| July 19, 2024 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
Well, this is the kind of thing that can disrupt a summer vacation for senior executives. According to The Wall Street Journal, global financial-services companies are grappling with the effects of a CrowdStrike outage impacting Microsoft Windows, though financial markets remain mostly functional. Visa is aware of payment issues despite its systems working normally. U.S. stock markets, including NYSE and Nasdaq, and European exchanges like Euronext, report normal operations, though the London Stock Exchange's news service is down. In commodities, the European Energy Exchange is experiencing technical problems for some traders using Trayport. Marex faced trading disruptions but resumed by midday. Central banks, including Norges Bank and the Bank of England, are monitoring the situation. Some JPMorgan staff faced login issues, but operations are unaffected. Goldman Sachs reports no disruption. Metro Bank has phone line problems, affecting some payment services. Charles Schwab and Vanguard's U.K. arm report intermittent online issues.
See more coverage of the outage in the lead story section of today's JLN.
The Wall Street Journal ignores the outage atop the front page of its webpage to report the important news that reporter Evan Gershkovich has been sentenced to 16 years in prison by a Russian court after a wrongful conviction. Good for the WSJ. FREE EVAN NOW!!!
This has not been a good week for death news. The comedian Bob Newhart, who brought fame to Chicago's Marina Towers, has died at the age of 94. The Bob Newhart show was set in Chicago, and the opening shot of the Marina Towers turned the towers into an iconic representation of Chicago.
Another death, this one closer to the financial markets, is that of longtime financial news anchor Lou Dobbs, who died at the age of 78. Dobbs became a conservative cable news anchor and got caught up in Fox Business News and was "named as a defendant in a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit by voting-machine company Smartmatic," The Wall Street Journal reported.
My brothers and I inherited a small amount of money from my mother's IRA. The IRS has been in the process of changing the rules about when you have to take the money out of those accounts. They have finally made a decision. The IRS has finalized rules for heirs of inherited retirement accounts, mandating annual minimum withdrawals over a 10-year period for most beneficiaries, effective from 2025. This clarifies the 2019 law which replaced lifetime withdrawals with a 10-year withdrawal requirement, causing confusion about whether funds could be withdrawn at any time or needed to be taken annually. Spouses and heirs of individuals who died before required distributions began (under age 73) are exempt. The IRS won't penalize missed withdrawals from 2021 to 2024. This change requires heirs to adjust their financial planning to comply with the new rules, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Joseph Niciforo has joined Laconic's board of directors, effective immediately. According to the press release, Laconic delivers accurate environmental intelligence, data management tools, and geospatially-fused insights that enable governments, corporations, and financial institutions to engage fairly in data interchange activities that facilitate open and compliant capital markets activity in carbon-linked instruments. Founded in 2019, the company is a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) headquartered in Chicago, with offices in Toronto, London, Singapore, and Bali.
Todd Rich has started a new position as director, partnership growth at International Workplace Group plc, he reported on LinkedIn.
This weekend is the R.J. O'Brien 28th Exchange of Ideas IB conference. The conference will be held in Kansas City, MO.
Recent stories reported by FOW found in front of its paywall include the news that Cboe Clear Europe, in collaboration with ABN Amro, is exploring the use of distributed ledger technology (DLT) to deploy Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) as collateral for margin calls when the European cash settlement system is closed. Despite a recent Microsoft outage, European markets operated normally, with UK-based ICE Futures Europe and the London Metal Exchange reporting no disruptions, although the London Stock Exchange Group's Regulatory News Service was affected. Japan Exchange Group (JPX) achieved a record market share for mini-Nikkei 225 mini futures traded on its dark pool. Post-trade specialist OSTTRA has enhanced its network by adding SpectrAxe's central limit order book (CLOB) FX options offering, streamlining trading in the FX options market. Additionally, Hidden Road, launched in January, is eyeing opportunities in futures clearing with CME-listed futures and options, entering the largest US listed derivatives market.
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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In "How the 2024 Olympics Changed Paris," Politico author Victor Goury-Laffont hands out gold medals and wooden spoons to the French capital. He awards Paris a gold medal for making the Paris 2024 Games the greenest in history. Among the winning strategies: modernizing existing infrastructure, like the Georges Vallerey Pool. The city of Paris says 95 percent of the Games' venues are pre-existing infrastructure. But Goury-Laffont awards a wooden spoon to the Seine, which despite a 1.4 billion Euro mega basin upgrade overflowed with sewage last week. The gold medals and wooden spoons are part of a special report, "The Future of the Olympics," that looks at the expenses, governance, and politics of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.~SAED
The world's demand for electricity is rising at its fastest rate in years, according to the latest report from the International Energy Agency (IEA). Driven by economic growth, heatwaves and increasing uptake of technologies that run on electricity such as EVs and heat pumps, growth in demand in 2024 and 2025 is forecast to be among the highest levels in the past two decades. Renewable sources of electricity are projected to expand rapidly this year and next, as well, providing 35% of supply in 2025; up from 30% in 2024. Review the IEA report HERE.~SAED
Our most read stories from our previous edition of JLN Options were:
- Options Straddle Basics: Lex Luthringshausen Breaks Down Straddles and How to Trade Them in Part Two of His Interview With JLN's Alex Teng from John Lothian News.
- BOX HOLDINGS GROUP LLC, BOX OPTIONS MARKET LLC, and LUC BERTRAND For Review of Action Taken by BOX Exchange LLC from the SEC (PDF).
- FIA releases best practices for automated trading risk controls and system safeguards from FIA. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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OCC's Tech Overhaul Poised to Reshape Options Trading
JohnLothianNews.com
In the heart of Asheville, NC, in a quiet corner of the bustling Options Industry Conference, Mike Hansen, the chief clearing and settlement services officer of the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC), sat down for an interview with John Lothian News for the JLN Industry Leader video series sponsored by the OCC. His demeanor was calm, but his words carried the weight of an industry on the cusp of significant change.
Watch the video »
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Evan Gershkovich Sentenced to 16 Years in Russian Prison After Wrongful Conviction; Sentencing came after a secret trial that the U.S. has condemned as a sham
Georgi Kantchev - The Wall Street Journal
Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter falsely accused by Russian authorities of spying, was sentenced to 16 years in a high-security penal colony, after being wrongfully convicted in a hurried, secret trial that the U.S. government has condemned as a sham. The court's Friday verdict-after three days of hearings-was widely viewed as a foregone conclusion, since acquittals in Russian espionage trials are exceedingly rare. Gershkovich was afforded few of the protections normally accorded to defendants in the U.S. and other Western countries.
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***** A grave injustice. FREE EVAN NOW!!~JJL
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How Concentrated is the Clearing Ecosystem and How Has It Changed Since 2007?
Ketan B. Patel - Chicago Federal Reserve
Financial Economics Microeconomics Economic History
After the global financial crisis of 2008-09, regulators across the globe enacted regulations to repair and strengthen financial markets. Part of the regulations were to mandate that more financial market contracts are cleared through central counterparties (CCPs). CCPs are financial institutions that guarantee performance of a financial contract-typically the buying and selling of contracts related to securities or derivatives. In the United States, the regulations for central clearing were established by the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010 and further promulgated by rules enacted by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
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****** An important issue to stay on top of. It is a good thing the Chicago Fed is on the case.~JJL
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Get Ready to Pay More for Less-Reliable Electricity; As the grid becomes increasingly unstable due to age and extreme, utilities are ramping up spending on long-overdue maintenance and capital improvements
Katherine Blunt - The Wall Street Journal
Americans used to spend little energy worrying about whether the lights would come on at the flick of a switch, or how much that electricity cost. For a growing number of people, those days are over. Larry Hilkene, who moved from Indiana to a quiet Detroit suburb just over a year ago, has since had nine power outages, the longest one lasting 16 hours. In the same period, his utility company, DTE Energy, raised electricity rates and sought regulatory approval for another increase as it works to improve the reliability of its system.
