August 21, 2023 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | John Lothian Publisher John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff Zero-day options just can't stay out of the headlines. The Financial Times has yet another cautionary headline, "Surge in zero-day options sparks fears over market volatility." All this chatter about 0DTE is somewhat silly. Traders using the product are transferring risk, which is what happens in markets all the time. In the case of options, the traders initiating positions are transferring the risk to some of the most sophisticated traders in the world, with some of the best technology and connectivity to be able to manage their risk. Yes, sometimes volatility goes up. That is a key option market metric for increased market participation. Michael R. Berry, the founder of MRB Compliance Consulting LLC (MRB) and former head of compliance for BP North America, as well as a charge auditor at the National Futures Association, announced Friday that he is publishing a limited series blogging post related to the Chevron Deference. The initial blog post is entitled "Fallacy at the FERC" - MRB Consulting (mrbconsultingllc.com). "I have decided to point out, in great detail, in a singular case that depicts all that is wrong with the current regulatory construct," Berry said. "This is much more than just one regulator run amok. The acts and actions taken by the many participants throughout the 15-year saga (an allegation of commodity price manipulation e.g., the Houston Ship Channel matter) have undermined the importance of Compliance." Maybe Chris Edmonds spoke too soon. The news site (?) CryptoMode is reporting that in light of recent market dynamics and surging client interest, Bakkt Holdings is recalibrating its strategy with a sharper focus on its high-grade cryptocurrency custody offerings. The story originates from Bakkt's second quarter financial disclosures, which underline its position as a "compliant and trusted" custodian, CryptoMode said. Maybe the cost for Nasdaq was too much to fire up a crypto custodian, but Bakkt can turn the lights back on more easily. One of the recent exchange features I have liked is video messages from CEOs about their groups' performances. HKEX's latest message was "HKEX's 2023 Interim Results," featuring a video message from HKEX Group CEO Nicolas Aguzin and CFO Vanessa Lau discussing the financial results and the strategic progress of the group. Additionally, SGX Group CEO Boon-Chye Loh is seen here on a video on LinkedIn presenting the 2023 results for the group. You could be one of four people in the world to buy a Rolls Royce Droptail roadster, for the cool price of $30 million for one of the ultra-customized two-seater cars inspired by high-speed sailing yachts of the 1930s, Bloomberg reports. Four of the cars are to be built by the high end automaker as part of its exclusive coachbuilt series. This makes a Bentley look like an AMC Pacer by comparison just based on price. Australia has an acute oversupply of wine due to its trade dispute with China, leaving the equivalent of 2.8 billion bottles of wine, or a little more than 100 bottles per person, after China - the biggest consumer of Australian wine - started taxing imports, The Guardian reported. X, formerly Twitter, is removing the ability for users to block other accounts, according to a post Friday by the coward known as Elon Musk. This is another example of Musk trying to destroy the product and company he bought for $44 billion last year. Blocking trolls, especially now that X allows more formerly banned ones back on the site, was an important feature to keep the discourse palatable. Bloomberg has the story. Summer reading may be over, but reading never ends. So the Financial Times has a story titled "The best new books on economics" with the subheading "A defence of free markets in 'The Capitalist Manifesto', and the problem with the Big Four index funds and their financial power." With storms hitting Southern California and flooding heading for Death Valley, and Tropical Storm Franklin heading to Haiti and the Dominican Republic, this is the time I have decided to make plans to go to Bermuda in September. From September 19 to 21, the World Federation of Exchanges is holding its "62nd WFE General Assembly & Annual Meeting," and my wife Cheryl and I have decided to attend the conference. The conference ends two days before our wedding anniversary, so I could not attend the Bermuda conference without bringing Cheryl and keeping matrimonial bliss. However, when I asked her if she wanted to go to Bermuda in the middle of September her first response was, "In the middle of hurricane season?" The WFE appears to have a good conference planned, with the Bermuda Stock Exchange and its owners Miami International Holdings, Inc. hosting the event. Have a great day and stay safe and treat people the same way you want to be treated: with respect, equality and justice.~JJL ***** The World Bank is hosting World Water Week, Aug. 20-24, 2023, online and in Stockholm, Sweden. Organized by the Stockholm International Water Institute, World Water Week invites a rethink of how water is managed, and urges consideration of the ideas, innovations, and governance systems that are needed in an increasingly unstable and water scarce world. Online attendance is free. View the agenda and register here. ~SAED Our most read stories last Friday on JLN Options were: 'Extreme' Short in Long-End Treasuries Delivers Volatility Not Seen Since 2020 Michael Burry is a 'one-trick pony' - and the 'Big Short' investor's massive bet against the stock market is a sure loser, says veteran analyst Meme stocks ride on, though investors more cautious than GameStop era ~JB ++++ How to Get Rich and Famous From a Stock Market Crash Spencer Jakab - The Wall Street Journal "Sooner or later a crash is coming, and it could be terrific." A wimpy prediction like that would struggle to go viral in 2023. It caused a sensation in 1929, though, weeks before Black Tuesday. In a preview of that calamity, stocks briefly plunged in what would be called the Babson Break. /jlne.ws/3P5jNOi ****** This is pretty simple, either make or lose a lot of money.~JJL ++++ GOP Presidential Hopeful Ramaswamy Sued Over Strive's Practices; In separate lawsuits, two former employees at the candidate's Strive Asset Management claim that the anti-ESG investment firm pressured them to violate securities laws. Max Chafkin - Bloomberg Vivek Ramaswamy has been rising in presidential polls partly on the strength of his business accomplishments. Before he started running for the Republican nomination, where polling averages now put him in third place behind Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, Ramaswamy founded and ran a drug development company, Roivant, which he took public in 2021. Then he started an asset management firm, Strive, presenting it as a conservative answer to the ESG movement's focus on investments' environmental, social and governance impacts. Strive's motto, meant as a contrast to ESG, is "invest in excellence." /jlne.ws/3P4Z3Gs ***** For the record, if the firm did violate securities laws and mistreat staff as accused, then that would be an example of "anti-ESG."