| December 29, 2022 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
Tomorrow is the last day that Trading Technologies will match any contributions to the John Lothian News MarketsWiki Education GoFundMe campaign to support our work to help capture industry history. These funds contributed by readers and other supporters give us the resources to be able to produce the Open Outcry Traders History Project, The Path to Electronic Trading, The History of Financial Futures and The History of Environmental Markets video series.
Without your support for these projects, we would be hard pressed to be able to produce this important work. If you have been a fan of our work on these series, now is the time to make a gift to our GoFundMe campaign and help Trading Technologies max out on their pledge of $20,000. We welcome gifts of any size. You can donate by clicking HERE
Also, starting next week we will begin the process of sending out invoices for 2023 subscriptions for the John Lothian Newsletter. If you would like to request an invoice, and maybe even pay in 2022, please email me at [email protected]
The cost of the 2023 JLN subscription is the same for an individual, $200, but the enterprise rate was increased by $5, from $145 to $150 for 2023.
I always wanted to get into the business of selling ice cube makers in the U.K. as I could never get enough ice cubes for ice water or to cool down a soft drink. Well, maybe this is the year as Bloomberg reports that "2022 Set to Be the Warmest Year on Record for Britain." I think a few more ice machines will come in handy.
Demand for gold in 2022 is running at the fastest pace in 55 years, since 1967, a year when demand for gold helped break up the Bretton Woods System that tied the price of gold to the U.S. dollar, the Financial Times reported. Russia and China's central banks are scooping up the gold, according to data compiled by the World Gold council, the FT said.
According to The New York Times, this is the pastry you should make for a New Year's party, a Paris-Brest.
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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MWE SHORT: Dr. Richard Sandor - The Building Blocks of the Financial Industry
JohnLothianNews.com
In part two of his presentation, Dr. Richard Sandor, chairman and CEO of Environmental Financial Products LLC, looks back at the creation of financial futures, the process of defining what a commodity was, and the formation of various regulators. Sandor also discusses the importance of educating all members of the financial industry to ensure everyone is up to speed on all the various components that make up the industry.
Watch the video »
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Why So Many Accountants Are Quitting; Even some accounting majors don't want accounting jobs
Lindsay Ellis - The Wall Street Journal
More than 300,000 U.S. accountants and auditors have left their jobs in the past two years, a 17% decline, and the dwindling number of college students coming into the field can't fill the gap. The exodus is driven by deeper workplace shifts than baby-boomer retirements. Young professionals in the 25- to 34-year-old range and midcareer professionals between the ages of 45 and 54 also departed in high numbers starting in 2019, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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****** This just does not add up.~JJL
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The Countries That Drink the Most Beer
Nicolette Baker - VinePair
Beer is enjoyed by thirsty drinkers worldwide, but it seems some countries love beer a bit more than others. A recent ranking of the top beer-consuming countries breaks down the 25 countries that drink the most - and No. 1 one might surprise you. Kirin Holdings Company published its 2021 beer consumption report on Dec. 23, which includes data from 170 countries and regions worldwide.
/jlne.ws/3C4UncU
******China is number one, the U.S. is number two and Wisconsin is number three.~JJL
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Your 401(K) Isn't Enough: To Invest for Retirement, Build Friendships and Hobbies; Don't wait for retirement to start cultivating the relationships and activities that will sustain you in your postwork years
Anne Tergesen - The Wall Street Journal
Investing for retirement means more than just stashing money in a 401(k). It's equally important to cultivate the interests, relationships and activities that will fill our days with purpose and satisfaction when we retire. This line of thinking is backed up by the long-running Harvard Study of Adult Development. Since 1938, the study has followed hundreds of Harvard University graduates and inner city Boston residents and their descendants to understand predictors of longevity and health and happiness in later life.
/jlne.ws/3VEyKHm
****** It is not what you do, it is why you do it. Having significant relationships as part of doing it, makes the why the why.~JJL
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Wednesday's Top Three
It's gratifying to see so many here still enjoy reading. Our top two stories are related to reading. First the Financial Times story, The books to read in 2023. Second is the Bloomberg story, 17 Books About Cities We Read This Year. Our third most read story was a sad one from CBS Chicago, Chicago In Memoriam: 25 notable Chicagoans who passed away in 2022.
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MarketsWiki Stats
27,109 pages; 242,124 edits
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| All MarketsWiki Sponsors» | | | | | | | John Lothian News (JLN) is the news division of John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. (JJLCO). The online media and financial services firm is staffed by derivatives industry, journalism and technology professionals. | | | | | | | John Lothian News Editorial Staff: | | | John Lothian
Publisher | | | Sarah Rudolph
Editor-in-Chief
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Editor
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| Lead Stories | Solana Founders Scramble to Move Past FTX's Stain on Their Token
Hannah Miller - Bloomberg
Solana, the blockchain network once championed by Sam Bankman-Fried, is drawing intense scrutiny as industry watchers wonder whether its former close ties to the disgraced crypto mogul and his now-defunct FTX empire will jeopardize its future. Its founders are doing everything they can to break that connection. The price of Solana's crypto token, SOL, has plummeted 96% from its all-time high of $260 in November 2021 to about $10, hurt first by a year-long crypto rout that engulfed the whole market and then again by FTX's fall. SOL dropped as much as 12% on Wednesday alone on concern large holders are offloading the token, which is used as the base cryptocurrency for financial transactions on the blockchain.
/jlne.ws/3Wxw2Vg
Credit Deals Are Going Private, Leaving Wall Street in the Cold; Leveraged buyouts were funded almost entirely by private credit late in the year, which could be a worrisome trend for Wall Street
Telis Demos - The Wall Street Journal
While some investors were hibernating in the fourth quarter, the private market for deal financing has been roaming free. The overwhelming majority of private equity-style deals late in the year have used financing by so-called private credit rather than by the marketing and selling of loans to a wide group of investors by banks. PitchBook LCD tracked 46 leveraged buyouts financed by private credit in the fourth quarter through Dec. 8, versus just one financed by the broadly syndicated loan market. For the recently announced take-private of Coupa Software COUP 0.23%increase; green up pointing triangle for instance, the top lending spot went to investment firm Sixth Street Partners, the Journal has reported.
/jlne.ws/3CbgdeO
OpenSea chief seeks to distance NFTs from crypto crisis; Head of leading marketplace responds to digital assets slump following FTX scandal
Cristina Criddle - Financial Times
The chief executive of OpenSea, the world's leading non-fungible token marketplace, has sought to distance NFTs from cryptocurrencies as the sector is hit by the knock-on impact of a series of scandals. Devin Finzer, 32, told the Financial Times that the crypto industry had seen "some setbacks recently", referencing the fall of FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange that collapsed into bankruptcy in November helping to trigger a fall in the value of digital assets. OpenSea soared in value as online collectibles and digital art called NFTs built upon the same blockchain technology as cryptocurrencies became a hype-fuelled market over the past two years.
