| February 20, 2025 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
Former Senator and ICE and Bakkt executive Kelly Loeffler was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be administrator of the Small Business Administration by a vote of 52 to 46. Both her home state senators in Georgia, who are Democrats, voted nay for her nomination in what was a straight party vote.
Bloomberg Senior Editor for markets and Bloomberg Opinion Columnist John Authers reminded us that yesterday was the five-year anniversary of when the stock market peaked at all-time highs ahead of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Covid-19 pandemic confounded predictions much like a trickster character, constantly shifting and forcing new adaptations. When the S&P 500 hit a record high on Feb. 19, 2020, few foresaw the sharp 34% plunge to March 23 lows, triggered by the biggest economic shock in modern history. Yet, in a stunning turnaround, the market doubled over the next five years, reaching 6,129.58. Despite the turbulence, even those who bought at the peak in 2020 have seen a 95% total return, illustrating the market's uncanny ability to defy expectations.
Eris Innovations shared some observations about how CME Group has extended its market maker program for Eris/Treasury Swap Spreads (ETSS) through July 31, maintaining incentives for liquidity providers during regular trading hours. These incentives have contributed to tighter bid/ask spreads, with the 5-year ETSS spread staying below 0.44 basis points for 91% of January. ETSS enables exchange-listed trading of Eris SOFR Swap futures vs. CME Treasury futures through an anonymous, continuously-quoted order book with futures margin efficiency. Participants include hedgers, algorithmic brokers, proprietary traders, and market makers.
Open interest in the 15-year Eris SOFR has reached 778 contracts ($78 million notional), showing early growth for this maturity. Directional hedgers, who typically use higher-margin OTC swaps, can reduce costs with this alternative. A 1,000-contract ($100 million notional) long position in 15-year Eris SOFR requires $2.25 million in initial margin, 61% less than the $5.76 million needed for an equivalent OTC swap. Market makers are responding to broker inquiries for block trades, supported by 95%+ margin offsets with CME swaps, making it easier to manage hedged positions. The increased activity suggests broader adoption of exchange-listed swap alternatives.
Attorney and former CFTC Special Counsel Maggie Sklar shared on LinkedIn that she was a casualty of the DOGE firings at the FDIC. She wrote: "I know not everyone necessarily "likes" regulation - but financial markets are best - and most efficient - when they are safe, well-regulated. And by people with knowledge, expertise, hard work, and dedication. I was let go by the government this week because I was a new employee there. I know I could have brought a lot of expertise and efficiency to this policy position. I was surprised. Among other things, I was previously a senior counsel to a Trump-appointed Republican Chair. I try to remain optimistic that maybe I get to go back to the FDIC or to another financial regulator at some point. I believe in government service. I am going to take a couple of days to rest and recharge, but I am looking for my next opportunity. And to re-engage with former clients and advisory boards. I may be reaching out to you. But also feel free to reach out to me."
Sklar has worked at the CFTC, the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank and in private legal practice helping fintech companies. She is a gifted public servant who under any other circumstances would still be at the FDIC.
The Peterson Institute for International Economics' podcast "Policy for the Planet" recently aired its 10th episode, titled "Can liquefied natural gas actually help climate efforts?" on February 18, 2025. Hosted by Monica de Bolle, the episode features Daniel Yergin, a renowned energy expert and Pulitzer Prize-winning author from S&P Global. The episode explores the complex relationship between the United States' growing role as the world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter and its impact on climate change efforts. This topic is particularly relevant given President Trump's continued support for expanding LNG exports.
On February 26, 2025, Nicolas Veron, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, will host a virtual event titled "The Trump administration's policies and global financial risk" as part of the Financial Statements series. The session will explore the rapidly evolving impact of Trump's policies on global financial risks, focusing on how non-U.S. jurisdictions might incorporate these implications into their systemic risk assessments and prudential frameworks. Joining Veron will be Charles Goodhart, Emeritus Professor at the London School of Economics, and Agathe Demarais, Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. This timely discussion comes in the context of President Trump's recent return to office, which has introduced new challenges for Europe and the global financial system. The event will take place from 9:00 to 10:00 AM EST (15:00 to 16:00 CET), providing a platform for expert analysis on the shifting landscape of international finance and risk management in light of the Trump administration's policies.
The Wall Street Journal has a prominent front page story titled The American Who Went Undercover in Ukraine-for Moscow with the subtitle "Daniel Martindale's decision to become a spy comes amid a growing ultraconservative embrace of Russian values." The story can be summarized as: Daniel Martindale, a 31-year-old American from Indiana, became an unlikely spy for Russia during the Ukraine conflict. Disillusioned with the U.S. and idealizing Russia as a bastion of traditional values, Martindale crossed into Ukraine in February 2022 as the invasion began. He settled in Bohoyavlenka, a village near the front lines, where he gathered intelligence on Ukrainian troop movements for Russian forces while posing as a Christian missionary. After two years of covert activities, Martindale was extracted by Russian troops in late 2023 as they advanced on his village. He was taken to Moscow, where he publicly renounced his U.S. citizenship and sought Russian asylum. Martindale's story reflects a broader trend of some American ultraconservatives viewing Russia as an ideological ally against Western liberalism, a sentiment that has gained traction with the Trump administration's recent diplomatic outreach to Moscow in February 2025.
Here are the headlines from in front of FOW's paywall from some recent stories: UK regulator to remain 'largely compliant' with international rules, Saudi Arabian netting legislation key to building derivatives markets - ISDA, ANALYSIS: Innovation key to unlocking Europe's insurance flows, ANALYSIS: Firms using stress-testing to navigate regulatory change - Bloomberg, Former CFTC chair Giancarlo takes advisory role at ElectronX OPINION: Crypto markets - the giant shift on the horizon.
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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Our most read stories from our previous edition of JLN Options were:
- FX Volatility Leads Global Firms to Seek Shelter in Options, Longer Hedges Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance.
- Thailand Curbs Short Selling, High-Speed Trades Amid Selloff Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance.
- Volatility ETFs Are Down, but They Aren't Out of the Picture ETF.com. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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Blockfills Expands Crypto Services, Eyes Institutional Growth Amid Regulatory Shifts
JohnLothianNews.com
Blockfills, a digital asset trading and technology firm, is expanding its services to meet growing demand in the cryptocurrency market, according to Blockfills Co-Head of Digital Exotics Paul Sacks.
In an interview with John Lothian News at the FIA EXPO in November, Sacks highlighted the firm's focus on institutional clients and qualified professional traders globally. "We post massive volumes in Bitcoin and Ether," Sacks said, noting that most clients trade spot through the company's front-end platform, Vision Trader, or via API.
Watch the video »
Andrej Bolkovic - OCC
Watch Video »
Paul Hamill - ICE
Watch Video »
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Trump's social media posts about the stock market have 'disappeared,' JPMorgan says
Brian Sozzi - Yahoo Finance
President Donald Trump has long touted his love for the stock market and how strong stock prices reflect a robust US economy. Yet in his second stay in the White House, he's been posting less about stocks. JPMorgan strategist Antonin Delair studied 126 social media posts from Trump (mostly on Truth Social) since Election Day and found mentions of the stock market have mostly "disappeared." In his first term, Trump was "continuously" posting on positive US economic developments, such as lower unemployment, a higher stock market, or the creation of a new factory in a state, noted Delair.
