August 24, 2018 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | |  | John Lothian Publisher John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes By JLN Staff

On Wednesday, Matthew Kelly of the CME Group taught the law merit badge to a group of scouts as part of the Trading Tech 300 program for the 3rd year in a row. Thank you to Matt and his associates who helped, and to the CME Group for hosting this workshop. I greatly appreciate the CME Group's historical support for Scouting.~JJL

Yesterday, our friends at US Bank held a personal finance merit badge clinic as part of Trading Tech 300. Thank you to US Bank for the incredible experience you gave the Scouts.~JJL
Clarification: In yesterday's newsletter we mentioned a webinar presented by the Montreal Exchange but did not make it clear that the webinar was directed only to our non-U.S. readers. According to SEC rules, foreign stock options are only available to U.S. residents who are "qualified institutional buyers" subject to a number of specific "familiarization" procedures. ~SR
A headline in Sky News reads: Parrots able to make complex economic decisions, study shows. Write your own punchline - it's too easy. ~SR
Put Optiver's Tech Blog on your reading list.~JJL
There is one week left to save on #FIAExpo full conference & single day session passes! Register by August 31 for early bird rates & join us in Chicago this October.~JJL
Here are details about LME Week in London.~JJL
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MWE World of Opportunity - Why Fundamentals are Important JohnLothianNews.com "If you want to be a really good trader... understand the cash markets to the best of your ability. Crawl inside of them so you know what's going on."
After years of market focus shifting away from fundamental analysis, Dan Basse, president of AgResource, thinks the pendulum is finally swinging back. In this video from MarketsWiki Education's Chicago event, Basse talks about a few essential tools everyone should have to help analyze agricultural futures markets. Watch the video here »
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CFTC Wins Permanent Ban Against 'Vicious' Bitcoin Operator Patricia Hurtado - Bloomberg The Commodities Futures Trading Commission won a court order permanently banning a cryptocurrency promoter that a judge said preyed on investors in "a bold and vicious fraud." /jlne.ws/2w95Vtm
***** We have a special place in regulatory hell for vicious fraudsters.~JJL
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At Hedge Funds, Where Are the Women?; Women run only two of the top 50 funds; instead they cluster in positions away from the money Rob Copeland - WSJ At hedge funds, women do just about any jobÂbut rarely run the money. Of the largest 50 U.S. hedge funds by assets under management, only two have women as their top investment executive, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of data from researcher Absolute Return. In that same group of 50 hedge funds, half the investor-relations or marketing departments have female heads or co-heads. /jlne.ws/2waX4aO
****** The question answers itself. We need more.~JJL
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Thursday's Top Three Our top read stories on Thursday were led by Reuters' Wall Street's sector shakeup will let more tech stocks shine. Second was Reuters' CME to launch Libor-substitute contract linked to BoE rate meetings. Third was S&P Global's piece Exchanges hope to escalate high-frequency trading case to Supreme Court
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MarketsWiki Stats 131,703,219 pages viewed; 23,256 pages; 214,681 edits MarketsWiki Statistics
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Lead Stories | Illinois Court refuses to dismiss indictment against software developer in spoofing conspiracy case Maria Nikolova - FinanceFeeds A spoofing case targeting Jitesh Thakkar, the founder and principal of Edge Financial Technologies Inc., continues at the Illinois Northern District Court after the Honorable Robert W. Gettleman has refused to dismiss the indictment against the defendant. /goo.gl/UuJ675
**** Law360 has the story here and the initial indictment from February can be found here.~SD
Bitcoin ETFs Aren't Coming Any Time Soon Thanks to the SEC Rachel Evans and Lily Katz - Bloomberg Commissioner Peirce tweets that SEC is reviewing rejections; Peirce's push to reexamine ruling seen unlikely to succeed Don't hold your breath for a U.S. exchange-traded fund that invests in Bitcoin. Prospects for such a fund took a nosedive on Wednesday when the Securities and Exchange Commission rejected requests to list nine cryptocurrency funds, citing continuing concerns about manipulation and market surveillance. Hester Peirce -- one of four commissioners currently at the SEC -- has since said the agency will review that decision. A ruling reversal is however unlikely. /jlne.ws/2w9EY9b
