupid. I'm like, do you all really think that people don't see this s--t?" she said.
/jlne.ws/40Sg0sx
Democrats call stop work order at CFPB 'illegal'
Tobias Burns - The Hill
Democrats are calling on Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to cancel his stop work order for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) after employees with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) targeted the agency as part of their overhaul of federal spending. Top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee Maxine Waters (Calif.) led members in a letter to Bessent on Saturday, calling the order "illegal."
/jlne.ws/3CHd3Tw
The courts stand between Musk and a Treasury takeover; Doge's efforts to infiltrate the plumbing of the federal government should scare everyone
Rana Foroohar - Financial Times (opinion)
Amazing as it seems, there is good news from America - the courts are working. Late last week, a federal judge gave a temporary order restricting Elon Musk and his band of techno-libertarians, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), from accessing US Treasury plumbing, saying there was a risk of irreparable harm. The lawsuit was brought by 19 attorneys-general and a longer legal battle will now unfold. But the fact that the court granted the order so quickly is important. Among all the worrisome things that the Trump administration is trying to do - from freezing foreign aid and domestic grants, to dismantling USAID (which is almost certainly constitutionally illegal) to ending birthright citizenship and firing federal employees who disagree with them - the Doge takeover of Treasury is one of the scariest.
/jlne.ws/4jTiBes
Trump Derangement Syndrome Comes for the US Consumer; He can't count on their resilience if the trade war gets real.
John Authers - Bloomberg Opinion
What to Expect When Your Expectations Aren't Rational: The United States has exceptional bargaining power, as President Donald Trump keeps saying in tariffs blackmail, but it's the US consumer that holds the real leverage. Their spending habits determine the pulse of the economy, and their propensity to buy stuff makes others desperate to sell their wares in the US. Their incredible resilience after the pandemic contrasts with the struggles in other developed economies and helps to explain much of the divergence, or "US exceptionalism," of the last five years.
/jlne.ws/3Cw4Q4A
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | CFTC Announces Crypto CEO Forum to Launch Digital Asset Markets Pilot
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission will hold a CEO Forum of industry-leading firms to discuss the launch of the CFTC's digital asset markets pilot program for tokenized non-cash collateral such as stablecoins. Participants will include Circle, Coinbase, Crypto.com, MoonPay and Ripple. Further information on the CEO Forum will be released once details are finalized. "I'm excited to announce this groundbreaking initiative for U.S. digital asset markets," said Acting Chairman Caroline D. Pham. "The CFTC is committed to responsible innovation. I look forward to engaging with market participants to deliver on the Trump Administration's promise of ensuring that America leads the way on economic opportunity."
/jlne.ws/4hp1sHN
Exemption From Exchange Act Rule 13f-2 and Related Form SHO
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today provided a temporary exemption from compliance with Rule 13f-2 under the Securities Exchange Act and from reporting on Form SHO. As a result of the exemption, filings on initial Form SHO reports from institutional investment managers that meet or exceed certain specified thresholds will be due by Feb. 17, 2026, for the January 2026 reporting period. The effective date for Rule 13f-2 and Form SHO was Jan. 2, 2024, and the compliance date for such rule and form was Jan. 2, 2025, with initial Form SHO filings originally due by Feb. 14, 2025.
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SEC Granted Summary Judgment and Obtains Final Judgment Against Two Individuals and Three Entities in $45 Million Fraudulent Scheme
SEC
On January 15, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a final judgment against technology company, Airborne Wireless Network, its undisclosed control person, Kalistratos "Kelly" Kabilafkas, and his father, Timoleon "Tim" Kabilakfas, for orchestrating a fraudulent scheme to gain control of Airborne, promote its stock, and defraud investors.
/jlne.ws/3Cy9MG9
The complex challenge of advice
ASIC
Speech by ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland at the Conexus Financial Professional Planner 2025 Advice Policy Summit, 10 February 2025.
