| April 09, 2025 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
US government debt experienced a sharp two-day decline, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield jumping 0.3 percentage points to 4.3% by Tuesday-an unusually large move for this typically stable asset, the Financial Times reported. The sell-off intensified after a $58 billion three-year Treasury auction drew the weakest demand since 2023, with dealers forced to absorb 20.7% of the offering, the highest percentage in nearly a year. This poor auction performance has raised concerns about upcoming $39 billion 10-year and $22 billion 30-year bond sales later in the week, while fueling speculation that foreign investors may be pulling back from US government debt amid worries about America's high debt levels and the Trump administration's policies.
I don't normally report about price risk, but this is a risk that is driven by the macro story propelling the markets: the destruction of the U.S. brand by the actions of the current administration. When your actions every day make more enemies than friends, who do you think you are going to get to buy your massive debt? That is a real problem for the U.S. as it seeks to auction off longer term debt later this week. It only gets uglier if we keep making enemies of our friends.
The FT has an aptly titled opinion piece by Louis Ashworth titled "Has America discovered its 'moron risk premium'?" Ashworth examines whether the US is experiencing its own "moron risk premium" similar to what Britain faced during Liz Truss's mini budget crisis. As US Treasury yields surge and the dollar dips following Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff announcements, TS Lombard's Dario Perkins argues the US is "a long way from a Liz Truss moment," noting the relatively smaller yield movements compared to the UK crisis. While Perkins acknowledges growing investor skepticism about US policymaker competence, he points out a crucial difference: during the UK crisis, bonds and sterling sold off simultaneously, signaling a sudden loss of global investor confidence, whereas the dollar still maintains global confidence despite recent volatility. However, Perkins warns that continued attacks on the Fed, talk of "Mar-a-Lago accords," threats to foreign Treasury holders, and arbitrary tariffs could trigger "a nastier market dynamic" leading to "a blowout in the term premium and a proper dollar crash" - though the US currently appears "less moronic than Liz Truss at least."
The US Department of Justice is scaling back cryptocurrency enforcement under the Trump administration, as outlined in a memo from Deputy US Attorney General Todd Blanche that states the DoJ will no longer target crypto exchanges, mixing services, and wallets "for the acts of their end users or unwitting violations of regulations," the Financial Times reported. This policy shift follows Trump's January executive order revoking Biden-era measures addressing crypto risks, and represents a significant reversal from the previous administration's approach that brought high-profile cases against major players like Binance, Coinbase, Genesis, and Celsius. The memo dismantles the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team established during Biden's presidency, bars prosecutors from charging regulatory violations unless there's evidence of willful misconduct, and prohibits charging violations of securities and commodities laws that would require determining whether a token is a security or commodity. This development, coupled with Trump's appointment of crypto advocate Paul Atkins to head the SEC and the agency's recent dropping of cases against Coinbase and Ripple Labs, signals a dramatic shift toward a more crypto-friendly regulatory environment that prioritizes enforcement only for misconduct directly harming investors, such as embezzlement or scams.
The Financial Times has a story titled "US revokes more than 500 foreign student visas" with the subheadline "Higher education associations raise concerns as crackdown on universities intensifies." This is a good example of how not to make friends with smart people from other parts of the world. The FT reports that the US government has revoked more than 500 student visas in recent weeks through State Department revocations and Homeland Security "status terminations," creating what NAFSA CEO Fanta Aw calls "uncharted territory" with "unprecedented" enforcement actions. Universities are often unaware their students have been targeted, leaving them unable to provide support amid unclear appeal processes, with some students reportedly taken to detention centers facing deportation. The impact extends beyond affected individuals, with sixteen university associations requesting government briefings about these uncoordinated actions, emphasizing that international students contribute $43.8 billion to the US economy and support 375,000 jobs. This approach is creating a ripple effect, with US faculty increasingly seeking positions abroad and American students applying to foreign universities in greater numbers, ultimately undermining America's position as a global leader in higher education by sending a message to international scholars that their presence is conditional and their contributions undervalued.
Luke Hoersten, the founder and CEO at Bitnomial, had an interesting (and promotional) comment on LinkedIn about the sales of Hidden Road to Ripple and NinjaTrader to Kraken. Hoersten wrote: "Two FCMs sold for >$1B in three weeks. The $1.2 quadrillion US derivatives market is getting a once-in-a-century disruption. Stablecoins are replacing slow, batch-based legacy infrastructure. Derivatives infra isn't boring anymore. It's strategic. Bitnomial sits at the core of the next gen hub-and-spoke model-building exchange, clearing, and brokerage from scratch, natively with stablecoins. No duct tape. No legacy baggage. This isn't an upgrade. It's a reset."
Here are the headlines from in front of FOW's paywall from some recent stories: TARIFFS: Margin calls and unpredictability to rise on tariff volatility, ANALYSIS: Experts wary of futures going 24-7 trading like crypto, ANALYSIS: Volatility linked to Trump tariffs 'unique' - Validus, TARIFFS: Tariff complexity spooking traders as 'trade wars begin', European regulator consults on clearing thresholds under EMIR 3.0 and Ripple cuts $1.25bn deal to acquire broker Hidden Road.
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:
- Gutsy Traders Make $1.5 Billion Triple-Leveraged Bet on Nasdaq 100 from Bloomberg.
- Traders Bet 'Insane' Currency Volatility Is Here to Stay from Bloomberg.
- Exchanges could provide haven in wild markets from the Financial Times. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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In Canada's Financial Markets, Tariffs and Uncertainty Create a Critical Juncture JohnLothianNews.com BOCA RATON, Fla.-(JLN)-April 8, 2025-As trade tensions escalate between the U.S. and Canada, TMX Group is finding opportunity amid the chaos. "Uncertainty is never good for markets," said Luc Fortin, president and CEO at MX & global head of trading at TMX Group, which operates the Toronto Stock Exchange and other Canadian financial markets. "You have positions being taken one day, taken off the next, tariffs are on, tariffs are off, full tariffs and then partial tariffs." Watch the Luc Fortin Video » Praveena Rai - MCX Watch the Praveena Rai Video » Tom Jenkins and Shawn Creighton of FTSE Russell Watch the Tom Jenkins and Shawn Creighton Video »
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Egg prices decline nationwide in March after months of increases; The average price for a dozen is still more than $6.
Joe Murphy - NBC News
After nearly six months of increases, the price of eggs declined in March. But that doesn't make them cheap. The average nationwide price of a dozen eggs decreased by about a quarter in March, according to data from consumer research firm NIQ. But at $6.27 for a dozen, the cost of eggs is still up 75% in the last 12 months, an increase that is greater than those of any other of the six staple grocery items tracked by NBC News.
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***** Eggs used to be so available and inexpensive that teenagers would buy them and throw them at the houses of people they did not like.~JJL
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Markets will keep tanking until Trump tells them what it is he actually wants, Treasury's Bessent reportedly tells president
Christiaan Hetzner - Fortune
President Trump needs to temper his tough trade talk by adding achievable and measurable goals that can provide the basis for discussions, he was advised, or equity markets will continue to sell off. According to a report by Politico, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urged his boss to provide greater clarity to investors about his ultimate intentions. Up to this point, the administration has often employed contradictory arguments to explain the motives and ends of the historic tariff hikes scheduled to take effect on April 9. Trump and other administration members have alternately said the tariffs are meant to raise money, bring manufacturing back to the U.S., offer leverage in negotiations, or become permanent.
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****** I am not sure I really want to know what President Trump actually wants.~JJL
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StanChart CEO Says Nobody Wins in a Trade War as Tariffs Kick In
Aisha S Gani - Bloomberg
The boss of Standard Chartered Plc said "no one wins in a trade war" as the lender works with clients to adjust supply chains for sweeping tariffs imposed by the US. "We remain hopeful that negotiations and some goodwill can help with the situation," Bill Winters said in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday.
