| August 09, 2023 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
Publisher
John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
I apologize if I shamed you into reading The untold history of today's Russian-speaking hackers from the Financial Times, but I thought it was an important story. Interestingly, the yachting technology story was the number two read story yesterday, after being number one the day before, so there is still a strong vacation/yachting thing going on.
Today we have the first video from the Options Discovery series featuring our new host Asma Awass. She is presenting the first part of some interviews that were conducted by Alex Teng, who left JLN for X-man Elon Musk's Tesla. We have a couple more episodes like this before we get to the original content Asma is producing.
We also have two interviews from our coverage of FIA's IDX 2023, both with Eurex. One is with Rafael Zanatta and the other with Matthias Graulich. We have one more video left, an interview with FIA Tech's Nick Solinger.
I want to thank Julie Ros for her great work with these interviews and taking the trip to London for the conference. Julie's strong point is FX, but she superbly handled multiple asset classes and technologies in the interviews like the pro she is. Thank you, Julie.
From the sound of it, the World Scouting Organization is doing a good job of scrambling to make the rest of the World Scouting Jamboree interesting for the Scouts from all over the world who were forced to evacuate the jamboree site because of high temperatures, sanitation issues and an oncoming typhoon.
Oil and gas prices may be high during this peak summer driving season, but Bloomberg reports the U.S. oil output hit a record this year, helping to counter production cuts by Saudi Arabia.
How bad have the losses been for insurance companies because of the severe weather of 2023 so far? According to a Financial Times story, insurers have racked up $50 billion in losses from natural catastrophes this year so far, the worst start since 2011. Reinsurers are demanding much higher prices to cover extreme weather events in response to the growing bill, the FT said.
The Financial Times has a story titled "The world's oldest living bond" with the subheading, "No, it's not George Lazenby." The story is actually about a 375-year-old Dutch bond now owned by Yale University.
Have a great day and stay safe and treat people the same way you want to be treated: with respect, equality and justice.~JJL
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Asset Managers & Climate Change 2023, a report from FinanceMap, found that 45 of the world's largest asset managers, holding $72 trillion in assets, have not made significant progress on climate goals since 2021, despite an increase in climate targets through Net Zero Asset Managers and similar initiatives. This research, a product of InfluenceMap's FinanceMap program, assesses the managers' equity portfolios, stewardship, and sustainable finance policy activities. The FinanceMap platform allows in-depth investigation of the analysis and findings for each of the asset managers assessed. You can view and download the full report upon registering with FinanceMap here. ~SAED
Our most read stories yesterday on JLN Options were:
A complicated options trade that has helped prop up U.S. stocks is starting to unravel
Wall Street groups fined $555mn by regulators over messaging violations
TC ICAP's Parameta Solutions to introduce family of interest rate swap volatility indices ~JB
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The Russell 2000 Index Quarterly Chartbook - July 2023
Year after year, the Russell 2000 Index sets the standard for US small cap measurement. For index performance, sectors/IPOs, and risk characteristics, check the latest Russell 2000 Quarterly Chartbook - July 2023. Read now: https://www.ftserussell.com/research/russell-2000-index-quarterly-chartbook-july-2023.
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ICE's Chris Edmonds Expands on Crypto Commentary in JLN Video Interview
JohnLothianNews.com
Last Friday John Lothian News interviewed ICE Chief Development Officer Chris Edmonds about the commentary he wrote that JLN published and why he wrote it and what he was trying to accomplish.
We asked him what lessons were learned from the BAKKT experience and what was ICE trying to accomplish with the exchange and clearing offering and what didn't work?
Watch the video »
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Eurex's Matthias Graulich talks to JLN at FIA IDX about Eurex's new STIR partnership and the growth in delivering its value proposition
JohnLothianNews.com
Matthias Graulich spoke with Julie Ros at the FIA IDX conference in London recently. Ros asked him about Eurex's new STIR partnership. A couple of years ago Eurex launched a program for interest rates, swaps, and repos and they recently expanded the program to cover short term interest rate derivatives, he told her. "We grant virtual equity to the best performing partners, meaning we grant governance rights and share revenues on a perpetual basis to those who best support the success of this initiative," he said.
Watch the video »
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Options Discovery Episode 21: Intro to Options and Dividends; CEO of Matrix Executions, Jordan Naylor, Breaks Down Options and Dividends With JLN's Alex Teng
JohnLothianNews.com
In this episode of Options Discovery, Asma Awass introduces the effect of dividends and corporate actions on options prices. Alex Teng then sits down with Jordan Naylor, industry veteran and CEO of Matrix executions, to dive deeper into these concepts. Jordan discusses his background in finance, how options prices react during dividend events, the founding of Matrix executions and more. You can learn more about Matrix executions here: https://www.matrixexecutions.com/
Watch the video »
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Intro to Options on Earnings: Jordan Naylor, CEO of Matrix Executions, Explains These Concepts and More in This Options Discovery Interview
JohnLothianNews.com
In this Options Discovery full interview, Alex Teng sits down with Jordan Naylor, industry veteran and CEO of Matrix executions, for this week's full interview. Jordan discusses his background in finance, how options prices react during earnings events, effects of stock dividends on options, the founding of Matrix executions and more. You can learn more about Matrix executions here: https://www.matrixexecutions.com/
Watch the video »
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Beer billionaire Jim Koch buys a random stock every 2 weeks - and trusts his former babysitter to execute his trades
Theron Mohamed - Business Insider
A beer billionaire likes to randomly pick a stock to buy every two weeks - and trusts his family's former babysitter to carry out the trade. Jim Koch, the 74-year-old cofounder of Boston Beer Company, recently told Forbes about his unusual investment strategy, explaining that he won't even attempt to beat the market through savvy stock selection.
