| November 21, 2024 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
FIA EXPO wrapped up yesterday without a gala or fundraising event at the end as had been the custom in previous years, particularly before the pandemic. Instead I headed to a cocktail party put on by CCP Global where I tried to solve some problems for clearinghouses.
It was a busy conference for Robby and me. We shot two videos on Monday, 17 on Tuesday and eight more on Wednesday amid a broad spectrum of industry participants. I was up and down out of my chair so many times every 15 minutes on Tuesday at the end of every interview to thank the interviewee and say goodbye, that my thighs were sore the next day, and still are.
As I entered the exhibit hall yesterday, I was stopped by Dan Mannisto, the chief technology officer at Vy Solutions and formerly of the OCC. Seven years ago he approached me about the Exploring Club for girls I had started in advance of girls being allowed to join Scouts BSA. Dan had a son in Boy Scouts and his daughter and her friends were interested in joining. We invited them to join our Exploring Club to expedite their involvement. They had a satellite operation of our Exploring Club in Naperville until they could form their own Scouts BSA Troop for Girls. Dan wanted me to know that his daughter is about to become an Eagle Scout. You never know how many people's lives you impact.
President-elect Donald Trump has appointed Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), aiming to streamline federal operations. A key proposal is to mandate a full-time return to office for federal employees, which they believe would prompt voluntary resignations and reduce the workforce. They argue that if employees are unwilling to work in person, taxpayers shouldn't fund their remote work.
Currently, about 1.1 million federal employees are eligible for telework, with approximately 228,000 working fully remotely. Unions representing federal workers are preparing to challenge this mandate, emphasizing the importance of telework for disaster preparedness and employee retention.
The proposed return-to-office policy is expected to impact various federal departments differently, depending on their current telework practices. While some departments already have a high percentage of in-person work, others may face significant adjustments.
This initiative aligns with broader efforts to reduce government spending and bureaucracy, with DOGE planning to identify essential functions and encourage voluntary retirements to facilitate a transition to the private sector.
The Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan's conceptual artwork "Comedian," featuring a banana duct-taped to a wall, sold for $6.2 million at a Sotheby's auction on November 20, 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported. The piece was purchased by Justin Sun, founder of the cryptocurrency platform Tron, who plans to eat the banana as part of the artistic experience. Some people have just too much money and not enough brains. "Comedian" debuted at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2019, where editions sold for $120,000 to $150,000, sparking widespread debate about the nature and value of art.
Some people, when they go to a conference in a sunny climate, hope to get out and catch some rays to get a tan, or get a tan while out on the golf course. At COP29 in Azerbaijan, some participants were bathing in crude oil, allowing it to cover their entire bodies and creep into every crevice, The New York Times reports. Personally, I would have gone for a little suntan lotion and some time at the pool. The oil has medicinal value, according to the story, which says, "The Soviets said the unusual molecular makeup of some of the hydrocarbons in Naftalan's oil made it suitable for treating arthritis, infertility, eczema and a host of other medical conditions."
Forbes has a story titled 'The Most Hated Guy On Wall Street': The Unspoken Story Around Howard Lutnick, Trump's Pick for Commerce Secretary.
Here are the headlines from in front of FOW's paywall from some recent stories: Third-party AI use has doubled for UK finance firms - BoE, Nasdaq welcomes first crypto ETF options launch from BlackRock, IOSCO launches pre-hedging consultation, ANALYSIS: BMLL looks to expand futures after 'enormous' US options data launch, ANALYSIS: European crypto regulation will help region catch up with US - Eventus and Derivia Intelligence Middle East Awards Winners.
Have a great day and stay safe and treat people the same way you want to be treated: with respect, equality and justice.~JJL
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Our most read stories from our previous edition of JLN Options were:
- Expo 2024 Opening Remarks: Telling the truth about our markets from FIA.
- The doomsday that wasn't; VIXplaining the events of August 5 from the Financial Times.
- Catherine Yoshimoto, Director of Product Management, FTSE Russell, talks with JLN about investing and listing trends from John Lothian News. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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Spoofing: Futures Discovery EP 17
JohnLothianNews.com
Spoofing is a manipulative strategy where traders place fake orders to create a misleading impression of market demand and supply. This deceptive practice can profoundly impact the integrity of your futures trading journey. Spoofing not only complicates trading but also diminishes market liquidity, leading to wider bid-to-ask spreads and compromised price discovery. For traders, this means it becomes harder to determine the true value of an asset, increasing the risk for clearinghouses and creating unpredictable market behavior.
Watch »
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Catherine Yoshimoto, Director of Product Management, FTSE Russell, Talks With JLN About Investing and Listing Trends
JohnLothianNews.com
FTSE Russell this year is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the launch of Russell Indexes, and Catherine Yoshimoto, Director of Product Management at FTSE Russell, was in Chicago for a special event at the Cboe to mark the occasion. JLN met up with her downtown on Tuesday, November 12th for a chat. Last June, FTSE Russell celebrated the 35th anniversary of the annual reconstitution of the Indexes, which have been rebalanced annually since 1989. Cboe is licensed to offer options on the Russell Indexes, and the CME offers the futures on the Russell Indexes.
Read more »
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Carson Block Expects More Anti-Short-Seller Rhetoric Under Trump
Sam Nagarajan - Bloomberg
Muddy Waters Capital's Chief Executive Officer Carson Block expects more rhetoric against short sellers during Donald Trump's administration. In an interview Thursday with Bloomberg Television's Francine Lacqua, Block said the populist playbooks of Elon Musk and Trump are now aligned, and both have blamed short sellers in the past for declines of Tesla Inc. and Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. shares. "We've already had some rhetoric, we might have some more anti-short seller rhetoric," he said, while noting that he doesn't think Trump and Musk believe short sellers are responsible for their company stocks falling.
/jlne.ws/4fOSRgw
*******Stocks are only allowed to go up from now on.~JJL
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Bitcoin Rises to Record With MicroStrategy Stepping Up Purchases; Nasdaq listed options on the $44 billion iShares Bitcoin ETF; Investors are betting on further record highs for the token
Suvashree Ghosh and Emily Nicolle - Bloomberg
Bitcoin climbed to a record high for a second consecutive day, with MicroStrategy Inc. accelerating the pace of its massive purchases of the cryptocurrency. The largest publicly traded corporate holder of Bitcoin announced Wednesday that it was increasing the amount of convertible senior notes it plans to sell to fund additional purchases of the token by almost 50% to $2.6 billion. MicroStrategy, which announced earlier this week that it bought $4.6 billion of the token, owns more than $30 billion.
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****** If Michael Saylor's firm were a house built by one of the three little pigs, what would it be built with? Forget that. The better question is what techniques were used or are being used to build it. ~JJL
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Mass X-odus: professionals desert Elon Musk's network; Creatives and freelancers miss opportunity and inspiration after decline of X
Emma Jacobs - Financial Times
"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change," wrote Jamie Lee Curtis of her decision to leave the social media site X. The actress is among several big names to jump ship from Elon Musk's platform this month, citing a lurch to the right, misinformation and a lack of moderation. "Tried to stay, but the atmosphere has just become too toxic," said writer Stephen King. The X-odus or X-it, as it is variously dubbed, saw 60,000 people deactivate their accounts on average each day last week, according to Similarweb, leaving a gap in many workers' lives. Professions including teachers (#edutwitter) and doctors (#medicaltwitter) have used the site formerly known as Twitter to foster community and exchange ideas. It has provided illuminating commentary on office life and a way for freelancers to promote themselves and network. Now, many are abandoning a career resource and questioning where else they can find the benefits it offered.
