| May 22, 2017 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
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It's all in the follow through
Jim Kharouf, JLN
This week, we are continuing our rollout of video interviews from the Options Industry Conference. Today we feature Gina McFadden, the first woman to receive the esteemed Joseph W. Sullivan Options Industry Achievement Award for her decades of education work at the Options Industry Council.
We've also posted engaging interviews with industry leaders, Steve Crutchfield, head of market structure with CTC in Liquidity Providers Unduly Penalized By Capital Rules: CTC's Crutchfield and got a state of the options industry review from Henry Schwartz, president of Trade Alert, The Yin and Yang of Options Markets
We are also preparing an options exchange leader series for the Options Industry Council that will be featured shortly. This sponsored content features interviews with executives from CBOE, Nasdaq, NYSE, MIAX and BOX, outlining their respective exchanges' current priorities and goals for the rest of 2017. Thanks to OIC for the opportunity to do this first of its kind project for the conference.
Speaking of conferences, JLN and FOW are putting the finishing touches on our speakers and panelist lineup for the FOW Trading Chicago event at the Swissotel in Chicago on June 28th. This full day event is free to CTAs, proprietary trading firms, asset managers and hedge funds. It's packed with great speakers and a strong focus on the end user customers who make these markets so dynamic. Click on the link to register.
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EU should not meddle with a safe, transparent system
Xavier Rolet - The Times
While Brexit negotiations have not begun, the European Commission has already published preliminary proposals concerning the clearing of euro-denominated over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives, a business in which London is the global leader. The consultation concludes at the end of June.
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Tudor Jones backs AI hedge funds; Veteran manager backs machine learning with investments in CargoMetrics and Numerai
Robin Wigglesworth and Lindsay Fortado- FT
Hedge fund magnate Paul Tudor Jones has invested in a brace of artificial-intelligence powered "quantitative" hedge funds, underscoring the increasing acceptance that the industry will need to turn more to technology and away from traditional human traders.
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Church of England delivers divine returns; John Plender analyses the remarkable investment success of the religious endowment
John Plender - FT
As a pension fund trustee, I greatly envy people who oversee perpetual endowments. They have the luxury of being able to capture illiquidity premia in alternative investments such as property, forestry and commodities, taking decisions that may not pay off for years. That advantage is largely denied to mature pension funds that pay out a high proportion of their revenue to pensioners.
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Fighting for Futures
The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation fights every day for children that are fighting for their own future. Please support fighting for futures today here. We fight for Beckett's future and every child like him
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Bridging the Week by Gary DeWaal: May 15 to 19 and May 22, 2017
Katten Muchin & Rosenman LLP
Unintended consequences of seemingly innocuous amendments to a CME Group rule regarding order entry into the Globex electronic matching system could impose an extremely difficult burden and increased potential liability on clearing members for direct access clients they authorize. Moreover, while many firms struck by the ransomware WannaCry two weeks ago continued to struggle with recovering corrupted data, the US Department of Homeland Security, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the UK Financial Conduct Authority issued useful guidance to help minimize the potential destructive impact of future malware attacks. As a result, the following matters are covered in this week's edition of Bridging the Week:
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2017 Sullivan Award Winner Gina McFadden Looks Back at a Long and Lively Career
JohnLothianNews.com
At this year's Options Industry Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, Gina McFadden received the 2017 Joseph W. Sullivan Options Industry Achievement Award, the first woman to do so since the award began in May 2002.
McFadden, the former president of the OIC, joined the company about a year after it first got off the ground, so she was involved with its early growth, developing the organization's first advertising campaign.
Read the rest and watch the video »
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Five Secrets for Steadier Workouts; People who exercise regularly tend to share some common approaches to fitness, research showsÂadopting some of them can help you
Rachel Bachman - WSJ
Many of us vow to get to the gymÂthen life intervenes. But 21% of U.S. adults do manage to get enough exercise, and these people have some common traits and habits. They are consistent but not rigid. They have open minds about what defines "exercise." And they have different motivations than the weary conscripts who enroll at the gym on New Year's Day.
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**** For some reason I expect this story to show up in most read tomorrow.
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Making Data Science Accessible
JohnLothianNews.com
Machine learning, artificial intelligence, deep learning - all of these tools' business applications are getting more airplay than ever before. Justin Dickerson, general manager at Data Robot, has a way to make those tools more accessible by opening up access to the manpower needed to deploy them. After all, data scientists are expensive and their skills are in high demand.