~JJL ++++ How Do You Deal With a Windfall in Your 20s? A sudden influx of cash can offer a sense of relief for a young person. But for those grieving a loss or dealing with large sums of money for the first time, it can also feel overwhelming. Caitlin Kelly - The New York Times Mattea Roach still gets around Toronto by subway. In a city where tear-down bungalows can sell for $1 million, Ms. Roach, who uses they/them pronouns, still shares an apartment with their brother despite having more than enough money to buy a house. For Ms. Roach, 24, the youngest ever "Jeopardy" super-champion, the $560,983 in winnings has done little to change how they live their daily life. They haven't bought a car or splurged on anything more than some new clothes and a few more trips to the record store. /jlne.ws/3E5r7mQ ****** A member of a trading group I was part of made $700K in markets off the drought of the summer of 1988. He was in his early 20s. I am not sure what became of him or his early good fortune, though I tried to persuade him to act like it did not exist and just invest it for the long term. He had not really learned to trade. He was just lucky. Another trader I knew made $1 million in the stock market crash of 1987. He was very smart, maybe too smart as he was always trying to catch the next big break in the market and gave away a lot of what he gained. He is a school teacher today. ~JJL ++++ Friday's Top Three Our top clicked item on Friday was our MarketsWiki page for Terence J. Duffy of Advantage Futures, and second was our MW page for Terrence A. Duffy of the CME Group. Terry J. Duffy is this year's chairman of the LaSalle Street Trading Tech Awards Committee of the Pathway to Adventure Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and Terry A. Duffy was almost this year's chairman, and is a supporter. Third was Business Book of the Year 2023 - the longlist, from the Financial Times. ++++
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Lead Stories | Quant Trader Doubles Fortune to $11 Billion as XTX Profit Surges; XTX Holdings paid a record £1.6 billion dividend in April; Gerko now almost as wealthy as Millennium's Izzy Englander Benjamin Stupples and Tom Maloney - Bloomberg A former Deutsche Bank AG trader is rapidly amassing enough wealth in the fallout from volatile interest rates and inflation to rival some of the richest billionaires in finance. Alex Gerko's fortune has surged to $10.8 billion after the holding company of his quantitative trading firm XTX Markets paid out a record £1.6 billion ($2 billion) dividend to its owners earlier this year. XTX also increased profits more than 50%, helping to roughly double the 43-year-old's net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. /jlne.ws/3OLKwOq China urges Brics to become geopolitical rival to G7; Leaders from bloc of developing economies will gather this week to debate expansion Joseph Cotterill, James Kynge, Arjun Neil Alim and Michael Pooler - Financial Times China will push the Brics bloc of emerging markets to become a full-scale rival to the G7 this week, as leaders from across the developing world gather to debate the forum's biggest expansion in more than a decade. South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has invited more than 60 heads of state and government to a summit in Johannesburg from Wednesday when several countries could be invited to join the bloc of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, said several officials familiar with talks. /jlne.ws/3QSAmhX Hong Kong Finance 'Czar' Yam Is Frontrunner as Next HKEX Chair; Yam is said to be leading candidate to succeed Laura Cha; Yam known for his advocacy of yuan, criticism of crypto Kiuyan Wong - Bloomberg Hong Kong Monetary Authority's founding chief executive, Joseph Yam, has emerged as the leading candidate to become the next chairman of city's stock exchange, according to people familiar with the matter. The former central banker is poised to succeed Laura Cha as chairman of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. when her term ends in April, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussion are internal. /jlne.ws/44dtPkF Anti-ESG Funds Face Obstacles to Broad Investor Acceptance; One problem is defining exactly what these funds actually invest in Suzanne McGee - The Wall Street Journal A small number of new funds has a message for investors: It's time to stop picking stocks based on ESG. These new funds say that environmental, social and governance factors are a bad way to judge investments-so they either ignore those factors entirely in picking stocks, or they actively shun companies that support ESG and causes that they see as left-leaning. /jlne.ws/3QMiPYo Surge in zero-day options sparks fears over market volatility; Very short-dated options account for 43% of volume in S&P 500 options George Steer - Financial Times The market for extremely short-dated options on US stock market moves has boomed in recent weeks, sparking fears among analysts that the daily bursts of activity could be causing sharp sell-offs in equities. So-called zero-day options, which allow traders to take targeted positions in stock markets around events such as economic data releases or monetary policy meetings, have surged in popularity since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. /jlne.ws/3YM21TE China's 40-Year Boom Is Over. What Comes Next?; The economic model that took the country from poverty to great-power status seems broken, and everywhere are signs of distress Lingling Wei and Stella Yifan Xie - The Wall Street Journal For decades, China powered its economy by investing in factories, skyscrapers and roads. The model sparked an extraordinary period of growth that lifted China out of poverty and turned it into a global giant whose export prowess washed across the globe. Now the model is broken. What worked when China was playing catch-up makes less sense now that the country is drowning in debt and running out of things to build. /jlne.ws/45hPlGj Criminals using dark web 'kits' for tax fraud Tom Burton - Financial Review Criminals are increasingly turning to the dark web to promote tax fraud, amid a nearly $600 million GST compliance crackdown aimed at lifting GST collections by $7.6 billion over the next five years. The Tax Office aims to refund legitimate GST claims within 12 days, but an explosion in fraudulent claims totalling nearly $4 billion has put the spotlight on how digitisation is enabling scammers to rapidly exploit Australia's self-assessment tax system. /jlne.ws/3KQbXpk Moscow moves ahead with digital currency Scott Chipolina - Financial Times If you're a central banker, the advent of crypto has elicited two reactions. The first is concern. Private companies could begin to have considerable sway over the supply of money, by minting millions of tokens, without any oversight from you. Or they insert themselves in financial markets, into investors' portfolios, and somewhere down the line it ends up with you doing the unthinkable: an intervention in markets that is tantamount to a bailout for people of questionable integrity or motivations. /jlne.ws/3qJPOC3 The AI wave will only benefit smart stockpickers Nicholas Megaw - Financial Times Opinion Enthusiasm surrounding the growth of artificial intelligence has been one of the only consistently positive views in US stock markets this year. Sharp rises in the shares of the seven largest tech companies by market capitalisation have dragged the S&P 500 into a bull market, despite concerns about inflation and the health of the financial sector. /jlne.ws/45y5c3l Citi considers overhaul that would hand more power to chief Jane Fraser; Institutional Clients Group would disappear in most significant shake-up of past 15 years Stephen Gandel and Joshua Franklin and Stephen Morris - Financial Times Citigroup chief executive Jane Fraser is considering a plan to disband the bank's biggest division in what would be the most significant shake-up