/jlne.ws/3YYxLp0
****** I am getting ready to pull the plug on Twitter. I just need to figure out the logistics of replacing my tweeting for use as scraping by the team for JLN. The tipping point for me was Musk giving Alex Jones' InfoWars a platform after he lost his. I really don't need to see that trash ~JJL
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Wednesday's Top Three
Our top clicked item Wednesday was Walt Lukken's opening remarks ("Telling the truth about our markets") at the FIA Expo on Tuesday, from FIA. Second was the obituary and Tribute page for Stephen Drake Hurst, who died on December 31, 2019. Third was a tie between The World Federation of Exchanges Elects 7 Board Members, from the WFE, and Top Business Leaders Pick the Year's 49 Best Books, from Bloomberg.
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| Lead Stories | 'Numero uno': US takes aim at Gautam Adani; Criminal and civil charges against Indian tycoon and associates set out alleged $265mn bribery scheme
Chris Kay - Financial Times
Visiting the US in March 2023, Sagar Adani, nephew of Indian billionaire tycoon Gautam Adani, was suddenly approached by FBI agents who seized his electronic devices as part of a sweeping probe into an alleged years-long kickback scheme involving an Adani group's renewables business. Almost 20 months later, US authorities have unveiled bribery charges against Sagar, 30, and his uncle, a hugely influential business leader who is Asia's second-richest man and widely seen as having close ties to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
/jlne.ws/4i0FbRm
Europe Inc needs to scale up or risk becoming a museum; Helsinki shows how reinvigoration can work but co-ordinated help for entrepreneurs across the continent is needed
John Thornhill - Financial Times
If Charles Dickens were to rewrite A Tale of Two Cities today, he might well switch locations. To illustrate the best and worst of times in contemporary Europe, the novelist could perhaps have picked Helsinki and Venice, both of which I visited this month. For centuries, Venice was one of the world's most vibrant trading and financial centres and a fearsome naval power. But the city now makes its living as a glorious museum and tourist magnet. Venice remains ridiculously beautiful and culturally rich, even if environmentally threatened. It is also an example of how even enduring empires can end up as political backwaters.
/jlne.ws/3Z023b1
Hedge Fund Two Sigma Cuts 200 Staff After Strategic Review
Sheryl Tian Tong Lee and Hema Parmar - Bloomberg
Two Sigma Investments will dismiss roughly 200 employees after the firm's new co-chief executive officers conducted a wide-ranging review of the hedge fund's business. No portfolio managers were included in the dismissals, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing personnel information. Thursday's cuts represent about 10% of the firm's roughly 2,000 employees.
/jlne.ws/4fBVgeE
Who Is Gautam Adani and Why Has the US Charged Him With Bribery?
Sankalp Phartiyal and Advait Palepu - Bloomberg
Gautam Adani's spot as Asia's second-richest person is under renewed threat after US prosecutors charged him in November with suspected bribery, triggering a rout in the stocks of his companies. The Adani Group issued a statement that called the charges baseless. While Adani is relatively unknown outside his home country, he's one of the most influential figures in India and is pushing to increase the global presence of his firms. Adani's fortunes previously took a hit in early 2023 after allegations of stock manipulation and accounting fraud at his Adani Group were made by the New York-based investor Hindenburg Research, which at the time caused a massive erosion of the group's market value.
/jlne.ws/4eWOH5n
Adani Backer GQG's $10 Billion Bet Under Threat From Bribe Probe; GQG monitoring charges brought by US prosecutors against Adani; Adani Group stocks tumble in Mumbai on bribery allegations
Chiranjivi Chakraborty - Bloomberg
Fresh troubles at the Adani Group are posing a threat to US-based GQG Partners LLC, which took a contrarian bet on the conglomerate after a short-seller attack last year. US prosecutors' bribery charges against billionaire Gautam Adani and his executives saw the group's stocks tumble Thursday. GQG Partners, whose investment in the group has ballooned to $10 billion, said it is monitoring the charges.
/jlne.ws/4hW0Ud9
US IPO Candidates Eyeing Short Post-Thanksgiving Listing Window; Venture Global and ServiceTitan are on deck to debut soon; Companies have raised over $40 billion in IPOs so far in 2024
Geoffrey Morgan - Bloomberg
After Americans feast on Thanksgiving, the country's bankers expect investors will devour sizable initial public offerings stuffed into the final window of the year for company debuts. A handful of US deals are expected during the holiday season between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Among them is a potential $3 billion offering from Venture Global LNG Inc. that could mark the second-largest IPO this year after Lineage Inc.'s $5.1 billion deal. In addition, software provider ServiceTitan Inc. has filed for an IPO and is also expected to begin trading before the end of the year. A funding round from 2022 valued the firm at $7.6 billion.
/jlne.ws/3UZ1k8E
Wealth Hubs Go on Charm Offensive to Lure UK Super-Rich; Global havens for the wealthy see an opportunity to lure away UK non-doms - and they're hosting roadshow-type events to gauge their interest.
Benjamin Stupples - Bloomberg
The Jumeirah hotel in London's Knightsbridge has rooms at more than £6,000 ($7,600) a night, with marble bathrooms, private dining rooms and panoramic views. It showcases some of the best of what London has to offer the world's super-rich, but another city was the focus for well-heeled investors at a recent invite-only event: Abu Dhabi. That was just one recent example of a global wealth hub pitching to the UK's rich foreign residents amid plans by Keir Starmer's Labour government to curb their preferential tax treatment. Known as non-doms, they range from multi-billionaires to London bankers - and are seen as up for grabs by a rising number of cities touting lower taxes and other incentives to tempt them out of Britain.
/jlne.ws/3OicDF5
BofA targets regional banks to expand risk transfer market; Lenders are on course to issue a record amount of synthetic risk transfers this year
Ortenca Aliaj and Stephen Gandel and Eric Platt- Financial Times
Bank of America is drawing up plans to structure risk transfer deals for smaller lenders, a move that could turbocharge the nascent market at a time of heightened scrutiny. So-called synthetic risk transfers - or SRTs - have quickly become one of the fastest-growing corners of financial markets for banks and private capital investors. Banks use SRTs to obtain protection against losses on a pool of loans by selling a slice of the credit risk to investors, paying the investors regular fees for taking it on.
/jlne.ws/3ZiqaCY
FTX co-founder Gary Wang avoids prison after assisting in Sam Bankman-Fried case; Crypto exchange's former chief technology officer credited by judge for swiftly helping prosecutors
Joe Miller - Financial Times
FTX co-founder Gary Wang has avoided prison time after his swift co-operation with prosecutors helped seal the criminal conviction of the crypto exchange's other founder Sam Bankman-Fried. At a hearing on Wednesday, Judge Lewis Kaplan said Wang "immediately did the right thing" by travelling to the US from the Bahamas soon after FTX's collapse in 2022 and offering his full assistance to law enforcement and the team overseeing the exchange's bankruptcy.