In this video, Dickerson shows how a platform of data scientists can help you identify business trends and issues quickly to help stay in front of the competition.
Watch the video »
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Friday's Top Three
None of us are surprised when a Jon Corzine story gets top clicks, especially when the article is about comeback attempt. In second was a Bloomberg story taking a look at Maine's problem with lobsters. In third was the May 2017 edition of OCC news, which had updates on hiring, the Options Industry Conference, and a Q&A with CCO Joe Adamczyk.
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MarketsWiki Stats
100,848,247 pages viewed; 22,489 pages; 205,919 edits
MarketsWiki Statistics
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| Lead Stories | The Quants Run Wall Street Now; For decades, investors imagined a time when data-driven traders would dominate financial markets. That day has arrived.
Gregory Zuckerman and Bradley Hope - WSJ
Alexey Poyarkov, a former gold-medal winner of the International Mathematical Olympiad for high-school students, spent most of his early career honing algorithms at technology companies such as Microsoft Corp. , where he helped make the Bing search engine smarter at ferreting out pornography. Last year, a bidding war for Mr. Poyarkov broke out among hedge-fund heavyweights Renaissance Technologies LLC, Citadel LLC and TGS Management Co. When it was over, he went to work at TGS in Irvine, Calif., and could earn as much as $700,000 in his first year, say people familiar with the contract.
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Deutsche Boerse CEO seeks end to insider trading probe: Handelsblatt
Reuters
Deutsche Boerse (DB1Gn.DE) Chief Executive Carsten Kengeter's defense team is negotiating with prosecutors to drop an insider trading investigation against him, German daily Handelsblatt reported on Monday.
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Toyota, Merck Join Ethereum Group to Build Blockchain Network
Matthew Leising - Bloomberg
An effort to transform how businesses work by using blockchain technology added new members from multiple industries as Toyota Motor Corp., Merck KGaA, State Street Corp.
and other companies joined industry group the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance.
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LSE Raises Estimate for Loss of London Clearing to $100 Billion
Will Hadfield - Bloomberg
Some European leaders have called for return of euro clearing; CEO Xavier Rolet warns of EU "meddling" in Times op-ed
Banks and investors will end up $100 billion worse off if the European Union forcibly repatriates the clearing of euro-denominated derivatives after Brexit, according to London Stock Exchange Group Plc's Chief Executive Officer Xavier Rolet.
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City boss warns EU that 'stupidly plundering' Brexit Britain will backfire on Brussels
Lizzie Stromme - Express
Michael Spencer weighed into Brussels threat of abandoning Britain after it leaves the bloc in the spring of 2019.
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Few celebrations as 10th anniversary of global crisis nears
William Schomberg - Reuters
In May 2007, Ben Bernanke, then chair of the Federal Reserve, said the problems in the U.S. subprime mortgage market probably would not hurt the economy or the banking system. With the admittedly huge benefit of hindsight, that was a misjudgment of epic proportions. It has taken a full 10 years since the onset of the global financial crisis for the world economy to show clear signs of recovery, and even now progress remains halting.
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Noble Group struggles to prove its turnround will work; Investors reacted badly to the commodities trader's latest weak results
David Sheppard and Neil Hume - Financial Times
Over the past 18 months, Noble Group has tried to get itself out of a deep hole by raising almost $3bn through asset sales and bond and share issues. But for what was once Asia's largest commodities trader, this fundraising effort might not be enough. Noble's shares have dropped sharply after the company revealed this month that problems with contracts to buy and sell coal had left it nursing a $129m net loss in the first quarter of 2017.
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This is the age of the Microsoft and Amazon economy; Dominant corporate players thrive but such efficiency has a high cost for workers
Tim Harford - FT
One of my first economics lessons contrasted perfect competition, which was judged to be a good thing, with monopoly, which was not. There are worse places to begin than by being shown the difference between championing the miracle of the free market and favouring the depredations of dominant businesses.
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Are High Frequency Traders Good Or Bad For The Markets?
John Longsworth - Seeking Alpha
On old CNBC clip popped up in my YouTube feed recently. It piqued my interest because the video rehashed the (now) old debate of whether High Frequency Traders (HFTs) are good for the markets.
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Commodity Traders Have a Really Big Problem
Serene Cheong, Dan Murtaugh and Sharon Cho - Bloomberg
More transparency seen eroding profits from arbitrage trades; Traders need to get involved in supply chain to gain advantage
For commodity traders operating in the Information Age, just good old trading doesn't cut it anymore.
