| December 31, 2024 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | |  | John Lothian
Publisher
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Gambling, Murder and Mayhem: Welcome to the New Futures Markets of Today
JohnLothianNews.com
Gambling, murder, and mayhem are now part of today's CFTC-regulated financial futures markets. While mayhem has always been a feature of financial futures, you can now trade the outcome of the Super Bowl with "event contracts." These contracts strip away any pretense and reveal themselves as straightforward bets on "The Big Game." This isn't trading-it's gambling, wrapped in the guise of a financial instrument.
A week ago, Crypto.com unveiled a sports-focused version of its platform, enabling users to trade event contracts on "The Big Game." A promotional video is pinned to the Crypto.com X/Twitter feed, and the new offering is prominently featured on the frontpage of its website.
As of Sunday night, Kalshi has paused its markets related to murder and on Monday morning the contracts had disappeared from the Kalshi site. Previously listed contracts included "Did Luigi Mangione or a family member have UnitedHealthCare insurance?," "Will only Luigi Mangione be charged in connection with the killing of the UnitedHealthCare CEO?," and "Will Luigi Mangione plead guilty to murder?."
The rise of self-certified event contracts by non-traditional market participants - offering contracts serving no economic purpose beyond pure speculation - is eroding the trust and hard-earned reputation that futures markets have built in the modern trading era.
Read more (or listen to the podcast) »
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
The NYSE, Nasdaq, MEMX, Cboe and other major U.S. stock and futures markets will close on January 9, 2025, in observance of the national day of mourning for former President Jimmy Carter, a tribute reflecting his enduring legacy. Cboe Global Markets will suspend trading on its U.S. equities, options, and futures exchanges, while CME Group will modify its schedule, implementing early closures for key markets.
CME's agricultural and interest rate markets will close at 12:15 p.m. CT, with U.S. equity markets shutting early at 8:30 a.m. CT. Additionally, U.S. equity options expiring on January 9 will now expire on January 8. BrokerTec's U.S. Treasury and repo markets will close at 1:30 p.m. CT and 2:30 p.m. CT, respectively. Notably, cryptocurrency, energy, metals, and FX markets on CME will operate as usual.
The U.S. stock market is on track to achieve back-to-back 20% gains for the first time in nearly three decades, a rare milestone last accomplished in 1997 and 1998, CNN reported. The S&P 500 is set to rise over 20% in 2024, following a 24% increase in 2023, marking only the fifth time this feat has been achieved in the index's modern history. According to historical data, similar streaks occurred in 1927-1928, 1935-1936, and 1954-1955, showcasing the rarity of such sustained market momentum.
Taking a look at the commodity markets for the year, cocoa and coffee led the global commodities rally for the second consecutive year in 2024, driven by supply deficits from adverse weather in West Africa and Brazil, with cocoa prices nearly tripling to record highs, Reuters reported. Conversely, steel-making coal and iron ore struggled due to China's sluggish economic growth and property crisis, while crude oil faced a third year of declines despite OPEC's extended production cuts. Gold and silver surged over 25%, supported by a strong dollar, central bank demand, and safe-haven investment appeal, with expectations of further gains in 2025 amid U.S. interest rate cuts and trade tensions under Donald Trump's administration. Palm oil and rubber posted sharp gains, while soybeans, corn, and wheat saw losses due to ample supply.
Last night I woke up several times and heard the rain and thanked God it was not cold enough for that rain to be snow, as it would have been multiple inches over many hours. Well, our warmer weather is not going to last very long as an Arctic Blast is headed to the U.S. next week and is expected to be the coldest January in more than a decade. Multiple winter storms are headed to the Midwest, South and East, according to AccuWeather. "Should the cold wave evolve to its full potential, temperature departures could plunge to 30 to 40 degrees below the historical average from the Midwest to the interior Southeast for several days during the first to second full week of January," AccuWeather said.
Across the pond, severe weather in Edinburgh, Scotland has forced the cancellation of outdoor New Year's celebrations, including fireworks because of high winds, the Independent reported. Similar weather warnings have affected events across the UK, with Blackpool canceling its fireworks and London monitoring its New Year's display.
We at JLN want to wish you all a Happy New Year and thank you for your readership in 2024. In the coming days, we will begin to send out invoices for your 2025 JLN subscriptions. We will have more details about this on Thursday.
Have a great end of 2024 and stay safe tonight and treat people the same way you want to be treated: with respect, equality and justice.~JJL
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Our most read stories from our previous edition of JLN Options were:
- A Thrill-Seeking Trade Amps Up Heading Into 2025 from The Wall Street Journal.
- Futures exchanges look to ride credit ETF wave from Risk.net.
- OTC derivatives hit $730 trillion peak in H1 2024 from Risk.net. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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 Matrix Executions Enhances Institutional Trading with Focus on Confidentiality and Liquidity JohnLothianNews.com At the FIA EXPO, Joe Corona, Chief Strategy Officer of Matrix Executions, discussed how the firm ensures confidentiality while facilitating institutional investors' orders. In an interview with John Lothian News, Corona said: "When an institutional investor sends us an order, that order can send out indications of interest to counterparties, liquidity providers, and market makers." However, the information shared is carefully managed to prevent leaks. "We do not disclose buy or sell information, nor do we disclose the price. We just indicate the structure and size of the order," he said. Watch the video »
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Phil Knight Is Using His Nike Fortune to Make Oregon a Football Powerhouse; The billionaire booster's cash has helped give the school a shot at a title-and reshaped the sport.
Kim Bhasin, Randall Williams, and Janet Lorin - Bloomberg
About a half-hour before the 4:30 p.m. kickoff, Phil Knight carefully steps out of the passenger side of a golf cart that's dropped him off at Autzen Stadium. An elevator takes him from the concourse to his suite, where he gets ready to see the University of Oregon Ducks take on their archrivals, the University of Washington Huskies, in a late-November finale to the regular season. Oregon President John Karl Scholz, who often pops into Knight's suite for matchups, says: "You don't talk to him when the game is going. He's really, really focused on what is happening on the playing field."
/jlne.ws/40f3oMV
****** Money is corrupting sports on multiple levels, the gambling, the paying of amateur athletes and it will only get worse.
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How climate change is redrawing Europe's wine map; Extreme weather is pushing viticulture into colder northern territory and forcing traditional winemaking regions to adapt
Susannah Savage - Financial Times
At Les 110 Taillevent, a Michelin-starred Paris restaurant that specialises in pairing dishes with wines at various price points, the wine list reflects a traditional European hierarchy: French labels dominate, then Italian, Spanish, plus the occasional Californian bottle. One entry stands out: a white wine from Denmark. The Cuvée Frank, EUR28 for a small glass, hails from Stokkebye domaine in southern Denmark. Partially aged in oak, this fresh wine with flavours of green apple and pineapple also has "a certain nuttiness", says Paul Robineau, executive head sommelier for the Taillevent group.
/jlne.ws/3PlgQbP
***** Anyone want to buy a nice wine vineyard near the North Pole?~JJL
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Monday's Top Three
Monday's top story was Singapore Pulls Ahead of Hong Kong in Race to Be Crypto Hub from Bloomberg. Second was also from Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance, Bets Tied to CEO Murder Case Test Limits on Event Contracts. Third was Two Agencies That Should Become One opinion piece from The Wall Street Journal.