of its corporate structure in nearly 15 years, according to people familiar with the proposal. /jlne.ws/3skdEoC Too much is at stake for UBS to fail in its integration of Credit Suisse; There is political pressure to avoid job losses as a result of the takeover Jonathan Guthrie - Financial News Credit Suisse has gone from being Switzerland's public embarrassment to the secret shame of its politicians and regulators. The pivotal day was March 18, when Swiss officials marched the faltering lender up the aisle for a shotgun wedding to larger rival UBS. /jlne.ws/3sb4H0D Goldman Sachs explores investment adviser sale in retreat from mass market; Personal financial management business grew from United Capital acquisition in 2019 Joshua Franklin - Financial Times Goldman Sachs is exploring a sale of the investment advisory business it acquired four years ago, marking a further retreat from efforts to be a major bank to mass-market customers. /jlne.ws/45D7QVk Why Russia's War in Ukraine Could Run for Years; From Moscow to Washington, a lack of clear and achievable strategic goals points to a long conflict Marcus Walker - The Wall Street Journal Russia's war on Ukraine is in danger of becoming a protracted struggle that lasts several more years. The reason isn't just that the front-line combat is a slow-moving slog, but also that none of the main actors have political goals that are both clear and attainable. Ukraine's central war aim-restoring its territorial integrity-is the clearest, but appears a distant prospect given the limits of Western support. /jlne.ws/3QNTTQr America's Tech Giants Rush to Comply With New Curbs in Europe Kim Mackrael and Sam Schechner - The Wall Street Journal The hammer is about to come down on some of the world's biggest tech companies. Meta Platforms, Apple, Alphabet's Google and other large-and largely American-tech companies will by next week start facing the first of new European Union tech rules set to come into effect over coming months, marking the largest expansion in digital regulation ever in the West. /jlne.ws/3P5q6l6 Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyers blast 2 days a week trial prep time: 'Entirely inadequate' Reuters Lawyers for Sam Bankman-Fried on Friday rejected as "entirely inadequate" the government's plan for letting the jailed founder of the collapsed FTX cryptocurrency exchange prepare for his October fraud trial. /jlne.ws/3KPTYPF The SEC's equities overhaul: Necessary plumbing changes or a liquidity drain? As the Securities and Exchange Commission undergoes its biggest equities shake up in 18 years to bolster best execution, Wesley Bray explores what the changes could mean for institutional investors. Wesley Bray - The Trade The four separate rulemakings put forward by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in December last year represent the most significant attempt to revamp market structure for US equities in recent memory. /jlne.ws/3E2xNlA
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Ukraine Invasion | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Russia general who reportedly served as the top commander for Ukraine last year has died Ivana Kottasova, Darya Tarasova and Lauren Kent - CNN A Russian general who reportedly served as the top military commander for Ukraine last year has died, according to Russian state media. Army General Gennady Zhidko died at 58 "after a long illness" on Wednesday, according to the state news agency TASS. Zhidko served as Russia's Eastern Military District Commander between May and October last year. /jlne.ws/3OD64wK Putin meets top generals in charge of Russia's war efforts in Ukraine Reuters President Vladimir Putin visited the commander of Russia's operation in Ukraine and other top military brass, the Kremlin said on Saturday, a meeting that came after Ukraine claimed counteroffensive gains on the southeastern front. "Vladimir Putin held a meeting at the headquarters of the special military operation group in Rostov-on-Don," the Kremlin said in a statement. Russia, which launched its invasion in Ukraine in February 2022, calls its actions a special military operation. /jlne.ws/3sc6jY0 Israel Sells Missiles to Germany as Ukraine War Fuels Demand for Weapons Michael Amon, Bojan Pancevski and Dov Lieber - The Wall Street Journal Israel is selling its most advanced air-defense missile system to Germany, in a fresh sign of how the Ukraine war has created demand for weapons in Europe and fueled a boom for the Israeli arms industry. Israeli officials said Thursday that the U.S. approved the $3.5 billion sale of the Arrow 3 missile-which was jointly designed by state-run Israel Aerospace Industries and Boeing, requiring permission from Washington to sell. /jlne.ws/44hACda How Putin uses the Russian Orthodox Church in his war on Ukraine Jack Clover - The Times At the Army 2023 expo of Russian military technology last week, it was not the vast Yars intercontinental missile or the captured western armoured vehicles that stole the show but an inflatable church. The mobile chapel, or military field temple, is meant to serve the spiritual needs of Russian soldiers in the red zone at the front in Ukraine. /jlne.ws/45yGcsI Third of Ukraine Crop Exports Wiped Out After Black Sea Block; Exports via alternative routes have proved challenging; Sales of grain, oilseeds are key source of income for Ukraine Aine Quinn and Olesia Safronova - Bloomberg The Kremlin's efforts to paralyze Ukrainian food shipments are succeeding, with a third of the country's crop exports wiped out since its Black Sea ports were effectively blocked last month. The drop marks a significant setback for Ukraine's economy and global food security, even with a EUR1-billion push by the European Union to build out alternative routes since the start of Russia's invasion. /jlne.ws/3E4k91n Lessons from the 'tanker war' for Ukraine; Ukrainian attempts to force Russian oil from the Black Sea may have unintended consequences for its allies Sergey Vakulenko - Financial Times Opinion /jlne.ws/45Aoipp Russian bomber destroyed in Ukrainian drone attack The Telegraph /jlne.ws/3OHTVXs Ukraine running out of options to retake significant territory Susannah George - The Washington Post /jlne.ws/458paBX EU Mulls Subsidizing Transport for Ukraine's Grain Export Piotr Bujnicki - Bloomberg /jlne.ws/3YHtwgU
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Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | LME case could redefine exchange powers to cancel trades; European trading venues have broad discretion when responding to market emergencies Samuel Wilkes - Risk.net A ruling against the London Metal Exchange, in a case by two financial firms that had their nickel trades cancelled last March, could have wide-ranging implications for how trading venues deal with extreme market events. "Everybody is watching how the LME case turns out. It is a concern," says a regulatory expert at an electronic market-making firm. /jlne.ws/3qBohCY 'Fastest growing' Japan power business exceeding expectations: EEX CEO Channel News Asia The growth of the Japanese business of the European Energy Exchange (EEX) is exceeding expectations, its CEO Peter Reitz told Reuters in an interview late Monday (Aug 14). EEX, the world's largest electricity exchange, saw a sharp drop in traded volumes last year, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 pushed power tariffs across Europe to record highs, and resulted in a slump in power purchasing interest. /jlne.ws/3qxzXXt CME Group, CF Benchmarks to launch APAC reference rates for bitcoin, ether Timmy Shen - The Block