/jlne.ws/419UBLg
****** The U.S. stock market has been beaten so far this year by the performance of European stocks. Hmm.~JJL
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'Long Live the King': Trump Likens Himself to Royalty on Truth Social; A fondness for regal themes was apparent as the president applauded his administration's move to kill congestion pricing in New York.
Benjamin Oreskes - The New York Times
President Trump is famous for his love of everything gold and other trappings that connote royalty, whether it be large military parades or extravagant inaugural balls. But in a post on his social media platform Truth Social on Wednesday, Mr. Trump went a step further, likening himself to a king as he celebrated his administration's move to kill New York City's congestion pricing program. "CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED," he wrote. "LONG LIVE THE KING!" The White House then reinforced the message, recirculating it on Instagram and X with an illustration of Mr. Trump wearing a crown on a magazine cover resembling Time, but called Trump.
/jlne.ws/417DaLB
****** The man who grew up in Queens calls himself a king.~JJL
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Kremlin Message to Trump: There's Money to Be Made in Russia; Russian officials are arguing that American companies stand to make billions of dollars by re-entering Russia. The White House is listening.
Anton Troianovski - The New York Times
The Russian government's top investment manager, who has Harvard and McKinsey credentials and fluent English, brought a simple printout to Tuesday's talks with the Trump administration in Saudi Arabia. Its message: By pulling out of Russia in outrage over the invasion of Ukraine, American companies had walked away from piles of cold, hard cash.
/jlne.ws/3EJzBUe
***** Do you remember the Russian crisis? I remember the Russian debt crisis. There is money to be lost in Russia too.~JJL
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Turkey to export 15,000 tonnes of eggs to US to ease bird flu disruptions
The Business Times
Turkey has begun exporting around 15,000 tonnes of eggs to the United States as a devastating outbreak of bird flu is slashing US production and sending prices soaring, a leading sector official said on Wednesday. Deaths of millions of laying hens imperil US President Donald Trump's pledge to bring down everyday costs, as grocery stores ration supplies and restaurants raise prices for egg dishes.
/jlne.ws/41leBMp
****** The question I have is, what kind of eggs is Turkey sending?~JJL
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Wednesday's Top Three
Our top story Wednesday was BGC rings senior management changes as Lutnick steps down, from FOW. Second was a tie among BofA Survey Shows Investors Haven't Been This Risk-On Since 2010, from Bloomberg, Vanguard Overtakes State Street as World's Biggest ETF, also from Bloomberg, and OPINION: Crypto markets - the giant shift on the horizon, from FOW. Third was a tie between TP ICAP appoints two to run Liquidnet multi-asset sales from FOW and Cboe's 'Follow the Sun' Model Will Help 24×5 US Equities Trading, from MarketsMedia.
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| Lead Stories | Euronext Targets Retail Traders in 'Battle of the Bund' Redux; Exchange plans to launch mini bond futures in September; Eurex has dominated European bond-futures market since 1990s
Greg Ritchie and James Hirai - Bloomberg
Euronext NV plans to challenge Deutsche Borse AG's decades-long hegemony of European bond futures by appealing to retail traders. The Paris-based exchange operator is introducing so-called mini futures that will be smaller than traditional contracts with a view to attracting these investors, said Charlotte Alliot, Euronext's head of financial derivatives. The planned launch in September follows a boom in Euronext's fixed-income trading business, where revenue rose 23.7% last quarter.
/jlne.ws/3Xaoo5g
Innovations expected to turbo-charge crypto ETF industry; Participants say favourable regulatory environment could lead to enthusiasm for diversified indices of digital tokens
Steve Johnson - Financial Times
By most measures the launch of bitcoin exchange traded funds in the US has been a rip-roaring success, but industry participants say coming innovations will turbo-charge the crypto ETF industry further still. Just over a year on from their debut, US-listed bitcoin ETFs already hold $120bn of assets. The largest, the $57bn iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), was the world's fastest ETF to get to $10bn, $25bn and $50bn in AUM, has already surpassed iShares' Gold Trust and is closing in on the $80bn SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) as the planet's largest commodity exchange traded product.
/jlne.ws/4i9f9dZ
Struggle Over Americans' Personal Data Plays Out Across the Government; Employees from Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency are gaining access to vast amounts of information held by federal agencies, even as lawsuits try to stop them.
Andrew Duehren and Cecilia Kang - The New York Times
Last week, Michelle King, the acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration, sought to reassure Democrats on Capitol Hill about the presence of two of Elon Musk's allies at her agency. The Social Security Administration keeps medical information, bank account numbers and other sensitive personal data about the roughly 70 million Americans it provides with more than $1 trillion in benefits annually. In the Feb. 11 letter to Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, Ms. King said that the two representatives, from the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, had not yet seen personal information - and said any disclosures would follow established procedures.
/jlne.ws/3QrR0mU
Fund Giant BlackRock Is Out to Unite Public and Private Markets
Silla Brush - Bloomberg Markets
Asset management has two great kingdoms. The purveyors of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds dominate the first and better-known one. They invest in public stocks and bonds, and their clients are increasingly sensitive to costs. Their most popular products these days are passive index trackers with razor-thin fees, often just a few hundredths of a percentage point of assets each year. But the money managers make it up on volume, selling funds to everyone from big institutions to ordinary people putting a bit of each paycheck into 401(k) retirement plans. The so-called Big Three-BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard Group-are the top holders of almost every stock in the S&P 500.
/jlne.ws/430Ursp
Trump Tilts Toward a Ukraine Sellout; He puts more pressure on Kyiv for a deal than he does on the Kremlin.
The Editorial Board - The Wall Street Journal
One challenge in the Trump era is distinguishing when the President is popping off for attention from when his remarks indicate a real change in policy and priorities. President Trump's rhetorical assault on Ukraine in recent days appears to be the latter, and perhaps it is a sign of an ugly settlement to come. Mr. Trump on Tuesday mimicked Russian propaganda by claiming Ukraine had started the war with Russia and that Kyiv is little better than the Kremlin because it hasn't held a wartime election. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky replied on Wednesday that Mr. Trump was living in a "disinformation space," which may have been imprudent but was accurate.
/jlne.ws/4hGHDfd
Trump's rush to strike a deal on Ukraine hands Putin the advantage; US president's public exchange of insults with Zelenskyy forms part of rapid pivot towards Russia
Max Seddon and Felicia Schwartz - Financial Times
Over three years of war, Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused to stray from his stringent demands that would undo the current European security architecture and in essence turn Ukraine into a failed state. In just a week, Donald Trump has agreed to almost all of them. The US president has openly sided with Moscow, calling Putin to set up negotiations in Riyadh without inviting Kyiv or its European allies and adopting many of the Kremlin's own talking points.
/jlne.ws/41lUgGE
Trump's Policy Deluge Is Causing Paralysis in the Oil Market
Alex Longley and Yongchang Chin - Bloomberg
The oil market is becoming increasingly numb to the array of changes that Donald Trump is trying to make now that he's US President again. Trump spent his first weeks in office railing against OPEC, seeking an end to the war in Ukraine, and threatening tariffs against some of the main crude suppliers to the US. All those things could have major consequences for supply and demand in the oil market. But rather than causing price swings, the futures market is flat-lining. A gauge of implied volatility for benchmark Brent futures - a measure of how far traders expect oil prices to swing - fell to its lowest level since July this week. "The oil market is showing signs of disorientation in the face of the sheer volume of new policy stances," Standard Chartered analysts including Emily Ashford wrote this week. "Faced with so much information and the realization that a single social media post could move the market significantly in either direction at any time, many traders have responded by reducing their risk exposure."