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| Lead Stories | US Treasury Says It Was Breached by Chinese-Backed Hacker; Hacker accessed Treasury workstations, unclassified documents; Treasury says 'no evidence' hacker continues to have access
Jamie Tarabay and Craig Torres - Bloomberg
The US Treasury Department was hacked by a Chinese state-sponsored actor through a third-party software service provider, according to a letter the agency sent to Congress on Monday. Treasury described the intrusion as a "major cybersecurity incident," since it was attributed to a state-sponsored actor, according to the letter, which was reviewed by Bloomberg News.
/jlne.ws/3PftfOz
***** Here are the Financial Times, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal versions of this story. ~JJL
Bernard Madoff's victims collect $4.3 billion as US government fund completes payouts
Jonathan Stempel - Reuters
A U.S. government fund to compensate people swindled by Bernard Madoff announced its tenth and final distribution on Monday, saying it will have paid out $4.3 billion to 40,930 of the late Ponzi schemer's victims. Richard Breeden, the former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairman who oversees the Madoff Victim Fund, said a final $131.4 million payout will go to 23,408 claimants, and mark the distribution of all available forfeited assets.
/jlne.ws/40iWc1d
Do Kwon Sent to US, Losing Battle to Face Law in South Korea; Montenegro says extradition is sign of respecting rule of law; Crypto mogul Kwon was arrested in the Balkan nation last year
Jasmina Kuzmanovic and Misha Savic - Bloomberg
Montenegro extradited crypto mogul and Terraform Labs Pte. co-founder Do Kwon to the US, ending a standoff over competing extradition demands by the US and his native South Korea. "This extradition demonstrates our unwavering commitment to international justice and the rule of law," Montenegro Prime Minister Milojko Spajic said on X after Kwon was handed over to FBI officials on Tuesday at the airport near the Balkan country's capital.
/jlne.ws/400Xgq4
Stockpicking funds suffer record $450bn of outflows; Shift into passive strategies and ETFs has accelerated as performance of pricier mutual funds lags behind benchmarks
Harriet Agnew and Brooke Masters - Financial Times
Investors pulled a record $450bn out of actively managed stock funds this year, as a shift into cheaper index-tracking investments reshapes the asset management industry. The outflows from stockpicking mutual funds eclipse last year's previous high of $413bn, according to data from EPFR, and underline how passive investing and exchange traded funds are hollowing out the once-dominant market for active mutual funds. Traditional stockpicking funds have struggled to justify their relatively high fees in recent years, with their performance lagging behind the gains for Wall Street indices powered by big technology stocks.
/jlne.ws/4gxvUio
Treasury's Elite Bond Dealers Will Struggle to Handle $50 Trillion Debt; As US debt balloons, firms that play a vital role in ensuring the biggest bond market works properly warn of the risk of growing pressures.
Michael Mackenzie, Liz Capo McCormick, and Alex Harris - Bloomberg
It was once the club every Wall Street institution wanted to join: the elite network of primary dealers who serve as gatekeepers of the world's biggest and most influential bond market, US Treasuries. Not so much anymore. Just as America's debt load is poised to balloon beyond already-record levels, a variety of forces has made membership in this vital cohort less coveted. In one telling example, Ken Griffin's Citadel Securities in September indicated that it had shelved, for now, its long-touted plans to join the group, with the rise of electronic trading allowing it to earn a spot as a market-making giant despite not being among the Federal Reserve's select counterparties.
/jlne.ws/3Pgw7KU
World's 500 Richest People Surpassed $10 Trillion in Wealth This Year; Tech billionaires led the way with combined $903 billion gain; Trump's election win pushed Musk's fortune above $400 billion
Dylan Sloan and Jack Witzig - Bloomberg
The world's 500 richest people got vastly richer in 2024, with Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jensen Huang leading the group of billionaires to a new milestone: A combined $10 trillion net worth. An indomitable rally in US technology stocks played a key role in turbocharging the trio's wealth, as well as the fortunes of Larry Ellison, Jeff Bezos, Michael Dell and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The eight tech titans alone gained more than $600 billion this year, 43% of the $1.5 trillion increase among the 500 richest people tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
/jlne.ws/4gWBlqO
Investors to Ken Griffin: Multistrategy Hedge Funds Are Still Booming; Demand remains strong and performance has improved this year; Banks' wealth clients among investors flocking to the funds
Katherine Burton, Hema Parmar, and Nishant Kumar - Bloomberg
Citadel founder Ken Griffin was only half right last month when he said the multistrategy hedge fund boom had "come and gone." Yes, the amount of money these multimanager funds oversee has dipped from last year - partly because some, including Citadel, have returned billions of dollars of profits to clients. But the firms, also known as pod shops, are still in their heyday - and several rank among the world's largest hedge funds. Demand for the biggest among them is strong, performance improved this year and the war for talent to trade their billions continues to rage.
/jlne.ws/4a0BveT
Hong Kong Sees Rush of IPO Filings on Last Trading Day of 2024; At least six firms have announced plans to list their shares; Hong Kong IPO proceeds have nearly doubled this year from 2023
Sangmi Cha - Bloomberg
A slew of companies have announced plans to list shares in Hong Kong over the next month in a further sign the city's IPO market is reviving. At least six firms have said they intend to hold initial public offerings in the city by late January, raising a combined HK$3.3 billion ($429 million), based on exchange filings Tuesday. These include Chinese toy maker Bloks Group and autonomous vehicle tester Beijing Saimo Technology Co.
/jlne.ws/4j8FV7A
How climate change is redrawing Europe's wine map; Extreme weather is pushing viticulture into colder northern territory and forcing traditional winemaking regions to adapt
Susannah Savage - Financial Times
At Les 110 Taillevent, a Michelin-starred Paris restaurant that specialises in pairing dishes with wines at various price points, the wine list reflects a traditional European hierarchy: French labels dominate, then Italian, Spanish, plus the occasional Californian bottle. One entry stands out: a white wine from Denmark. The Cuvée Frank, EUR28 for a small glass, hails from Stokkebye domaine in southern Denmark. Partially aged in oak, this fresh wine with flavours of green apple and pineapple also has "a certain nuttiness", says Paul Robineau, executive head sommelier for the Taillevent group.
/jlne.ws/3PlgQbP
Jupiter's Great Red Spot Isn't as Permanent as We Thought; Spot we see today isn't same one Italian astronomer Cassini discovered centuries ago, research shows
Aylin Woodward - The Wall Street Journal
Jupiter's Great Red Spot-a rotating storm that is so large it could swallow Earth-isn't what it used to be. Research has revealed that the crimson-hued spot visible today is, on average, larger than the one Italian astronomer Giovanni Cassini espied for the first time in 1665 and called the "Permanent Spot." Both Cassini's spot and the current one are anticyclones, or vortexes of winds in high pressure areas. Today's spot swirls in the gas giant's Southern Hemisphere, and its winds can reach speeds of nearly 300 miles an hour.