/jlne.ws/3jCoORe
How an insurer in Iowa became the most coveted asset on Wall Street; American Equity's chief executive battles to keep annuity provider independent as acquirers circle
Sujeet Indap and Mark Vandevelde - Financial Times
The man of the moment in private capital is not anywhere near New York City. Rather, Anant Bhalla is based in sleepy West Des Moines, Iowa, running a retirement annuities purveyor that is captivating Wall Street's savviest financiers. American Equity Investment Life last week rebuffed an unsolicited $4bn offer from a rival controlled by Paul Singer's Elliott Management, capping a tumultuous year during which Bhalla also antagonised his company's largest shareholder, Canada's Brookfield Asset Management.
/jlne.ws/3hWNH9P
Bankman-Fried to enter plea next week in FTX case
Sam Sutton - Politico
FTX founder Sam Bankman Fried is scheduled to be arraigned and enter a plea in federal court in Manhattan next Tuesday on criminal charges alleging wire fraud, money laundering and campaign finance violations, according to court documents filed on Wednesday.
/jlne.ws/3hZ1Lj3
BlockFi Pushes for Robinhood Stake Also Claimed By FTX; A bankruptcy judge will consider next month whether to move Robinhood shares bought by Sam Bankman-Fried to a neutral broker while FTX and BlockFi make competing claims to the $430 million stake
Jonathan Randles - The Wall Street Journal
The judge overseeing crypto lender BlockFi Inc.'s bankruptcy case will begin considering next month what to do with shares in RobinHood Markets Inc. that an entity owned by Sam Bankman-Fried purportedly pledged as collateral to BlockFi in the days before the collapse of FTX, the crypto exchange he founded.
/jlne.ws/3WxScqb
Foreign Grip on London Property Is Easing on a Cocktail of Risks; Foreign deals for London property have slowed in recent years; Brexit and the pandemic contributed to drop-off in money flows
Damian Shepherd - Bloomberg
London's real estate market is gearing up for a pivotal 2023, following years of turbulence which slowed the torrent of foreign money that once flowed to the capital. Cross-border investment flows to properties in London totaled £12.4 billion ($15 billion) in 2022, according to data compiled by MSCI Inc. That's a big drop-off from the £30.5 billion of foreign dealmaking in 2015, which preceded the twin blows of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic.
/jlne.ws/3Gq9GPJ
Exxon sues EU in move to block new windfall tax on oil companies; Supermajor says Brussels exceeded legal authority by imposing levy set to raise up to Euro 25bn
Derek Brower, Alice Hancock and Tom Wilson - Financial Times
ExxonMobil is suing the EU in a bid to force it to scrap the bloc's new windfall tax on oil groups, arguing Brussels exceeded its legal authority by imposing the levy. The lawsuit is the most significant response yet against the tax from the oil industry, which has been targeted by western governments amid a surge in energy prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The action threatens the viability of a levy the European Commission said would raise Euro 25bn "to help bring down energy bills".
/jlne.ws/3Wwrgax
Banks are cutting loans to UK oil and gas producers, says energy industry; Trade bodies warn lenders are curbing credit after the government increased its windfall tax on the sector
Nathalie Thomas - Financial Times
Banks are reducing loans to smaller North Sea oil and gas producers after the UK government raised and extended its windfall tax on fossil fuel companies in November, the energy industry has warned. Banks are reassessing the amounts they are prepared to lend to UK North Sea producers under credit facilities that are linked to the value of their oil and gas reserves, according to trade bodies. Brindex, which represents companies such as London-listed groups Harbour Energy and Ithaca Energy, estimates that small and medium-sized oil and gas producers in the UK currently rely on about 14bn pounds of borrowing under so-called reserves-based lending facilities.
/jlne.ws/3Q1F3U2
JPMorgan to Extend Ukrainian Refugee Program Into Next Year; Warsaw office currently offers training to about 50 refugees; Lender employs around 1,200 people in its Polish operations
Konrad Krasuski - Bloomberg
JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s Warsaw office is planning to extend a work and training program for Ukrainian refugees for another year after hiring around 50 this summer. The Wall Street firm expects to recruit a similar number - depending on the war situation - into its 1,200-person Warsaw office, following positive feedback from employees, Paul Brazier, a managing director in the Warsaw office, said in an interview.
/jlne.ws/3hW97DS
For Many Wall Street Bankers, This Year's Bonus Season Is a Bust; There were fewer mergers and public listings this year, shrinking investment banking revenue. For bankers, that means a smaller pot of money for bonuses.
Maureen Farrell, Lauren Hirsch and Anupreeta Das - The New York Times
The luxury travel bookings will be more subdued this year, as will the purchases of $200,000 Aston Martins and vacation homes. Splurges on expensive bottles of wine and jewelry will be less spontaneous. For many bankers, it might not be the most wonderful time of the year. Annual bonuses - one of the most hotly anticipated numbers on Wall Street - are expected to be down as much as 50 percent this year, as investment banks grapple with declining revenues following a sharp drop in their main businesses of lending, mergers and acquisitions advisory and initial public offerings. With a possible recession in the offing, next year might not look much better.
/jlne.ws/3hZmSBO
Nasdaq Chief Sees Swedish IPO Drought Breaking in Mid-2023; 2022 was the slowest listings year in a decade in the Nordics; Uncertainty around valuations continues to hamper IPOs
Rafaela Lindeberg - Bloomberg
A drought of Swedish initial public offerings is set to break in the middle of next year, provided uncertainty around valuations lifts, according to Nasdaq Inc., which runs the biggest stock exchange in the Nordic country. Hakan Sjogren, who is responsible for company listings at Nasdaq in Sweden said that Russia's war in Ukraine and inflation pressures have put a damper on IPOs, creating "too much uncertainty around valuations" and leaving plenty of companies waiting for the right moment to sell shares on public markets.
/jlne.ws/3Wygb8L
Why Solana Was Decimated by Bankman-Fried's Downfall
David Z. Morris - CoinDesk
Debate has accelerated in recent days over the future prospects of Solana, a layer 1 smart-contract blockchain that in some respects competes with Ethereum. The chain grew rapidly and saw immense hype during the 2020-2021 bull market, particularly from venture capitalists. But the recent departure of major projects to other chains and a massive drop in total value on the Solana chain have raised questions about its future prospects.
/jlne.ws/3WuCnAQ
China to Launch First National 'Digital Asset' Marketplace
Eli Tan - CoinDesk
China is launching its first state-backed non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, the latest sign of embrace for a technology that's occupied a legal gray area within the country's notoriously strict regulations on cryptocurrency. A ceremony celebrating the launch of the marketplace will be held in person in Beijing, the country's capital, on Jan. 1.