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***** Do you have a natural gas generator? If the electric grid is going to be a problem, you are going to need a generator more often. And you don't want to get up in the middle of the night to put gasoline in your generator. So a natural gas generator is a good idea. But generators are loud, especially when the whole neighborhood is using them, so learn to be a good neighbor. The Wall Street Journal has a story about this titled "Your Generator Is Noisy as Hell. But Your Neighbors Don't Have to Hate You for It; If sound mitigation proves to be too expensive, lay on the charm and bring on the bribes."
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Thursday's Top Three
Our top clicked item Thursday was the SEC's opinion in the matter of Box Holdings Group, Box Options Market, and Luc Bertrand. Second was Ken Griffin buys 150mn-year-old stegosaurus for $44.6mn, from the Financial Times. Third was Commissioner Johnson to Deliver Keynote at Meeting of the USDA Advisory Committee, an announcement from the CFTC.
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| Lead Stories | Unprecedented IT Outage Cripples Businesses Around the Globe
Amy Thomson, Shona Ghosh and Vlad Savov - Bloomberg
Computer systems at businesses and public services around the globe were disrupted after a botched update of a widely used cybersecurity program took down Microsoft Corp. systems. CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. Chief Executive Officer George Kurtz posted on X on Friday that the fault had been identified and "a fix has been deployed," adding that it wasn't a cyberattack. Compounding the issue, Microsoft also reported an apparently unrelated problem with its Azure cloud service. Hitting airlines, banks and healthcare systems, there have been few outages of this scale. The cascading failures underscore vulnerabilities of the modern economy and the central role of security software, which has deep access to operating systems. "This is unprecedented," Alan Woodward, professor of cybersecurity at Surrey University, told Bloomberg News. "The economic impact is going to be huge."
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Trading disrupted as outage hits banks and brokers; JPMorgan, UBS and Bloomberg among companies affected
Nikou Asgari, Ortenca Aliaj, Costas Mourselas and Owen Walker - Financial Times
Global banks, brokers and financial technology companies including JPMorgan Chase, UBS and Bloomberg were hit by the global IT outage on Friday, leaving some traders unable to access their systems in order to process trades. JPMorgan's trading execution systems were affected, while UBS and fintech company ION Group also faced problems on Friday morning, according to people familiar with the matter. Some Bloomberg Terminal users also faced problems and interruptions before the UK market opened on Friday.
/jlne.ws/469NNzm
Explainer: What caused the global cyber outage?
Martin Coulter and James Pearson - Reuters
A global tech failure disrupted operations across multiple industries on Friday, halting flights and upending everything from banking to healthcare systems. CrowdStrike, a U.S. cybersecurity company with a market value of about $83 billion, is among the most popular in the world, counting more than 20,000 subscribers around the world, the company's website shows. According to an alert sent by CrowdStrike to its clients at 0530 GMT on Friday and reviewed by Reuters, its widely used "Falcon Sensor" software is causing Microsoft Windows to crash and display a blue screen, known informally as the "Blue Screen of Death".
/jlne.ws/4bRXMeb
CrowdStrike CEO Apologizes for Impact of IT Outages
Bloomberg
So, little by little, services are returning to normal after the huge disruptions earlier that hit -- among others -- banks, trading systems and airlines. A short while ago, the London Stock Exchange said the RNS service has been restored and is now operating normally. Airlines are also slowly starting to come online, but that doesn't mean the chaos will be over. Far from it. The spillovers from the delays will likely continue throughout the day and into a busy weekend of summer travel.
/jlne.ws/3W9HbN4
Global cyber outage grounds flights, hits banks, telecoms, media
Reuters
A software update wreaked havoc on computer systems globally on Friday, grounding flights, forcing some broadcasters off air and hitting services from banking to healthcare. An update to a product offered by global cyberscurity firm CrowdStrike appeared to be the trigger, affecting customers using Microsoft's Windows Operating System. Microsoft said later on Friday the issue had been fixed. CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said on social media platform X that the company was "actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts" and that a fix was being deployed. "This is not a security incident or cyberattack," Kurtz said in the post.
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Microsoft says cause of outage at 365 apps and services fixed
Reuters
Microsoft said on Friday that the underlying cause for outage of its 365 apps and services has been fixed, but the residual impact of cybersecurity outages are continuing to affect some customers. (This story has been corrected to say that the underlying cause of outage of 365 apps and services was fixed, not the global outage, in the headline and in paragraph 1)
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ION Completes Acquisition of Italy's Prelios for EUR1.35 Billion
Sonia Sirletti - Bloomberg
ION Group completed the acquisition of Italian asset manager Prelios SpA for EUR1.35 billion ($1.5 billion), following months of back-and-forth with Italian authorities on the deal. The acquisition, done through a unit called X3 Group, was financed by a group of banks led by UniCredit SpA, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA and BNP Paribas SA, ION said in a statement Friday. The announcement confirmed an earlier Bloomberg report. "The deal is part of a broader strategy to improve asset management and efficient decision-making processes through the use of data," Prelios Chairman Fabrizio Palenzona said in the statement. "The credit servicing industry in Italy is going through a consolidation phase driven by the need to improve operational efficiency," he said.
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US Treasury Postpones Buyback Operation Due to Technical Issues
Liz Capo McCormick and Christopher Condon - Bloomberg
The US Treasury said it is postponing its regularly scheduled debt buyback operation slated for Wednesday due to technical difficulties. The department said in e-mailed statement that it would hold the planned buyback on Thursday, July 18. As part of the new debt-buyback program the Treasury began this year, the department was slated to repurchase as much as $2 billion of nominal debt with a maturity of three- to five years at a Wednesday auction.
/jlne.ws/3zNr6oR
From palm oil to data: Malaysia builds AI hub on Singapore's doorstep; Companies take advantage of cheaper land and more abundant energy
Mercedes Ruehl - Financial Times
In what were once wild jungle and palm oil plantations in southern Malaysia, the likes of TikTok, Nvidia and Microsoft are racing to install the building blocks of the digital economy: data centres. Billions of dollars are being invested in the state of Johor, just a few kilometres from Singapore, by companies taking advantage of cheaper land and more abundant energy for computer infrastructure while staying close to south-east Asia's biggest financial centre.
/jlne.ws/3Wuhw2Q
Wall Street sees this opaque corner of financial markets as the likeliest source of a credit crisis, Bank of America says
Filip De Mott - Business Insider
Bank of America's latest Global Fund Managers survey found that shadow banking has surpassed commercial real estate as the likeliest culprit of a future credit event. Nearly a third of surveyed investors consider the opaque sector of the financial markets the most likely source of future fallout, overtaking the 24% who still see a bigger risk in the property market. In June's survey, commercial real estate held the top spot.