/jlne.ws/4gZ9MgT
'No heating, no light': Moldovans fear looming energy shortage as Russia halts gas supplies
Stephen Mcgrath and Aurel Obreja - Associated Press
On a frigid morning in Moldova's capital, 39-year-old postal worker Petru Murzin braces for a difficult winter as he fears a looming energy shortage could leave many Moldovans with "no heating, no light." His concerns aren't unfounded. On Jan. 1, Russia's state-owned energy giant Gazprom is set to halt gas supplies to the European Union candidate country over an alleged $709 million debt for past supplies, a figure fiercely disputed by Moldova's pro-Western government, that has accused Moscow of weaponizing energy as a political tool to destabilize the country.
/jlne.ws/40ft9g5
Want to Cut Down on Alcohol This Year? Behavioral Science Says This 2-Step Process Is The Best Way To Do It
Jessica Stillman - Inc (contributor)
The holiday season is a time of fun, family, togetherness, and, for many of us, a whole lot of booze. Studies show that on average, Americans double their usual alcohol consumption during the holidays. The hard spirits industry makes fully a quarter of its profits between Thanksgiving and New Year's. No wonder "Dry January" has become increasingly popular. When you wake up after one too many glasses of champagne after yet another holiday party, the idea of resetting your relationship with alcohol can seem particularly urgent. If that scenario sounds familiar to you, what's the best way to approach drinking less this coming year?
/jlne.ws/4gNDEgc
Get ready to pay taxes on those crypto gains
Brady Dale - Axios
With all the excitement bitcoin has generated this year, a lot of new crypto investors have made nice gains - now it's times to think about the tax bill. Why it matters: One price the industry has paid by going mainstream is greater scrutiny from revenue authorities. Big picture: If you were in the crypto markets this year, you almost certainly made money - bitcoin, the leader, rose all year, from around $40,000 on January 1 to just under $100,000 today. As ever, the rest of the market generally followed.
/jlne.ws/41Qa7hv
Tensions with Russia rise amid power line sabotage
Brad Dress - The Hill
Russia's connection to the rupture of an undersea cable between Finland and Estonia is raising a new bevy of fears over the sabotage of critical power lines. The new incidents come as tensions between the West and Russia and China have risen over the war in Ukraine, and as the world braces for a shift in U.S. leadership as President-elect Trump prepares to take office.
/jlne.ws/41PBKau
An Arctic blast is coming. Here's how cold it may get in your region. An Arctic blast is coming, sending temperatures dropping from the northern Rockies to the East Coast.
Ben Noll - The Washington Post
A widespread swath of the country, from the northern Rockies to the East Coast, is bracing for a blast of Arctic air that will send temperatures plummeting this week and dropping even further as additional cold air moves in next week. Want to know how your actions can help make a difference for our planet? Sign up for the Climate Coach newsletter, in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday. The air mass, which originated in Siberia, will arrive in the northern Rockies on Monday night, move into the Plains on Tuesday and spread to the East Coast by late Wednesday.
/jlne.ws/3ZVlz8R
Clinton Remains Stock-Market Champ, Trump Third, Biden Ninth
John Dorfman - Forbes (contributor)
As of December 27, Joe Biden ranks ninth among U.S. presidents (post 1928) in stock-market performance. That's not likely to change in the last few days of his term. Bill Clinton remains the champion, with a 17.49% annual return for the Standard & Poor's 500 Total Return Index during his presidency in January 1993 to January 2001. He managed to balance the federal budget (with help from the Internet boom), and to avoid major wars and recessions.
/jlne.ws/400zdru
Hackers are hijacking Chrome extensions in an attempt to steal your data
Jacob Siegal - BGR.com
While you were wrapping presents or spending time with friends and family on Christmas Eve, hackers were busy looking for ways to steal your data. Reuters reports that multiple companies have seen their Chrome browser extensions hijacked by cybercriminals in recent days, such as the data protection company Cyberhaven on December 24. "On December 24, a phishing attack compromised a Cyberhaven employee's credentials to the Google Chrome Web Store," Cyberhaven CEO Howard Ting wrote on the company's blog. "The attacker used these credentials to publish a malicious version of our Chrome extension (version 24.10.4). Our security team detected this compromise at 11:54 PM UTC on December 25 and removed the malicious package within 60 minutes."
/jlne.ws/4iWrovo
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | US to send Ukraine $6bn in fresh military and budget assistance; Biden administration races to provide Kyiv with additional support before Donald Trump takes office
Felicia Schwartz - Financial Times
The US has said it will unleash almost $6bn in additional aid to Ukraine, as the Biden administration rushes to provide Kyiv with fresh firepower before president-elect Donald Trump takes office next month. US President Joe Biden said on Monday his administration would continue to surge "as much assistance to Ukraine as quickly as possible", including by delivering older American equipment to the battlefield.
/jlne.ws/40d9bCG
Ukraine Says Drone Downed Russian Military Helicopter at Sea
Kateryna Chursina - Bloomberg
Ukraine's intelligence service said a naval drone had struck down a Russian military helicopter for the first time and forced another one to return to an airfield after being hit. An airborne Russian Mi-8 helicopter was hit on Tuesday by a Ukrainian Magura V5 drone near Cape Tarkhankut in occupied Crimea, the intelligence agency said in a statement on Telegram. The unmanned craft was equipped with R-73 missiles, it said.
/jlne.ws/41UX8uM
Savage tactics have swung the Ukraine war in Russia's favor
Michael Peck - Business Insider
To Westerners, the solution was inhuman. To compensate for the dismal performance of its troops in the early months of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia formed assault units of convicts and other "expendables" in 2023. But for Vladimir Putin's government - to whom only victory mattered - sending waves of troops meant to absorb bullets has enabled more valued Russian regulars to seize more ground from Ukraine.
/jlne.ws/4gzfjL3
Ukraine quadruples domestic gas transport fees to offset impact of Russian deal expiry
Reuters
Ukraine still earns up to $1 billion annually in Russian transit fees; Domestic increase will not fully cover lost revenue; Employers' association says Ukrainian industry will suffer from fee increase. Ukraine will quadruple gas transmission tariffs for domestic consumers from Jan. 1 to offset the impact of lost revenue following the year-end expiry of the gas transit agreement with Russia, officials said on Monday. Almost three years after the start of the war with Russia, Ukraine has refused to extend the deal that allowed Russian gas to be pumped to customers in the European Union.
/jlne.ws/4gVzNxA
Russia and Ukraine swap at least 300 prisoners in exchange deal; Some of the freed Ukrainians had been held since war's early days, while Russians were captured in Ukraine's Kursk offensive
Shaun Walker - The Guardian
Russia and Ukraine have carried out a major prisoner exchange, with at least 150 people from each side returning home before New Year's Eve, in a swap partly brokered by the United Arab Emirates. "The return of our people from Russian captivity is always very good news for each of us. And today is one of such days: our team managed to bring 189 Ukrainians home," the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said in a message posted on Telegram on Monday.
/jlne.ws/4a6FUgb
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| Israel/Hamas Conflict | | News about the recent (October, 2023) conflict between Israel and Hamas | Houthis Launch Latest Missile at Israel Amid Warnings of Retaliation; The Houthis, an Iranian-backed group based in Yemen, have launched repeated attacks despite the Israeli military's retaliatory airstrikes.
