| | | | | | | May 28, 2025 | | | | | Jeff Bergstrom
Editor
John Lothian News | |
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| | | | | | | Observations & Insight | | | Cboe Global Markets announced that Global President Dave Howson will depart the company on August 1, 2025, to return to the UK after spending three years in Chicago. Following his departure, the recently hired CEO, Craig Donohue, will assume the additional title of president.
Cathy Clay, EVP and global head of derivatives, will expand her responsibilities to include oversight of the Cboe Data Vantage business. At the same time, Chris Isaacson, EVP and chief operating officer, will add cash equities, global FX, and clearing to his current portfolio, overseeing technology, operations, and risk.
| | | | | | Lead Stories | | | Cboe Global Markets Announces Departure of Global President Dave Howson
Cboe Global Markets
Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE), the world's leading derivatives and securities exchange network, today announced that Dave Howson, Executive Vice President and Global President, will be stepping down from the role effective August 1, 2025. Howson will be returning home to the UK after spending three years in Chicago in his role as Global President. Cathy Clay, EVP and Global Head of Derivatives, and Chris Isaacson, EVP and Chief Operating Officer, are expanding their global leadership roles within the company. In addition to her current role overseeing the Global Derivatives business consisting of equity and index options and futures, Clay's responsibilities will be expanded to provide oversight of the Cboe Data Vantage business.
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Semiconductor ETF options show caution ahead of Nvidia results
Saqib Iqbal Ahmed - Reuters
Traders in the options markets are bracing for industry-wide volatility when AI-chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA.O) reports results on Wednesday, with defensive options contracts on a major semiconductor ETF drawing heavy trading.
For VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH.O) the largest semiconductors ETF with some $22 billion in assets, about 2.4 put options changed hands daily over the last 10 days against every call option traded, the most defensive the trading has been in about 10 months, according to Trade Alert data.
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Cantor Fitzgerald Agrees to Buy UBS Hedge Fund Unit O'Connor
Todd Gillespie and Noele Illien - Bloomberg
Cantor Fitzgerald LP agreed to buy UBS Group AG's O'Connor unit, ending more than three decades of ownership by the Swiss bank and placing the hedge fund back in control of one of its early founders. The deal includes O'Connor's six investment strategies with about $11 billion in assets under management, according to a statement Wednesday. Additional terms of the agreement weren't disclosed, but Bloomberg News has previously reported that the talks included a revenue-sharing proposal.
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***** One of the crown jewels of derivatives goes to Cantor Fitzgerald.~JJL
To beat their enemy, have active managers become their enemy? Well, kinda, maybe, maybe not
Robin Wigglesworth - Financial Times
Last week we covered Goldman Sachs' latest report on hedge funds, which are gleefully shorting again. It's time we turned to the investment bank's latest report on mutual funds, which contained this interesting nugget: "Active share" is a percentage measure of the overlap of a fund's holdings and its benchmark. The higher it is, the more the fund diverges from the positions and the weightings of its underlying index. A fund that has a 0 per cent active share is the perfect passive index fund, while one with a 100 per cent active share has zero in common with its benchmark.
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| | | | | | Exchanges | | | TradeStation Securities Joins CME Group's XRP Futures Launch, Expanding Its Crypto Derivatives Offering; New XRP futures contracts offer capital-efficient access and precision for digital asset traders
TradeStation Securities, Inc.
TradeStation Securities, Inc. ("TradeStation"), an award-winning, self-clearing online brokerage firm for trading stocks, options, futures, and options on futures, today announced it has added CME Group's new XRP futures contracts to its suite of offerings. With this addition, TradeStation continues to expand its suite of cryptocurrency derivatives, offering eligible clients access to both micro-sized (2,500 XRP) and large-sized (50,000 XRP) XRP futures contracts.
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Trader Alert 25-16: MEMX Options Released Updated Versions of its MEMO SBE, MEMO FIX, and FIX Drop Specifications
MEMX
On Friday, May 23, 2025, MEMX Options released new versions of its MEMO FIX, MEMO SBE, and FIX Drop Specifications in advance of enabling linkage. Version 1.10 can be found here using the "upcoming version" link.Release dates for the MEMX Options Development Environment (MODE) and Production Environment to follow. Updates are listed in the specification Errata included in the download.