/jlne.ws/3WTHsVu
ASIC cancels AFS licence of LRA Corporate Pty Ltd
ASIC
ASIC has cancelled the Australian financial services (AFS) licence of New South Wales-based financial services provider LRA Corporate Pty Ltd ACN 062 427 696 (LRA Corporate) effective from 3 February 2025. The AFS Licence was cancelled after ASIC became aware that LRA Corporate had ceased to carry on a financial services business. ASIC may suspend or cancel an AFS Licence if the licensee ceases to carry on a financial services business under section 915B of the Corporations Act.
/jlne.ws/3CKxC1d
ASIC cancels Australian credit licence of Auckland Finance Pty Ltd
ASIC
ASIC has cancelled the Australian credit licence (ACL) of NSW based credit provider Auckland Finance Pty Ltd. The ACL cancellation took effect on 31 January 2025. The ACL was cancelled after ASIC became aware that Auckland Finance had not engaged in credit activities for some time. Under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009, ASIC may suspend or cancel an ACL if a credit provider has ceased engaging in credit activities.
/jlne.ws/42ONhHr
EU watchdog warns of resistance to Brussels' bid to slash red tape; Esma chair says national pushback to harmonising rules risks undermining its push to become a European SEC
Martin Arnold in Paris - Financial Times
The EU's top financial markets regulator has warned that Brussels' efforts to streamline bureaucracy are likely to face resistance from national watchdogs as it pushes to become a European equivalent of the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The European Securities and Markets Authority (Esma) is pressing for greater powers to harmonise rules, including oversight of the EU's largest exchanges, clearing houses and settlement systems that operate across borders - a role similar to that of its US counterpart.
/jlne.ws/4gy8icQ
Press Conference by KATO Katsunobu, Minister of Finance and Minister of State for Financial Services
FSA
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Veritas Said in Talks to Acquire Data Firm Dun & Bradstreet
Ryan Gould, Matthew Monks and Liana Baker - Bloomberg
Veritas Capital Fund Management is in talks to acquire Dun & Bradstreet Holdings Inc., one of Wall Street's oldest data and analytics providers, according to people familiar with the matter. The private equity firm is talking to banks about financing a potential take-private of the Jacksonville, Florida-based company, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the details aren't public. The deal under discussion would value Dun & Bradstreet at or around its current market capitalization of about $5.4 billion, said one of the people.
/jlne.ws/4hsH74b
Debt Derivatives Are So Tight Even Trump's Tariff Talk Can't Shift Them
Neil Callanan - Bloomberg
Even US President Donald Trump's tariff rhetoric can't rattle credit markets, a sign to some money managers and strategists that the market is too complacent. Prices on credit default swaps barely moved on Monday amid the prospect of levies being introduced on Mexican and Canadian goods, even as trading volume in the derivatives more than doubled from the previous week's daily average. By Tuesday, activity had returned to more typical levels.
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What You Should Do About the Stock Market's Giant Problem; More than half the S&P 500's return last year came from just seven companies. That's a concern-but not for the reason that market commentators claim.
Jason Zweig - The Wall Street Journal
Have the giants gotten too big for anyone's good? This week, the top 10 companies in the S&P 500 made up more than 37.5% of the index's total market value. Many market commentators will tell you the stock market has never been so dangerously overconcentrated in so few stocks. They're wrong. The U.S. stock market has often been even more concentrated in the past. The problem isn't that concentration is making the market top heavy; it's that it's making it overvalued. How much you should worry about that depends less on what stocks do than on how capable you are of counteracting it. The younger you are, the less you probably need to worry. You have an edge older investors don't: a lifetime of labor income ahead of you.
/jlne.ws/3CTjt1J
Why speculators are still running wild when money is no longer free; Something even bigger than AI and the Trump effect is at work
Ruchir Sharma - Financial Times (opinion)
The writer is chair of Rockefeller International. His latest book is 'What Went Wrong With Capitalism'.
The mystery of the moment is why rampant speculation persists in the all-American bull market despite the apparent end of easy money. The exuberance was understandable when money was virtually free, but that was last decade. In 2022, the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates from near zero to almost 5 per cent. And yet, after a brief pause, speculative activity has surged anew across many US asset classes, led by artificial intelligence plays and meme coins. One answer is that the easy money era ended only in part.