Adam Rasgon - The New York Times
The Houthis in Yemen launched their fifth missile attack on Israel in a week late Monday, as Israeli officials ratcheted up their warnings to the Iranian-backed group. The Houthis' repeated attacks show that Israel's retaliatory strikes and tough talk have failed to deter the group, which has been firing rockets and drones at Israel in solidarity with its ally Hamas in Gaza for more than a year.
/jlne.ws/4fAqD8F
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Boerse Stuttgart Group with record year 2024; Trading volume of the Group's three European exchanges increases by 16 percent // Tripling of digital business // Broker EUWAX AG once again achieves excellent results.
Boerse Stuttgart Group
In a dynamic market environment, Boerse Stuttgart Group achieved the highest revenues in its history in 2024. The Group was very successful in all of its strategic business areas and continued on its path of structural growth. Key figures in the capital markets and digital business of the sixth-largest exchange group in Europe developed very positively.
/jlne.ws/40qaJJL
Cboe Global Markets to Close its U.S. Markets January 9 in Honor of National Day of Mourning for Former President Jimmy Carter
Cboe Global Markets, Inc.
Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE), the world's leading derivatives and securities exchange network, today announced its U.S. equities and options exchanges, along with Cboe Futures Exchange, will close on Thursday, January 9, 2025, in observance of the National Day of Mourning to honor former President Jimmy Carter.
/jlne.ws/3PjoZxw
CME Group Announces Trading Hours for U.S. National Day of Mourning to Honor Former President Jimmy Carter
CME Group
CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, has announced that it will honor the passing of former President Jimmy Carter by implementing an early close for agricultural, equity and interest rate markets on the National Day of Mourning on Thursday, January 9, 2025. U.S. equity markets will be open until 8:30 a.m. CT on January 9. All U.S. equity options expiring on January 9 will be moved to expire on January 8. Interest rates and agricultural markets will close at 12:15 p.m. CT on Thursday, January 9. BrokerTec U.S. Repo and Treasury products will have an early close of 2:30 p.m. CT and 1:30 p.m. CT, respectively, on January 9. CME Group cryptocurrency, energy, foreign exchange, and metals markets, as well as products traded on the EBS platform, will operate with normal trading hours.
/jlne.ws/49XFGb6
New Product Summary: Initial Listing of the HMS 80/20 Ferrous Scrap, CFR Turkey (Platts TSI) Average Price Option Contract - Effective January 27, 2025
CME Group
Initial Listing of the HMS 80/20 Ferrous Scrap, CFR Turkey (Platts TSI) Average Price Option Contract.
/jlne.ws/3BCrlV2
New Product Summary: Eligibility of Basis Trade at Index Close ("BTIC") for the Bitcoin Friday Futures Contract - Effective January 27, 2025
CME Group
Eligibility of Basis Trade at Index Close ("BTIC") for the Bitcoin Friday Futures Contract.
/jlne.ws/41WNmbI
DTCC Comments on The Passing Of President Carter; DTCC CEO Frank La Salla Statement on the Passing on President Carter:
DTCC
"We mourn the loss of President Carter and join the world in commemorating his life. President Carter was a humble and honorable leader during his time in office, serving at a challenging time in our history as national and global affairs shifted rapidly. In the most difficult times, he encouraged us to look beyond those immediate struggles and to share his deep faith in our country and ourselves. His inspiring work during his post-presidency reflected his devotion to helping improve the lives of the most vulnerable among us. On this sad day, we send our condolences and prayers to President Carter's family and friends."
/jlne.ws/41UNvMI
Euronext confirms its European leading position in equity listing and its worldwide leadership in debt listing in 2024
Euronext
In 2024, Euronext once again confirmed its position as the leading equity listing venue in Europe. Euronext welcomed 53 new companies to its markets, raising EUR3.9 billion in new capital, +55% versus 2023, for an aggregated market capitalisation of EUR27 billion, representing a third of the total number of new equity listings across Europe. Euronext is the venue of choice for international companies and continues to attract ambitious global champions on its markets. Notably, Euronext welcomed in 2024: UK-based CVC Capital Partners (largest company to go public this year in Europe in terms of market capitalisation at listing), Exosens, Havas, Paratus Energy Services, Planisware, Louis Hachette Group and Greece-based Theon International. Additionally, more than 200 issuers raised over EUR15 billion through follow-on transactions.
/jlne.ws/4gHajnN
Trader Alert 24-58: Closed for National Day of Mourning January 9, 2025
MEMX
To honor the memory of former President Jimmy Carter, MEMX Equities and MEMX Options will be observing the National Day of Mourning on Thursday, January 9, 2025. MEMX will be closed for trading on Thursday, January 9, 2025. Normal trading will resume on Friday, January 10, 2025.
/jlne.ws/4gUZdLH
Nasdaq Announces the Closure of its U.S. Markets in Honor of a National Day of Mourning for Former President Jimmy Carter
Nasdaq
Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) announces that it will observe the passing of President Jimmy Carter by closing all Nasdaq U.S. equities and options markets on Thursday, January 9, 2025. "We mourn the loss of President Carter and will be closing our U.S. markets during the National Day of Mourning to celebrate his life and honor his legacy," said Tal Cohen, President, Nasdaq. "President Carter was an exemplary leader, one who tirelessly continued his efforts to improve the human condition even after his tenure in public office was complete. His contributions will be felt by those around the world for years to come. On behalf of Nasdaq, we extend our deepest condolences to the Carter Family." In addition, Nasdaq observed a moment of silence at 9:20 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) today, with a message on the Nasdaq Tower honoring the former President.
/jlne.ws/49X9ch6
The New York Stock Exchange Will Close Markets on January 9 to Honor the Passing of Former President Jimmy Carter on National Day of Mourning
NYSE
The New York Stock Exchange, part of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading global provider of technology and data, announced today that it will close all NYSE Group equity and options markets on Thursday, January 9, 2025, in observance of the National Day of Mourning in recognition of the passing of former President Jimmy Carter. President Carter, the 39th President of the United States, served from 1977 to 1981. He was also a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, a Navy veteran, served as the 76th Governor of Georgia, and founded the Carter Center, where he served for decades after his presidency advocating for democracy, public health and human rights. He passed away on Sunday, December 29, 2024, at the age of 100. The NYSE Group markets that will close in observance of the National Day of Mourning for President Carter are the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE American Equities, NYSE American Options, NYSE Arca Equities, NYSE Arca Options, NYSE Chicago and NYSE National.
/jlne.ws/4iXU6Mp
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Do I Get Rich, or Go Bust? These Tools Predicted My Financial Future; Stress-test your money with math developed for nuclear bombs
Jeremy Olshan - The Wall Street Journal
The fortunetellers say I'll retire rich. Not Buffett rich, but rich enough for my wife and me to live in premium-economy comfort well into our 90s and still leave something to our kids. Of course, there's a 17% chance-roughly the odds of rolling a seven at the casino-that we'll outlive our money. Crap. After plugging my income, debt, assets, hopes and fears into the newest generation of financial-planning tools, these were two of the possible financial futures predicted. No mere retirement calculators, these tools let you play out a range of financial futures and what-ifs for income, health, market turbulence, the impact of Roth conversions and the fate of Social Security.