/jlne.ws/3Qv8WOM
****** This is a different version of having a chimp throw a dart at the newspaper to pick stocks, but at least the assistant/former babysitter is picking indexes to invest in.~JJL
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Tuesday's Top Three
Our top story Tuesday was The untold history of today's Russian-speaking hackers, from the Financial Times. Not surprising, since John mentioned in Hits & Takes his surprise that it was NOT in the top three on Monday. Second was the Financial Times' A complete guide to yacht-desking, which John also mentioned in Hits & Takes because it was our number one story on Monday. And third was The Wall Street Journal's Ham Radio Enthusiasts vs. High-Frequency Traders: A Battle for the Airwaves, which was our number two story on Monday.
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| Lead Stories | Wall Street groups fined $555mn by regulators over messaging violations; Wells Fargo and BNP Paribas among those penalised by SEC and CFTC for record-keeping 'failures'
Stefania Palma - Financial Times
Nine Wall Street companies have agreed to pay a total of $555mn in fines over messaging violations in the latest round of record-keeping charges filed by US regulators. The US Securities and Exchange Commission accused broker-dealers including Wells Fargo and BNP Paribas of "widespread and longstanding failures to maintain and preserve electronic communications", and said on Tuesday it had agreed to receive combined penalties of $289mn from these companies.
/jlne.ws/3s7TYE8
Robinhood Says It's Facing Investigation From New York State
Tanaz Meghjani - Bloomberg
Robinhood Markets Inc. is cooperating with an investigation from New York's top law enforcement office into "brokerage execution quality," the retail trading firm said in a regulatory filing. Representatives for Robinhood and the New York Attorney General's office didn't immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
/jlne.ws/3OpXRfj
US Set to Limit Scope of China Investment Ban With Revenue Rule; Rule focuses on how much revenue companies get from AI, chips; Executive order on China limits is set to be released soon
Anna Edgerton and Eric Martin - Bloomberg
A US plan to restrict investment in China is likely to apply only to Chinese companies that get at least half of their revenue from cutting-edge sectors such as quantum computing and artificial intelligence, people familiar with the matter said. The revenue provision would limit the scope of an executive order the Biden administration is expected to unveil in the coming days as part of a push to limit Chinese access to sensitive technology. The rule would allow US private equity and venture capital firms to put their money in larger Chinese conglomerates that may have artificial-intelligence divisions but get most of their revenue from other sources.
/jlne.ws/3Owspfc
Lure of sovereign wealth fuels hedge fund rush to Dubai; Low tax and booming internal job market helps emirate cement position as a global industry hub
Costas Mourselas and Ortenca Aliaj - Financial Times
A growing number of top hedge funds are setting up shop in Dubai, as the lure of low taxes and the region's deep-pocketed investors cements the emirate's status as an industry hub.
/jlne.ws/47sJhfU
Goldman Sachs' John Rogers steps down as chief of staff; Influential bank executive dubbed the 'board whisperer' will hand over role to former colleague Russell Horwitz
Joshua Franklin - Financial Times
John Rogers, Goldman Sachs' chief of staff and one of the bank's most influential executives, is stepping back from his role. Rogers, 67, is handing over his responsibilities to Russell Horwitz, a former Goldman partner who left the group in 2020, the bank announced in a memo to staff on Tuesday.
/jlne.ws/3OOnyaN
NYSE, Nasdaq Battle for New Listings in Sign of IPO Awakening; Nasdaq wins Instacart and Arm, while NYSE snags Birkenstock and Klaviyo
Corrie Driebusch and Laura Cooper - The Wall Street Journal
The fight between the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq to win new stock listings is raging again, in another sign the market for initial public offerings is perking up after a long slumber. The Nasdaq recently won grocery-delivery company Instacart's listing, set to take place before year-end, according to people familiar with the matter. The exchange also successfully wooed Arm, the big chip designer. NYSE snagged the listings of marketing-automation platform Klaviyo and trendy German shoe manufacturer Birkenstock.
/jlne.ws/3OMpUXI
Ex-FTX Executive Salame Talking to Prosecutors About Plea Deal; Ryan Salame was the co-chief executive of FTX Digital Markets; Salame would be fourth former FTX executive to plead guilty
Ava Benny-Morrison - Bloomberg
Ryan Salame, the former co-chief executive of FTX Digital Markets, is in negotiations with federal prosecutors to plead guilty to criminal charges following the implosion of the cryptocurrency exchange, according to people familiar with the case. The Republican megadonor may enter a plea as soon as next month to offenses including campaign finance law violations, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions aren't public. It is unclear whether he will enter into a cooperation agreement with prosecutors and testify against FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
/jlne.ws/3DKMZ6V
Miami Firm Gains as Wall Street Banks Drop Latin America Clients; Insigneo has tripled staff and is looking to make acquisitions; About 500 investment professionals now use its platform
Daniel Cancel - Bloomberg
As more US banks cut back wealth-management services for clients in Latin America, a Miami-based firm has been reaping the benefits. Insigneo, which provides a platform with different services for independent investment advisers, has tripled its staff and increased assets under management in its ecosystem to more than $20 billion from less than $3 billion just six years ago.