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****** The use of the word "war" is emblematic of the situation. There is no reason to be at war when you can be at the bargaining table. The only reason to be at war is if it is an act of aggression. ~JJL
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Tuesday's Top Three
Our top story Tuesday was Tariffs Are For Emergencies, Matt Levine's column for Bloomberg. Second was Crypto firm Ripple to buy prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25 billion, from Reuters. Third was China lashes out at JD Vance for comments about 'Chinese peasants', from CNN.
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| Lead Stories | Trump tariffs take effect hiking trade levies to a 100-year high
Catherine Lucey - Bloomberg
President Donald Trump's so-called reciprocal tariffs are now in place, dealing a thunderous blow to the world economy as he pushes forward efforts to drastically reorder global trade. Trump's latest tariffs push levies imposed on China this year to as high as 104%, along with import taxes on roughly 60 trading partners that run trade surpluses with the US. That comes after a 10% baseline tariff for most US trading partners took effect Saturday. The moves raise tariffs to their highest level in more than a century.
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Investors grapple with bond chaos as long-term yields soar in aftermath of President Trump's 'Liberation Day'
Alexandra Canal - Yahoo Finance
It's been one of the most chaotic stretches for US markets in recent memory. And the massive surge in long-term Treasury yields has served as yet another example of the bizarre trading action in the aftermath of President Trump's tariff-fueled "Liberation Day." The 10-year yield (^TNX) jumped another 18 basis points early Wednesday to trade around 4.44% after Trump's sweeping reciprocal tariffs went into effect. That represents a massive 57 basis point swing from Monday's low of 3.87% - the biggest three-day jump since December 2001.
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Treasuries Selloff Sends Long-Term Yields Soaring Worldwide
Ye Xie and Liz Capo McCormick -Bloomberg
The exodus from longer-dated US Treasuries sent yields surging, fueling the biggest selloff since 2020 in what's supposed to be the world's safest assets. The yield on 30-year Treasuries soared 15 basis points to over 4.9% early in the US trading day. It briefly pushed over 5% in Asia and spread unease across the world's bond markets, with yields rising sharply in Australia, the UK and in the developing world.
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Opinion: Tariffs are just the start. How Trump could upend the world's financial system.; Expect upheaval for interest rates, the U.S. dollar, the Federal Reserve, U.S. debt and money and investment flows
Satyajit Das - MarketWatch
Like Kremlinologists who during the Cold War studied Soviet leaders' public statements, media reports, companions and body language, a similar focus is developing around President Donald Trump and the new administration to infer what might happen next. One thing is clear: Trump's controversial trade tariffs are likely to be the first step, not the final one, of a broad and bold strategy to remake the U.S. - and the global - financial system.
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Why Trump's Tariffs Are Raising Fears of Stagflation in US; One potential consequence of import levies is rising prices paired with slowing growth - an unusual economic predicament that's haunted the US before.
Matthew Boesler - Bloomberg
President Donald Trump's decision to impose sweeping tariffs on imports has shaken financial markets, reflecting mounting concerns that economic growth will sputter even as the new levies drive up prices. While either scenario would be damaging on its own, some forecasters are warning that the US is increasingly at risk of facing recessionary and inflationary conditions simultaneously, a rare predicament known as stagflation. What is stagflation? Stagflation occurs when a slowdown in growth takes place alongside rising joblessness and accelerating inflation. Iain Macleod, a British politician, coined the term in 1965, combining the words "stagnation" and "inflation." Plenty of economists once doubted stagflation was possible. That's because slower demand typically limits how much businesses can charge for goods and services, capping prices. But it can occur if the economy faces new upward pressures on prices - tariffs, for example - that aren't driven by rising demand.
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The Many Reasons US Bonds Are Falling Despite Haven Status
Alice Atkins - Bloomberg
US Treasuries are typically the world's safest asset during periods of turmoil in financial markets, but in recent days they've fallen even as equities tumble, spurring questions from investors about whether their haven role is in doubt. This week's selloff in US debt is the worst since the pandemic and extended for a third-straight day on Wednesday, with yields on 10-year notes rising as much as 22 basis points to 4.51%.
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Brutal Week Sees Junk Debt Refinancing Costs Double in 2025
Abhinav Ramnarayan and Ronan Martin - Bloomberg
A damaging few sessions for junk bonds on the back of US President Donald Trump's tariff shock means that refinancing costs have doubled this year, sparking concerns the market could become inaccessible to some borrowers. In the worst week for high-yield bonds since the collapse of Credit Suisse - with two days still to go - the average yield on a European index of junk-rated borrowers has surged to 6.58% and a similar US index hit 8.67%. The difference between those yields and the average coupon - a common measure of refinancing costs - has climbed to 1.55 percentage points and 2.21 percentage points respectively, both double levels at the start of the year, Bloomberg data showed.
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Inflation Is a Mind Game, Too; Mixed messages about price expectations should make policymakers assume the worst.
Jonathan Levin - Bloomberg
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says tariffs don't cause inflation. "Tariffs are a one-time price adjustment," he said Sunday on Meet the Press, four days after Donald Trump announced he was pushing import duties to the highest levels in a century. Bessent added that there's a big difference between that and "endemic inflation within the system." He technically has a point, but it's pure semantics. In the eyes of economists, inflation is a sustained increase in overall prices of goods and services. It doesn't count if iPhone prices go up by 10% on a one-time basis, because the higher prices might prompt consumers to spend less on, say, restaurants and haircuts, driving those prices down and plausibly leaving the general price level lower overall. Even if tariffs raise the price of everything all at once, they needn't be followed by further big increases in the price level. Fine, that's all correct.
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Signs of Wall Street stress pile up amid Trump tariff turmoil
David Hollerith - Yahoo Finance
The signs of stress on Wall Street have mounted amid the many uncertainties triggered by President Trump's tariffs. IPOs and mergers were put on the shelf. Leverage loan deals were shoved to the sidelines. Bond sales were paused. The freeze-up of activity that followed Trump's "Liberation Day" announcement last week made for some nervous days on Wall Street as Trump's tariffs stoked recession fears. Tuesday offered some hope of a reprieve as stocks rallied in the morning, but that rally had fizzled by the end of the trading day.
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People Are Worried About Deleveraging; Also a $2.4 trillion tweet, Strategy's income, Shopify's hiring and Elliott's podcasting.
Matt Levine - Bloomberg
People are worried about the basis trade
The basic fact of finance is that there are a lot of big important firms whose job is to borrow money to own financial assets. Sometimes the value of the financial assets goes down, a firm has to pay back the money it borrowed, but the assets it owns are now worth less than the loans against them. So the firm has to go sell other, better assets to raise money to pay back the loans against the assets that went down. (This is called "contagion.") Or, worse, all of the firm's assets are worth less than the loans against them, so the firm goes bust, its creditors seize the assets, and they have losses.
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New report rebuts 'unsubstantiated' exchange responses as latest episode of market data cost saga unfolds; Latest report individually addresses every complaint by exchanges surrounding the original research and reaffirms original stance that the cost of data is too high.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
Market Structure Partners (MSP) has individually rebutted every complaint made by exchanges in response to their original research exploring the market data landscape suggesting several are "unsubstantiated noise". "There is little basis for most of the feedback and [ ... ] and many of the comments are surprising, given that they are based on, and sometimes contradict, the exchanges' own publicly available information," said MSP in its latest report.
