| November 07, 2022 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
Professor Chris Brummer has been awarded an endowed chair as the Agnes Williams Sesquicentennial Professor of Financial Technology at Georgetown University Law Center. Brummer had previously been mentioned as a potential CFTC commissioner.
The NFA announced on LinkedIn that it was rolling out a formal mentorship program after a "highly successful pilot program." It said in the post that it had held a discussion in which mentor/mentee pairs from the pilot shared their experiences and each pair expressed how beneficial the relationship was for each of them in both expected and unexpected ways.
Elizabeth K. King of ICE is attending COP27 and will be "participating in several panels to discuss role that data and markets can play in climate action and managing climate risk, and how they can help us reach netzero." King will be joined at COP27 by ICE Managing Director of Utility Markets Gordon Bennett, who will be "joining a panel at the event on the global energy trilemma; security, affordability and sustainability."
Evidently the Ready, Shoot, Aim management style of Twitter CEO Elon Musk is not working so well, as the company is asking some recently fired workers to return, according to a Bloomberg report. Twitter is not the first company to do this; I can remember a Chicago exchange firing its entire software quality assurance testing team in a wave of layoffs before realizing they were essential to the operation of the firm. These things happen.
Bloomberg has a story that suggests heavy central bank buying of gold is the banks preparing for the "Zombie Apocalypse." Given what has happened in the world the last couple of years, it is easy to see why this is within the realm of possibility. Of course, rather than loading up on gold, I suggest watching "The Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse" to prepare. Creativity is the key to survival, not shiny metal.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is looking for "Attorney-Adviser" positions within the Division of Examinations in the Denver Regional Office located in Denver, CO and the Chicago Regional Office located in Chicago, IL.
Anne Termine has started a new position as deputy general counsel at Yuga Labs, heading up their policy matters. Termine has previously been of counsel with Covington & Burling LLP and was a chief trial attorney supervisor for the CFTC, among other roles, during a 12 year career at the commission.
The Powerball lottery turned over again and is up to a record $1.9 billion.
My wife Cheryl and I have arrived safely in Sarasota, Florida. We are working this week to empty my mom's mobile home of personal belongings so we can put it up for sale fully furnished. If you know anyone interested in a mobile home in a great, resident-owned park in Sarasota, five minutes from Siesta Key, let me know. It is a great location and a well-kept park.
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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A series of finance events at COP 27 will be held by CDP, the not-for-profit charity that runs the global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states and regions to manage their environmental impacts. You can learn more and register to attend or watch live streams here.~SAED
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Justin Schack Talks Topics from the recent Rosenblatt Securities Global Leader Conference
JohnLothianNews.com
Rosenblatt Securities held its Global Exchange Leader Conference this past September, and John Lothian News spoke with Justin Schack, managing director and partner at Rosenblatt Securities, about who attended, what the big topics were and what was different about the conference in 2022.
Watch the video »
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Betting on Elections Can Tell Us a Lot. Why Is It Mostly Illegal? The only such market of any size in the U.S. is on the verge of being shut down-even though studies suggest that such markets may predict elections better than polls do.
Danny Funt - The New Yorker
In 1980, John Aristotle Phillips declared his candidacy for the United States Congress, in a district in Connecticut. He would turn twenty-five, the minimum age to hold the seat, a few months before the election. Four years earlier, while a junior at Princeton, Phillips-the son of a Yale engineering professor-had become an unlikely media sensation, thanks to a paper he wrote on how to build an atomic bomb. The F.B.I. confiscated it; after a Pakistani official asked Phillips for a copy, he alerted a senator he admired, William Proxmire of Wisconsin, who later referenced the incident in a speech. "John Phillips is an astonishing young man," Proxmire said, after Phillips announced his candidacy; President Jimmy Carter and Senator Ted Kennedy, then challenging Carter in the Democratic Presidential primary, reportedly sought Phillips's endorsement. In November, Phillips lost to his opponent, a four-term Republican incumbent, by twenty-five points. He ran again two years later, and lost by double digits once more.
/jlne.ws/3h0INaP
****** I am not a fan of real money election markets, as I fear the negative influence they have on public opinion.~JJL
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Thousands Have Joined Mastodon Since Twitter Changed Hands. Its Founder Has a Vision for Democratizing Social Media
Billy Perrigo - TIME
As Twitter changed hands at the end of October, another very similar social media site was experiencing something of an influx. Mastodon, a decentralized microblogging site named after an extinct type of mammoth, recorded 120,000 new users in the four days following billionaire Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter, its German-born founder Eugen Rochko tells TIME. Many of them were Twitter users seeking a new place to call their online home.
/jlne.ws/3FRnMd9
***** Interesting new social media structure allowing for free speech, but also democratization of the process to ostracize those that don't comply with community standards.~JJL
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50 Years Later, Burton Malkiel Hasn't Changed His Views on Indexing
Daniel Akst - The Wall Street Journal
Fifty years ago this January, an economist named Burton Malkiel published a book calling for an innovation on behalf of the small investor. "What we need," he wrote, "is a no-load, minimum-management-fee mutual fund that simply buys the hundreds of stocks making up the broad stock-market averages and does no trading from security to security in an attempt to catch the winners." Hard as it may be to believe, index investments weren't readily available to the average saver in those days. But Dr. Malkiel was convinced that active management couldn't consistently beat passive index investing.
/jlne.ws/3Ucoia1
***** A member of the Gary Gensler mutual appreciation society, no doubt.~JJL
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The EUR50 (Yes, Fifty Euros) Lawsuit Threatening OPEC; A German academic is going where few have gone before with their annoyance at the oil cartel: court.
Javier Blas - Bloomberg
Armin Steinbach is a man on a mission. The 44-year old German economist and lawyer believes OPEC is operating an illegal cartel, inflating the price of the gasoline and heating oil he buys. So he has decided to sue for damages: 50 euros, plus interest. The lawsuit, filed in regional court in Berlin against OPEC and several state-owned oil companies, isn't a legal joke and hasn't been laughed out of court. For now, it has been allowed to proceed, and the judge has asked OPEC - and several state-owned oil companies - to name their lawyers.
/jlne.ws/3TcyQEQ
****** A David takes on Goliath, and we shall see who prevails.~JJL
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Friday's Top Three
Our most-read story Friday was the fascinating and disturbing story, The Metals for Your EV Are Stuck in a 30-Mile Traffic Jam, from Bloomberg. Second was El Salvador's $300 Million Bitcoin 'Revolution' Is Failing Miserably, also from Bloomberg. Third was the Cboe press release, Cboe Plans to Launch Trading in Mini S&P 500 Index (XSP) Options during Global Trading Hours, Beginning December 11.
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| All MarketsWiki Sponsors» | | | | | | | John Lothian News (JLN) is the news division of John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. (JJLCO). The online media and financial services firm is staffed by derivatives industry, journalism and technology professionals. | | | | | | | John Lothian News Editorial Staff: | | | John Lothian
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| Lead Stories | US Supreme Court to consider restraining regulators' power; Decision against SEC or FTC could complicate enforcement proceedings at federal agencies
Stefania Palma - Financial Times
The US Supreme Court on Monday will hear arguments that could make enforcement more complicated for federal agencies, potentially frustrating regulators seeking to crack down on wrongdoing under the Biden administration. nThe cases involving the Federal Trade Commission, a top US antitrust and consumer watchdog, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, Wall Street's top regulator, hit at the core of a fraught debate on the boundaries of regulatory authority.
/jlne.ws/3zRQJSz
Billions in Capital Calls Threaten to Wreak Havoc on Global Stocks, Bonds; Capital calls outweigh distributions for private markets funds; Cash-strapped investors forced to consider stock, bond sales
Sofia Horta e Costa and Richard Henderson - Bloomberg
The private market is coming to collect -- and it threatens to wreak havoc across global stocks and bonds. As financial conditions tighten around the world, private-market funds are demanding that investors stump up more of the cash they pledged during the easy-money days of the pandemic. While many big pensions and endowments are expected to have sufficient cash flows to meet these capital calls, the fear is that a large number of other investors will have to offload liquid assets to meet the obligations. That would likely mean even deeper losses in public markets for equities and debt, where returns are already down more than 20% this year.
/jlne.ws/3zVboFk
The Shadow Is Born: How the Fed Helped Spawn a $23.7 Trillion Market; The origin story of the ultimate economic antihero.
Tracy Alloway - Bloomberg
America, early fifties. A country besieged by soaring prices, its supply chains snarled by a war thousands of miles away. The US government and Federal Reserve are on a collision course as the central bank seeks to exit war-time support for the bond market, while the White House desperately battles inflation. From these dark times, a hero - of sorts - emerges: The Shadow. Now distrusted by many and vilified for its role in the Great Financial Crisis, shadow banking was birthed seven decades ago to solve economic dilemmas that have eerie parallels with 2022. And this murky entity may yet hold the key to the future smooth functioning of the $23.7 trillion market for US Treasuries, and by extension all of global finance.
/jlne.ws/3t5NHGn
Supreme Court Hears Challenges to FTC and SEC In-House Courts; Cases follow high-court rulings that have curbed the power of federal agencies
Jan Wolfe and Dave Michaels - The Wall Street Journal
The Supreme Court on Monday will hear arguments over the Federal Trade Commission's authority, the latest case before the high court that seeks to rein in federal agency power. The justices will hold an oral argument in Axon Enterprise Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission, a lawsuit brought by the maker of Tasers and other police equipment against the antitrust enforcement agency. The case, which will be followed Monday by arguments in a similar case about securities regulators, is the latest attack on the federal enforcement agencies' in-house courts. Agencies such as the FTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission use administrative courts in which judges, who are employees of the agency, rule on the legality of mergers or decide punishments for alleged violations of consumer or securities laws.