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How American Pension Funds Help Vladimir Putin's Gas Gambit
Natasha White and Stephen Stapczynski - Bloomberg
Russia needs to ramp up liquefied natural gas exports to replenish Kremlin coffers and fund its war in Ukraine. Western pension funds may inadvertently be lending a hand. Data compiled by investigative consultancy Data Desk and the Anti-Corruption Data Collective show that public retirement funds, including those managed by the states of Washington, New York and California, have indirectly invested in the specialized ice-class carriers serving Russia's Yamal LNG - the country's largest active gas export terminal and a vital piece of its efforts to replace its lucrative trade with Europe.
/jlne.ws/3WuInfo
iShares move to close last physical frontier ETF marks end of era; 'Persistent liquidity challenges' and denuding of the index have ended a 12-year experiment
Steve Johnson - Financial Times
The imminent closure of the world's only exchange traded fund physically investing in frontier markets draws a line under an attempt to extend the ETF format into a notoriously illiquid field. BlackRock said last month that it intended to liquidate its then-$400mn iShares Frontier and Select Emerging Markets ETF (FM) in 2025 due to "persistent liquidity challenges".
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FTX Claims Broker Thomas Braziel Stole $1.9 Million From a Receivership for Personal Gain, Court Says; The Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware said Braziel used money recovered while acting as the receiver for Fund.com
Mengqi Sun - The Wall Street Journal
A Delaware court has ordered distressed-debt investor Thomas Braziel to pay back about $1.95 million that he took from a receivership he oversaw to fund his own investments and to make purchases of luxury goods. Braziel, a managing partner at distressed investing firm 117 Partners and based in Italy, rose to fame in recent years for buying claims in high-profile cryptocurrency bankruptcy cases from customers, including in the defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, crypto lender Celsius Network and crypto platform Voyager Digital.
/jlne.ws/3Scsc3u
The Data That Powers A.I. Is Disappearing Fast; New research from the Data Provenance Initiative has found a dramatic drop in content made available to the collections used to build artificial intelligence.
Kevin Roose - The New York Times
For years, the people building powerful artificial intelligence systems have used enormous troves of text, images and videos pulled from the internet to train their models. Now, that data is drying up. Over the past year, many of the most important web sources used for training A.I. models have restricted the use of their data, according to a study published this week by the Data Provenance Initiative, an M.I.T.-led research group.
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The Push to Develop Generative A.I. Without All the Lawsuits; Companies like Getty have begun developing A.I. models with their own data, part of a broader push to build artificial intelligence with licensed content.
Nico Grant and Cade Metz - The Wall Street Journal
Companies like Google and OpenAI built their artificial intelligence chatbots and image generators by gobbling content from the web, spurring legal fights over copyright claims. Now, some of those copyright holders are trying to get in on the A.I. boom. The major stock photo suppliers Getty Images and Shutterstock, among others, are building A.I. image generators with their own data, bypassing the legal worries that have shadowed the industry.
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Fireside Friday with... Liquidnet's Jeff O'Connor; The TRADE sits down with Jeff O'Connor, head of market structure, Americas at Liquidnet, to discuss traditional asset managers reclaiming market influence, the impact this has had on market dynamics and how forthcoming regulations are set to influence this trend.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
What is driving the purported 'comeback' of traditional asset managers? Is it a trend that's set to continue in the long-term? To start, it is interesting to look at the transition of market conditions from 2022 to today. In 2022, the market saw the highest sustained real price volatility since the Great Financial Crises. This alone was enough to make institutional asset managers wary of making moves. The situation was exacerbated by historically high levels of correlations, which made the selection of fundamental winners and losers very unappealing. Non-traditional volume sources such as passive indexing, high-frequency trading, non-bank market making, and quantitative trading were gaining market share over institutional asset managers. The subsequent lack of continuous institutional volumes contributed to an unhealthy market backdrop in terms of liquidity, efficiency, and attractiveness, as evidenced by the highest levels of cash raises in over 20 years within the fund manager segment.
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Kremlin: Interruptions in Russian oil transit via Ukraine a 'crisis' for buyers
Reuters
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday called interruptions in Russian oil transit via Ukraine a "crisis" for the affected oil buyers, but said there was little scope for talks with the Ukrainian transit firms because the decision had been political. Slovakia and Hungary have said they stopped receiving oil from a key supplier, Russian company Lukoil, after Ukraine last month banned the transit of resources from the Russian energy company via its territory
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The Ukrainian army pulls out from another eastern village as Russia smashes defensive positions
Hanna Arhirova - Associated Press
Ukraine's army has pulled out from the village of Urozhaine in the eastern Donetsk region, an official said Thursday, surrendering another front-line position as Russian forces blast Ukrainian defenses in a relentless onslaught. The village was reduced to rubble which "made it impossible to hold the positions there," Nazar Voloshyn, a spokesperson for local ground forces, told The Associated Press in a written message. He did not say when the pullout occurred.
/jlne.ws/3LujQR1
Putin Looks to Trump for a Win in Ukraine
Anthony Halpin - Bloomberg
For all the political theater at the Republican National Convention, Donald Trump's main foreign-policy message was that he's a peacemaker. That's of particular interest to Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin isn't hiding its satisfaction at the prospect of Trump and his running-mate, JD Vance, winning November's presidential election on a platform that includes a pledge to end the war in Ukraine quickly. Russia's foreign minister this week said Vance's stated opposition to further aid for Ukraine was "what we need."
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Ukraine loses more than 1,000 men in battle for single village
Joe Barnes - The Telegraph
More than 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers are feared to have been killed during a symbolic battle for a single village on the left bank of the Dnipro River. The perilous months-long fight to establish a bridgehead in the village of Krynky, a southern Kherson fishing village, has been described as a suicide mission for soldiers, in an operation seen by commanders as crucial as for pinning down Russian forces in the area.
/jlne.ws/4fdt0iL
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| Israel/Hamas Conflict | | News about the recent (October, 2023) conflict between Israel and Hamas | U.S. Launches Effort to Stop Russia From Arming Houthis With Antiship Missiles; A U.S. commander has sent a confidential letter warning the Pentagon that U.S. is failing to deter Red Sea attacks on shipping
Michael R. Gordon and Lara Seligman - The Wall Street Journal
U.S. intelligence agencies are warning that Russia might arm Houthi militants in Yemen with advanced antiship missiles in retaliation for the Biden administration's support for Ukrainian strikes inside Russia with U.S. weapons. The new intelligence comes as the top U.S. Middle East commander recently advised in a classified letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that military operations in the region are "failing" to deter Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and that a broader approach is needed, according to U.S. officials.
/jlne.ws/3YhboMy
Drone Strike Hits Tel Aviv, a First During Gaza War; Yemen-based Houthis claim responsibility for the attack on Israel's commercial capital
Anat Peled and Carrie Keller-Lynn - The Wall Street Journal
A drone strike caused an explosion in Tel Aviv, slipping through the country's vaunted air defenses in the first such attack on Israel's commercial capital since the war in Gaza began more than nine months ago. The Israeli military said the blast was caused by a large unmanned aerial vehicle that could travel long distances. It said it believes the device was launched from Yemen.
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Eurex adds Ether to its crypto derivatives suite
Deutsche Borse Group
Eurex expands its crypto derivatives portfolio with the launch of FTSE Ethereum Index Futures and Options as of 12 August 2024. Following the launch of FTSE Bitcoin Index Futures and Options in 2023, this is another major milestone in Eurex's ambition to offer secure access to cryptocurrencies in a regulated market environment. Ethereum is the second largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of approximately USD 400 billion. There is significant trading and hedging demand from institutional and professional customers, as reflected in record trading volumes in derivatives and other investment products.