/jlne.ws/3CNsCcp
Clerics' rule change threatens to throw Islamic debt market into turmoil; Proposed new standards could reshape sharia-compliant bonds and hit growth of $1tn market
Rafe Uddin and Joseph Cotterill - Financial Times
The issuance of Islamic bonds could seize up over a new and controversial set of proposals from religious clerics, say credit rating agencies, which warn that the fast-growing $1tn market could fragment as a result of the plans. Saudi Arabia and other Muslim-majority states are awaiting the outcome of a consultation by the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), the industry's main standards-setting body, on its plans for issuers of Islamic bonds to transfer the legal ownership of assets that underpin them to investors.
/jlne.ws/3X9jFAU
Saudi Tadawul Group Eyes More M&A to Boost Capital Markets
Fahad Abuljadayel - Bloomberg
Saudi Tadawul Group said it's targeting more mergers and acquisitions as it looks to further develop the local capital market and draw in foreign investors. The owner of the Saudi stock exchange sees its next opportunities in the data and analytics space after recently closing a deal with Saudi-based Direct Financial Network, according to Lee Hodgkinson, Tadawul's chief strategy officer.
/jlne.ws/417LGdl
Singapore's Abaxx Exchange Plans Gold Futures as Metal Surges
Annie Lee, Sybilla Gross and Yihui Xie - Bloomberg
Singapore's Abaxx Exchange plans to introduce gold futures in the coming months, with prices setting fresh records this year as traders grapple with disruptions in key bullion hubs and increased haven demand. The contracts - which will be physically deliverable in the Southeast Asian city-state - will seek to connect futures and physical markets in one location, tapping into Asia's potential, according to David Greely, chief economist at the bourse, which is majority owned by Abaxx Technologies Inc.
/jlne.ws/4hMBiPg
Will the bond market rein in Donald Trump? Tariffs, trade wars and plans for big tax cuts could all rattle investors in US Treasuries, but it's a resilient market with few alternatives
Harriet Clarfelt - Financial Times
Donald Trump drew cheers from supporters in one of his final rallies of the 2024 presidential campaign, when he vowed to "get interest rates brought way down". His Treasury secretary Scott Bessent echoed the pledge a few months later, saying that reducing America's long-term borrowing costs would be a key priority for the new administration.
/jlne.ws/4b8bP0e
ESG Isn't Passive Anymore; 13Ds, Ackman's Berkshire, highest-paid hedge fund managers, X's valuation and converting from a broker to an adviser.
Matt Levine - Bloomberg
Passive
One reason to buy stock in a company is that you think the company is good, you like its management, and you think the stock will go up. This is probably the most normal reason to buy stock. It is sometimes called buying stock for "investment purposes." It is also sometimes called being a "passive investor," though that terminology is confusing. Here it means that your relationship with the company is passive: You're not trying to change things and are just along for the ride. (People often use "passive" to refer to index investing, where you don't make active choices about which stocks to buy, but that is not the sense in which I am using it here.)
/jlne.ws/41nckAf
Prop Firm Alpha Capital Revives Floor Trading Model in Bet Against "Demo" Trend
Damian Chmiel - Finance Magnates
The prop firm Alpha Capital Group is introducing Alpha Prime, a professional trading initiative that marks a return to traditional proprietary trading, offering selected investors the opportunity to operate from a physical trading floor in London. The new initiative, helmed by "a trading veteran with 30+ years of experience" managing global trading desks at major funds, represents a departure from the recent trend of challenge-focused prop firms operating on demo accounts and artificially animated market. This move signals a potential shift back to the original proprietary trading model that dominated financial markets before the rise of remote retail trading prop firms. "For the first time, the top traders from Alpha Capital & Alpha Futures will get the chance to trade on a live professional floor in London," the company commented.
/jlne.ws/3EGaim6
The CAT declawed as Citadel's case reaches end game: The SEC reduced the CAT's capacity to collect information on investors, in a move that will have knock-on effects for its ongoing funding model case with Citadel.
Eliot Raman Jones - WatersTechnology
On February 10, a week after oral arguments were heard for Citadel Securities and the American Securities Association's suit against the SEC about the proposed funding model for the Consolidated Audit Trail, the US regulator issued a press release. The document announced that there would be, from that point forward, an exemption from the requirement to report personally identifiable information (PII) to the CAT. SEC acting chairman Mark Uyeda said in the release that the order "eliminates the
/jlne.ws/3QsCcod
IRS to lay off 6,700 employees on Thursday, source says
Nathan Layne - Reuters
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service will lay off about 6,700 employees on Thursday, a person familiar with the matter said, a restructuring that could strain the tax-collecting agency's resources during the critical tax-filing season. The workers being cut are probationary employees who have typically been at the agency for less than one to two years, and enjoy fewer protections than longer-term workers. The IRS has a total of roughly 100,000 employees.
/jlne.ws/3Jvap0X
Veterans Drive SPAC IPO Rebound as Hunt for Deals Picks Up
Bailey Lipschultz - Bloomberg
Wall Street is gearing up for another wave of blank check companies from seasoned and first-time sponsors, showing the staying power of the vehicles to take companies public - and setting up expectations of more deals. Special-purpose acquisition company backers have raised more than $1.9 billion this year, adding to the $7.1 billion haul in the final six months of 2024, data from SPAC Research show. That's on top of nearly 20 firms that have filed paperwork with US regulators to raise another $3.2 billion in the first six weeks of the year.
/jlne.ws/4k93ddR
The Unicorn Boom Is Over, and Startups Are Getting Desperate; The billion-dollar startup bubble is deflating, and more than $1 trillion in value is locked up in companies with dwindling prospects.
Katie Roof - Bloomberg
As hard as it is to remember, there were buzzy startups in Silicon Valley before the tech world became solely fixated on artificial intelligence. By the time the Covid-era tech boom crested in 2021, well over 1,000 venture capital-backed startups had reached valuations above $1 billion, including fake meat purveyor Impossible Foods Inc., home maintenance marketplace Thumbtack and online-class platform MasterClass. Then came a squeeze sparked by rising interest rates, a slowing initial public offering market and the feeling that any startup not focused on AI was yesterday's news.
/jlne.ws/4348JbK
Bank of England's Gold-Diggers Grapple With Trump-Fueled Frenzy; In a subterranean vault deep under the streets of the City of London, a small team is rushing to keep up with traders' orders to move their bullion to New York.
Jack Ryan, Mark Burton, Sybilla Gross, and Yvonne Yue Li - Bloomberg
Every day in London, thousands of commuters on the Central Line take a subterranean detour around the Bank of England's vast underground vaults, bringing them as close as they're ever likely to get to the $500 billion of gold the bank holds on behalf of nation states, commercial banks and other financial institutions. Tube trains come so close that staff inside sometimes report hearing a dull hum as they pass.