/jlne.ws/3TeXODB
U.S. Attorney Announces Historic $3.36 Billion Cryptocurrency Seizure And Conviction In Connection With Silk Road Dark Web Fraud; In November 2021, Law Enforcement Seized Over 50,676 Bitcoin Hidden in Devices in Defendant JAMES ZHONG's Home; ZHONG Has Now Pled Guilty to Unlawfully Obtaining that Bitcoin From the Silk Road Dark Web in 2012
The United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Tyler Hatcher, the Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Los Angeles Field Office ("IRS-CI"), announced today that JAMES ZHONG pled guilty to committing wire fraud in September 2012 when he unlawfully obtained over 50,000 Bitcoin from the Silk Road dark web internet marketplace. ZHONG pled guilty on Friday, November 4, 2022, before United States District Judge Paul G. Gardephe.
/jlne.ws/3UeqgXp
The World May Need That Russian Oil Output Cut After All; If demand continues to weaken, oil markets will shrug off looming sanctions on Russian crude
Julian Lee - Bloomberg
The world's about to lose a lot of Russian crude when European Union sanctions and a US-led price cap come into effect in 29 days. That may not be a bad thing. How big might the loss be? Perhaps much less than many fear. EU countries will halt most seaborne imports of Russian crude on Dec. 5, with pipeline flows to Poland and Germany to stop by the end of the year. Shipments to Europe are already down to half what they were before President Vladimir Putin sent his troops into Ukraine in February, with most of the rest diverted to China, India and Turkey.
/jlne.ws/3E7IFQ7
FTSE chairs warn of declining relations with institutional investors; Report highlights blurring of responsibilities that is creating unnecessary distractions for boards
Daniel Thomas - Financial Times
The heads of some of the UK's largest listed companies have warned that relations with their institutional investors have deteriorated markedly, with "box-ticking" exercises over stewardship now risking company growth. The State of Stewardship report, compiled by PR and lobbying group Tulchan, highlights a number of problem areas, including what many chairs saw as a blurring of responsibilities between the two sides that is creating unnecessary distractions for boards.
/jlne.ws/3DLrn9X
Raising Money on Wall Street Hasn't Been This Hard in a Decade; Mergers, stock and bond offerings slowed in October to lowest level in over a decade as Fed rate hikes sucked capital out of the markets
Matt Wirz - The Wall Street Journal
It is quiet on Wall Street. Too quiet. Autumn is usually one of the busiest times of the year in finance but new stock sales, debt raises and corporate mergers all slowed to a trickle in recent weeks. The supply of cash that fuels such deals is evaporating and the slowdown likely is here to stay, bankers, investors and corporate lawyers say. Markets are stalling because the price of borrowed money is spiking as the U.S. Federal Reserve raises interest rates to combat inflation. The policy has yet to damp consumer spending. But it is punishing U.S. companies that have accumulated a debt mountain exceeding $10 trillion, much of it in the past decade when the Fed kept interest rates near zero.
/jlne.ws/3zPdfLR
Twitter Now Asks Some Fired Workers to Please Come Back; Twitter management trying to bring back dozens of workers; Some employees now needed or were laid off by mistake
Kurt Wagner and Edward Ludlow - Bloomberg
Twitter Inc., after laying off roughly half the company on Friday following Elon Musk's $44 billion acquisition, is now reaching out to dozens of employees who lost their jobs and asking them to return. Some of those who are being asked to return were laid off by mistake, according to two people familiar with the moves. Others were let go before management realized that their work and experience may be necessary to build the new features Musk envisions, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information.
/jlne.ws/3zTNIRs
What the OFAC Coin Center Lawsuit Means for Crypto Regulation
Charley Cooper - Bloomberg Law
It's been a turbulent crypto winter. The market capitalization of digital assets has tumbled by an estimated $1.1 trillion compared to this time last year, while a continuous string of bankruptcies, price drops, and job losses have dealt a serious blow to crypto's trust and integrity. In response, crypto regulation has sped up across regions, moving from speculation to application. In September, the EU finalized Markets in Crypto Assets legislation, while the Financial Stability Oversight Council urged Congress to accelerate regulation of the crypto market.
/jlne.ws/3FQ9hpT
COP27 Summit Begins as Economy, Ukraine War Overshadow Climate Concerns
Shane Shifflett - The Wall Street Journal
Last year's United Nations climate conference in Glasgow was full of disagreements, but it may be a high-water mark for international cooperation on the issue. This year, an energy crunch underscored the challenges of a transition to clean energy from fossil fuels. Climate concerns are being overshadowed by the war in Ukraine and related energy shortages; governments are worried about an economic downturn and some key alliances have broken down.
/jlne.ws/3NDxhyB
HSBC strains reach breaking point; The bank's days as the financial embodiment of globalisation are over
Patrick Jenkins - Financial Times
As a financial expression of globalisation, the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation has had a long history stretching back to its founding by a Scot in 1865. And as recently as seven years ago, the core of its model - financing China's business activities with the world - looked smarter than ever. Remember The Plough at Cadsden? That's the pub where then UK prime minister David Cameron supped ale with Xi Jinping, a couple of days after the Chinese president had told British parliamentarians that the UK and China had formed an "interdependent community of entwined interests"
/jlne.ws/3FUsJ4W
HSBC CEO Noel Quinn vows to help reboot Hong Kong's economy as city reopens for business after Covid restrictions
South China Morning Post
HSBC, Hong Kong's biggest lender, will do whatever it takes to put the city's economy back on track in the post-pandemic era despite the challenges posed by the rising global interest-rate cycle, according to its global head. The Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit and the easing of quarantine measures will help Hong Kong to reboot from the pandemic, Noel Quinn, the bank's London-based CEO, said at a media briefing on Wednesday afternoon.
/jlne.ws/3zNSCzu
Europe Must Protect Its Electricity Market From Putin; A unified market has delivered vast benefits. Don't let a Russian dictator undermine them.
The Editors - Bloomberg
It would be truly ironic if the totalitarian leader of a former Soviet state managed to convince Western nations to give up on the free market. Yet that's a risk now looming over Europe's electricity sector, as officials struggle to respond to Russian President Vladimir Putin's weaponization of energy supply. Hopefully enlightened self-interest will prevail.
/jlne.ws/3Uuyw5i
Another major purchase for Loop Capital; The acquisition of New York-based bond fund manager Smith Graham brings Loop Capital's assets under management to over $10 billion.
Steve Daniels - Crain's Chicago Business
Loop Capital, one of Chicago's highest-profile Black-owned financial services firms, has acquired a New York-based asset manager, bringing Loop's assets under management to over $10 billion. The buyout of Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors, which has $3.4 billion under management, is Loop Capital's second asset management deal of 2022. Before this year, Loop Capital was a bit player in the money management business and had made its name over many years managing debt offerings for municipalities.
/jlne.ws/3FQlgUt
Considering joining the Twitter migration? Check out these platform alternatives.
Jennifer Jolly - USA TODAY
I lost way too much of my life to the drama unfolding on Twitter this past week - heck, even just in the past hour. Nearly everything Elon Musk tweets out these days seems to raise my blood pressure - and my hackles. Some of it is immature bro-culture "jokes" that aren't funny. Pro tip: When you have to point out that something's "funny," it's not. There's also a definite troll-vibe to a lot of what he's putting out, like calling credible news sources "fake," while tweeting - then later deleting - a horrific conspiracy theory about the brutal hammer attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
/jlne.ws/3AdlDoH
The Fall of Big Tech Is Boosting Stock Quants on Wall Street; Factor trades are outperforming, from momentum to value bets; Investing approach is typically less tethered to tech megacaps
Justina Lee - Bloomberg
Another tech plunge, another shot in the arm for stock quants mounting a big comeback in Wall Street's awful year. As the Federal Reserve ramped up its hawkish policy guidance this week on still-raging inflation, the once-booming Faang megapcaps lost a further $568 billion in market value, bringing the cohort's total capitalization to the lowest since mid-2020.
/jlne.ws/3WAZkCL
'A Massive Step'-JPMorgan Just Made A Surprise, Game-Changing Bet On Crypto Despite $2 Trillion Bitcoin, Ethereum And Crypto Price Crash
Billy Bambrough - Forbes
Bitcoin, ethereum and other cryptocurrencies have struggled this year to turn people's sky-high expectations into reality-with Coinbase's chief executive even admitting a serious miscalculation. The bitcoin price has collapsed over the last year, plunging from an all-time high of almost $70,000 per bitcoin to around $20,000. The bitcoin price crash has dragged down the wider crypto market, wiping away around $2 trillion in notional value.
/jlne.ws/3E6qyd5
Hong Kong is 'actively looking' at authorising crypto ETFs; The regulator's apparently permissive stance stands in contrast to that of rival Singapore
Ernest Chan - Financial Times
Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission looks set to allow the launch of exchange traded funds tracking cryptocurrency futures for retail investors, citing the increasing sophistication of investor safeguards. Julia Leung, deputy chief executive and executive director of intermediaries at the SFC, said the regulator was "actively looking to set up a regime to authorise ETFs that provide mainstream virtual assets with appropriate investor guardrails". In the initial stages, the SFC will only allow ETFs investing in bitcoin futures and ether futures traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Leung said during her keynote address at Hong Kong FinTech Week last week.
/jlne.ws/3TtyJ85
BlackRock alumnus to focus on dealer selection and direct connectivity in new role at TS Imagine; New markets officer, Spencer Lee, tells The TRADE that bringing algo wheel-like dealer selection technology to the fixed income markets is a top priority.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
A buy-side alumnus with over two decades of industry experience is set to overhaul the fixed income trading technology landscape as part of his new role as chief markets officer at OMS provider TS Imagine. Former BlackRock director, Spencer Lee, who joined TS Imagine in September, told The TRADE that current fixed income trading technology had a way to go before it was fully meeting the needs of the buy-side.
