| June 24, 2024 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
All this week, John Lothian News has a guest editor while John is away in Amsterdam. Our guest editor is David Klotz, the president of MetroTrade, an introducing broker that plans to offer access to the CME Group's U.S. futures exchanges at its launch, anticipated for this summer. Dave has very kindly agreed to attempt to fill John's enormous shoes for the week, and we are happy to have him. It's good to have a little shake-up from time to time.~SR
First of all, thank you John and the whole JLN team for providing me this opportunity! I'm excited (and nervous) to step into some very large shoes for the next week. I will do my best to keep the comments light and the news fresh.
There has been endless discussion about what ails the EU markets and what can be done to 'fix' it. I think identifying culprits may be a good start: Historic strikes scheduled at Borsa Italiana. A couple of points I can't help but highlight here: 1. Exchanges can go on strike? 2. There are three(!) unions involved in running Borsa Italiana? How about instead of focusing on potential job losses and pay increases, the EU instead focuses on what this business is all about - creating markets that can compete for customers on a global basis?
The Wall Street Journal has a story titled "Where to Find the 'Best' Pizza Slice in NYC? It's Complicated." Spoiler alert: it's Chicago.
This WSJ article on ETFs titled "These Hot New Funds Are 'Boomer Candy' for Retirees" made me laugh over the weekend. I believe what these funds are doing is called hedging, and I feel like markets have been doing it for a long time. Nice of the baby boomers to catch up.
These two articles bring to mind one of my favorite quotes from The Princess Bride: "Never get involved in a land war in Asia" (and never underestimate the risks associated with copper and nickel).
TT's latest innovation is a potential game-changer for them, but I still wish they would do the needful and incorporate full equity OMS/EMS capabilities. In addition to the TT news on adding advanced analytics, with Robinhood buying Bitstamp and Coinbase offering non-crypto derivatives, I feel like we are seeing a pattern - where will it end?
Fortune Crypto has this story: The CFTC is probing Jump Crypto, previously one of the sector's biggest players. For a general financial media group, Fortune Crypto is consistently unique, but let's be careful not to Jump to conclusions.
In crypto news, FTX made the front page of the WSJ again. Somehow this story never ends. In true industry fashion, would anyone like to make a market on when we will see FTX in the headlines for the last time? -DK
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David Weild IV shared on LinkedIn that Bob Aber, former general counsel of Nasdaq and head of the Strategic Initiatives Group for the Corporate Client Division, passed away on June 9. He was highly regarded for his intelligence, knowledge, and dedication. Aber played a crucial role during the June 30 Triple Witching debacle, where accidental software deployment disrupted the market, causing significant issues for Nasdaq-listed companies. His deep understanding of SEC rules was vital in managing the crisis. Aber worked tirelessly, even through the night of July 4th, ensuring effective communication with affected companies. He was a valued friend, colleague, and public servant, epitomizing dedication to Nasdaq, Weild wrote.~JJL
Mission 2025, a coalition of CEOs, investors, mayors, governors and citizens, was launched at the start of London Climate Action Week (June 22-30). Convened by Groundswell (a collaboration between the Bezos Earth Fund, Global Optimism, and Systems Change Lab), it urges governments to move more quickly to align national climate plans with the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C target. Supported by companies like IKEA, Unilever, and Octopus EV, and co-signed by leaders of various environmental organizations, Mission 2025 seeks accelerated climate action. Read the full press release on the We Mean Business coalition website. ~SAED
Have a great day and stay safe and treat people the same way you want to be treated: with respect, equality and justice.~JJL
Our most read stories from our previous edition of JLN Options were:
- Roaring Kitty Ditches GameStop Options, Scoops Up Stock. He Now Has a $262 Million Stake. from Barron's.
- MSCI Keeps South Korea Listed as Emerging Market Amid Ban on Shorts from Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance.
- The stock market's volatility gauge remains subdued. What that may say about rest of 2024 from MarketWatch. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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Two EF-1 tornadoes confirmed in Walworth County
Walworth County Community News
The National Weather Service has confirmed two EF-1 tornadoes caused damage Saturday night in Walworth County. Much of the damage was centered in Williams Bay and Delavan. Earlier Sunday, Williams Bay Police said that gas and electric services were in the area working to address utility needs. There is limited information for the restoration timeline of utility service.
/jlne.ws/3RHHwVD
****These tornadoes came very close to my home in Wisconsin and those of my family members. There was lots of tree damage to the beach area and Cedar Point side of Williams Bay, including along the lakefront path.~JJL
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Friday's Top Three
Our top clicked story Friday was The Purpose of Journalism Is to Get the Story, an opinion piece from Peggy Noonan in The Wall Street Journal. Second was Israel and Hizbollah's dangerous slide towards all-out war, an opinion piece from the editorial board of the Financial Times. Third was Hedge Fund Talent Schools Are Looking for the Perfect Trader, from Bloomberg.
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| Lead Stories | Business needs to calm down about French election, says Euronext CEO; Stephane Boujnah says both far-right and leftwing alliance would struggle to implement their plans in government
Nikou Asgari and Ian Johnston - Financial Times
The French chief executive of Europe's biggest stock exchange group has appealed for business leaders to stay "calm" ahead of the country's looming snap elections, saying that neither the far-right party or a new leftwing alliance would be able to enact their policy pledges. Stephane Boujnah, head of Paris-based Euronext, told the Financial Times that the plans of both Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National (RN) party - which polls suggest will win the first round vote next week - and the leftwing Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) are "a concern for the future of the French economy".
/jlne.ws/3VTUTo7
The club of City executives plotting a revival for the UK's capital markets; CMIT is pushing for reform in a bid to end malaise engulfing London market
Michael O'Dwyer and Harriet Agnew - Financial Times
For the 10 top executives who meet each month at the London Stock Exchange's Square Mile headquarters, fear is a powerful motivator. The three-century-old bourse is confronting a prolonged drought in listings, a domestic pension industry shunning UK equities and a morale-sapping anxiety that any homegrown company aiming for global success will choose to float in New York. The monthly gatherings were born of a decision in the summer of 2022 by Dame Julia Hoggett, chief executive of the exchange, to take matters into her own hands.
/jlne.ws/3XziKuE
AI Is Helping Scammers Outsmart You-and Your Bank; Your 'spidey sense' is no match for the new wave of scammers.
Dalvin Brown and Katherine Hamilton - The Wall Street Journal
Artificial intelligence is making scammers tougher to spot. Gone are the poorly worded messages that easily tipped off authorities as well as the grammar police. The bad guys are now better writers and more convincing conversationalists, who can hold a conversation without revealing they are a bot, say the bank and tech investigators who spend their days tracking the latest schemes. ChatGPT and other AI tools can even enable scammers to create an imitation of your voice and identity. In recent years, criminals have used AI-based software to impersonate senior executives and demand wire transfers.
/jlne.ws/3z91su8
How Jeff Yass Became One of the Most Influential Billionaires in the 2024 Election; The libertarian who turned Susquehanna into one of Wall Street's most powerful trading firms is enmeshed with TikTok-and betting on Trump.
Annie Massa - Bloomberg
The commute from Mar-a-Lago to the Breakers is about 10 minutes. In early March, Donald Trump ventured over to his Palm Beach club's venerable counterpart for an awkward peacemaking mission aimed at the Club for Growth, an antitax political advocacy group. The year before, the group had shunned Trump, leaving him off the invite list to its annual economic retreat while welcoming almost every Republican presidential hopeful: Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, Mike Pence, Vivek Ramaswamy. But in 2024, with those candidacies reduced to distant memory, Trump had the spotlight to himself.
/jlne.ws/3VURDce
Nvidia Sales Grow So Fast That Wall Street Can't Keep Up; Chipmaker's revenue beats have made projections difficult; Recent estimates have deviated from results by an average 12%
Jeran Wittenstein - Bloomberg
Nvidia Corp. is the most expensive stock in the S&P 500 Index, with its shares trading for roughly 23 times the company's projected sales over the next 12 months. But there's a problem with that valuation. In the age of the artificial intelligence boom, no one can figure out what the chipmaker's revenues are actually going to be - not the Wall Street analysts covering Nvidia or Nvidia executives themselves. So how are investors supposed to calculate whether the shares are expensive or not?