/jlne.ws/3WCMmGR
Changes in the Composition of Hellenic Corporate Bond Indices
ATHEX Group
Athens Stock Exchange announces the changes in the composition of the "Hellenic Corporate Bond Indices" according to the Ground Rules for the management of the indices.
/jlne.ws/3P5pLgX
CME Reference Data API Maintenance Window Change
CME Group
The CME Reference Data API weekly maintenance period,for this week only, will occur this Friday, July 19, from 4:30 p.m. Central Time (CT) to Saturday 5:00 p.m. CT. During these times, data may be unavailable or unreliable.
/jlne.ws/3zJNaQW
CME Globex Notices: July 15, 2024
CME Group
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Performance Bond Requirements: Equity, Cryptocurrency and Metal Margins - Effective July 19, 2024
CME Group
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 July 19, 2024.
/jlne.ws/3zOWHX1
EBS Market on CME Globex Notice: July 18, 2024
CME Group
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CME STP Notices: July 18, 2024
CME Group
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Notice on Matters Related to the Identification of Abnormal Trading Behaviors of Frequent Order Cancellation on Contracts Collecting Order Fees
SHFE
According to the Article 9 of the Administration of Abnormal Trading Behaviors Rules of Shanghai Futures Exchange, SHFE decides that frequent order cancellation resulting from such transactions as fill-or-kill (FOK) orders and fill-and-kill (FAK) orders on contracts collecting order fees will be deemed as abnormal trading behaviors, starting from October 25, 2024 (i.e., during continuous trading on the evening of October 24). Frequent order cancellations resulting from other trading orders will not be deemed as abnormal trading behaviors.
/jlne.ws/3y56esw
Announcement on the Release of Revised Administration of Abnormal Trading Behaviors Rules of the Shanghai Futures Exchange
SHFE
After being approved by the board of directors of Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) and reported to China Securities Regulatory Commission, SHFE hereby releases the revised version of its Administration of Abnormal Trading Behaviors Rules of the Shanghai Futures Exchange, which will come into effect as of the date of October 25, 2024.
/jlne.ws/3WuwWnV
ETF Market Report: 2nd Quarter 2024; Discover the latest figures about the development of the ETF segment at SIX Swiss Exchange, one of Europe's top 3 ETF venues - including statistics for Quote on Demand (QOD).
SIX
The Swiss ETF market picked up in the second quarter compared with the previous quarter. Turnover increased from CHF 15.829 billion to CHF 18.427 billion in the second quarter, an increase of 16.41%, with the generally positive sentiment on the stock markets contributing to this. The average ticket size in the first half of the year was 14.73% below the value for the entire previous year, while the median exceeded it by 10.60%. Compared with the first quarter, both the ticket size and the median increased slightly. However, ticket sizes above CHF 100,000 were still slightly below those of the previous year. The range of newly listed ETFs on SIX Swiss Exchange increased by a further 84 units in the second quarter of 2024, and by 28 June the total number of ETFs listed on SIX Swiss Exchange amounted to 1,788 units. The focus of new listings remained on bond ETFs, which accounted for almost half of new issues. The first reductions in key interest rates by central banks and the prospect of further cuts provided new impetus for fixed-interest securities. A number of new listings also focused on sustainability. This was rounded off by a few new thematic ETFs.
/jlne.ws/3WsR21B
TAIFEX Unveils Micro TAIEX Futures to Elevate Market Flexibility as Taiwan Market Hits New Highs
TAIFEX
The Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX) is set to launch Micro TAIEX Futures (TMF) on July 29, 2024. This strategic addition to TAIFEX's product lineup aims to offer traders greater flexibility and accessibility in capital management, addressing the rising index levels and evolving demands of the Taiwan market.
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Nvidia's Other Billionaire: Director Mark Stevens Joins Huang in 10-Figure Club; Mark Stevens is second-largest insider shareholder after Huang; Former Sequoia partner also co-owns the Golden State Warriors
Biz Carson and Vernal Galpotthawela - Bloomberg
Venture capitalist Mark Stevens was early to Nvidia Corp.'s relentless stock rally. Three decades early, to be exact. The Nvidia board member first invested in the chipmaker in 1993 as a newly minted partner at Sequoia Capital. It's been a bumpy ride since then: By Stevens' count, Nvidia survived at least three near-death experiences before the AI craze sent its stock surging, pushing the value of his holding to about $4.7 billion. Combined with a minority stake in the NBA's Golden State Warriors and more than two decades in venture capital, Stevens is worth $8.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which is calculating his fortune for the first time. That makes him the 306th-richest person in the world, ahead of hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
/jlne.ws/469Gurq
Widespread technology outage disrupts flights, banks, media outlets and companies around the world
Charlotte Graham-McLay, Elaine Kurtenback and David McHugh - Associated Press
A global technology outage grounded flights, knocked banks and hospital systems offline and media outlets off air on Friday in a massive disruption that affected companies and services around the world and highlighted dependence on software from a handful of providers. Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said that the issue believed to be behind the outage was not a security incident or cyberattack - and that a fix was on the way. The company said the problem occurred when it deployed a faulty update to computers running Microsoft Windows.
/jlne.ws/3zIeEGE
Venture capital has an exit problem A big overhang of ageing - and unsold - private tech companies has developed
Richard Waters - Financial Times (opinion)
The rocket-ship story of cyber security company Wiz is the kind of thing that the venture capital industry has long relied on to draw in investors. Four young engineers sell their first start-up to a giant tech company (Microsoft) and go off to found another. This one finds an unmet need and hits the big time: it quickly raises $1.9bn from some of the best-known names in venture investing. After just four years, a different giant tech company (Google) comes along and offers to buy it for $23bn. If the sale goes through, it will be the kind of payday that enters VC mythology. But of late, big hits such as this have been few and far between.
/jlne.ws/3zRANT5
OpenAI and Broadcom in talks about developing new AI chip; ChatGPT maker seeks ways to expand capacity as it aims to stay ahead of its rivals
George Hammond - Financial Times
OpenAI has been in talks with semiconductor designers including Broadcom about developing a new chip, as the artificial intelligence company looks to ease its reliance on Nvidia and bolster its supply chain. The talks are part of efforts spearheaded by the company's co-founder and chief executive Sam Altman to beef up the supply of components and infrastructure required to run increasingly powerful AI models. "The limiting factor of AI is capacity: chip capacity, energy capacity, compute capacity. [OpenAI] is not just going to sit back and let others build [that] when they are on the front line," said one person with knowledge of OpenAI's plans.
/jlne.ws/4fl5Sim
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says he'll add thousands of jobs focused on AI in the next couple of years
Lloyd Lee - Fortune
JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon said that he'll likely add thousands of more jobs centered around artificial intelligence at his company in the next couple of years. In an interview with LinkedIn's Editor in Chief Dan Roth, the JPMorgan CEO lauded AI as a valuable "productivity tool" that is already impacting the workforce, including at his bank.
/jlne.ws/467Xui1
TSMC raises hopes of a prolonged AI boom; Taiwanese chipmaker lifts full-year forecast and shrugs off hostile comments by Donald Trump
Kathrin Hille - Financial Times
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company said red-hot AI demand is boosting growth and causing capacity bottlenecks well beyond next year, raising hopes of a prolonged AI boom even as the industry is hit by fears about new export controls. The world's largest chipmaker on Thursday raised its full-year forecast to slightly over 25 per cent revenue growth in US dollar terms from its previous guidance of 20-25 per cent. TSMC reported a 36 per cent jump in net profit to NT$247.8bn (US$7.6bn) and a 40 per cent increase in revenue to NT$673.5bn for the second quarter compared with the same period last year, outperforming the guidance it gave three months ago.