/jlne.ws/3fDSKLf
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | China Rebukes Russia's Nuclear Threats in Ukraine for First Time; Chinese leader Xi Jinping departed from his support for Moscow during talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz
Bojan Pancevski - The Wall Street Journal
China has warned Russia against threatening to use nuclear weapons in the conflict in Ukraine, in a rare departure from its usual tacit support for Moscow's positions. The warning came during talks on Friday between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Beijing, according to Mr. Scholz and the Chinese state news agency Xinhua. Messrs. Xi and Scholz agreed to oppose the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons, according to Mr. Scholz and a report by Xinhua, which normally echoes Beijing's official positions.
/jlne.ws/3hihSaM
To End the Russia-Ukraine War, Shut Up About Negotiations; An ugly deal is probably coming but learn the right lessons from the Cuban missile crisis.
Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. - The Wall Street Journal
A good idea months ago would have been pushing aside Russia's gossamer, largely hypothetical military blockade of Ukraine's ports. The West finally had a chance this week when Vladimir Putin sought to revive the illusion of a blockade in Western minds by backing out of a U.N.-sponsored grain-shipping agreement. Result: He climbed down when other parties decided the ships would sail anyway. Lesson: Pay due regard to Mr. Putin's well-honed capacity for retreat.
/jlne.ws/3WFj87S
Ukrainian forces brace for bloody fight for Kherson
Jonathan Landay - Reuters
Oleh, the commander of a Ukrainian mechanized infantry unit dug into trenches west of Kherson, is confident his Russian foes will be forced to abandon the strategic port by winter weather, logistical logjams and the threat of encirclement. But neither he nor his men think the Russians will go quickly or quietly and nor do they intend to let them. His comments raise the spectre of a bloody slog in the coming weeks for control of a key city on the west bank of the Dnipro River which acts as a gateway to the peninsula of Crimea annexed by Russia in 2014.
/jlne.ws/3fDvltc
Ukraine warns of more attacks on infrastructure, as mayor urges Kyiv to prepare for the worst
Reuters
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned on Sunday against more potential Russian attacks on energy infrastructure, while the mayor of Kyiv urged residents to consider preparing to leave temporarily if the capital lost water and power supplies. In regular nightly remarks, Zelenskiy said Russia was "concentrating forces and means for a possible repetition of mass attacks on our infrastructure. First of all, energy." More than 4.5 million consumers were already without power, he added, amid concerns that support for Ukraine could waver as the war's impact on energy and food prices persists into winter.
/jlne.ws/3UmGCgi
Putin's Ukraine War Is Entering a Terrifying New Phase; A discussion on Russia's evolving military strategy with Mark Galeotti, author of Putin's Wars.
Tobin Harshaw - Bloomberg
Who is winning in Ukraine? That may seem an odd question, given the disastrous performance of the Russian military, the success of the Ukrainian offensive this fall, and the strength of the Western coalition in supporting Kyiv and punishing Moscow. But wars aren't that simple, and the global implications of this regional conflict make it more complex than most. Then, of course, there is Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader, we are constantly told, "plays a weak hand well." So, what does he have up his sleeve?
/jlne.ws/3zQtUOQ
IRS Has Opened 20 Russia Sanctions-Related Criminal Probes; The agency's criminal investigation division, part of Task Force KleptoCapture, said it had identified nearly 50 individuals and entities for possible enforcement actions
Richard Vanderford - The Wall Street Journal
The Internal Revenue Service has opened 20 criminal investigations in its crackdown on the evasion of sanctions that the U.S. imposed after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, an official said. The law-enforcement unit at the tax-collection agency opened the probes as part of its work with Task Force KleptoCapture and continues to develop new leads, Guy Ficco, the criminal investigation division's deputy chief, said at a press conference Thursday.
/jlne.ws/3WJgazA
Sanctions on Russian Energy Loom Over Oil Market; The real impact, traders say, is showing up in prices for diesel
Joe Wallace - The Wall Street Journal
Sanctions on Russia will redraw global oil flows over the next three months. Confusion over how the measures will work is making it hard for the energy industry to prepare. Ukraine's allies are gearing up to hit Russian oil with the toughest restrictions to date starting in early December, an attempt to stem President Vladimir Putin's influx of fossil-fuel revenue.
/jlne.ws/3zUeDfY
Even as Challenges Mount, Europeans Stick by Ukraine; Inflation and anxiety over nuclear weapons may be eating into some popular support for the war, but key governments remain insulated from the pressures for now.
Jason Horowitz and Catherine Porter - The New York Times
The high cost of living is provoking strikes, protests and widespread grumbling. Talk about nuclear weapons has heightened anxieties and encouraged some to demand rapid negotiations. And President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is wooing politicians, including many from populist parties on the right and the left who have flirted with him in the past.
/jlne.ws/3hezFzv
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Cboe Global Markets sees revenue jump 20% in Q3; The exchange delivered record earnings driven by its derivatives franchise, data solutions and cash/spot markets.
Laurie McAughtry - The Trade
Cboe Global Markets has reported record gains for the third quarter, with net revenue jumping 20% to reach $442 million. The robust trends were driven by our derivatives franchise, supported by sizable contributions from our data and access solutions and cash and spot markets during the quarter," said Edward T Tilly, CEO and chairman.
/jlne.ws/3UiSEYy
Hua Nan Investment Trust Selects ICE FactSet Carbon Neutral Megatrend Index for New Index Fund
ICE
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology and market infrastructure, today announced that Hua Nan has selected the ICE FactSet® Carbon Neutral Megatrend Index for its newly launched Hua Nan Carbon Neutral Index Fund. The ICE FactSet Carbon Neutral Megatrend Index is a modified market capitalization-weighted equity benchmark designed to track the performance of companies that are involved in activities which support the megatrend of reducing carbon emissions across the world. The Hua Nan Carbon Neutral Index Fund is expected to launch on November 7, 2022.
/jlne.ws/3TcBTwD
The New York Stock Exchange and Indonesia Stock Exchange Sign Memorandum of Understanding
ICE
The New York Stock Exchange, part of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), and the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) today announced that they have agreed to collaborate on several areas of mutual interest, including joint product development. The NYSE and the IDX signed a memorandum of understanding that also included opportunities for promoting both markets, information and knowledge sharing, and establishing new communication channels. The agreement was finalized during a visit to the NYSE by an Indonesian delegation that included Hon. Iman Rachman, President Director of the Indonesia Stock Exchange, H.E. Rosan Roeslani, Ambassador of Indonesia to the United States and Arifi Saiman, Consul General of Indonesia in New York.
/jlne.ws/3FMHlmT
ESG Trendsetters: Xylem
Nasdaq
Nasdaq's ESG Trendsetters series highlights the top ESG professionals and teams around the world who go the extra mile in their evolving ESG roles. Discover how leading ESG companies are incorporating ESG factors into their corporate strategy, achieving meaningful impact and communicating with their stakeholders. For this edition, we are joined by Xylem. Xylem aims to create a world in which water issues are no longer a constraint to health, prosperity and sustainable development. With water at the core of Xylem's business, the company has a natural and deep commitment to sustainability. Hear from key Xylem team members on what it takes to be an ESG Trendsetter.
/jlne.ws/3zNBQAD
EEX Group Monthly Volumes - October 2022
EEX Group reports its October volumes with following highlights: Power; The trading volume on the European Power Spot market amounted to 52.6 TWh in October. The Intraday markets increased by 10% to a total volume of 12.2 TWh with new record volumes in the French, British, Belgian, and Nordic market areas.
/jlne.ws/3fDEMch
Meet the new members of Eurex's successful MSCI product suite
Eurex
On 7 November 2022 Eurex has added MSCI World Factor Futures and MSCI ESG Screened Options to their already broad offer of MSCI derivatives. We spoke with Ralf Huesmann, Product Developer for the segment, about the background and the advantages of this launch.
/jlne.ws/3FTGRv6
Trading Calendar Enhancement for Stock Connect - Supplemental Information
HKEX
Reference is made to the circular dated 12 August 2022 regarding the trading calendar enhancement under Stock Connect ("the Enhancement"), the clearing and settlement arrangement will be adjusted to accommodate the additional Northbound trading days under Stock Connect. The launch of the Enhancement will be in the first half of 2023 tentatively, subject to regulatory approval.
/jlne.ws/3UBOudI
Father, son and daughter trio turn JSE Investment Challenge into a family affair
JSE
Celebrating its 49th anniversary this year, the JSE Investment Challenge has been teaching South African learners and students about investing on the JSE and helping those participating learn about the fundamentals of investment strategy and encouraging them to research as they participate in the challenge.
/jlne.ws/3fGQFhp
Japan Exchange Group and JETRO Agree Collaboration
JPX
Japan Exchange Group, Inc. (JPX) and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) have today signed a memorandum of understanding to work together in supporting activities related to information provision and the promotion of international collaboration and investment into Japan.
/jlne.ws/3E6LPn8
Asx Group Monthly Activity Report - October 2022
ASX
Attached is a copy of the ASX Group Monthly Activity Report for October 2022.
/jlne.ws/351gPmZ
Moscow Exchange Provides CNY Instruments to SFD Market Participants
MOEX
Starting November 7, 2022, the Moscow Exchange is expanding the opportunities for participants in the market for standardized derivative financial instruments (SPFIs) by providing them with new instruments in Chinese yuan.
/jlne.ws/3FTnsKL
How to Operationalize ESG
Nasdaq
As we enter 2021, environmental, social and governance (ESG) continues to be a top priority for boards and management teams. Karen Snow, Senior Vice President and Head of East Coast Listings and Capital Services at Nasdaq, interviews veteran board member Betsy Atkins to get her insights on how to operationalize ESG.