/jlne.ws/3VW8nA2
The Hedge Fund Bet Luring Retail Investors to High-Risk Bonds; Fermat, Schroders, Amundi see large inflows in cat-bond UCITS; EU markets regulator is now trying to assess the ramifications
Gautam Naik - Bloomberg
There was a time when investing in catastrophe bonds was the preserve of hedge funds and other sophisticated alternative asset managers. But after underpinning the best hedge fund strategy of 2023, the bonds are finding a wider audience. Catastrophe-bond funds marketed under Europe's UCITS label, which is designed to protect retail investors, have seen their assets under management rise 12% this year to a record $12 billion, according to Kepler Partners, a research and advisory firm. The development means that cat bonds, as they're often called, sold through UCITS now make up roughly a quarter of the entire market for such debt.
/jlne.ws/3znS5H2
Wall Street's Smart-Trade Brigade Thrashed Again on Stock Boom
Denitsa Tsekova - Bloomberg
As a product manufacturer, Wall Street is on a roll. From yield-bearing option trades to funds packaging bank loans, it's shaping up to be a bumper year for strategies that purport to bring a professional investing edge to the masses. Financial firms of all stripes are marketing their creative trades to clients beset with uncertainty about the economy and Federal Reserve policy. Yet virtually no allocation has proved as lucrative as the simplest of them all: Buying and holding the S&P 500.
/jlne.ws/3VSRy8N
Swiss Push to Rewire Financial System in Wake of Banking Crash
Allegra Catelli and Bastian Benrath - Bloomberg
As Credit Suisse spiraled toward insolvency early last year, a group of Swiss bankers, technocrats and regional officials were already busy laying the groundwork for a new type of financial infrastructure. Nine months after the Swiss bank was rescued by crosstown rival UBS Group AG in March 2023, the Zurich and Basel cantons issued the first so-called tokenized bonds settled in Switzerland's experimental digital currency. The Lugano city government followed suit shortly after.
/jlne.ws/4exuR1n
US unveils draft plan to restrict investment in Chinese technology; Proposal aims to make it more difficult for groups deemed a security risk to access American resources and capital
Demetri Sevastopulo - Financial Times
The Biden administration has set out its latest plans to curb the modernisation of China's military with a new regulation restricting US investment in Chinese cutting-edge technology. The Treasury on Friday released proposals for a new rule designed to implement an executive order that President Joe Biden signed last year. The regulation - which could be amended following a six-week public comment period - is aimed at restricting the flow of US technology, capital and expertise to groups in China that work with the People's Liberation Army.
/jlne.ws/3XIyHi2
JPMorgan Doubles Miami Offices in Push for Wall Street South
Anna J Kaiser - Bloomberg
JPMorgan Chase & Co is expanding across Miami and Palm Beach, in a bid to seize South Florida's booming wealth. The bank will double the size of its offices in Brickell, Miami's financial district, to a total of 160,000 square feet (14,864 square meters). The expansion will allow for an extra 400 employees, according to a statement. "Miami and South Florida are home to an increasing number of our clients, customers, community partners and employees, and a strategic location for our operations in Latin America as well," said Jonathan Bello, co-chair of the firm's South Florida market leadership team.
/jlne.ws/3VBohhJ
Gupta's GFG pays legal fees for creditors Greensill and Credit Suisse; Metals group has covered $24mn of costs for lenders still owed billions
Robert Smith, Owen Walker and Simon Foy - Financial Times
Sanjeev Gupta's GFG Alliance has bankrolled millions of pounds in legal fees for its biggest creditors Greensill and Credit Suisse, underscoring the complex relationship between the steel magnate and lenders that are still owed billions. The 2021 collapse of Greensill, which had lent GFG around $5bn, was a major factor in the demise of Credit Suisse. The Swiss bank had invested some $10bn in funds linked to Greensill on behalf of wealthy clients. When the main UK entity Greensill Capital filed for administration, its lawyers partly blamed the collapse on the fact that GFG - a collection of steel plants and industrial businesses owned by Gupta's family - had at that time "started to default" on its debts.
/jlne.ws/4eAJctW
AI Doesn't Kill Jobs? Tell That to Freelancers; There's now data to back up what freelancers have been saying for months
Christopher Mims - The Wall Street Journal
Jennifer Kelly, a freelance copywriter in the picturesque New England town of Walpole, N.H., feels bad for any young people who might try to follow in her footsteps. Not long after OpenAI's ChatGPT made its debut, financial advisers who had depended on her 30 years of experience writing about wealth management stopped calling. New clients failed to replace them. Her income dried up almost completely. When she asked, the clients she lost insisted they weren't using artificial intelligence. But then, months later, some came back to her with an unusual request. The copy they'd been using AI to generate, they sheepishly admitted, wasn't very good-and could she make it better? "It's not a fix," she says of the empty-headed, generic pabulum that AI excels at writing. "You redo it."
/jlne.ws/4cRg3cv
Hidden Stashes: Keeping Money Secrets From a Loved One; People hide money for a variety of reasons, from nefarious to romantic. But financial experts say such secrets can erode a basic pillar of relationships: trust.
Lisa Rabasca Roeped - The New York Times
Ric Shahin wanted to surprise his wife with a special trip for their 10th wedding anniversary, so he set up a secret bank account and began depositing $50 from his paycheck every two weeks. But he soon realized that although he had two and a half years to save for the trip, he wouldn't have enough, so he increased the deposit to $150. "This went on for a while before my wife noticed that there seemed to be money from my paycheck unaccounted for," Mr. Shahin said. That was 25 years ago, and the couple were working as teachers in the same Midland, Mich., school district. So his wife, Martha Shahin, knew how much he was paid and how much was deducted.
/jlne.ws/3VAOBZo
Well Beyond the U.S., Heat and Climate Extremes Are Hitting Billions; People all over the world are facing severe heat, floods and fire, aggravated by the use of fossil fuels. The year isn't halfway done.
Somini Sengupta - The New York Times
Poll workers. Pilgrims. Tourists on a hike. All have died in blistering heat in recent weeks around the world, a harrowing reminder of the global dangers of extreme weather as a heat wave bears down on nearly 100 million Americans this week. Dozens of cities in Mexico broke heat records in May and June, killing more than 100 people. India has been under an extraordinarily long heat wave that killed several election workers, and this week, in the capital, Delhi, even overnight temperatures remained in the mid-90s Fahrenheit, or in the mid-30s Celsius. Greece is bracing for wildfires this week, right after back-to-back heat waves killed several tourists. In Bamako, the capital of Mali, hospitals reported more than 100 excess deaths on the first four days of April, The Associated Press reported.
/jlne.ws/4bm5j4I
New climate coalition urges stronger targets as 'greenlash' fears mount; Businesses, investors and regional politicians form Mission 2025 amid signs some countries easing back on tackling crisis
Attracta Mooney - Financial Times
Governments are being urged to set ambitious climate plans by a group including Ikea and Unilever as concerns rise that politicians are weakening measures to tackle global warming amid a growing "greenlash". A coalition of businesses, mayors, governors and investors calling themselves Mission 2025 has formed in support of robust climate action and is backed by former UN diplomat Christiana Figueres.
/jlne.ws/45D4Sl0
*****Here is this story from Reuters and edie.
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Russia Hits Ukraine's Power System for Eighth Time Since March; Three people killed, 37 injured in Russian daytime strike; Kremlin forces hits energy facilities in Ukraine's west, SE
Kateryna Chursina - Bloomberg
Kremlin forces struck a residential area of Kharkiv with glide bombs on Saturday afternoon, hours after a missile and drone barrage directed at Ukraine's already hobbled power system. At least three people were killed and 37 wounded in one of the northeastern city's most densely populated districts, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram. Apartments on three floors were damaged, according to Suspilne website. Rescue and recovery efforts are continuing.