/jlne.ws/3vl2jmu
Virgin Islands Sues JPMorgan for Facilitating Epstein Abuse; Suit follows similar class action filed by Epstein victims; USVI says bank turned 'blind eye' to Epstein's sex-trafficking
Ava Benny-Morrison - Bloomberg
The US Virgin Islands is suing JPMorgan Chase & Co. for "turning a blind eye" to former client Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking on his private island there. USVI Attorney General Denise George said her suit filed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court was part of an "ongoing effort" to hold accountable those who facilitated Epstein's activities. Epstein brought many of his victims to his villa on Little St. James, the private island he owned.
/jlne.ws/3Gs8QCh
Soy Soars to Six-Month High on China Opening, Argentina Dryness; Futures close above $15 a bushel for the first time since June; Wheat extended gains amid concerns of winter-kill damages
Tatiana Freitas and Megan Durisin - Bloomberg
Soybean futures jumped to the highest in six months on expectations for greater demand from China and as dry conditions in parts of South America threaten supply. Winter wheat extended gains amid concerns of potential crop damage caused by freezing weather in the US. China, the world's largest soybean buyer, is moving to unwind coronavirus measures on travelers from early January, putting it on track to emerge from three years of self-imposed global isolation. That's set to buoy demand for crops.
/jlne.ws/3jD3RFT
Tech Darling That Rose 2,500% Now Among India's Worst Performers; Brightcom Group's shares are down more than 70% this year; Shares decline amid growing corporate governance concerns
Alex Gabriel Simon - Bloomberg
Corporate governance issues have turned shares of Brightcom Group Ltd. into one of India's worst performers this year after a 2,500% surge in 2021. The ad-tech firm's stock has declined more than 70% in 2022, making it the worst performer on S&P BSE 500 Index, data compiled by Bloomberg shows. The slump started after a market regulator raised concerns that some of the company's disclosures and financial transactions have been "detrimental" to investors.
/jlne.ws/3YSLKvz
Nuclear Power - Yes, Nuclear Power - May Be Humanity's Best Hope; We're going to need its reliable, clean energy. But first opinions and regulations have to change.
Mark Gongloff - Bloomberg
If you throw a rock on the street and ask whoever it hits their first impressions of nuclear energy, you may find: Yourself being arrested for throwing rocks at people on the street; I mean, come on, that is no way to investigate public opinion. And many, if not most, will have horrors such as Fukushima, Chernobyl and Springfield's three-eyed fish front of mind. This may be why Americans are still "meh" at best about nuclear power, which they view only slightly more positively than oil drilling or Chris Martin.
/jlne.ws/3Q0VXlv
Why the Future of Technology Is So Hard to Predict; It's almost 2023, yet we're not all riding Segways, having sex with robots and cloning humans. What gives?
Faye Flam - Bloomberg
They don't make technology predictions like they used to. Just look at the amazingly prescient technological wish list famed chemist Robert Boyle jotted down in a note found after his death in 1691: "The recovery of Youth, or at least some of the Marks of it, as new Teeth, new Hair, new hair color'd as in youth." Check.
/jlne.ws/3vpwatO
Big coal miners' profits triple as demand surges; Companies defy long-term decline with $97bn earnings bonanza in 2022
Leslie Hook - Financial Times
The world's largest coal mining companies tripled their profits in 2022 to reach a total of more than $97bn, defying expectations for an industry that was thought to be in terminal decline. As global demand for the fuel rose to record levels, total earnings from coal operations at the world's 20 largest coal miners reached $97.7bn during the most recent 12-month period for which financial information is available, compared with $28.2bn during the same period a year earlier, according to Financial Times research and data from S&P Capital IQ.
/jlne.ws/3C72wgR
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | 'Nothing left to destroy': Russia is fighting for land already in ruins
Jeff Stein and Ievgeniia Sivorka - The Washington Post
Tamara Klimashenko stood in what was once her cherished flower garden and pulled out her phone to show photos of the peonies, petunias and chamomiles that once covered this patch of dirt now littered with shrapnel. Her husband, Anatoly Klimashenko, pointed to where the shells exploded: one near the cabbage patch; another where the strawberries grew; yet another on the garage he built.
/jlne.ws/3WAVaub
Quarter of Russian crude oil shipments in December have used western insurance
Tom Wilson, Chris Cook and Ian Smith - Financial Times
Western insurers have been underwriting Russian crude shipments to India, China and Turkey throughout December, in a sign that president Vladimir Putin has yet to keep his promise to block oil sales under a G7-imposed price cap. About a quarter of Russian seaborne crude shipments since December 5, when restrictions started, were insured by western companies, according to a Financial Times analysis of shipping and insurance records.
/jlne.ws/3Gnf4TS
Russia unleashes barrage of missiles on Ukraine's major cities
Dan Peleschuk and Pavel Polityuk - Reuters
Russia fired scores of missiles into Ukraine early on Thursday, targetting the capital Kyiv, Lviv and Odesa in the west and other cities in one of its largest aerial bombardments that sent people rushing to shelters and knocked out power. "Senseless barbarism. These are the only words that come to mind seeing Russia launch another missile barrage at peaceful Ukrainian cities ahead of New Year," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted.
/jlne.ws/3juSq2J
Volodymyr Zelensky, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink agree to help rebuild Ukraine
Thomas Barrabi - NY Post
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink agreed to work together on investments aimed at rebuilding the war-torn country after Russia's invasion, Ukraine's government said Wednesday. The agreement followed a video meeting between Zelensky and Fink. BlackRock has taken an advisory role on how Ukraine should handle investments related to reconstruction.
/jlne.ws/3WzvWMM
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | The TRADE predictions series 2023: Technology, part two; Participants from Torstone Technology, FlexTrade Systems, Tradeweb, Broadridge Trading and Connectivity Solutions, Appital and FINBOURNE Technology predict that investments in technology will continue to increase as we enter the new year.
Editors - The Trade
Mark Badyra, chief executive officer at Appital: Asset managers continue to look to technology solutions to remove opacity from their processes and address their key pain points - liquidity discovery and price formation opportunities for illiquid equity positions. This is now more important than ever as we are heading into an economic downturn and buy-side firms are looking to protect investor returns by taking advantage of new liquidity opportunities they have not been able to access before.
/jlne.ws/3WN0uua
Outlook 2023: Stephanie Sparvero, Bloomberg
Editorial Staff - Traders Magazine
Stephanie Sparvero is Global Head of Bloomberg's Evaluated Pricing Service - BVAL. What were the key theme(s) for your business in 2022? As I look back, 2021 now seems like a brief respite in the markets given the challenges of 2022. The economic conditions and geopolitical realities experienced this year contributed to volatility and as a result, we saw an increased need for high quality data and flexible technology, both for our clients and for our evaluated pricing business, BVAL.