Wiretaps Show French Crackdown on Insider Trading; Once ignored, the offense is being targeted in a push to fight white-collar crime. Gaspard Sebag - Bloomberg It was a busy Thursday, and Stephane Fima was on edge. After wrapping up a conference call with colleagues, the Société Générale SA managing director rang his friend Thomas Seligman. Fima stammered that he was worried and wanted "to stay safe," then started reading a series of seemingly random figures. "Just write them down," the banker said, before asking Seligman if he had another phone. /jlne.ws/2waHewW
Eurodollar Whale Betting on Fed Rates Looks Well Beyond December Edward Bolingbroke - Bloomberg Large bets have been amassed in puts expiring in 2020-2021; December eurodollars face IOER uncertainty, among other risks It looks as though there's a new eurodollar options whale in town who doesn't care whether the Federal Reserve raises rates in December. With the market assigning near-even odds to a fourth rate increase in 2018, the newly popular wager is on where the benchmark rate will come to rest well beyond that. /jlne.ws/2w79noE
U.S. banking profits hit record $60 billion in second quarter: FDIC Pete Schroeder - Reuters The U.S. banking sector reported a record $60.2 billion in profits in the second quarter, up 25.1 percent from the same period one year ago. /reut.rs/2o31g7Z
UniCredit, SocGen decline to comment on tie-up report Reuters Staff UniCredit (CRDI.MI) and Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) declined to comment on a report that Italy's biggest bank was working with a senior Rothschild banker to advise it on a possible merger with the French lender. /goo.gl/XE6wiK
Little-known Chicago fund wins big in US IPO bonanza; Driehaus Capital invested in more than half of 20 best-performing new listings in 2018 Lindsay Fortado and Nicole Bullock in New York - FT The best picker of initial public offerings in the US this year is not one of the Wall Street's celebrated money managers or big-name investment gurus but a Chicago-based mutual fund group with less than $9bn under management. /jlne.ws/2w9zlYx
Fed's Fork in the Road: Even Higher Rates or Pause Bluford Putnam and Erik Norland - CME Group As has been the case several times in the current tightening cycle, there is a large gap between what the Federal Reserve (Fed) suggests it is likely to do and what the market believes the Fed will accomplish. The Fed's "dot plot," a survey of Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) members' expectations for future policy, suggests that the Fed will likely hike twice more in 2018, three times in 2019 and two times in 2020. That's seven more rate hikes before the Fed calls it quits. Moreover, unless long-term bond yields rise, seven more rate hikes would be enough to invert the curve and bring short-term interest rates to around 75 basis points (bps) over 30-year rates. /goo.gl/LnfbkC
ECB hawk Weidmann sees chances dimming of succeeding Draghi Paul Carrel, Balazs Koranyi - Reuters Germany's Jens Weidmann is seeing his prospects of becoming European Central Bank president fade, amid signs that trade issues handled in Brussels are eclipsing Berlin's concerns about securing its man to steer monetary policy. /reut.rs/2BH4qYL
Financial firms are increasingly giving away their services for free John Detrixhe - Quartz Zero is the most sought-after number in personal finance right now. TransferWise, for example, has spent years grinding down the cost of sending money across borders. The end goal is to make transfers as easy as sending emailÂmeaning potentially even free. /jlne.ws/2w9sHl0
SEC to review decision rejecting bitcoin ETFs Trevor Hunnicutt, Michelle Price - Reuters The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday it will review a decision by its staff to block nine bitcoin-based exchange-traded funds from coming to market. /jlne.ws/2w9IEYf
The Fed Worries About Corporate Monopolies. Investors Should Just Buy Them; Shareholders should embrace companies with a commanding position in their business, limited competition and less need to invest James Mackintosh - WSJ Is rising corporate power hurting capital spending, wage growth and U.S. productivity? Central bankers meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyo., to discuss the issues will be worrying that the answer is yes. Investors should be thrilled if it is. /jlne.ws/2wbhtMP
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Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | SGX, Nasdaq and Singapore regulator to develop blockchain settlement system; MAS and SGX have been among the leaders in promoting the use of blockchain technology in financial markets. Joe Parsons - The Trade Singapore Exchange (SGX), Nasdaq and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will collaborate with two other tech vendors to create a blockchain settlement system for cryptocurrencies. /jlne.ws/2w99DmM