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UK Regulators Eye Wall Street's Use of AI on Trading Floors
Meg Short and Philip Aldrick - Bloomberg
The Bank of England plans to closely monitor the use of artificial intelligence by banks and hedge funds over concerns that the technology could trigger a market crash or manipulation without humans even knowing about it. The central bank's Financial Policy Committee warned that the technology could destabilize markets or act in other adverse ways in a new report on AI published Wednesday. It added that AI was making such rapid headway among hedge funds and other trading firms that humans may soon not understand what the models are doing.
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Citadel Securities leads $25 million Series B investment in TransFICC; Other investors include BlackFin Tech, AlbionVC, HSBC, Illuminate Financial, ING and neosfer; investment follows TransFICC announcement in November that it intends to bid to become the consolidated tape provider.
Natasha Cocksedge - The Trade
Citadel Securities has partnered with e-trading technology provider for fixed income markets, TransFICC, to lead a $25 million Series B investment round. The investment will provide infrastructure, expanding TransFICC's electronic trading capabilities in a bid to enhance venue and workflow support. Other investors in the funding round include BlackFin Tech, AlbionVC, Citi, HSBC, Illuminate Financial, ING, and Commerzbank Group's early-stage investor and innovation unit, neosfer.
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Citadel Securities Pitches Banks on Handling Their Bond Trades
Katherine Doherty - Bloomberg
Citadel Securities' proposal to process trades for a swath of banks is taking shape behind the scenes, focusing on products across fixed-income markets. More than 30 banks are engaged in talks - some more advanced than others - with billionaire Ken Griffin's market-maker, hashing out an arrangement that would let them submit orders to the firm without revealing their clients' identities. Citadel Securities is marketing the concept as a way for small- and mid-tier banks to provide better pricing on fixed-income trades. But it also would give it more insight and clout in markets.
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Coinbase More Than Just Trading Platform, It's 'Mission-Critical' for Crypto, Cantor Says
Will Canny - CoinDesk
Coinbase (COIN) is more than just a crypto trading platform, Wall Street broker Cantor said in a research report Tuesday, initiating coverage of the stock. Cantor assumed coverage of the crypto exchange with an overweight rating and a $245 price target. In early trading, the shares were up more than 5%. "Markets are missing what it is doing beyond trading, particularly with its L2 (Base) and its stablecoin relationship with Circle," analysts Brett Knoblauch and Thomas Shinske wrote. Coinbase shares are attractive at current levels, as they are trading at around a 32% discount to historical valuation multiples, the report added.
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Thomas Peterffy Backs Tariffs, Says 'We've Seen the Bottom'
Amanda L Gordon - Bloomberg
Billionaire Thomas Peterffy has heard the arguments that the across-the-board tariffs announced last week by President Donald Trump should have been rolled out more gradually to give companies time to adjust. He's not buying it. "If these tariffs were just a future promise, people may be reluctant" to commit the money and effort needed to reshore businesses or seek alternative suppliers, said Peterffy, 80, founder of Interactive Brokers Group Inc. "People may not firmly believe it's going to happen."
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| Trade War and Tariffs | | A roundup of today's trade war and tariff news and the global economic ripple effects shaping markets, industries, and investment strategies. | European Officials to Vote Today on First Retaliatory Tariffs; The European Union is poised to approve a plan to hit back at President Trump's steel and aluminum levies. Further measures could come next.
Jeanna Smialek - The New York Times
The European Union plans to vote on Wednesday afternoon on its first retaliation measures in response to President Trump's tariffs, moving closer to placing increased duties on a range of manufactured goods and farm products that would take effect in phases starting next week. The list up for consideration is a slightly trimmed down version of one that was announced in mid-March in response to Mr. Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs. E.U. officials have spent recent weeks consulting with policymakers and industries from across the 27-nation bloc in an effort to minimize how much the countermeasures would harm Europeans.
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EU's von der Leyen urges China to ensure responsible tariff response
Reuters
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, urged China on Tuesday to ensure a negotiated solution to problems caused by the sweeping import tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. In a phone call with China's Premier Li Qiang, von der Leyen "stressed the responsibility of Europe and China, as two of the world's largest markets, to support a strong reformed trading system, free, fair and founded on a level playing field", her office said in a statement.
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China Raises Tariffs on US Goods to 84% as Trade Rift Worsens
Bloomberg News
China retaliated against new tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump by announcing it would raise duties on US goods, roiling markets and deepening a trade war between the world's largest economies. The Chinese government will impose an 84% tariff on all imports from the US starting April 10, the Finance Ministry said in a statement Wednesday. China's move came hours after America's steepest tariff in a century went into force, taking Trump's duties on Beijing this year to 104%.
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EU Adopts Tariffs on EUR21 Billion of US Goods in Metals Fight
Jorge Valero and Alberto Nardelli - Bloomberg
The European Union approved tariffs to hit around EUR21 billion ($23.2 billion) of US goods in retaliation for the 25% duties President Donald Trump imposed last month on the bloc's steel and aluminum exports. A majority of the EU's 27 member states on Wednesday voted in favor of the penalties, some of which will start taking effect in mid-April. The tariffs will target politically sensitive American states and include products such as soybeans from Louisiana, home to House Speaker Mike Johnson, as well as diamonds, agricultural products, poultry and motorcycles.
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Grassley's Bill Is Our Best Hope for Sanity on Tariffs; No president should have the power to unilaterally unleash a global trade war.
Patricia Lopez - Bloomberg
President Donald Trump's tariffs have sent markets reeling and shaken some Republican lawmakers, leading them to contemplate rebelling against a man who has brought the party firmly to heel. The seeds of that rebellion were planted by an unlikely figure: Senate President Chuck Grassley of Iowa, a conservative who has held his seat for more than four decades. Last week, he joined with Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington to introduce the bipartisan Trade Review Act of 2025. The bill's basic premise is simple and supportable: Starting a global trade war should never rest solely with the chief executive, no matter which party is in charge.
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Japan's Top FX Official Cites Deep Concern After Tariffs Hit
Erica Yokoyama - Bloomberg
Japan's top currency official said he's watching foreign exchange movements with deep concern, as the rollout of US President Donald Trump's tariffs sent shock waves through global financial markets. "I'm seeing significant volatility," said the Finance Ministry's Vice Minister for International Affairs Atsushi Mimura, following emergency talks with counterparts from the Bank of Japan and the Financial Services Agency. "We'll continue to monitor market movements with a high sense of urgency," he added, referring to markets beyond currencies.
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It falls to Congress to unravel Trump's reckless tariffs; If Republicans are serious, they should join with Democrats to pass a resolution to fix this crisis
Elizabeth Warren - Financial Times
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US issues trade demands that go far beyond tariffs; Countries grapple with Washington's attempt to change 'non-tariff barriers' from VAT to food rules and even currency valuations
FT reporters
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| World Conflicts | | News about various conflicts and their military, economic, political and humanitarian impact. | Ukraine Invasion
Russia says Ukraine violated moratorium on energy infrastructure strikes six times in past day
Reuters
Russia's defence ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that Ukraine had carried out six attacks on Russian energy infrastructure over the past day, in violation of a U.S.-brokered moratorium on hitting energy infrastructure targets. Ukraine and Russia agreed to pause strikes on each other's energy facilities last month, but both sides have repeatedly accused each other of breaking the moratorium.
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US tells UN: we have no patience for bad faith talks on war in Ukraine
Michelle Nichols - Reuters
The United States "will have no patience for bad faith negotiation or violation of commitments" as it seeks to end the war in Ukraine, acting U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Dorothy Shea told the Security Council on Tuesday. "We will ultimately judge President (Vladimir) Putin's commitment to a ceasefire by Russia's actions," Shea told the 15-member council.