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Euronext boss: City will lose euro-clearing battle
Lucy Burton - Telegraph
Euronext boss Stéphane Boujnah has warned that the UK will likely lose its battle with Brussels over euro-clearing, saying that a "significant part" of the lucrative $1 trillion market is likely to relocate.
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Wrenching euro clearing out of London would hurt Britain and Europe alike
Catherine McGuinness - City AM
The City of London is a living, dynamic business centre made up of a huge number of industries, from banks, to legal services, to management consultants, to pension funds. This cluster of services is what makes it the world's leading financial centre.
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Germany eyes softer sacking rules to tempt Brexit banks to Frankfurt
John O'Donnell - Reuters
Germany could make it easier to hire and fire senior bankers in what would be a rare exception to its strict labor rules, an ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel said, as Frankfurt seeks to attract finance groups from London after Brexit.
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Certainty is Good for the Economy
ISDA
It is often forgotten - or ignored - that derivatives serve a real economic purpose. They help companies manage risk, which creates certainty and stability. That stability gives those companies the confidence to invest, borrow, grow and hire. That contributes to economic growth.
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | CME Group And Nasdaq Inc. Can Win Big With Blockchain
Junho Song - Seeking Alpha
Blockchain is not just a fantasy anymore. CME Group (NASDAQ: CME) and Nasdaq Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ) are two major early adopters that are implementing blockchain technology in trading. As shown in the chart below, both exchanges have announced new blockchain initiatives in the last two years. If they can complete this innovation before their competitors, CME Group and Nasdaq can win big in terms of cutting expenses and selling blockchain platforms to other businesses.
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Bitcoin options exchange raises $11.4 million in funding
Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss - Reuters
Ledger Holdings, the New York-based parent company of bitcoin options exchange LedgerX, said on Monday it closed $11.4 million in funding led by Miami International Holdings Inc and China's Huiyin Blockchain Venture Investments.
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Baltic Exchange outlines its growth plans
Jacqueline Woo - Straits Times
The London-based Baltic Exchange has bold growth plans in the wake of its acquisition by the Singapore Exchange (SGX) last year.
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Sources: Deutsche Börse Seeks Deal over Insider Trading Allegations; The exchange operator is holding talks with prosecutors to close an investigation into CEO Carsten Kengeter and the failed LSE merger.
Handelsblatt Staff
Deutsche Börse is hoping to make an insider trading investigation into its chief executive disappear.
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VSTOXX derivatives: Admission to the Multilateral Trade Registration facility
Eurex
The Management Board of Eurex Deutschland and the Executive Board of Eurex Zürich AG decided with effect of 23 May 2017 the admission of
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Equity options: Change of the standard contract sizes
Eurex
Effective 1 June 2017, the Management Board of Eurex Deutschland and the Executive Board of Eurex Zürich AG took the decision to change the standard contract sizes for equity options according to the attachment. Series with open positions will be continued with the old contract size and the version number 1. New series with the new contract size will be introduced with the version number 0.
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Monthly report Clearstream / Cross-border with T2S
Deutsche Börse
T2S volumes doubled to 500,000 transactions per day; Most of the volumes still fragmented by country / Clearstream's improved service offer enables customers to settle business in bank money or central bank money via a central platform
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LSE's TRADEcho sees sales boost as MiFID II looms; An increasing number of tier one buy- and sell-side institutions have signed up to the trade reporting service ahead of MiFID II.
Hayley McDowell - The Trade
The London Stock Exchange (LSE) and Boat Services joint venture for MiFID II transparency services has seen a boost in sales as the regulation's deadline nears.
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CME Europe to cease trading by summers end; CME Europe failed to win volumes, with traders preferring to access liquidity at its US exchanges instead.
Joe Parsons- The Trade
CME Europe will end trading of its FX and energy derivatives at the end of August, following the announcement it will shut down the London-based exchange by the end of this year.
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RPT-COLUMN-Why are the funds always long of LME copper?
Andy Home
The London Metal Exchange (LME) started publishing its Commitments of Traders Report (COTR) in July 2014.
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Bitfinex comes back from $69 million bitcoin heist
Yuji Nakamura - SFGate
After hackers stole $69 million from Bitfinex last year, the bitcoin exchange's fate seemed sealed: lawsuits, bankruptcy and years of liquidation proceedings. That's what happened to Mt. Gox, the high-profile marketplace for trading the virtual currency, which lost $480 million. There were other smaller implosions, including Cointrader and Bitcurex. But against the odds, Bitfinex pulled out of its spiral dive, announcing last month that all customers had been repaid.