MAS and SGX partner Anquan, Deloitte and Nasdaq to harness blockchain technology for settlement of tokenised assets SGX The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Singapore Exchange (SGX) today announced a collaboration to develop Delivery versus Payment (DvP)[1] capabilities for settlement of tokenised assets across different blockchain platforms. This will allow financial institutions and corporate investors to carry out simultaneous exchange and final settlement of tokenised digital currencies and securities assets, improving operational efficiency and reducing settlement risks. /jlne.ws/2Lq0ICB
China CSD goes live with DvP settlement for Bond Connect; The adoption of the new settlement system could significantly boost foreign investment into the Chinese domestic bond market. Joe Parsons - The Trade China's main central securities depository (CSD) has gone live with delivery verses payment (DvP) settlement for its cross-border fixed income trading platform. /jlne.ws/2whpakT
Connection fee rebates for new Trading Members affiliated with existing Trading Member Eurex To support new Trading Members with an affiliated existing Trading Member, Eurex Frankfurt AG will offer a temporary rebate on the connection fees of new Trading Members effective from 1 October 2018 to 31 March 2019. /jlne.ws/2waL5Kq
CCP Release 16.0: Introduction announcement Eurex With this circular, Eurex Clearing announces the introduction of CCP Release 16.0 on 19 November 2018, which will have an impact on the CCP services. It is voluntary for all Clearing Members of Eurex Clearing and contains the following changes: /jlne.ws/2w9P8qa
Green and Sustainable Finance Cluster Germany presents baseline report; Mobilizing the financial sector for climate protection and sustainable investments Deutsche Börse Group The Green and Sustainable Finance Cluster Germany presented its baseline report on Friday in Frankfurt with an inventory of sustainability activities in Frankfurt as a financial center. The report is the first publication of the cluster, which merged in the spring of 2018 from the Green Finance Cluster Frankfurt of the Hessian Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Accelerating Sustainable Finance Initiative of Deutsche Börse. The aim of the cluster is to mobilize the financial sector more for climate protection and sustainable investment /jlne.ws/2w9BkvX
ICE Data Indices, LLC Successfully Completes Independent Assurance Review on its Implementation of the IOSCO Principles for Financial Benchmarks ICE Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading operator of global exchanges and clearing houses and provider of data and listings services, today announced that ICE Data Indices, LLC, has successfully completed an assurance engagement on its implementation of the IOSCO Principles for Financial Benchmarks. ICE engaged PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) to perform the assurance engagement. /jlne.ws/2LkXaBf
HKEX Announces Details of Launch of NB Investor ID Model on 17 September HKEX EPs must assign a unique number to each of their Northbound trading clients and provide Client Identification Data to HKEX; HKEX will facilitate market readiness and compliance by providing a secure file transfer protocol service for EPs to submit the required information from 27 August Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) today (Friday) announced the launch details of the investor identification model for Northbound trading (NB Investor ID Model) through its mutual stock market access programme with the exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen (Stock Connect) after market regulators said the model will be launched on 17 September 2018 (Monday). /jlne.ws/2LrAdfM
Exchange Publishes Frequently Asked Questions on Listing of Companies from Emerging and Innovative Sectors HKEX The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the Exchange), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), published today (Friday) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for prospective applicants under Chapters 8A, 18A and 19C of the Main Board Listing Rules (New Chapters). /jlne.ws/2LmGj1b
Energy Producer Statkraft to Integrate Nasdaq's SMARTS for Trade Surveillance GlobeNewswire Statkraft, Europe's largest producer of renewable energy has selected Nasdaq's SMARTS Trade Surveillance to monitor trading behavior across power markets in the EU and Norway, in line with the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR). /jlne.ws/2Lmzug4
SEDOL Masterfile expands its data offering with US fixed income additions London Stock Exchange Group London Stock Exchange's SEDOL service, is pleased to announce significant enhancements to the SEDOL Masterfile. 11 new security types have been added to the Data Dictionary incorporating approximately 1.5 million fixed income SEDOL codes covering all US Municipal and US Corporate Bond data. The data is provided by Mergent, part of FTSE Russell. /jlne.ws/2LoBMLI
OSE Receives FBOT Registration from U.S. CFTC JPX Osaka Exchange, Inc. (OSE) is pleased to announce that on August 22, 2018, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued an Order granting OSE registration as a Foreign Board of Trade (FBOT) under the U.S. Commodity Exchange Act. The registration permits OSE to provide trading participants located in the U.S. with direct access to OSE's trading system*. /jlne.ws/2LoCBnM