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The maps that show Russia's war machine is stalling; Moscow's advances slow dramatically amid rising casualties and improved Ukrainian defences, with drone tactics proving to be a game-changer
Joe Barnes - The Telegraph
Russia's gains on the battlefield in Ukraine have slowed dramatically in recent months, largely owing to Ukraine's improved drone tactics and defences, according to Western intelligence and analysis. Russia's territorial gains amount to five times less than they were five months ago, with casualty rates rising from Moscow's attempts to break through Kyiv's defences, a senior Nato official said.
/jlne.ws/3YjouYT
Middle East Conflict
Exclusive: Facing calls to disarm, Hezbollah ready to discuss weapons if Israel withdraws, senior official says
Laila Bassam, Tom Perry and Maya Gebeily - Reuters
As calls for Lebanon's Hezbollah to disarm gain momentum, a senior Hezbollah official told Reuters the group is ready to hold talks with the Lebanese president about its weapons if Israel withdraws from south Lebanon and stops its strikes. The prospect of talks aimed at securing Hezbollah's disarmament - unimaginable when it was at the zenith of its power just two years ago - underlines dramatic shifts in the Middle East power balance since Israel pummelled the Iran-backed group in a devastating conflict triggered by the Gaza war.
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | FTSE Russell announces results of March 2025 semi-annual country classification review for fixed income and equities
FTSE Russell
FTSE Russell, the global index provider, has published the results of its interim country classification review for countries monitored by its global fixed income and equity indices. Fixed Income; In October 2024, FTSE Russell announced the reclassification of the Market Accessibility Level for South Korea from 1 to 2, and the inclusion of South Korean government bonds in the FTSE World Government Bond Index (WGBI) after a number of welcomed initiatives were implemented by the South Korean market authorities to improve the accessibility of South Korean government bonds for international investors.
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SGX Group reports market statistics for March 2025
SGX
Singapore Exchange (SGX Group) today released its market statistics for March. Securities market turnover value rose 25% year-on-year (y-o-y) in March to S$29.7 billion, while securities daily average value (SDAV) also gained 25% y-o-y to about S$1.5 billion - the highest since May 2022. The average securities net clearing fee for the January-to-March quarter was 2.58 basis points*. Derivatives traded volume increased 14% y-o-y to 27.4 million contracts, as derivatives daily average volume (DAV) climbed 12% y-o-y to 1.3 million contracts. The average net fee per contract for equity, currency and commodity derivatives for the January-to-March quarter was S$1.31*.
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Landlines and leather benches: The curious survival of London's metals market that time forgot
AFP
The London Metal Exchange is Europe's last 'open-outcry' trading floor. In an era where computer algorithms automate trading at breakneck speeds, a dwindling number of London's metal traders still conduct business in-person by shouting orders across Europe's last so-called open-outcry trading floor.
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Performance Bond Requirements: Energy - Effective April 09, 2025
CME Clearing
As per the normal review of market volatility to ensure adequate collateral coverage, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc., Clearing House Risk Management staff approved the performance bond requirements for the following products listed in the advisory at the link below. The rates will be effective after the close of business on April 09, 2025.
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Position Limits, Accountability Levels and Large Trader Reporting Requirements in Connection with the Initial Listing of Five (5) EMDA Crude Oil Futures Contracts
CME Group
In connection with the listing of the New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc.'s ("NYMEX" or "Exchange") Five (5) EMDA Crude Oil Futures (the "Contracts") on trade date Monday, April 14, 2025 (See SER-9522 published on February 27, 2025), please note below and in Exhibit B of NYMEX Submission No. 25-080 the corresponding position limits (Rule 559), accountability levels, aggregation allocations and reportable levels (Rule 561) for the contracts.
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Administrative Amendments to Remove Previously-Delisted Contracts from the List of Eligible Contracts Table for Commingling for Portfolio Margining Subject to CME, CBOT, NYMEX/COMEX Rule 831. - Effective April 08, 2025
CME Group
Pursuant to prior product delistings previously certified to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC"), Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. ("CME"), in its capacity as a derivatives clearing organization and designated contract market, The Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc. ("CBOT"), New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. and Commodity Exchange, Inc. ('COMEX"), in their capacities as designated contract markets (collectively, the "Exchanges"), delisted the following contracts: USD Malaysian Palm Oil Calendar Swaps, 1 Bloomberg CI Index 2nd Month Forward Swaps, 2 Bloomberg CI Index 3rd Month Forward Swaps, 3 S&P-GSCI ER Index 2 Month Forward Swaps, 4 S&P-GSCI ER Index 3 Month Forward Swaps, 5 DAP FOB Tampa Swaps, 6 Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) FOB NOLA Swaps, 7 Urea (Granular) FOB US Gulf Swaps, 8 Urea Ammonium Nitrate (UAN) FOB New Orleans, Louisiana (NOLA) Swaps, 9 Urea FOB Egypt Swaps, 10 Urea FOB Yuzhny Swaps, 11 and Cleared OTC London Gold Forwards (collateral margin)12
(collectively, the "Contracts").
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Discontinuation of the Eligibility of CCASS Stocks
HKEX
With effect from the below-mentioned effective dates, the following securities will cease to be Eligible Securities in CCASS following the withdrawal of listing on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited. Participants are therefore requested to note the following CCASS arrangements.
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Circular of Shanghai International Energy Exchange on Adjusting the Trading Margin Rates and Price Limits of Certain Future Contracts
SHFE
Shanghai International Energy Exchange has released its Circular on Adjusting the Trading Margin Rates and Price Limits of Certain Futures Contracts as follows:
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Broadridge debuts platform to bring clarity to digital assets
Anika Sidhika - Private Banker International
Broadridge Financial Solutions has unveiled its Digital Asset Solutions, a portfolio of services aimed to assist financial institutions in scaling their digital asset strategy while remaining compliant with worldwide regulatory standards. As the world of bitcoin and tokenised assets evolves, Broadridge wants to bridge the gap between traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralised finance (DeFi), giving investors more clarity and confidence as they navigate the digital realm.
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Crypto Firm Ripple To Buy Broker Hidden Road For $1.3 Billion. What It Means For XRP.
Elsa Ohlen - Bloomberg
Ripple Labs, the company behind the cryptocurrency XRP, has agreed to buy prime-brokerage Hidden Road for $1.25 billion. It's one of the biggest deals in the digital asset space to date, the company said in a statement Tuesday morning. "We are at an inflection point for the next phase of digital asset adoption-the U.S. market is effectively open for the first time due to the regulatory overhang of the former SEC coming to an end, and the market is maturing to address the needs of traditional finance," CEO Brad Garlinghouse said.
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Trump says he told Taiwan's TSMC he'd slap a 100% tax on it if it didn't make its chips in the US
Kwan Wei Kevin Tan - Business Insider
President Donald Trump said he threatened TSMC with taxes if it didn't manufacture in the US. "These chip companies are loaded," Trump said. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he threatened Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company with a "big tax" of up to 100% if the chipmaker didn't build its plants in America.
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Exclusive: TSMC could face $1 billion or more fine from US probe, sources say
Karen Freifeld - Reuters
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing could face a penalty of $1 billion or more to settle a U.S. export control investigation over a chip it made that ended up inside a Huawei AI processor, according to two people familiar with the matter.
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Could a tariff-induced recession speed AI adoption? The evidence from past downturns is:
Jeremy Kahn - Fortune
U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs have precipitated a global stock market rout and threaten a global recession. The tariffs hit at a time when investor enthusiasm for AI was already showing signs of flagging-Nvidia's stock was down 20% this year, Google-parent Alphabet was down 17%, Salesforce, which has gone all in on AI agents, was down 14%, and Microsoft was down 8%, before Trump announced his tariffs. All have fallen considerably further since. Now some are wondering if the tariffs spell the end of the road for the AI boom.