/jlne.ws/3RBSdsX
Cadbury founder's descendant criticises owner's 'disappointing' stance on Russia
Daniel Woolfson - The Telegraph
A descendant of the founder of Cadbury has criticised the decision of its US owner to keep selling products in Russia, as he said it goes against the chocolate brand's core values. In a rebuke of parent company Mondelez, James Cadbury - whose ancestor John Cadbury founded the Birmingham-based company in 1824 - said it was "disappointing" that it hadn't severed ties with Russia.
/jlne.ws/3KYDwwl
Zelensky demands 'bold decisions' as US accused of restricting weapons
Daniel Hardaker - The Telegraph
Volodymyr Zelensky has called for "bold decisions" from Kyiv's allies after a Russian guided bomb strike killed at least three people in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city. In a post on X, the Ukrainian president said: "This Russian terror with guided aerial bombs must and can be stopped. "Bold decisions from our partners are needed so that we can destroy Russian terrorists and Russian combat aircraft where they are."
/jlne.ws/45SMSDD
The Ukrainian resistance is torching Putin's dreams of conquest; The occupied regions are not lost causes, but active participants in an ongoing war of liberation. Partisan warfare is only a part
Jade McGlynn - The Telegraph
On D-Day, the anniversary of which we just commemorated, the Allies knew the location of the Nazi defences thanks to the French Resistance. Now, Ukrainian resistance groups are playing pivotal roles in similar, albeit smaller, operations, enabling the Ukrainian Armed Forces to halt and, in places, turn back the Russian war machine. Their D-Day, however, is yet to come.
/jlne.ws/4cdVw1N
The truth about Russia's turtle tanks; Ukraine captures its first Russian defence vehicle amid weaponry war
Mick Ryan - The Telegraph
In April, a strange new vehicle rolled onto the battlefield in eastern Ukraine. It was a Russian tank but not the kind we're used to. Encased in an iron shell, it bristled with electronics. The new vehicle, dubbed "the turtle tank", initially had just a metal shell to protect them from drones. They were then developed to have protection against electronic warfare. This week, Ukraine captured one of these tanks. It should prove useful in knowing exactly what's in them and where their weak spots lie. Yet they're evolving so quickly that by the time Ukraine has pulled it apart and had a dig around, the next iteration might be rolling out the factory.
/jlne.ws/3KWRHln
Ukraine needs sizeable private debt forgiveness; If it is to keep standing up to Putin, Kyiv has to be firm with bondholders
The editorial board - Financial Times
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How Ukraine's Naval Drones Turned the Tide in the Battle of the Black Sea; Unmanned vessels developed in the fight against Russia are part of a revolution in modern warfare
James Marson - The Wall Street Journal
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| Israel/Hamas Conflict | | News about the recent (October, 2023) conflict between Israel and Hamas | Netanyahu says intense fighting against Hamas is ending but war to go on
Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the phase of intense fighting against Hamas in the Gaza Strip was coming to an end but that the war would not end until the Islamist group no longer controls the Palestinian enclave. Once the intense fighting is over in Gaza, Netanyahu said, Israel will be able to deploy more forces along the northern border with Lebanon, where fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah has escalated.
/jlne.ws/3XFAeWf
Netanyahu says he won't agree to a deal that ends the war in Gaza, testing the latest truce proposal
Tia Goldenberg and Samy Magdy - Reuters
The viability of a U.S.-backed proposal to wind down the 8-month-long war in Gaza was cast into doubt on Monday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would only be willing to agree to a "partial" cease-fire deal that would not end the war, comments that sparked an uproar from families of hostages held by Hamas. In an interview broadcast late Sunday on Israeli Channel 14, a conservative, pro-Netanyahu station, the Israeli leader said he was "prepared to make a partial deal -- this is no secret - that will return to us some of the people," referring to the roughly 120 hostages still held in the Gaza Strip. "But we are committed to continuing the war after a pause, in order to complete the goal of eliminating Hamas. I'm not willing to give up on that."
/jlne.ws/3RHxDqX
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | BME launches three new analytics products with information on market participant activity
BME
Flow Analytics & HHI Insights provides metrics that allow clients to better understand the behaviour of BME's markets at the order level; The Broker Own Ranking service will provide each market member with metrics such as the daily ranking of their trading against the rest of the market. BME has launched three new analytics end-of-day information products, with useful information for market members. The three new products are Flow Analytics, HHI Insights and Broker Own Ranking. The first two offer analytical information on the activity flows of BME market participants, while the third provides information, granularized for each listed share, on the member's own daily activity ranking as well as metrics on their own trading relative to that of the market. These products will be available as of June 24.
/jlne.ws/45DtH0a
Eurex Clearing also joins second wave of ECB trials on new technologies for settlement
Eurex
Eurex Clearing is actively participating in the second wave of the Eurosystem's exploratory work on new technologies for wholesale central bank digital money settlement. These trials aim to explore the potential of distributed ledger technology (DLT). The ECB has now officially confirmed the Wave 2 stakeholders which include Eurex Clearing and other market participants along with DLT operators like Clearstream.
/jlne.ws/3xGwj0J
ICE to Launch Treasury Clearing Service to Increase Transparency and Enhance Resilience in the U.S. Treasury Market
Intercontinental Exchange
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading global provider of technology and data, today announced it will leverage its proven track record and expertise in central clearing and the fixed income market to launch a clearing service for all U.S. Treasury securities and repurchasing agreements. This follows the recent announcement by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) mandating for the expansion of U.S. Treasury securities clearing to enhance resilience in the market. ICE operates many of the largest clearing houses globally and brings decades of experience in clearing products ranging from interest rates, energy, agricultural and equity derivative futures and options, as well as credit derivatives. The new Treasury clearing service will leverage ICE's existing clearing house, ICE Clear Credit, which is the leading global clearing house for credit default swaps (CDS).
/jlne.ws/4blGmWO
SIX Is Committed to Tomorrow's Cash Supply; SIX is in active dialog with the banks about ATMs and is significantly expanding its cash supply services. Outsourcing solutions and the pooling of ATMs offer banks new and interesting options for efficient ATM operation. For the first time, SIX-branded ATMs are also available on the market. The use of cash in Switzerland has declined significantly in recent years.
SIX
The digitalization of payment transactions and the Covid pandemic have further accelerated this process. Nevertheless, cash remains an important means of payment for many Swiss people in their daily lives. An adequate supply at the national level must therefore ensure the availability of cash at reasonable prices in order to meet the various needs.
/jlne.ws/4cAzDt4
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | How to get a job in fintech in 2024
Alex McMurray - eFinancialCareers.com
So you want a job in fintech in 2024? Perhaps you're a computer science student looking at alternative career paths, perhaps a finance student in search of something more innovative than banking. No matter who you are, there are things you need to know before you apply. An understanding of the broad fintech ecosystem, and indeed what 'fintech' actually is, is essential to understanding where your employer of choice operates within it. This is a look at fintech, the kinds of firms out there, what makes jobs in the sector unique, and how much money you can stand to earn from working in fintech.
/jlne.ws/4blmJ14
What the Arrival of A.I. Phones and Computers Means for Our Data; Apple, Microsoft and Google need more access to our data as they promote new phones and personal computers that are powered by artificial intelligence. Should we trust them?
Brian X. Chen - The New York Times
Apple, Microsoft and Google are heralding a new era of what they describe as artificially intelligent smartphones and computers. The devices, they say, will automate tasks like editing photos and wishing a friend a happy birthday. But to make that work, these companies need something from you: more data. In this new paradigm, your Windows computer will take a screenshot of everything you do every few seconds. An iPhone will stitch together information across many apps you use. And an Android phone can listen to a call in real time to alert you to a scam.
/jlne.ws/3VCCATl
OpenAI Buys Enterprise Startup to Help Customers Sift Through Data; OpenAI has done acquihires, but this deal marks the first time it will be integrating both the technology and staff of the company it's buying.