/jlne.ws/3XcVnpF
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| Trade War and Tariffs | | A roundup of today's trade war and tariff news and the global economic ripple effects shaping markets, industries, and investment strategies. | How Tariffs Could Shock America's Power System; Transformers used in power grids are especially vulnerable to trade disruptions
Jinjoo Lee - The Wall Street Journal
America's power grid is due for some big investments. Tariffs could now make that much costlier. As surging power demand from places such as data centers is set to strain the system, transformers, the nuts and bolts of the power system, look particularly vulnerable. These are devices that step up or down voltages as electricity moves from power plants to homes and factories. New ones are also required every time a new source of electricity-whether wind, solar or natural gas-connects to the grid. The lack of these components can therefore hold up more power from being brought online.
/jlne.ws/4k7c8wo
Trump Is Scrambling Global Automakers' Reliance on America; Japanese, Korean and German car brands have expanded production in the U.S. but still ship lots of vehicles from their factories at home
Stephen Wilmot - The Wall Street Journal
Facing intense competition in China and heavy regulation in Europe, overseas automakers were counting on the U.S. to keep their engines humming. Then came President Trump's tariff threats. Since taking office, the U.S. president has taken aim at the $918 billion U.S. trade deficit with a raft of tariff proposals, including a 25% tax on shipments from Mexico and Canada, reciprocal tariffs based on other partners' own trade restrictions, and specific tariffs for sectors such as autos and semiconductors.
/jlne.ws/436frhk
Trump's tariff threats stress London gold market; Cost of funding customer positions has shot up 10,000% as deliverable supplies shift to New York
Cole Lipsky - Risk.net
The London gold market is facing a mounting structural crisis. Bullion banks that lend precious metals to producers and each other moved over 200 tonnes of gold to New York in January in response to US President Donald Trump's tariff threats, leaving the London market desperately short of physical supplies. Dealers in London routinely borrow gold to fund customer positions.
/jlne.ws/417RaEX
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| World Conflicts | | News about various conflicts and their military, economic, political and humanitarian impact. | Ukraine Invasion
Major risks loom as Trump upends US Russia policy
Matt Spetalnick - Reuters
When Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago, then-U.S. President Joe Biden took a firm stand in solidarity with Kyiv, forged a bulwark of European allies and set veteran advisers to the task of isolating Moscow economically and diplomatically. Washington's approach changed dramatically with this week's initial high-level talks between the U.S. and Russia and took an even more ominous turn when Trump, without evidence, then blamed Kyiv for starting the war and called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy a "dictator without elections."
/jlne.ws/4hJONz7
Trump Calls Zelenskiy Dictator as US-Ukraine Ties Unravel; It's the US president's most direct threat to Ukraine's leader; US and Russia laying groundwork for Trump-Putin summit
Jordan Fabian, Volodymyr Verbianyi, and Olesia Safronova - Bloomberg
President Donald Trump issued his most direct threat yet to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, saying the Ukrainian president had "better move fast" to reach a deal with Russia "or he is not going to have a Country left." Trump's social media post denouncing Zelenskiy as "a modestly successful comedian" and "a dictator" marks an all-but-final rejection of Ukraine as a full partner in negotiations that Trump has initiated with Russia to end the war that began with President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of his neighbor three years ago.
/jlne.ws/438GMj7
Russians Are Cautiously Optimistic About Rapid U.S. Policy Shift; Kremlin says a presidential summit could take place as soon as this month, but warns it would take preparation
Georgi Kantchev - The Wall Street Journal
After three years of American efforts to isolate Russia, U.S. policy took a significant shift toward Moscow in recent days. Russian officials have cheered the change, but even they appeared to be caught off guard by the speed of developments. On Tuesday, top-level U.S. and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia to discuss ways to settle the war in Ukraine and reset Washington's relations with Moscow-just days after President Trump and President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone. Then, a war of words escalated between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with the U.S. president calling him a "dictator" on Wednesday.
/jlne.ws/436qs26
US objects to calling out 'Russian aggression' in G7 statement on Ukraine; Trump administration splits with allies on holding Moscow responsible for war
Christopher Miller in Kyiv and Henry Foy in Brussels - Financial Times
The US is opposing calling Russia the aggressor in a G7 statement on the third anniversary of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, threatening to derail a traditional show of unity, according to five western officials familiar with the matter. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's participation at a virtual G7 summit on Monday has also not yet been agreed, the officials said. The disagreement comes after US President Donald Trump blamed Ukraine for the war, described Zelenskyy as a "dictator without elections", and suggested that Russia should be invited back into the G7.
/jlne.ws/41n1zhg
Zelenskyy's adviser says US gave up its lead role on resolving war in Ukraine, strengthening Russia
Susie Blank and Hanna Arhirova - Associated Press
A Ukrainian presidential adviser claimed on Wednesday that the United States has weakened its position and relinquished the diplomatic lead to Russia ahead of any possible peace talks on Ukraine, following a meeting in Saudi Arabia between top American and Russian diplomats.bThe remarks by Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, came a day after President Donald Trump falsely suggested that Kyiv was to blame for the war, which is entering its fourth year next week.
/jlne.ws/414TigD
Trump unleashes unhinged tirade against 'dictator' Zelensky, suggesting Ukraine continued war to get US money
Andrew Feinberg - The Independent
President Donald Trump appeared on Wednesday to throw America's lot completely in with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the three-year-old war the Russian leader started against Ukraine by issuing a bizarre social media threat against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and accusing him of continuing the war against Moscow as a way to soak American taxpayers. In a post on his Truth Social website, Trump accused Zelensky, who he called a "modestly successful comedian" in a reference to his previous career as a sitcom star and entertainer, of having "talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn't be won, that never had to start."
/jlne.ws/4hHzpDG
Trump warns Zelenskyy to quickly negotiate war's end with Russia or risk not having a nation to lead
Aamer Madhani, Mike Pesoli and Stephany Matat - Associated Press
President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he "better move fast" to negotiate an end to Russia's invasion of Ukraine or risk not having a nation to lead. The rhetoric from Trump toward Ukraine comes amid an escalating back-and-forth between the two presidents and rising tensions between Washington and much of Europe over Trump's approach to settling the biggest conflict on the continent since World War II.
/jlne.ws/4i76etg
Middle East Conflict
Hamas Turns Handover of Dead Hostages Into a Grim Spectacle; Four coffins, including those Hamas said held a mother and her two sons, were displayed on a stage decorated with taunts and slogans
Feliz Solomon and Anat Peled - The Wall Street Journal
Hamas displayed coffins that it said held the bodies of four Israeli hostages before a crowd of militants while handing them over to Israel on Thursday, in a spectacle that included taunts and anti-Israel slogans. Each coffin had a photo of a hostage on it, including two young redheaded children, as well as a picture of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over which was written "The Killer." The coffins were placed on a stage before cheering spectators and cameras that broadcast the scenes on Arab television channels. The International Committee of the Red Cross, who received the remains and transferred them to Israeli custody, initially tried to shield them from view with large white screens. Israeli broadcasters didn't air the images.
/jlne.ws/4i4v90I
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Electricity Derivatives Exchange ElectronX Raises $10M Strategic Funding Round; J. Christopher Giancarlo Named Strategic Adviser; Led by climate tech fund Systemiq Capital, strategic round investors also include global energy corporate funds Equinor Ventures and Shell Ventures
ElectronX
ElectronX, a new energy exchange created to help accelerate the U.S. grid transition to renewable sources, today announced it has raised a $10 million strategic investment round led by Systemiq Capital, with participation by Equinor Ventures, Shell Ventures LLC ("Shell") and Innovation Endeavors. Former U.S. Commodity Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo also joins ElectronX as a strategic adviser.