/jlne.ws/3zWbHQ3
Notice on Investigation and Penalties for Violations of Relevant Rules and Regulations in October 2022
SHFE
Shanghai Futures Exchange (hereinafter referred to as "The Exchange") has been on continuous efforts in investigating and penalizing violations of relevant rules and regulations, so as to strengthen the risk management of the futures market, regulate the futures trading activities and protect the legitimate rights and interests of futures market participants. The enforcement against such violations in October 2022 are listed as follows:
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TAIFEX to Launch TXO and MTX Bi-Weekly Contracts and Applies DPBM to ETF Options
TAIFEX
On November 9, Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX) will launch bi-weekly contracts for TAIEX Options (TXO) and Mini-TAIEX Futures (MTX). The TXO and MTX bi-weekly contracts are listed every Wednesday and expire on the second Wednesday from the listing date. With introduction of bi-weekly contracts, TAIFEX provides weekly, bi-weekly, monthly as well as quarterly contracts of TXO and MTX on each trading day, enabling market participants to implement strategic and arbitrage trading with more accuracy and flexibility.
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | InterPrice Technologies, Inc. Announces $7.3 Million Series A Funding Round Co-Led by Nasdaq Ventures and DRW Venture Capital
InterPrice Technologies, Inc. - Business Wire
InterPrice Technologies, Inc., a treasury capital markets funding platform, announced today the closing of its Series A funding. The $7.3 million investment was co-led by Nasdaq Ventures and DRW Venture Capital, with participation from existing investors including Bowery Capital. InterPrice's solutions streamline bond, commercial paper, and loan pricing indications into intuitive dashboards across currencies and financing products. By normalizing data across all banking partners, the company's technology eliminates dependencies on time-consuming manual processes and enables corporate issuers to make informed financing decisions while expanding the reach of participating financing partners.
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Elon Musk Defies Management Mantras With His Rapid Overhaul at Twitter
Chip Cutter - The Wall Street Journal
In Elon Musk's first week at Twitter Inc., he flouted much of the advice management gurus have dished out for decades. In the days since he closed a $44 billion takeover of Twitter, Mr. Musk has worked to rapidly overhaul the social network. He fired many of the company's top leaders, including its general counsel, chief financial officer and chief executive officer. He conducted sweeping layoffs, eliminating roughly half of Twitter's workforce on Friday. Along the way, he floated new product ideas, mocked internal management training, publicly disclosed a decline in revenue and hinted that other changes could be on the way.
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Twitter reportedly asks some laid-off staff to return
Igor Bonifacic - Engadget
Mere days after cutting its workforce in half, Twitter is asking some employees to return, according to Bloomberg. Citing two sources within the company, the outlet reports management at Twitter has come to the realization it either let some workers off by accident or without realizing their experience was essential to building the features Elon Musk wants to bring to the platform.
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Hundreds of Twitter employees on H-1B visas fear being deported if Elon Musk fires them
Ryan Hogg - Business Insider
Hundreds of Twitter employees on special visas could be deported after Elon Musk's job cuts. He cut thousands of jobs with the mass layoffs equating to as much as half of the company workforce. A Forbes report suggests nearly 700 Twitter employees were on H-1B employment-tied visas. Elon Musk's cost-cutting plans may have left hundreds of Twitter employees on high-skill work visas on a countdown to deportation. At least 250 Twitter workers appear to be employed on H-1B visas, according to official records, and now face an uncertain future. And according to analysis of US Citizenship and Immigration Services data by the National Foundation for American Policy, that number could be as high as 670, or 8% of the company pre-cuts, Forbes reported.
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Twitter Fires More Than 90% of India Staff, Leaving Just a Dozen; Musk's workforce reductions hit potential growth market hard; About 70% of India cuts affected product and engineering team
Sankalp Phartiyal - Bloomberg
Twitter Inc. fired more than 90% of its staff in India over the weekend -- part of global reductions by new owner Elon Musk -- severely depleting its engineering and product staff in a potential growth market. The company employed just over 200 people in India, and the cuts left it with just about a dozen staff, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.
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Startups Look to Scoop Up Laid-Off Tech Workers; 'A few years ago, there was no way we could've attracted candidates like this, ' one startup co-founder says
Angus Loten - The Wall Street Journal
Flush with investor capital, technology startups plan to scoop up software developers, engineers and marketers flooding the labor market following job cuts at Twitter Inc., Lyft Inc. and other large tech employers. Kathy Zhu said she is lining up candidates for engineering, customer service and other roles at Streamline AI, the two-year-old tech startup she co-founded. They include prospects from "two or three companies that just had big layoffs," she said. "There's an abundance of talent right now, because of these layoffs," Ms. Zhu said. "A few years ago, there was no way we could've attracted candidates like this."
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Open Interest in FTT Futures Doubles as Binance Moves to Liquidate FTX Token Holdings
Omkar Godbole - CoinDesk
Traders are scurrying to hedge against a potential slide in crypto exchange FTX's native token, FTT, in the wake of Binance's decision to liquidate FTT holdings and controversy surrounding Alameda's balance sheet. Open interest, or the dollar amount dedicated to futures and perpetual futures tied to FTT, has more than doubled from $87.56 million to $203 million since early Asian hours, reaching a 12-month high, according to CoinGlass.
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FTT-Alameda Drama Weighs on Market as Asia Begins Its Week
Sam Reynolds - CoinDesk
Traders in Asia awoke to a market partially in the red as the digital assets industry continues to deal with the controversy over trading firm Alameda Research's balance sheet. FTX's FTT exchange token, which makes up a significant amount of Alameda's assets, is down 5% on day as Binance's CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao publicly feuded with Alameda's CEO Caroline Ellison about selling off Binance's FTT holdings.
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Binance to sell FTX token holdings amid questions over trading arm Alameda finances
Ningwei Qin - CoinDesk
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said Binance will liquidate its remaining FTT tokens issued by the second-largest crypto exchange FTX on Sunday night Hong Kong time, after a report by crypto media outlet CoinDesk last Wednesday showed that FTX's sister company Alameda Research may have solvency issues. "Due to recent revelations that have [come] to light, we have decided to liquidate any remaining FTT on our books," Zhao said. Zhao added that since Binance withdrew from FTX's equity last year, it has received US$2.1 billion worth of stablecoins BUSD and FTT.
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Money.net Taps Barchart's Market Data For Retail and Professional Products
Rick Steves - Finance Feeds
Money.net has selected Barchart to power their retail and professional products with streaming and historical market data. The provider of data and analytics platforms tapped Barchart's suite of connectivity options, including streaming data feeds, flexible APIs, and point-in-time historical data through its Market Replay service to consolidate and simplify the connectivity powering their investor products.
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Project Cedar: Improving Cross-Border Payments With Blockchain Technology
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Project Cedar is the inaugural project of the New York Innovation Center (NYIC). It is a multiphase research effort to develop a technical framework for a theoretical wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) in the Federal Reserve context. In Phase I of Project Cedar, a prototype for a wholesale central bank digital currency was developed to demonstrate the potential of blockchain to improve the speed, cost, and access to a critical element of the wholesale cross-border payments market-a foreign exchange (FX) spot transaction.
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Liquidnet adds live deals through OMS to primary markets offering; Invesco Asset Management and Charles River Development (CRD) were the first to facilitate the new functionality earlier this year following an initial testing period.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
Liquidnet has expanded its primary markets offering with the addition of live market deals from buy-side order and execution management systems (OEMS) to participating syndicate banks. Launched in September last year, Liquidnet Primary Markets is intended to electronify end-to-end workflows for new issue announcements in the debt capital markets (DCM) - a notoriously complex process that has previously relied heavily on manual processes and communications.https://jlne.ws/3heJ9e5|
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Founder Of Cyberfraud Prevention Company Sentenced To Five Years In Prison For Defrauding Investors Out Of Over $100 Million
United States Department of Justice
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that ADAM ROGAS, the co-founder and former CEO, CFO, and member of the board of directors of a Las Vegas-based cyberfraud prevention company NS8, Inc. ("NS8"), was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to five years in prison for engaging in securities fraud by creating and using fraudulent financial data to obtain over $123 million in financing for NS8, of which he personally obtained approximately $17.5 million. ROGAS pled guilty on March 16, 2022, before United States District Judge John P. Cronan, who imposed today's sentence.
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Cybersecurity expert: Paid Twitter verification 'going to create a very chaotic environment'
Brad Dress - The Hill
Former top cybersecurity official Chris Krebs on Sunday said the paid subscription plan for a verification mark on Twitter will "create a very chaotic environment" because it would open the information space to foreign actors, election deniers and other potentially malign influencers.
Krebs told moderator Margaret Brennan on CBS's "Face the Nation" that being able to buy the "blue tick" for $8 a month goes against a long-standing policy of verifying authentic accounts.
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CISA is taking a hands-off approach to election lies on Twitter
Tim Starks - The Washington Post
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency says it's taking a hands-off approach when it comes to false claims about the election process on Twitter.
CISA spokesperson Michael Feldman told me the agency isn't flagging any election-related disinformation to Twitter or any social media platform. His comments come after an Intercept report last week detailed communications between the government and tech companies, prompting criticism from conservatives and raising concerns among some civil rights advocates.
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Taking cybersecurity investments to the next level
Mirko Zorz - Help Net Security
Recently, the Forgepoint team announced a new alliance with global banking leader Santander to increase cyber investment worldwide, specifically in Europe, Israel, and Latin America. Santander will also be the primary investor in Forgepoint's next fund, slated for 2023, with a nearly $300 million goal.
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Cyber experts warn of Twitter misinformation risk on eve of US election; New owner Elon Musk has drawn fire for planning to loosen moderation at social media site
Hannah Murphy and Tabby Kinder - Financial Times
Elon Musk faces a test of how to manage misinformation and hate speech on Twitter as the US votes in midterm elections just days after the billionaire sacked staff who policed user content.
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Binance versus FTX: the face/off; Crypto wars and token gestures
Bryce Elder - Financial Times
Could JPEG Morgan be more of a 3MF Global? Breaking on Sunday afternoon:
The "recent revelations" were a CoinDesk story on Wednesday that examined the overlap between Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX crypto exchange and Alameda Research, his hedge fund. According to a "private financial document reviewed by CoinDesk", Alameda's balance sheet has been propped up by FTX's native token, FTT.