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Fintech | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Look, no beard: Goldman Sachs' Marcus subverts the fintech story Patrick Collinson - The Guardian We've seen the future of banking. Those fintechs clustered around London's "Silicon roundabout", such as Monzo (900,000 current account customers already) and Revolut (2 million customers since launch in 2015) have attracted smartphone-obsessed millennials with their digital prowess. But a new bank quietly launched on Thursday, called Marcus, turns the conventional fintech story upside down. bit.ly/2Nfdsxx
What A No Deal Brexit Could Mean For Fintech Madhvi Mavadiya - Forbes Today, Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab discussed his plans for what has been dubbed as a no deal Brexit and suggested that Britons who are visiting the European Union could face extra credit card charges once Article 50 is triggered. While ministers said that a deal is more than likely to be made, as reported in the BBC, the cost of card payments will "likely increase" and will not be covered by a ban on surcharges. Alongside this, companies that trade with the EU should plan for new customs checks and pay for new software. bit.ly/2NdR7jU
Mexico's new government wants fintech, banks to help financial inclusion Stefanie Eschenbacher - Reuters Mexico's next government will look to fintech companies and large corporate banks to increase financial inclusion in the country, where only one-third of adults have a bank account, senior officials said on Tuesday. /jlne.ws/2w781dy
Deutsche Bank Pushes Digital With Second Fintech Deal This Year Sonali Basak and Steven Arons - Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG beefed up its digital banking operations again with a second investment in a fintech startup within four months, a move that points to a slow revolution at one of its most important divisions. The German lender, which has been shrinking staff and operations internationally, agreed to buy an unspecified stake in Dallas-based startup ModoPayments, aiming to bolster its Global Transaction Bank and tap into the fast-growing channels outside of traditional banking. /bloom.bg/2NjrGxu
Deutsche Bank takes minority stake in payments fintech ModoPayments; Start-up develops digital payments solutions for smartphones Olaf Storbeck - FT Deutsche Bank invested an undisclosed sum into US-based fintech company ModoPayments, acquiring a minority stake in the start-up that develops payments solutions for smartphones. /jlne.ws/2LohUrV
Mexico's new government wants fintech, banks to help financial inclusion Kitco News Mexico's next government will look to fintech companies and large corporate banks to increase financial inclusion in the country, where only one-third of adults have a bank account, senior officials said on Tuesday. Arturo Herrera, one of two future deputy finance ministers, said in an interview that the lack of financial inclusion was one of the biggest obstacles in the new government's fight against poverty, inequality and slow economic growth. bit.ly/2NeTZwG
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Cryptocurrencies | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | John McAfee Launches McAfee Market News [blokt] John McAfee doesn't seem to stop in his endeavor to influence the direction of the crypto community. After relentlessly backing the BitFi wallet, he recently announced the launch of a website called "McAfee Market News," which will provide quotes, charts, and news for 1,800 coins. It will also offer analysis tools, blogs and real-time updates for the coins. As usual, the tweet and the project received some flak from the Twitterati. bit.ly/2Ney9tj
Cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex teams with registered trading venue Rialto Anna Irrera - Reuters U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex is partnering with registered broker-dealer Rialto Trading to offer a trading venue for blockchain-based digital assets, the companies said on Thursday. /reut.rs/2BFnqqn
The bitcoin bubble's real losers Katie Martin - Financial Times A once-in-a-lifetime chance has emerged to invest in SchadenfreudeCoin  a decentralised digital token pegged to the smugness of No-Coiners who were never sucked into the ailing cryptocurrency fad. The highly scalable, next generation, disruptive new coin comes with the backing of social media celebrities and provides the perfect hedge against the declining value of bitcoin. Hand over your bank details now. /on.ft.com/2BDYyj5
China warns public over 'blockchain' Ponzi schemes; Retail investors told to be on guard against buzzwords and dubious marketing claims Gabriel Wildau in Shanghai - FT China's government has warned of "criminals" attracting retail investors into Ponzi schemes using buzzwords such as "blockchain" and "virtual currency", as official concerns over risk trump support for financial innovation. /jlne.ws/2wbIsb3