/jlne.ws/3WwupXQ
Chinese lithium miner tips prices to fall 25pc in 2023
Annie Lee - Financial Review
Lithium is going to get less expensive in 2023, according to a Chinese supplier of the battery metal, potentially offering some relief to electric-vehicle makers squeezed by soaring costs.
/jlne.ws/3PXvIMZ
Membership Resignation: Arraco Global Markets Limited (In Administration)
LME
1. Notice is hereby given that The London Metal Exchange (LME) has approved the resignation of the following RIB Tier 2 Member pursuant to Regulation 10.3(a) of Part 2 of the LME Rulebook: Arraco Global Markets Limited (In Administration)
/jlne.ws/3vimcfa
Moscow Exchange has identified the best private investors in 2022
MOEX
The Moscow Exchange has summed up the results of the annual Best Private Investor 2022 (BFI) competition, which was held from September 15 to December 15, 2022. During the competition, the contestants had to show the best result of portfolio management using the instruments of the stock, derivatives and precious metals markets of the Moscow Exchange.
/jlne.ws/3C8v2yD
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Twitter experiences a widespread global outage; User reports of error messages began to spike late Wednesday
Elizabeth Dwoskin - The Washington Post
Twitter experienced a global outage late Wednesday, according to numerous reports from Twitter users and the online tracker Downdetector. It wasn't immediately clear how many Twitter accounts were impacted by the outage. As of just before 8 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, Downdetector had tracked more than 10,000 user reports of outages. Virtually all 10,000 reports had emerged over the course of the previous hour.
/jlne.ws/3Q6vXFG
Twitter Users Report Errors, Disruption from New York to Tokyo; Elon Musk tweets "Works For Me" in response to a worried user; Twitter staff exodus spurs concerns about its operations
Mayumi Negishi - Bloomberg
Thousands of Twitter Inc. users reported glitches and other issues with the social media service, one of the more significant disruptions since Elon Musk's $44 billion takeover triggered the loss of three-quarters of its workforce. More than 9,000 users reported problems accessing the service, data from DownDetector showed. Users from San Francisco to Tokyo and Hong Kong said they experienced trouble logging into their accounts or ran into a variety of error messages.
/jlne.ws/3GpbQiu
Twitter back online after global outage hits thousands
Reuters
Twitter Inc suffered a major outage on Wednesday, leaving tens of thousands of users globally unable to access the popular social media platform or use its key features for several hours before services appeared to come back online.
/jlne.ws/3Wy3zyt
Musk's Frequent Twitter Polls Are at Risk of Bot Manipulation; New research shows votes can be easily purchased during Twitter polls
Davey Alba - Bloomberg
New Twitter Inc. owner Elon Musk has outsourced several controversial decisions - like whether to reinstate former US President Donald Trump's account, and if he should leave the Twitter CEO job - to public polling on the network, saying he intends to follow the will of the people. But the results of such surveys can be easily gamed by bots, according to new research.
/jlne.ws/3Vw9Byp
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Readout From CISA's Fifth Cybersecurity Advisory Committee Meeting
CISA
Today, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) held its fifth Cybersecurity Advisory Committee (CSAC) meeting where Director Easterly led a discussion with committee members on the CSAC's strategic focus for 2023. "I truly appreciate the caliber of experts who have taken the time to participate in this committee and, moreover, for their continuous work in helping CISA become the Cyber Defense Agency our nation needs and deserves," said CISA Director Jen Easterly. "I look forward to working with the Committee in the new year to ensure we are continuing to build a more cyber resilient nation to confront the challenges we face in cyber space."
/jlne.ws/3Gqt4fx
Will the Crypto Crash Impact Cybersecurity in 2023? Maybe.
Ericka Chickowski - DarkReading
With the implosion of the FTX exchange putting a punctuation mark on the cryptocurrency crash of 2022, one of the natural questions for those in the cybersecurity world is, how will this rapid decline of cryptocurrency valuations change the cybercrime economy? Throughout the most recent crypto boom, and even before then, cybercriminals have used and abused cryptocurrency to build up their empires. The cryptocurrency market provides the extortionary medium for ransomware; it's a hotbed of scams against consumers to steal their wallets and accounts. Traditionally, it's provided a ton of anonymous cover for money laundering on the back end of a range of cybercriminal enterprises.
/jlne.ws/3I9gy5x
'There's a career in cybersecurity for everyone,' Microsoft Security CVP says
Sydney Lake - Fortune
With the number of cyberattacks rising and a widening gap in the cybersecurity talent pool, companies are taking a harder look at resources needed to combat a growing workforce issue. In the U.S. alone, there are more than 700,000 unfilled cybersecurity positions.
/jlne.ws/3I4OfoJ
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | MicroStrategy Sells Bitcoin for the First Time, But Remains a Net Buyer; MicroStrategy says it's holding hoard worth around $4 billion; Bitcoin is on pace for one of its worst years on record
Vildana Hajric - Bloomberg
MicroStrategy Inc., the enterprise-software firm better known in recent years as the largest corporate buyer of Bitcoin, announced a series of transactions including its first ever sale of the token. The company remains a net buyer. In a filing Wednesday, MicroStrategy said it acquired approximately 2,395 Bitcoin between the start of November and Dec. 21 through its MacroStrategy subsidiary, paying roughly $42,8 million in cash. It then sold 704 of the tokens on Dec. 22 for a total of around $11.8 million, citing tax purposes, before buying 810 more of them two days later.
/jlne.ws/3GrHWKQ
Solana crypto token loses most of its value in 2022, FTX collapse weighs
Reuters
The price of Solana, a cryptocurrency token that had been lauded by FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, fell 10.36% on Wednesday, and is down 94.2% so far in 2022. The collapse of FTX has rippled across the industry, hobbling liquidity at firms with exposure to what was once one of the world's biggest crypto exchanges.
/jlne.ws/3Q6waZu
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried likely to enter plea deal: report
Dylan Butts - Forkast
Sam Bankman-Fried is expected to enter a plea deal next week to fraud charges connected to the collapse of the Bahamas-based cryptocurrency exchange he founded, FTX.com, Reuters reported early Thursday morning, Hong Kong time.
/jlne.ws/3Vu3kDh
Crypto's Disastrous Year Continues With Another Closure; The ripple effect of another major crypto exchange shuttering some operations is causing cryptocurrencies to struggle..
Tony Owes - The Street
The crypto winter just got a bit colder. Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken said it had decided to cease its operations in Japan and deregister from the country's regulatory agency as of Jan. 31. The company said the move reflects "current market conditions" in the country as well as a weak global crypto market.
/jlne.ws/3Gqsj6b
Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX saga keeps getting weirder as new details shed further light on how much his companies' finances overlapped
Phil Rosen - Business Insider
Hello to the smartest corner of the web. I'm Phil Rosen, writing to you from Los Angeles. This morning I'm thinking about just how wild, deep, and strange the FTX drama has become. More details are sure to emerge, but there's already enough fodder for a spectacular thriller novel on par with "The Big Short." In fact, Michael Lewis is already working on a book. Today, I'm breaking down the latest and weirdest developments surrounding Sam Bankman-Fried and his company - and sharing details from a conversation I had with one FTX user who's been left in a six-figure hole.