/jlne.ws/3QOLrR9
Pfizer's Covid Boost Crashes to Earth; With the lift from pandemic vaccine and drug sales over, Pfizer CEO bets on new drug approvals and deals
Jared S. Hopkins - The Wall Street Journal
The pandemic showered Pfizer with record sales. Now the end of the crisis is dragging the drugmaker down. Its Covid-19 vaccine and drug powered Pfizer to more than $100 billion in sales last year, the first drugmaker to break the barrier. Shares soared, as Wall Street hailed the company for its savvy, fast and ultimately lucrative pivot to taking on the virus. But many people have moved on from the pandemic. Sales from the two products dropped so much, so rapidly they contributed to Pfizer's overall sales falling sizably in its most recent quarter compared with the period a year earlier. The company dialed back the top end of its expectations for the full-year performance.
/jlne.ws/45mnRz9
Fake PayPal USD Tokens Pop up on Several Blockchains; Some of these tokens can't be sold after purchase, while some can pull the rug at any moment.
Shaurya Malwa - CoinDesk
Scammers are trying to defraud unsuspecting users, capitalizing on PayPal's (PYPL) recently launched dollar-pegged PayPal USD (PYUSD) stablecoin, by issuing fake tokens on various networks. Over 66 fake tokens have propped up on networks, such as Ethereum, BNB Chain, Base, and others as of Asian noon hours on Tuesday, DEXTools data shows. The majority of these have been floated on Ethereum, where the original PYUSD exists.
/jlne.ws/3Yz4vEM
MarketAxess To Acquire Algorithmic Trading Provider Pragma - Acquisition To Accelerate Development Of Quantitative Execution Algorithms And Data-Driven Analytics For Fixed-Income
MarketAxess
MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: MKTX), the operator of a leading electronic trading platform for fixed-income securities, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Pragma, a quantitative trading technology provider specializing in algorithmic and analytical services in equities, FX and fixed-income. Pragma's independent, broker-neutral, multi-asset trading solutions have powered asset managers, hedge funds, broker-dealers, banks, and exchanges around the world.
/jlne.ws/3OwJaXM
Edgewater Markets Limited Acquires FCA License, Expands Offerings in UK
Edgewater Markets Limited
Edgewater Markets LLC, a leading provider of technology, trade execution and liquidity aggregation across foreign exchange (FX) and precious metals, today announced that its Edgewater Markets Limited entity has obtained a new license from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The addition of an FCA license solidifies its regulatory status and permissions within the United Kingdom. Alex Scarsini, President and founder of Edgewater, has announced the appointment of Emanuel Georgouras as the new Senior Manager Function 1 (SMF1) UK Chief Executive of the newly regulated entity.
/jlne.ws/45ghxce
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Ukraine Struggles to Retake Bakhmut; From Dogged Russian Fighters Kyiv's front-line soldiers describe a stalling counteroffensive against forces determined to hold pivotal city
Alistair MacDonald and Oksana Pyrozhok - The Wall Street Journal
Some of Ukraine's biggest gains in its counteroffensive have come around the city of Bakhmut, which Russia seized in May after months of bloody fighting. But soldiers near there say advances have slowed in recent days amid stiff Russian defense and counterattacks, denting hopes that Kyiv could soon retake the city. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the Bakhmut front in late July to hail gains to the north and south of the city, taking the heights and overlooking the Russian troops hemmed within the ruins below.
/jlne.ws/3s3BlkQ
Twin Russian strikes on Ukrainian city kill civilians, then hit rescuers, official says
Olga Voitovych and Sarah Dean - CNN
A deadly Russian attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk appeared to be designed to specifically target rescue workers and first responders, Ukrainian officials alleged Tuesday, a potential war crime. Nine people were killed and 82 were injured in the attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily address. The bombardment began at 7:15 p.m. local time on Monday (12.15 p.m. ET), said Serhii Dobriak, a local military leader, when a short-range ballistic missile hit what President Zelensky called an "ordinary residential building" in the eastern Ukrainian city's center.
/jlne.ws/3YqPS6e
Stuffed Russian Grain Ports Show Risk of Black Sea Escalation; Terminals face storage headaches despite record shipments; Worsening Black Sea tensions could have knock-on impact
Aine Quinn - Bloomberg
Russian grain ports are overflowing after two big harvests. That means any military escalation in the crucial Black Sea risks depriving the world of huge amounts of crops it's counting on. Port capacity is being stretched as the wheat giant struggles to clear the volumes despite massive exports. Russia shipped 4.4 million tons of wheat in July, a record for the month and almost 60% above average, according to consultant SovEcon.
/jlne.ws/3Qxw8f9
Ukraine to 'Pick' Targets if Russia Blocks Ports, Zelenskiy Says
Michael Winfrey and Aliaksandr Kudrytski - Bloomberg
If Russia continues to dominate Ukrainian coastal waters, hamper transit and fire missiles at its ports, Ukraine will start doing the same, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. "If they are blocking our waters, Ukraine will pick some targets in order to prevent our waters from being blocked," he told a group of Latin American reporters in Kyiv, according to a video on his Telegram channel.