A New York bond broker has partnered with Bittrex to develop a crypto trading platform; Rialto Trading and crypto exchange Bittrex are looking to launch a trading platform for blockchain-based digital securities. Hayley McDowell - The Trade A New York-based fixed income broker-dealer is teaming up with cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex to develop a digital securities trading platform. /jlne.ws/2wcgCeK
Time For A Clean Up? Market Manipulation Concerns Loom Large Over Bitcoin ETF Rejections Aaron Stanley - Forbes The Securities and Exchange Commission rejecting proposals for bitcoin exchange traded funds is officially the crypto community's 'dog bites man' news story. /jlne.ws/2waH3BM
Crypto Exchange Coinbase Lists 'Core Principles' for Institutional Services David Hundeyin - CCN Coinbase has unveiled a set of guiding principles designed to facilitate the adoption and growth of its new range of products and services aimed at institutional investors. In a blogpost signed by Coinbase Vice President and General Manager Adam White, the company stated that these 'North Star' principles will create a framework for the market participant experience on Coinbase to ensure fairness, security, transparency, access to all participants, high-quality infrastructure and processes, protection from malicious activity and provision of all necessary information. bit.ly/2Nfa7hX
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Politics | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Trump Says the Stock Market Will Crash if He's Impeached. Here's What History Says Ben Levisohn - Barron's It's hard to ignore the possibility of impeachment when even President Donald Trump is talking about it. In an interview with Fox News that aired Thursday, Trump claimed the stock market would crash if he were impeached. Maybe it would. History, however, suggests that the specter of presidential impeachment has little impact on the market. /goo.gl/TeoZRt
****Politico has the op ed below:
No, impeachment will not crash the stock market Ben White - Politico The longest bull market run in American history could get killed off by a financial collapse in Turkey, a policy mistake by the Federal Reserve or a plain old economic recession. /politi.co/2BH71Sy
Will Stock Market Crash If Trump Is Impeached? What Analysts Say Lu Wang and Sarah Ponczek - Bloomberg Combined profit in the S&P 500 has soared under his policies; Question is whether any of that would be lost if he were gone /bloom.bg/2BNaTBg
Manhattan D.A. Eyes Criminal Charges Against Trump Organization William K. Rashbaum - NY Times The Manhattan district attorney's office is considering pursuing criminal charges against the Trump Organization and two senior company officials in connection with Michael D. Cohen's hush money payment to an adult film actress, according to two officials with knowledge of the matter. /jlne.ws/2w9EJuN
Tim Cook, Jamie Dimon Among CEOs Fearing 'Harm' From Trump Immigration Policy Ben Brody - Bloomberg Roundtable says growth risk from policy toward skilled workers; Business leaders write to DHS Secretary outlining their worry Dozens of top U.S. business leaders including Apple Inc.'s Tim Cook, JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s Jamie Dimon and Pepsico Inc.'s Indra Nooyi signed a letter expressing "serious concerns" about the Trump administration's immigration policy changes and their potential to undermine economic growth. /jlne.ws/2w7e55C
Constitutional crisis and financial markets Dan McCrum - FT The boring if safe strategist response to politics is to mutter about uncertainty, animal spirits and fundamentals. /jlne.ws/2w9xdjs
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Regulation & Enforcement | For more regulatory, visit MarketsReformWiki, our website focused on current market reform efforts. | CFTC Wins Trial against Virtual Currency Fraudster; Court Orders Defendants to Pay over $1.1 Million in Penalties and Restitution in Connection with the "Vicious Defrauding of Customers" CFTC A New York federal court entered final judgment ordering Patrick K. McDonnell of Staten Island, New York, and CabbageTech, Corp. d/b/a Coin Drop Markets (CDM), McDonnell's New York-based company, to pay over $1.1 million in civil monetary penalties and restitution in connection with a lawsuit brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) alleging fraud in connection with virtual currencies, including Bitcoin and Litecoin. /jlne.ws/2Lsr9HO
CFTC Unanimously Approves a Proposal to Amend the Clearing Requirement to Help End-Users CFTC The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today unanimously approved a swap clearing requirement proposed rule that would reduce unnecessary burdens on bank holding companies, savings and loan holding companies, and community development financial institutions. /goo.gl/zAnCVm