/jlne.ws/3CaHs94
Alameda Research Liquidated Ether-Based Token Holdings for Bitcoin in Past 24 Hours, On-Chain Data Shows
Shaurya Malwa - CoinDesk
Several tokens held by Sam Bankman-Fried's embattled trading unit Alameda Research were sold late on Wednesday to the tune of millions of dollars, as the the firm's founders face criminal charges related to the collapse of Alameda and FTX.
/jlne.ws/3Wxtx54
Sam Bankman-Fried finds sympathy from Bahamians after the FTX implosion - but local rules make it very unlikely they were ever invested in crypto
Matthew Fox - Business Insider
Even after wiping out billions of dollars of customer funds, Sam Bankman-Fried is finding some sympathy from residents of the Bahamas. Bankman-Fried was extradited to the US earlier this month from the island country on fraud charges related to the collapse of his FTX crypto exchange, as it was revealed that he facilitated the transfer of customer funds to his trading firm, Alameda Research.
/jlne.ws/3VvbpHV
Bankrupt Celsius Seeks to Extend Claims Deadline for Burned Users
Andrew Asmakov - Decrypt
Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius will file a petition requesting an extension of the deadline for users to submit their claims in the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings by another month. "Celsius is preparing to file a motion later this week requesting an extension of the bar date, which is the deadline to file a claim, from January 3, 2023, until early February," the company said late on Wednesday.
/jlne.ws/3FTw4zC
Coinbase Customers Block Attempts to Move Lawsuit to Arbitration
Will McCurdy - Decrypt
A group of customers who filed a lawsuit against Coinbase is now withholding their account information, shutting down efforts to move the case to arbitration. The class action lawsuit concerned alleged cybersecurity failures on the part of Coinbase and seeks to compensate customers who allegedly had their accounts breached and "incurred losses arising from the unauthorized transfer of assets." In the filing, the plaintiff alleged he had $6,000 of cryptocurrency drained from his wallet to an address he had never interacted with before. It adds that Coinbase allowed the hackers who breached his account to withdraw $1,000 from his bank account.
/jlne.ws/3Ca7E3Q
Amid News Of Crypto Exchange Collapses, A Potential Alternative Reportedly Added Almost 100,000 New Customers Just Last Month
David Willey - Benzinga
With FTX's CEO now looking at the possibility of life in prison, the past six months of the ongoing crypto crisis have left the popularity of digital currency at a new low. However, professional exchange CryptoKG is hoping that, even in the current market, its successes this quarter demonstrate the potential that remains in smart and dependable crypto platforms.
/jlne.ws/3Q7FM67
Fidelity Seeks Trademarks Related To Bitcoin, Digital Assets
Paul Katzeff - Investor's Business Daily
Recent difficulties surrounding the collapse of FTX, the now-notorious cryptocurrency exchange and platform, do not appear to have cooled the ardor of Fidelity Investments for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The Boston-based mutual fund giant and brokerage has applied for three trademarks related to cryptocurrency, NFTs and the metaverse. The application is not related to FTX.
/jlne.ws/3hS13nS
OpenSea chief seeks to distance NFTs from crypto crisis
Cristina Criddle - Financial Times
The chief executive of OpenSea, the world's leading non-fungible token marketplace, has sought to distance NFTs from cryptocurrencies as the sector is hit by the knock-on impact of a series of scandals. Devin Finzer, 32, told the Financial Times that the crypto industry had seen "some setbacks recently", referencing the fall of FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange that collapsed into bankruptcy in November helping to trigger a fall in the value of digital assets. OpenSea soared in value as online collectibles and digital art called NFTs built upon the same blockchain technology as cryptocurrencies became a hype-fuelled market over the past two years.
/jlne.ws/3VqEeFv
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Chipmakers Now Care as Much About Politics as Technology
Ian King - Bloomberg
When Joe Biden headlined the grand opening of a Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. plant in Arizona, he stumbled over the word "nanometer." The US president made a joke of it, and the audience and fellow speakers, including Apple Inc.'s Tim Cook, laughed indulgently. The scene at the event in early December was significant because it demonstrated what really matters in chipmaking today: who your friends are in government. Proximity to politicians and their newfound interest in and influence of the industry is now, in many ways, as important as access to the best technology.
/jlne.ws/3VuYG80
The Rise of the Left Was the Real Story of 2022; From Brazil to Germany to New Zealand, social democrats and even outright socialists are addressing voters' widespread longing for reassurance.
Pankaj Mishra - Bloomberg
Pundits reviewing 2022 are heaving a palpable sigh of relief. This was the year, or so the consensus goes, when far-right strongmen such as Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro were enfeebled, China stumbled and the "West" made a comeback, at least against Vladimir Putin's Russia. Such assessments, nostalgic for a lost "liberal international order," ignore a more widespread development: how a general discontent with the old order, exacerbated by the pandemic, is fueling a revival of the left in Latin America, Europe and Australasia.
/jlne.ws/3WKh9OQ
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Mango Markets Exploiter Arrested in Puerto Rico on Fraud Charges
CoinDesk
Avraham Eisenberg, the crypto investor who drained DeFi trading platform Mango Markets of crypto worth $110 million, was arrested Monday in Puerto Rico on charges of commodities fraud and commodities manipulation. CoinDesk Global Policy & Regulation Managing Editor Nikhilesh De discusses what we know so far.
/jlne.ws/3I5B0El
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Don't Just Spend Your Time-Invest It
Joe Pinsker - The Wall Street Journal
The go-to verb for what we do with time is "spend" it. Researchers say it might be better to think of time as something we invest, using our precious hours to accumulate a wealth of fulfillment and meaning that our future selves can draw on. This shift in thinking is particularly important because it might help us think longer term.
/jlne.ws/3i5hFbw
Wall Street's Top Stars Got Blindsided by 2022 Market Collapse; The year began with faith that inflation would fade and the Fed would hold rates low. Then came a brutal reckoning.
Ye Xie, Michael Mackenzie, and Emily Graffeo - Bloomberg
Marko Kolanovic and John Stoltzfus, two of the loudest stock bulls on all of Wall Street, were convinced of one thing at the outset of 2022: The Federal Reserve would go slow, very slow, with its plan to lift interest rates. Nevermind that inflation had already soared to its highest level in four decades. The rate increases, they said, would come in increments so small that financial markets would barely feel them.