Shirin Ghaffary - Bloomberg
OpenAI has bought Rockset, an enterprise search and analytics startup, marking the most significant acquisition to date for the high-profile artificial intelligence company. The ChatGPT maker said Friday that it plans to integrate Rockset's technology to help business customers and developers make better use of their data on OpenAI's platform. Some members of Rockset's team will also be joining OpenAI. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
/jlne.ws/3zczWw3
AI is Already Wreaking Havoc on Global Power Systems
Bloomberg
Like much of Northern Virginia, Loudoun County was once known for its horse farms and Civil War battle sites. But over the past 15 years, many of this community's fields and forests have been cleared away to build the data centers that form the backbone of our digital lives. The rise of artificial intelligence is now turbocharging demand for bigger data centers, transforming the landscape even more and taxing the region's energy grids. On a crisp afternoon this spring, the newest facility was nearing completion. When it's done, this 200,000-square-foot building could use as much energy as 30,000 homes in the US. But first, it needs to get enough power...The energy supply can't come soon enough for DataBank, the data center provider that owns the Virginia facility. An unnamed "big tech" client leased the entire facility and was so eager to tap into the complex to access computing resources for AI applications that it had servers ready in the building before DataBank was scheduled to have electricity for them.
/jlne.ws/3KURK1a
Apple's OpenAI partnership threatens your online privacy and data security. Here's what we can do; Apple and other tech giants must be pushed to adopt more secure and ethical AI practices Jurica Dujmovic - The Wall Street Journal (opinion)
Apple AAPL has worked hard to create and maintain an image of being a champion of user privacy. Its refusal to create a backdoor for the FBI after a 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif., for example, earned widespread praise from privacy advocates and reinforced tech giant's image as a protector of personal data. But there is more to this picture: Critics point out that Apple's reliance on iCloud for data storage undermines its privacy claims, as backed-up data remains accessible to law enforcement via warrants. Additionally, Apple's compliance with local laws in countries like China, where it enables state oversight, further complicates its global privacy stance. These strategic shifts and controversies raise significant concerns about the true extent of Apple's commitment to safeguarding personal information.
/jlne.ws/3KYdMjO
Apple, Meta Have Discussed an AI Partnership; The longtime rivals have held talks about potentially integrating Meta's generative AI model into Apple Intelligence
Salvador Rodriguez, Aaron Tilley and Miles Kruppa - The Wall Street Journal
In its hustle to catch up on AI, Apple has been talking with a longtime rival: Meta. Facebook's parent has held discussions with Apple about integrating Meta Platforms' generative AI model into Apple Intelligence, the recently announced AI system for iPhones and other devices, according to people familiar with the matter. Meta and other companies developing generative AI are hoping to take advantage of Apple's massive distribution through its iPhones-similar to what Apple offers with its App Store on the iPhone.
/jlne.ws/4ewTf37
Amazon poised to start charging monthly fee for Alexa; Tech giant aims make voice assistant profitable using AI-powered features
Matthew Field - The Telegraph
/jlne.ws/3VuawRW
A peek inside San Francisco's AI boom; These photos offer an intimate look at the community powering the artificial-intelligence revolution.
Laura Morton - The Washington Post
/jlne.ws/3zc3k5r
AI industry races to adapt chatbots to India's many languages; Microsoft, Google and local start-ups aim to open up lucrative new markets in world's most populous country
Benjamin Parkin - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/4bf382D
India's AI boom; Microsoft and Amazon to build massive AI data centres in the world's most populous country
FT Podcast - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/4cyU7Cx
Exclusive: China's ByteDance working with Broadcom to develop advanced AI chip
Eduardo Baptista - Reuters
/jlne.ws/4bghTSH
McKinsey Sees Just $2T of Tokenized RWAs by 2030 in Base Case, With Broad Adoption 'Still Far Away'
Krisztian Sandor - CoinDesk
/jlne.ws/3RFVYh0
Russia's Richest Woman Gets Putin's Nod to Build Payments System
Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4bdV5Dd
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | U.S. Sanctions Kaspersky Executives Following Ban of Its Software; The Biden administration placed sanctions on a dozen leaders at the Russian antivirus company but stopped short of sanctioning the firm itself or its CEO
Richard Vanderford - The Wall Street Journal
U.S. officials have imposed sanctions on much of the top leadership of Kaspersky Lab after a recent move to ban its antivirus software, billing the new measure as a response to continued cybersecurity risks. Treasury Department officials Friday placed sanctions on 12 senior leaders at Kaspersky, but chose not to sanction the company itself nor its chief executive, Eugene Kaspersky. The action follows an announcement from the Biden administration Thursday that it would bar Kaspersky Lab from selling to U.S. businesses or individuals over concerns that the firm poses a national-security threat. The ban was the first of its kind imposed by the Commerce Department on a foreign company.
/jlne.ws/4cbUJOB
Investigation of Russian hack on London hospitals may take weeks amid worries over online data dump
Pan Pylas - Associated Press
An investigation into a ransomware attack earlier this month on London hospitals by the Russian group Qilin could take weeks to complete, the country's state-run National Health Service said Friday, as concerns grow over a reported data dump of patient records. Hundreds of operations and appointments are still being canceled more than two weeks after the June 3 attack on NHS provider Synnovis, which provides pathology services primarily in southeast London.
/jlne.ws/3VSUxOx
Hack That's Crippled Car Dealers Is In Process of Being Resolved; CDK expects restoration to take several days, not weeks; Company serving some 15,000 dealers was first hacked June 19
Kara Carlson and Esha Dey - Bloomberg
The hack that's disrupted business at thousands of car dealerships in North America is now in the process of getting resolved, the targeted software provider CDK Global said. The company has begun work to restore its systems that around 15,000 auto retailers use to conduct day-to-day business, according to an automated message shared with customers over the weekend. CDK expects the process to take "several days and not weeks," the message said.
/jlne.ws/3xkvYkt
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Binance Fined $2.2M by India's Financial Intelligence Unit; Binance became the first offshore crypto-related entity, along with KuCoin, to be approved by India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in May, conditional to paying a penalty.
Amitoj Singh - CoinDesk
Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, has been fined approximately $2.2 million (18.82 crore INR) for providing services to Indian clients without adhering to the nation's anti-money laundering rules, India's anti-money laundering unit announced Thursday. Binance and several other offshore cryptocurrency exchanges were issued showcause notices by Indian authorities and subsequently removed from India for "operating illegally" in January 2024.
/jlne.ws/3xz3cMX
Mt. Gox to distribute $9 billion of bitcoin, bitcoin cash repayments from beginning of July
James Hunt - The Block
Defunct bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox is set to begin distributing bitcoin and bitcoin cash repayments from July, according to a notice sent by Rehabilitation Trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi on Monday. "The Rehabilitation Trustee has been preparing to make repayments in Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash under the Rehabilitation Plan. Now that these preparations are in place, the Rehabilitation Trustee will commence the repayments in Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash ... from the beginning of July 2024," Kobayashi wrote in the notice.
/jlne.ws/4eBj3en
Spot Ethereum ETF issuers post fee and seed investment disclosures in latest wave of amended filings
Sarah Wynn - The Block
Firms fighting for a foothold in the Ethereum exchange-traded fund market submitted their amended registration statements in the last hours of the workweek. These filings furnished further details on seed investments and fees as they await the Securities and Exchange Commission's final sign-off. BlackRock, VanEck, Franklin Templeton, Grayscale Investments, Invesco Galaxy and 21Shares filed those amended statements Friday afternoon. So far, two of the issuers have disclosed fees.
/jlne.ws/45BvjYm
This Is Why Altcoin Investors Struggle Despite Bitcoin, Ether Sitting Near Yearly Highs
Krisztian Sandor - CoinDesk
The cryptocurrency market is undergoing a healthy consolidation after a massive run-up from October to March - at least for those who invested in the two largest digital assets. For those who hold smaller cryptocurrencies, though, this is a brutal correction, with sentiment in crypto social media circles resembling bear market despair. While bitcoin {{BTC}} and Ethereum's ether {{ETH}} are only 15% below their yearly highs, several crypto majors like solana {{SOL}} and avalanche {{AVAX}} are down 40% to 50% from their March peaks, while layer-1 challengers sui {{SUI}} and aptos {{APT}} have cratered 60% to 70%.