/jlne.ws/4j0a8p2
The TRADE predictions series 2025: Post-trade and the shift to T+1 - part two; Industry experts from the FIX Trading Community, Broadridge Trading and Connectivity Solutions, Meritsoft, and CLS provide an additional view on the post-trade landscape, including the lasting significance of the shift to T+1, the importance of enhanced operational capabilities, and the need for increased technological innovations.
Editors - The Trade
Jim Kaye, Executive Director at the FIX Trading Community
Next year will be the year of preparation. Market participants' readiness for key milestones, like the anticipated go-live of the European consolidated tape (CTP) in 2025 or the transition to T+1 settlement in the UK/EU in 2027, will be critical to ensure long-term success. Whilst these turning points may seem far off, the time to prepare is now.
xhttps://jlne.ws/4gXE17S
The TRADE predictions series 2025: Key insights on data; With the 'garbage in, garbage out' argument more relevant than ever, market onlookers from big xyt, Cboe Global Markets, and Jupiter Asset Management share their view on what's to come next year and beyond wherein data, regulation and technology will need to work closer together than ever before.
Editors - The Trade
Robin Mess, chief executive and co-founder, big xyt
As we approach 2025, the equity trading landscape is set to evolve significantly, shaped by a confluence of technology, market behaviour, and regulatory dynamics. Data continues to be at the heart of this transformation. The ability to harness and interpret vast amounts of market data is becoming critical in navigating increasingly complex and fragmented trading environments.
/jlne.ws/4fAL5Gd
Nvidia may be entering a 'limitless' era: Investor
Brian Sozzi - Yahoo Finance
Nvidia's (NVDA) Teflon-like stock may be taking a few swipes as the year winds down, but a new chapter awaits the AI market darling - and with it more impressive quarters of growth, experts and investors believe. "Nvidia is printing money like Apple did in the early days of the iPhone," Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management president Ross Gerber said on Yahoo Finance's Catalysts (video above), later adding, "the opportunity for AI is somewhat limitless at this point."
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Treasury breached by Chinese hackers in 'major' cybersecurity incident; Treasury was notified of the breach by a third-party vendor on Dec. 8, the department told lawmakers.
Sam Sutton - Politico
The Treasury Department was breached by a Chinese state-sponsored hacker in a "major" cybersecurity incident earlier this year, the department told lawmakers Monday. Treasury learned of the hack on Dec. 8 through an outside vendor, BeyondTrust, which found the hacker had obtained an online key used to provide remote technical support for Treasury offices through its cloud-based service, according to a letter sent to Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and ranking Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina.
/jlne.ws/4j0sHJO
The state of cybersecurity and IT talent shortages
HelpNetSecurity
This article highlights key findings and trends in the 2024 IT and cybersecurity skills gap, from the shortage of cybersecurity talent to the rising demand for certifications and upskilling programs, offering insights into the current state of skills development in the tech industry.
/jlne.ws/4fJxXi6
Android And iPhone Security Warnings-Run This 1 Check Right Now
Davey Winder - Forbes
With Gmail attacks ongoing, as well as warnings being issued as Google users are impacted by new security threats, users of Android smartphones are increasingly in the crosshairs of hackers and scammers alike. And it's not just Android smartphone users and Google account holders who are at risk, recent research suggested that iOS devices are being targeted more than Android, and warnings have been issued for iPhone users about Apple ID attacks. The FBI has even urged all Android and iPhone users to implement a secret word strategy with family and friends to help reduce the chance of a successful attack. But there's a straightforward and free check from both technology behemoths that you could, and should, employ to help mitigate the possibility of falling victim no matter which device you use. Here's what you need to do.
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Crypto Has an Ally in the White House. What's Ahead for Digital Currencies in 2025; Bitcoin prices recently passed $100,000 for the first time and have more than doubled this year
Krystal Hur - The Wall Street Journal
Crypto die-hards are anticipating a golden age for digital assets under President-elect Donald Trump. That has helped fuel a blistering run in bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency. The price of bitcoin breached $100,000 for the first time in December and has more than doubled in 2024. It recently traded around $94,448. Smaller tokens including ether and solana have also jumped. Some enthusiasts believe that the monster rally is just getting started. Here's what you should know about bitcoin's wild run:
/jlne.ws/49XcIbi
South Korean crypto boss Do Kwon extradited to US from Montenegro; Kwon, wanted in the US and South Korea for alleged fraud linked to the collapse of his TerraUSD stablecoin, has been extradited from Montenegro to face charges
South China Morning Post
Montenegro said on Tuesday it completed the extradition of crypto mogul Do Kwon to the United States, Prime Minister Milojko Spajic said. "This extradition demonstrates our unwavering commitment to international justice and the rule of law," he said in a social media post. Kwon was "handed over to the competent law enforcement authorities of the United States of America and agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)", Montenegro's interior ministry said in a statement.
/jlne.ws/3ZVkq13
Crypto fugitive Do Kwon extradited to US over $40bn crash
Tom Gerken - BBC
A South Korean man accused of being responsible for a cryptocurrency crisis which cost investors $40bn (£31.8bn) has finally been extradited to the United States. Do Kwon was the boss of Terraform, which operated two cryptocurrencies - TerraUSD and Luna - both of which collapsed in 2022, sparking a wider sell-off in the crypto market. The US says he was responsible for the coins' failure, accusing him of "orchestrating a multi-billion dollar crypto asset securities fraud".
/jlne.ws/3BFh9uZ
Disturbing new report uncovers bitcoin operation with troubling ties to the Russian state: 'The evidence is clear' "It is time to act."
Sam Westmoreland - The Cool Down
Cryptocurrency miners have set up shop in currently ungoverned "grey zones," allowing them to dodge both regulation and oversight as they work to accumulate wealth. What's happening? According to a report from the Royal United Services Institute, cryptocurrency miners in Eastern Europe have started to set up shop more and more in Russia's shadow territories of Donbas, Transnistria, and Abkhazia, exploiting the dirt-cheap gas power that Russia can provide while also operating in areas that lack governmental oversight because their ownership is unclear. Why is sketchy cryptocurrency mining important? These operations are running essentially outside the law, which opens up a number of problems. First and foremost, from an environmental standpoint, allowing these operations to run fully outside of regulation and monitoring makes it tough to track exactly how much power they're using. And since that power is largely coming from dirty sources like gas and coal plants, the operations are pumping significant quantities of planet-warming carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere.
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Bill Ackman expects Trump to privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Reuters
Bill Ackman expects U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to remove Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FREGP) from conservatorship, potentially making them private companies again, the billionaire investor said on Monday. Shares of Fannie Mae climbed 18.4%, while those of Freddie Mac rose 18% following Ackman's post on social media platform X.
/jlne.ws/3BYcWlW
The Atlantic Beefs Up Politics Coverage Under Trump; The magazine is recruiting from a crosstown rival, The Washington Post, to bolster its political staff.