/jlne.ws/3ASsAyM
Shanghai court says crypto ownership legal under China law amid bitcoin price surge; In an opinion on a recent lawsuit, a Shanghai judge wrote that cryptocurrencies have the attributes of property and thus holding it is legal
Xinmei Shen - South China Morning Post
A Shanghai court has released an opinion stating that the personal ownership of cryptocurrencies is not against Chinese law, offering explicit legal clarity for crypto holders on the mainland amid a record-setting bitcoin price surge. Sun Jie, a judge at the Shanghai Songjiang People's Court, wrote in an article published on Shanghai High People's Court's official WeChat account this week that it is "not illegal for individuals to hold cryptocurrency", even though Chinese business entities are not allowed to take part in cryptocurrency investments or token issuance "at will". The comments were part of a case review for a recent lawsuit involving disputes between two companies about an initial coin offering, which is considered illicit financing in China. Beijing sees cryptocurrencies as a threat to financial stability, and commercial activity related to these assets remains banned on the mainland, which has put their legal standing in doubt.
/jlne.ws/3UX0kSj
Archegos Founder Bill Hwang Is Sentenced to 18 Years; Mr. Hwang was convicted in July for his role in the collapse of his investment firm that caused roughly $10 billion in losses for several Wall Street banks.
Matthew Goldstein - The New York Times
A federal judge sentenced Bill Hwang, the founder of Archegos Capital Management, on Wednesday to 18 years in prison for his role in the collapse of his once-giant investment firm that caused roughly $10 billion in losses for Wall Street banks. Mr. Hwang, whose legal name is Sung Kook Hwang, was convicted in July by a federal jury in Manhattan after nearly two days of deliberation after a two-month trial. Federal prosecutors called 21 witnesses, including two former employees at Archegos, which Mr. Hwang had set up in 2013 as a giant family office.
/jlne.ws/3CF1UlE
DOJ calls for breakup of Google and sale of Chrome; The Justice Department's request represents the agency's most aggressive attempt to break up a tech company since its antitrust case against Microsoft, which reached a settlement in 2001.
Jennifer Elias - CNBC
The Justice Department is calling for Google to divest its Chrome browser, following a ruling in August that the company holds a monopoly in the search market. Chrome, which Google launched in 2008, provides the search giant with data it then uses for targeting ads. The DOJ said in a filing on Wednesday that forcing the company to get rid of Chrome would create a more equal playing field for search competitors.
/jlne.ws/4i2dfg2
Trump could finally end one of the oldest financial fights on Wall Street
David Hollerith - Yahoo Finance
Investors are ramping up bets that Trump 2.0 will loosen the federal government's grip over mortgage giants Freddie Mac (FMCC) and Fannie Mae (FNMA), ending one of the oldest fights on Wall Street. The stocks of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae - semi-acronyms for Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and the Federal National Mortgage Association - have jumped 116% and 143% since Donald Trump's election win, according to Yahoo Finance data.
/jlne.ws/4fXt05R
How AI and cloud computing may delay the transition to clean energy
Valerie Volcovici and Laila Kearney - Reuters
A spike in electricity demand from the world's big data providers is raising a worrying possibility for the world's climate: a near-term surge in fossil-fuel use. Utilities, power regulators and researchers in a half-dozen countries told Reuters the surprising growth in power demand driven by the rise of artificial intelligence and cloud computing is being met in the near-term by fossil fuels like natural gas, and even coal, because the pace of clean-energy deployments is moving too slowly to keep up.
/jlne.ws/4eDKJOF
Nasdaq Listed IBIT Options End First Day in Top 1% of all Options Products Traded
Nasdaq Newsroom
On November 19th, Nasdaq in partnership with BlackRock, listed options on the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT). The product traded 353,716 contracts on its opening day, placing it in the top 1% of all options products on the market. These options not only provide market participants with a novel way to integrate digital assets into their portfolios but also introduce an advanced risk management and hedging tool for Bitcoin trading, advancing the maturation of the entire ecosystem.
/jlne.ws/3OjCQU0
TransFICC to bid for fixed income consolidated tapes; Confirmation and authorisation of the new CTPs is expected to be in Q4 next year, with go live dates anticipated to be in 2026.
Wesley Bray
Low-latency connectivity and workflow services provider TransFICC has announced intentions to bid to be a consolidated tape provider (CTP) for fixed income. In the next few weeks, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is expected to begin its tender process and criteria for the UK CTP, while ESMA intends to begin the process for the EU CTP in January next year.
/jlne.ws/48Zwumc
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Zelenskiy says Crimea can only be restored to Ukraine through diplomacy
Reuters
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy acknowledged the Crimea peninsula, seized by Russia in 2014, would have to be restored to Ukrainian sovereignty through diplomacy. Zelenskiy, interviewed by Fox News on a train in Ukraine and broadcast on Wednesday, said his country could not afford to lose the number of lives that would be required to retake Crimea through military means. He again rejected any notion of ceding any territory already occupied by Moscow's forces, saying Ukraine "cannot legally acknowledge any occupied territory of Ukraine as Russian."
/jlne.ws/3Zh4GGJ
Ukraine Fires UK Cruise Missiles at Russia for First Time
Alex Wickham and Daryna Krasnolutska - Bloomberg
Ukrainian forces fired British cruise missiles at military targets inside Russia for the first time, expanding the use of Western-provided long-range weapons as the 1,000-day conflict enters a new phase. The UK approved the use of Storm Shadow missiles in response to Russia deploying North Korean troops in its war against Ukraine, according to a Western official familiar with the matter. The British government considered the move by Moscow to be an escalation, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
/jlne.ws/4eMbOPD
Ukraine's drone units are inflicting 80% of the frontline casualties on Russia, report says
Tom Porter - Business Insider
Ukraine's drone units now account for at least 80% of Russian frontline losses, The New York Times reported. Commanders in the Ukrainian military told the Times that the Ukrainian military had become increasingly dependent on its drone warfare capabilities amid ammunition and troop shortages. A dozen troops told the outlet they'd noticed a decrease in the number of rockets fired from US-made HIMARS missile systems being used by Ukraine against Russian forces.
/jlne.ws/3Z0MFuJ
Ukraine-Russia war escalates as Kremlin launches intercontinental ballistic missile for first time
AFP
Moscow on Thursday launched an intercontinental ballistic missile at Ukraine for the first time, Kyiv said, marking the latest escalation of the conflict since Ukraine fired Western-supplied long-range missiles on Russia.
/jlne.ws/40ZFkye
Russia threatens to strike Kyiv with 'massive' new missile
Anna Conkling - The Telegraph
Russia is threatening to strike Kyiv with a "massive" new missile in revenge for the use of Western weapons against its territory. Vladimir Putin's armed forces are preparing to fire RS-26 intercontinental ballistic missiles at the Ukrainian capital, local media reported. Western nations including the United States shut their embassies on Thursday in anticipation of a large-scale air strike. The joint closure, also involving Italy, Spain and Greece, marked the gravest expression of concern from foreign embassies since the early days of the war.