CME Group, which operates one of the world's largest derivatives markets, announced today a new collaboration with crypto indexing firm CF Benchmarks to launch two new APAC-specific reference rates for bitcoin and ether. CME Group said that the two new reference rates - the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate APAC and CME CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate APAC - will go live on Sept. 11 and will provide a once-a-day rate, released at 4 p.m. Hong Kong time, in U.S. dollar terms for the two cryptocurrencies. /jlne.ws/47J1PID CME Group to launch BTC, ETH reference rates aimed at Asia's investors Jesse Coghlan - CoinTelegraph On Aug. 16, derivatives marketplace CME Group said it's partnered with crypto indices provider CF Benchmarks and on Sept. 11 to launch the two Asia Pacific-focused crypto reference rates. Reference rates are used as a credible source of a cryptocurrency's price and are used - in CME's case - to price settlements of crypto futures contracts. /jlne.ws/3E7NIzb TAIFEX Newsletter TAIFEX News and Events. Haven't Registered Yet? Secure Your Spot Now at the FIA Forum: Taipei 2023 Co-hosted by Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX) and Futures Industry Association (FIA), FIA Forum: Taipei 2023 will take place at Shangri-La's Far Eastern Plaza Hotel, at 1:30 pm on August 31. The Forum features two panels: "The Exchanges: What's next?" and "Navigating a Volatile Global Environment," and brings together a diverse panelist lineup from exchange leaders, industry professionals and experts to delve into the impact of megatrends, such as new technologies, digital assets and ESG, as well as the driving forces and emerging changes that are shaping the markets, and obstacles that impede sustainable growth. The event also offers an unparalleled networking opportunity, and nearly 300 local and international participants are expected to attend. For more information and registration, please visit here. /jlne.ws/45yRc9w Listing Ceremony Satellite Event - Actively managed ETFs are finally here! JPX To celebrate the first listing of actively managed ETFs in Japan, Tokyo Stock Exchange will hold the Actively Managed ETF Listing Ceremony Satellite Event. The details of which are as follows. Actively managed ETFs, which operate flexibly without tracking indices, will finally be listed for the first time in Japan. In order to celebrate the first listing of actively managed ETFs, an event will be held at KABUTO ONE 1F Atrium Space from 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 7, 2023. /jlne.ws/3P2D7fa Special Change in KRX FactSet Next Generation Energy Index for EID KRX Since EID(093230) has been designated as "Administrative Issue" on August 16th, 2023, KRX will remove the constituent from KRX FactSet Next Generation Energy Index. /jlne.ws/47DMIA9 Appendix 3Y - Change Of Director's Interest Notice - Vicki Carter ASX Attached is an Appendix 3Y Change of Director's Interest Notice for Vicki Anne Carter. /jlne.ws/46R1Cme Position Limits-Cash Settled Interest Rate Listed Products TMX The applicable position limits for cash settled interest rate futures and options on cash settled interest rate futures have been updated and are reflected in the position limit file. The position limit file is retrievable here. The position limits will apply as follows. /jlne.ws/3OHq01G SGX RegCo urges all parties to work towards successful conduct of requisitioned meetings Singapore Exchange Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) notes the 18 August 2023 press statement from the Securities Investors Association (Singapore) (SIAS) on ASTI Holdings Limited (ASTI) and disagreements between certain ASTI shareholders who are requisitioning an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) and the ASTI board of directors. In particular, SGX RegCo notes the conflicting views concerning the matter of whether the EGM has been validly convened. Nonetheless, SGX RegCo notes that SIAS has urged all ASTI shareholders to attend both the EGM on 22 August 2023 and the Annual General Meeting on 31 August 2023. /jlne.ws/3KQ99bP
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Fintech | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Here's how the Bloomberg Terminal is integrating AI to automate tasks for traders and analysts Bianca Chan - Insider Bloomberg is making upgrades to its terminal, a ubiquitous piece of technology that traders and analysts use to access the troves of data that underpin Wall Street.The company has been investing in AI to automate tasks for users of its terminal, making it easier to parse through the mountains of information at their disposal. /jlne.ws/3QKEBfe Elon Musk's Latest Antics Have Some Asking: Is He Out of Touch?; The billionaire's taunts of Mark Zuckerberg draw cringes and questions Tim Higgins - The Wall Street Journal When Elon Musk threatens to drive uninvited to a business rival's house to physically fight him, it raises questions about what's going on with the world's richest man. Among them: Has the joke gone too far? What started as a funny tit-for-tat in late June about a potential physical duel slipped into weird territory when Mark Zuckerberg's handler had to issue a statement Monday that the Meta Platforms boss wasn't "going to fight someone who randomly shows up at his house." /jlne.ws/3KOGbZN Meta's Threads App to Launch Web Version as Rivalry With X Enters New Stage Salvador Rodriguez and Meghan Bobrowsky - Bloomberg Meta Platforms plans to launch a web version of microblogging app Threads early this week, the biggest new feature to be introduced on its competitor to Elon Musk's X. The desktop version would address one of the biggest of a long wish list of features users have sought for Threads. The text-first social-media app appeared on track to be a smash hit out of the gate when Meta launched a bare-bones version in early July, but use of it has plunged in recent weeks. /jlne.ws/3P51SHt Wall Street Turns to AI to Solve WhatsApp Compliance Nightmare Michael Roddan - The Information The Securities and Exchange Commission's latest crackdown on Wall Street bankers and traders' use of encrypted apps is sparking interest in whether large-language models and other artificial intelligence tools can catch Wall Street workers talking in code about something they shouldn't be-or switching to an encrypted app to continue a conversation. /jlne.ws/44jKMtY The Machine Economy and the Convergence of Web3, AI and Fintech Lex Sokolin - CoinDesk Despite the billions of value and millions of users, many people are still looking for crypto's "killer use case" and wondering if the one-true solution exists at all. What they fail to understand is that innovation is a process of novelty search and consequent discovery, not a multiple-choice exam with one right answer. It is okay to not know where things lead, to be lost, frustrated or confused. /jlne.ws/3OQwJ9E Richard Baker: Blockchain is maturing, users are seeking utility Steve Kaaru - CoinGeek /jlne.ws/3qHx6Lx
