| March 20, 2019 | | | | | Spencer Doar
Editor
John Lothian News | |
|
| | | | Observations & Insight | | | Saving Big Money: How a small fintech firm figured out how to save banks billions with DLT
Jim Kharouf, JLN
There's a lot of chatter these days about the viability, perhaps even the legitimacy, of distributed ledger systems for the financial markets. Lost in the "blockchain is dead" noise are some interesting cases that show just how DLT technologies can be used effectively in key pain points in the market.
"This has been a true hype cycle," said Arjun Jayaram, CEO and founder of Baton Systems.
/goo.gl/zAx8y2
++++
The Spread - There Goes the Sun - 3/18
JohnLothianNews.com
Last year we filmed our FIA Boca edition of "The Spread" in a pool. However, we were at a different Airbnb this time, so you are not in for a repeat treat.
Watch the video and see the stories referenced here »
****SD: In case you missed it yesterday.
| | | | | | Lead Stories | | | Volatility spike prompts reforms at equity-options clearing house
Philip Stafford - Financial Times (SUBSCRIPTION)
The clearing house charged with overseeing the trading of options based on the Vix volatility index expects to finalise new risk models over the summer, after a sharp spike in the benchmark last year exposed flaws in their calculation.
The Options Clearing Corporation has been reviewing its methods amid criticism from users who claimed America's largest equity options clearing house was asking for far more margin, or collateral to back trades, than was necessary.
/on.ft.com/2Fm3nwZ
****SD: An art and a science.
Central Banks Kill Volatility. Now Wall Street Fears a Trap
Yakob Peterseil - Bloomberg (SUBSCRIPTION)
Cross-asset price swings vanish as Goldilocks-lite takes hold; Fewer rewards for shorting vol while macro calm bedevils longs
Wall Street's volatility complex is roaring back to life as dovish central banks beat recession fears into submission, spurring the fastest return to market calm since 2012. How long the serenity can last is the vexed question. For now, hedge funds are amassing short wagers on equity price swings, while the Cboe Volatility Index sits close to a five-month low. Thanks to lowflation, interest-rate moves in the U.S. have fallen to a record as tranquility takes hold of global currencies.
/goo.gl/WorLXs
***SD: Admiral Ackbar approves.
New Brexit Cliff Edge Is Met With a Meh in Markets
Vassilis Karamanis - Bloomberg (SUBSCRIPTION)
If there is any stress surrounding the U.K.'s imminent exit from the European Union, you couldn't tell by looking at how investors are trading the pound. Even with less than 10 days to go before the departure, sterling is still the best-performing major currency this year. While reports suggest that Prime Minister Theresa May won't seek a long delay to leave the EU, option traders are unruffled, with a gauge of expected swings in the pound around the end of June -- seen as a new potential cliff edge -- holding near the lowest in six months.
/goo.gl/K1RU29
****SD: Also from Bloomberg - Pound Traders Expecting a Brexit Delay Are Betting Big on a Rally.
FX market volatility at its lowest level since 2014
Peter Wells - Financial Times (SUBSCRIPTION)
If you thought the equity market looked calm at the moment, it can't hold a candle to foreign exchange, where levels of volatility are hovering around their lowest levels since 2014.
/on.ft.com/2FoV8AE
| | | | | | Exchanges and Clearing | | | CME Group Announces Record COMEX Copper Options Open Interest
CME Group
CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced COMEX Copper options open interest reached a record 62,220 contracts on March 18, surpassing the previous record of 56,674 contracts set on February 22.
bit.ly/2JpmkmR
****SD: This on the back of yesterday's Bloomberg story Biggest Trading in Copper Options Ever Signals Supply Troubles.
Galaxy Capital-Backed Caspian to Offer Crypto Derivatives Trading
Yogita Khatri - Coindesk
Galaxy Capital-backed institutional trading and portfolio management platform Caspian is launching trading in cryptocurrency derivatives. Caspian announced Wednesday that it has integrated its platform with the Deribit exchange to offer futures and options (F&O) trading in crypto assets.