/jlne.ws/3volufa
Musk tells Tesla workers not to be 'bothered by stock market craziness'
Reuters
Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Elon Musk told employees that they should not be "bothered by stock market craziness" after the company's shares fell nearly 70% this year on jitters over softening demand for electric vehicles and Musk's distraction with running Twitter. In an email sent to staff on Wednesday and reviewed by Reuters, Musk said he believes that long term, Tesla will be the most valuable company on earth.
/jlne.ws/3WOs7Tv
Sam Bankman-Fried Is a Problem for Robinhood Stock. One Reason Not to Worry.
Jack Denton - Barron's
Sam Bankman-Fried isn't just an issue for the world of cryptocurrencies-his significant stake in Robinhood Markets remains a thorn in the side of the broker's stock. But there's at least one key reason not to worry. The disgraced former CEO of crypto exchange FTX bought up some 7.5% of Robinhood (ticker: HOOD) earlier this year through a holding company he controls, back when his empire was intact and he was still seen as the industry's golden boy. Less than a year after FTX was valued at $32 billion, the exchange has been plunged into bankruptcy, with billions of dollars in customer funds missing and Bankman-Fried arrested on charges of fraud and a litany of other financial crimes.
/jlne.ws/3VBgXjX
The Commodities Boom Will Continue in 2023; Despite the economic slowdown, prices are expected to stay high for everything from oil to copper to wheat. Plus a selection of the writer's favorite columns.
Javier Blas - Bloomberg
What to Expect in 2023:
The global economy is hard-pressed to satisfy its own commodity needs. Despite the past year of sky-high prices, the natural resources industry isn't rushing to invest in more capacity to alleviate supply shortages. Without an investment boom, the only way to rebalance the market in the new year is through lowering demand.
/jlne.ws/3Z94KGz
Deglobalization Will Drive Dealmaking in 2023; Rethinking geographical priorities could reverse the corporate trend of using M&A to grow. Plus some of the writer's favorite columns.
Chris Hughes - Bloomberg
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has put geopolitical risk front of mind for corporate leaders. That could see deglobalization determine M&A priorities. Boards in the US and Europe have two strategic concerns in a turbulent world - diversifying supply chains, and allocating capital away from riskier markets and toward what they will see as the relative political and economic safe haven of the US. And whether they make cars or smartphones, companies are reassessing their reliance on China.
/jlne.ws/3Q38dSU
World's biggest lithium producer bets on prices staying high despite supply rush; Albemarle says market for key battery metal transformed by electric vehicle sales
Harry Dempsey - Financial Times
Albemarle, the world's largest lithium producer, expects high prices for the key battery metal to persist for years even as they spark a rush to expand supply. The lithium market crashed between 2018 and 2020 as it was swamped by oversupply and demand was hit after cuts to subsidies for electric vehicles. During that time prices dived from $25,000 per tonne to below $6,000, according to data from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.
/jlne.ws/3vtuRtO
Gold buyers binge on biggest volumes for 55 years; China and Russia have been big accumulators of the precious metal in 2022, analysts say
Harry Dempsey - Financial Times
Central banks are scooping up gold at the fastest pace since 1967, with analysts pinning China and Russia as big buyers in an indication that some nations are keen to diversify their reserves away from the dollar. Data compiled the World Gold Council, an industry-funded group, has shown demand for the precious metal has outstripped any annual amount in the past 55 years. Last month's estimates are also far larger than central banks' official reported figures, sparking speculation in the industry over the identity of the buyers and their motivations.
/jlne.ws/3Wxm7yY
Silicon Valley staff rush to offload start-up shares as valuations plummet; Workers forced into sales at sharp discounts amid job cuts and stalled IPO market
Tabby Kinder - Financial Times
Silicon Valley workers are rushing to offload stakes in tech start-ups through private share sales after a wave of job cuts, compounding a collapse in valuations. Employees of embattled tech groups are flooding secondary markets - where stakeholders in a private company sell shares to third parties - as the industry's former darlings such as Klarna and Stripe have been forced into aggressive cost-cutting measures, according to brokers and investors.
/jlne.ws/3jCfzk3
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | This year, I only needed to open my window in Brazil to witness the climate crisis; My snapshot of 2022 shows the Amazon burning - but what it doesn't communicate is the pain
Eliane Brum - The Guardian
A view from a window in Brazil, where in the distance a fire can be seen in the Amazon rainforest. I have covered the Amazon as a journalist for almost 25 years. It started in 1998, with a trip along the Trans-Amazonian Highway. In 2017, I moved to the city of Altamira in Pará, northern Brazil; it is the centre of the deforestation, forest fires and social devastation caused by the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam. I moved here because I no longer wanted to be just a "special correspondent to the Amazon", but so I could describe what was happening to the largest tropical forest on the planet from the inside. Despite this long experience, 2022 was the first year in which I watched the forest burn from the window of my home. I didn't need to go to the fire, as journalists normally do. The fire had come to me.
/jlne.ws/3i1V2ov
Six Climate Breakthroughs That Made 2022 a Step Toward Net Zero; Yes, the energy crisis has been a boon for fossil fuels, but this year also saw the low-carbon transition get policy support like never before.
Leslie Kaufman and Laura Millan Lombrana - Bloomberg
The damage caused by climate change over this past year was at times so immense it was hard to comprehend. In Pakistan alone, extreme summer flooding killed thousands, displaced millions and caused over $40 billion in losses. Fall floods in Nigeria killed hundreds and displaced over 1 million people. Droughts in Europe, China and the US dried out once-unstoppable rivers and slowed the flows of commerce on major arteries like the Mississippi and the Rhine. In the face of these extremes, the human response was uneven at best. Consumption of coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, rebounded in 2022. Countries like the UK and China seemed to back away from major climate pledges. But all of this gloom came with more than a silver lining. In fact, it's all too easy to overlook the steps toward a lower-carbon world that came about in between more attention-getting catastrophes.
/jlne.ws/3WtUDKs
The rise of the start-up villain; Appointment viewing, if you like your television like you like your Fin.
Lauren Sams - Financial Review
A theme is emerging in television this year: the start-up founder as super-villain. If the past 20 years of TV has been characterised by the anti-hero (Tony Soprano, Walter White, Don Draper), then this new legion might well be named the alpha villains: leaders so compelling, so beguiling, so promising ... but ultimately offering little more than smoke, mirrors, and a long paper trail of dramatic fodder. This month we'll see Super Pumped, about Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick and WeCrashed, about WeWork's Adam Neumann. Later, Hulu will air The Dropout, about convicted Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes. HBO has just announced its own big tech nightmare series, (the perhaps hyperbolically titled) Doomsday Machine, about the origins of Facebook.
/jlne.ws/3FVPzYi
Nearly 700 frozen bats nursed back to health after surviving chilly weather; In all, 1,544 bats were rescued around Houston, Texas, many having suffered 'hypothermic shock'
Victoria Bekiempis - The Guardian
Nearly 700 wild bats will be released in Houston, Texas, on Wednesday night after undergoing about one week of rehabilitation from exposure to frigid temperatures. The Houston Humane Society and Texas Wildlife Rehabilitation Coalition announced the Mexican free-tailed bats would be released back to their colony under the city's Waugh Drive bridge.