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Reviving SGX is not the endgame - creating a vibrant financial ecosystem is; The measures to revitalise the equities market must be viewed against this backdrop
Lee Su Shyan - Business Times
IT IS somewhat counterintuitive that shares of the Singapore Exchange (SGX) have weakened since the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) review group on Feb 13 announced tax incentives as part of measures to boost the equities market. SGX is down some 5.6 per cent even as the Straits Times Index is hitting new highs, albeit driven by the bank counters. It is clear that the intent of the tax moves is to encourage listings. What is on the table so far are generous corporate tax rebates for companies, business trusts and fund managers that list in Singapore.
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Cboe's 'Follow the Sun' Model Will Help 24×5 US Equities Trading
Shanny Basar - MarketsMedia
Cboe Global Markets plans to offer 24×5 U.S. equities trading, subject to regulatory review and industry developments, and believes it will benefit from its experience of operating derivatives markets over this timeframe. Cboe currently supports extended trading hours for U.S. equities on one of its four US equities exchanges, EDGX. Early order acceptance begins at 2:30am ET, with trading starting at 4:00am ET and closing at 8:00pm ET, Monday through Friday. In February this year, Cboe announced plans to offer trading for 24 hours from Monday through Friday on EDGX to meet demand from overseas investors for US equities, particularly retail investors in Asia Pacific, who want to trade during their day.
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HKEX Welcomes Hong Kong Government Appointments to Its Board
HKEX
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) today (Thursday) welcomed the Hong Kong Government's appointment of Ding Chen, and the re-appointment of Carlson Tong and Joseph Yam, to its Board of Directors. The terms of the three directors will begin at the conclusion of HKEX's 2025 Annual General Meeting (AGM) and will end at the conclusion of the AGM in 2027.
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MEMX Files for XRP ETF as SEC Reviews Multiple Crypto Fund Applications
Ayesha Aziz - CoinMarketCap
MEMX has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list an XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF), classifying it as a commodity-based trust. This puts it in the same category as Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, which have already been approved. The filing on Feb. 17 is part of a growing push for an XRP ETF despite the cryptocurrency's legal history with the SEC. The agency sued Ripple in 2020, claiming XRP was an unregistered security. A U.S. judge later ruled in August 2023 that XRP is not a security, though it could be considered one under certain conditions.
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Nodal Exchange to Expand Headquarters in Fairfax County
Nodal Exchange
Earlier today, Governor Glenn Youngkin announced that Nodal Exchange, a Fairfax County-based derivatives exchange providing price, credit, and liquidity risk management solutions to participants in the North American commodities markets, will increase capacity at its headquarters located at 1921 Gallows Road in Tysons. The expansion will create 33 new jobs. "Fairfax County is an ideal location for attracting and retaining an outstanding professional team necessary for operating Nodal Exchange and Nodal Clear, and we are thrilled to be able to continue to grow and further expand here. It is a wonderful location with a highly educated and diverse workforce," said Paul Cusenza, Chairman and CEO of Nodal Exchange and Nodal Clear. "It is also centrally located for our trading and clearing community and in close proximity to our regulators in Washington, D.C."
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EBS Market on CME Globex Notice: February 20, 2025
CME Group
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Product Modification Summary: Amendments to the Listing Schedule of the Block Cheese Futures and Options on Block Cheese Futures Contract - Effective February 19, 2025
CME Group
Amendments to the Listing Schedule of the Block Cheese Futures and Options on Block Cheese Futures Contract.
/jlne.ws/4i79AfS
TMX VettaFi Acquires Credit Suisse Bond Indices From UBS
TMX
TMX VettaFi, an indexing, digital distribution, analytics and thought leadership company and TMX Group subsidiary, announced today the acquisition of Credit Suisse's Bond Indices from UBS, strengthening its fixed income index capabilities.
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Synapse Executive Alerted Accountants Before $100 Million Missing Funds Scandal; Former executive testifies before New York grand jury investigating fraud and other possible felonies
Alexander Saeedy - The Wall Street Journal
A grand jury is investigating criminal misconduct at a Silicon Valley fintech firm where customer funds went missing, and has questioned an executive who raised alarms before the company collapsed, people familiar with the matter said. Synapse connected financial technology firms with banks, helping startups that marketed flashy savings apps find a place to park their digital customers' funds. The middleman managed billions of dollars at its peak, before its sudden collapse in April left thousands of people unable to access their money.
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Amazon is shutting down its app store on Android
Ivan Mehta - TechCrunch
Amazon will discontinue its app store for Android on August 20 this year. The company sent a notice to developers indicating that they will no longer be able to submit new apps to the store. The company said on a support page that it will also discontinue its Coins digital currency, which could be used to purchase games and apps on the app store. "Starting August 20, 2025, you will no longer have access to the Amazon Appstore on your Android device. We will also be discontinuing the Amazon Coins program on August 20, 2025," the company said on a support page.
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Can AI Predict the Next Big IPO? Crunchbase Thinks So.; The data company is using AI to forecast startup funding, acquisitions and public offerings-but its biggest challenge may be predicting its own future
Belle Lin - The Wall Street Journal
Crunchbase's new AI-based prediction engine uses 17 years of data to predict when startups will raise funding, get acquired or list on the public markets. PHOTO: CRUNCHBASE Crunchbase, the firm best known for its startup financing data, is using artificial intelligence to predict when those startups will raise funding, get acquired or hit the public markets. But in an era where chatbots are taking over traditional web and data searches, its biggest challenge is predicting its own future.
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Google reveals 'Co-Scientist' AI it says could lead to huge research breakthroughs; System can look through research and propose new hypotheses - which appear to be correct
Andrew Griffin - The Independent
Google has revealed a new system called "Co-Scientist" that it says could lead to major new breakthroughs. The artificially intelligent tool is powered by similar technologies to those in chat-based large language models, such as Google's own Gemini and competitors such as ChatGPT. But it is specifically devoted to helping find new research breakthroughs.
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Ant Group enters AI robotics sector to build China's humanoid workforce
South China Morning Post
Chinese fintech giant Ant Group has ventured into the country's booming humanoid robotics sector, according to a company statement and job postings. The recent move by Ant, an affiliate of South China Morning Post owner Alibaba Group Holding, comes as Chinese tech giants are investing heavily into the humanoid-robot supply chain, hoping that the technology can be quickly deployed in factories and homes to replace human workers.
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Can AI Predict the Next Big IPO? Crunchbase Thinks So; The data company is using AI to forecast startup funding, acquisitions and public offerings-but its biggest challenge may be predicting its own future
Belle Lin - The Wall Street Journal
Crunchbase, the firm best known for its startup financing data, is using artificial intelligence to predict when those startups will raise funding, get acquired or hit the public markets. But in an era where chatbots are taking over traditional web and data searches, its biggest challenge is predicting its own future.