/jlne.ws/3Yrm9dm
Blast rocks Russian military optics plant near Moscow; Incident follows a string of similar explosions at industrial sites across Russia in recent months
Polina Ivanova - Financial Times
A factory in a city near Moscow making optical systems for the Russian military was rocked by an explosion on Wednesday, which sent a column of smoke into the sky and injured 52 people. Authorities said the blast was caused by a violation of technical protocols by a fireworks company that rented storage space from the Zagorsk Optical-Mechanical Plant and used it to house equipment for its displays.
/jlne.ws/3Yu7ldT
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | ICE Announces Record Trading Activity in Dubai and Murban Crude As Participants Utilize ICE's Global Oil Complex to Manage Crude Flows
Intercontinental Exchange
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology, and market infrastructure, today announced record trading activity across its ICE Dubai (Platts) and Murban crude markets, as customers utilize ICE's global oil markets to manage their exposure to energy dynamics. As part of a complex underpinned by ICE Brent and ICE Gasoil, the reference prices globally for crude oil and middle distillates, and ICE Midland WTI (HOU) which prices and delivers Midland WTI barrels which are also now deliverable into Dated Brent and the Brent complex, ICE's Dubai and Murban futures markets provide the benchmark prices for Middle East medium sour and light sour crude.
/jlne.ws/3ONGrKR
Irfan Hussain to join LSEG as Chief Information Officer; Irfan Hussain joins from Goldman Sachs where he is Chief Operating & Strategy Officer for Engineering
London Stock Exchange Group
London Stock Exchange Group plc (LSEG) today announces that Irfan Hussain will join the Group as Chief Information Officer (CIO). Based in New York, Irfan will start in January 2024. He joins the Executive Committee, reporting to David Schwimmer, LSEG CEO. Irfan will lead LSEG's technology team driving cutting edge innovation in the global financial markets. Irfan joins from Goldman Sachs where he is a Partner and Chief Operating & Strategy Officer for Engineering. He has held various roles at the firm including CIO for Consumer and Wealth Management, and roles in the Global Banking and Markets and Asset and Wealth Management divisions in New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong.
/jlne.ws/3YtNJXx
TMX Group Equity Financing Statistics - July 2023
TMX
TMX Group today announced its financing activity on Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) for July 2023.TSX welcomed 17 new issuers in July 2023, compared with eight in the previous month and four in July 2022. The new listings were 14 exchange traded funds, one mining company, one life sciences company and one diversified industries company. Total financings raised in July 2023 decreased 82% compared to the previous month, and were down 45% compared to July 2022. The total number of financings in July 2023 was 38, compared with 32 the previous month and 11 in July 2022.
/jlne.ws/3ORRXFm
The JSE She Invests 2023: Empowering Women with Financial Literacy for a Thriving Future
Johannesburg Stock Exchange
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) will be hosting the fifth edition of the annual #JSESheInvests event, an initiative that aims to promote financial literacy among women to empower and support them on their investment journey. This year's event will focus on equipping women with the tools and knowledge to build financial wealth and more importantly, protect their investments and estates to pass them down as intended. The much anticipated #JSESheInvests will take place on Saturday,12 August and has an exciting lineup of keynote speakers, panel discussions, giveaways and so much more.
/jlne.ws/45gedxM
LMEsmart Re-Booking Process
London Metal Exchange
On 8 August 2023, the LME experienced a hardware-related systems issue impacting the feeding of trades from LMEsmart to LMEmercury, which has since been resolved. While trading and pricing were uninterrupted, trade details relating to trading activity undertaken during the period in which the systems issue persisted (the "Affected Period") did not flow through to LMEmercury.
/jlne.ws/3vimcfa
VDO on the Moscow Exchange. How to invest and not lose
MOEX
Organizers: Moscow Exchange School. The high-yield bond market is interesting for its increased yield. How to make money on this without increased risks? At the webinar, you will learn how to invest in the VDO sector in such a way that you receive a stable annual return that outperforms the corporate debt market and inflation. The leading expert will share his experience in the market and talk about potential future trends.
/jlne.ws/44VW74q
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Hometap Launches New York Location in National Growth Push
ffnews.com
Hometap, the Boston-based financial technology company providing innovative, debt-free access to home equity for American homeowners, is pleased to announce its latest national office opening today in New York City. The company's third location accompanies Hometap's headquarters in Boston's Back Bay and a large satellite in Charlotte, North Carolina, and will be located in an innovative space at Industrious Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan.
/jlne.ws/3OvEG3C
India Fintech Startup Triples Valuation After Accel-Led Funding
Alex Gabriel Simon - Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance
Credgenics, an online service that helps banks collect on debt, raised $50 million in a funding round led by existing backers Accel and Westbridge Capital that tripled its valuation to $340 million.
/jlne.ws/3DPi1u9
How Banks Evaluate Fintechs & Other Risk Management Insights
Rafael DeLeon - The Financial Brand
How are bank and credit union leaders coping as regulators step up the pressure? A survey of bank and credit union executives offers a lot of insight into their approach to managing risk and compliance. It covers bank-fintech partnerships, staffing and more. There are even details about what areas examiners are focusing on.