/jlne.ws/4huAmz3
DOGE's Lease Exits Put $12 Billion of Loans at Risk: Barclays
Immanual John Milton - Bloomberg
The US Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) plan to target the government's real estate footprint puts around $12 billion of loans tied to commercial mortgage bonds at risk, according to a Barclays Plc analysis. Leases on 22 properties have already been canceled, with more expected to be identified for closure. As a result, CMBS loans with exposure to General Services Administration leases are now more at risk of default, analysts Lea Overby and Anuj Jain wrote in a note Friday.
/jlne.ws/4hTTc2p
Trump's Tariffs Make Currency Trading Cool Again After Years of Decline
Alice Atkins - Bloomberg
In the decade Tim Brooks has been buying and selling currencies, he's grown used to feeling that the action is usually elsewhere. He and his team at Optiver Holding BV, a top trading firm in London, rely on volatility to generate quick profits from sudden moves in exchange rates. But dramatic swings largely evaporated after the global financial crisis of 2008, when the biggest central banks began cutting and then raising interest rates more or less synchronously. Occasional bursts of excitement notwithstanding-such as last year's surge in the Japanese yen following a surprise interest-rate hike-currency trading ceded the spotlight to the stock and bond desks.
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | India Doesn't Plan to Boost Climate Goals After COP29 Finance Outcome; The nation was one of the most vocal objectors at last year's UN climate summit, arguing that rich countries were not doing enough to raise funding for developing economies.
Shruti Srivastava, Lou Del Bello, and Ishika Mookerjee - Bloomberg
India is unlikely to raise its targets for combating carbon emissions after developed nations failed to meet its demands for more financial aid at last year's COP29 climate summit, according to people familiar with the situation. The government doesn't plan to submit an updated version of its climate targets - known as Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement - for several more months as the document is still in the works, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing confidential talks. Today is the official deadline for countries to submit their NDCs to the United Nations.
/jlne.ws/4hx0NnG
Alarmed, Employers Ask: What Is 'Illegal D.E.I.'?; Companies navigate a legal minefield as President Trump wages war on diversity programs, but they still have to guard against complaints of bias.
Emma Goldberg - The New York Times
Companies that just one year ago celebrated Black History Month and stocked Pride products on their shelves are in a new phase - what some lawyers refer to as "rainbow-hushing," meaning dropping or quietly rebranding their diversity, equity and inclusion programs. They are retreating, or clamming up, as they brace for lawsuits encouraged by President Trump's war against D.E.I. Employers are walking a narrow path: They are trying to keep enough of their diversity efforts in place to remain protected from future discrimination lawsuits, while also avoiding Mr. Trump's ire, federal investigations and lawsuits from anti-D.E.I. conservatives.
/jlne.ws/4aT2UQ6
'It's a Circus': Trump Unleashes Chaos at Key US Science Agency; Muddled directives and early-morning emails at NOAA, one of the world's top weather and climate forecasters, have put the agency on edge.
Lauren Rosenthal and Brian K Sullivan - Bloomberg
The email arrived in US government workers' inboxes just after 1 a.m. East Coast time on Friday, with the subject line "IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION - URGENT ACTION." The message went to some staff members at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, the scientific agency best known for providing daily weather forecasts through its National Weather Service. It capped a tumultuous 36-hour period during which the future of the organization's international collaborations hung in limbo.
/jlne.ws/40QoYWX
China Takes Big Step in Letting Market Decide Clean Power Prices
Bloomberg
China is preparing to scrap fixed pricing on renewable power, and let the market decide how much users pay for clean electricity. The central government has agreed that electricity generated by renewables should be freely traded, leaving it up to local authorities to propose and implement market pricing by the end of the year, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration said in a statement on Sunday. Generators will be cushioned from excessive price swings by balancing payments, they said.
/jlne.ws/4gQ1PKx
Trump vows to tap America's 'liquid gold' oil reserves and 'drill baby, drill'-the only problem is, it's not up to him
Eleanor Pringle - Fortune
Donald Trump is planning to revitalize America's economy by digging deep. Literally. In his inauguration speech President Trump told attendees: "We have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have-the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on earth, and we are going to use it. "We will be a rich nation again and it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it."
