| August 18, 2023 | | | | | Jeff Bergstrom
Editor
John Lothian News | |
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| | | | Lead Stories | | | 'Extreme' Short in Long-End Treasuries Delivers Volatility Not Seen Since 2020
Edward Bolingbroke - Bloomberg
A build-up of short positions in long-dated Treasuries has sent ripples through some measures of interest-rate volatility, where daily moves are rivaling those of the March 2020 liquidity crisis.
This week's gyrations in one-month 30-year swaption volatility â a measure of how much long-term rates are implied to move on one-month horizon â dwarf anything that's occurred during the past three years. In other words, traders are unnerved by the sudden spike in 30-year Treasury yields to 4.42%, a level last seen in 2011, and the failure of dip-buying
to contain it.
/jlne.ws/3KQNQ9V
Stocks Are Having a Lousy August. Why September Could Be Worse.
Teresa Rivas - Barron's
Stocks are mixed on Friday, and look prepared to log another down week in a difficult month. Unfortunately for bulls, September may not look much better.
All three major indexes are down in August: As of Thursday's close the Dow Jones Industrial Average is off 1.7%, the S&P 500 has slid 3.3%, and the previously highflying Nasdaq Composite has lost 5%.
/jlne.ws/3YNzhd1
'Big Short' Michael Burry Is 'One-Trick Pony,' Wrong on Stocks: Expert
Theron Mohamed - Markets Insider
Michael Burry shocked Wall Street this week by revealing he placed wagers with a notional value of $1.6 billion against the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 last quarter. But one veteran analyst thinks his apparent bet on a stock-market crash is a losing one.
"He's going to be wrong like Mike Wilson was wrong," Marc Chaikin, the founder and CEO of Chaikin Analytics, told Benzinga this week. He was referring to Morgan Stanley's chief US equity strategist, who was caught off-guard by the historic rally in stocks this year and issued a mea culpa in late July.
/jlne.ws/3seGHtz
Meme stocks ride on, though investors more cautious than GameStop era
Saqib Iqbal Ahmed and Laura Matthews - Reuters
More than two years since a breathtaking surge in shares of GameStop (GME.N) captivated Wall Street, the meme stock phenomenon continues to defy predictions of its demise.
Yet the retail investors who have driven past meme stock moves appear to have become more cautious after last year's market selloff, while rallies in the shares of the often small and heavily-shorted companies bearing the meme stock label have tended to be more fleeting.
Here are some charts illustrating what has changed, and what has not, in meme stocks.
/jlne.ws/3KNXcDw
Hedge Funds Reload on Shorts After Rush to Unwind Stock Bets
Lu Wang - Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance
Hedge funds that make both bullish and bearish equity wagers boosted short sales in eight of the 10 sessions through Monday, according to data compiled by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s prime brokerage unit. Halfway into August, the dollar amount of bearish wagers has already more than doubled the volume of positions covered in July, the firm's team including Vincent Lin found.
Morgan Stanley's securities lending desk saw an uptick in short sales this week, particularly among single stocks, with Wednesday and Thursday posting the second- and fourth-busiest session of the year, respectively.
/jlne.ws/45xrVwh
| | | | | | Exchanges | | | Crypto Investors Can Now Trade XRP Options on BIT Exchange
Omkar Godbole - CoinDesk
Cryptocurrency derivatives exchange BIT on Thursday launched options tied to payments-focused cryptocurrency XRP. The new product will allow users to trade XRP options without having to hold the cryptocurrency, the exchange said in a press release, adding that profits and losses will be settled in the U.S. dollar. Institutional liquidity provider OrBit Markets is tasked with creating order book liquidity.
/jlne.ws/3P26CxC
BingX launches World's first 0 slippage BTC Derivatives Trading
News Direct
BingX, a copy trading cryptocurrency exchange, is thrilled to announce enhancements to its derivatives trading systems, aimed at meeting the needs of its ever-growing trader community. This strategic upgrade reaffirms BingX's commitment to delivering good trading experiences and raising its reputation as a cutting-edge platform in the cryptocurrency industry.