/jlne.ws/45lNPTm
Nvidia Unveils Faster Chip Aimed at Cementing AI Dominance; Company is upgrading lineup that fueled $1 trillion valuation; ew chip could make it harder for rivals like AMD to catch up
Ian King - Bloomberg
Nvidia Corp. announced an updated AI processor that gives a jolt to the chip's capacity and speed, seeking to cement the company's dominance in a burgeoning market. The Grace Hopper Superchip, a combination graphics chip and processor, will get a boost from a new type of memory, Nvidia said Tuesday at the Siggraph conference in Los Angeles. The product relies on high-bandwidth memory 3, or HBM3e, which is able to access information at a blazing 5 terabytes per second.
/jlne.ws/3YqJtIm
***** Disclosure: I own some Nvidia stock in my IRA account.~JJL
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Crypto heavyweights back new cybersecurity standards after nearly $4 billion was lost to hacks in 2022
Leo Schwartz - Fortune Crypto
Amid the crypto industry's myriad obstacles, hacks still rank at the top of the list. Despite the bear market, last year saw a historic spike, with nearly $4 billion stolen by cybercriminals, according to analytics firm Chainalysis.
/jlne.ws/45n7qlW
New York State to Debut First Cybersecurity Strategy
James Rundle - WSJ
The state of New York will debut its first cybersecurity strategy, including plans to modernize government networks, provide digital defenses at the county level and regulate critical infrastructure.
/jlne.ws/3qpDkzr
Boston cybersecurity company Rapid7 to lay off 470 workers
Samuele Petruccelli - Boston Business Journal
Boston-based cyber-security company Rapid7 announced hundreds of layoffs in an earnings call Tuesday evening. The company (NYSE: RPD) announced a "restructuring plan" to eliminate 18% of its workforce. It had more than 2,600 full-time employees as of the beginning of the year and over 700 employees in Massachusetts, according to documents filed with the securities and exchange commission and BBJ research.
/jlne.ws/47j9jC9
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | PayPal Sees Stablecoin Generating Revenue From Payment Flows; Company sees a number of ways to monetize stablecoins; PayPal USD becomes first stablecoin by a global payments giant
Yueqi Yang and Matthew Miller - Bloomberg
PayPal Holdings Inc., which became the first global payments firm to launch a stablecoin on Monday, plans to generate revenue from the product from its use in payment transactions.
/jlne.ws/3OvtOmi
Paxos Has Other 'White Label' Stablecoin Opportunities in the Works in Addition to PayPal USD
Helene Braun - CoinDesk
Crypto infrastructure provider Paxos Trust is already working on other stablecoin projects similar to PayPal's new PYUSD, said Paxos' head of strategy Walter Hessert on CoinDesk TV on Tuesday.
/jlne.ws/3DLn7b0
Novogratz Says Some Institutions Are Coming Back to Crypto; Galaxy CEO sees more institutions in crypto futures, stocks; Trading revenue fell 54% from a quarter ago amid slowdown
Yueqi Yang - Bloomberg
Michael Novogratz said he sees signs of increased participation in cryptocurrency markets by more traditional institutional investors in the wake of the turmoil in the digital-asset world last year.
/jlne.ws/44YFtBh
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Most Americans Disapprove of Biden's Handling of Climate Change, Poll Shows; Fifty-seven percent of Americans disapprove of the president's handling of global warming, with just a quarter knowing much about the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden's signature climate law.
Kristoffer Tigue - Inside Climate News
President Joe Biden's climate image remains a major political liability going into the 2024 election, new polling suggests, even as states begin to tap hundreds of billions of dollars made available for clean energy and other climate-related projects under a landmark bill that Biden signed into law last year. Most Americans-some 57 percent-disapprove of Biden's handling of climate change, according to a new poll conducted jointly by The Washington Post and the University of Maryland.
/jlne.ws/3OrxhCv
Biden to Restrict Investments in China, Citing National Security Threats; The measure to clamp down on investments in certain industries deemed to pose security risks, set to be issued Wednesday, appears likely to open a new front in the U.S.-China economic conflict.
Ana Swanson - The New York Times
The Biden administration plans on Wednesday to issue new restrictions on American investments in certain advanced industries in China, according to people familiar with the deliberations, a move that supporters have described as necessary to protect national security but that will undoubtedly rankle Beijing.
/jlne.ws/3OrSIU6
Italy Ruins Beach Time for Bankers; Meloni shows financiers who's boss, with a windfall profits tax.
Rachel Sanderson - Bloomberg
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has abruptly disturbed bankers' summer holidays. In a move that spooked markets, her hard-right government blindsided banks with a windfall tax in a decree passed at a late night cabinet meeting on Monday. The law provides for "40% withdrawal from banks' multibillion-euro extra profits," which resulted largely from European Central Bank interest rate increases. Bloomberg Intelligence estimates Italian lenders' 2023 net income could be cut by 10% as a result. By mid-morning on Tuesday, the nine biggest losers on the nation's benchmark stock index were banks.
/jlne.ws/3s8Gvfg
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Bavaria's Data Regulator Had Not Concluded Assessment of Worldcoin When the Project Launched; The Sam Altman co-founded project has been shut down in Kenya over privacy concerns.