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Cybersecurity | Top stories for cybersecurity | QR Code Hacks Are Another Thing to Worry About Now Drake Bennett - Bloomberg Along with Zoom and those little silicone thingies that allow you to attach hand sanitizer bottles to the zipper of your fanny pack, one of the technologies Covid has thrust into our lives is the QR code. At this point, we've all gotten accustomed to using them to Venmo friends, tip people without making physical contact and log in remotely to our work stations. We've gotten used to - and then tired of - using them to order drinks and food at restaurants. /jlne.ws/47F0NgQ Hacker Swept Up in Wave of Crypto Liquidations Loses $63 Million Sidhartha Shukla - Bloomberg Cryptocurrencies' sudden tumble this week flushed out legions of speculators - and also, judging from blockchain data, the perpetrator of a giant hack. A crypto wallet linked to an almost $600 million heist of Binance Coin (BNB) last October had digital-asset collateral totaling $63 million liquidated on crypto lending platform Venus Protocol, according to Blockchain forensics firm PeckShield. /jlne.ws/3KSXaKr Tesla Data Breach Blamed on 'Insider Wrongdoing' Impacted 75,000; Tesla's May data breach included employee-related records; Tesla says two former employees shared info with Handelsblatt Dana Hull - Bloomberg Tesla Inc.'s May data breach impacted more than 75,000 people, included employee-related records and was a result of "insider wrongdoing," according to a notice posted by the office of the Maine Attorney General Friday. A total of 75,735 people were affected by the data breach, including nine residents of Maine. The people appear to be current or former employees of the Austin, Texas-based automaker. /jlne.ws/45h9tIK
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Cryptocurrencies | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | As Congress Bickers, the Rest of World Recognizes Stablecoins Michael J. Casey - CoinDesk Opinion Sadly, I must open up this week's newsletter on a down note. On Monday, CoinDesk made the necessary but extremely difficult decision to let go of 24 colleagues - the bulk of them from our editorial operations - to reduce costs in the face of a brutally challenging market for crypto media revenue. Every one of those people was a vital contributor to the high standards of journalism that have made CoinDesk a household name in the world of crypto. /jlne.ws/44dvFSB Bakkt Revitalizes Cryptocurrency Custody Solutions Amid Rising Demand JP Buntinx - CryptoMode In light of recent market dynamics and surging client interest, Bakkt Holdings is recalibrating its strategy. The emphasis? A sharper focus on their high-grade cryptocurrency custody offerings. Bakkt's Q2 financial disclosures underline its position as a "compliant and trusted" custodian. The increasing challenge for clients? Finding safe and secure methods to store their digital treasures. /jlne.ws/45yABCK Bakkt sees 'strong traction with new custody and crypto trading clients' James Hunt - The Block Bakkt CEO Gavin Michael said the crypto services firm was "seeing strong traction with new custody and crypto trading clients," in a call with Water Tower Research on Wednesday. By broadening its client network and being prudent with its capital allocation, Bakkt is also seeing improved gross profit margins, Michael added. Bakkt acquired the crypto brokerage platform Apex in April. /jlne.ws/47HU2uA Bitcoin casinos and burger joints selling Tether - how Hong Kong fell back in love with crypto Callan Quinn - DL News Some days it seems like everyone in Hong Kong has a crypto story. The son of the security guard in my apartment block bought three restaurants with money made from Bitcoin investments. I tell a Romanian importer at a bar that I write about crypto and he pulls up the leg of his jeans to reveal a Bitcoin tattoo on his calf. A medical student at Hong Kong University tells me her friends made "so much money" trading tokens - but she knows little about crypto herself. /jlne.ws/3YGO2OC The 3 Things Coinbase Says Will Determine the Future of Crypto Daniel Kuhn - CoinDesk Opinion Despite fighting what must be an incredibly cost-draining battle against the top U.S. securities regulator, Coinbase (COIN) is in a period of fluttering activity. Last week, the biggest publicly traded crypto company launched a new blockchain, Base, which has seen a surprising amount of uptake largely due to a couple viral apps. And today it announced the formal founding of Stand With Crypto, an "independent nonprofit organization for advancing pro-crypto legislation." /jlne.ws/3QHBchi
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Politics | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Biden faces calls to declare climate emergency as he heads to Maui; Climate groups and many of the president's allies in Congress urge him to invoke emergency powers to mitigate environmental threats. Myah Ward - Politico As President Joe Biden prepares to visit Maui, the Hawaiian island devastated by the deadliest wildfire in U.S. modern history, lawmakers and climate groups are begging the White House to do more to prevent future climate-related disasters. Their argument: If the latest environmental catastrophe won't spur the president into action, what will? /jlne.ws/45sGrFM GOP Presidential Hopeful Ramaswamy Sued Over Strive's Practices; In separate lawsuits, two former employees at the candidate's Strive Asset Management claim that the anti-ESG investment firm pressured them to violate securities laws. Max Chafkin - Bloomberg Vivek Ramaswamy has been rising in presidential polls partly on the strength of his business accomplishments. Before he started running for the Republican nomination, where polling averages now put him in third place behind Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, Ramaswamy founded and ran a drug development company, Roivant, which he took public in 2021. /jlne.ws/3PezYsV US Congressman Bacon Says His Emails Were Hacked in Campaign Linked to China; Commerce Secretary Raimondo's emails also breached in attack; Bacon is a strong advocate for US military support in Taiwan Katrina Manson - Bloomberg US Representative Don Bacon said he is among those whose emails were hacked in an espionage campaign that Microsoft Corp. has attributed to China. Bacon, a Republican from Nebraska and a strong advocate for US military support to Taiwan, posted on social media that the FBI had notified him that the Chinese Communist Party hacked into his personal and campaign emails over the course of a month, from May 15 to June 16. /jlne.ws/44jUsVp House Republicans are standing between Biden and his war to save Ukraine; Biden's $24 billion bid to arm Ukraine forces comes as Americans grow weary of supporting a battlefield stalemate Jonathan Lemire, Jennifer Haberkorn and Alexander Ward - Politico The White House's $24 billion request to arm Ukraine will test the administration's ability to support Kyiv just as it meets its fiercest resistance from Russia and - for the first time - a Republican-led House holding the purse strings. The request is part of a larger, $40 billion package full of unrelated big-budget items. /jlne.ws/3OK0KHX Canada's Oil-Rich Alberta Province Halts Renewable-Energy Projects Vipal Monga - The Wall Street Journal Canada's oil-rich province of Alberta has become the latest jurisdiction to push back against renewable-energy initiatives, declaring a seven-month moratorium on new wind and solar projects. The pause put in place by the province's conservative government has provoked criticism from members of the renewables industry, which says the move threatens to undermine a fast-growing sector that has been contributing a growing share of energy to Alberta's power grid. /jlne.ws/47CrIKj The U.S. Is Turning Away From Its Biggest Scientific Partner at a Precarious Time Karen Hao and Sha Hua - The Wall Street Journal /jlne.ws/3YPKee7