/jlne.ws/3ExNHYQ
Chevron Says Fading US Crude Growth Casts Pall on Port Projects
Lucia Kassai - Bloomberg
Slowing US oil-production growth is casting a pall over projects intended to expand crude shipments to overseas markets, according to Chevron Corp. New terminal construction, a sure bet in the pre-Covid 19 era, is now plagued with uncertainty after exports of US crude in 2024 expanded at the slowest outside the pandemic years.
/jlne.ws/4hT0YcW
Weaponizing Canadian Oil Would Rattle Trump; Reducing crude output has the potential to inflict real pain on US refiners and consumers.
Liam Denning - Bloomberg Opinion
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Gas at $100 a Barrel in Europe Makes Burning Oil More Attractive
Jack Wittels - Bloomberg
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TotalEnergies urges Europe to seek LNG deal with Trump
Ian Johnston in Paris and Jamie Smyth in New York - Financial Times
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | TD Bank Seeks to Raise $14 Billion in Schwab Stake Exit
Christine Dobby - Bloomberg
Toronto-Dominion Bank expects to raise about $14 billion through the sale of its entire stake in Charles Schwab Corp. as part of a corporate overhaul in the wake of its historic US money-laundering settlement. Toronto-Dominion will sell 184.7 million shares of Schwab's common stock, representing 10.1% economic ownership, it said in a statement Monday. Schwab has agreed to buy back $1.5 billion of its shares from TD.
/jlne.ws/3WSwNu6
Mizuho Is Said to Near Deal to Buy KKR-Backed Avendus Capital
Baiju Kalesh, Hideki Suzuki and Preeti Singh - Bloomberg
Mizuho Financial Group Inc. is nearing a deal to buy a majority stake in Indian investment bank Avendus Capital Pvt, according to people familiar with the matter, as the Japanese lender seeks to expand overseas. Mizuho has emerged as the likeliest buyer for KKR & Co.'s 63% stake in Avendus, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. A transaction may value Avendus at about $800 million, the people said.
/jlne.ws/3Q9ioGn
Activist Elliott builds stake in oil major BP, source says
Anousha Sakoui - Reuters
Activist investor Elliott Investment Management has built a stake in oil major BP (BP.L, BP), a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Saturday. The source did not provide the size of the stake. U.S.-based Elliott is seeking to boost shareholder value by urging BP to consider transformative measures, Bloomberg News reported earlier on Saturday, calling Elliott's stake in the company "significant."
/jlne.ws/3CHhM7I
BlackRock's High-Yield Muni Fund Becomes an Actively-Managed ETF; Prior to the conversion the fund had $1.6 billion in assets; In 2024, asset managers launched a record number of muni ETFs
Erin Hudson - Bloomberg
BlackRock Inc. is converting its high-yield municipal bond fund into an actively-managed ETF in a bid to grow assets under management by providing a lower-cost and more liquid investment vehicle. The new fund, called the iShares High Yield Muni Active ETF, is trading under the ticker HIMU. It will continue to invest in high-yield state and local government debt across a variety of sectors and seek to outperform its benchmark, according to a Monday statement from the investment firm.
/jlne.ws/3CH67pq
Trump Wants to Manage Your Investment Portfolio; Everyone is launching new ETFs these days, including the president
Jack Pitcher - The Wall Street Journal
President Trump, who has lent his name to everything from steaks and wine to cryptocurrencies, now wants to sell you investment funds. Trump's social-media company, Trump Media & Technology DJT -1.00%decrease; red down pointing triangle, said Thursday that it has applied for trademarks on a series of exchange-traded funds and separately managed accounts. The financial products, which include funds labeled "Made in America" and "Energy Independence," will launch later this year, Trump Media said.