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Fidelity Readies Retail Bitcoin, Ether Trades Without Commissions But With A Fee
Nina Bambysheva - Forbes
Fidelity Investments is preparing to offer bitcoin and ether trading to retail investors, according to the company's website, which touts the upcoming service as commission-free, but there's a catch: a 1% fee will be added to each transaction. Fidelity Investments is preparing to offer bitcoin and ether trading to retail investors, according to the company's website, which touts the upcoming service as commission-free, but there's a catch: a 1% fee will be added to each transaction.
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Ethereum Insiders to Get Fee Cuts That Others Won't in Upgrade; Change called WARM Coinbase will reduce some fees builders pay; Builder Flashbots already has a lot of power on Ethereum
Olga Kharif - Bloomberg
When the Ethereum blockchain undergoes its next major upgrade, some key participants will likely see fees decline while they'll remain the same for other users of the most commercially important cryptocurrency network. The so-called Shanghai software update projected for next year is expected to give users who pledge, or stake, the network's native Ether cryptocurrency the ability to free up their coins at some point from special digital wallets used to order transactions on the network.
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Crypto Whale Moves $1.58B In Bitcoin, Where The BTC Is Now Being Stored
Bibhu Pattnaik - Benzinga
According to data shared on Blockchain.com, a cryptocurrency whale has moved crypto from a wallet that had accumulated over 74,105 Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) worth over $1.58 billion. The BTCs were moved to wallets of unknown origin. In a separate transaction, the whale moved 50,562 BTC, worth nearly $1.08 billion; in another transaction, 23,542 BTC were moved, worth about $505 million. In a series of large transactions, the whale moved 4,000 BTC, 10,000 BTC, 10,000 BTC, 10,000 BTC, 9,642 BTC, 10,000 BTC, 10,000 BTC, 10,000 BTC, and 562 BTC.
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Indian crypto exchange WazirX introduces profit, loss function
Pradipta Mukherjee - Forkast
WazirX, India's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trade volume, has introduced a profit and loss (P&L) function for users to analyze and calculate their investments. WazirX users will view their portfolios with the absolute P&L, average buy for every asset, as well as customize the "P&L View" for the tokens, the company said in a blog post. The WazirX calculator takes into consideration average buy price, invested value, and unrealized P&L, said Rajagopal Menon, vice-president of marketing, in a statement emailed to Forkast on Monday.
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Crypto Exchange Coinmetro Eyes US, Europe Expansion With $7M Funding Round
Will Canny - CoinDesk
Digital currency exchange Coinmetro raised 7 million euros ($7 million) in a funding round that valued the business at 180 million euros, the company said Monday. Coinmetro said it plans to use the capital to scale up its operations in the U.S., U.K. and Europe. It is also developing a series of passive income products to help customers deal with a period of high inflation and interest rates.
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Binance To Sell $529 Million of Bankman-Fried's FTT Token; Binance CEO Zhao Changpeng alluded to 'recent revelations'; Alameda offered to buy the coins at a slight discount
Olga Kharif - Bloomberg
Zhao Changpeng, chief executive of the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange Binance, said on Twitter that he has decided to sell all remaining FTT tokens. FTT is the coin of billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX, the rival cryptocurrency exchange that Binance used to hold a minority stake in. When Binance exited that investment last year, it received $2.1 billion in Binance USD and FTT coins, the remainder of which it has decided to unload, Zhao said, citing "recent revelations that came to light."
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UK Parliament Group Starts NFT Inquiry as Crypto Scrutiny Grows; Committee says UK regulation of NFTs is 'non-existent'; Trading of NFTs has dried up this year as crypto prices fell
Tanzeel Akhtar - Bloomberg
The UK parliament started an inquiry into nonfungible tokens, the digital collectibles for which Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been a champion. The Digital, Culture, Media & Sport committee in the House of Commons announced the initiative in a statement on Friday, adding that it will also study the wider blockchain technology that underpins NFTs.
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Retract Royalties, Reduce Revenue: NFT Creators Are Suffering and so Are Marketplaces
Cameron Thompson - CoinDesk
In late August, non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace X2Y2 stopped requiring buyers to pay royalties on the platform. Instead, they would be allowed to elect the percentage they would like to contribute to the artist rather than being forced to pay an amount chosen by the creator. That percentage can be 0 on most purchases. "Dominant aggregators intend to provide similar functionality in the imminent future" X2Y2 said in a tweet announcing the move to a royalty optional model. "As such, X2Y2 would like to make sure we are ready [and] staying on top of market movements." X2Y2 wasn't far off in its prediction - and may have been the first domino to fall.
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NFTs: Real Vision CEO Raoul Pal on the Tokenization of Everything
Siamak Masnavi - Crypto Globe
Recently, former Goldman Sachs executive Raoul Pal explained why he is bullish on the NFT sector. Prior to founding macro economic and investment strategy research service Global Macro Investor (GMI) in 2005, Pal co-managed the GLG Global Macro Fund in London for global asset management firm GLG Partners (which is now called "Man GLG"). Before that, Pal worked at Goldman Sachs, where he co-managed the European hedge fund sales business in Equities and Equity Derivatives. Currently, he is the CEO of finance and business video channel Real Vision, which he co-founded in 2014.
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OpenSea Breaks Silence on NFT Royalties, But Creators Don't Like What They Hear
Andrew Hayward - Decrypt
As many NFT platforms shifted away from honoring creator-set royalties in recent weeks, top marketplace OpenSea had remained silent on the subject, apparently weighing its options. On Saturday night, the $13.3 billion startup finally showed its hand-but OpenSea's newly expressed strategy isn't sitting well with many prominent Web3 creators. In a Twitter thread, OpenSea shared what it called a "thoughtful, principled approach" to NFT royalties, including the rollout of a system that would let creators of new projects blacklist certain marketplaces that do not require traders to pay royalties. That system takes effect on November 8.
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Meta to Start Laying Off Thousands of Staff This Week, WSJ Says
Shiyin Chen - Bloomberg
Meta Platforms Inc. is planning to begin layoffs that will affect thousands of workers from this week, Wall Street Journal reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The job cuts could come as early as Wednesday, the newspaper said. The company has already told employees to cancel non-essential travel from this week, according to the report. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg in September outlined plans to reorganize teams and reduce headcount for the first time, following a sharp slowdown in growth at the parent of Facebook and Instagram. Zuckerberg said then that Meta will likely be smaller in 2023 than it was this year.
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UBS and Julius Baer grapple with offering wealth advice in the metaverse; Banks have experimented with headsets and pixelated avatars to interact with clients
Owen Walker - Financial Times
Two of the world's biggest wealth managers are experimenting with switching client meetings from oak-panelled boardrooms to the metaverse, but have struggled to overcome data security and motion sickness. UBS and Julius Baer, Swiss banks that specialise in providing white-glove financial advice to billionaires, have each trialled the use of clunky headsets and pixelated avatars to interact with clients, according to people involved in the research.
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Billionaires Reshape Governor Races With Just 0.01% of Fortunes; Nike co-founder Phil Knight has shaken up the Oregon governor's election, which could result in the state's first Republican leader in more than three decades.
Amanda Albright - Bloomberg
Oregon may be on the brink of a seismic shift in its politics - and it only cost Phil Knight 0.01% of his $35.5 billion family fortune to help bring it about. The Nike Inc. co-founder has donated about $1.5 million to the state's Republican gubernatorial candidate and $2 million to the Bring Balance to Salem PAC, which supports GOP state legislative candidates in Oregon. His initial public support of independent Betsy Johnson, a timber heiress, has helped create an unusual three-way race that's considered a toss-up and could usher in the state's first Republican governor in more than three decades.
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Republicans over ESG issues after the midterm elections
Joe Miller - Financial Times
The largest US companies are preparing for a wave of congressional hearings after the midterm elections, as Republicans vow to pursue investigations into businesses' environmental and social positions. Control of both houses of Congress could swing to the Republicans after midterm elections on Tuesday, as polls show Democrats falling behind in several potentially pivotal races. A GOP majority in the House or Senate would put Republicans in charge of committees with the power to subpoena individuals and documents.
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Political Hot Air Won't Stop Global Warming
Karl Maier - Bloomberg
Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, a world economy in chaos, rising tensions between the US and China, a public angered by soaring inflation: Global leaders have a lot on their plate. Yet arguably the biggest challenge facing the planet - climate change - is proceeding unchecked, and the governments, businesses and people of the world are failing to meet it, with deadly consequences.
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Why Biden Tapped America's 400 Million-Barrel Oil Stockpile; Over 700-million barrels of oil can be stored in the 60 salt caverns.
The Wall Street Journal
After authorizing the largest release ever from the U.S. emergency strategic petroleum reserve, the Biden administration is signaling it will soon try to refill the stockpile. WSJ explains how this strategy can lower gas prices, and why some are skeptical that it will work. Illustration: Ali Larkin
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What Will the Midterms Mean for Big Business?; The G.O.P. and corporate America, longtime allies, are showing signs of a breakup - which recent polls suggest will likely play out with a Republican House.
Joe Nocera - The New York Times
Ten days ago, with the midterm elections fast approaching, Marjorie Taylor Greene, the flame-throwing, far-right Republican congresswoman from Georgia, was a guest on Steve Bannon's podcast. With the Republicans favored to take control of the House of Representatives, Bannon popped the question that has been much on the minds of corporate executives: "Do corporations have anything to fear from a populist House, ma'am?" he asked.
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Crypto Firms, Executives Step Up Campaign Donations, Lobbying Ahead of Midterms; Industry seeks to gain influence in Washington as regulators increase scrutiny of digital assets
Paul Kiernan - The Wall Street Journal
The cryptocurrency industry has significantly increased its political spending ahead of the midterm elections, betting that a friendlier Congress will help shield it from a regulatory crackdown. Crypto firms and their employees have poured $73 million into the 2022 elections, up from $13 million in the 2020 cycle, according to research group OpenSecrets, which tracks political donations. The industry also spent $15 million on lobbying in the first nine months of this year, more than in the previous eight years combined.
