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JLN Options
July 31, 2023  
 
Jeff Bergstrom
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John Lothian News
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Observations & Insight
 
WILD is hosting a trivia night fundraiser on August 9th for WILD Gives Back, its 501(c)(3) arm that funds scholarships for women taking derivatives courses at schools affiliated with the Associated Colleges of Illinois. The trivia night will be held at The Terrace Lounge, 425 S. Financial Place, Chicago, IL on August 9 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. The trivia night features teams from IMC, SocGen, CME, CBOE, OCC, NFA and BP. WILD will also have items for auction. OCC and WILD are sponsors, so 100% of ticket sales and auction will go towards the scholarships. Tickets are $50 and WILD will match people up with teams if they don't already have a team.

 
 
Lead Stories
 
Stock Buyers Ignoring Risks With Fear Gauge at 42-Month Low: Weinstein
Theron Mohamed - Markets Insider
Investors are facing a bunch of risks and challenges but by one measure, they appear more confident today than before the pandemic struck. Boaz Weinstein underlined how absurd that is in a Saturday post.
"Yup, totally makes sense that financial market uncertainty is now less than pre Covid, Inflation, Ukraine, inverted yield curve, high European recession risk, moderate US recession risk, etc.," Weinstein wrote sarcastically on X, formerly known as Twitter.
/jlne.ws/3Qgwg2L

Market Volatility Is Set to Continue After a Milestone Week
Carter Johnson - Bloomberg
Traders buffeted by a swath of central-bank decisions last week are preparing for further volatility amid signs that a new era for monetary policy is emerging.
The US dollar, euro and yen are all in focus Monday, with investors continuing to weigh whether rate hikes from the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank mark the end of their tightening cycles, even as the Bank of Japan modifies its ultra-easy regime with a looser grip on bond yields.
/jlne.ws/47952kt

Traders Brace for $102 Billion Wave of Treasury Bond Sales
Liz Capo McCormick - Bloomberg
The US Treasury is set this week to begin a ramp-up in issuance of longer-dated securities that's likely to stretch into next year, forced by a rapidly deteriorating budget deficit and soaring interest rates.
For the first time since early 2021, the Treasury will boost its so-called quarterly refunding of longer-term Treasuries, to $102 billion from $96 billion, the consensus among dealers suggests. While down from the record levels hit during the Covid-19 crisis, that's well above pre-pandemic levels.
/jlne.ws/3Ycpe0U

Hard Recession or a Soft Landing? CEOs Weigh In.
Megan Leonhardt - Barron's
Elon Musk isn't the only person who longs for a crystal ball these days. A number of prominent executives admitted during second-quarter earnings calls that it is hard to know which way the economy is heading, although many are optimistic that the U.S. will avoid a full-blown recession this year, and maybe even next.
"One day, it seems like the world economy is falling apart. And the next day, everything is fine. I don't know what the hell was going on, to be totally frank. I wish I did," Musk said last week during Tesla (ticker: TSLA) earnings call.
/jlne.ws/3DCadvK

Goldman upgrades oil demand outlook as market tempers growth pessimism
Reuters
Goldman Sachs on Sunday revised up its global oil demand forecast for the year while sticking to its 12-month Brent price projection of $93 per barrel as higher realized inventories offset the demand boost from a less pessimistic growth outlook.
Goldman analysts estimate global oil demand climbed to an all-time high of 102.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in July and see solid demand driving a larger-than-expected 1.8 million bpd deficit in the second half this year and a 0.6 million bpd deficit in 2024.
/jlne.ws/3Kk0zlj

 
 
Exchanges
 
CCP Tracker update - Q1 2023 highlights
FIA
FIA has updated its CCP Tracker visualizations with data from the first quarter.
The CCP Tracker visualizations show risk-related metrics for 15 clearinghouses side by side for each quarter going back to 2015. The metrics include initial margin, default funds, margin breaches, stress losses and concentration ratios. The data were obtained from the public quantitative disclosures published by the clearinghouses, which are generally released two or three months after the end of the quarter.
/jlne.ws/3OB6yEH

Hedge your weekend risk - with the new Eurex KOSPI 200 Monday Weekly Options
Eurex
Eurex is expanding its KOSPI product offering once again on 31 July 2023, with the launch of KOSPI 200 Monday Weekly Options. This will complement the successful listing of the Eurex KOSPI 200 Thursday Weekly Options on the Eurex/KRX Link. Since its launch on 28 March 2023, the product has traded nearly 23.1 million contracts, with an average daily volume of 92,300.
With the introduction of KOSPI 200 Monday Weekly Options, market participants can now implement various trading strategies on the Eurex KOSPI products and react to market events over the weekend.
/jlne.ws/3QjFQBK

 
 
Regulation & Enforcement
 
SEC's 'Lenient' Treatment of SPIKES Futures Tossed as Unreasoned
Martina Barash - Bloomberg Law
'Competition' rationale unsound, D.C. Cir. says; Market gets three-month wind-down period
An SEC order exempting certain stock volatility futures from a definition that would impose heavier tax and other requirements in order to promote competition with another index was arbitrary and capricious, the D.C. Circuit said Friday.
/jlne.ws/43Jec4t