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Regulation & Enforcement | Stories about regulation and the law. | US regulators raise pressure on board members at competing companies Stefania Palma and James Fontanella-Khan - Financial Times US antitrust agencies are taking a harder line on directors who sit on the boards of competing companies, signalling a broadening crackdown in cases that violate federal law. So-called interlocking directorates at competing groups are prohibited in the US in most cases, as they raise the risk of illicit co-ordination across businesses. /jlne.ws/3E2wy5M Private fund industry prepares for battle over sweeping US rules; Private equity, real estate and hedge funds targeted by SEC proposal up for vote this week Brooke Masters and Stefania Palma - Financial Times The global private funds industry is bracing for one of the most sweeping regulatory reforms in its history as the US Securities and Exchange Commission prepares to impose tough rules on private equity, real estate and hedge funds. /jlne.ws/3QNVYfc Empowered files for Ark and 21Shares-branded bitcoin futures ETFs; One of the three funds will serve as an underlying ETF of the other two, filings show Brian Ponte - Financial Times Empowered Funds has filed to launch three bitcoin futures ETFs that will use the Ark Invest and 21Shares brands in their names. Although the ETFs will use the 21Shares and Ark brands, those two firms will function as the funds' subadviser and sub-subadviser, respectively. /jlne.ws/3OMuML0 SEC Charges Former California and Colorado Resident with Fraud SEC The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Andrew Wyles Waters (Waters) with perpetrating a fraudulent scheme involving his private sale of restricted common stock in ECom Products Group Corporation (EPGC) (OTC: EPGC), a Florida corporation that purportedly owns, consolidates, and manages e-commerce platforms. /jlne.ws/47I4QsE SEC Obtains Emergency Relief, Charges Recidivist in Offering Fraud SEC The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it filed an emergency action and obtained a temporary restraining order and asset freezes to stop an offering fraud allegedly perpetrated by Florida company PreIPO Corp., Boca Raton resident and serial recidivist, John A. Mattera, and West Palm Beach resident David P. Grzan. /jlne.ws/47J1vd9 SEC Charges Georgia Resident in Crypto-Related Affinity Fraud SEC The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Keith Crews of Kennesaw, Georgia for conducting an affinity fraud through two entities which he owned and controlled, Stem Biotech LLC and Four (4) Square Biz LLC. /jlne.ws/3slVrah Financial Services & Markets Act 2023 gives FCA new powers to protect access to cash Financial Conduct Authority Through the Financial Services & Markets Act 2023, Parliament has asked the FCA to seek to ensure reasonable provision of cash deposit and withdrawal services for personal and business current accounts in the UK or part of the UK. Following the Cash Access Policy Statement published by the Government we will develop new rules to ensure that as cash access services evolve they continue to be provided on a reasonable basis. /jlne.ws/3Lc0l0b FCA sets out expectations for UK cryptoasset businesses complying with the Travel Rule Financial Conduct Authority From 1 September 2023, cryptoasset businesses in the UK will be required to collect, verify and share information about cryptoasset transfers, known as the 'Travel Rule'. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has called on other jurisdictions to swiftly implement the Travel Rule, which aligns practices for cryptoasset businesses sending and receiving transactions with those common in other areas of financial services. /jlne.ws/3OD61B5
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Investing & Trading | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Cargill Tests 123-Foot-Tall Sails in Effort to Slash Fuel Burn; The biggest agricultural trader in the world turns to an old-tech solution as commercial shipping looks for ways to clean up its act. Jack Wittels and Gerson Freitas Jr - Bloomberg The world's largest agricultural trader hauls 225 million tons of cargo around the globe each year on hundreds of colossal vessels. Now one of those ships is being powered, in part, by wind. The Pyxis Ocean, an 80,000-ton bulk carrier chartered by commodity giant Cargill Inc., just finished her maiden voyage from Shanghai to Singapore after the installation of two massive steel and composite-glass "sails." /jlne.ws/3spF9wN The Moves Wealthy Families Are Making to Skirt Estate Taxes; How dynasty trusts can shield wealth before the Trump tax cuts expire Ashlea Ebeling - The Wall Street Journal An unprecedented rush to relinquish wealth is under way, and it isn't just for billionaires. The Trump tax cuts of 2017 temporarily doubled the base amount individuals could give away without paying estate taxes to $10 million. These cuts are due to expire in 2026, pushing wealthy Americans to move fast. They gave away $182.6 billion in 2021, more than double the $75.2 billion the year before, according to recently published Internal Revenue Service statistics. /jlne.ws/3YJSYST A Global Stock Trader's Guide to Navigating Food Inflation; Agri producer stocks have beat global equities since July; Food-supply crisis is seen among top global threats this yea Abhishek Vishnoi and Lisa Pham - Bloomberg Agriculture stocks are beating their global peers this quarter as extreme weather, the war in Ukraine and rising protectionism drive up food prices. Exposure to the sector is a good hedge for inflation, some investors say. An index tracking total returns from select agricultural producers has outperformed the broader MCSI World Index by about three percentage points since the start of July, data compiled by Bloomberg show. /jlne.ws/3YLf33O Bond Investors Brace for Supply Freight Train Before Fed Confab; Less-favored Treasury sales may require higher long-end yields; Long-end weakness reflects buyer's need for more risk premium Michael Mackenzie - Bloomberg The highest long-term Treasury yields in years are headed for a major hearing next week as investors place their bids for two risky auctions - right before the Federal Reserve's potentially game-changing annual gathering at Jackson Hole. A relentless Treasury-market selloff this month wiped out what was left of year-to-date gains that at one point exceeded 4%. /jlne.ws/3KNONjt Global Stock Managers on Guard as China Pain Set to Spread; Miners, luxury, industrials seen vulnerable to China slowdown; Money managers seek to hedge China risks as slump deepens John Cheng and Henry Ren - Bloomberg Global stock managers are bracing for pain as China's dramatic slowdown undermines the prospects for companies elsewhere that rely on the world's second-largest economy. Once the most promising bet of the year, investments linked to China have turned into a bane as its property market slump risks spiraling into a systemic crisis. /jlne.ws/3YIolNO Investors Are Leaving Stocks for the Allure of Risk-Free Payouts in Bonds; Bonds are most attractively valued against stocks since 2004; Stock volatility edges up as inflows into the asset class ease Denitsa Tsekova - Bloomberg /jlne.ws/44g1kDa Soy Hits 3-Week High With Heat Gripping US as Crop Tour Starts; Parts of key growing regions are under excessive heat warnings; The Pro Farmer Crop Tour gets underway in the US this week Megan Durisin - Bloomberg /jlne.ws/47Je7AL