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Biden comments on coal-fired plants slammed by Manchin ahead of U.S. midterms
Trevor Hunnicutt - Reuters
Comments by President Joe Biden about shutting coal-powered energy plants days before critical midterm elections drew fire on Saturday from a key conservative Senate Democrat. "No one is building new coal plants because they can't rely on it, even if they have all the coal guaranteed for the rest of their existence of the plant," Biden said on Friday at an event touting his administration's economic policies in Carlsbad, California. "We're going to be shutting these plants down all across America and having wind and solar."
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Misinformation Is What Divides America Now; Our advice: Maybe step away from Twitter for the next few days.
Brooke Sample - Bloomberg
Election Day in America is finally upon us, after what feels like a decades-long, coast-to-coast campaign slog. Will anger over the fall of Roe v. Wade help keep Congress in Democratic hands? Or will Tuesday bring a red wave brought on by worries about inflation and the economy? This year's midterm elections come less than two weeks after Elon Musk closed on his $44 billion purchase of Twitter. If I were into conspiracy theories, I'd be suspicious, but I certainly wouldn't be the only one after what we've been through the past few years.
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Canada's share buyback tax could backfire, energy sector warns
Rod Nickel and Nia Williams - Reuters
Canada's proposal to tax corporate stock buybacks is unlikely to deter oil and gas companies from returning cash to shareholders and may instead put them at a competitive disadvantage, industry officials and analysts said. Canadian energy companies have been the most active in buying back shares of any sector during the past year, according to CIBC, and also funnelled profits from high prices into dividends and debt payments, limiting new production investments.
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Canada's government tosses fiscal hot potato to central bank, analysts say
Steve Scherer and Julie Gordon - Reuters
Canada's plan to spend an extra C$6.1 billion ($4.5 billion) in the next five months may undermine the central bank's effort to curb inflation, despite Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland's vow not to make the job of monetary policy harder, analysts said. Although the spending package unveiled by Freeland in a fiscal update on Thursday is relatively modest in scope and builds on existing federal stimulus measures and payouts to consumers promised by Canada's 10 provinces, it has raised concerns about stimulating an already-hot economy.
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Switzerland imposes sanctions on deliveries of Iranian drones to Russia
Miranda Murray - Reuters
Switzerland has decided to adopt the European Union's sanctions on delivering Iranian drones to Russia, the government said in a statement on Wednesday. However, the economic affairs and foreign affairs departments decided not to adopt EU sanctions imposed on Iran in connection with the current protests, it added. "The decision was made taking into account all of Switzerland's domestic and foreign policy interests," it said.
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Russia Reactivates Its Trolls and Bots Ahead of Tuesday's Midterms
Steven Lee Myers - The Wall Street Journal
The user on Gab who identifies as Nora Berka resurfaced in August after a yearlong silence on the social media platform, reposting a handful of messages with sharply conservative political themes before writing a stream of original vitriol. The posts mostly denigrated President Biden and other prominent Democrats, sometimes obscenely. They also lamented the use of taxpayer dollars to support Ukraine in its war against invading Russian forces, depicting Ukraine's president as a caricature straight out of Russian propaganda.
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COP27 Latest: Germany's Scholz Accused of 'Energy Colonialism'
Salma El Wardany, Yousef Gamal El-Din, and John Ainger - Bloomberg
French President Emmanuel Macron said the US, China and other non-European rich nations must pay "their share" to help poorer nations deal with climate change. "We need the United States and China to step up," Macron said on the sidelines of the COP27 summit in Egypt, AFP reported.
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | SEC gets more time to file reply briefs in XRP lawsuit against Ripple
Timmy Shen - Forkast
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has received approval from the court to extend the time for all parties to submit reply briefs, in the ongoing lawsuit the SEC filed in 2020 against Ripple Labs Inc. District Judge Analisa Torres of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Friday granted the SEC's request to extend the date for all parties to file reply briefs from Nov. 15 to Nov. 30, and modify the page limit for reply briefs from 45 to 55 pages.
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U.S. Supreme Court considers making challenges to FTC and SEC easier
Andrew Chung and Nate Raymond - Reuters
The U.S. Supreme Court is set on Monday to hear arguments in two cases that could make it easier to challenge the regulatory power of federal agencies in disputes involving the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Statement of Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson Regarding CFTC Order Finding That Jeremy Rounsville of Hunt County Texas, Defrauded Customers in Digital Asset Arbitrage Scheme
CFTC
Today, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued an order indicating that during a one-year period beginning in May 2018, Jeremy Rounsville defrauded investors seeking to invest in digital asset markets. Rounsville claimed to be the Chief Executive Officer of Arbritraging.co, a company that purportedly offered complex trading strategies in digital asset products. Arbitraging.co claimed to have created a "highly advanced arbitrage bot" that could-according to marketing materials-facilitate seamless automated arbitrage trading. The claims were, however, untrue. Arbitraging.co's bot, known as the "aBOT," never executed trades on behalf of investors.
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CFTC Penalizes and Permanently Bans Texan from Trading and Registration for Virtual Currencies Fraud
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced it has issued an order simultaneously filing and settling charges against Jeremey Rounsville, a/k/a David Peterson, of Texas. The order requires Rounsville to pay a $177,000 civil monetary penalty, permanently bans him from soliciting or trading in commodity interests and virtual currencies, or registering with the CFTC in any capacity, and requires him to cease and desist from any further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations, as charged.
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SEC Charges Creator of Global Crypto Ponzi Scheme and Three US Promoters in Connection with $295 Million Fraud
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Douver Torres Braga, Joff Paradise, Keleionalani Akana Taylor, and Jonathan Tetreault for their roles in Trade Coin Club, a fraudulent crypto Ponzi scheme that raised more than 82,000 bitcoin, valued at $295 million at the time, from more than 100,000 investors worldwide.
/jlne.ws/3DNvFgT
SEC Charges Creator of Global Crypto Ponzi Scheme and Three Us Promoters in Connection with $295 Million Fraud
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Douver Torres Braga, Joff Paradise, Keleionalani Akana Taylor, and Jonathan Tetreault for their roles in Trade Coin Club, a fraudulent crypto Ponzi scheme that raised more than 82,000 bitcoin, valued at $295 million at the time, from more than 100,000 investors worldwide.
/jlne.ws/3Td0TEa
SEC Obtains Fraud Injunction and Penny Stock Bar Against Microcap Stock Promoter
SEC
On October 31, 2022, Judge Ricardo S. Martinez of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington entered a consent judgment against David Ferraro for his role in an alleged microcap stock promotion scheme that generated approximately $792,000 in trading profits for Ferraro and Justin Costello. As alleged in the SEC's complaint, this stock promotion scheme was part of a series of frauds that Costello perpetrated while falsely portraying himself to the public as a Harvard-educated military veteran and hedge fund billionaire.
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Court finds NAB engaged in unconscionable conduct over account fees
ASIC
The Federal Court has found that National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB) engaged in unconscionable conduct by continuing to charge customers periodic payment fees even though NAB knew the overcharging was occurring.
ASIC alleged that between February 2015 and February 2019, NAB was charging fees for some periodic payments even though customers were entitled to an exemption and that in some cases NAB charged a higher fee than it should have. NAB overcharged 4,874 personal banking and 913 business banking customers a total of $365,454 in periodic payment fees.
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Ex-MoviePass Executives Are Charged in Securities Fraud Case; Former CEOs of MoviePass, prior parent company Helios allegedly misrepresented operations to inflate stock, attract investors
Denny Jacob - The Wall Street Journal
Former executives at MoviePass and its prior parent company were charged in a securities fraud case, accused of defrauding investors, the Justice Department said Friday. Former MoviePass CEO J. Mitchell Lowe and Theodore Farnsworth, who led Helios & Matheson Analytics Inc., the movie-subscription company's parent at the time, are accused of engaging in a fraudulent scheme to inflate the company's stock and attract new shareholders, the Justice Department said. A spokesman for Mr. Farnsworth said his legal team intends to contest the allegations. Mr. Lowe didn't reply to a request for comment.
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | In Bond Investing, 'Yield' Can Be Calculated in Many Ways; Investors might be unaware of the various approaches on measuring yield; each gives them one piece of the puzzle
Suzanne McGee - The Wall Street Journal
As central bankers boost interest rates to combat inflationary pressures, it has created a sea of red ink for bond investors. It also means that yields are back in the spotlight as investors look for new earning potential in a battered market. "When interest rates were very, very low, people looked to bond funds for protection, not for their earning potential," says Justin Hoogendoorn, head of fixed-income strategy and analytics at Hilltop Securities in Chicago. "Now there's a readjustment-a very painful readjustment-that means people can start to look to their bondholdings for earnings."
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How the Chips Act Could Benefit Tech Stocks and Investors; Semiconductors and other tech stocks have taken a beating. Is it time for a second look?
Bailey McCann - The Wall Street Journal
This has been a rough year for tech stocks-but there could be reason to hope for long-term growth. Market volatility, supply-chain issues and rising inflation have all contributed to the selloff. Morningstar research also suggests that big tech companies could see a significant hit to third-quarter earnings as a strong dollar eats into profits from abroad. Many exchange-traded funds that focus on tech-stock themes have had an equally rough go. The two largest semiconductor ETFs, iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) and VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH), were trading near 52-week lows at quarter's end.
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Hedging Against Currency Swings Separates Winners From Losers This Year
Karen Langley - The Wall Street Journal
The dollar's recent rise has heightened the complexity of buying overseas stocks for investors used to focusing on metrics like company earnings and share-price valuations. When U.S.-based investors hold international equities, their performance is driven by fluctuations in exchange rates as well as the performance of the underlying company shares. In periods like this year when the greenback is strengthening, that dynamic eats away at returns as the other currency is traded for fewer dollars.