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Google to Help Developers Make Their Own AI Agents in Cloud Push
Julia Love, Davey Alba, and Matt Day - Bloomberg
Google plans to help developers build artificially intelligent assistants for a variety of tasks, which could increase dependence on - and revenue for - its cloud services. At its annual cloud computing conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday, Google said it would release the Agent Development Kit, a set of open-source tools to make it easier to build AI agents, as well as a menu of ready-to-use agents in its cloud computing platform.
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Broadridge Collaborates With Fnality To Enable Real-Time Settlement For Intraday Repo Transactions - Fnality's Digital Representation Of Funds Held At Central Banks Serves As A Settlement Rail For Broadridge's DLR Platform Bringing Greater Efficiency, Liquidity And Risk Reduction To Financial Markets In Both The U.S. And Europe
Mondovisione
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | US intelligence agency warns China is trying to recruit government employees
Reuters
The U.S. warned on Tuesday that Chinese intelligence was using deceptive methods to target current and former U.S. government employees for recruitment. The warning from the National Counterintelligence and Security Center comes amid mass federal firings led by Elon Musk's Department of Government of Efficiency. "Foreign intelligence entities, particularly those in China, are targeting current and former U.S. government (USG) employees for recruitment by posing as consulting firms, corporate headhunters, think tanks, and other entities on social and professional networking sites," the center said in a bulletin.
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Meta Whistleblower to Tell Congress That Company Aided China in AI Race
Riley Griffin - Bloomberg
Sarah Wynn-Williams, a Meta Platforms Inc. executive turned whistleblower, plans to testify before Congress that the social media giant threatened US interests while cozying up to China - claims the company said are false. Wynn-Williams, who served as director of global public policy for the company, will tell the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism on Wednesday that she witnessed executives undermining US national security. The testimony will include allegations that Meta, formerly called Facebook, helped China advance in the artificial intelligence arms race.
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Hackers spied on 100 U.S. bank regulators' emails for over a year
Margi Murphy, Jake Bleiberg and Bloomberg via Fortune
Hackers intercepted about 103 bank regulators' emails for more than a year, gaining access to highly sensitive financial information, according to two people familiar with the matter and a draft letter to Congress seen by Bloomberg News.
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US regulator OCC says its executives' emails were hacked
Reuters
The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said on Tuesday that emails of executives and other employees of the agency were hacked, blaming longstanding vulnerabilities for the breach. The U.S. financial regulator said it had told Congress the breach involved unauthorized access to highly sensitive information relating to the financial condition of federally regulated financial institutions.
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US senator to hold up Trump cybersecurity nominee, citing telecom 'cover up'
Raphael Satter - Reuters
U.S. Democratic Senator Ron Wyden plans to put a hold on Donald Trump's appointee for the U.S. cybersecurity agency, citing what the Oregon senator called a "multi-year cover up" of serious vulnerabilities in the U.S. telecommunications network.
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Canary Capital Moves Closer to Launching SUI ETF as Cboe Files for SEC Approval
Ayesha Aziz - CoinMarketCap
Canary Capital has filed paperwork with the SEC through the Cboe BZX Exchange for a spot SUI exchange-traded fund (ETF). The proposed ETF aims to track the performance of SUI, a cryptocurrency from a blockchain launched in May 2023. This layer-1 blockchain was developed by former Facebook engineers and utilizes a dual-layer consensus mechanism called Narwhal and Bullshark. Currently, SUI's market capitalization is approximately $6.7 billion, ranking it as the 21st-largest cryptocurrency, with its fully diluted market cap exceeding $22.5 billion.
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Congress Just Said It's OK With Crypto Bros Cheating on Their Taxes; The repeal of the DeFi Broker Rule won't spark innovation. But it might make the U.S. into a cryptocurrency tax haven.
Omri Marian - Slate
Last month, in an exceedingly rare act of bipartisanship, the Senate voted 70-28 to approve a House resolution to repeal the "DeFi Broker Rule." The decentralized financial broker rule, which was adopted by the Treasury last December, would have required certain facilitators of crypto-assets transactions on so-called decentralized exchanges to make information reports to the IRS and issue their clients 1099 forms-just like any other financial institution.
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XRP Will Overtake Ethereum By 2028: Standard Chartered
Murtuza J Merchant - Benzinga
Standard Chartered on Tuesday forecasted that XRP's (CRYPTO: XRP) market capitalization will overtake Ethereum's (CRYPTO: ETH) by the end of 2028, positioning XRP as the second-largest non-stablecoin digital asset. What Happened: The bold prediction, made by Geoffrey Kendrick, head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered, highlights XRP's growing role in cross-border payments amid shifting market dynamics
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Trump Administration Debuts Legal Blueprint for Disappearing Anyone It Wants
Mark Joseph Stern - Slate
The Trump administration believes it has the legal authority to abduct any individual-citizen or immigrant, documented or not-and illegally deport them to another country without due process. It further claims that it can extinguish all of that person's constitutional rights by imprisoning them in a foreign nation. And it asserts that once that person has been locked away abroad, the U.S. government has no power or responsibility to bring them home, even if they were indisputably deported in error.
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How Trump Is Putting Law Firms in a No-Win Situation; As Willkie Farr & Gallagher learned, cutting a deal with the White House can avert a financially punitive executive order. But doing so can draw internal rebukes and external criticism.
Ben Protess, Maggie Haberman and Michael S. Schmidt - The New York Times
Willkie Farr & Gallagher last week became the latest law firm to strike a deal with the White House and escape President Trump's wrath. But the firm, which pledged $100 million in legal services to causes that the Trump administration supports, traded one problem for another. Willkie has faced a backlash to the deal in recent days, including within its ranks, as concerns mount over Mr. Trump's broader law firm crackdown.
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'To hell with the stock market': A bearish strategist says Trump wants to see Wall Street suffer - and the pain is far from over
James Faris - Business Insider
Peter Berezin told you so - or he tried to, at least. The chief global strategist of BCA Research defied consensus wisdom by predicting late last year that US stocks would sink in 2025 as a full-blown trade war caused a global recession. A few months later, markets have been hit by one of the largest downturns on record caused by unrest from President Donald Trump's tariff policy. Berezin looks brilliant, but he's not gloating.
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Musk and Trump keep fanning flames of Fort Knox gold conspiracy theory; The baseless conspiracy theory that the Fort Knox gold might be gone, spread by Musk and Trump, was also popular in the 1970s.
David Ingram - NBC News
President Donald Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk have fanned the flames of a baseless rumor about America's gold reserves at least a dozen times since mid-February. The conspiracy theory, alleging without evidence that someone might have stolen the gold reserves from Fort Knox, Kentucky, has circulated for decades, but it seems to have first appeared on the Trump administration's radar after far-right financial blog Zero Hedge tagged Musk in a post about the idea on X.
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Trump World Makes the Case Against Trump; MAGA supporters are attempting to understand Trump's catastrophic decision making, while accepting Trump's infallibility as a given.
Jonathan Chait - The Atlantic
Last November, Republican Representative Troy Nehls of Texas told reporters that "if Donald Trump says tariffs work, tariffs work. Period. Because Donald Trump is really never wrong." This expression of faith in the great leader is a precept of MAGA-ism. The pigs in Animal Farm had a similar way of thinking: "Comrade Napoleon is always right." Trump's choice to not just claim that tariffs work but actually implement them and cause a market crash has, however, subjected this faith to its greatest test. And so MAGA world is attempting to understand and even argue over Trump's catastrophic decision making, while accepting Trump's infallibility as a given.