/jlne.ws/3ARRH4O
Hungary Deploys Air-Defense System Near Its Border With Ukraine; Russia hit western Ukraine near Hungary's border last week; Hungary relocates air-patrol, air-defense units to northeast
Veronika Gulyas - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4fE2GxQ
Now's the Time to Toughen Russia Oil Sanctions: Oil Strategy; Existing price cap is failing to erode the Kremlin's war chest; Cutting Moscow's funds needs action to reduce fuel shipments
Julian Lee - Bloomberg
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| Israel/Hamas Conflict | | News about the recent (October, 2023) conflict between Israel and Hamas | ICC issues arrest warrants for Israeli PM Netanyahu and ex-defense minister Gallant for alleged war crimes in Gaza
Chantal Da Silva - NBC News
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes. The ICC accused Netanyahu and Gallant of a string of human rights abuses in the Gaza Strip, where local health officials said the death toll from the Israeli military's yearlong assault on the Palestinian enclave had now passed 44,000.
/jlne.ws/40YyLMh
Why ICC Issued Arrest Warrant for Israel's Netanyahu
Cagan Koc - Bloomberg
When in May the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said he was seeking the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it sparked a furious response from Israel and its staunch ally the US. On Nov. 21, the court followed through and issued warrants for Netanhayu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, who Israel says is dead.
/jlne.ws/3VqvUIL
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Number of investors in fixed income grows 34% and in equities 23% in 12 months at B3 Total number of investors reaches 17.6 million. Amount in custody reaches BRL 2.2 trillion
B3
The volume invested in fixed income products has risen due to a high SELIC base rate in the past 12 months. The amount reached almost BRL 1.8 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2023, up 42% on the same period last year. During these 12 months, fixed income attracted 4 million new investors, bringing the total number of this type of investor to 15.3 million. These figures come from the most recent edition of the study that analyzes the evolution of individual investors at B3.
/jlne.ws/3VNOr27
ICE First Look at Mortgage Performance: Serious delinquencies hit 17-month high while foreclosure activity remains historically muted
Intercontinental Exchange
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading global provider of technology and data, reports the following "first look" at October 2024 month-end mortgage performance statistics derived from its loan-level database representing the majority of the national mortgage market.
/jlne.ws/4eHOm68
MIAX Receives Editors Choice Award for Outstanding Futures and Options Trading Venue at The Trades Leaders in Trading Awards 2024
MIAX
Miami International Holdings, Inc. (MIH), a technology-driven leader in building and operating regulated financial markets across multiple asset classes, today announced that its MIAX exchange received the Editors' Choice Award for "Outstanding Futures and Options Trading Venue" at The Trade's Leaders in Trading Awards 2024.
/jlne.ws/3CFN0M7
SIX Achieves Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) Approval for Emissions Reduction Goals; SIX announces SBTi approval for its emissions reduction targets, committing to net-zero by 2050 and reinforcing its support for a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy.
SIX
SIX is pleased to announce the approval of its near- and long-term emissions reduction targets by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), marking an important step in our commitment to addressing climate change. This validation from SBTi confirms that the targets submitted by SIX meet the SBTi Corporate Net Zero Standard, reflecting the ambition and dedication behind our climate objectives and for a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy.
/jlne.ws/4hXBfki
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Thousands of PayPal customers report brief outage
BBC News
Payment app PayPal experienced a brief outage worldwide on Thursday, it confirmed. It said in a post on its service status page it was experiencing "a system issue" that affecting multiple PayPal Products - including account withdrawal and express checkout. The company said the technical issue was swiftly resolved. However, even a brief outage was enough to cause problems for customers, who reported being unable to log in to their accounts or said they were having problems making payments.
/jlne.ws/4fyRcf2
Energy-hungry Big Tech shrinks from the spotlight at UN climate summit; Executives take a low profile at COP29 as focus increases on AI power demands
Kenza Bryan - Financial Times
Big Tech has lowered its profile at the UN COP29 climate summit this year, as industry concerns rise about the sector being targeted as the "new oil and gas" as a result of the power demands of data centres to support artificial intelligence. In contrast to previous UN climate summits in Dubai and Sharm el-Sheikh, technology leaders such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon have been less visible in Baku. "We don't have anything there this year," Meta said.
/jlne.ws/4fOL4PE
What ChatGPT's corporate victims have in common; The first casualties of generative AI offer lessons for other businesses
The Economist
In less than four years the share price of Chegg, an online education service, has dropped by 99%. A post-pandemic slump in digital learning is partly to blame for its tumble. A bigger problem for the company, though, is artificial intelligence (ai). Its customers are mostly students who want help answering their homework assignments, which often involves the virtual support of a human tutor. The rise of Chatgpt and its kind have created a free substitute for that service. On an earnings call on November 12th Nathan Schultz, Chegg's boss, admitted that "technology shifts have created headwinds". The same day the firm said that it would fire a fifth of its workforce.
/jlne.ws/4fOCwIy
Taiwan to invest $3bn to secure 'AI sovereignty,' tech czar says; Science Minister Wu Cheng-wen positive about collaboration with Trump
Thompson Chau, Contributing writer, and Cheng Ting-Fang and Lauly Li - Nikkei Asia
Taiwan's government plans to spend about $3 billion on artificial intelligence data centers and other upgrades over the next three years, while aiming to strengthen cooperation with the U.S. under President-elect Donald Trump, Taipei's top tech official told Nikkei Asia. "We plan to budget 30 billion New Taiwan dollars or roughly $1 billion annually in the next couple of years during President Lai's term," Wu Cheng-wen, Taiwan's science and technology minister, said in an exclusive interview.
/jlne.ws/4eGC120
Nvidia's revenue nearly doubles as AI chip demand remains strong; US chipmaker reassures investors seeking signs of the strength of boom that has made it world's most valuable company
Michael Acton - Financial Times
Nvidia said its latest generation of chips are in "great shape" as the world's most valuable company reported another strong quarter of revenue growth thanks to high demand for the infrastructure that has underpinned the artificial intelligence boom. Revenue for the quarter to the end of October nearly doubled from a year ago, up 94 per cent to $35.1bn, according to a release on Wednesday. It was a slower pace of growth from the previous quarter but still well above analysts' expectations for $33.25bn.
/jlne.ws/3V3lgHx
Nvidia absolutely crushes its Q3 earnings
Andrew Nusca - Fortune
/jlne.ws/3CALpXZ
Blackstone Invests $500 Million in Lancium AI Buildout
Naureen S. Malik and David Pan - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3OhhaHY
Broadridge Significantly Enhances Structured Product Trading Capabilities
PR Newswire
/jlne.ws/3V1VUKi
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Why digital identity is the ultimate battleground in cybersecurity
Stephen McDermid - TechRadar
We've been living with widely-available generative AI tools for nearly two years now, so the time is right to ask the question what effect is it having on the public's understanding of their own digital identities, and how safe their identities are online? The answer, unfortunately, shows there's a lot more work to do to improve our security online in the age of AI. In some recent research Okta commissioned, an overwhelming 93% of consumers across Europe are worried about digital identity theft, and over half (54%) of consumers have heightened their awareness of their digital footprint over the past year. This increased vigilance is driven by the surge in cyberattacks and the rise of AI, which both present new challenges and amplify existing vulnerabilities in the online environment.