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Frackers Say Oil Production Slowing in the Shale Patch; U.S. oil-and-gas companies offer little relief for tight global markets
Benoît Morenne and Collin Eaton - The Wall Street Journal
Despite an extended streak of strong profits, shale companies are slowing their oil-field activity, keeping U.S. oil production roughly flat and offering little relief for tight global markets. What was expected to be a banner year for U.S. oil production has failed to materialize as creeping inflation-related costs, supply-chain snarls and disappointing well performance for some companies have coalesced to limit domestic output, executives and analysts said. Global oil prices averaged about $100 a barrel in the third quarter, according to Bank of Nova Scotia, and in past years such prices have prompted increased shale production. This time, companies like ConocoPhillips Pioneer Natural Resources Co. and Devon Energy Corp. are focused on profits instead of drilling and say there are constraints to growth.
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How to Use ETFs to Create a Fixed-Income Portfolio; ETFs have made it easier for investors and their advisers to fine-tune their fixed-income positioning
Ari I. Weinberg - The Wall Street Journal
Surging inflation and corresponding interest-rate increases have left many fixed-income portfolios in shambles this year. Core bond funds, typically the bedrock of a multiasset portfolio, are down 15% to 20%. "It's very clear that the rate environment in the next 10 years won't look like the last 10," says Leland Clemons, founder of ETF issuer BondBloxx Investment Management. If that is the case, investors with portfolios that use bond funds for their fixed-income allocations might want to try using more-targeted exchange-traded funds to fine-tune those exposures.
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A Stock Trader's Guide to China's Potential Exit From Covid Zero; China shares surged this week, partly due to reopening bets; Investors position for eventual loosening of Covid curbs
Bloomberg
The China market's epic ride higher this week is a harbinger of what could come if the nation makes visible moves away from the Covid Zero policy that has stifled the economy. Unverified online posts about China's reopening helped key stock gauges post their best weekly performance in years and spurred gains in the yuan. Investors joined the buying frenzy after a brutal year, undeterred by increasing lockdowns and even as the nation's top health body reiterated its commitment to Covid Zero.
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Exxon faces $2 billion loss on sale of troubled California oil properties
Gary Mcwilliams - Reuters
Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) will take up to a $2 billion loss on the highly leveraged sale of a troubled California offshore oil and gas field that have been idled since a 2015 pipeline spill. The sale comes after a failed bid this year to restart production at the site and as Exxon culls poor performing businesses. Santa Barbara officials in March rejected an Exxon plan to restart operations and ship oil via dozens of tanker trucks each day to inland refineries.
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The Best Places to Get Income in the Bond Market Now; A lot of investors are abandoning the battered fixed-income market. But that may be shortsighted
Michael A. Pollock - The Wall Street Journal
Bonds have done so poorly this year that many investors probably are wondering what the point is of owning any. People usually buy fixed-income investments to add stability to portfolios in addition to collecting regular income-but that strategy has backfired this year. Funds that track the U.S. bond market have shed around 16%, their worst showing in decades. And long-dated U.S. Treasurys have cratered about 34%, versus a 21% drop in the S&P 500 index.
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A Correction in US Commercial Real Estate
Jim Costello - MSCI
The U.S. market for offices has slowed, with sellers hesitant to take a loss and buyers sitting on the sidelines. Bringing volume back to long-term-average levels would require a drop in prices to pique buyer interest, our analysis shows. To return to normal levels relative to corporate bonds, office cap rates may need to go up 140 basis points.
The Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) and Urban Land Institute conferences in late October brought together capital sources and investment managers active in commercial real estate.
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Even Central Banks Are Buying Gold for the Zombie Apocalypse; Governments in developing economies are building up their bullion holdings as trust breaks down.
David Fickling - Bloomberg
The instruction manual for surviving a zombie apocalypse is pretty straightforward. Once you've kitted out your bunker with canned goods and firearms, get a supply of bullion. You'll need it to buy bullets and bribe your way out of a death fight in Thunderdome. That's a line of thinking you might associate with cranky gold bugs, but it's not a million miles away from the rationale behind fund flows in the precious metals market right now - and nations are in the driving seat. Central banks bought 400 metric tons of gold in the September quarter, the World Gold Council reported this week. That's a record inflow on a par with what they'd purchase over a whole year in normal times.
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US stock hedging strategies backfire during market rout; Traders say the performance of put options this year calls into question their value
Nicholas Megaw and Eric Platt - Financial Times
Investors who poured money into funds aimed at protecting them from the sell-off in shares are finding many of the strategies have backfired, offering little or no safeguard from a drawdown that has sliced $13tn off the US stock market. Funds that focused on buying equity put options, which are often used as insurance against stock declines, have struggled to make gains even as the S&P 500 suffers its worst drawdown since the 2008 financial crisis. Those who prepared for violent swings by buying call options on the Cboe's Vix index - which would pay off if the market gauge of expected volatility spiked - have also been left wanting.
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | As climate disasters grow more costly, who should pay the bill?; At the U.N.'s annual climate conference, climate justice is finally on the table. Powerful new science is helping make the case.
Alejandra Borunda - National Geographic
First came a record-shattering, months-long heat wave, roiling Pakistan from March to May. Just a few weeks later came months of crushing, punishing rains that flooded a third of the entire country. The floods' economic costs were staggering-about $40 billion, or more than 10 percent of the country's annual GDP. But these are not "natural" disasters. Just weeks after the catastrophes began in 2022, scientists showed a clear culprit: human-caused climate change, which intensified the rains by up to 75 percent and made the heat wave 30 times more likely.
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COP27 kicks off with deal to discuss climate compensation
Gloria Dickie and Kate Abnett - Reuters
Delegates from nearly 200 countries kicked off the U.N. climate summit in Egypt on Sunday with an agreement to discuss compensating poor nations for mounting damage linked to global warming, placing the controversial topic on the agenda for the first time since climate talks began decades ago. The agreement set a constructive tone for the COP27 summit in the seaside resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, where governments hope to keep alive a goal to avert the worst impacts of planetary warming even as a slew of crises - from a land war in Europe to rampant inflation - distract the international focus.
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Pope says women's rights fight is 'continuous struggle', condemns mutilation
Philip Pullella - Reuters
Pope Francis said on Sunday the fight for women's rights was a "continuous struggle", and condemned male chauvinism as deadly for humanity and female genital mutilation as a crime that must be stopped. Speaking to reporters on the plane returning from a four-day trip to predominantly Muslim Bahrain, he also praised women he has appointed to managerial jobs in the Vatican, saying they had improved things there.
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Climate Conference to Debate Whether Rich Nations Will Pay for Damage
Somini Sengupta - The Wall Street Journal
International climate talks, known as COP27, began Sunday in Egypt with a small, symbolic breakthrough amid warning of geopolitical tensions and the grim certainty of science. The World Meteorological Organization said Sunday that the last eight years were on track to be the warmest on record, citing the effects of accumulating greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere from the start of the industrial age. The Paris climate accords signed in 2015 were meant to deal with that issue and to slow rising temperatures.
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Commitments for forests are nowhere near what is needed to reach Paris Agreement ambition - UN report
UN Environment Programme
The world is not on track to achieve forest goals of ending and reversing deforestation by 2030, critical for a credible pathway to the 1.5°C Paris Agreement goal, according to a new report by the UN-REDD Programme, UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and the Green Gigaton Challenge (GGC). It finds that for the 2030 goals to remain within reach, a one gigaton milestone of emissions reductions from forests must be achieved not later than 2025, and yearly after that. The report, Making good on the Glasgow Climate Pact: a call to action to achieve one gigaton of emissions reductions from forests by 2025, finds that current public and private commitments to pay for emissions reductions are only at 24% of the gigaton milestone goal.
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Lithium Frenzy Sees China Ceramics Hub Refocus on Battery Metals; Factories that typically churn out bathroom tiles are retooling manufacturing lines to benefit from still-surging prices of the raw material.
Annie Lee - Bloomberg
Here's another sign of the world's lithium frenzy: Chinese factories that typically make ceramics for bathroom tiles are switching to supply the electric-vehicle battery material instead. Lithium has become super-expensive this year as car and battery manufacturers scour the planet for scarce supplies, and as the industry has hit limits on capacity to refine raw materials into specialist chemicals. That means fatter earnings for producers and - as often happens in runaway commodities markets - some unconventional entrants seeking to make a profit.
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Do Sustainable Investment Strategies Hedge Climate Change Risks? Evidence from Germany's Carbon Tax
Marcelo Ochoa, Matthias Paustian, and Laura Wilcox - Federal Reserve Board
It is difficult to assess the effectiveness of investment strategies that screen companies based on environmental criteria to hedge climate change risk because physical risks have not yet fully materialized and policies to combat climate change are usually widely anticipated. This paper sidesteps these limitations by analyzing the stock market response to plausibly exogenous changes in expectations about the level of a carbon tax in Germany.
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Designing a Corporate ESG Programme that Attracts, Nurtures, and Retains Women
Chaitra Vedullapalli - The European Business Review
Inclusion is the new kid on the block that every company interested in advancement is courting. And one of the best methods to do this is through the environment, social, and governance (ESG) movement. But implementing this is not as easy as it sounds, many companies have run into roadblocks while trying to attract and retain women. Can corporate ESG programmes be successful in bringing women in and helping them thrive in their roles?
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Santander to block UK transfers to crypto exchanges in 2023
Elizabeth Howcroft - Reuters
Santander will block UK customers from sending real-time payments to cryptocurrency exchanges next year as part of measures to protect customers from scams, the bank said in an emailed statement on Friday. At an unspecified point during 2023, the bank will introduce a block on all real-time payments to cryptocurrency exchanges made via telephone banking and in-branch payments, as well as online and mobile banking.