Benjamin Mullin - The New York Times
As news organizations gear up to cover President-elect Donald J. Trump's return to the White House, The Atlantic is going big to cover the story. The magazine, which in recent years has become a success in the realm of digital subscriptions, is preparing to hire roughly a dozen new reporters and editors to beef up its politics coverage, a spokeswoman for The Atlantic said.
/jlne.ws/4gNAj0E
Pressure is ratcheting up on US banks over debanking; There is a good chance the Trump administration will take action over the issue after complaints from the right
Joshua Franklin - Financial Times
More than a year after Nigel Farage whipped up a fuss in Britain about debanking, a similar debate is brewing in the US. One catalyst has been venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, who complained in an interview with Joe Rogan in late November about investors, founders and their companies being kicked out of the banking system. Andreessen had two gripes. First, he claimed banks were labelling people on the right with a "politically exposed" regulatory designation and subsequently cutting business ties with them. And second, industries that are frowned upon by the government or could threaten traditional financial companies, such as crypto businesses, are having their banking access taken away.
/jlne.ws/4a1BgQo
Musk Berated by German Leaders Over Backing for Far-Right Party; Chancellor Scholz and his deputy warn on election interference; Conservatives lead in polls ahead of February's snap ballot
Iain Rogers - Bloomberg
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his deputy, Robert Habeck, used their New Year addresses to castigate Elon Musk over his backing for a far-right party in February's snap election. Musk, a key adviser and major donor to US President-elect Donald Trump, has repeatedly praised the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany in recent weeks on his social media platform X. He expanded on his support for the party, known by its German acronym AfD, in an opinion piece published over the weekend by Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
/jlne.ws/3W3H9qO
Africa Has Entered a New Era of War; A surge in conflicts has gone largely unnoticed amid higher-profile wars in Ukraine and the Middle East
Gabriele Steinhauser, Andrew Barnett and Emma Brown - The Wall Street Journal
An unprecedented explosion of conflicts has carved a trail of death and destruction across the breadth of Africa-from Mali near the continent's western edge all the way to Somalia on its eastern Horn. Older wars, such as the Islamist uprisings in northern Nigeria and Somalia and the militia warfare in eastern Congo, have intensified dramatically. New power contests between militarized elites in Ethiopia and Sudan are convulsing two of Africa's largest and most populous nations. The countries of the western Sahel are now the heart of global jihadism, where regional offshoots of al Qaeda and Islamic State are battling both each other and a group of wobbly military governments.
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Bank regulator gives BlackRock January deadline on bank stakes
Suzanne McGee - Reuters
The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has told asset manager BlackRock it has until Jan. 10 to accept an agreement that would allow the agency to step up scrutiny of its investments in FDIC-regulated banking institutions, according to a person familiar with the matter. On Friday, the FDIC said it reached a similar deal with Vanguard strengthening the rules the asset manager must observe as a passive investor in FDIC-supervised banks, the latest step in a months-long tug-of-war between the banking regulator and the two biggest managers of index-based mutual funds and exchange-traded funds.
/jlne.ws/3BFtm2J
BlackRock and FDIC on course for early 2025 clash over bank stakes; US watchdog is seeking greater scrutiny over asset management giant's vast holdings in lenders
Brooke Masters - Financial Times
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and BlackRock are headed for a January showdown over the US watchdog's efforts to step up its oversight of investors who take large stakes in small and midsized banks. The FDIC has given the $11.5tn investment giant until January 10 to accept proposed new compliance measures whenever it owns more than 10 per cent of the outstanding shares in FDIC-supervised banks, people familiar with the situation said. Some politicians and regulators have grown increasingly concerned about the growing power of BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street as a result of the vast flood of money flowing into "passive" funds that buy every company in an index.
/jlne.ws/40hRUIB
SEC Resolves Litigation Against City of Rochester, NY, its former Finance Director, and Municipal Advisor
SEC
The SEC announced that it has resolved all pending litigation in the action it filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York on June 14, 2022 against the City of Rochester, NY and its former finance director Rosiland Brooks-Harris, and against a New York-based municipal advisor, Capital Markets Advisors, LLC (CMA), and two of its principals, Richard Tortora and Richard Ganci (CMA Defendants).
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | ADM Shareholder Calls for CEO to Leave as Probe Drags On; Ex-Toepfer board chairman says CEO Juan Luciano 'has to go'; Probe has wiped out $12 billion of the crop trader's value
Isis Almeida and Gerson Freitas Jr - Bloomberg
It's been almost a year since Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. disclosed a probe into its accounting practices that wiped out $12 billion from one of the world's largest agricultural commodities traders. Now, a shareholder and former executive at a company owned by ADM is calling on Chief Executive Officer Juan Luciano to step down, citing the lack of transparency about exactly what happened and how it will be fixed.
/jlne.ws/4gZvT6R
SNB Stayed Out of FX Markets Despite Third-Quarter Franc Rally
Zoe Schneeweiss - Bloomberg
The Swiss National Bank continued to refrain from significantly influencing the franc in the third quarter, even as the currency saw a rally triggered by geopolitical turmoil. Switzerland's central bank bought foreign exchange worth 728 million francs ($806 million) from July to September after even smaller purchases in the previous two quarters, according to data on Tuesday.
/jlne.ws/3W0ar9Q
Vistra Is First Utility to Top S&P 500 Since 2001 Amid AI Boom; Rising power needs from AI, data centers fuel utility gains; Vistra's 264% gain clobbers runner-up Nvidia's performance
Geoffrey Morgan - Bloomberg
Vistra Corp. just pulled off a feat that no other utility stock has managed since 2001 - it topped the leaderboard of the S&P 500 Index with an eye-popping 264% annual gain. Shares of Vistra, which joined the S&P 500 in May, posted their best year in the Dallas-based firm's history and led a pack of nuclear power plant operators higher in a performance more akin to the high-growth tech sector than the typically boring and defensive play of utilities.
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IAG, NatWest Shine Among UK's Stock Market Winners of 2024; British Airways parent and Rolls-Royce among best performers; Vistry, JD Sports, Ocado among names disappointing investors
Joe Easton - Bloomberg
Shares in British Airways-owner IAG SA and Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc rallied powerfully in 2024 to be among the best-performing UK stocks as long-haul travel demand surged. Meanwhile, lender NatWest Group Plc marked its best year since 1993 and debutant Raspberry PI Holdings Plc provided some joy for capital markets. The benchmark FTSE 100 ended the year with an advance of 5.7%, roughly matching the pan-European Stoxx 600 Index.
/jlne.ws/3W2uap7
The Stock-Market Winners and Losers of 2024
Chelsey Dulaney - The Wall Street Journal
Global stock markets are closing out a strong year. But which companies led the charge, and who got left behind in 2024? Let's take a look. In the U.S., data-analytics company Palantir reigned supreme among S&P 500 members with a gain of nearly 350% through Monday's close. On the losing side was the struggling pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance, which gave up nearly 65% of its market value in 2024.
/jlne.ws/4iZ3wr5
The TRADE predictions series 2025: A macro outlook on the markets; Industry experts from Standard Chartered, H2O Asset Management, STP Investment Services and Tradeweb share their opinion on the most relevant macro-economic factors to consider in the year to come, looking at the key themes on both sides of the Atlantic, and beyond.