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Testimony Of Scott O'Malia ISDA CEO Before The US House Of Representatives Committee On Financial Services
Mondovisione
On April 8, ISDA CEO Scott O'Malia testified on the implementation of mandatory US Treasury clearing before the US House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services Task Force on Monetary Policy, Treasury Market Resilience, and Economic Prosperity. "The US Treasury market is systemically important and underpins the smooth functioning of markets globally, including adjacent derivatives markets. It is therefore critical that we look carefully at rules from the SEC, CFTC and prudential regulators to ensure they support - rather than impair - US Treasury market liquidity and resiliency," he said in his written testimony.
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Trump Is Firing the Wrong People, on Purpose; In his haste, Elon Musk is pushing out thousands of the government's best minds.
Wes Kosova - Bloomberg
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China Condemns American 'Protectionism'; Beijing issued a lengthy denunciation of U.S. trade policies and accused Washington of violating a trade deal the countries reached in President Trump's first term.
Keith Bradsher - The New York Times
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Trump Tells Justice Department to Just Let Crypto Fraud Slide
Victor Tangermann - Futurism
The Trump administration's Justice Department has been directed to disband a team of prosecutors who'd been investigating cryptocurrency crimes. In a memo, deputy attorney general Todd Blanche argued that the "Department of Justice is not a digital assets regulator," accusing Trump's predecessor Joe Biden of using the department to "pursue a reckless strategy of regulation by prosecution, which was ill conceived and poorly executed."
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Wall Street regulator takes back Chicago office space it slashed last year
Danny Ecker - Crain's Chicago Business
After shedding a chunk of its Chicago office space, the agency that writes and enforces rules for Wall Street brokers has taken it all back and then some. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has expanded its office at 101 N. Wacker Drive by more than 25,000 square feet, bringing its new footprint at the top of the 23-story building to about 70,000 square feet, according to people familiar with the matter.
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Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent at the White House · Reuters
David Lawder and Pete Schroeder - Reuters
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday his department will play a greater role in banking regulation to better balance costs and benefits and ensure that lenders can finance growth in the U.S. economy. In prepared remarks to an American Bankers Association conference, Bessent called for "commonsense principles" in banking regulations to ease burdens, especially for community banks that have had to deal with rules tailored for larger institutions.
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SEC pushes back on surprise filing in Ripple lawsuit
Anushka Basu - The Street
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has submitted an official response against an "Emergency Request to Present Decisive Evidence" in the active lawsuit against Ripple Labs. Filed last week by a man named Justin W. Keener, the request sought to allow Ripple to submit further evidence which presumably supports its defense. In a letter on April 8, 2025, however, SEC attorney Benjamin Hanauer requested Judge Analisa Torres reject the filing in its entirety.
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BC Securities Commission Panel Issues Ruling On Review Of Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization Decision
Mondovisione
A panel of the BC Securities Commission (BCSC) has issued a ruling on a review of a decision by the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO). On July 22, 2024, a CIRO panel dismissed a disciplinary action against Teymur Englesby and Cale Nishimura, finding they had not breached their gatekeeper obligations. CIRO applied to the BCSC for a hearing and review of the decision, while Englesby and Nishimura applied to strike CIRO's application.
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Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization Brings Suite Of Financial Literacy Workshops To Library Branches Across Toronto - Financial Programming Caters To Retirement, Youth, Newcomers And Beginners
Mondovisione
The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) is pleased to announce financial literacy workshops offered to Toronto Public Library (TPL) customers from now until the end of the year. CIRO's Office of the Investor has a mandate to understand, inform and protect investors and will lead participants through workshops on topics such as Investing Basics, A Newcomers Guide to Investing, Youth Guide to Finance and Investing and Retirement Planning and Living.
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CUBE Launches RegPlatform Intel To Transform The Mid-Market Regulatory Intelligence Landscape In Financial Services - CUBE's New Product Combines The Best Of CUBE Into A Simple Solution For A Growing Market
Mondovisione
CUBE, a global leader in Automated Regulatory Intelligence (ARI) and Regulatory Change Management (RCM), has announced the launch of RegPlatform™ Intel, its latest purpose-built product to help financial services firms in the mid-market sector remain compliant in today's ever-changing global regulatory landscape. CUBE now has an 800-strong customer community in the mid-market sector and has developed this solution to bring a powerful mix of regulatory technology, content and intelligence to compliance and risk teams across the globe.
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Acting Chairman Pham Lauds DOJ Policy Ending Regulation by Prosecution of Digital Assets Industry and Directs CFTC Staff to Comply with Executive Orders; Changes to CFTC regulatory & enforcement priorities will bring clarity to innovators; focus limited resources on bad actors
CFTC
Commodity Futures Trading Commission Acting Chairman Caroline D. Pham today praised a recently-announced Justice Department policy ending the practice of regulation by prosecution that has targeted the digital asset industry in recent years, and directed CFTC staff to comply with the President's executive orders and Administration policy, consistent with DOJ's digital assets enforcement priorities and charging considerations. The DOJ policy comes as Acting Chairman Pham has similarly refocused the CFTC's enforcement resources on cases involving fraud and manipulation.
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Remarks to the Annual Conference on Federal and State Securities Cooperation
Mark T. Uyeda, Acting Chairman - SEC
Good morning and welcome to the annual conference on federal and state securities cooperation, organized jointly by the North American Securities Administrators Association ("NASAA") and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC" or "Commission").[1] Inside the SEC, this gathering is often called the "Section 19(d) conference" after a provision of the Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act"). That provision contains a declared statutory policy calling for greater federal and state cooperation in securities matters, including maximum effectiveness of regulation, maximum uniformity in regulatory standards, and minimum interference with the business of capital formation. However, we do not need a statute to tell us what the SEC and state securities regulators have long recognized - that we have shared goals and a common purpose to protect investors and strengthen our capital markets.
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SEBI constitutesHigh-Level Committee on Conflict of Interest, Disclosures and related matters in respect of Members and Officials of SEBI
SEBI
The Board at its meeting held on March 24, 2025 decided to constitute a High-Level Committee (HLC) to undertake a comprehensive review of the provisions relating to conflict of interest, disclosures pertaining to property, investments, liabilities etc., and related matters in respect of Members and Officials of the Board.
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What is PISCES and can it herald a UK capital markets revolution?
Sinead Cruise - Reuters
Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has set out proposals for a new platform - The Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (PISCES) - to enable trading of shares in private companies. A cornerstone of the regulator's aim to bolster Britain's capital markets, the FCA hopes PISCES will connect owners of fledgling unlisted companies who want to sell their equity with new investors keen to help those firms to grow and scale up.
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Liquidity crisis fear dominates the markets as bonds sell off
Diane Brady - Fortune
Good morning. I wasn't the only one who was shocked to see Vietnam tagged as one of President Trump's worst offenders, slapped with a 46% tariff. I remember when I first went to Vietnam as a young reporter for a U.S. newspaper, I was struck by its beauty and the excitement people felt about opening up their battered economy to foreign investment. There were plenty of Americans roaming around to help them do it, inspired by potential profits-and perhaps a sense of obligation from the pain that country endured during the Vietnam War.
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This Lousy Stock Market Is Great for Bots, Bad for Pickers; It's hard for active managers to beat passive funds in an equity bull market. But that doesn't mean the current gyrations offer easy pickings.
Chris Hughes - Bloomberg
Is any market easy for stock pickers? In a bull run, it's hard for active managers to beat passive funds that ride the index higher. In thunderstorms like the one triggered by US President Donald Trump's tariff announcement, fundamental valuation goes out of the window too. When stocks plunged on Thursday, investors were partly digesting the impact on companies directly affected by the higher-than-expected tariffs - the so-called first-order effect. Analysts had done the work ahead of time; it was just a case of multiplying the hit. But, as the saying goes, the ripple can be bigger than the rock. The sheer quantum of the levies created a second-order effect: the risk of global recession. That's not so easy to price.