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Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | London's clean-air zone expansion hit by camera vandalism Reuters Hundreds of cameras installed on London's roads to enforce a clean-air zone that imposes a daily charge on some motorists have been vandalised amid fierce opposition to its upcoming expansion, police said on Friday. The Aug. 29 expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) has been championed by London Mayor Sadiq Khan as essential to bring down deaths linked to air pollution and combat climate change. /jlne.ws/3E2FJn1 Canada to deploy military in British Columbia to tackle fast-spreading fires Nia Williams - Reuters British Columbia declares state of emergency after wildfires; Flames have led to evacuation orders for more than 35,000 people. AQI of some British Columbia cities at 'hazardous' levels. Canada is sending the military to tackle fast-spreading wildfires in British Columbia, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Sunday, as the western province deals with flames that have led to evacuation orders for more than 35,000 people. /jlne.ws/47HVjBQ How Companies Will Have to Report on ESG Globally: Explained Michael Kapoor - Bloomberg Law The International Sustainability Standards Board was supposed to create a single global standard for ESG reporting, cutting through an alphabet soup of voluntary rules. Instead, different countries and regions-including the EU-are creating their own, separate, reporting rules on environmental, social and corporate governance reporting. Here's a roadmap to help comply with the different regulatory paths that are emerging. /jlne.ws/45BygXD World Bank's green overhaul is slowly taking shape Rebecca Christie - Reuters To step up the fight against climate change, World Bank President Ajay Banga wants to overhaul the lender's balance sheet without overturning its credit rating. The bank's new chief has a golden opportunity to expand the bank's reach, thanks to support from U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. At least $200 billion in extra resources each year need to materialise for the bank to do its part. /jlne.ws/47COQIC ESG Investors Have Ethical Motives. They Also Expect to Outperform the Market. Those with sizable stakes in ESG investments aren't in it just to feel good about themselves, a study finds Daisy Maxey - The Wall Street Journal The conventional wisdom is that people who put money into ESG investments are motivated primarily by ethical concerns. That's true for some people. But a new study examining attitudes and expectations about environmental, social and corporate-governance investing found evidence suggesting that many investors who own ESG stakes themselves expect those investments to outperform the U.S. stock market. /jlne.ws/45CnY9W 'It's time to dismantle this circus': ESG has served its purpose, say BlackRock's ex-CIO Tariq Fancy and former DWS exec Desiree Fixler Kristen McGachey - Financial News /jlne.ws/3QJKKrZ Diesel Is Pricing a Scarcity With Winter Demand Looming Elizabeth Low, Jack Wittels and Chunzi Xu - Bloomberg /jlne.ws/47HI5W0 US Rig Count Drops to 17-Month Low in Sign of Shale Slowdown; The number has declined in nine of the past 10 weeks Ruth Liao and Kevin Crowley - Bloomberg /jlne.ws/44l662 Looking for an Alternative to ESG Investing? Here's One Possibility Lori Ioannou - The Wall Street Journal /jlne.ws/3E4mBVB
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Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | NIBA Compliance Officers Group (COG) Meeting 2023 National Introducing Brokers Association NIBA's Compliance Officers Group (COG) will hold its first meeting in-person at the Chicago offices of Mayer Brown on the afternoon of September 12th. The meeting consists of three business sessions each selected specifically in response to member CCOs concerns. A committee co-chair will present each individual topic. The discussion leaders - FCM and IB/CTA members of the NIBA will open the discussion and invite all attendees to join in. /jlne.ws/47z7AZz Citadel in Fresh Dispute With Balyasny Over Hedge Fund Talent; Citadel alleges ex-employees misappropriated confidential info; The hedge funds had previously settled a dispute in 2021 Alfred Cang and Nishant Kumar - Bloomberg Citadel and Balyasny Asset Management are engaged in a new dispute over hiring, marking at least the second time in as many years that the two firms have clashed in an intensifying competition for hedge fund talent. Miami-based Citadel, led by billionaire Ken Griffin, has alleged that several of its employees who left to join Balyasny had misappropriated its confidential information, according to people with knowledge of the matter. /jlne.ws/3OMCSDw The improbable hedge: Protecting against rising rates with high yield bonds Christoph Schon - Qontigo High yield bonds have significantly outperformed higher rated debt in the first seven months of 2023, posting strong positive returns, despite a considerable rise in interest rates and concerns about the health of the banking system earlier this year. While the latter caused an upsurge in risk premia at the beginning of March, credit spreads have since returned to their pre-crisis levels on the back of recovering share prices. /jlne.ws/3QOPQn6 Wall Street Banks Rush to Reclaim Edge in Market for Buyout Debt; Banks commit to finance deals for Simon & Schuster, Veritiv; Competition rises between banks, private credit for LBO deals Jill R Shah - Bloomberg Wall Street's top banks are rushing back into the lucrative market for leveraged buyouts to reclaim business from private creditors. Banks are committing financing for a slew of new deals - from the $1 billion loan for the purchase of book publisher Simon & Schuster Inc. to the roughly $1.7 billion of debt for the acquisition of packaging firm Veritiv Corp. They can win this business, in part, because they've cleared out so much of the older debt stuck on their books that made it harder to compete for new offerings. /jlne.ws/3sdbIxY Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon retains board and investor backing amid internal backlash Joshua Franklin and Brooke Masters - Financial Times Goldman Sachs chief executive David Solomon is facing an internal backlash and negative publicity but has for now retained the backing of the Wall Street bank's directors and some of its top shareholders. Solomon is contending with the most challenging period of his nearly five-year tenure as CEO, with the past 12 months punctuated by falling profits, sagging morale and unflattering press coverage - including a damaging story this month in New York Magazine that asked if he was "too big a jerk" to run the bank. /jlne.ws/3QLAlfq Zhongzhi's Crisis Exposes the Perils of Private Credit; Asset quality is deteriorating, but the bigger issue is the failure to ring-fence some products. Shuli Ren - Bloomberg Opinion /jlne.ws/44dwYRv Wall Street All-Stars Including Weinstein, Ackman Bid for Hedge Fund Gregory Zuckerman - The Wall Street Journal /jlne.ws/3KMM75z Investor Boaz Weinstein leading rival bid for hedge fund Sculptor; Saba Capital founder is working with Pershing Square's Bill Ackman and Marc Lasry of Avenue Capital Group Ortenca Aliaj - Financial Times /jlne.ws/45eqwLF Credit Suisse Shuts Japan Equity Trading for Hedge Funds Takashi Nakamichi and Nao Sano - Bloomberg /jlne.ws/3P4XcBu Axa's Asset Management Unit to Cut Up to 90 Roles in Revamp; Job reductions will be across the UK, France and Germany; The French firm is reorganizing investment, operations teams Loukia Gyftopoulou and Laura Benitez - Bloomberg /jlne.ws/3spagsm Goldman Sachs Plans to Undo Another Solomon Deal Chasing Mass Market Sridhar Natarajan and Daniel Taub - Bloomberg /jlne.ws/47CpOJv UBS Keeps Torturing Credit Suisse Bondholders; The bank's rescue of its rival is looking more profitable by the day. That naturally riles debtholders wiped out in the process. Chris Hughes - Bloomberg /jlne.ws/3QMrWIA