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | The baffling WFH puzzle; Businesses are tightening hybrid work rules but homeworking levels have so far barely budged
Pilita Clark - Financial Times
Something about the great return to the office does not make sense. For the past few years, all kinds of large employers have been tightening their rules on working from home. They have decided it is time for many of their staff, in the words of British businessman-turned-TV star, Lord Alan Sugar, "to get their bums back into the office". Not all companies joined Goldman Sachs and Tesla and demanded a full-time return. But many followed IBM, Deutsche Bank and even Zoom, poster child of the remote work revolution, and brought in tougher homeworking rules. But here's the odd thing: so far at least, the statistics suggest working from home levels have remained noticeably steady.
/jlne.ws/42UgOQh
Alarmed, Employers Ask: What Is 'Illegal D.E.I.'? Companies navigate a legal minefield as President Trump wages war on diversity programs, but they still have to guard against complaints of bias.
Emma Goldberg - The New York Times
Companies that just one year ago celebrated Black History Month and stocked Pride products on their shelves are in a new phase - what some lawyers refer to as "rainbow-hushing," meaning dropping or quietly rebranding their diversity, equity and inclusion programs. They are retreating, or clamming up, as they brace for lawsuits encouraged by President Trump's war against D.E.I. Employers are walking a narrow path: They are trying to keep enough of their diversity efforts in place to remain protected from future discrimination lawsuits, while also avoiding Mr. Trump's ire, federal investigations and lawsuits from anti-D.E.I. conservatives.
/jlne.ws/4aT2UQ6
Tech vs finance: the social wars; No longer the most powerful profession, finance still provides better company
Janan Ganesh - Financial Times (opinion)
In Stendhal's The Red and the Black, a book that is never far from me, the colours refer to two careers. The first is the army. The other is the priesthood. The setting is Bourbon Restoration France but it could be almost anywhere in the west, at almost any time until the dawn of industry, such was the importance of these vocations to the national order. In our world, the two ruling careers are no harder to name. It is tech and finance, The T-shirt and the Gilet, that have first refusal on the ablest graduates. It is tech and finance whose executives are interviewed for their musings on politics and life. As the Google office in King's Cross nears completion, London, an ancient financial hub too, is a useful place from which to assess these distinct clans.
/jlne.ws/42LfwqF
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Scientists warn Trump's $4bn funding cuts will harm US medical research; Academics say the move imperils scientific progress and helps America's rivals
Andrew Jack in New York - Financial Times
US universities say lifesaving medical research is threatened by fresh federal funding cuts of up to $4bn a year announced by the Trump administration. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), which disburses nearly $50bn a year, has released guidance saying it will cut from Monday "indirect" support to 15 per cent from a current average of 27 per cent and in some cases above 60 per cent. The funding covers the administrative costs of research projects. The NIH said it was "vital to ensure that as many funds as possible go towards direct scientific research costs rather than administrative overhead".
/jlne.ws/4jRoqJa
Paralyzing Disorder GBS Spreads in India's Pune in Rare Outbreak; Over 180 suspected cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome reported Outbreak linked to contaminated water supply in remote areas
Satviki Sanjay - Bloomberg
The western Indian city of Pune is seeing an unusually large cluster of cases of a paralyzing neurological disorder, in what's becoming one of the worst global outbreaks of this rare condition. Over 180 suspected cases of the Guillain-Barre Syndrome have been reported in Pune over the past month, out of which 155 have been confirmed, according to a Feb. 9 status report by the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program, which is overseen by the federal health ministry.
/jlne.ws/4hwnXdM
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | China Frees Possible $27 Billion From Insurers to Buy Gold
Bloomberg
A pilot program in China that allows insurers to buy gold for the first time could free up billions of dollars of investment in the metal, adding further impetus to a record-setting rally. Prices hit a fresh peak. Ten insurance firms - including PICC Property & Casualty Co. and China Life Insurance Co., two of China's biggest - will be able to invest as much as 1% of their assets in bullion, in a program that became effective last Friday. That would translate into a potential 200 billion yuan ($27.4 billion) of funds, Minsheng Securities Co. said in a note.