/jlne.ws/3xsfDKs
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Finance; US proposes rules to stop Americans from investing in Chinese technology with military uses
Josh Boak and Fatima Hussein - Associated Press
The Treasury Department on Friday fleshed out a proposed rule that would restrict and monitor U.S. investments in China for artificial intelligence, computer chips and quantum computing. The proposed rule stems from President Joe Biden's August 2023 executive order regarding the access that "countries of concern" have to American dollars that fund advanced technologies, which the U.S. government says would enhance their military, intelligence, surveillance and cyber capabilities. The order identified China, Hong Kong and Macau as countries of concern.
/jlne.ws/3XBg9Ar
Trump's PAC, Which Pays His Legal Bills, Is Nearly Out of Cash
Shane Goldmacher and Maggie Haberman - The New York Times
The political account that former President Donald Trump has been using to pay his sizable legal bills has dwindled to less than $4 million in the bank, after accounting for its debt, according to new federal election filings. So far in 2024, Trump is averaging nearly $5 million per month in spending through his political action committee, which is called Save America, with an overwhelming share going to legal bills. That means that as of the end of May, Trump had barely enough cash left to cover a single month of legal bills. Trump has avoided tapping his own personal fortune to fund his hefty legal bills. Instead, he has relied on donor funds through his PAC. He has not used his campaign committee for legal bills.
/jlne.ws/4cxUdud
Winklevoss Twins Refunded After Trump Crypto Gift Exceeded Limit; Brothers donated more than maximum allowed to pro-Trump group;l Donations highlight Trump's growing appeal to crypto industry
Stephanie Lai and Bill Allison - Bloomberg
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss were refunded after their Bitcoin donations to Donald Trump's presidential campaign exceeded the maximum amount allowed under federal law. The billionaire twins, who clashed with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg over ownership of the social network, now run Winklevoss Capital Management and are large investors in Bitcoin. Both said they donated the equivalent of $1 million of the cryptocurrency to the presumptive Republican nominee - which would exceed the maximum $844,600 that the Trump committee can legally accept per person.
/jlne.ws/3xld9O3
Opinion: Nobody is confronting the great Remainer lie about Brexit
David Frost - The Telegraph
Eight years ago on Sunday, we went to vote in the Brexit referendum. Let's not forget that most of our rulers never wanted it in the first place. It only happened because of the campaigning of Nigel Farage and Ukip and the determination of a bunch of Tory MPs like Sir Bill Cash. It became the largest act of democracy, and indeed the largest vote for anything, in British history.
/jlne.ws/4cafavC
Starmer's Silence on Brexit Risks Backfiring Once He's in Power; Labour election campaign designed to keep Leave voters onside; But red lines on EU ties will hinder pledge to grow UK economy
Ellen Milligan - Bloomberg
Keir Starmer won't have long to wait for a chance to reset Britain's ties with the European Union. If his Labour Party wins the UK election as expected on July 4, he'll be welcoming dozens of fellow leaders including France's Emmanuel Macron, Germany's Olaf Scholz and Italy's Giorgia Meloni for talks at Winston Churchill's former home just two weeks later.
/jlne.ws/3xwaeSA
Billionaires Come Under Siege in France's Election Campaign; Both parties leading the polls are threatening to impose much higher taxes.
Tara Patel - Bloomberg
France's billionaire Saade family spent more than four decades discreetly building a global shipping empire from their base in the southern city of Marseille. The late founder mostly shirked elite Parisian social circles and the publicity that comes with politics.
/jlne.ws/4eDcyaW
Conservatives have lost a third of their voters since January, poll finds; Ipsos survey for the FT finds high levels of volatility in electorate ahead of July 4 ballot
Anna Gross - Financial Times
The Conservatives have lost up to a third of voters who planned to back the party just four months ago, according to an Ipsos poll for the Financial Times that points to high levels of volatility ahead of the UK election on July 4. The survey, conducted on the same cohort of almost 16,000 voters at the end of January and at the start of June, found that 32 per cent of people who initially said they would vote Conservative had since changed their minds.
/jlne.ws/45Ko803
Cut-price anti-drone weapon could be ready next year; The Thales-led radio frequency directed energy weapon is being field tested with the UK military over the summer
Sylvia Pfeifer - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3KXPeXU
Exclusive: Emmanuel Macron has triggered France's Brexit moment, warns Michel Barnier
Joe Barnes - The Telegraph
/jlne.ws/3VTPxJE
A Stock Trader's Guide to Navigating the French Election Turmoil; Banks, highway operators in focus after $240 billion selloff; Market jitters are growing around fiscal policy, debt outlook
Sagarika Jaisinghani, Verena Sepp, and Julien Ponthus - Williams Bay
/jlne.ws/3XxTWTJ
The real risks for investors after the rise of the European far right; EU and French elections have revived the narrative of a fractured Europe
Silvia Merler - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3REe9DL
Russian Saboteurs Behind Arson Attack at German Factory; Attack is a sign of the Kremlin's more aggressive clandestine operations, security officials say
Bojan Pancevski - The Wall Street Journal
/jlne.ws/3zgRLdn
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | MUFG Penalized by Japan's Financial Regulator for Client Breach; Companies were asked to submit report on plans by July 24; Companies have lost underwriting business as result of scandal
Takashi Nakamichi and Taiga Uranaka - Bloomberg
Japan's financial regulator penalized Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.'s flagship banking unit and two joint ventures for violating client confidentiality rules, potentially dealing a further blow to their business. The Financial Services Agency ordered MUFG Bank Ltd., Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities Co. and Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. to improve their operations. The FSA also asked for reports by July 24 on the cause of the breach and planned measures to prevent a recurrence. The scandal has shaken confidence in the country's largest banking group, causing some clients to take bond underwriting business elsewhere. Japan forbids commercial and investment banking arms of the same financial group from sharing client data without their consent, in part to keep lenders from abusing their bargaining positions.
/jlne.ws/3VTzzz7
The SEC has become another tool in Biden's arsenal as it becomes more and more woke
Charles Gasparino - NY Post
The verdict is pretty much in: Go Woke and you just might go broke - and the examples are endless. Yet there are powerful leftist forces that continue to push businesses to join their cultural revolution. At the top of that hideous list is a federal agency that has a congressional mandate to protect the public shareholder. It's called the Securities and Exchange Commission - and during the presidency of Sleepy Joe Biden, it has become another tool in the left's arsenal as it pursues a culture war on and against the American people.
/jlne.ws/3VTUKB3
Regulatory burden labelled top issue faced within European listed derivatives markets; New report from Acuiti also notes the risk associated with new regulations as being a key concern on the horizon for market participants within the asset class.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
When assessing the top challenges expected to be faced in the next five years, more than half (53%) of respondents ranked regulatory burden as the main issue facing their firm, according to a new report by Acuiti. Regulatory burden has been a key concern for market participants since the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, with the report from Acuiti - in partnership with FIA - adding that new frameworks are 'lengthy and complex', requiring significant resource mobilisation to navigate current regulatory requirements.
/jlne.ws/4bfI8sC
SEC chair Gary Gensler urges UK to set T+1 transition date; With the global market trend heading towards shorter settlement cycles, SEC chair stresses the need for the UK to kickstart compression plans even if some market participants raise concerns.
Sophia Thomson - The Trade
There is a critical need for the UK to set a date to switch to a T+1 settlement cycle and stick with it, according to US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Gary Gensler, who has urged decisiveness and even suggested a potential roadmap. "We've seen the benefits first-hand," noted Gensler referencing the early success of the shift in the US, in a speech this week at the Accelerated Settlement in the UK conference. "No doubt, there will be some market participants who raise concerns with meeting whatever date you select.
/jlne.ws/4exu3JV
Cancelled - June 24 Commission Open Meeting
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission Open Meeting scheduled for Monday, June 24, 2024, has been cancelled. The matters under consideration have been completed through the Commission's seriatim process.