/jlne.ws/3C8bpa0
Futuristic Vertical Farming Startups Are Struggling in the Tech Downturn; These companies promised a revolutionary way to deliver fresh food to cities. It turns out that's very expensive.
Priya Anand - Bloomberg
When the market was booming, tech investors poured billions into companies designing new ways of farming. Now some of those bets appear to be wilting. Fifth Season, a Pittsburgh-based vertical farming company, told employees this fall it was shutting down. Berlin-based Indoor Urban Farming GmbH, valued at more than $1 billion, laid off about 500 employees last month. And greenhouse startup AppHarvest, which went public through a special purpose acquisition company last year, has seen its stock sink more than 90% since its 2022 high. After telling investors it was low on funds, AppHarvest recently sold one of its farms and plans to rent it back.
/jlne.ws/3Q78DHS
Technology Puts American Chestnut Trees on the Comeback Trail; U.S. considers releasing a genetically modified version tolerant of blight, as some people warn of environmental risks
Kristina Peterson - The Wall Street Journal
More than a century after blight decimated the American chestnut tree, the U.S. government is weighing whether to allow a genetically engineered version to spread in the wild. The impending decision has unleashed a ferocious debate over the promises and perils of genetic engineering among legions of chestnut enthusiasts. Some have been preparing for years in hopes that a genetically modified tree that can withstand blight will revive once-mighty chestnut forests. Others warn that could have unintended environmental consequences.
/jlne.ws/3PXZW2u
Why environmental disaster victims are looking to European courts; Campaigners are finding courts increasingly open to considering cases - and finding in their favour
Isabella Kaminski - The Guardian
Between 2004 and 2007, the villages of Oruma, Goi and Ikot Ada Udo in Nigeria were polluted with oil from infrastructure built by Royal Dutch Shell. More than 15 years later, in late December, the company finally agreed to pay four farmers and their communities EUR15m in compensation and install a leak detection system after a court in the Netherlands ruled that Shell's Nigerian subsidiary was liable and the parent company had a duty of care.
/jlne.ws/3GplpOp
The role of corporate boards and audit committees in mitigating ESG fraud risks
Natalie Runyon - Thomson Reuters Institute
The potential for fraud risk in companies' ESG disclosures has grown as these initiatives have gotten more attention from stakeholders - and more corporate boards are becoming aware of this risk. According to a joint study by Deloitte and Center for Audit Quality, 42% of audit committee members at the corporate board level noted an increase in the risk of fraud in companies' environmental, social & governance (ESG) disclosures. Indeed, the immature nature of some ESG data disclosed publicly over the last decade transpired with a lack of internal controls around it, which only increased the risk around ESG data.
/jlne.ws/3GpqYwx
Republicans Ramp Up Anti-ESG Campaign for 2023; But while rising GOP leaders tout efforts to derail sustainable investing, pushback from pension officials and banking associations is growing.
Saijel Kishan and Danielle Moran - Bloomberg
The investing strategy known as ESG is under attack, and virtually no one expects the backlash to die down. More than a dozen Republican state attorneys general have blasted ESG financial practices, while Republicans in Congress plan to increase their scrutiny of what they call "woke capitalism." One of their main complaints is that environmental, social and governance investing is part of a broader Democratic effort to prioritize climate change and other societal issues to the detriment of the fossil-fuel industry.
/jlne.ws/3C9iyGT
Governor DeSantis, Larry Fink, And The ESG Debate: How Climate Policy Could Avoid Culture Wars
Nives Dolsak and Aseem Prakash - Forbes
Why have Republicans declared war on ESG? ESG, which stands for "Environmental, Social, and Governance," is a set of standards that companies employ to pursue socially responsible, especially pro-climate, policies. Notably, many state-level Republicans take climate change seriously; their governments advocate for renewable energy and invest in climate adaptation. In that case, what aspect of ESG do they find disagreeable? Republicans appear especially critical of the role of Larry Fink, BlackRock's CEO. BlackRock is the world's largest money manager, with over $10 trillion in assets under management. Since 2012, Larry Fink has been publishing annual "Dear CEO" letters to lay out his investment philosophy.
/jlne.ws/3GqqciL
Anti 'woke' ESG policies are already costing taxpayers millions; Republican politicians are coming down hard on ESG investing, even though their constituents are the ones who pay the price.
Talib Visram - Fast Company
In May, Mike Pence wrote a scathing op-ed against the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) movement in the Wall Street Journal. He railed against asset managers prioritizing investments in socially and environmentally responsible companies, saying the practice interferes with the free market and actively hurts fossil fuel companies. "ESG empowers an unelected cabal of bureaucrats, regulators, and activist investors to rate companies based on their adherence to left-wing values," he wrote. The piece was a pivotal moment in a brewing political retaliation against ESG.
/jlne.ws/3YTlpO7
China Starts Work on Huge $11 Billion Desert Renewables Project
Luz Ding - Bloomberg
China broke ground on an 80 billion yuan ($11 billion) renewables project in Inner Mongolia, part of a massive clean-power rollout to achieve the nation's ambitious climate targets. The project, located in the Kubuqi Desert, will have 16 gigawatts of power capacity when completed, according to a statement by China Three Gorges Group, one of the two builders. It will be able to transmit 40 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity to Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province annually, with more than half from clean power, according to a report by state media Xinhua News.
/jlne.ws/3GlVwOD
Why 2023 is the year to get an electric vehicle; Many Australians have proven they'd prefer EVs, with waiting lists blowing out for almost anything electric. Next year, there will be no need to wait.
Tony Davis - Financial Review
The motoring trend that will put everything in the shade in 2023 is the unstoppable shift to electric vehicles. EVs will arrive in greater numbers in Australia next year, with a broader choice of body styles and price points.
/jlne.ws/3vlH1oP
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Missing Down Under: A Thoroughly Modern Central Bank; Australia's enviable growth record obscured important shortcomings. They are now being laid bare for the world to see.
Daniel Moss - Bloomberg
Here are some novel ideas for the new year: Give monetary experts a greater say in setting interest rates and get central banks to hire more economic historians. As blindingly obvious as these suggestions are, they would represent an important shift for the Reserve Bank of Australia. The RBA has an enviable reputation internationally, praised by Federal Reserve officials, but lags global benchmarks in some of the basics of modern policymaking, communications and accountability. The bank escaped detailed scrutiny because it presided over three decades without a recession - until the pandemic.