Eliza Gkritsi - CoinDesk
Bavaria's data watchdog had not finished its privacy and security assessment of Worldcoin when the project launched, the head of the agency said. Michael Will, president of Bavaria's Data Protection Authority, the lead agency supervising the OpenAI-tied project in Europe, told CoinDesk on Monday that it was still reviewing the project when it went live on July 24, though he noted that the company is not legally obliged to notify the authorities and get their approval prior to the launch. Bavaria is a German state where Worldcoin has set up an entity to manage the data for its European users, so the local authority is leading the investigation.
/jlne.ws/3DP0rGI
Sam Bankman-Fried Will Still Face Campaign Finance-Related Charge, Justice Department Says; The U.S. DOJ had dropped a campaign finance charge against the FTX founder last month.
Nikhilesh De - CoinDesk
The U.S. Department of Justice still plans to argue that Sam Bankman-Fried conducted an "illegal campaign finance" scheme when he goes to trial in October, prosecutors said in a letter Tuesday, two weeks after saying they couldn't bring a campaign finance charge against the FTX founder due to treaty obligations.
/jlne.ws/45da0v2
US regulators fine Wall Street firms $549 million in latest texting probe
Chris Prentice - Reuters
U.S. regulators on Tuesday fined nine Wall Street companies, including Wells Fargo, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale $549 million over employees' use of personal messaging apps to discuss deals, trades and other business.
/jlne.ws/3DQMJmE
Wells Fargo Advisors, related firms to pay $125M penalty for record-keeping violations
James Drew - St. Louis Business Journal
St. Louis-based Wells Fargo Advisors and two related firms have agreed to pay a $125 million penalty for failing to maintain and preserve electronic communications, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Tuesday.
/jlne.ws/3s2jafx
SEC Charges Former Hedge Fund Managing Director with Fraud
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled fraud charges against Chad Stickforth, the former managing director of RSF Capital, LP, related to the misuse and misappropriation of millions of dollars raised from investors.
/jlne.ws/450mtSZ
SEC Charges 11 Wall Street Firms with Widespread Recordkeeping Failures; Firms admit to wrongdoing and agree to pay penalties totaling $289 million
SEC.gov
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against 10 firms in their capacity as broker-dealers and one dually registered broker-dealer and investment adviser for widespread and longstanding failures by the firms and their employees to maintain and preserve electronic communications. The firms admitted the facts set forth in their respective SEC orders. They acknowledged that their conduct violated recordkeeping provisions of the federal securities laws, agreed to pay combined penalties of $289 million as outlined below, and have begun implementing improvements to their compliance policies and procedures to address these violations.
/jlne.ws/3Qz1UIP
BIS- Sharks In The Dark: Quantifying HFT Dark Pool Latency Arbitrage
BIS Working Papers
Matteo Aquilina, Sean Foley, Peter O'Neill and Thomas Ruf - Mondovisione
Fierce competition on speed is a defining feature of modern financial markets. In response to a price signal with certain consequences, a race among market participants occurs based on how quickly they can react to that signal. These situations (labelled "latency arbitrage") can be harmful to liquidity in financial markets. Dark pools - trading venues with no pre-trade transparency - are uniquely susceptible to this latency arbitrage as they rely on prices from an external reference market in order to determine execution prices, and dark liquidity is often pegged to this reference price.
/jlne.ws/3DNsJkT
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Credit-Card Balances in the US Top $1 Trillion for First Time; Rates of delinquency have gone back up to pre-Covid levels; Auto loans outstanding surpass student debt, data show
Alexandre Tanzi - Bloomberg
Credit-card balances surpassed $1 trillion for the first time last quarter in data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, showing how even more widespread credit has become among American consumers as the US economy recovered from the pandemic.
/jlne.ws/3OqIO4V
Rivian's Wounded Shorts Set for Potential Squeeze
Esha Dey - Bloomberg
Investors betting against Rivian Automotive Inc. have a lot riding on the electric vehicle maker's results later Tuesday, after a steep rally exposed them to big losses. Short interest has risen to 13% of the shares available for trading - representing about $2.2 billion worth of stock, according to data from S3 Partners LLC. Rivian's 32% advance this year has cost the shorts more than $736 million in mark-to-market losses as of Monday's close, S3 said. After Tesla Inc., it's the biggest short position among US electric-vehicle firms.
/jlne.ws/3OOXAny
My Personal Oil Price Shock - Olive Oil, That Is; In Spain, prices surge and inventories dwindle as climate change bites
Javier Blas - Bloomberg
Oil crises have occupied plenty of time during my career covering commodities. But today I'm discussing another oil crisis afflicting just about every household in southern Europe: olive oil.
/jlne.ws/3KxWQAI
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Can COP28 really try to ignore fossil fuels? Also in today's newsletter, climate finance initiatives risk becoming 'unmanageable', UN external auditor says
Gillian Tett and Kaori Yoshida - Financial Times
Every summer the Scottish city of Edinburgh holds a high-profile theatre and comedy festival that is famous for its drama and laughter. This year's event, however, will also feature an act that is too serious to be humorous: John Kerry, the US climate envoy, will speak on the future of climate negotiations and government policy. It is a cleverly chosen - albeit novel - venue for him to deliver his message, since Edinburgh attracts a youthful (intellectual) crowd. The timing is also striking. For one thing, the speech comes as Britain's government is unleashing a backlash against green policies, in a desperate bid to win more electoral support. Second, Kerry recently made a high-profile trip to Beijing in a bid to restart discussions between China and the US. Third, as preparations for COP28 in the United Arab Emirates draw closer, there is rising concern that this year's summit "will be a washout", as the FT highlighted in a recent podcast. So it will be interesting to see what Kerry's message is about COP28.