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Shanghai Futures Exchange: Notice On Market Risk Control During Dragon Boat Festival 2017
Mondovisione
According to the Announcement by the Exchange on Trading Schedule during Dragon Boat Festival for 2017, the Exchange's futures markets will be closed from May 28 through May 30. According to the Risk Management Rules of Shanghai Futures Exchange, we decide to adjust the trading margin requirements and price limits for some products around Dragon Boat Festival.
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Amman Stock Exchange: 25th Of May Public Holiday To Celebrate Jordan Independence Day
Mondovisione
According to the Prime Minister's announcement on the occasion of Jordan Independence Day, the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) will be closed on Thursday 25 May, 2017.
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LME delays third tech upgrade in a month
Luke Jeffs - FOW
New chief executive of the LME Matthew Chamberlain is keen to be seen to be listening to customers
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | A 'paradigm shift' is taking place in financial technology
Frank Chaparro - Business Insider
Venture capital firms, which poured $117 billion into fintech startups from 2012 to 2016, have been pulling back on their investments. Meanwhile, established financial firms are positioned to step up their spending. In a big note out to clients on May 18 titled "Fintech: A Gauntlet to Riches," a group of equity analysts at Morgan Stanley said this shift will lead to an environment where legacy firms, or incumbents, "take the reigns"of financial innovation.
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The Fin-ternet of Things: How connectivity is changing the face of finance
Jennifer Schenker, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, The Innovator via World Economic Forum
Driverless cars that make per-minute toll road payments. Lightbulbs that decide the right energy vendor at a given time and price. Investment decisions made by robo-advisors. And products created in-situ by 3D printers, with royalties paid in real time on whatever intellectual property is needed. This is the coming world of the Internet of Everything, as intelligence and connectivity becomes distributed more and more widely across our economy. Everything will talk to everything and end-points will make their own decisions, powered by sensor-driven data collection and computing that continually improves, known as machine learning.
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TRADEcho strengthens position as a market leader as 259 firms now contracted with TRADEcho for MiFID II trade reporting
Cinnober
TRADEcho, the partnership between London Stock Exchange and Boat Services providing a one stop shop for MiFID II transparency services, saw a very positive increase in sales in Q1 and Q2. This recent sales momentum reaffirms TRADEcho's position as a market leader for pre and post-trade transparency services for MiFID II.
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Fintech: How does Blockchain fit into the future of financial services?
Larry Cao - City A.M.
Blockchain is an often discussed, rarely understood topic. To get some perspective on the current thinking regarding blockchain, I had a discussion with Jennifer Qin, Deloitte's lead partner for its investment management business in the Asia-Pacific region. Qin is a frequent speaker on blockchain technology.
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | US warned on dangers of abandoning Paris climate accord; Shell chief says Trump pledge would weaken country's global standing
Barney Jopson and Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington - FT
Ben van Beurden, chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell, has warned that Donald Trump will put American companies at a disadvantage and weaken the US's global standing if he pulls out of the Paris climate deal.
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | For more regulatory, visit MarketsReformWiki, our website focused on current market reform efforts. | Financial regulation: reign in the banks, or let the market work?
Ryan Tracy and Andrew Ackerman - MarketWatch
The 2008 financial crisis was a global economic catastrophe that triggered years of new regulations designed to prevent another meltdown. Now that tide of rules is cresting, with officials across the globe talking about pulling back regulations instead of adding new ones. The defenders of the current regime are fighting to save it.
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Brazil watchdog opens new probes into JBS-related insider trading
Tatiana Bautzer and Alberto Alerigi - Reuters
Brazil's securities regulator said it launched four new probes against meatpacker JBS SA (JBSS3.SA) and other companies controlled by J&F Investimentos on Friday to investigate suspicious trades made before markets were rattled by the revelation of a plea deal by the company's top executives.
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Fred Goodwin to take centre stage at RBS trial
Jane Croft and Emma Dunkley - Financial Times
Disgraced former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Fred Goodwin will be back in the spotlight in a High Court trial starting this week that will delve into the disastrous events at the bank in 2008. The £700m High Court case has been brought by thousands of RBS shareholders who allege they lost money in a £12bn rights issue launched by the bank in June 2008. A few months later, RBS had to be bailed out by the British government to the tune of £45.5bn.
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Former Barclays trader receives $1.2 million fine, industry ban
Pete Schroeder - Reuters
The Federal Reserve announced on Friday that it had imposed a $1.2 million fine on a former Barclays Plc foreign exchange trader, and barred him from the banking industry.