Editors - The Trade
Bruno Lettich, global head of rates trading, Standard Chartered and Thomas Kikis and global co-head, corporate sales and head of markets, US and Americas, Standard Chartered
The coming change in US administration will see a front-loaded agenda of policy change in 2025. The reaction function of policy makers will be tested, with multi-lateral negotiations to be expected between the US and its trading partners - with uncertain results and even incongruent outcomes relative to current expectations. Adding to this, varying enthusiasm by central bankers and Treasury officials to lean on monetary and fiscal policy levers to stabilise growth, will see policy divergence and more importantly, policy miscalculation as the central theme over 2025.
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Dark Doldrums Overshadow Europe's Energy Markets; Periods of low sun and wind, a weather pattern known as a Dunkelflaute, can increase electricity prices and stoke political tensions
Stanley Reed and Melissa Eddy - The New York Times
Europe is watching the skies for a gremlin that can roil its energy markets and stoke political tensions between neighboring countries. This weather phenomenon, known as the Dunkelflaute, has become a source of frustration to government ministers and a potential pitfall on their journey to cleaner energy. A German term that translates to "dark doldrums," Dunkelflaute refers to a spate of calm days when dense clouds descend over northern Europe. This weather pattern may occur two to 10 times a year, usually in the fall and winter, and lasts 24 hours or longer.
/jlne.ws/3PjXjbQ
India is overlooking the climate drag on its economic growth; The country's climate-neutral GDP forecasts require urgent revision
Parag Khanna - Financial Times (opinion)
The November COP29 summit ended predictably: a last-minute, watered-down commitment to support developing countries in their urgent climate adaptation efforts was delivered. India's delegate then led the equally predictable outcry with a fiery diatribe against the paltry sums promised. India is right to worry: it is facing a combustible mix of climate volatility and demographic vulnerability from being an overpopulated poor country. There is a widespread consensus that India will be the world's fastest-growing large economy for the next decade and perhaps beyond. The World Bank recently upped its growth forecast for the country from 6.6 per cent to 7 per cent in the fiscal year to next March 31. Yet India still faces major economic headwinds such as slow structural reforms, trade barriers, too heavy banking sector regulation and high youth unemployment.
/jlne.ws/3DFZwvG
Here's Why I'm Optimistic About Climate Financing; We're about to enter the second half of a crucial decade for action. Money hasn't often flowed to the biggest problems, but I see reasons to be encouraged.
Lara Williams - Bloomberg
So we're at the end of another record-breaking year for heat. It became "effectively certain" at the start of December that 2024 is going to be the warmest year on record and more than 1.5C above the pre-industrial baseline, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, part of the European Union's Earth observation program.
/jlne.ws/3DMcszS
Bleak outlook for US farmers - and Trump tariffs could make it worse; Bumper grain crop set to weigh heavily as farmers count costs of seed, fertilizer - and effects of possible trade war
Debbie Carlson - The Guardian
Many US midwestern grain farmers will lose money this year after reaping a bumper crop, and the outlook for their future income is bleak. US farmers harvested some of the largest corn and soybean crops in history this year. Big harvests traditionally weigh on crop prices because of plentiful supply. And those price pressures comes at a time when costs remain persistently high to grow corn and soybeans, the US's most valuable crops.
/jlne.ws/4gwuViH
China Plans Dam Near India That Could Be World's Biggest
Bloomberg News
China is pressing ahead with plans to construct a mega-dam near its contested border with India, a colossal undertaking that could generate three times as much power as the Three Gorges Dam. The Chinese government approved the construction of "a hydropower project" in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo river in Tibet, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, without elaborating.
/jlne.ws/40bM4bB
Federal Grant Complexity Stymies the Energy Transition in Wyoming Coal Country, New Report Finds; Stakeholders are recognizing the need to adapt to changing energy markets, but complicated applications make it harder for them to earn federal funding.
Jake Bolster - Inside Climate News
In Tennessee, Climbing Utility Rates and More Than 140,000 Household Cut-Offs in 2023
A report released this month by Resources for the Future found that the complexity of federal grant applications for energy transition projects hinders Wyoming coal communities' ability to access funds that could prove critical to the transformation of local energy economies. While the report by the Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan, nonprofit research firm also found that local stakeholders and federal officials have been able to form productive working relationships despite political differences and varying degrees of commitment to clean energy, it found a variety of factors suppressing the state's coal communities' appetites for federal funding to transform their economies.
/jlne.ws/4gHcJCT
Puerto Rico Power Outage Leaves Almost Entire Island in Dark
Jim Wyss - Bloomberg
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Ukraine LNG Newcomer Aims to Boost Supplies as Transit Deal Ends
Anna Shiryaevskaya and Stephen Stapczynski - Bloomberg
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | HSBC's Quinn Joins London Mayor Sadiq Khan on UK Honors List; Rolls-Royce's East and football manager Southgate knighted; Politicians Emily Thornberry and Patricia Hewitt made dames
Lucy White - Bloomberg
Former HSBC Holdings Plc Chief Executive Officer Noel Quinn was knighted in the UK's prestigious New Year Honors list, joining London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Gareth Southgate, who served as the England men's football team manager until earlier this year, in earning top awards. Quinn, 62, whose five years as CEO of Europe's biggest bank came to an end in September, was joined in receiving a knighthood by fellow former FTSE 100 chief executive Warren East, 63, who led Rolls-Royce Holdings for seven years until the end of 2022. Both men will now be able to use the title "Sir."
/jlne.ws/3PhxpoV
Japan active funds, like global peers, underperform passive rivals; Only 20% of actively managed equities and fixed income vehicles outperformed over 15 years
Julienne Raven Lingat - Financial Times
Actively managed funds in Japan have underperformed comparable passive strategies over the long term, although some active fund categories, such as Japanese equities and fixed income, have shown a consistent success rate, according to Morningstar. The inaugural Japanese edition of the research firm's flagship active/passive barometer report analysed 1,592 Japan-domiciled open-ended and exchange traded funds across one, three, five, 10 and 15-year periods to the end of September 2024. The report showed that active funds in Japan saw a lower success rate compared with a composite of similar passive strategies across many asset classes and categories, echoing Morningstar's findings elsewhere.
/jlne.ws/4a0dep6
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | HR Managers: The crucial bridge in a new era of work
Dr Rajwinder Kaur - ETHRWorld
The article explores the evolving role of HR leaders as the vital link between employees and organizational strategy. Drawing on insights from the latest Harvard Business Review article, "HR's New Role" by Peter Cappelli and Ranya Nehmeh, as well as real-world scenarios, it delves into actionable strategies HR managers can adopt to balance employee wellbeing and organizational goals.
/jlne.ws/3W3lLlh
Top 5 Tips For Job Interview Confidence Under Pressure
Chris Westfall - Forbes (contributor)
Inside the high-stakes job interview, finding confidence under pressure can be tough. As you probably already know, it's taking longer for out-of-work Americans to find new jobs, according to CBS News, even though overall unemployment is low. When your career is on the line, tension mounts. Especially when interviews are scarce. Your job interview conversation, if you've been lucky enough to get one, can shape your future. That fact can be a source of stress, nervousness, and worry. When it's time to take your shot, how can you make sure you don't blow it?