****Giancarlo statement on the amendments here.
Podcast: CFTC Talks EP058: Craig Phillips, US Department of the Treasury CFTC This week on CFTC Talks, we talk with Counselor to the Secretary of the US Department of Treasury Craig Phillips... /jlne.ws/2LrCxn0
Statement on Investor Roundtables Regarding Standards of Conduct for Investment Professionals Rulemaking SEC.gov In April 2018, the Commission proposed for public comment a significant rulemaking package designed to serve our Main Street investors that would (1) require broker-dealers to act in the best interest of their retail customers, (2) reaffirm and in some cases clarify the fiduciary duty owed by investment advisers to their clients and (3) require both broker-dealers and investment advisers to clarify for all retail investors the type of investment professional they are, and disclose key facts about their relationship. /goo.gl/kvHURq
****The SEC also announced one in Baltimore.
SEC Names Matthew S. Jacques As Chief Accountant In Enforcement Division Mondovisione The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Matthew S. Jacques has been named the new chief accountant in the SEC's Division of Enforcement. /goo.gl/aLhpVL
Barry Miller, Associate Director in Division of Investment Management, to Leave SEC After More Than 40 Years of Public Service SEC The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Barry D. Miller, Associate Director of Disclosure Review and Accounting in the Division of Investment Management, will retire from the SEC at the end of this month after more than 40 years of public service, including more than 30 years of service at the SEC. /goo.gl/xei3AB
Bifurcated Settlement Agreement SEC Gary S. Williky is a 55-year-old resident of Colleyville, Texas, who was an investor-relations consultant for the Evansville, Indiana-based public company Imperial Petroleum, Inc., from February 2010 through December 2011... While working for Imperial, Williky attempted to increase Imperial's trading volume, which conveys to investors liquidity of - and public demand for - a stock. /goo.gl/V7BN71
SEC v.Fishoff, et al. SEC This case involves unlawful trading in one issuer's stock as part of a serial insider trading scheme perpetrated by a group of stock traders led by Fishoff. The overall scheme involved numerous stocks and generated over $5.5 million in total trading profits for Fishoff's group over the course of several years. Of those total profits, $1.5 million was generated by the illegal insider trading that is the subject of this action. /goo.gl/uNMSFB
Treasury Moves to Block New Yorkers' Path Around Cap on State Tax Deductions; New regulations would blunt high-tax states' efforts to bypass a new limit on state and local tax deductions with donation programs Richard Rubin - WSJ The Treasury Department moved Thursday to block attempts by New York, New Jersey and Connecticut to let taxpayers circumvent the new $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions. /jlne.ws/2wbgyMr
EU extends emergency ban on selling binary options to retail clients Hannah Murphy - FT Europe's financial regulator has said it will extend a temporary ban on complex speculative products known as binary options to retail punters, as it continues to wield its new "emergency intervention" powers. /jlne.ws/2waJFQ6
Two former company directors convicted for engaging in illegal phoenix activity ASIC Allan Raad of Wentworthville, NSW and his brother-in-law Yousef Joseph Bazouni of Sandringham, NSW, have been convicted and sentenced in the Downing Centre District Court after pleading guilty to ASIC charges concerning a breach of director's duties and the fraudulent removal of company assets. /jlne.ws/2Lq0BqF
ESMA to renew prohibition on binary options for a further three months ESMA The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has agreed to renew the prohibition of the marketing, distribution or sale of binary options to retail clients, in effect since 2 July, from 2 October 2018 for a further three-month period. ESMA has also agreed on the exclusion of a limited number of products from the scope of the measure. /jlne.ws/2Lohsdd
Custom-Built Index FundsÂAre You the Right Customer? Pete Chandler - FINRA There are custom homes, custom cars and custom clothes. Now, there are even custom index funds. Non-traditional index funds, or custom funds, can include mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These funds typically use more complex or targeted investing strategies than traditional index funds that track a particular market index. Rather than replicate an existing market index, these funds use custom-built indexes to select a fund's investments. /jlne.ws/2LmHe1D