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Robinhood Expands Desktop Trading Platform to UK Customers
Meg Short - Bloomberg
Robinhood Markets Inc. has expanded its desktop trading platform to UK investors as the US broker seeks to take on the country's more established investment companies. The brokerage, which launched its trading app in the UK early last year, said its Robinhood Legend desktop service will start rolling out to British customers from Wednesday.
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| | | | | | Regulation & Enforcement | | | Conflict of Interest? Incoming CFTC Chair Has Deep Ties with Crypto and Prediction Markets
Arnab Shome - Finance Magnates
Brian Quintenz, whom US President Donald Trump nominated to be the next Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), disclosed $3.4 million in assets, along with deep ties to the crypto industry and prediction markets.
Active Roles in Crypto and Prediction Markets
Quintenz, who served as a CFTC Commissioner from 2017 to 2021, is currently the Global Head of Crypto Policy at a16z, the crypto arm of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. He will resign after the US Senate confirms him as the CFTC Chair. He is also a board member at Kalshi, a US-based prediction market, and owns stock and unvested stock options in the firm. He also holds stock and vested stock options in the finance and lending brokerage Next Level Derivatives.
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Trump's CFTC Pick Discloses $3.4 Million in Assets, Crypto Ties
Nicola M White, Lydia Beyoud, and Bill Allison - Bloomberg
Brian Quintenz, the crypto lobbyist President Donald Trump nominated to serve as chair of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, disclosed assets worth at least $3.4 million and positions in key industry groups. Quintenz, who served as a CFTC commissioner from 2017 to 2021, revealed his financial and professional holdings in paperwork released this week by the Office of Government Ethics. Nominees disclose the value of their holdings in broad ranges.
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| | | | | | Strategy | | | Option traders are analyzed to expect Ethereum to outperform Bitcoin.; Deribit's 25 Delta Risk Reversal data supports a strong upward outlook for Ethereum.
Son Min - Bloomingbit
The media evaluated that institutional investors are increasingly focusing on Ethereum.
An analysis has emerged that option traders are expecting Ethereum (ETH) to outperform Bitcoin (BTC).
On the 28th (local time), CoinDesk cited data from the cryptocurrency options exchange Deribit, stating, "Most option market traders are forecasting a rise in Ethereum," and "In the short term, bullish sentiment towards Ethereum could grow even stronger."
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Bunds' hedging role for euro swaps still in question; Dealers seek ultimate hedge for euro swaps amid EGB rush following Trump tariffs
Rebekah Tunstead - Risk.net
Towards the end of last year, the question on many European rates traders' lips was: what is the most effective hedge for euro interest rate swaps? Previously, the answer to the question was the German government bond and its related futures contract. That assumption, however, was challenged after the fixed leg of 10-year euro interest rate swaps started trading below the nominal yield on the German bund for the first time in history in November 2024.
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Investors should brace themselves for another 20% stock market correction this summer, veteran strategist warns
Christine Ji - Business Insider
A bear market is coming back just in time for summer, says David Bianco, the chief investment officer of DWS Group Americas.
While the S&P 500 has recovered from its earlier dip on news of trade talks with China and the EU, another steep pullback is in the cards, as Bianco sees a case of "June gloom" on the horizon.
"It's very possible for us to go right back to the lows," Bianco told Business Insider. "A number like 5,200 is a real possibility for a summer correction."
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The 'Trump always chickens out' trade is the talk of Wall Street. Here's one way to play it.; Tariff threats may still offer near-term opportunity but won't determine market's next big move, strategist says
William Watts - MarketWatch
Let's hear it for the "TACO" trade.
Wall Street loves a catchy acronym, and the TACO trade - coined earlier this month by Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong - has captured the mood, as investors and analysts attempt to make sense of the roller-coaster market action that has followed President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff threats and subsequent walk-backs.
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| | | | 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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