/jlne.ws/4fZ6cTq
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | MicroStrategy's Magical Bitcoin Buying Machine Uses Some Wacky Math; Citing 'yield' as a performance measure is likely to confuse some investors already overpaying for its stock
Jonathan Weil - The Wall Street Journal
Every new market mania needs new metrics to attract investors and explain the reason for its existence. Here's one for the bitcoin boom: "BTC yield." MicroStrategy, which once was a humdrum software firm, introduced this unusual term to its investors in August. BTC, for the uninitiated, means bitcoin. Yield typically refers to the dividend a company pays as a percentage of its stock price, or to the interest rate a lender expects to earn on a loan or bond. This isn't either of those. The company has attracted attention for a huge-many would say reckless-one-way bet on bitcoin, which it started buying and holding in 2020. Co-founder and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor has become a bitcoin evangelist. The company has been selling vast amounts of common stock in at-the-market offerings to fund ever-greater purchases. In a virtuous circle, its stock-market value has continued to climb, fueling more stock sales to buy more bitcoin, and so on.
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Record Bitcoin Run Sees US ETF Assets Surge to Over $100 Billion; The ETFs reached the milestone just 10 months after launching; Bitcoin is climbing closer to the landmark $100,000 level
Sidhartha Shukla and Suvashree Ghosh - Bloomberg
US exchange-traded funds investing directly in Bitcoin surpassed $100 billion in total assets as the original cryptocurrency extended a record-breaking rally. The group of 12 Bitcoin ETFs from issuers including BlackRock Inc. and Fidelity Investments swept to the milestone 10 months after a January debut, ranking them among the most successful fund category launches ever.
/jlne.ws/3CNf3Jk
$749 million 'treasure hunt': Crypto miner fights to retrieve Bitcoin fortune he claims was accidentally thrown in landfill
Eleanor Pringle - Fortune
An early Bitcoin miner says he lost a fortune worth more than $700 million after his partner accidentally threw a hard drive containing 8,000 coins in a landfill dumpster more than a decade ago.
/jlne.ws/3ANymBT
Nobel Prize-winning economist says beware of the Bitcoin craze. He may be right
Andres Oppenheimer - Miami Herald (opinion)
Bitcoin is surging to record highs following Donald Trump's election victory, fueled by hopes of a friendlier regulatory environment. But a Nobel Prize-winning economist is warning that the crypto boom is a dangerous bubble that is likely to burst. Eric Maskin, a Harvard professor who was one of the winners of the 2007 Nobel Prize in economics, told me in an interview that the ongoing crypto craze is both a bad idea for countries and a risky investment for individuals.
/jlne.ws/3AH9GLr
The US Stablecoin Startup Fueling a $3 Billion Boom in Africa; Cryptocurrencies that track the dollar are becoming a popular workaround for companies stymied by currency shortages on the continent.
David Pan - Bloomberg
Chris Maurice was a student at Auburn University in 2017, waiting in line for a teller at a bank near campus. He got to chatting with a Nigerian guy who was trying to wire a few hundred dollars back home to his mom, and he was shocked to learn that this simple service would cost the man $90. For a Bitcoin enthusiast like Maurice, this was the type of problem with the financial system that proved the value proposition of cryptocurrencies, which can be sent around the world almost instantly at costs that are a tiny fraction of the price of traditional wire transfers. Soon Maurice was skipping classes to do research on Nigeria (he started by finding it on a map). Less than a week after he graduated in 2018, he booked a flight to Lagos, his first trip outside of the US.
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Cohn Says Trump Has 'Plenty of Time' to Settle on Treasury Pick; Former adviser downplays 'anxiety' as nominee search drags on; Cohn identifies taxes, immigration as top priorities for term
Stephanie Lai - Bloomberg
Gary Cohn, the onetime chief economic adviser to Donald Trump, called the pick for a second-term Treasury secretary one of the key decisions facing the president-elect and downplayed suggestions the search for the nation's top economic official was taking too long. "This is one of the most important - if not the most important - pick he is going to make. So getting it right is important," Cohn said Thursday on Bloomberg Television's Surveillance.
/jlne.ws/3V3V934
If Trump appoints billionaire Apollo CEO Marc Rowan as Treasury Secretary, he'd have direct influence over $24 trillion private equity market
Fortune
President-elect Donald Trump is seriously considering Marc Rowan, the CEO of private equity giant Apollo Global Management, as his new Treasury Secretary, according to a New York Times report. Based on sources the Times says are "close" to Trump, Rowan has become a likely frontrunner as Trump grows frustrated with other candidates. At a time when regulators have pushed to rein in risky behavior by the private equity industry, the appointment of one of their own would almost certainly be a huge boon to the industry.
/jlne.ws/493s39N
Trudeau to Unveil Tax Relief in Deal With Left-Wing Opposition; Federal sales tax will be removed from essential items; Package signals an election is unlikely to be imminent
Brian Platt - Bloomberg
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government will announce a multibillion dollar affordability package that includes temporary relief on the federal sales tax, according to an official familiar with the matter. The package was agreed upon with the left-wing New Democratic Party, or NDP, which pulled out of a power-sharing deal earlier this year and said it will support Trudeau's party on a case-by-case basis.
/jlne.ws/3OgV2h3
Power and antiquity collide in the City of London; The financial district's new lord mayor sees himself as 'cheerleader-in-chief' for the sector
Michael O'Dwyer - Financial Times
Sitting at the back of the Great Hall in the City of London's historic Guildhall, I crane my neck to see Alastair King place his hat on his head and, simultaneously, Michael Mainelli remove his own. This moment, watched by hundreds of robe-clad officials and curious members of the public who have won tickets in a ballot, marks the transfer of the office of Lord Mayor of the City of London.
/jlne.ws/4fYSj7K
Europe Is Gaslighting Itself About Its Energy Woes; As gas prices rise, politicians are in denial about the challenges a cold winter may pose.
Javier Blas - Bloomberg
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine triggered a European energy crisis, the bloc hasn't been completely honest about its dire situation. It misinterpreted what was pure luck with the weather for strategic success, for example. Now, it's worse: European policymakers are gaslighting themselves about the outlook. The result is another winter of high prices, not just for gas but also for electricity, further darkening the future for energy-intensive companies in the region. Rarely a week goes by without a major manufacturing sector announcing plant closures, job losses and write-downs worth billions of euros. Households, too, will feel the hit; retail gas and electricity prices will climb, boosting inflation and posing another headache for the European Central Bank and the Bank of England.
/jlne.ws/490SKvQ
Putin's Nuclear Threat Is a Magic Trick, but a Dangerous One; We are not on the cusp of a nuclear conflagration. But Russia is escalating the war in other concrete ways.
Marc Champion - Bloomberg
The key to all magic tricks is distraction, which is the best way to understand Russian President Vladimir Putin's latest round of nuclear saber rattling, including - if an as yet unverified report by Ukraine's air force proves correct - Thursday's first use of an intercontinental ballistic missile to hit a target in Ukraine. ICBMs are primarily designed to carry nuclear warheads to targets thousands of miles away. This one would have carried conventional explosives for about 1000 kilometers (620 miles), from Astrakhan, at the northern tip of the Caspian Sea, to the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
/jlne.ws/4fUb5wU
Russia says new US base in Poland raises overall nuclear danger
Reuters
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India's Opposition Calls for Adani's Arrest After US Indictment; Adani should be arrested for breaking the laws: Rahul Gandhi; US prosecutors alleged that Adani paid bribes to get contracts
Shruti Srivastava - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4fBGUuD
*****Here is the story from The Wall Street Journal.
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Bundesbank Vigilant on Commercial Property in 'Weak' Economy
Nicholas Comfort - Bloomberg
Germany's central bank said financial regulators are keeping a close watch on risks to lenders and investors from their exposure to commercial property amid a poor economic outlook. Risks related to the asset class "remain manageable" for the financial system because a spike in losses on underlying loans is concentrated at "a handful of banks and insurers," the Bundesbank said on Thursday. Still, liquidity risks in open-ended funds could amplify those developments, the central bank said in a statement.