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Investing & Trading | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Surging Production Is Killing Sugar Prices Myra P. Saefong - Barron's Sugar prices have fallen to their lowest levels in a decade and are likely to drop further as record worldwide production collides with healthier eating. Raw sugar futures traded on the ICE Futures U.S. exchange settled at 10.1 cents a pound on Monday, the lowest finish for a front-month contract since June 10, 2008, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Year to date, prices have lost more than 33%Âthe biggest percentage decline so far among major commodities. bit.ly/2BE23Gf
Opinion: If you missed out on the FAANGs, then it's time to buy the BAITs Michael Brush - MarketWatch For anyone who went to business school, a conversation with money manager Albert Meyer is like a trip back in time  straight to accounting class, that is. /jlne.ws/2wcwyxC
For many young investors, the stock market's only gone up The Associated Press Meet the generation of investors who haven't known a bear market. The U.S. stock market has been on the upswing for nine and a half years, during which a cohort of younger investors has never dealt with a 20 percent drop in the S&P 500 Â the classic definition of a bear market. Such a decline has historically happened on average every four or five years. /goo.gl/k9C5UC
Has Gold Lost Its Safe Haven Status? Jim Iuorio - CME Group OpenMarkets Before we pull back the layers on this topic, I would like to make a solemn promise to avoid the temptation of using trite and tired analogies to describe the descending price of gold, such as "lost its luster". We can all agree that it is time to retire that one. bit.ly/2BG0xTL
Dear Investor, That Cocky Voice in Your Head Is Wrong; The findings from the field of behavioral economics apply to everyone. Especially you. Jason Zweig - WSJ As much as all of us investors wish we were perfectly logical calculating machines, we are human: emotional, distractible, impatient, inconsistent. Behavioral economics is the study of how real human beingsÂnot the walking, talking spreadsheets that traditional economists pretend we areÂmake financial decisions. Unfortunately, it's all too easy to persuade yourself that the findings of behavioral economics apply to everyone else but you. After more than 20 years of studying research in that field, here's how I think most investors interpret it. How many of these sound like you? I know many of them sound like me. /jlne.ws/2w4rQlF
Space Investors Urged to Get Their Heads in the Clouds Kamaron Leach - Bloomberg Recent events accelerate significance of 'space economy'; Adobe, Boeing, Facebook and Softbank among the stocks to gain If you know nothing about what's happening kilometers above the clouds, maybe you shoul /bloom.bg/2BHFpN4
U.S. Hemp Firm Charlotte's Web Boosts Canada IPO to $77 Million Scott Deveau - Bloomberg Boulder-based company originally sought to raise $50 Million; Latest U.S. cannabis company to list on Canadian exchange Charlotte's Web Holdings Inc., a producer of hemp-based cannabidoil products, boosted its Canadian initial public offering 52 percent to C$100.1 million ($77 million). /jlne.ws/2w9xDGB
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Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Credit Suisse says committed to Russia after U.S. sanctions Reuters Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) said it remained committed to Russia after it ringfenced 5 billion Swiss francs ($5.02 billion) of customer money linked to Russia for fear of falling foul of U.S. sanctions. /reut.rs/2BF1onI
Firstrade Moves To Free Online Trading - Stocks, ETFs, Options, Mutual Funds Firstrade Firstrade Securities, Inc., a leading online brokerage firm, has eliminated its commissions for all stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), options, and mutual funds, effective today. Firstrade customers will now be able to trade for free with no time restrictions, no limits on the number of trades allowed and no minimum account requirements. The move is part of Firstrade's ongoing commitment to offer the best investment choices for self-directed investors at little or no cost. /goo.gl/DVUgRg
JPMorgan Is Planning to Hire for its Midsize Banking Push Abroad Michelle Davis - Bloomberg Calderon joins from Barclays in Mexico as part of the effort; Will have to compete with local banks' longstanding ties JPMorgan Chase & Co. is seeking to do more business with midsize companies abroad, expanding in a market that's traditionally dominated by local banks, according to people briefed on the matter. /jlne.ws/2w73B6u