/jlne.ws/4cAHM0W
Commissioner Pham to Speak on Digital Money Regulation at the Point Zero Forum
CFTC
Commissioner Caroline D. Pham will participate in a panel titled "Global policymakers' dialogue on state of CBDCs and digital money regulations" at the Point Zero Forum. Wednesday, July 3, 2024. The Circle Convention Center Zurich Airport.
/jlne.ws/4cdqkj1
Commissioner Pham to Speak on the Global AI Regulatory Landscape at the Point Zero Forum
Commissioner Caroline D. Pham will participate in a "Capital Meets Policy" dialogue on the global AI regulatory landscape at the Point Zero Forum. Wednesday, July 3, 2024. The Circle Convention Center Zurich Airport
/jlne.ws/3KYkV3C
Spotlight on: Growth Funds
FMA Editorial Team
It's important to choose the right kind of fund for your KiwiSaver account. And if you're just starting your career, then choosing a growth fund could mean hundreds of thousands of dollars more extra returns when it comes to retirement. In our 'Spotlight' series, we're looking at the different kinds of KiwiSaver funds out there and exploring how they work. Today we're checking out GROWTH funds.
/jlne.ws/3KYEJ6Y
Spotlight on: Conservative Funds
FMA Editorial Team
The most important thing you can do with your KiwiSaver is making sure you're in the right fund. It makes a big difference over the long term and what's right for you will change as you get older and nearer to when you'll need to get your money out. In our new 'Spotlight' series, we're looking at the different kinds of KiwiSaver funds out there and exploring how they work. Today we're checking out CONSERVATIVE funds.
/jlne.ws/4bc3hE9
Spotlight on: Balanced Funds
FMA editorial team
The most important thing you can do with your KiwiSaver is make sure you're in the right fund. It makes a big difference over the long term and what's right for you will change as you get older and nearer to when you'll need to get your money out. In our new 'Spotlight' series, we're looking at the different kinds of funds out there and exploring how they work. Today we're checking out BALANCED funds.
/jlne.ws/3XCCXj7
FCA takes action against three individuals from SVS Securities for mistreatment of pension funds
FCA
The FCA has decided to ban and fine 3 individuals who were involved in running SVS Securities Plc (SVS), a discretionary fund manager. SVS managed investments held on behalf of its customers. Under FCA rules, the firm was required to act in the best interests of its customers and not let conflicts of interests interfere with its obligations to them.
/jlne.ws/3XEhV3I
FCA appoints members for the UK Secondary Markets Advisory Committee
FCA
We've appointed the members of our advisory committee on secondary markets for the period June 2024 to June 2026. The UK Secondary Markets Advisory Committee supports our work in wholesale secondary markets in equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, and commodities markets across securities, futures, swaps, and options markets.
/jlne.ws/3VXjYh5
Administrative Actions, etc. against Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co., Ltd., Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities Co., Ltd. and MUFG Bank, Ltd.
FSA
Today, the Financial Services Agency (hereinafter "FSA") took administrative actions against Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co., Ltd. (Chiyoda City, Tokyo; corporate number: 4010001129098; hereinafter "MUMSS"), Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities Co., Ltd. (Chiyoda City, Tokyo; corporate number: 2011001046046; hereinafter "MSMS"), and MUFG Bank, Ltd. (Chiyoda City, Tokyo; corporate number: 5010001008846; hereinafter "MUBK"), as described in I. below. In addition, the FSA asked to submit reports as described in II. below to MUBK and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (Chiyoda City, Tokyo; corporate number: 4010001073486; hereinafter "MUFG").
/jlne.ws/3VuP7I8
Consumer Price Developments in May 2024
MAS
This May 2024 report contains an update of the latest consumer price developments in Singapore, prepared by MAS and the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
/jlne.ws/45Fzouv
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Nvidia single-handedly beats Europe's biggest stock markets, Deutsche Bank finds, as London Stock Exchange chief says reform is on the way
Prarthana Prakash - Fortune
It's not every day that a startup rallies to stratospheric heights to become the world's most valuable company and a leading player in the competitive AI chips industry. That's Nvidia for you. But it doesn't end there-the tale of Nvidia's success is still developing, as it single-handedly eclipses all of Europe's stock markets in market capitalization.
/jlne.ws/4caf6f7
Tech Funds' Record Cash Injection Is Traced to 'Messy' Rebalance
Lu Wang and Isabelle Lee - Bloomberg
On the surface, technology-focused stock funds just enjoyed a week of record inflows, the latest sign of the AI craze. A look under the hood, however, showed almost all the money went into a single fund - and it had little to do with the industry's fundamentals. The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (ticker XLK) attracted more than $8 billion of fresh money during the week through Wednesday, accounting for the bulk of the inflows into the sector, according to data compiled by EPFR. The fund also made up a third of the total inflows to US equities, the data shows.
/jlne.ws/3KTA1qK
A Meme Stock Rockets 400% as Traders 'Feel the Euphoria' in Peru
Marcelo Rochabrun - Bloomberg
The new Chancay port in Peru hasn't generated any revenue. It isn't even up and running. Yet shares of a minority owner in the project have rocketed 400% since debuting less than a month ago. That's made Inversiones Portuarias Chancay SAA into Peru's own version of a meme stock. But instead of Roaring Kitty's Reddit posts, something very different is inspiring retail investors to pour money into a sleepy Latin America stock exchange.
/jlne.ws/3RGGF7D
US borrowing binge risks market strains, analysts warn; Federal Reserve may be forced to end quantitative tightening early, as stock of Treasury bills forecast to soar above $6tn
Kate Duguid - Financial Times
The US will be forced to fund a massive increase in its budget deficit with short-term debt, analysts have said, with consequences for money markets and the battle against inflation. The Congressional Budget Office, the independent fiscal watchdog, this week said aid packages for Ukraine and Israel would help push up the US deficit this fiscal year to $1.9tn - compared with its February prediction of $1.5tn.
/jlne.ws/3RFiVks
Nvidia Is No Cisco, but It Is Getting Expensive; Chip maker's valuation is nowhere near those seen in dot-com boom, but recent gains have erased the stock's discount relative to its projected earnings
Dan Gallagher - The Wall Street Journal
Is a great business worth any price? Nvidia investors finally seem to be asking themselves that question. The chip maker powering the artificial-intelligence revolution blew past $3 trillion in market capitalization earlier this month barely three months after passing $2 trillion. It even became the world's most valuable company earlier this week, briefly surpassing Microsoft and Apple. That seems to have given investors some pause; Nvidia's share price has slipped nearly 7% since trading resumed after the Juneteenth holiday.
/jlne.ws/3RHJpSd
If a Company Says It's Ethical, Investors Might Want to Be Skeptical; A new study finds the use of 'trust' words is correlated with a variety of negative outcomes
Lisa Ward - The Wall Street Journal
/jlne.ws/4bmCIMh
This stock index - which you maybe never heard of - is nearly as vibrant as tech
Ken Fisher - NY Post
/jlne.ws/4cRgUdd
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Climate Group Backed by TCI Billionaire Has a Transition Warning; Climate Arc says focus on net zero goals is inadequate; Investors urged to instead shift attention to 'transition'
Alastair Marsh - Bloomberg
A nonprofit backed by Chris Hohn, the billionaire money manager behind TCI Fund Management, says climate investors need to move into the highest-emitting sectors if they're to effectively bring about a low-carbon energy transition. It's time for investors to come to grips with the "murky part" of climate finance, says Meryam Omi, the chief executive of Climate Arc. The group got its seed capital in 2022 from the Children's Investment Fund Foundation, which is founded and chaired by Hohn.
/jlne.ws/4ez3xQm
Wildfire Threats Make Utilities Uninsurable in US West; As wildfire season starts, some utilities are now operating without insurance - and are on the hook for millions of dollars in damages if their power lines are linked to a blaze.