/jlne.ws/3qhWIyv
Ocean Carbon Removal Startup Running Tide Delivers Inaugural Credits to Shopify; The startup sank wood waste to the seafloor, sequestering carbon for hundreds or even thousands of years.
Michelle Ma - Bloomberg
Ocean carbon removal startup Running Tide has delivered its first-ever carbon removal credits to inaugural buyer Shopify Inc., the companies announced Wednesday. Running Tide sank more than 1,000 tons of limestone-coated wood waste to the ocean floor roughly 100 miles south of Iceland. That wood would have otherwise been burned, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Instead,the startup says the CO2 contained in this material will be safely stored on the ocean floor for 800 to 10,000 years, depending on a variety of factors. The process removed 275 net tons of carbon dioxide equivalent after accounting for project-related emissions, with 100 tons going to Shopify, according to a company statement.
/jlne.ws/3YI53Z7
Study Outlines US Insurers' US$0.5 trillion Fossil Fuel Exposure
Emmy Hawker - ESG Investor
The US insurance sector held US$536 billion in fossil fuel-related assets in 2019, according to new research, despite climate-related risks and natural disasters prompting insurers to raise premiums and drop coverage within high-risk regions. 'Changing Climate for the Insurance Sector', published by Ceres, ERM and Persefoni, analysed the 2019 assets of insurers compiled by the California Department of Insurance (CDI), noting that the US insurance sector is "uniquely exposed" to climate-related challenges.
/jlne.ws/3DOmU6P
A Tree Grows in Birmingham; How one Southern community aims to plant its way into the Alabama shade.
Lee Hedgepeth - Inside Climate News
Sometimes Thomasine Jackson can't get to work. Jackson, 65, said if there's been a hard rain, water covers her entire street, leaving her no choice but to call her supervisor at Drummond Coal and tell him she can't make it in. "It is what it is," she said one humid August day, standing in the front yard of her modest brick home in Birmingham. Overhead, an Alabama thunderstorm was already brewing.
/jlne.ws/3OOyXas
'It's not just about providing a socket': Industry calls on government to back roadmap for 'world-class' EV infrastructure rollout
Stuart Stone - Business Green
Trade bodies urge Transport Minister to back delivery of advanced charging network that can help drive EV adoption and keep UK car industry globally competitive. A quartet of green business groups have penned a joint letter to the Transport Minister Jesse Norman, urging him to back plans to accelerate the roll out of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure across the UK.
/jlne.ws/451EYGv
Guardians of the Natural World
Emmy Hawker - ESG Investor
/jlne.ws/45k8UNN
ESG fraud risk: Understanding Internal Audit's role
Wolters Kluwer
/jlne.ws/3OqIXW1
New Scientific Beta Study Highlights Conflict Between Green and ESG Portfolio Objectives; Pursuing multiple ESG and climate objectives leads to "green dilution"
Yahoo Finance
/jlne.ws/3QvsXEO
The Reality of ESG Is Messier Than the Stark Politics Around It; Board attitudes to the investing strategy are mixed and shareholder enthusiasm has waned, but the backlash against it has had limited impact.
Nathaniel Bullard - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3QrMF4s
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Federal Reserve Board Provides Additional Information On Its Program To Supervise Novel Activities In The Banks It Oversees Date
Mondovisione
The Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday provided additional information on its program to supervise novel activities in the banks it oversees. Novel activities include complex, technology-driven partnerships with non-banks to provide banking services to customers; and activities that involve crypto-assets and distributed ledger or "blockchain" technology. The goal of the novel activities supervision program is to foster the benefits of financial innovation while recognizing and appropriately addressing risks to ensure the safety and soundness of the banking system.
/jlne.ws/45mhpYY
The AI Frenzy Resurrects the Old SoftBank; The tech downturn didn't chasten SoftBank for long. Signs of overexuberance are already reappearing along with the new bull market.
Jacky Wong - The Wall Street Journal
SoftBank is on the offensive again. tBank's stock has gained 24% this year, driven by the upswing in tech stocks. The bank, including its Vision Fund, invested $1.8 billion in startups and other companies last quarter, compared with only around $500 million in each of the previous three quarters. That is a far cry from SoftBank's heyday, when the company could easily spend more than $10 billion in a single quarter, but still represents a clear strategy change.
/jlne.ws/47sFe3c
Global Funds That Drove Topix Rally Are Now Risk to More Gains; Kishida support drop, China slowdown risk also weigh on shares; Tokyo Exchange pushing companies to boost shareholder returns
Daiki Mai and Yasutaka Tamura - Bloomberg
Traders trying to push Japanese shares back up to three-decade highs face increasing obstacles - including selling by global funds that helped fuel this year's gains. That's the view of strategists who also see an increasingly unpopular prime minister unable to push through bold measures, and risks of fallout from China's economic slowdown as factors likely to get in the way of Japanese stocks heading even higher.
/jlne.ws/3DNpQ3x
Credit Suisse Bankers, Don't Despair: My Lehman Experience; It might not feel like it right now, but opportunities await after the stress of a financial collapse.