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Deutsche Bank Faces Threat of Fines Over Money-Laundering Controls; Move by German regulator BaFin suggests it is unhappy with the bank despite years of pressure
Patricia Kowsmann - The Wall Street Journal
Germany's top financial watchdog threatened to fine Deutsche Bank AG if it doesn't implement controls against money laundering by a set deadline, suggesting the regulator isn't satisfied with the bank's efforts to police dirty-money flows. BaFin, as the regulator is known, said late Friday that on Sept. 28 it told Deutsche Bank to take specific measures to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing so it could fulfill requests BaFin had made in 2018 and 2019. The regulator said it would impose financial penalties if the bank doesn't comply.
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Citi Completes Sale of Malaysia and Thailand Consumer Banking to UOB Group
Citi
Citi announced today it has completed the sale of Citi's Malaysia and Thailand retail banking and consumer credit card businesses to United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB) subsidiaries, which includes the transfer of over 3,000 related staff. The transaction is expected to result in a regulatory capital benefit of approximately US$1billion. Citi and UOB first announced the transaction on 14 January 2022, as part of a broader sale agreement covering consumer banking across Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia and excluding the bank's institutional businesses. As previously disclosed, the sales of the Vietnam and Indonesia consumer businesses are expected to be completed in 2023.
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Hong Kong Interbank Liquidity Gauge to Sink Below HK$100 Billion; City's aggregate balance
declines on HKMA's FX interventions; Three-month Hibor highest since 2007 amid cash drainage
Chester Yung - Bloomberg
Hong Kong's aggregate balance, a measure of interbank liquidity, will fall below HK$100 billion ($12.7 billion) for the first time since June 2020 as the city's de facto central bank tries to maintain the local currency's peg to the US dollar. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority bought HK$3.05 billion worth of the local to ensure its value remained within its trading band of between 7.75-7.85 per dollar on Friday during New York hours. The purchase will shrink the aggregate balance to HK$96.98 billion on Nov. 8, according to an HKMA statement.
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Extra bank holiday approved to mark King's coronation
Jasmine Andersson - BBC
It will fall on Monday, 8 May 2023, two days after the ceremony at Westminster Abbey, the government said. That holiday is in addition to the bank holiday already scheduled for Monday, 1 May. Confirming the move, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the time off would give people the chance to "come together and celebrate". He said that the holiday would mark "a unique moment for our country".
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UBS Expands Into 'Brazilian Texas' to Reach Newly Minted Millionaires; Latin America wealth chief says countryside being overlooked; Offices set for Goiania in Midwest and Recife in Northeast
Cristiane Lucchesi - Bloomberg
UBS Group AG is branching out into rural Brazil to find millionaires created by rapid growth in the agribusiness and tech industries. The Swiss bank plans to open a wealth-management office in the midwestern city of Goiania, the capital of what's known as Brazilian Texas because of its similarities to the farm-rich US state. Another will open this month in Recife, a beachfront city in the Northeast that's developing into a technology hub.
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UBS Hires Credit Suisse Bankers to Boost Team for Rich Indians; The three relationship managers are based in Singapore; UBS is building out its business for India's overseas wealthy
Chanyaporn Chanjaroen - Bloomberg
UBS Group AG is hiring three private bankers from rival Credit Suisse Group AG as part of its efforts to bolster services for India's wealthy diaspora, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Deaths Caused By Alcohol Spiked by 26% During the Pandemic
Tara Law - TIME
The number of Americans killed by alcohol rose by 26% during the first year of the pandemic, according to data released by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) on Nov. 4. This steep rise occurred from the start of 2019 until the end of 2020, jumping from about 10.4 deaths per 100,000 people to 13.1 deaths. It's the biggest year-over-year increase in at least two decades.
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Employees Who Shift to 4-Day Week Devote New Free Time to Sleep; Employees working condensed weeks sleep much more than you do.
Arianne Cohen - Bloomberg
When employees can slash their traditional five-day workweek to four days, they tend to allocate their new free time to one surprising activity: sleep. Workers who shifted to 32-hour workweeks logged 7.58 hours per night of sleep, nearly a full hour more than when they were keeping 40-hour workweeks, according to lead researcher Juliet Schor, a sociologist and economist at Boston College who is tracking over 180 organizations globally as they shift to truncated schedules through six-month pilot programs.
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Pfizer's Paxlovid Antiviral Lowered Long-Covid Risk in Study; Drug cuts risk of fatigue and other lingering symptoms by 26%; Study supports wider Paxlovid use to avoid disabling problems
Jason Gale - Bloomberg
Pfizer Inc.'s blockbuster Paxlovid antiviral that lowers rates of illness and death in people infected with the coronavirus also cuts the risk of some symptoms of disabling long Covid, a study found. Taking the oral medication within five days of testing positive for a SARS-CoV-2 infection was linked to a 26% lower risk of lingering post-viral complications, researchers with the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System said in the study. That equates to 2.3 fewer cases of long Covid within three months of infection for every 100 patients treated, according to the findings released Saturday on the medRxiv server ahead of publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Oil companies hit out at UK's 'fiscally unstable and complex' regime; Industry group warns Jeremy Hunt against raising windfall taxes in Autumn Statement
Natalie Thomas - Financial Times
Oil and gas producers have branded the UK one of the most "fiscally unstable"âEUR‰regimes in which to do business, as chancellor Jeremy Hunt examines a further increase in windfall taxes on fossil fuel companies. In a letter seen by the Financial Times, an industry group representing 20 British oil and gas companies - including top-10 producers Harbour Energy, Ithaca Energy and Neo Energy - told Hunt that higher windfall taxes would put at risk the sector's "appetite and financial ability" to invest in new projects.
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Lithium Frenzy Sees China Ceramics Hub Refocus on Battery Metals; Factories that typically churn out bathroom tiles are retooling manufacturing lines to benefit from still-surging prices of the raw material.
Annie Lee - Bloomberg
Here's another sign of the world's lithium frenzy: Chinese factories that typically make ceramics for bathroom tiles are switching to supply the electric-vehicle battery material instead.
/jlne.ws/3UgBiLH
Swiss Labor Shortage to Worsen, Top Employer Migros Says
Andy Hoffman - Bloomberg
Switzerland is experiencing a severe labor shortage that's only going to get worse as more workers retire, the nation's top private employer told a newspaper. Supermarket chain Migros now has 1,895 job openings, and the scarcity of workers for blue-collar jobs will be exacerbated in coming years, the company's head of human resources said in an interview with Schweiz am Wochenende.
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Former Petrobras executive asks Brazil court to block dividend payment
Reuters
Guilherme Estrella, former director of Brazil's state-controlled oil giant Petrobras (PETR4.SA), filed a lawsuit in court to block the payment of dividends by the company. In a late Friday filing, Petrobras reported that Estrella, a former director of exploration and production, requested the blocking of 32.1 billion reais ($6.6 billion) in dividends that would be paid in advance to the federal government, as approved in July.
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Summer Travel Boom Extends Into Fall as Americans Keep Spending Away From Home; Industry executives say concerns about inflation have done little to discourage consumers
Will Feuer and Denny Jacob - The Wall Street Journal
Americans' appetite for travel and entertainment remains strong ahead of the holidays, as desires to spend on experiences overcome concerns about inflation and the economy. Those concerns haven't deterred many travel plans, executives at hotel chains, cruise-line operators, vacation-booking platforms and other leisure companies said in recent earnings reports. Hotels have more guests staying, even as room rates climb. Attendance at concerts and live events this summer broke records, Live Nation Entertainment Inc. said.
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Opinion: Florida, You're No New York; If you like anarchy and menace, the Sunshine State isn't the place for you.
Brenda Cronin - The Wall Street Journal
When everyone was fleeing New York for Florida in 2020, I was among them. Manhattan felt like a mausoleum and Palm Beach County like spring break. I cast my lot with the Sunshine State but more than two years later concede: Florida, you're no New York. The points of exit and entry illustrate the profound distinctions between the two. After landing at Palm Beach International Airport, the ride home takes far less time than the trek from security to departure gate in the hellscape known as LaGuardia.
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Wells are running dry in drought-weary Southwest as foreign-owned farms guzzle water to feed cattle overseas
Ella Nilsen - CNN
Workers with the water district in Wenden, Arizona, saw something remarkable last year as they slowly lowered a camera into the drought-stricken town's well: The water was moving. But the aquifer which sits below the small desert town in the southwestern part of the state is not a river; it's a massive, underground reservoir which stores water built up over thousands of years. And that water is almost always still.
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TSA PreCheck enrollment, in-person renewal price drops
Nathan Diller - USA TODAY
Looking to avoid air travel headaches heading into the holiday season? One way to minimize your time in security lines just got cheaper. The Transportation Security Administration said Friday that TSA PreCheck enrollment provider, IDEMIA, has dropped the program's enrollment and in-person renewal fees from $85 to $78, according to a news release. Those renewing online will still need to pay $70. Travelers who are approved for the program get a five-year membership.
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | The richest person who ever lived had unimaginable wealth. Inside the world's wealthiest.
Clare Mulroy - USA TODAY
When it comes to wealth, there's a scale for everything. What constitutes "wealthy" today may be very different from what it meant to be rich a century ago. In fact, as inflation increases the price of living, the number of billionaires is increasing as well. In 2021, Forbes reported 2,755 billionaires worldwide. The 2021 list added a record high of nearly 500 new billionaires from 2020. The United States had 724 billionaires in 2021, the most in the world, while China had 698 and India 237. Does that mean the richest person ever alive is among us today?
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The Preppers Were Right All Along; Once the domain of end-of-timers and right-wing radicals, the survivalist mindset is pushing into the mainstream thanks to rising climate-change disasters and civil unrest.
Amanda Little - Bloomberg
In the first seven months of 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic brought America to its knees, sales at survivalist supplier Augason Farms surged, tripling its annual revenue. The company couldn't make its mylar packages of long-storage comfort foods - powdered eggs and nut butters, freeze-dried stroganoffs, casseroles and lasagnas - fast enough.
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