Mark Chediak - Bloomberg
Trinity Public Utilities District's power lines snake through the lower reaches of the Cascade Range, a rugged, remote and densely forested terrain in Northern California that has some of the highest wildfire risk in the country. But for several years, the company has been without insurance to protect it from such a threat. Trinity's equipment was blamed for causing a 2017 wildfire that destroyed 72 homes and three years later its insurer, a California public agency called the Special District Risk Management Authority, told the utility that it would no longer cover it for fires started by its electrical lines. Trinity could find no other takers.
/jlne.ws/4cbAlxm
ISSB seeks to harmonise disclosures on corporate climate transition plans
Huw Jones - Reuters
The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) said on Monday it would publish guidance to harmonise how companies across the world publish details on their "transition plans" to meet net-zero targets.
Such plans are becoming increasingly important as companies face a series of deadlines for cutting carbon emissions in the world's attempt to cap global warming.
/jlne.ws/4eEMAnN
*****This story from edie.
Corporate Women's Gains Fall Victim to Anti-Woke Backlash; As the political right blasts DEI efforts, the number of women in C-suite jobs at major companies fell for the first time in two decades.
Beth Kowitt - Bloomberg
When Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. named Rosalind Brewer chief executive officer in 2021, corporate America celebrated her appointment as a sign of just how far women in business had come. The former Starbucks Corp. and Walmart Inc. executive was a highly respected and sought-after leader whose new job put her in an exclusive club: the small but record number of female CEOs running a Fortune 500 company-and at the time, the only Black woman among them. Less than two-and-a-half years later, Brewer was out. With the company's stock down about 50% during her tenure, the Walgreens board decided it had given her enough time to try to turn around the company.
/jlne.ws/3VReohb
Saudi Arabia Says More Than 1,300 Hajj Pilgrims Died Amid Extreme Heat; Most of the deceased were unregistered pilgrims, SPA says; Temperatures during the pilgrimage were highest in 20 years
Christine Burke - Bloomberg
Saudi Arabia said more than 1,300 pilgrims died during the annual Hajj pilgrimage, as temperatures during the gathering reached the highest level in two decades. The majority of fatalities were unregistered pilgrims, who were not authorized to participate and walked long distances without adequate shelter, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. Many of the dead were elderly and chronically ill, it said.
/jlne.ws/4bbsmio
Thousands of environmental activists march through London demanding urgent action
ITV News
The Restore Nature Now protest aims to draw attention to climate change and put pressure on all political parties ahead of the election.
/jlne.ws/3VVUFgz
****** Here are some pictures of this protest from my Facebook page post about my walk across London on Saturday ~JJL
Europe Braces for Heat Following Greek Fires and Swiss Floods; Temperatures will near 30C across European capitals this week; UK is set for hottest days this year, triggering health alerts
Jess Shankleman - Bloomberg
European capitals are bracing for heat wave conditions, following wildfires in Greece and flooding in Switzerland over the weekend. High pressure over southern Scandinavian will bring the highest temperatures this year to the UK, with London and parts of the southeast nearing heat wave thresholds by the middle of the week, according to the Met Office. Yellow health alerts for hot weather have been issued for most of England.
/jlne.ws/3VFbcUI
Why Americans are not buying more EVs; President Biden wants to increase adoption, but his tariffs on Chinese imports could reduce competition and increase costs
Aime Williams and Claire Bushey - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3XD4EbU
Bulk of UK renewables projects fail to get beyond planning stage; Analysis shows challenges the country faces in hitting clean energy targets
Rachel Millard - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3VVSQA0
Climate graphic of the week: US and Mexico face 'heat emergency'
Financial Times
Cities take precautions as climate reaches 'dangerous levels' and drought hits water supplies
/jlne.ws/3zaWnS2
Rayner refuses to rule out scrapping landmark North Sea oil project
Michael Bow - The Telegraph
/jlne.ws/3RFwFvD
Opinion: Britain's wilful destruction of its oil and gas industry is beyond belief
Jeremy Warner - The Telegraph
/jlne.ws/3KVy7WN
At least $10tn of insurance cover needed to reach net zero, report says; Industry facing 'unprecedented structural pressures' to provide cover across sectors
Ian Smith - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3xCCnaw
Delhi minister stages hunger strike for more water to city amid extreme heat
Shivam Patel - Reuters
/jlne.ws/4cc9r8B
Major Chinese asset managers have no plans to phase out fossil fuel investments, Greenpeace says
Colleen Howe - Reuters
/jlne.ws/4cfIhxo
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | German bank Baader to launch 'AI-enhanced' active ETF; Analyst says fund will be first in Europe to rely so heavily on artificial intelligence to aid stock selection
Dom Lawson - Financial Times
Germany's Baader Bank is entering the exchange traded fund market with a strategy that will use artificial intelligence to aid stock selection. The investment management arm of Baader plans to launch an "AI-enhanced" eurozone equities ETF that will trade on the Xetra exchange in Frankfurt, according to the fund's supplement.
/jlne.ws/4cffsBf
The 'one' way for Wall Street banks; Morgan Stanley's Ted Pick is
Joshua Franklin - Financial Times
A silo is a dangerous place to be on Wall Street these days. New Morgan Stanley boss Ted Pick is the industry's latest leader to tout a silo-busting mindset to get his roughly 80,000 employees to work better together. Pick is hoping investment bankers will refer millionaire clients to a financial adviser, while employees working on a company's stock plan can put in a letter good word for Morgan Stanley to win an M&A deal.
/jlne.ws/4cvK6WQ
Hedge Funds' Bullish Copper Bets Run Into China's Slowdown; Copper surged to a record on a wave of hedge fund money. Now the big question for bulls is when China's buyers will return.
Bloomberg News
As copper surged to record highs last month, several senior Chinese traders started trying to contact western hedge fund managers whose names they'd only read in the press. For years, the veteran traders' privileged insight into their own economy had given them an edge in the copper market, where China accounts for more than half of global demand. But now they were bewildered. Everything in China pointed to a market that should be slumping, and yet prices were soaring on a wave of speculative money. What were they missing?
/jlne.ws/3VUfvwt
NinjaTrader CEO sees surge in futures trading as tech draws in younger users
Mark Weinraub - Crain's Chicago Business
Smartphones have lowered the high barriers to entry in the futures market, and Chicago-based NinjaTrader, a brokerage that has been focused on futures for more than 20 years, has positioned itself to take advantage of the trend. "It is the access to markets through mobile applications," NinjaTrader chief executive Martin Franchi said in an interview. "It is the general rise of financial literacy. Consumers are thinking about this way earlier." The technology has sparked a revolution in futures trading, with individual investors boosting volumes in an asset class where business has historically been conducted on trading floors by brokers with decades of experience backed by well-financed institutions.
/jlne.ws/3RHHOvH
***** We missed this from back on June 14.~JJL
Fed Faults Living Wills of BofA, Citi, Goldman and JPMorgan
Will Kubzansky - Bloomberg
Four of the biggest banks on Wall Street must improve their blueprints for a hypothetical wind-down after top US regulators found weaknesses in their plans. The so-called living wills of JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. all had a "shortcoming," the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Friday. The regulators reviewed the most recent resolution plans, which were mandated following the 2008 financial crisis.
/jlne.ws/3REmgQS
JPMorgan, Ex-Trader Agree to Settle Wrongful Firing Lawsuit
Steve Stroth - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3L1Ob9j
UBS Said to Dismiss 10 Investment Bankers From Brazil Venture
Vinicius Andrade and Cristiane Lucchesi - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4c44JcR
HPS amasses $21bn private credit fund as it plots expansion; Investment manager has doubled in size in four years and is now considering IPO or merger
Eric Platt - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3RHIX6t
These Hot New Funds Are 'Boomer Candy' for Retirees; Derivative strategies in ETFs allow investors to chase stock returns while also protecting against a potential market downturn
Jack Pitcher - The Wall Street Journal
/jlne.ws/3VV6ROA
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | Should employers monitor more than mouse clicks of remote staff? Bosses are encouraged to help employees manage clash of domestic and work responsibilities
Anjli Raval - Financial Times
US bank Wells Fargo this month said it had fired more than a dozen staff after an internal investigation found employees were simulating keyboard activity to create the impression of "active work". It is unclear what these workers were doing exactly. But since the pandemic moved office-based work into homes, sales of so-called mouse jigglers and other devices aimed at emulating work have surged. Part of this is in response to some large companies using their own tech tools to monitor employees' work, such as tracking clicks on keyboards and searches on websites.