/jlne.ws/4bPhE1i
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Two Russian Men Plead Guilty in LockBit Ransomware Attacks; LockBit blamed for $500 million in ransom payments, US says; US offering $10 million reward to help catch LockBit leader
David Voreacos - Bloomberg
Two Russian nationals pleaded guilty to their roles in ransomware attacks in the US, Asia, Europe and Africa for a notorious hacking gang known as LockBit. Ruslan Astamirov and Mikhail Vasiliev admitted they helped to deploy the ransomware variant, which first appeared in 2020. It soon became one of the most destructive in the world, leading to attacks against more than 2,500 victims and ransom payments of at least $500 million, according to the Justice Department.
/jlne.ws/4bPHja7
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Turkish Crypto Platform CEO Steps Down Amid Global Push; BtcTurk CEO steps down after seven years leading firm; Turkey has embraced crypto assets as inflation runs rampant
Taylan Bilgic - Bloomberg
The head of Turkey's biggest cryptocurrency exchange BtcTurk is stepping down after seven years at the helm, as the firm plans an expansion abroad. Ozgur Guneri, will step down as chief executive officer while staying on as a board member, BtcTurk Chairman Kerem Tibuk, told Bloomberg by phone on Thursday. Tibuk, the firm's founder, will serve as acting CEO while the exchange focuses on its expansion, he said.
/jlne.ws/3Shl1Y6
A major ad-Vance for crypto; Plus, updates on bitcoin mining and spot ether ETFs
Nikou Asgar - Financial Times
For crypto bros already excited about the prospect of former president Donald Trump's potential return to the White House, his choice of running mate could hardly have been better. In JD Vance, bitcoiners see one of their own. Not only does the Hillbilly Elegy author own a lot of bitcoin (at least he did in 2022, his most recent financial filings show) but he's championed crypto as an alternative to mainstream finance. This is music to the ears of an industry that sees itself as the victim of baseless hostility from US regulators.
/jlne.ws/46cghso
Bitcoin, SHIB Trade at 30% Haircut on WazirX as Exploiter Converts Stolen Loot to Ether
Shaurya Malwa - CoinDesk
The North Korea-linked exploiter that drained $230 million from Indian crypto exchange WazirX has converted most of the loot to ether {{ETH}}, blockchain tracker Lookonchain said on Friday. The exploiter holds over 59,097 ETH as of Friday morning, worth $200 million at current prices, and another $15 million in various alternative tokens.
/jlne.ws/3Se6X1u
Bitcoin Mining Is So Back (Except It's AI Now)
George Kaloudis - CoinDesk
Bitcoin is up 7% over the last five days. You know what that means? Bitcoin mining is so back (until bitcoin's price falls 5% over a five-day stretch again, after which it'll be so over again). With bitcoin's price surge, the stock prices of four of the five largest publicly traded miners (measured by total hashrate, or computing power spent securing the Bitcoin network) are up double-digit percentage points.
/jlne.ws/3zWNYSy
Distressed crypto investor ordered to repay $1.9mn taken from failed company; Thomas Braziel invested some funds but also spent on jewellery, luxury hotel stays and 'other fineries', court finds
Amelia Pollard and Sujeet Indap - Financial Times
A high-profile crypto investor has been ordered by a Delaware court to pay back nearly $2mn he was found to have looted from a failed company he was appointed to oversee. The decision on Thursday largely confirmed a court-appointed investigator's conclusion that Thomas Braziel had appropriated funds from a listed company known as Fund.com, which were used to invest in "bankruptcy claims, cryptocurrency, leveraged loans, and high-risk equities", as well as a Bermuda hotelier. Braziel spent nearly $1mn of company funds on such items as a sapphire ring, diamond earrings, a watch and "luxury hotel stays, apparel, art, and other fineries", according to the ruling from the Delaware Court of Chancery.
/jlne.ws/4d3lepA
Why bitcoin is a crucial asset for modern investors
Rob Nelson - The Street
Despite its revolutionary promise, bitcoin's utility proposition remains misunderstood. In a recent discussion, Roundtable anchor Rob Nelson, Formidium Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer Shalin Madan, and Richard Levin, Chair of FinTech and Regulation Practice at Nelson Mullins, explored why bitcoin's message has failed to resonate with key demographics. Their insights revealed a pressing need for better communication and regulatory clarity. Nelson began the discussion by addressing a critical gap in bitcoin's messaging. He emphasized that bitcoin's potential as a savior for those outside traditional financial systems has not been communicated clearly enough. Nelson highlighted the importance of making bitcoin's benefits known to younger Americans and those who struggle to invest through conventional means.
/jlne.ws/3Y6TRGT
Ether ETF Battle for Supremacy Ignites as Firms Reveal Fund Fees; Issuers propose fees for Ether ETFs, which could trade soon; Grayscale's mini ETF now the cheapest in cohort at 0.15%
Isabelle Lee and Vildana Hajric - Bloomberg
The battle for potential Ether ETF assets is already underway - even as the funds have yet to launch. Issuers including BlackRock Inc., Fidelity Investments, Invesco Ltd and Bitwise Asset Management Inc. submitted paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday outlining how much they would charge for their respective Ether ETFs, which would directly hold the second-largest cryptocurrency. The filings came in anticipation of the funds debuting as early as next week; the firms are still awaiting a final required sign-off from the regulator.
/jlne.ws/3Lyi3KZ
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Meet the Traders Making Money Off the Trump Shooting and Biden's Stumbles; Crypto-based prediction platform Polymarket experiences record volumes due to flood of bets on the U.S. election
Alexander Osipovich - The Wall Street Journal
The attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump roiled U.S. politics and shocked people around the world. For a few enterprising traders, it also led to quick profits. Within minutes of the shooting, Ryan, a 20-year-old university student in Canada, was entering trades on Polymarket, a crypto-based prediction market that has enjoyed a surge of interest thanks to its betting markets tied to the U.S. presidential election.
/jlne.ws/3WqLLro
Trump Vows Action to End Electric Vehicle 'Mandate' on Day One
Ari Natter - Bloomberg
Former President Donald Trump used his nomination speech to take aim at President Joe Biden's electric vehicle policies, vowing to action against them on his first day in office. "I will end the electric vehicle mandate on day one," Trump said in his address at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. The move would result in "saving the US auto industry from complete obliteration, which is happening right now, and saving US customers thousands and thousands of dollars per car," he said.
/jlne.ws/469Jlk8
Britain Has a $5 Billion Bitcoin Stash. Reeves Can Unleash It; The Labour chancellor should sell Britain's seized crypto assets to fund her economic plans.
Merryn Somerset Webb - Bloomberg
Rachel Reeves is going to need some money. The UK's new Chancellor of the Exchequer has inherited, she says, one of the worst sets of circumstances since World War II. Meeting her goal to "rebuild Britain and make every part of our country better off" won't be cheap. But there's a pile of cash conveniently available that won't involve raising taxes - Britain's Bitcoin holdings.