Goldman Sachs opens digital consumer bank in Britain Reuters Staff Goldman Sachs (GS.N) has opened its digital consumer savings platform Marcus to its own staff in Britain ahead of a wider roll-out to the public in the coming weeks, according to an internal memo sent to staff on Thursday and seen by Reuters. /jlne.ws/2w967J6
Deutsche Bank Pushes Digital With Second Fintech Deal This Year Sonali Basak and Steven Arons - Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG beefed up its digital banking operations again with a second investment in a fintech startup within four months, a move that points to a slow revolution at one of its most important divisions. /jlne.ws/2w8ujeQ
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Regions | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Norway $1 Trillion Fund's Plan to Dump Big Oil Meets Resistance Sveinung Sleire and Mikael Holter - Bloomberg Norway's $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund is meeting resistance on its plan to dump more than $40 billion in oil and gas stocks. /jlne.ws/2wbi2X1
Foreign investors play defensive with China A-shares; Consumer companies seen as relatively insulated from external risks such as trade wars James Kynge - FT Overseas investors getting to grips with China's A-share market show navigational tendencies similar to self-driving cars. "Obstacle avoidance" appears to be the overriding priority guiding foreign funds nearly three months after A-shares were included in the benchmark emerging markets' index for the first time. /jlne.ws/2wbd9Nv
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Brexit | Financials stories regarding the decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union | U.K. Outlines Plan to Avert Chaos of a No-Deal 'Brexit' Stephen Castle - NY Times The British government issued its first contingency plans on Thursday for leaving the European Union without an agreement, seeking to prepare the public for possible disruptions without spreading alarm that could undermine support for the entire undertaking. /nyti.ms/2NeL26K
UK food exports to EU may be stalled by 'no deal' Brexit: NFU Reuters Staff Britain could be barred from exporting some food to the European Union for months if it leaves the bloc without a deal, the National Farmers Union said on Thursday after the government published reports on that scenario. /jlne.ws/2w7d7q0
Hunt says parliament will only approve Brexit deal consistent with vote Reuters Staff Britain's foreign minister, Jeremy Hunt, said on Thursday he believed the British parliament would only approve a Brexit deal that was consistent with the "letter and spirit" of the 2016 referendum result in favor of leaving the European Union. /jlne.ws/2w6YZwO
No-deal Brexit will bring tangle of red tape, Britain warns companies Kylie MacLellan, Kate Holton - Reuters Britain on Thursday told companies trading with the European Union they would face a tangle of red tape, possible border delays and more costly credit card payments if the government fails to negotiate an exit deal before Britain leaves the bloc. /jlne.ws/2wchznk
Dublin Isn't Showing It's Luring Bankers Because of Brexit Just Yet Peter Flanagan - Bloomberg Irish capital's luxury housing market cools amid uncertainty; City had been expecting surge of finance workers to relocate In Dublin, bankers seeking shelter from Brexit are thin on the ground. So far. Ireland's luxury homes market had been pegged as one potential big winner from U.K. firms seeking a base within the European Union. Yet, Ireland's booming capital is seeing little impact from bankers relocating, even after Bank of America Corp. and Barclays Plc chose the city as their European hubs. /jlne.ws/2waRzZP
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Miscellaneous | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | The fake news about journalism; Simon Kuper responds to common charges against his profession Simon Kuper - FT One oddity of being a journalist these days is that non-journalists are always critiquing the profession. It isn't only Donald Trump. Many see broadsheet newspapers and public-sector broadcasters as a liberal cartel that cooks up " fake news". But few of our accusers understand our everyday working practices. That's normal: hardly anyone knows much about life in other professions. I've only the vaguest idea of how people in construction or advertising do their jobs, or how they think of themselves. Below I have responded to common charges against contemporary upmarket journalism by explaining how it actually works day by day. /jlne.ws/2w9MFfl
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