/jlne.ws/3ATGf8Y
Adani Dismisses US Allegations of Bribery Scheme as Baseless
Sanjai P R - Bloomberg
The Adani Group denied US prosecutors' charge that its billionaire founder Gautam Adani and his aides were involved in driving a more than $250 million bribery scheme to win Indian solar energy contracts. The allegations are baseless, the group said in a statement Thursday, adding that it would seek all possible legal recourse to defend itself.
/jlne.ws/3AF2H5G
NFA sanctions Chicago-based introducing broker X-Change Financial Access LLC and two employees.
NFA
November 20, Chicago-NFA has ordered X-Change Financial Access LLC (XFA) to pay a $400,000 fine. XFA is an NFA Member introducing broker located in Chicago, Ill.
/jlne.ws/3CGPXMn
SEC Charges Three Senior Executives in Two Actions Alleging Massive Bribery Scheme Involving Indian Energy Companies Adani Green and Azure Power; Adani Green's note offering raised $175 million from U.S. investors while bribery scheme was in progress
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani, executives of Adani Green Energy Ltd., and Cyril Cabanes, an executive of Azure Power Global Ltd., for conduct arising out of a massive bribery scheme. According to the SEC's allegations, the bribery scheme was orchestrated to enable the two renewable energy companies to capitalize on a multi-billion-dollar solar energy project that the companies had been awarded by the Indian government. During the alleged scheme, Adani Green raised more than $175 million from U.S. investors and Azure Power's stock was traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
/jlne.ws/4fE4mHH
SEC Obtains Judgment Against Four Defendants in a Transatlantic Microcap Fraud Scheme
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that on November 14, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered a judgment against United Kingdom resident Timothy Page and three entities in an SEC case alleging that they participated in a fraudulent scheme to profit from the manipulation and illegal sale of stock. Among other things, the four defendants were ordered to pay more than $11 million in total disgorgement and prejudgment interest and more than $10 million in total civil penalties.
/jlne.ws/4eDJmiZ
ASIC releases new and updated guidance in response to the DBFO Act
ASIC
ASIC has issued new regulatory guidance and has also updated some existing regulatory guidance in response to reforms under the Treasury Laws Amendments (Delivering Better Financial Outcomes and Other Measures) Act 2024 (DBFO Act).
/jlne.ws/4fYgQda
FMA's calendar of events
FMA
The FMA runs a programme of engagement throughout the year, including speeches, presentations, roundtable discussions and webinars, alongside bilateral engagement with the Boards and Executives of firms we regulate. The FMA also engages through industry bodies. If you would like any more details on the programme of events or would like the FMA to give a speech or presentation, please contact us.
/jlne.ws/4i3URU3
Navigating KiwiSaver Episode 3: KiwiSaver Contributions
FMA (Podcast)
Did you know there are five contribution rates when it comes to your KiwiSaver - 3%, 4%, 6%, 8% or 10? Along with your personal contributions, your employer contributes to your KiwiSaver as well as the Government. Stuart explains to Jess the importance of contribution rates and why a yearly review could be beneficial. This podcast has been prepared by the FMA. The advice is of a general nature and is not intended to be financial advice and FMA does not accept responsibility for any loss that any a person may suffer from following it. The FMA recommends that our audience seek their own financial advice in respect of investing in KiwiSaver. Anyone considering investing in KiwiSaver or making changes to their investment in KiwiSaver should seek advice from a financial adviser.
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FCA charges four individuals with fraud offences relating to failed credit union
FCA
The FCA has started criminal proceedings against 4 individuals for conspiracy to commit false accounting, with 3 of them facing further charges for fraud. Terry Dodd, John Riley and Brian Flanagan have been charged for fraudulently abusing their positions as directors of the Dial-A-Cab Credit Union for their own personal gain. The FCA alleges that the 4 individuals transferred funds out of the credit union for the benefit of themselves and their families.
/jlne.ws/3OmRHwV
FCA proposes to extend the time firms have to handle complaints relating to motor finance commission
FCA
The proposed extension would allow firms more time to handle complaints efficiently and effectively and help prevent disorderly, inconsistent and inefficient outcomes for consumers and firms. The FCA is seeking feedback on proposals to extend the time firms have to respond to motor finance complaints where a non-discretionary commission arrangement was involved. The regulator previously extended the time firms have to respond to motor finance complaints involving a discretionary commission arrangement (DCA).
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What's New on the FSA Website; Week of November 8, 2024 - November 14, 2021
FSA
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Publication of "FSA Analytical Notes"
FSA
The FSA is enhancing its data analysis capabilities and data infrastructure. Some case-examples of the data analyses undertaken by the FSA as part of such efforts are published as "FSA Analytical Notes."
/jlne.ws/3V24uZm
IOSCO Publishes Consultation Report on Pre-Hedging; Report assesses potential conduct and market integrity issues associated with the practice of pre-hedging
IOSCO
IOSCO has today published a Consultation Report inviting feedback on its recommendations relating to pre-hedging practices. Pre-hedging is used by dealers to manage risks associated with anticipated wholesale principal orders in relation to primary market offerings and secondary market transactions. This can occur across various markets, including securities and derivatives, on trading venues and over the counter (OTC) markets. It encompasses a range of asset classes such as equities, fixed income, currencies and commodities.
/jlne.ws/3B0lUyA
SFC issues restriction notices to four brokers to freeze client accounts linked to suspected account hacking and market manipulation
SFC
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has issued restriction notices to four brokers, prohibiting them from dealing with or processing certain assets held in their client accounts for suspected market manipulation or fraud involving unauthorised online trades placed through hacked accounts between 24 October and 6 November 2024 (Note 1). The four brokers are: Interactive Brokers Hong Kong Limited (IBHK); SBI China Capital Financial Services Limited (SBI); Monmonkey Group Securities Limited (Monmonkey); and Soochow Securities International Brokerage Limited (Soochow) (Note 2).
/jlne.ws/4eIZS14
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | FCMs Voice Concern Over Economics And Timeline Of Repo And Treasury Clearing: Acuiti
Mondovisione
Sell-side firms that will provide clearing services to clients under the SEC's treasury and repo clearing mandates have raised concerns over the economics of participation in the market and the timeline for implementation, a report from Acuiti has found. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has introduced mandates for centralized clearing of treasury and repo transactions to enhance transparency, stability, and resilience in the $27 trillion Treasury market. The move represents one of the most significant shifts in US capital markets for decades.
/jlne.ws/4fB3DXD
The 'greatest bubble in human history' is close to bursting, black-swan investor Mark Spitznagel says
Kelly Cloonan - Business Insider
A black-swan investor, Mark Spitznagel, says the stock market is heading for a historic sell-off, reiterating an uberbearish warning for investors who are getting comfortable with steady stock gains amid the frenzy over artificial intelligence. In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, Spitznagel said the yearslong rally in the stock market amounted to the "greatest bubble in human history." He pointed to similarities with the dot-com bubble, when investors poured money into tech stocks before the frenzy fizzled and the Nasdaq crashed in 2000.