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Be SafeÂ5 Things You Need to Know About SAFE Securities and Crowdfunding
FINRA
Some issuers have been offering a new type of security as part of some crowdfunding offeringsÂwhich they have called a SAFE. The acronym stands for Simple Agreement for Future Equity. These securities come with risks, and are very different from traditional common stock. Indeed, as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) notes in a new Investor Bulletin, notwithstanding its name, a SAFE offering may be neither "simple" nor "safe."
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ESMA clarifies traded on a trading venue under MiFID II
ESMA
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has issued today an opinion regarding the implementation of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) and Regulation (MiFIR).
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Japan Tightens Regulations on High Frequency Trading: 3 FINTECH Needs
Taylor Draughon - Finextra
Japan's FSA (Financial Services Agency) is looking to implement tighter regulations on High Frequency Trading (HFT) as soon as 2018. Reuters states that "The growing presence of HFT on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) has raised concerns high-speed trading could destabilise markets and leave retail investors at a disadvantage."
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Regulators ask Deutsche Bank for Brexit trading rethink - source; Deutsche exposed to Brexit because of London trading;' Supervisors want back-up plan if Brexit turns sour; Frankfurt hopes for business boost
John O'Donnell - Reuters
European supervisors want Deutsche Bank to prepare a fallback plan to lay out how it could shift the clearing of trades from London, one person with direct knowledge of the matter said, as the region seeks to guard itself against a possible hard Brexit.
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Speculators set for big payday in U.S. bond market: CFTC data
Reuters
Some speculators set up for a handsome payoff ahead of a U.S. bond market rally on Wednesday as they collectively built their net bullish bets on 10-year Treasury futures to the highest levels since the end of 2007.
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Goldman Says Chasing the Big Mo May Just Work in Commodities
Bloomberg News - Bloomberg
Raw materials can benefit from momentum investing, bank says; Commodities have declined in 2017 after 11% advance last year
Momentum investing may work in commodities, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which said that returns from raw materials may benefit significantly from following the strategy that's based on backing past winners and eschewing or betting against losers.
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Maybe Buybacks Are Actually Kinda Dumb
Owen Davis - Dealbreaker
As an investor, you're supposed to adore buybacks. They return capital to shareholders. They're a better use of cash than letting it moulder under the some corporate mattress. They betoken executive confidence. They make stock go up. Usually.
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Julius Baer assets under management swell at start of 2017
Joshua Franklin - Reuters
Swiss private bank Julius Baer saw its assets under management swell 6 percent in the first four months of 2017 to 356 billion Swiss francs ($365.3 billion), echoing strong starts to the year by larger rivals UBS and Credit Suisse.
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How the Wealthy Talk to Their Children About Money
Paul Sullivan - NY Times
Ron Weiner remembers sitting his two girls down to discuss the amount of money they stood to inherit. One was in college and the other in high school at the time, and they wanted nothing to do with the conversation.
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KCG's European operating chief departs; Nell Axelrod joined KCG in 2015 and has worked at Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan.
Hayley McDowell - The Trade
The European chief operating officer at KCG has departed after two years in the role, a spokesperson has confirmed.
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | RBS Trial Delayed as Lender Said to Double Settlement Offer
Richard Partington - Bloomberg
Ross McEwan held weekend talks seeking deal, person says; CEO's direct intervention comes before trial starts on Monday
Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc's trial over its 2008 rights issue will be postponed for at least a day as investors suing the bank weigh an improved settlement offer.
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Church of England fund becomes top world performer; Return on assets of 17.1% boosted by investment in global equities and private equity
Peter Smith - Financial Times
The Church of England's £7.9bn investment fund, which has in the past struggled to reconcile questions of morality and mammon, achieved its strongest returns in more than three decades last year, lifting it into the top ranks of the world's best-performing endowment funds. The Church Commissioners annual report discloses total return on assets of 17.1 per cent in 2016, with strong performances from global equities, private equity and timber.
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Barclays tightens email security after Jes Staley hoax; Prankster pretending to be UK bank's chairman exposed weaknesses in email system
Martin Arnold and Kadhim Shubber
Barclays has tightened its email security to avoid a repeat of the embarrassment caused earlier this month when the bank's chief executive responded to a message from a prankster posing as his chairman.
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Softbank-Saudi tech fund becomes world's biggest with $93 billion of capital
Andrew Torchia - Reuters
The world's largest private equity fund, backed by Japan's Softbank Group and Saudi Arabia's main sovereign wealth fund, said on Saturday it had raised over $93 billion to invest in technology sectors such as artificial intelligence and robotics.