/goo.gl/Cdbirc
| | | | | | Regulation & Enforcement | | | UAE's Securities And Commodities Authority And Nasdaq Dubai Collaborate To Raise Awareness Of Derivatives Trading Among Investors
Mondovisione
-Inaugural seminar focused on benefits of futures and how to include them in trading strategies Initiative comes amid increasing demand for new tradeable derivatives products
-The Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) and Nasdaq Dubai have begun a joint awareness campaign on trading derivatives aimed at individual investors.
/goo.gl/SegDT6
| | | | | | Technology | | | Old-school traders still 'kicking and screaming' over new technologies: Man Group CIO
Beecher Tuttle - efinancialcareers
Man Group Chief Investment Officer Sandy Rattray says there's still a general feeling of "exceptionalism" among some old-school discretionary traders who refuse to implement machine learning technologies into their business, particularly when it comes to trade execution. Yet he still called artificial intelligence the most overhyped theme of 2018.
/goo.gl/1BPh9g
****SD: I thought us millennials were the fickle ones?
Cloud Native vs. Cloud Hosted: The Differences Are Big ... And They Matter
Fabien Couderc, Axioma - Tabb Forum
Being in the cloud is fast becoming de rigueur for investment managers. But dig a little deeper, and you often find that firms have simply switched to a cloud-hosted infrastructure, rather than a thoroughly modern cloud-native environment. Axioma's Fabien Couderc explains why the advantages of cloud native far exceed those of cloud hosted.
/goo.gl/VCebCa
| | | | | | Strategy | | | Busting the "Free Weekend Theta" Myth
Sage Anderson - tastytrade blog
One of the smarter and more successful traders I ever came across is a huge proponent of short premium when trading options. He's got a natural gift when it comes to numbers, and for him the probabilities associated with short premium (and theta decay) simply can't be ignored. I can recall the few times he left the office on Friday with a net long (paying) theta position in his overall portfolio. On those rare occasions, you might think he was getting his wisdom teeth pulled over the weekend, or attending some extremely unpleasant event - it was that painful for him. This particular trader loved the "free weekend theta" concept, as he viewed Saturday and Sunday (when the options market is closed) as "free money" in terms of theta collection.
/goo.gl/e2D8S8
| | | | | | Miscellaneous | | | INTL FCStone Acquires the Futures and Options Brokerage and Clearing Business of UOB Bullion and Futures Limited in Singapore
PRNewswire
INTL FCStone Inc. today announced that its Singaporean subsidiary INTL FCStone Pte Ltd ("IFP") has executed an asset purchase agreement to acquire the futures and options brokerage and clearing business of UOB Bullion and Futures Limited, a subsidiary of United Overseas Bank Limited. Closing is conditional upon receiving regulatory approval by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
/goo.gl/watnL3
India's Rupee Just Went From Asia's Worst to Best Currency
Kartik Goyal - Bloomberg (SUBSCRIPTION)
Overseas inflows in stocks, bonds near $5 billion in March; Rupee may advance to 67 per dollar by June-end - Scotiabank
Asia's worst-performing currency took five weeks to become its best. The turnaround has been fueled by the improved chances of Prime Minister Narendra Modi winning a second term amid recent tensions between India and Pakistan. The optimism has led to local shares and debt luring robust flows, which have turned the carry-trade returns on the rupee to the highest in the world in the past month.
/goo.gl/jXrjvk
| | | | | | | | | JLN Options is sponsored by: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
|
| | | |
| | | | 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
Publisher | | | Sarah Rudolph
Managing Editor
| | | Jeff Bergstrom
Editor
| | | Spencer Doar
Editor
| | |
|
|
Disclaimer: All John Lothian Newsletters, JohnLothianNews.com, MarketsWiki.com and MarketsReformWiki.com are products of John Lothian News, a division of John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. The opinions expressed in all John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. publications are strictly those of their respective editors. They are intended solely for informative purposes and are not to be construed, under any circumstances, by implication or otherwise, as an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy or trade in any commodities or securities herein named. Information is obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but is in no way guaranteed. No guarantee of any kind is implied or possible where projections of future conditions are attempted. Security futures are not suitable for all customers. Futures and options trading involve risk. Past results are no indication of future performance. Nothing on any John J. Lothian & Company site should be considered an endorsement by any sponsor of any website or newsletter content.
© 2017 John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
|
|