/jlne.ws/4bfH342
Forget privacy, young internet users want to be tracked; Make sure you know the etiquette if you keep tabs on friends and family
Elaine Moore - Financial Times
On every smartphone there sits a stalker's paradise of location data ready to be shared. This treasure trove is what allows you to watch a food delivery pull up outside your door and check what restaurants are nearby. It can also be used to track you. Location tracking is so precise that it can pinpoint one person in a crowd. And this tech is marketed as convenient, not creepy.
/jlne.ws/4cy0WEn
A job too far? The problem of the multi-gig professional; Now that employers are demanding workers return to the office, trouble is brewing
Meredith Whitney - Financial Times
News that Wells Fargo fired employees for "simulation of keyboard activity" this year has struck a nerve among employers and employees. To bosses, it provided confirmation of long-held suspicions that those working from home were often less committed and less productive than those in the office. To workers, it confirmed long-held suspicions that their employers were using surveillance to monitor them. In fact, I believe the news speaks to a more profound trend affecting the US labour force and consumer spending: the increase in professionals who are working multiple full-time jobs.
/jlne.ws/3KXzuUY
When Hot Weather Arrives, Worker Productivity Is at Risk; Even limited exposure to high temperatures at night and during a commute can have a lingering impact on cognitive function.
Alicia Clanton and Brian Delk - Bloomberg
Anyone who's had to go to work on a hot summer day knows how exhausting it can be. Brain function slows, commuting is more uncomfortable and, for people who work outdoors, simply staying safe becomes a challenge. All of these factors combined add up to a heat-related hit on worker productivity, which stands to get more pronounced as climate change drives more intense heat waves. "We used to think, 'Well people get hot and they sweat and they're fine.' But now we know that's not necessarily the case," says Jill Rosenthal, director of public health at the Center for American Progress, which this month released a report on the threat extreme heat conditions pose to workers in the US.
/jlne.ws/3XFtDer
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Why multitasking is bad for your brain; The ability to tackle several jobs at once is supposed to be a good thing. But it causes stress - and could be rewiring our brains
Jenny Tucker - The Telegraph
I am one of life's busy multi-taskers. I can cook dinner as I chat to a friend on the telephone, while also answering a work email, feeding the dog and compiling a shopping list for a forthcoming birthday celebration. Except, the trouble is, I forget to add salt to the chicken, I miss something important my friend tells me, the email is grammatically wrong, the dog gets the cat's food and I put the list down somewhere, never to be found again.
/jlne.ws/4cbghew
***** What, no way, pffft, this can't be....wow look at...true.~JJL
Do Americans Drink Too Much? Alcohol Is Driving a Debate in Washington; Agencies, lobbyists and lawmakers are fighting over alcohol guidelines due to be updated next year
Kristina Peterson and Julie Wernau - The Wall Street Journal
For nearly three decades, federal dietary guidelines have said it is safe for men to have two or fewer drinks a day, and for women to have one. That could change next year when the Agriculture and Health and Human Services departments update recommendations that are part of federal dietary guidelines. For the first time, the guidance on alcohol consumption is being considered separately from the dietary guidelines. That has set off a struggle to set the new rules of the game. Government agencies, the alcohol industry and its allies on Capitol Hill have clashed over how much information about the process should be released and who should shape the final recommendations.
/jlne.ws/4eyzY1n
Research reveals toxic PFAS 'forever chemicals' accumulate in testes; Study suggests exposure to chemicals manufactured to resist water and heat likely to affect health of offspring
Tom Perkins - The Guardian
New research has found for the first time that PFAS "forever chemicals" accumulate in the testes, and the exposure probably affects children's health. The toxic chemicals can damage sperm during a sensitive developmental period, potentially leading to liver disease and higher cholesterol, especially in male offspring, the paper, which looked at the chemicals in mice, noted.
/jlne.ws/45Fz8vx
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | China Lures $2.3 Billion of Middle East Sovereign Money in 2023; Size was up from $100 million the year before: HKMA Hui; Interests growing to woo Middle East money from China and HK
Kiuyan Wong and Xinyi Luo - Bloomberg
About $2.3 billion of Middle East sovereign wealth fund capital flowed into the greater China market last year, Hong Kong Monetary Authority's Kenneth Hui said at a conference on Monday. The number was up from about $100 million in 2022, external executive director of HKMA Hui said, citing data from Global SWF. Multiple financial institutions and regulators have made trips to the gulf region to engage with the market, which traditionally was served by Europe before, he added.
/jlne.ws/4bjusgd
Brazil Is Oil Market Wildcard After Near-Million-Barrel Plunge
Peter Millard - Bloomberg
Brazil's rebound from a stunning collapse in oil production promises to complicate OPEC efforts to micromanage global supplies and prices. Daily crude output in the South American powerhouse kicked off the year at 3.73 million barrels, then plummeted nearly 25% as roustabouts crawled all over mammoth offshore platforms to perform repairs and replace worn-out gear.
/jlne.ws/3KVAkBt
A 400% Jump in Cilantro Prices Forces Mexican Taquerias to Get Creative
Kelsey Butler - Bloomberg
Soaring cilantro prices caused by drought are forcing taquerias to rethink their dishes and markets to ditch the herb. Last week, a 5-kilogram (11-pound) bunch was selling at the capital's largest wholesale market for 440 to 500 pesos ($24.26 to $27.57) on average, according to Economy Ministry data. That's up from 110 pesos the first week of May.
/jlne.ws/45AwAyM
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Larry Ellison's Sailing League Gets Brazil Expansion Team Owned by Mubadala
Kim Bhasin - Bloomberg
Mubadala Capital, an asset management firm owned by Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund, has acquired an expansion team in the international sailing competition SailGP. In a deal set to be announced Friday, the new team will represent Brazil as the league's 11th team and its first squad from South America. It will be operated by IMM, a Brazilian sports and entertainment firm led by former Olympic sailor Alan Adler. Financial terms of the agreement weren't disclosed.
/jlne.ws/3RGETmZ
******"The cure for anything is saltwater - sweat, tears, or the sea." - Isak Dinesen
Wall Street Bankers Skip Hamptons Summer for Pro Lacrosse League; Young investment bankers and traders who play in the Premier Lacrosse League must balance travel, practices and games with long work weeks. 'It's chaotic.'
Bailey Lipschultz - Bloomberg
This summer, countless bankers and financiers will get away to the Hamptons or vacation in Europe. And a handful will be traveling nearly every weekend - to play lacrosse. Jake Carraway, a 26-year-old investment banking associate at Barclays Plc, is one of many players in the Premier Lacrosse League who will spend the next few months balancing life as a pro athlete with a full-time career in finance. Carraway, who started on Wall Street in 2021 after playing lacrosse as a student at Georgetown University, is a midfielder for the upstart league's Philadelphia Waterdogs. "I haven't taken a real vacation since I started working,'' said Carraway.
/jlne.ws/3xyI0Xl
California university brews up innovation at new coffee research facility
Associated Press via YouTube
The UC Davis Coffee Center is dedicated to the science and art of coffee. The center with state-of-the-art technology provides coffee science research, along with coffee bean roasting and espresso brewing rooms.
/jlne.ws/4cfehlj
It's the Summer of the Finance Bro; Wall Street men are an unexpected hot commodity in dating; 'you want to be wined and dined'
Hannah Miao - The Wall Street Journal
There was hot girl summer and short king spring. Now, 'tis the season for finance bros. Men working in finance are the latest public fascination. Khrystyna Komarovska, a social-media manager who recently moved to New York, hit the streets in May with a cardboard sign advertising her search for one. "They're hardworking and they're smart," she said in an interview. "It's my type." Wearing pearls and a black suit, her long blond hair in loose curls, Komarovska brandished the sign listing three, very specific criteria.
/jlne.ws/4biCQwD
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