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Bringing Japanese-style online trading to Malaysia
P. Aruna - The Star
The entry of Japan's second-largest online broker into Malaysia could have many implications on the local trading scene. The new fully-online trading platform iSPEED.my eliminates the need for any human intervention throughout the entire trading process, which means remisiers and agents are no longer in the picture. It also means the cost of trading will go down.
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Fintech's Coming to Trounce India's Banks
Andy Mukherjee - Bloomberg
In the match for India's financial services future, fintech just scored twice while banks are still struggling to retrieve the ball they scuffed into their own net. It's just the start of what looks like a bruising battle for traditional lenders.
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Why the rich and the poor still fall for scams
Mark Reijman - The Star
WHY do Malaysians still fall for scams? Though this is certainly not unique in the world, many countries are fertile grounds for scammers.
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Ghost of the 1997 Crisis Stalks Hong Kong's Economy
Alfred Liu, Moxy Ying and Enda Curran - Bloomberg
Mortgage indebtedness soars as home prices surpass records; Experts warn of wide-ranging fallout if property boom reverses
In 1997, the Asian financial crisis touched off a six-year property bust in Hong Kong that shaved more than two-thirds off prices and saddled the city with a stagnant economy and deflation.
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BP Starts $5.7 Billion Project That Will Double Its U.K. Output
Rakteem Katakey - Bloomberg
Quad 204 development will pump 130,000 barrels a day this year; Schiehallion, Loyal fields producing for first time since 2013
BP Plc started a project in the U.K. North Sea that will restore production halted since 2013 and help double the company's output in the area by the end of the decade.
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Farming the World: China's Epic; Race to Avoid a Food Crisis
Bloomberg News
China's 1.4 billion people are building up an appetite that is changing the way the world grows and sells food. The Chinese diet is becoming more like that of the average American, forcing companies to scour the planet for everything from bacon to bananas.
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South Africa Seen Raising Forecast for Biggest Corn Crop Since 1981
Thembisile Dzonzi - Bloomberg
Growers may reap 14.65 million tons this year, survey shows; Crop Estimates Committee will update its forecast on May 26
South Africa, the continent's biggest corn grower, will probably increase its forecast for a bumper crop of the staple grain for a third time this year as yields continue to beat expectations.
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| Brexit | | Financials stories regarding the decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union | Britain's EU 'no deal' threat is genuine, says Brexit minister Davis
Reuters
Britain is prepared to walk away from divorce talks with the European Union without a deal, Brexit minister David Davis said on Sunday, but stressed that he thought an agreement was the most likely outcome.
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EU Discusses Brexit Position as U.K. Threatens to Quit Talks
Joe Mayes
EU may demand 'divorce payment' as high as 100 billion euros; May says 'money paid in the past' should be taken into account
European Union ministers meet in Brussels on Monday to discuss their Brexit negotiating position after the U.K. threatened to quit talks on its departure unless the bloc drops its demands for a divorce payment as high as 100 billion euros ($112 billion).
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City firms need to take more responsibility for life after Brexit; EU regulators will seek to pull business across the Channel unless challenged
Jonathan Ford - FT
For an industry that prides itself on its ability to cut deals, the banking sector has been curiously passive about Brexit.
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Stripping Britain of a EUR930 billion daily business after Brexit could cost investors EUR100 billion
Oscar Williams-Grut - Business Insider
The CEO of the London Stock Exchange is warning that taking euro clearing away from London post-Brexit could end up costing investors an extra EUR100 billion (£86 billion, $111.8 billion) over five years.
/goo.gl/vZGMOT
Brexit: Why bankers leaving London may not enjoy Luxembourg life; While many find the Grand Duchy a multilingual paradise, would-be expats are being warned not to expect the cosmopolitan lifestyle they currently enjoy in London
Stephanie Bodoni - Independent
Little Luxembourg is luring firms on the lookout for a post-Brexit foothold in the European Union, from JPMorgan to insurance giant AIG.
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Carl Icahn's Charity Supports EducationÂIt Also Lent Him $119 Million
Andrea Fuller - WSJ
Hundreds of charities lend money to their officials. Most loans are relatively small and typically cover expenses such as relocation costs and life-insurance premiums. Then there are $118.7 million in loans to billionaire Carl Icahn from a charity he started, a sum that dwarfs most others.
/goo.gl/a74OXs
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