/jlne.ws/4fnWVoz
Vietnam's Trong, longtime leader and advocate of 'bamboo diplomacy', dies
Phuong Nguyen and Francesco Guarascio - Reuters
Nguyen Phu Trong, the Marxist-Leninist who led Vietnam for more than a decade overseeing rapid economic growth and more recently trod a fine line in elevating ties with both China and the U.S. with his 'bamboo diplomacy', has died. He was 80. For months Trong had appeared frail at public events or missed them outright and on Thursday his duties as party chief were taken over by President To Lam. He died "due to old age and serious illness," the ruling Communist Party said on Friday.
/jlne.ws/4cPQSHE
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | SEC approval for spot Ether ETFs imminent as crypto gains further mainstream acceptance
Kurt Robson - GlobalData
At least three out of eight asset managers looking to launch exchange traded funds (ETFs) tied to the spot price of the cryptocurrency, Ethereum, have received preliminary approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, according to Reuters, citing three sources. Ethereum is the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain, the world's second most popular cryptocurrency. However, the corresponding ETFs are securities that allow investors to bet on multiple assets, reducing financial risk and exposure.
/jlne.ws/3LsbR7j
US regulators serve up a shot aimed at Serena Williams-backed venture; SoLo Funds lets borrowers set their own flat fees but consumer authorities want it to state costs as a yearly interest rate
Stephen Gandel - Financial Times
US consumer regulators are increasing the pressure on a Serena Williams-backed lending start-up, introducing a proposed rule that would restrict the way it charges customers. The action by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and its director, Rohit Chopra, follows a lawsuit filed by the regulator earlier this year for deceptive lending practices.
/jlne.ws/3WuLAeW
Thailand Plans Financial Service Agency to Draw Foreign Fund; One-stop center will support banks, brokers, digital assets; New law will boost goal of being a 'regional financial hub'
Suttinee Yuvejwattana and Lee J Miller - Bloomberg
Thailand said it will create a one-stop agency for integrated financial services to be more competitive in attracting foreign funds and investors, and will soon draft a law that will help position the country as a regional financial hub. The new agency will issue licenses for banking, securities, insurance, digital assets and forward contracts for foreign companies, Deputy Finance Minister Paopoom Rojanasakul said at a briefing Friday. It will also deal with services for foreign businesses, such as work permits and tax incentives.
/jlne.ws/4f3b6zb
2024 Industry Snapshot
FINRA
FINRA regulates a critical part of the securities industry - member brokerage firms doing business in the United States. In an effort to increase public awareness and understanding about the broad range of FINRA-registered firms and individuals, FINRA shares an annual snapshot of some of the data collected in the course of its work. The 2024 FINRA Industry Snapshot provides a high-level overview of FINRA membership, ranging from the number of FINRA-registered individuals to the overall revenues of firms, and from trading activity to how firms market their products and services. All of the data are reported in aggregate to respect the confidentiality of regulatory information.
/jlne.ws/3W9NTCA
American Express ordered to pay $8 million penalty for failing to meet its design and distribution obligations
ASIC
The Federal Court has ordered American Express Australia Limited (Amex) to pay $8 million in penalties for breaching the design and distribution obligations (DDO) in relation to two co-branded credit cards which were primarily distributed to customers in David Jones stores.
/jlne.ws/3WtxABY
FMA censures CTRL for Derivatives Issuer licence breaches
FMA
The Financial Markets Authority - Te Mana Tātai Hokohoko - has censured CTRL Investments Limited (CTRL) for breaching the obligations of its Derivatives Issuer licence. CTRL failed to meet its minimum Net Tangible Asset (NTA) requirements between 31 March 2023 and 29 March 2024. It also breached other obligations. CTRL notified the FMA of the NTA breach in October 2023 following FMA enquiries about the late filing of its financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2023. The breach was caused by the failure of an overseas electronic money institution CTRL used to hold a significant amount of the company's assets. The electronic money institution's failure and subsequent impairment of implicated assets eroded the value of assets that comprised the NTA, and this breach triggered requirements that CTRL:
/jlne.ws/3Y8VFiC
FSA Weekly Review No.595: July 19, 2024
FSA
/jlne.ws/3Y8K2s0
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | US retail investment under attack from bunk 'common ownership' theory; Advancing new red tape based on discredited idea would only harm investors and our capital markets
Eric Pan - Financial Times (opinion)
The writer is chief executive of the Investment Company Institute
Ambitious policymakers from both big US political parties are looking to make hay of the failed idea that retail investment funds hold too much stock in our largest companies. They are hoping to advance headline-grabbing policy agendas that would ultimately harm everyday American investors. As retail investment funds have grown, they hold larger - though still minority - stakes in a range of companies. This has inspired the so-called "common ownership" theory behind a series of abysmal policy proposals. The theory claims that competitors in the same industry - airlines, for example - compete less vigorously with one another when a fund holds significant minority stakes in the largest companies.
/jlne.ws/46dXJrz
CrowdStrike stock tumbles after update triggers global IT chaos
Martin Baccardax - The Street
CrowdStrike Holdings shares fell sharply lower in early Friday trading after an update to the cybersecurity group's threat-monitoring software was linked to one of the biggest global IT disruptions on record.
/jlne.ws/4cKZoY5
The Rice Price Scare is Over - Let's Learn the Lessons; Time to consider a strategic reserve for rice, the world's most important grain.
Javier Blas - Bloomberg
Wheat and corn are the most actively traded grains in financial markets. But they can't damage the global economy like rice. The staple for half the world is largely ignored by Wall Street, but it's the one commodity that really matters for global food security. For the last three years, Asia and African nations had been on the defensive: A dangerous mix of bad weather, protectionism and panic buying fueled an inflationary spike. Many feared worse was still to come - a full-blown crisis accompanied by violence. It didn't come to pass, though, and now that the weather is starting to improve, it's becoming clear the rice price scare is all but over. Food inflation, particularly in Asia, is starting to ease.
/jlne.ws/3WqAgQS
Merger-Arb Traders Bet on a Few Deals After Ugly Start of Year
Yiqin Shen - Bloomberg
Merger-arbitrage investors are betting on just a small handful of deals in the third quarter, including potential acquisitions of R1 RCM Inc. and Macy's Inc., after a rough start to the year, with regulatory, legal and political hurdles delaying or outright quashing big deals. That's the finding from a Bloomberg News survey of 12 merger-arbitrage and event-driven analysts, brokers and fund managers who said they are especially cautious ahead of the US presidential election in November.
/jlne.ws/4bKjz7m
The Secret to a Contrarian Investor's Success; Alec Cutler of Orbis Investments joins Merryn Talks Money to explain what's behind his fund's decade of strong returns.
Merryn Somerset Webb - Bloomberg (podcast)
On this week's Merryn Talks Money, Alec Cutler, portfolio manager with Orbis Investments, joins Merryn Somerset Webb for a conversation on the strategy behind his fund's strong performance, including the key to his contrarian approach. Cutler's Orbis Global Balanced fund has returned an average of net 9.8% annually over the last 10 years, compared with 5.8% for the IA Mixed Investments sector.
/jlne.ws/4bPbBtx
After Scoring 60% Returns, Carry Traders Are Ditching Peso, Real; US election spurs quest for less-volatile high yielders; Australia, New Zealand have emerged as prime targets: Bechtel
Anya Andrianova and Vinicius Andrade - Bloomberg
Latin America is being replaced as the go-to trade for currency investors as politics turns double-digit gains into losing bets. After minting outsize returns in currencies like the Mexican peso and the Brazilian real for much of the past two years, investors are turning to less risky alternatives such as the Australia and New Zealand dollars for carry trades, which involve borrowing in the currency of a low-yielding country to buy high yielders.