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Microsoft unveils company's first quantum computing chip
Miranda Nazzaro - The Hill
Microsoft on Wednesday revealed its first quantum computing chip, Majorana 1, stating it will https://jlne.ws/4i8PphP
JPMorgan Chase plans Zelle restrictions due to scam risk
Joey Pizzolato - American Banker
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ION Commodities transforms grain and oilseed merchandising with the relaunch of Agtech
ION Commodities
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BNP Paribas' Securities Services Business Adopts Broadridge's Global Class Action Solution to Maximize its Clients' Global Asset Recovery Opportunities; Broadridge's solution provides comprehensive global class action coverage, maximizes claims and increases investor participation in settlement recoveries
Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Salt Typhoon Hackers Used Cisco Bug, Stolen Credentials to Hop on Routers
Robert McMillan - The Wall Street Journal
China-linked hackers who broke into global telecommunications systems likely exploited a seven-year-old bug in Cisco's router software and used stolen credentials to gain access to systems, the company said. The disclosure marks Cisco's first confirmation that its products were affected by the widespread compromise of U.S. and foreign telecom companies, called the Salt Typhoon attack by investigators.
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Crypto worth $99 million withdrawn from Milei-backed Libra token, researchers say
Elizabeth Howcroft and Hannah Lang - Reuters
Around $99 million worth of cryptocurrency was withdrawn from the marketplace of a coin at the centre of a scandal in Argentina by eight digital wallets linked to the crypto token's creator, blockchain researchers said. Argentinian President Javier Milei recommended the little-known crypto coin $LIBRA late on Friday in a post on X, but later deleted the post and denied having any link to the cryptocurrency.
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LIBRA Memecoin Fiasco Destroyed $251M in Investor Wealth, Research Shows
Omkar Godbole - CoinDesk
The LIBRA memecoin scandal that rocked Argentina over the weekend destroyed millions of dollars in investor wealth, according to research by Nansen. On-chain data tracked by Nansen show 86% of traders lost a total of $251 million, while the winners secured just $180 million in profits. In other words, it was a "net-negative wealth-generating" event that potentially sucked out liquidity from the market.
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FTX's $1.2B Repayments Represent Major Milestone in Long-Awaited Recovery of Crypto Industry
Ayesha Aziz - CoinMarketCap
FTX Digital Markets is set to begin repaying $1.2 billion to its creditors, marking the first major distribution since the exchange collapsed in 2022. Payments will start with priority given to creditors with claims under $50,000. This is part of the ongoing bankruptcy process following FTX's downfall, which resulted in an estimated $9 billion in losses across the industry. Repayments are calculated based on cryptocurrency prices from November 2022, when Bitcoin was valued at around $20,000. Since then, Bitcoin has surged over 390%, frustrating many creditors who argue that the payout does not reflect the current market value of their assets. Despite this, the distribution could notably impact market liquidity, with some analysts speculating that a portion of the repaid funds may flow back into crypto investments.
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Robinhood sees 700% crypto growth, driven by 'a lot more interest in DeFi' - Head of crypto
Scott Melker - The Street
Robinhood has seen explosive growth in its crypto business, with a staggering 700% increase in crypto revenue, according to Johann Kerbrat, Head of Crypto at Robinhood. Speaking with Roundtable host Scott Melker podcast, Kerbrat credited the surge to increased enthusiasm among customers and expanded offerings on the platform.
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CySEC Approval Enables eToro for Crypto Services Across the EU Under MiCA
Tareq Sikder - Finance Magnates
This new permit allows eToro to operate within the legal framework of Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), which regulates the crypto market and provides a clear set of rules for trading cryptocurrencies. It also ensures the platform's compliance with MiFID, the EU's directive governing financial markets. These regulations aim to enhance investor protection, provide greater transparency, and increase regulatory oversight.
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Binance Faces $81.5 Billion Lawsuit in Nigeria amid Currency and Tax Disputes
Tareq Sikder a Capital Revives Floor Trading Model in Bet Against "Demo" Trend
Damian Chmiel - Finance Magnates
Nigeria has filed a lawsuit against Binance, seeking $79.5 billion in damages for economic losses and $2 billion in back taxes. The case was revealed in court documents today (Wednesday), the Guardian reported. Authorities blame Binance for worsening the country's currency problems. They detained two of its executives in 2024, linking cryptocurrency platforms to naira trading.
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Bitcoin Not to Be 'Lumped Together' With Crypto: Czech Central Bank Chief Michl
Stephen Alpher - CoinDesk
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TradFi Investors Piled $38.7B Into Bitcoin ETFs, Three Times More Than Previous Quarter
Helene Braun - CoinDesk
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U.S. Stablecoin Adoption Is Being Hindered by a Lack of Regulation, S&P Says; Institutional use of these cryptocurrencies will increase once rules are in place, the report said.
Will Canny - CoinDesk
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Brazil Set to Launch World's First Spot XRP ETF
Francisco Rodrigues - CoinDesk
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CoinDesk Indices Launches CoinDesk 100, Memecoin Index in Industry Boost; Crypto exchange Bullish has listed perpetual futures on both indices, allowing traders to gain exposure to these benchmarks with deep liquidity and around-the-clock trading.
Shaurya Malwa - CoinDesk
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Senators call for stronger ethics enforcement at Federal Reserve
Ashleigh Fields - The Hill
Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) urged the Federal Reserve chair to hammer down on "improper" trade violations in a Friday letter, expressing concerns about what they described as a "culture of corruption" and called for ethics policy reform.The duo blamed Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell for improperly responding to a 2024 report outlining inappropriate trading, investment and disclosure activities by Raphael Bostic, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
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Senate confirms Kelly Loeffler to lead Small Business Administration
Al Weaver - The Hill
The Senate on Wednesday confirmed former Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) to lead the Small Business Administration (SBA), keeping up a frantic pace to cement President Trump's team in place. Senators voted 52-46 on Loeffler's nomination. "America's entrepreneurs are one of our greatest assets and they have a big role to play in our future prosperity. Sen. Loeffler will be their champion," Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said on the floor ahead of her vote.
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Coinbase Urges Congress To Transfer Spot Cryptocurrency Market Oversight to CFTC, Reducing SEC's Role
Ayesha Aziz - CoinMarketCap
Coinbase has asked Congress to transfer authority over the spot cryptocurrency market to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), a move that could significantly limit the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC's) role in regulating digital assets. Faryar Shirzad, Coinbase's Chief Policy Officer, put forward a proposal that outlines six priorities for the crypto industry, the most important being the shift of oversight to the CFTC. According to Shirzad, digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum should be treated as commodities, not securities, and should fall under the CFTC's jurisdiction. He argues that the move would provide better transparency and consumer protections while reducing the risk of fraud and market manipulation.
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Bessent Says US 'Long Way' From Boosting Longer-Term Debt Sales; Treasury secretary notes Fed QT program as one factor; Bessent says rejigging US debt sales will be 'path dependent'
Magan Crane - Bloomberg
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that any move to boost the share of longer-term Treasuries in government debt issuance is some ways off, given current hurdles that include elevated inflation and the Federal Reserve's quantitative tightening program. "That's a long way off, and we're going to see what the market wants," Bessent said in an interview with Bloomberg Television's Bloomberg Surveillance on Thursday, when asked about "terming out" sales of US Treasuries sales. "It's going to be path dependent."
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Trump says feds should 'take over' governance of D.C. The president told reporters that city leaders are not doing enough to reduce crime, clean up graffiti and remove homeless encampments.