Shuli Ren - Bloomberg
Two months after the completion of their shotgun marriage, it is clear that UBS Group AG has little appetite for Credit Suisse Group AG's investment banking business. In the first round of layoffs, UBS plans to cut about two-thirds of the latter's dealmakers in Asia. More than half of its smaller rival's 45,000-strong workforce worldwide is expected to get pink slips.
/jlne.ws/3KzuiqF
Billionaire Chris Rokos's Hedge Fund Recoups 2023 Losses After July Gains; His hedge fund had lost more than 15% at one point in March; Macro traders have seen fortunes swing in volatile markets
Nishant Kumar - Bloomberg
Billionaire Chris Rokos's macro hedge fund posted a 3.7% gain in July, helping it to fully recover losses from earlier this year. The money pool, one of the world's top macro hedge funds with more than $14 billion in assets, has now returned 2.7% for the year through July, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not be identified because the information is private.
/jlne.ws/47hE8qG
ABN Amro Drops as Buyback Delay Offsets Profit Beat; Lender reports provisions release; analysts expected increase; ABN Amro sees higher costs into 2024 on investments, inflation
Cagan Koc - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/44ZqJlK
Stifel makes a number of job cuts to its equities business in London; A number of positions were cut in equity trading, specialist sales and research.
Will Canny - The Trade
US investment bank Stifel has made a number of jobs cuts to its London equities business in recent weeks according to two people familiar with the matter. Daniel Arnold, a managing director in equities trading, has left the business, as has Adam Lawson, a director in specialist technology equity sales, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the matter is private. A number of equity research roles were also cut, the people said.
/jlne.ws/3OrDG0v
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | WeWork Cites 'Substantial Doubt' That It Can Stay in Business; The co-working company will seek to raise capital as it searches for a chief executive. Its battered stock plunged further.
Peter Eavis - The New York Times
WeWork, which lost billions of dollars building and operating a global empire of co-working spaces, warned investors on Tuesday that it might not be in business for much longer. "Substantial doubt exists about the company's ability to continue as a going concern," the company said in a financial filing. The announcement did not come as a surprise.
/jlne.ws/3s8cxZa
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Covid Didn't Take a Summer Vacation; Many people don't want to think about the virus, but an increase in cases means it's time for a refresher on how to protect yourself and others.
Dana G. Smith - The New York Times
You're not imagining it: Covid-19 cases are on the rise again. Fortunately, since a vast majority of Americans have some sort of immunity, either from vaccination or a prior infection, or both, most people who get infected now will have a mild illness. And while there are multiple strains circulating (nearly all of them descendants of the Omicron XBB variant), they are unlikely to cause the "wildfire spreading" that occurred with the Delta variant and the first Omicron variant, said Dr. David Boulware, a professor of medicine specializing in infectious diseases at the University of Minnesota Medical School.
/jlne.ws/45jk7OS
China Mpox Cases Surge as Virus Spreads to More Parts of Country
Evelyn Yu and Foster Wong - Bloomberg
China's confirmed cases of Mpox rose nearly five-fold in July to a new high as government efforts to contain the infectious disease's spread ramp up. Last month's case count was 491, versus 106 in June, according to a statement from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Every patient was male and 96% of them had sexual activity with another man, the CDC said. There were no severe cases or deaths from mpox, the virus known as monkeypox until recently.
/jlne.ws/442GDKN
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Billionaire Desmarais Family Quietly Reshapes a Financial Empire; Power Corp. lost its place as the standard-bearer in Canadian asset management. The clan behind it is now trying to modernize the firm and buy its way into higher-growth areas.
Mathieu Dion - Bloomberg
The Desmarais clan is back in dealmaking mode. Only this time, it's not simply to expand their empire - it's to fix it.
Inside a narrow gray stone building just off Montreal's main business district, the family and their key lieutenants are reshaping Power Corp. of Canada, the publicly traded holding company that's the primary source of a fortune worth at least $4.5 billion.
/jlne.ws/47t4oyn
First Scorched, Then Soaked: Weather Whiplash Confounds Farmers; As the war in Ukraine disrupts the global grain market, a volatile climate leaves Kansas on track to harvest its smallest wheat crop in decades.
Mitch Smith - The New York Times
This single field, just 160 acres of Kansas dirt, tells the story of a torturous wheat season. One side is a drought-scorched graveyard for grain that never made it to harvest. Near the center, combines plod through chest-high weeds and underwhelming patches of beige wheat, just enough of it to make a harvest worthwhile.
/jlne.ws/45pMafD
Emerging-Market Traders on Carry Hunt Look Past China Data; Most developing nations seen not ready to start rate cuts; Latest China data shows deflation, confirms faltering recovery
Srinivasan Sivabalan - Bloomberg
Emerging-market traders shrugged off the latest bad data from China on Wednesday and resumed their hunt for carry returns ahead of central-bank meetings that are expected to confirm that global interest rates will remain high.
/jlne.ws/3DOivkh
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | ESPN Is Getting Into Sports Betting With Penn Entertainment; Casino operator to sell Barstool brand back to Portnoy; Deal is worth more than $1.5 billion over 10 years to ESPN
Gerry Smith - Bloomberg
Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN has signed a long-term exclusive agreement with casino operator Penn Entertainment Inc., licensing its brand for sports betting and deepening the media giant's ties to the growing online gambling business.
/jlne.ws/3KALQm1
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