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | How sugar and fat affect your brain; Much of our food is increasingly manufactured to be irresistible to us. Experts say this trend has long-term health consequences.
Allie Yang - National Geographic
We often think of smoking and drinking when it comes to addiction-but there's another compulsion affecting as many as 14 percent of adults and even 15 percent of kids: food addiction. Indulgent dishes enticing us with fat and sugar can feel impossible to avoid, especially during the holidays. Experts confirm it's more than a feeling: Half a century of food trends has created an environment where more than half the food consumed by American adults is ultra-processed, often optimized to hit the body's fat and sugar sensors to release dopamine.
/jlne.ws/3DvEiAj
Why you should eat more eggs - and the healthiest ways to cook them; There's more to the humble egg than just protein. Our experts explain why eggs should be a key part of your diet
Lauren Shirreff - Telegraph
We are a nation of egg addicts. The average person gets through at least two a week, making them one of Britain's most popular foods. Plenty of us gorge on many more than this of course, whether you're having two scrambled eggs crowning your toast each morning, or knocking back a full dozen after hitting some serious weights at the gym. Yet eggs have fallen in and out of health fashion over the years, sometimes celebrated, at other times vilified. "Eggs have gotten some seriously bad press over the last few decades, but none of it is valid at all," says Rhian Stephenson, a registered nutritionist.
/jlne.ws/4fGTNmD
Norovirus: What to know about rising outbreaks of the gastrointestinal ailment; Norovirus is highly contagious and causes vomiting and diarrhea. But, in the overwhelming majority of cases, people recover with no lasting consequences.
Sabrina Malhi - The Washington Post
Cases of the illness known as norovirus - which induces miserable bouts of vomiting and diarrhea - are surging across the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ninety-one outbreaks of the gastrointestinal bug were reported the week of Dec. 5, the latest period for which data is available. That's 22 more outbreaks than in the last week of November. While sometimes referred to as the stomach flu, the disease is not caused by the influenza virus, which results in respiratory illness.
/jlne.ws/4gYhis6
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | India's Central Bank Flags Risks in Microfinance Yet Again
Alex Gabriel Simon - Bloomberg
Microfinance still on RBI's watchlist. The microfinance segment continues to face challenges, with the Reserve Bank of India once again flagging risks in its financial stability report. Stressed assets in the 31-180 days past due rose to 4.3% in September, up from 2.15% in March. This indicates earnings for companies in the sector are likely to remain under pressure. However, with stocks like CreditAccess Grameen and Fusion Finance having dropped 43% and 70% respectively this year, some contrarian investors are of the view that the worst may have already been priced in.
/jlne.ws/3ZRHxJY
Activists push Japan Inc to its 'great tipping point', says Suntory head; Critical mass of shareholder activists forcing companies to adjust
Leo Lewis and David Keohane - Financial Times
The head of one of Japan's biggest associations of company leaders said the country had reached a "great tipping point" of corporate change as a critical mass of shareholder activists forced companies to wake from decades of slumber. The comments by Takeshi Niinami, president of Japanese drinks group Suntory and chair of the influential Japan Association of Corporate Executives, come at the end of a year in which a record number of foreign and domestic activist funds bought a record number of Tokyo-listed stocks.
/jlne.ws/3BFgolD
Chinese Companies Have Sidestepped Trump's Tariffs. They Could Do It Again. The companies have found plenty of new channels to the U.S. market - demonstrating the potential limits of the tariffs Donald Trump has promised to impose.
Ana Swanson - The New York Times
After President Donald J. Trump slapped tariffs on Chinese bicycles in 2018, Arnold Kamler, then the chief executive of the bike maker Kent International, saw a curious trend play out in the bicycle industry. Chinese bicycle factories moved their final manufacturing and assembly operations out of China, setting up new facilities in Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia and India. Using parts mostly from China, those companies made bicycles that they could export directly to the United States - without paying the 25 percent tariff had the bike been shipped straight from China.
/jlne.ws/4a1JiJ3
Syria's Islamist Rulers Name Maysaa Sabrine First Woman to Head Central Bank; Appointment fills key economic role as U.S., Europe look for commitment to women's rights
Stephen Kalin - The Wall Street Journal
Syria's new rulers elevated a woman to run the country's central bank, as the U.S. and other Western governments watch how the Islamist rebels who toppled the Assad regime treat women as well as Syria's many religious and ethnic minorities. Government spokesmen confirmed Monday that Maysaa Sabrine, who served as first deputy governor at the central bank under the fallen regime, will take the top job at the institution. She will be the first woman to run the bank and one of the few women named to a senior role by the former rebels now in control in Damascus.
/jlne.ws/3BPYY5E
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| Auditions | | Explore a space for creative trading stories where you can find and share unique works like screenplays, television scripts, poetry, and more, all inspired by the world of finance and trading. |
INT. A FRESHLY PAINTED STUDIO APARTMENT. CHICAGO
The door opens, and an old lady walks in, followed by Mike Harris. The studio apartment is small, with a kitchenette and curtained windows. A mildewed fold-out couch is against one wall. Mike drags his suitcase to the closet, ignoring the woman's chatter. He counts out a few hundred-dollar bills, hands them to her, and gestures for her to leave. Once she's gone, Mike lays his suitcase flat and unzips a travel wardrobe, revealing four new suits that he proudly hangs up. He places two pairs of expensive shoes beneath the suits in the closet and dumps the suitcase on the couch, spilling wrinkled t-shirts, jeans, and socks. Opening the curtains, he sees the Chicago River and his own determined reflection in the window. Sitting on the couch, he grabs his backpack and pulls out "How to Make Money in Commodities, and starts reading.
INT. J.SULLIVANS IRISH PUB ACROSS FROM THE BOARD OF TRADE BUILDING A HALF HOUR AFTER THE MARKET CLOSE
The walls are plastered with Cubs, Bears and Blackhawk paraphernalia. Mike is in one of his new suits nursing a beer. There's a group of five guys down the bar from him. A few are wearing bright colored trading jackets. The others casually dressed. They're loud and animated. Still coming down from a day of trading. Mike looks over at them seeing they're all dressed casually. He removes his tie and folds it neatly and places it in his pocket, takes a sip from his beer and walks over to them.
To be continued ...
See today's complete entry of Auditions HERE and the complete script to date [[https://johnlothiannews.com/the-front-runner/|HERE.
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | The big changes coming to Social Security in 2025 you should know about; The biggest change could still be in store, however, as the nation waits for President Joe Biden to sign newly passed legislation that would boost Social Security payments for millions
NBC Chicago Staff and The Associated Press
Several big changes are in store for Social Security recipients in 2025. The biggest change could still be in store, however, as the nation waits for President Joe Biden to sign newly passed legislation that would boost Social Security payments for millions. The bipartisan bill eliminates longtime reductions to Social Security benefits for nearly 3 million people who receive pensions from work in federal, state and local government, or public service jobs like teachers, firefighters and police officers.
/jlne.ws/3DG3Z1q
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