/jlne.ws/4bPkiUM
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | South Africa to Lay Out Carbon Market Regulation Proposals; Treasury to publish consultation paper around October; South Africa has already imposed a carbon tax on emitters
Antony Sguazzin - Bloomberg
South Africa's National Treasury plans to lay out its proposals for how to regulate carbon markets in the country in the next few months. The government department said it plans to publish a consultation paper on the industry around the time it presents its Medium Term Budget Policy Statement in October. While African countries from Zimbabwe to Ghana have been rushing to regulate the production and trade in carbon credits, which can be sold to companies or countries to compensate for their emissions of climate-warming gases, to garner more income for the governments, South Africa is both a producer and a consumer of the offsets.
/jlne.ws/46b2G4t
Abu Dhabi's Masdar Plans More Green Bonds After $1 Billion Deal
Verity Ratcliffe - Bloomberg
Abu Dhabi's main renewables energy company Masdar is planning to sell green bonds annually for the next few years to help fund a global expansion. The company, also known as Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co. PJSC, raised $1 billion through its second dollar-denominated green bonds sale this week, after a debut issue for $750 million last year. Masdar is targeting stakes in 100 gigawatts of clean projects by 2030.
/jlne.ws/4f7fLjv
UK climate activists jailed for at least four years over road blocks; Record sentence under new public nuisance law introduced by previous government
Attracta Mooney and Jim Pickard - Financial Times
Five UK climate activists have been given record jail sentences for a non-violent protest under a new law, each serving a term of at least four years for their role in shutting down the M25 motorway. The five Just Stop Oil protesters were found guilty of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance, after they joined a Zoom call about the four-day demonstration that took place in November 2022.
/jlne.ws/3Y8T6Nw
Some climate groups urge Biden to stand down, fearing a Trump win; 'Nominating Biden is a recipe for electing Trump,' says founder of Climate Defiance, while other groups stay quiet
Dharna Noor and Oliver Milman - The Guardian
Some climate campaigners are heaping further pressure on Joe Biden to drop out of the US presidential election, with activists staging a protest outside the Democratic National Committee's headquarters on Friday to demand the US president stand aside. Several dozen protesters are planning to blockade the DNC in Washington on Friday morning to call for a freeze on Biden's nomination, in favor of another candidate who could prevent Donald Trump becoming president and tearing up Biden's climate policies.
/jlne.ws/3Wrd30X
Chinese wind turbine-makers move into Europe as trade tensions flare
Riham Alkousaa, Christoph Steitz and Nina Chestney - Reuters
Chinese wind turbine-makers this month clinched their first order in Germany, as they build momentum in the European market and add to concern in the EU industry that it faces an existential threat. Tensions are high between Beijing and Brussels, the world's two biggest wind markets, as the European Commission, the EU executive, has launched an investigation into whether Chinese players enjoy unfair subsidies.
/jlne.ws/4bSNF8N
New law sets up a nuclear power renaissance
Leah Garden - Business Green
It just got a whole lot easier to build a nuclear power plant. Or at least, that's the hope behind the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law on 9 July.
/jlne.ws/3SgzHqh
Unlocking corporate climate finance: edie launches new, free-to-download report
edie
In partnership with Lloyds Bank, edie has published a new report exploring the challenges businesses face in accessing and mobilizing finance for climate action projects - and the opportunities of doing so.
/jlne.ws/4cHuQqi
Global Power Demand Is Surging on AI and Aircon, IEA Says; AI plays a big role in demand, but future forecasts are tricky; Scorching heat waves are pushing up sales of air conditioners
Eamon Farhat - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4d4u7PK
Big Meat and Dairy Are 'Undermining' Climate Action, Report Says
Agnieszka de Sousa - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4bLmFIp
Heat Spreads to France as Mediterranean Wildfire Risk Increases; Temperatures on Friday to top 40C in Spain, Italy and Greece; Greece battles fire overnight on border with North Macedonia
Eamon Farhat and Paul Tugwell - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4d54DBS
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Schwab and LPL Short-Changed Clients' Cash for Years. Now They're Paying for It.
Ian Salisbury - Barron's
For the past week some of the biggest Main Street investing firms-including Charles Schwab and LPL Financial Holdings -have seen their stock prices punished by their own loyal customers. With short-term interest rates still high, those customers have finally been demanding better payouts on their cash. If the investors are smart, they will keep up the pressure.
/jlne.ws/4f3y6Ot
Fired Citigroup banker says COO intended to deceive regulator on bank's metrics
Reuters
A former Citigroup managing director who said she was fired because she refused to mislead a federal regulator about the bank's risk management accused Citigroup's chief operating officer of intentional deception, according to an amended lawsuit filed late on Thursday. Kathleen Martin said Chief Operating Officer Anand Selva "wanted to misreport Citi's metrics to deceive" the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency into believing the bank was complying with its $400 million settlement agreement in 2020 addressing risk management shortfalls.
/jlne.ws/3y2aklg
Jamie Dimon welcomes complaining JPMorgan clients: 'If we're torturing you, we're probably torturing another 100,000 people'
Orianna Rosa Royle - Fortune
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has a surprising message for disgruntled clients: keep the complaints coming. The Wall Street Titan recently said that he welcomes criticisms because they help open his eyes and ears to what thousands of his other customers are probably experiencing. "I always tell a client, 'When you complain to us, you're doing us a favor. If we're torturing you, we're probably torturing another 10,000 or 100,000 people,'" Dimon revealed in LinkedIn's "This is Working" video series last week. It's why, he insisted, that leaders can't do their job from their corner office.
/jlne.ws/4cHpBa6
Fifth Third Bancorp quarterly profit dips on interest income weakness
Reuters
Fifth Third Bancorp reported a fall in second-quarter profit on Friday, as costlier deposits eroded the regional lender's interest income. Banks such as Fifth Third have been paying higher interest rates on deposits to retain customers chasing better returns elsewhere.
/jlne.ws/3SfLqWa
Japan's MUFG cuts CEO, five other executives' pay after 'firewall' breaches
Anton Bridge - Reuters
Japan's largest banking group Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) will cut the pay of its CEO and five other executives following the breaching of "firewall" regulations at its banking and securities arms, it said on Friday. In June, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) ordered MUFG's banking and securities units to submit business improvement plans in the most high profile financial regulatory action in Japan since the securities arm of rival Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group was indicted on market manipulation charges in 2022.
/jlne.ws/3SfmI86
Norges Bank Says Problems With Liquidity Operations Resolved; Norway's central bank earlier reported issue affecting auction; No evidence yet whether problem linked to global IT outage
Stephen Treloar
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Nomura banker leaves mainland China after exit ban lifted; Charles Wang Zhonghe was prevented from leaving the country last year
Kaye Wiggins, Cheng Leng and Chan Ho-him and Leo Lewis - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3y3S76K
Hedge Funds Have an Election Plan: Sell the Calm, Buy the Chaos
Natalia Kniazhevich - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/46dEkY7
Ex-York Capital Co-CIO Aurand's Hedge Fund to Return Cash
Nishant Kumar - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4c6lqnn
Five Questions With Apollo Global Co-Founder Josh Harris; The alternative asset pioneer talks about his second act as a sports mogul.