/jlne.ws/4fBQuxL
The Trump Stock Euphoria Starts to Fade; Tariffs, deficits and stretched valuations give Wall Street pause
Jack Pitcher - The Wall Street Journal
Can the postelection market rally continue? Some on Wall Street are skeptical. Investors cheered the unexpected Republican sweep of the presidency and both houses of Congress, salivating over the potential for new pro-business policies. Stock indexes set records, and stock funds posted historically high inflows. That rally has faded as President-elect Donald Trump fills out his cabinet and analysts grasp for policy details. Perhaps the most crucial question for markets: How serious is Trump about tariffs, which are widely regarded as inflationary and could reach their highest level since the 1930s if delivered as promised?
/jlne.ws/3OkxGXN
Seeking a Tariff Haven? The UK Stock Market Might Be Just That; UK market is less exposed to trade wars than Europe and China; Goldman, UBS, SocGen strategists are advising buying UK stocks
Michael Msika - Bloomberg
As European equities are roiled by President-elect Donald Trump's trade threats, there's one corner of the market that looks relatively insulated - Britain. That hasn't gone unnoticed, with several strategists advising clients to load up on UK shares. Since the Nov. 5 US election, London has fared better than mainland European bourses, which are seen as more exposed to Trump's pledges to hike tariffs on trade partners. As a result, the Euro Stoxx 50 share index has fallen 4.5% this quarter, while Britain's FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 gauges are down 1.5%.
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Stock Analysts, Upgrade Yourselves From Sell to Hold; The UK has reworked misguided rules that damaged the economics of investment research. Aping the US model is welcome - as a first step.
Chris Hughes - Bloomberg
Unbiased analysis of publicly traded companies is obviously a good thing. So it's welcome that recent reform could mark a turning point for Europe's struggling independent research industry. The risk is that this is an L-shaped recovery unless there's more regulatory support. The economics of research are tricky. Analysis of equities has traditionally been produced by brokers to stimulate trading in stocks and funded through commissions on trades. A portion of the dealing charge would cover research and sometimes other non-trading services. The US is relaxed about this so-called soft-dollar approach. Quite simply, it enables fund managers to buy a lot of research.
/jlne.ws/4i1D0wC
What Is a Money Market Account and How to Get the Best Rates? These hybrid accounts offer convenience and attractive interest rates
Tanza Loudenback - The Wall Street Journal
Money-market accounts are ultra-low-risk deposit accounts with the earning potential of a savings account and the convenience of a checking account. Rates on top money-market accounts have begun to decline recently, but are still relatively high. The Federal Reserve, which had been holding short-term interest rates at decade-high levels, reduced the federal funds rate twice in late 2024, with forecasters predicting more cuts to come.
/jlne.ws/3V0IbmR
Why MicroStrategy's Stock Price Is Going Parabolic
WSJ Staff
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | As Trump Returns, China Seizes Chance For Climate Mantle
Shaun Tandon - AFP News via Barron's
With Donald Trump expected to take the United States again out of climate diplomacy, China, the world's largest emitter but green energy powerhouse, is seizing on the chance to project itself as the global leader. At COP29 climate talks in Azerbaijan, China has sought to show a cooperative side and for the first time gave details on its international climate finance, while still firmly resisting pressure to be reclassified as a donor.
/jlne.ws/4fBBJeb
Malaysia and Vietnam agree to enhance renewable energy cooperation; Leaders of two Southeast Asian nations also discuss ties in defense and digital
Norman Goh - Nikkei
Malaysia and Vietnam have agreed to strengthen their relations in renewable energy and other areas, as leaders of the two Southeast Asian nations met Thursday in Malaysia. General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, To Lam, is on a three-day official visit to Malaysia from Thursday to Saturday, his first visit to Malaysia since assuming office in August.
/jlne.ws/41gFKRd
Uranium supplier announces $60 million Tennessee expansion as U.S. ramps up nuclear power
Jonathan Mattise and the Associated Press via Fortune
A supplier of fuel for nuclear power plants announced a $60 million expansion in Tennessee on Wednesday, promising to resume and grow its manufacturing of high-tech centrifuges there to enrich uranium at its facility in Ohio.
/jlne.ws/4ggDcH1
UK Households Will Get Paid to Not Use Power at Peak Times; Grid operator expands demand flexibility program to whole year; Lower power demand can cut need to burn fossil fuels
Will Mathis - Bloomberg
The UK's grid operator will launch a service next week that will allow homes and businesses to get paid for using less power during times when the grid is strained. The Demand Flexibility Service - first set up during the energy crisis to help Britain manage price spikes during winter months - will now be available during the entire year, the National Energy System Operator said Thursday. It will start on Nov. 27 and consumers will be able to participate via their energy suppliers.
/jlne.ws/3B3ZNr3
Kuwait to Spend Over $30 Billion to Boost Oil in Bet on Demand; KPC targeting capacity of 3.2 million barrels a day next year; CEO bullish on oil even though IEA says demand is nearing peak
Fiona MacDonald - Bloomberg
Kuwait Petroleum Corp. plans to spend about 10 billion dinars ($33 billion) over five years to ramp up oil production capacity, betting on robust demand for decades to come. "We're looking to make massive investments," Chief Executive Officer Sheikh Nawaf Al-Sabah said in an interview. That's "not only to maintain our production capacity, but ultimately grow it like our strategy calls for us to do."
/jlne.ws/3Z35tto
Arbitration Claims Against LNG Exporter Venture Global Reach Close to $6 Billion; Eight claims center on gas exporter's spot sales, plant build; Company has signaled plans to go public amid customer disputes
Ruth Liao - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3CyhU8Y
Exxon, under fire over plastic recycling, spending $200 million to expand Texas plants
Erwin Seba - Reuters
/jlne.ws/4i2TvZF
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Citadel Securities to Hire Country Head, Traders to Boost India Push; The head would be tasked with navigating regulatory landscape; Firm to add six employees across functions, including trading
Chiranjivi Chakraborty and Anto Antony - Bloomberg
Citadel Securities LLC plans to hire a head for its India operations and add more traders, according to people familiar with the matter, as the market-making giant expands its presence in one of the largest equity markets globally. The US-based firm, part of Ken Griffin's hedge fund and trading empire, is also looking to add at least six employees across functions, including trading, to bolster its 10-member team in the country, they said, asking not to be identified as the information is not public.
/jlne.ws/4fYex9L
Thrive Capital: the venture firm staking billions on a few big bets; The 'all in or all out' approach of Josh Kushner's VC business inverts the traditional venture model. Will it pay off?
George Hammond - Financial Times
As OpenAI raced to raise almost $7bn last month, one investor was always on hand. Thrive Capital stayed close to the AI start-up's co-founder and chief executive Sam Altman and contributed over $1bn to a funding round that valued the artificial intelligence group at $150bn. The bet is the boldest yet for the New York-based firm founded by Josh Kushner, adding to the $130mn Thrive invested in OpenAI last year, on top of an undisclosed amount of stock it has bought from employees plus an option to invest a further $1bn by the end of 2025.