Paul Schwartzman and Peter Hermann - The Washington Post
President Donald Trump said Wednesday night that the federal government "should take over the governance of D.C.," claiming that leaders of the nation's capital are not doing enough to reduce crime, clean up graffiti and remove homeless encampments. "I think that we should run it strong, run it with law and order, make it absolutely flawlessly beautiful," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew back to D.C. from Miami. "People are getting killed; people are being hurt," Trump said. "You have a great police department there. But somehow they're not utilized properly. We should govern D.C. I think the federal government should take over the governance of D.C. And run it really, really properly."
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Far-Right Pushes Germany's Political System to the Breaking Point; Sunday's election may be the last chance for the country's mainstream political parties.
Kamil Kowalcze, Michael Nienaber, and Arne Delfs - Bloomberg
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | New SEC administration withdraws dealer rule appeal; Move comes a year after the introduction of the policy which saw significant backlash from the industry upon unveiling.
Claudia Preece - The Trade
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has withdrawn its appeal to reverse the decision by a US court which thwarted its dealer rule, a year on from when the policy was first unveiled. The dealer rule, introduced in February 2024, required certain hedge funds, among other market participants, to register if they met one of two qualitative standards. Specifically, the adopted rules meant that an entity would qualify as a dealer or government securities dealer if they regularly express trading interest as close to the best price on both sides of the market for the same security or earn revenue primarily from capturing bid-ask spreads or from capturing incentives offered by trading venues.
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Ex-Gunvor Manager Convicted of Bribery Over Oil Deals; G. was handed a two-year suspended sentence by court; Verdict follows win for Swiss prosecutors in Trafigura case
Hugo Miller - Bloomberg
A former manager at Gunvor Group was found guilty by a Swiss court of bribing public officials to secure oil contracts in Africa, a second win in less than a month for Swiss prosecutors cracking down on corruption in the commodity-trading industry. G., an ex-trade finance executive at the firm who can't be named under Swiss reporting restrictions, was handed a two-year suspended sentence, the Federal Criminal Court said in a statement on Thursday. He was also ordered to pay compensation to the state of $950,000 and pay its legal fees that topped $50,000.
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SEC Begins Review of Two XRP ETF Applications as Institutional Interest in Crypto Grows
Ayesha Aziz - CoinMarketCap
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has acknowledged filings from Cboe BZX Exchange to list spot XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from asset managers 21Shares and Bitwise. The SEC accepted 21Shares' application on Feb. 14, followed by Bitwise's filing on Feb. 18. This marks the beginning of the agency's formal review process, which allows 21 days for public comments on the proposals.
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SEC Obtains Final Judgments Against Three Defendants in Fraudulent Revenue Manipulation Scheme
SEC
In January 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts entered final judgments against the remaining defendants in a case involving a fraudulent scheme to manipulate the revenue of American Renal Associates Holdings, Inc. (ARA), a provider of dialysis services through clinics across the country. The remaining defendants were two of ARA's former Chief Financial Officers, Jonathan Wilcox and Jason Boucher, and ARA's former Controller and Vice President of Finance, Karen Smith. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York previously entered judgment against defendant ARA in case number 1:21-cv-10366.
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SEC Obtains Final Judgment in Penny Stock Fraud Scheme
SEC
On January 31, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas entered a final judgment dismissing the Securities and Exchange Commission's claims against Phillip W. Offill, Jr. following Offill's death. The Commission previously obtained a final judgment against Offill's co-defendant, Justin W. Herman, who alongside Offill was charged with misappropriating and selling millions of shares of a penny stock company using forged documents and sham agreements.
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FCA welcomes UK taskforce final report on the move to T+1; Following the taskforce report published on 6 February, the FCA is calling on the industry to engage and start planning as soon as possible.
Wesley Bray - The Trade
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Email management at the FCA: setting the record straight
FCA
We're modernising how we manage our records to make us a more efficient and effective regulator. Read what we're doing and why.
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MAS-ESS Essay Competition 2025
MAS
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Economic Society of Singapore (ESS) today launched the MAS-ESS Essay Competition 2025. The theme for this year's competition is "Building Singapore's Digital Asset Ecosystem: Opportunities and Challenges".
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Retail Trader Euphoria Is a Warning, Says Morgan Stanley's Slimmon
Alexandra Semenova - Bloomberg
A flood of retail investor cash into the most speculative corners of the stock market should be a warning for US equity bulls, according to Morgan Stanley Investment Management's Andrew Slimmon. "What keeps me up at night the most is this retail frenzy into euphoric stocks," the senior portfolio manager and head of the applied equity advisors team said Wednesday in an interview on Bloomberg Television. "Euphoria is the tail end of a bull market, and we're moving too quickly through the optimism phase."
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OANDA Extends Partnership with New York Red Bulls, Boosts Event Opportunities
Tareq Sikder - Finance Magnates
The New York Red Bulls announced an extension of their partnership with OANDA, which has been the club's Official Forex Trading Partner since 2022. As part of the deal, OANDA's logo will continue to appear on RBNY's first-team apparel, including the jersey sleeve patch, polo, anthem jacket, stadium jacket, and rain & travel jacket. Jessica Beckstead, OANDA's Managing Director for North America and US CEO, said: "This collaboration is a testament to our shared vision of achieving peak performance through passion, strategy and focus at every level."
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European IPOs Show Positive Signs After Bumpy Start to 2025; Region's first debuts have outperformed some in the US; Market recovery may still not be linear, advisers warn
Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro - Bloomberg
Europe's market for initial public offerings has gotten off to an uneven start this year, but advisers say the deals offer positive signs for the next batch of listings. Though some have had bumpy debuts, the transactions suggest growing appetite from investors for midsize companies that traditionally have made up the bulk of the region's IPO supply, signaling further recovery from a post-pandemic slump.
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Bessent Says US 'Long Way' From Boosting Longer-Term Debt Sales; Treasury secretary notes Fed QT program as one factor; Bessent says rejigging US debt sales will be 'path dependent'
Chris Anstey, Jonathan Ferro, Annmarie Hordern, and Lisa Abramowicz - Bloomberg
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that any move to boost the share of longer-term Treasuries in government debt issuance is some ways off, given current hurdles that include elevated inflation and the Federal Reserve's quantitative tightening program. "That's a long way off, and we're going to see what the market wants," Bessent said in an interview with Bloomberg Television's Bloomberg Surveillance on Thursday, when asked about "terming out" sales of US Treasuries sales. "It's going to be path dependent."
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Trump's First Month Has Traders Ditching America-First Wagers; Bets across assets are fading after post-election rally; S&P 500 trails global peers; dollar, yields fall from peaks
Esha Dey and Carter Johnson - Bloomberg
A month into President Donald Trump's second term, the euphoria is fading around many of the trades that investors piled into after his November victory, from stocks to the dollar to Bitcoin. Instead of extending the period of US exceptionalism in global equities, the S&P 500 Index's record run has still left it trailing European, Chinese and Mexican benchmarks. The dollar's strength and bearish bets on US Treasuries are both losing steam. Even the breathless rally in cryptocurrencies and related stocks has wilted.