SEC delisting demands would mean 'end of crypto in the U.S.,' Coinbase CEO says
Chris Matthews - MarketsWiki
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said sees his company's legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission as existential for the U.S. cryptocurrency industry after he says the regulator recommended the crypto exchange delist all tokens other than bitcoin.
Armstrong told the Financial Times in a report Monday that the SEC made the request before it sued the company for operating as an unregistered securities exchange, broker and clearing agency.
/jlne.ws/44Pqolk

Gary Gensler's Money-Market Gamble
WSJ
Regulators rarely admit mistakes, but lo and behold, the Securities and Exchange Commission did this month when it scrapped two money-market rules. Alas, Chair Gary Gensler's rewrite could cause more strain on short-term funding markets when financial trouble arrives.
/jlne.ws/47dI4Zx

 
 
Technology
 
Simmons & Simmons joins FIA Tech's Databank Network as a law firm partner; FIA Tech and Simmon & Simmons partner to incorporate Trading Venue Reviewer (TVR) into Contract Specifications offering
FIA Tech
FIA Tech, a leading technology provider to the exchange-traded derivatives industry, announced today that international law firm Simmons & Simmons will be joining the Databank Network as a law firm partner. FIA Tech will incorporate Simmons & Simmons' Trading Venue Reviewer (TVR) data within FIA Tech's Contract Specifications user interface.
/jlne.ws/457eK5b

 
 
Strategy
 
Funds ejected from bearish corn bets amid Black Sea escalation
Karen Braun - Reuters
Speculators a week ago appeared content with their bearish views in Chicago-traded corn, but damage to Ukrainian river ports early last week forced them into bullish territory, especially with Chicago wheat soaring the daily limit.
Several terminals at Ukraine's Black Sea ports, which handles most of the country's grain exports, had been struck by Russian missiles in the prior week following Moscow's withdrawal from the year-old grain export deal.
/jlne.ws/3QlJATA

Derivatives Show Retail Traders Bullish Even as India Run Eases
Akshay Chinchalkar - Bloomberg
The rally that propelled Indian stocks to a record earlier in July stalled last week, but positioning in the derivatives market shows that retail investors continue to be bullish.
The benchmark NSE Nifty 50 Index failed to scale a much-hyped 20,000 level and has fallen over 1% from its peak on July 20. While the bar seems high
for earnings to drive more gains this results season, here are four charts that showcase confidence among retail traders:
/jlne.ws/3qeCW6T

How to Generate Income with Index Options in 2023
Tony Zhang - Nasdaq
As the US economy teeters on the brink of a recession, generating income through investing can be a challenging task, especially during times of uncertainty. With the current state of the economy, you may be looking for ways to supplement an investment portfolio. Index options provide unique advantages and risk mitigation over stock and ETF options with income-generating options strategies. In this blog post, we will take a closer look at popular strategies for generating income and tips for managing risk and maximizing profits. Whether you are a seasoned options trader or just starting out, this post will provide you with valuable insights on how to generate income using index options in 2023.
/jlne.ws/47ejyHW

Busy Week for Data and Earnings
Cboe (Video)
In #Vol411, Joel Hawthorne touches on a slew of upcoming #earnings, economic data releases and more. #options #trading
/jlne.ws/3rTItQQ

 
 
Education
 
Get to Know OCC's Investor Education Team
OCC
The Investor Education team manages The Options Industry Council (OIC), an industry and investor resource provided by OCC. OIC, established in 1992, is dedicated to educating individual investors, financial advisors and institutions on the benefits and risks of exchange-listed options. OIC offerings are provided at no cost.
The team, consisting of five experienced options educators and five operational staff members, is responsible for the creation and delivery of OIC educational offerings. Together, the team delivers educational content through the comprehensive OIC website, OptionsEducation.org, that features articles, podcasts, webinars, courses, tools, and videos. OIC option professionals also represent OCC at industry conferences, provide live instruction in collaboration with market participants, and offer daily support to investors and industry personnel via inquiries made to the communications desk.
/jlne.ws/3Ocqfl3

 
 
Miscellaneous
 
The Benefit of Owning Stocks Over Bonds Keeps Shrinking
Sam Goldfarb - WSJ
The extra reward for holding stocks instead of bonds has fallen to its lowest level in 20 years, threatening a recent hot streak for major indexes.
One method for gauging the value of stocks is to compare their earnings yield—calculated by dividing a company's expected earnings over the next year by its stock price—to the yield on government bonds, considered the closest thing to a risk-free return. The difference, sometimes called the equity-risk premium, shows how much investors are being compensated for the additional risk of owning stocks.
And right now, that isn't much.
/jlne.ws/455qViX
 
 
 
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John Lothian News (JLN) is the news division of John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. (JJLCO). The online media and financial services firm is staffed by derivatives industry, journalism and technology professionals.
 
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