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Work & Management | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | Ego Is the Enemy of Good Leadership Rasmus Hougaard and Jacqueline Carter - Harvard Business Review On his first day as CEO of the Carlsberg Group, a global brewery and beverage company, Cees 't Hart was given a key card by his assistant. The card locked out all the other floors for the elevator so that he could go directly to his corner office on the 20th floor. And with its picture windows, his office offered a stunning view of Copenhagen. These were the perks of his new position, ones that spoke to his power and importance within the company. /jlne.ws/3E5q7z5 Why Kindness at Work Pays Off Andrew Swinand - Harvard Business Review When anxiety is high and morale is low, kindness isn't a luxury - it's a necessity. With mass layoffs, economic uncertainty, and geopolitical tensions, kindness is needed now more than ever, especially at work. Research suggests that kindness yields positive outcomes for businesses. If you're an emerging leader, being kind to your employees can help you retain top talent, establish a thriving culture, increase employee engagement, and enhance productivity. /jlne.ws/3KJDzwo
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Wellness Exchange | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Scientists race to understand highly mutated coronavirus variant spotted in four countries, including the US Brenda Goodman - CNN A highly mutated new variant of the virus that causes Covid-19 has countries on alert as scientists scramble to understand how far it has spread and how well our immunity will defend against it. The new variant, called BA.2.86 and nicknamed Pirola by variant hunters on social media, has more than 30 amino acid changes to its spike protein compared with its next closest ancestor, the BA.2 subvariant of Omicron, according to Dr. Jesse Bloom, who studies viral evolution at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle. /jlne.ws/3P44uFD New Covid Variant With 'High Number of Mutations' Found in UK Gwyn Wright - The Press Association A new coronavirus variant with a "high number of mutations" has been detected in the UK. The BA.2.86 mutation was identified in the UK on Friday in someone with no recent travel history, the UK Health Security Agency said. This means there could already be "significant community transmission" among Britons, the agency added. /jlne.ws/45f2xM1 Covid-19 Is Back. Flu and RSV Are Coming. What to Know About Fall Shots.; Shots against all three viruses are available for the first time Brianna Abbott and Jon Kamp - The Wall Street Journal Americans will soon roll up their sleeves for an array of shots to stem the anticipated tide of respiratory infections this fall. Covid-19 wastewater levels and hospitalizations have been rising from low levels for weeks, and federal data show a rise in positive tests for respiratory syncytial virus, too. Health officials expect the flu to join the mix in coming months. /jlne.ws/3socnNq How Nursing Homes Failed to Protect Residents From Covid; A series of hurdles prevented the facilities from shielding older people, despite the best efforts of staff. Experts are calling for reforms before the next virus arrives. Paula Span - The New York Times The first terrifying wave of Covid-19 caused 60,000 deaths among residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities within five months. As the pandemic wore on, medical guidelines called for promptly administering newly approved antiviral treatments to infected patients at high risk of severe illness, hospitalization or death. /jlne.ws/3KQHK9z
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Regions | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Taiwan's Biggest Financial Firm Braces for Deeper China Turmoil; Fubon Financial is capping risks from China amid turmoil; Taipei firm has battled Covid losses, surging interest rates Betty Hou and Argin Chang - Bloomberg Taiwan's biggest financial conglomerate has cut back on its exposure to China as it braces for any deeper fallout from the property crisis in the world's second-largest economy. Fubon Financial Holding, which operates banks and insurance companies, has been capping its risks in China over the past few years during Covid, and is now prepared for even deeper turmoil. /jlne.ws/45gn6bb Mukesh Ambani's $19bn financial services company makes weak Indian market debut; JFS shares down 5% in first trading session, reflecting investor scepticism current progress 18% Chloe Cornish - Financial Times Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani listed his subsidiary Jio Financial Services on Monday, with share prices falling by 5 per cent in their trading debut to give the company a valuation of $19bn. /jlne.ws/3E2oylB Booming China-Russia Trade Sends Trench-Digging Machines to Ukraine's Front Lines; Mutually-beneficial ties have given Moscow a customer for its oil and gas and made China the world's top car-exporting nation Austin Ramzy and Jason Douglas - The Wall Street Journal China has played a key role in propping up Russia's economy over the past year and a half, dampening the effects of Western sanctions after its invasion of Ukraine. But Beijing, too, has benefited from the surge in bilateral trade, gaining cheap energy supplies and a growing market for cars and other exports at a time of economic weakness. /jlne.ws/3sitHDt Q&A: What does the UK's new biomass strategy mean for net-zero? Molly Lempriere - Carbon Brief Q&A: What does the UK's new biomass strategy mean for net-zero? Last week, the UK government released its long-awaited biomass strategy, which lays out the steps it intends to take to develop a sustainable, well-regulated biomass sector. The strategy was supported by a public dialogue on the role of biomass in achieving net-zero, a call for evidence and a report from the "task and finish group" of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero's chief scientific adviser. The 200-page document explores the sustainability of the sector, the priority use cases and the development of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). /jlne.ws/3qDjUHs Turkey backs away from foreign currency protected savings accounts Adam Samson - Financial Times Turkey has taken the first steps towards unwinding a $125bn scheme that protects savers against falls in the lira, the latest sign that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is backing away from the unconventional economic policies that damaged the country's economy. /jlne.ws/3KMLCsd Turkey Starts Curbing FX Tool Imposed to Halt Lira Selloff; New rule is designed to incentivize regular lira deposits; Mechanism aims to limit cash put in so-called KKM accounts Taylan Bilgic - Bloomberg /jlne.ws/3KQyDWl Gold miner Polymetal lines up buyers for its Russian assets Anastasia Stognei - Financial Times /jlne.ws/45c6UHQ
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Miscellaneous | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Why Cool Guys Can't Get Enough of This Banker-Style Shirt Ashley Ogawa Clarke - The Wall Street Journal Simon Goldman, 22, is never underdressed. Rather than lounging about in sportswear like many Gen-Zers, the New York menswear consultant typically sports a wedding-worthy, peak-lapel blazer and polished loafers; a patterned tie is never far away. Dressing up feels novel, he said. "That's where the excitement comes from." /jlne.ws/3E5RsBm
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