/jlne.ws/4fCLh8G
Julius Baer Flags Inflows Pickup, Brighter Outlook; The group's assets under management grew 12% on year on strong stock markets
Elena Vardon - The Wall Street Journal
Julius Baer said its inflows of money from clients in key markets accelerated from the midyear point, and signaled a brighter outlook for the year ahead with higher profit and potential shareholder returns. The Swiss private banking group on Thursday said that its assets under management stood at 480 billion Swiss francs ($542.86 billion) at Oct. 31, a 12% on-year increase that was driven by strong stock markets and net inflows.
/jlne.ws/4fAiBNS
Blackstone to train Hong Kong wealth managers as private assets gain investor favour
South China Morning Post
The world's largest alternative asset manager Blackstone has partnered with a local industry body to launch a certification programme for Hong Kong's wealth managers, deepening the city's push to serve as a wealth-management hub amid growing interest in private assets. The company, which has run the Blackstone University programme for 13 years globally, will launch it in Hong Kong along with the Private Wealth Management Association (PWMA).
/jlne.ws/4fzf1n5
Quant Mutual Fund's Big Adani Bet Turns Sour on Bribery Charges; Shares of Adani Enterprises drop as much as 23% on Thursday; Quant bought nearly half of shares offered in a placement
Alex Gabriel Simon - Bloomberg
Bullish wagers by one of Adani Enterprises Ltd.'s biggest backers are looking vulnerable, following its shares' tumble caused by the US indictment of its chairman. Quant Mutual Fund, an Indian asset management firm that bought nearly half of $500 million worth of Adani Enterprises' shares sold in a placement in October, is suffering from a loss of as much as 27% of that investment amid Thursday's drop.
/jlne.ws/3ZfbDIh
Vedanta Pauses Bond Sale Plans After Adani Market Volatility; Company had started investor calls Wednesday for possible deal; Now mulling to launch the bond as early as next week: people
Saikat Das and Suvashree Ghosh - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4fYi5ck
Ron Baron's $45 Billion Firm 'Studying' Whether to Launch ETFs; Old-school mutual fund firm is looking into benefits of ETFs; ETFs have taken in trillions at the expense of mutual funds
Katie Greifeld and Denitsa Tsekova - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/490RZmu
Why Quant Giant D.E. Shaw Seeks Out Academics, Doctors, and Veterans to Work at the $60 Billion Hedge Fund; D.E. Shaw, started in 1988 by now-billionaire computer scientist David Shaw in New York, is remarkably secretive even for the guarded world of hedge funds.
Bradley Saacks - Business Insider
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | Musk, Ramaswamy Want Federal Workers in the Office Full Time. There's a Hitch.
John McCormick and Te-Ping Chen - The Wall Street Journal
The nation's largest workforce could soon be ordered back to the office full-time. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to slash government bureaucracy and appointed uber-wealthy entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the efficiency effort. The two men have already targeted remote workers, saying that requiring federal employees back to the office five days a week would result in a welcome wave of voluntary terminations. "If federal employees don't want to show up, American taxpayers shouldn't pay them for the Covid-era privilege of staying home," Musk and Ramaswamy wrote in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece published Wednesday.
/jlne.ws/48ZAHGo
How Students Can AI-Proof Their Careers; Artificial intelligence is going to eliminate a lot of jobs in the future. It's possible to reduce the risk that it will be yours.
James R. Hagerty - The Wall Street Journal
The current generation of college students is facing a challenge that those who came before never had to worry about: They'll be competing with AI for jobs. What can they do to get ready? After all, artificial intelligence is likely to eliminate at least some jobs that formerly served as first rungs on career ladders. "We have to accept and embrace the idea that in fact with AI we are going to have jobs that are going to be eliminated and jobs that are going to be created, and we don't know which ones," says Joseph E. Aoun, president of Northeastern University.
/jlne.ws/4hZcCn5
To Quit Their Jobs, Sugar Workers Risk Kidnapping, Assault and Murder; Why would anyone stay in a job where abuse is rampant and women are coerced into hysterectomies? Because the cost of escaping India's cane fields is often even higher.
Qadri Inzamam, Megha Rajagopalan and Saumya Khandelwal - The New York Times
When his daughter turned 12, Gighe Dutta decided this would be the year that he and his wife quit cutting sugar cane in the fields of western India. The work required a long migration, and his daughter would have to drop out of school - the first step for many girls on a lifelong path of abuse and poverty. But his employer refused to let them quit. He and his friends beat up Mr. Dutta and forced him into a car, Mr. Dutta said. According to a report that he filed with a local government agency, the men drove him to a mill that says it supplies sugar to many international companies.
/jlne.ws/3OkvKOR
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | AI Drug Discovery Startup Enveda Raises $130 Million; AI has so far failed to transform health care, but investors are betting on its potential.
Sarah McBride - Bloomberg
Enveda Therapeutics Inc., a startup that uses artificial intelligence to find promising drug candidates, has raised $130 million just a few months after its last financing. The new funding round was led by Nordic investor Kinnevik and FPV Ventures, with participation from new and existing investors including Baillie Gifford, Lux Capital and the Nature Conservancy. It comes as Boulder, Colorado-based Enveda launches a Phase I clinical trial for an oral drug that aims to treat atopic dermatitis, or eczema.
/jlne.ws/4g0lQOr
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Resolute Mining Says CEO, Employees Released From Detention in Mali; Their release comes days after Resolute, which owns a gold mine in Mali, agreed to pay the Malian government a total of $160 million
David Winning - The Wall Street Journal
Resolute Mining said its chief executive and two employees have been released from detention in Mali, ending a standoff that raised concerns about a resurgence in resource nationalism as gold prices hover near record highs. Resolute said Thursday that CEO Terence Holohan and his colleagues, who haven't been named, are safe and well. All three have now departed the African country. Holohan was in Mali's capital, Bamako, on Nov. 8 for talks with mining and tax authorities about business practices when he was subsequently detained with the two other employees and held at the Economic and Financial Centre of Bamako, an anticorruption agency.
/jlne.ws/3AVASGb
South Africa Says Food Poisonings a National Disaster; Recent cases of food poisoning have caused at least 22 deaths; Focus fallen on food bought from township convenience stores
Rene Vollgraaff - Bloomberg
South Africa declared a spate of food poisonings a national disaster, following the death of at least 22 children. The deaths, as well as hundreds of cases of illness nationwide, have been linked to food bought from small convenience stores in townships, some of which contained traces of chemical compounds used in insecticides. President Cyril Ramaphosa last week unveiled a plan to remove these harmful pesticides from the streets and shops and ordered that all so-called "spaza shops" and food-handling facilities register with their respective municipalities within 21 days.
/jlne.ws/3AVff8V
Sweden Rethinks Role of Inflation-Linked Bonds; The country's debt office is seeking to reduce inflation-linked debt by $9.07 billion by the end of 2029
Emese Bartha - The Wall Street Journal =
Sweden is set to pull away from potentially costlier inflation-linked bonds next year and instead significantly increase issuance of conventional government bonds. The National Debt Office publishes its next borrowing review on Nov. 28, which is expected to reflect the government's recent decision to reduce the outstanding stock of inflation-linked debt over the next five years.
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