/jlne.ws/3GzeLWh
BOJ Defends Yield-Curve Target With More Rounds of Bond Buying; BOJ offers to buy unlimited quantity of two- to five-year debt; Some yields rise even after BOJ announces extra purchases
Masaki Kondo and Marcus Wong - Bloomberg
The Bank of Japan announced two additional rounds of unscheduled bond-purchase operations, contending with traders betting it will further relax its yield-curve control policy. The central bank offered to buy unlimited amounts of two- and five-year notes at a fixed yield, along with 600 billion yen ($4.5 billion) of one-to-10 year bonds. That was on top of Wednesday's unplanned operations and a daily offer to buy 10-year debt at 0.5%, the top of its current yield target.
/jlne.ws/3Vtyyuo
Ex-Soros CIO Bessent Leads Key Square to 30% Return With Yen Bet; Scott Bessent's wagers for 2023 center on yen, gold and oil; He joins Rokos and Platt in banner year for macro hedge funds
Katherine Burton - Bloomberg
Scott Bessent, a former Soros Fund Management investing chief, posted a 30% gain in his macro hedge fund this year through Tuesday - and he told clients he's betting on a rising yen, gold and oil in 2023. The Bank of Japan's surprise decision to widen the yield curve control band for 10-year government bonds marked a "seminal moment for global monetary policy and financial market liquidity," Bessent, 60, told clients of his Key Square Capital Management in a Dec. 20 letter.
/jlne.ws/3hUb6ZB
Bankers are expecting a terrible bonus season. A survey says 72% will consider quitting if theirs gets cut.
Britney Nguyen - Business Insider
Bankers are facing cuts to their bonuses this year amid slowing dealmaking activity and worsening economic conditions, and nearly three out of four of them responded in a survey that they would consider resigning if their bonus is cut.
/jlne.ws/3jFV5ac
Goldman CEO Solomon Says Job Cuts Are Coming Next Month; He sees slower economy, tightening monetary conditions; As many as 4,000 jobs may be on the line, people familiar said
Sridhar Natarajan - Bloomberg
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is working on a fresh round of job cuts that will be unveiled in a matter of weeks, Chief Executive Officer David Solomon said in his traditional year-end message to staff. "We are conducting a careful review and while discussions are still ongoing, we anticipate our headcount reduction will take place in the first half of January," Solomon said. "There are a variety of factors impacting the business landscape, including tightening monetary conditions that are slowing down economic activity. For our leadership team, the focus is on preparing the firm to weather these headwinds."
/jlne.ws/3WIYp2A
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Milan Reports 50% of Passengers on China Flights Have Covid
Tommaso Ebhardt and Chiara Albanese - Bloomberg
Italian health authorities will begin testing all arrivals from China for Covid after almost half of the passengers on two flights to Milan were found to have the virus. They are also sequencing the Milan tests to see if there are new variants, the Health Ministry said in a statement. If a new strain is found, officials may impose stricter curbs on travel from the country.
/jlne.ws/3jugHpD
U.S. will require travelers from China to show negative COVID test before flight
Ashley Ahn - NPR
The United States will require travelers from China, Hong Kong and Macau to show a negative COVID-19 test before entering the U.S. as restrictions lessen and cases surge in China. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the measure Wednesday to go into effect on Jan. 5 for all passengers over the age of 2. Passengers must show a negative PCR or monitored antigen test no more than two days before their departure, whether it is a direct flight or an indirect one through another country.
/jlne.ws/3G40rDB
US, Italy Latest to Require Testing of China Travelers; US, Italy join growing list of nations requiring testing; China is reopening borders on Jan. 8 as infections surge
Bloomberg
The US and Italy joined an increasing number of nations requiring Covid tests for travelers from China, with concerns mounting over the risk of any new variants emerging from the surge in infections in the country of 1.4 billion. Japan and Taiwan unveiled similar measures this week, while South Korea and other countries are considering following suit. Although exact figures aren't known, China is seeing outbreaks across the country, with almost 37 million people possibly having been infected on a single day last week. At the same time, Chinese authorities have announced a border reopening on Jan. 8.
/jlne.ws/3vnGpyR
Hong Kong asks Japan to drop airport bans, 60,000 travellers affected
Farah Master and Twinnie Siu - Reuters
Hong Kong has asked Japan to withdraw a COVID-19 restriction that allows passenger flights from the financial hub to land only at four designated airports, saying the decision would affect about 60,000 passengers. India, Italy, Taiwan and the United States require mandatory COVID-19 tests on travellers from China after Beijing's decision last month to lift stringent zero-COVID policies that fuelled a surge in infections across mainland China.
/jlne.ws/3G2SbUa
Italy Says Covid Cases on China Arrivals Are Omicron; Outbreaks in China have raised worries about new strains; US will require arrivals from China to test negative
Chiara Albanese and Tim Loh - Bloomberg
Italy didn't find any new concerning Covid-19 mutations among recent arrivals from China who tested positive for the virus, a relief for officials worried about fresh health threats. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Italy already sequenced half of the samples tested in Milan and they all show the omicron strain of the coronavirus.
/jlne.ws/3I7VwEc
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Germany's energy crisis powers hydrogen switch
Louisa Off and Riham Alkousaa - Reuters
From the moment Russian gas exports to Germany were first disrupted in June, German firm Kelheim Fibers began casting around for alternative options to keep its engines running. As a result, the Bavarian-based firm, whose fibres are used in anything from teabags to tampons, will be able to use heating oil instead of gas starting mid-January.
/jlne.ws/3vmG8w7
Poland Set to Break Russia Oil Pledge With Piped January Imports
Bloomberg News
Poland looks set to continue buying Russian oil in January, breaking a pledge the country made for a full halt by year end. For next month, Transneft PJSC's oil shipment plan includes delivery of 500,000 tons of Russian crude to Poland via Belarus, Igor Dyomin, a spokesman at the Russian pipeline operator said by phone. Earlier, Polish climate minister Anna Moskwa said that a halt to flows from Russian producer Tatneft PJSC through the line would require sanctions, suggesting shipments might continue.
/jlne.ws/3WuCYCl
A London Landmark to Cherish? When Pigs Fly; The restored Battersea Power Station in London still inspires awe. But, through all the good and pecuniary intentions, something has been lost.
Matthew Brooker - Bloomberg
The times change and we change with them. And so do our buildings. That at least is true of Battersea Power Station, a beloved monument to some and an eyesore to others that was finally reincarnated in 2022 as a shopping mall and luxury apartment complex. Perhaps no other structure has so neatly bracketed London's journey through the past century.
/jlne.ws/3Gq9nEz
UK will have to rely more on the kindness of strangers; With the Bank of England unwinding its gilt portfolio, the country will need more buying from foreign investors
Duncan Weldon - Financial Times
At his Autumn Statement in late November, British chancellor Jeremy Hunt set himself three priorities: "stability, growth and public services". With public services looking increasingly creaky and the economy slipping into recession, he appears on course to fail on the second and third targets but the first is looking slightly better.
/jlne.ws/3C8ngoe
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