/jlne.ws/45c4Pvr
Singapore Exchange appoints new head of equities and FICC sales; Individual has previously held positions at Singapore International Monetary Exchange (SIMEX) and DBS Vickers Securities.
Claudia Preece - The Trade
Lily Chia has been named the new head of equities and FICC sales, SGROA at Singapore Exchange (SGX), working across Singapore, ASEAN, Middle East, India, and Australia. In this new position, Chia, who has spent almost two decades at SGX in various roles, will lead sales for equity, equity derivatives and FX derivatives.
https://jlne.ws/3YE5Lqa
| | | | | | Regulation & Enforcement | | | SEC Said to Be Poised to Allow US Debut of Ether-Futures ETFs (ETH)
Vildana Hajric and Allyson Versprille - Bloomberg
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is poised to allow the first exchange-traded funds based on Ether futures, a major win for several firms that long have sought to offer the products.
The regulator isn't likely to block the products, which would be based on futures contracts for the second-largest cryptocurrency, according to people familiar with the matter. Nearly a dozen companies, including Volatility Shares, Bitwise, Roundhill and ProShares, have filed to launch the ETFs.
/jlne.ws/45ykdC9
The SEC Is Moving Fast to Erase Ripple's Big Court Victory
Joe Light - Barron's
The Securities and Exchange Commission is wasting no time in trying to overturn its most significant loss ever in a crypto case - an attempt that will have wide implications for the token market and trading platforms like Coinbase.
At issue is whether transactions in most crypto tokens are securities that fall under the SEC's remit. The agency asserts that they are and has brought dozens of cases against token issuers and the platforms that trade them, including Coinbase Global (ticker: COIN). It argues that issuers and exchanges are violating the law by offering and trading tokens without going through the SEC registration process.
/jlne.ws/3shkQln
Hedge Fund Woodline Sued for 'Oppressive, Misogynistic' Culture; Fund and co-founder accused of demeaning female admins; Woodline says it provides a supportive workplace for employees
Hema Parmar - Bloomberg
Karl Kroeker, co-founder of hedge fund Woodline Partners, was sued by a former employee claiming he contributed to a demeaning work culture and repeatedly made sexually inappropriate comments, and that she was fired as she grappled with postpartum depression. Danielle di Bari, a 32-year-old executive admin who left the firm in May, alleges in the lawsuit that Kroeker, 51, on multiple occasions proposed suggestive hypothetical questions to her and fellow EAs, and that she was fired after requesting to work remotely for an extra day a week to accommodate her postpartum depression.
/jlne.ws/44e3piS
Gas Traders Should Brace For 'Extremely Volatile' Stretch, Says Citi
Joe Wallace - WSJ
Natural-gas prices have whipped around of late. There's more in store, according to Citigroup analysts, who say European and Asian prices "should be extremely volatile" over the next few weeks.
Threatened strikes at three massive Australian gas-export plants owned by Chevron (CVX) and Woodside Energy (AU:WDS) have set the market on edge. Industrial action could take out a tenth of the world's liquefied-natural gas supply.
/jlne.ws/3KKW0ka
| | | | | | Strategy | | | Goldman Sachs: These 30 options trades can help investors profit from both stock market winners and underperformers
Mark Reeth - Business Insider
In a year where a small handful of outperformers have carried the market higher, analysts across Wall Street are worried that valuations may be stretched too thin, and a sell-off is in the cards.
In a year where economic data has buoyed investor optimism, analysts across Wall Street are hopeful that the economy can stick the soft landing, and the bull market rally will continue for the foreseeable future.
/jlne.ws/44g7GCj
The RVX Index
Cboe (Video)
In #Vol411, @RussellRhoads reminds us that $RVX and $VIX Indices can indicate market participants' concerns about small cap vs. large cap #stocks, lets us know that small cap stocks have underperformed relative to the S&P 500 this year (though the gap is narrowing) and more.
/jlne.ws/45fEhJN
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