Jason Kelly - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4cMyhfl
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | Even a PhD isn't enough to erase the effects of class; A new study shows that it plays out differently to barriers based on race or gender
Soumaya Keynes - Financial Times
The past few years have been challenging for anyone employing fewer women or under-represented minorities than white men called John. Bosses responded, at least at first; according to jobs platform LinkedIn, the seventh fastest growing job title between 2019 and 2023 was "vice-president of diversity and inclusion". And within economics, concerns about maleness and paleness triggered a wave of new research. A new working paper is part of that trend, though it suggests there should be another round of reflection. Anna Stansbury and Kyra Rodriguez of MIT look at the "class gap" among US PhD-holders in science, social science, engineering and health. One might hope that having "Dr" in front of one's name would be enough to wash away any childhood disadvantage. But it seems not.
/jlne.ws/3Sgyijv
The 'Finance Bro' Uniform Is a Fleece and Khakis. For Female Execs, It's Not That Simple; When it comes to style and sartorial status, female financial executives say they have different rules-and different wants-than their male counterparts. 'We could never wear jeans.'
Carson Griffith - The Wall Street Journal
Trying to spot a woman in finance? Start with her water bottle. "You almost never see guys in our office carrying them around," noted Jueane Thiessen, the CFO of Queensgate Investments, which handles real estate capital in Europe. Women value luxury versions of the reusable bottles for both their status and sustainability, the 46-year-old said. Popular designs are covered with Swarovski crystals or leather, like those from Laksen that retail for $140 each.
/jlne.ws/4cMHGUk
There Is a Time for Corporate Despots-but It Isn't Forever; Democracy has drawbacks, but in the long run it is still the best we've got, for companies as well as countries
James Mackintosh - The Wall Street Journal
Winston Churchill once quipped that "democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." What is true for countries is usually true for companies, too. Except lately. Corporate dictatorships are in vogue. Companies where founder-chief executives hold on to special voting shares, such as Meta Platforms and Alphabet, or run boards as their own personal fief, such as Elon Musk's Tesla, are doing remarkably well.
/jlne.ws/3WuP2G4
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | How Long Is Covid Contagious? It's a tricky question to answer, but experts say symptoms and rapid tests are still good guides.
Dana G. Smith - The New York Times
As we cope with our fifth Covid summer, people are once again navigating travel and social events while in the midst of yet another wave. This raises the perennial question: If you test positive, how long are you contagious? "It's actually a difficult question," said Dr. Dan Barouch, the head of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. "There isn't any one time period where people are no longer infectious." Some people may be contagious for just a few days, while for others it can be a few weeks, he added.
/jlne.ws/4d8bVEK
For a Strong Body, You Need Strong Feet; These three simple tests could save you a lot of pain in the long run.
Jen Murphy - The New York Times
Building long-term strength means training all parts of your body: your legs, your arms and your core. But what about your feet? Your feet are responsible for mobility and balance. And having strong feet with dexterous toes is important for both for health and fitness, said Courtney Conley, the founder of Gait Happens, a Colorado-based online education resource focused on foot health. But most people first learn about the concept of foot strengthening after an injury, she said. Incorporating foot and toe exercises into your routine long before you develop shin splints or plantar fasciitis can help prevent those injuries and improve how you walk, especially as you age.
/jlne.ws/4bOSxMa
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Chinese Investors Dump Record Amount of US Stocks and Bonds
Masaki Kondo and Winnie Hsu - Bloomberg
Chinese investors sold a record amount of US stocks and bonds in May as diplomatic tensions remained elevated between the world's largest economies. Funds in the Asian nation offloaded a net $42.6 billion worth of long-term securities consisting of Treasury, agency, corporate and other bonds as well as equities, according to the latest data from the US Department of the Treasury released Thursday. Sales in the first five months of this year totaled $79.7 billion, an all-time high for the January-May period.
/jlne.ws/4d2HjVa
As Hong Kong's ether ETFs face US competition, different crypto investors may flock to city
South China Morning Post
Hong Kong may face fresh challenges as its lead in offering exchange-traded funds (ETF) that invest directly in ether, the world's second largest cryptocurrency token, may soon disappear with the imminent launch of similar products in the much larger US market, but the city could remain attractive to a specific set of investors it tries to become a virtual asset hub.
/jlne.ws/3zQ7VL1
India to Stick to Prudent Financial Plan, Survey Shows
Subhadip Sircar and Tomoko Sato - Bloomberg
India looks set to swim against the current of emerging market officials loosening the purse strings, with debt sales by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new government seen in line with earlier projections. New Delhi is expected to retain its earlier target of raising 14.1 trillion rupees ($169 billion) via bond sales in the fiscal year that began in April, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Not a single respondent expects the budget deficit to widen, underscoring just how keen officials are to maintain their hard-earned credibility at a time when global investors are piling into Indian debt thanks to its inclusion in JPMorgan Chase & Co indexes.
/jlne.ws/4bKy9fa
Citigroup Sees India Luring $100 Billion in Foreign Investment; Climate transition is biggest investment opportunity in India
Jeanette Rodrigues, Saikat Das, and Preeti Singh - Bloomberg
Foreign investors will likely deploy as much as $100 billion in India this fiscal year, drawn to high-tech manufacturing, infrastructure and climate-change projects in the world's most-populous country, according to a Citigroup Inc. banker. Companies working to help India meet its net-zero goals will be among the beneficiaries of the foreign capital flows, according to K Balasubramanian, head of corporate banking for Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
/jlne.ws/3Se4Pqk
Egypt's Gas Output Near Six-Year Low as It Shifts to Importer; Former gas exporter no longer able to keep power system afloat
Salma El Wardany and Anna Shiryaevskaya - Bloomberg
Egypt's natural gas production has dropped to the lowest in more than six years just as a scorching summer boosts demand for the fuel. The North African nation's output in May was near the weakest since February 2018, according to figures from the Joint Organisations Data Initiative. The decline is a sign that Egypt will struggle to replicate the gas export boom it saw two years ago, and is likely to become more reliant on imports of liquefied natural gas.
/jlne.ws/3WwVLja
Serbia Secures EU Supply Deal as Advances Lithium Ambitions; Carmakers may tap Rio Tinto $2.4 billion lithium project; Serbian finance minister sees creation of 20,000 jobs
Misha Savic and Chris Reiter - Bloomberg
Serbia and the European Union signed a framework agreement on providing critical raw materials as the Balkan nation seeks to leverage a planned lithium mine to become a regional hub for electric vehicle production. The venture has been overseen by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who sealed an agreement with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Belgrade on Friday. It rests on the reactivation last week of plans to transform a $2.4 billion project by global miner Rio Tinto Group into Europe's biggest lithium mine.
/jlne.ws/4fdkTT5
Earthquake Hits Northern Chile Near Copper, Lithium Mines
Jessica Zhou - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3zLixL3
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Russian Court Sentences US Reporter to 16 Years in Spy Trial; Evan Gershkovich, WSJ denied charges he was spying for CIA; Prosecutors had asked court to hand down an 18-year sentence
Greg Sullivan - Bloomberg
A Russian court sentenced Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich to 16 years in a penal colony after finding him guilty of espionage, the Interfax news service reported Friday. The court's verdict came after a closed-door hearing in Yekaterinburg's Sverdlovsk Regional Court that had been moved up almost a month from its originally scheduled date of Aug. 13. Prosecutors earlier Friday said they were seeking an 18-year sentence for the high-profile American prisoner.
/jlne.ws/4fcKBak
**** Here is the FT version of this story.~JJL
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