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Tom Wipf Of UBS Testifies On U.S. Treasury Debt In The Monetary System On Behalf Of SIFMA
Mondovisione
Today, Tom Wipf, SIFMA Board Member and Managing Director at UBS, currently serving as CEO of Credit Suisse U.S. Entities, testified before the House Financial Services Committee's Task Force on Monetary Policy, Treasury Market Resilience, and Economic Prosperity at a hearing titled "U.S. Treasury Debt in the Monetary System." On behalf of SIFMA, Wipf provided an overview of the importance and growth of the U.S. Treasury market, balance sheet capacity, and treasury clearing, and more.
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The market pummeled 401(k) accounts last week. Panic selling ensued; "The tendency as an investor is to say, yes, I want to take cover," one financial planner said. That's often not the best move.
Kerry Hannon - Yahoo Finance
Last week's tariff-induced market selloff ripped through 401(k) accounts, and over the weekend millions of savers and retirees took matters into their own hands. People pulled vast sums of 401(k) money from large US equity funds and target date funds and shifted to more conservative stable value, bond, and money market funds, according to Alight Solutions' 401(k) Index.
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Short Sellers Mint $159 Billion Profit in 6 Days as Stocks Sink
Carmen Reinicke - Bloomberg
Short sellers, or traders who wager on share price declines, are up $159 billion in paper profits over just six trading days after an escalating trade war sent the US stock market plummeting down more than 10%. The biggest market drawdown since 2022 on President Donald Trump's pronouncement of sweeping worldwide tariffs made bets against an exchange traded fund tracking the S&P 500 Index, known as SPY, the most profitable short bet in that timeframe, according to data from S3 Partners LLC. Traders wagering that the ETF would fall have so far accumulated paper profits of more than $6.1 billion this month, per an S3 report Tuesday.
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The Real Problem With Monday Morning's Stocks Mishap; Trump boosters have never felt the need to behave. And the stock market is opening a whole new area of financial crime possibility.
Alex Kirshner - Slate
A solitary false tweet on Monday morning caused several trillion dollars of stock market movement in about 15 minutes, which is cleanly among the top five most absurd things to have happened since Donald Trump returned to the White House. There is much to track during this tariff-induced moment of extreme wealth destruction. One thing that Monday's fracas laid plain is that we are in the easiest moment in modern history to commit enormous financial crimes and get away with them. That has been true for months and will be true for years, but it has been extra true of the past few days of stock turmoil. If you are an aspiring financial criminal, these are the halcyon days.
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There Isn't a Practical Alternative to US Treasuries; US government debt is the world's benchmark for a reason - and that hasn't changed.
Marcus Ashworth - Bloomberg
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Gold Rolexes See Sharp Rise in Demand as Metal Hits Records
Tim Loh - Bloomberg
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Millions of Americans Blocked From Accessing Their Home Equity
Alexandre Tanzi - Bloomberg
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Haven Assets Are Faltering Just When World Needs Them The Most
Richard Henderson - Bloomberg
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Trump signs executive orders to boost coal mining and energy production: 'We're ending Joe Biden's war on beautiful, clean coal once and for all'
Matthew Daly and The Associated Press via Fortune
President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a series of executive orders aimed at boosting the struggling coal industry, a reliable but polluting energy source that's long been in decline.
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Five Takeaways From Trump's Plan to Rescue Coal; To help the struggling coal industry, President Trump used his executive authority to try to keep aging plants alive and burn more coal for electricity.
Lisa Friedman and Brad Plumer - The New York Times
Hard hats are back. So is "beautiful, clean" coal. President Trump signed four executive orders on Tuesday to try to bolster the country's declining coal industry, including the lifting of restrictions on mining and burning of the dirtiest fossil fuel. In addition to waiving air pollution limits and other regulations on coal imposed by the Biden administration, Mr. Trump directed the Justice Department to go after states like California that have sought to tackle climate change by reducing the use of fossil fuels.
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Oil Executives Are Quiet on Trump Policies. Privately, They're Worried.; Eager to stay in Mr. Trump's good graces, oil executives refrain from publicly criticizing the president. But privately, 'Everybody's afraid.'
Rebecca F. Elliott - The New York Times
Oil is trading at its lowest level in nearly four years. Costs are rising. And Wall Street is growing more worried by the day that President Trump's trade policies will tip the United States into a recession. The reaction in the oil patch? Silence, mostly. Oil and gas executives, eager to stay in Mr. Trump's good graces, have offered little public criticism of the president or the tariffs he has rolled out over the past few months. In private, however, they have decried the uncertainty he has sown, including in a recent anonymized survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
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Catastrophe Bonds Among Few Asset Classes Withstanding Meltdown
Gautam Naik - Bloomberg
A bond market designed around natural catastrophes is proving remarkably resilient to a man-made market meltdown. While most markets have seen deep selloffs since Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff announcement, investors in catastrophe bonds have sailed through with hardly a ripple. Fermat Capital Management, a Connecticut-based hedge fund specialized in insurance-linked securities, says the market for catastrophe bonds "has been trading in an orderly fashion" and investors who bought them "are seeing the benefit."
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US Exits Talks on Shipping Carbon Charge, Threatens Measures
Jack Wittels - Bloomberg
The US abandoned global talks aimed at cutting shipping's carbon emissions and threatened to reciprocate against any fees that the country's merchant fleet incurs if such an initiative proceeds. The UN's shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization, is meeting in London this week with a goal of agreeing some sort of carbon charge for the maritime sector. The US stance was conveyed in a message to other governments that was seen by Bloomberg and confirmed as genuine by delegates from two other countries.
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A New Michigan Law Countering Local Opposition to Renewable Energy Is Triggering More of the Same; Public Act 233, which allows developers to directly petition the state for construction of utility-scale solar and wind projects, is drawing backlash from townships.
Douglas J. Guth - Inside Climate News
Over the last decade, Michigan townships have put in place barriers to stop renewable energy developments in their tracks. Many of these moratoriums became moot last year through a state law that changed the siting process for large-scale wind, solar and battery storage projects. The law, Public Act 233, allows developers to directly petition the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) for construction of utility-scale renewable energy facilities. Ultimately, this means the state can speed up the permitting process for wind or solar farms, when previously local pushback had stalled or cancelled these projects. Townships have pushed back against the law's passage in the meantime, expressing both dissatisfaction with the projects and concerns about state oversight superseding local control.
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Trump Tariffs Threaten Spread of Big Batteries on the Power Grid; Analysts say the trade war will pile costs onto the fast-growing US energy storage industry - and slow it down.
Michelle Ma and Arvelisse Bonilla Ramos - Bloomberg
President Donald Trump's trade war threatens to slow down a fast-growing technology that's key to the clean-power transition and preventing blackouts - big batteries. Energy storage devices large enough to feed the electric grid have been spreading across the US, with deployments surging 33% last year. Officials in California and Texas credit them with helping prevent blackouts during heat waves, when electricity demand soars, and integrating variable solar and wind power onto the grid. But despite efforts by former President Joe Biden to build a domestic supply chain, the US still relies heavily on imported lithium-ion batteries - with 69% of the imports made in China, according to the BloombergNEF research provider.
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Chevron to 'triple-frac' half of Permian oil wells in 2025 to cut costs, time
Sheila Dang - Reuters
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Texas Wildcatters Grow Impatient With Trump as Oil Prices Tank
Kevin Crowley, David Wethe, and Emma Sanchez - Bloomberg
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Shadow Banks Are Too Big to Stay in the Shadows; Mega hedge funds are so critical to modern finance they should be regulated more like banks.