/jlne.ws/4jVB4qL
Investors show big interest in using onshore Chinese bonds as repo collateral in Hong Kong
South China Morning Post
Global investors showed strong interest in using onshore Chinese bonds as collateral in short-term borrowing agreements in Hong Kong, burnishing the city's status as an offshore yuan hub. The new arrangement, which kicked off on Monday, is part of a slate of policy measures unveiled last month by central banks on the mainland and Hong Kong to deepen cross-border financial connectivity. The repurchase-agreement measure had been seen as a "last-mile" reform that would ease capital-flow controls, help foreign investors generate greater returns and manage liquidity.
/jlne.ws/40QfJX2
China Marriages Hit Record Low as Population Crisis Worsens
Bloomberg News
Marriages in China plunged by a fifth to the lowest level on record last year, a setback to efforts by the government to reverse a demographic crisis threatening the world's second-biggest economy. The number of marriage registrations fell to 6.1 million, according to statistics released by China's Ministry of Civil Affairs on Saturday, after a post-pandemic increase to nearly 7.7 million in 2023. The tally for last year marks the fewest marriages since public records began in 1986 and is less than half the peak reached in 2013.
/jlne.ws/3WQxQL6
Luxembourg launches fund domicile fightback against Ireland; The Grand Duchy has lost out to its rival on passive ETFs, but is hoping to win the war with an active ETF charm offensive
Steve Johnson - Financial Times
Luxembourg has embarked on a fightback in the battle to retain its crown as Europe's largest investment fund domicile as exchange traded funds, in which Ireland is dominant, continue to siphon money away from traditional mutual funds. The tiny nation has long punched well above its weight in the fund industry, with its low taxes, business-friendly regulatory environment and multilingual workforce propelling it into becoming the centre of the European industry despite its lack of domestic investors.
/jlne.ws/42O8qle
Gulf states turn to metal trading to tap into growing demand; Companies in Oman, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia explore markets fuelled by energy transition as they diversify beyond oil and gas
Leslie Hook in London and Chloe Cornish in Dubai - Financial Times
Leading companies in Oman, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia are planning to launch metal trading companies, as the region taps into growing demand for metals while it looks to diversify beyond oil and gas. Abu Dhabi-based International Resources Holding, a mining company that is part of a conglomerate chaired by powerful Emirati royal Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan, has already built out a 60-person trading unit to handle energy and metals.
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Trump says he has directed US Treasury to stop minting new pennies, citing rising cost
Jim Colvin - Associated Press
President Donald Trump says he has directed the Treasury Department to stop minting new pennies, citing the rising cost of producing the one-cent coin. "For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!" Trump wrote in a post Sunday night on his Truth Social site. "I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies."
/jlne.ws/4161pLk
Surveillance Pricing Is Ripping You Off. Here's How to Fight It.
Charlotte Cowles - The Cut
It's 5 a.m. and your toddler is crying. His forehead is hot. You remember, cursing yourself, that you are out of Tylenol. You squint at your phone and order more, selecting the quickest delivery option. Actually, that's not soon enough. You pay the $2 fee so that it will arrive faster. Wait, where is the thermometer? Fine, order that too. You barely manage to complete the purchase before your kid throws up. What if the retailer that sold you both of these items had raised their prices slightly, just for you, based on your previous shopping habits? Because it had access to data that pigeonholed you as a stressed-out parent who won't notice that you're being upcharged for medical supplies, especially at 5 a.m.? Because it could? This is known as surveillance pricing, and a recent study from the Federal Trade Commission suggests that it happens all the time.
/jlne.ws/3QdE6sO
Super Bowl's $1.4 Billion In Bets Arrive to Lift Gambling Stocks; S&P gaming index drops 39% since 2021 peak as growth slows; Shares of DraftKings, MGM, Caesars are all way down from highs
Peyton Forte - Bloomberg
Super Bowl Sunday is a uniquely American annual experience, filled with over-the-top pageantry, prime time entertainment, mega-celebrities, and lots and lots of gambling. Experts estimate that $1.4 billion will be wagered on the National Football League's championship game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. And that's just through legal sports books, countless more will be on the line in private transactions. Combine this with the spectacle's global reach, and it's safe to say that millions of viewers around the world will be glued to their phones Sunday night, monitoring their bets on various gambling apps.
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