Paul J. Davies - Bloomberg
When it's finally completed seven years from now, Citadel LLC's New York tower will be the second tallest building in the city, after the World Trade Center. It will also loom over the headquarters of JPMorgan Chase & Co. just a few hundred yards south along Park Avenue. That the world's most valuable bank will be literally in the shadow of a key pillar of shadow banking is an overt and irresistible metaphor for how financial power has shifted over the last 15 years from traditional lenders toward enormous, less restrained repositories of money such as Citadel.
/jlne.ws/3Ysa9cP
Big Bank CEOs Reckon With Their Lack of Influence on Trump; Tariffs extinguish animal spirits as deals grind to a halt and recession forecasts climb
AnnaMaria Andriotis, Gina Heeb and Alexander Saeedy - The Wall Street Journal
Last week, bank CEOs including JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon, Goldman Sachs's David Solomon, Bank of America's Brian Moynihan and Wells Fargo's Charlie Scharf were in Washington for an industry meeting when the matter of communications with the White House came up. Executives in the room took turns saying when they last spoke to President Trump. The general response: not recently. Many of them said they hadn't had a substantive discussion with Trump since the pandemic hammered markets in 2020, according to people familiar with the meeting.
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Big Banks' Record Trading Streak Overshadowed by Tariff Upheaval
Yizhu Wang - Bloomberg
Tariff upheaval and recession fears are taking the shine off what's expected to be another quarter of near-record trading revenue for the biggest US banks. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley are projected to post a combined $34.8 billion haul from their trading businesses when the industry's top lenders begin releasing first-quarter results on Friday, the most for that period in at least seven years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
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Banks to battle exchanges for fees on Britain's new private share trading platform
Sinead Cruise - Reuters
Britain's hopes of an equity capital market revival are weighing heavily on a secondary share trading platform that is sowing discord in the finance sector months before its launch. The Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (PISCES) will give private company owners opportunity to sell their shares on regulated exchanges in special trading windows, effectively 'going public' on a temporary basis.
/jlne.ws/3XO4ihN
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | CEO of recruiting platform Greenhouse thinks AI is turning the job search into a 'mad arms race' leaving recruiters and job seekers overwhelmed
Sara Braun - Fortune
Workers are having a hard time finding a job right now.
/jlne.ws/4lod2oZ
The IRS offered employees 3 routes to leave their jobs - or risk being fired
Ayelet Sheffey - Business Insider
Memo from the Internal Revenue Service to employees: Voluntarily leave your job or risk getting fired later. On Tuesday morning, the IRS sent an email to its staff - a copy of which was reviewed by Business Insider - offering three "voluntary separation programs":
/jlne.ws/3G2I2KV
In China, whispers of change as some companies tell staff to work less
Farah Master and Sophie Yu - Reuters
A handful of major Chinese companies like home appliance maker Midea have new badges of honour this year: mandatory clock-off times for staff and bans on after-hours meetings. Staff at Midea once toiled till late in the evening, but now they're told to leave by 6:20 p.m. The company's page on social media app WeChat even shows a photo of people listening to a band with a caption that reads: "What do you do after work? It's after work when life really starts."
/jlne.ws/3EivbDV
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | What Are Microplastics Doing to Our Bodies? This Lab Is Racing to Find Out.; Inside a New Mexico lab, researchers estimate there is five bottle caps worth of plastic in human brains. Now they are trying to find out its effects.
Nina Agrawal - The New York Times
In a basement laboratory at the University of New Mexico, Marcus Garcia rummaged through a bin full of plastic waste. He picked past bottles, chunks of fishing net, a toothbrush, a cup with a Pokemon character and a G.I. Joe. "Yes!" he exclaimed, holding up a discarded pipette tip. "Found it."
/jlne.ws/42lStkf
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Japan rules out using US Treasury holdings to counter Trump tariffs
Leika Kihara - Reuters
Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato on Wednesday ruled out using the country's U.S. Treasury holdings as a bargaining tool against President Donald Trump's decision to slap tariffs against imports from Japan. "We manage our U.S. Treasury holdings from the standpoint of preparing for in case we need to conduct exchange-rate intervention in the future," not from the standpoint of bilateral diplomacy, Kato told parliament.
/jlne.ws/3EpgRJL
Chinese brokerages promise market support, firms set buybacks as trade war intensifies
Reuters
Top Chinese brokerages have pledged to help steady domestic share prices in a concerted effort, the Shanghai bourse said, and scores of listed companies unveiled stock buying plans, as the local market reels from an escalating trade war. The Shanghai Stock Exchange said late on Tuesday it held a meeting with 10 brokerages to stress the importance of stabilising markets in the face of external shocks.
/jlne.ws/4i7U2rO
Wave of US soybeans set to reach China's shores despite tariffs
Naveen Thukral - Reuters
China is set to receive about 3 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans in April-May, according to sources and shipping data, despite new higher tariffs on American products that are poised to choke off flows of China's largest U.S. farm import item. Most of the cargoes were purchased by state stockpiler Sinograin, said four sources familiar with the matter, which, they said, is likely to pay the higher duties but may nonetheless have to sell at a discount locally amid competition from cheaper beans from Brazil, the world's biggest grower.
/jlne.ws/42qraFF
China Has Readied a Trade-War Arsenal That Takes Aim at U.S. Companies; Beijing's strategy to hit back at Trump goes well beyond tariffs, targeting companies who bank on their China ties
Lingling Wei - The Wall Street Journal
In the years since President Trump's first trade war with China, Beijing has built an arsenal of tools to hit the U.S. where it hurts. Now, it is getting ready to deploy them in full. On Wednesday, China said it would increase tariffs on all U.S. imports to 84%, a response to new U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports of 104% that went into effect at midnight. It also added six U.S. companies including defense and aerospace-related firms Shield AI and Sierra Nevada to a trade blacklist, and imposed export controls on a dozen American companies including manufacturer American Photonics and BRINC Drones.
/jlne.ws/4i6YI12
Germany's Merz unveils coalition deal to spur growth and tackle migration
Andreas Rinke and Matthias Williams - Reuters
German conservatives under Friedrich Merz agreed a coalition deal with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) on Wednesday, aiming to revive growth in Europe's largest economy just as a global trade war threatens recession. The deal caps weeks of haggling between chancellor-in-waiting Merz and the SPD after he topped elections in February but fell well short of a majority, with the far-right Alternative for Germany surging into second place.
/jlne.ws/3EmFfvy
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| Auditions | | Explore a space for creative trading stories where you can find and share unique works like screenplays, television scripts, poetry, and more, all inspired by the world of finance and trading. |
In a sleek Chicago apartment overlooking Lake Michigan, Micki and Donnie Jackson, an athletic 50-year-old white man, are having a post-intimate conversation in bed. Micki seeks Donnie's opinion about her decision to start a hedge fund. He acknowledges the challenges she'll face, especially as a Black woman, though he recognizes her skills in navigating financial markets. Their serious conversation shifts as Donnie becomes more interested in physical affection than business talk.
The conversation takes a playful turn as they tease each other about dating apps, with both claiming they're no longer using them since meeting each other. When Donnie tries to inquire about Micki's background as a Black woman adopted by the white Farrell family, she becomes defensive and reluctant to discuss it. She reveals only that she was adopted at one month old and considers it "the best thing that ever happened to me," but clearly wants to avoid the subject.
Sensing her discomfort, Donnie shifts to flattery, telling Micki she's "special" and "rare." She responds positively to his compliments despite recognizing his "charm offensive." When he mimics Barry White singing "Can't get enough of your love baby," their interaction turns playful again as they wrestle affectionately in bed, which naturally evolves into another intimate encounter.
Stay tuned for the rest of the script of The Opening Bell.
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