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Traders Piling Into VIX Call Hedges Raise Pressure on Dealers; Call volume surpassed 1 million options on six days this year; Nomura's McElligott says dealers 'extremely short VIX gamma'
Jan-Patrick Barnert - Bloomberg
Hedging stock-market risk by buying VIX calls has become such a popular trade that it could turn into a destabilizing force, some strategists warn. More than 1 million call options on the Cboe Volatility Index changed hands on Tuesday, the sixth time this year that volume was this high. The most traded were contracts with strikes of 24 and 25 points expiring in March - after the next Federal Reserve rate decision and through the end of the bill that averted a US government shutdown in December.
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Nikola, Once a Darling of Green Investment, Files for Bankruptcy; The much-hyped electric vehicle maker plans to wind down its operations in bankruptcy
Bob Tita, Soma Biswas and Colin Kellaher - The Wall Street Journal
Electric truck maker Nikola, which briefly boasted a market value above Ford Motor before its founder was charged with fraud, filed for bankruptcy after struggling with high costs and a trucking industry reluctant to abandon diesel engines. Nikola said it plans to wind down operations. Its rapid rise, with investors embracing the promise of environmentally friendly vehicles, was followed by a steep decline as the company stumbled trying to fulfill the lofty promises of its founder and former chief executive, Trevor Milton.
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Brazil's Net-Zero Transition Will Cost $6 Trillion by 2050, BNEF Says; Renewable power capacity is already growing at a steady pace, but the country can accelerate its emissions reductions by getting more electric vehicles on the road, according to new analysis.
Olivia Rudgard - Bloomberg
Brazil, which already boasts one of the cleanest power sectors in the Group of 20, will need to invest $6 trillion from now until 2050 to speed up decarbonization across its entire economy. This is the latest assessment from BloombergNEF, which finds that Brazil's energy-related emissions must fall 14% by 2030, compared with 2023 levels, and drop 70% a decade later to be on a path to net zero.
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Clean Energy Was Lifting Manufacturing. Now Investment Is in Jeopardy; With the Trump administration reversing support for low-carbon power, the business case for making wind, solar and electric vehicle parts gets weaker.
Lydia DePillis - The New York Times
American manufacturing has been in the doldrums for years, battered by high borrowing costs and a strong dollar, which makes exports less competitive. But there has been a bright spot: billions of dollars flowing into factory construction, signifying that a potential rebound in production and employment is around the corner. The flood of investment has been driven by two major categories of subsidies provided under the Biden administration. One offered incentives for the construction of several enormous semiconductor plants set to begin operation in the coming years. The other supercharged the production of equipment needed for renewable energy deployment.
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How Tariffs Could Shock America's Power System; Transformers used in power grids are especially vulnerable to trade disruptions
Jinjoo Lee - The Wall Street Journal
America's power grid is due for some big investments. Tariffs could now make that much costlier. As surging power demand from places such as data centers is set to strain the system, transformers, the nuts and bolts of the power system, look particularly vulnerable. These are devices that step up or down voltages as electricity moves from power plants to homes and factories. New ones are also required every time a new source of electricity-whether wind, solar or natural gas-connects to the grid. The lack of these components can therefore hold up more power from being brought online. The power industry has already been experiencing a shortage of transformers, for which demand is expected to jump even more in the coming years. Suppliers have been reluctant to invest large sums of capital to expand production capacity because such investments have long break-even timelines, according to a report from Wood Mackenzie.
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Oil Tankers Rocked by Mystery Blasts After Trips to Russia; Tankers previously went to Russian Black Sea, Baltic ports; Nobody has claimed responsibility for causing the blasts
Alex Longley - Bloomberg
At least four oil tankers have been hit with explosions so far this year - all of them having visited Russia's territorial waters in the weeks prior to the blasts happening. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the incidents, three of which have happened in the Mediterranean and one in the Baltic, and shipping industry officials say it would be premature to blame Ukraine. Kyiv hasn't claimed responsibility and Greek and Italian authorities have launched investigations. There have also been other incidents involving Russian ships so far this year.
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Record US LNG Exports May Give Relief to Buyers in Europe, Asia; Venture Global's new Plaquemines project has ramped up output; Pipeline flows to liquefaction plants at all-time high Tuesday
Stephen Stapczynski - Bloomberg
US liquefied natural gas exports have extended a record-breaking run as new projects increased production, a trend that could help to ease high prices in Europe and Asia. Pipeline gas flows to LNG export plants climbed to 15.7 billion cubic feet on Tuesday, according to data from BloombergNEF. That's an all-time high and almost 20% more than a year ago.
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Cargill Venture to Supply Billions of Dollars of Ship Fuel; Trader joins with Hafnia to form Seascale Energy joint venture; JV comes as ship market braces for emissions-cutting measures
Jack Wittels - Bloomberg
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | JPMorgan Takes In $60 Billion From Rich Latin American Clients
Cristiane Lucchesi - Bloomberg
JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s private bank raked in $60 billion from Latin American clients over the past four years as more customers decided to put their money to work abroad, with the majority coming from wealthy Mexican investors. Strong US capital markets also helped, as the fortunes the bank manages for clients from the region jumped to about $220 billion from $180 billion in April 2023, according to Edinardo Figueiredo, chief executive officer for Latin America and the global families group at JPMorgan Private Bank. Mexican clients account for $85 billion of the total.
/jlne.ws/4kiWbn4
HSBC to slash jobs across Britain as new boss deepens China ties
Michael Bow - The Telegraph
HSBC is preparing to axe thousands of jobs across Britain as it increases its focus in China. The 160-year-old lender, which mainly operates in Hong Kong and Britain, is cutting roles as part of its most radical revamp in decades.
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Tybourne to Return External Capital in Long-Only Funds
Bei Hu - Bloomberg
Tybourne Capital Management is further retreating from the business of managing public market investments for clients, shortly after closing its US technology hedge fund. Founder Eashwar Krishnan notified investors on Feb. 6 about the decision to return external money in his Tybourne Long Opportunities funds, according to a letter seen by Bloomberg News. The letter did not specify the reason behind the move and the amount of assets remaining in the funds. A March 2024 regulatory filing put the combined assets of the long-only funds at $1.3 billion.
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Marshall Wace, DE Shaw, Millennium Helped Drive China ADR Surges
Bei Hu and David Ramli - Bloomberg
Global managers Marshall Wace, DE Shaw & Co. and Millennium Management helped propel double- to triple-digit share price surges in US-listed Chinese companies since September, according to public filings. Two Sigma Investments LP, Driehaus Capital Management LLC, Arrowstreet Capital LP and Light Street Capital Management LLC were also among top buyers of the 10 best performers in the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index, a Bloomberg News analysis shows.
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Millennium Lures Team With $100 Million Bid as Hedge Fund Talent War Rages
Nishant Kumar and Katherine Burton - Bloomberg
As the war to poach portfolio manager Chris Procaccini, 48, erupted among hedge fund giants, industry legend Izzy Englander intervened to secure a victory. Englander's offer: $100 million in potential payouts to Procaccini and his team. That deal got health care-focused portfolio manager to reject at least one rival bid to shut his $2.5 billion fund at Magnetar Capital and join Englander, 76, at his $75.8 billion hedge fund, Millennium Management.
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | Remote Work and JPMorgan's Mole; Someone secretly recorded Jamie Dimon making the case for a return to the office.
Matthew Hennessey - The Wall Street Journal
Jamie Dimon has enough to worry about. The JPMorgan Chase CEO runs America's biggest bank. He sails a choppy sea of regulators and rate-setters, customers and competitors, business cycles and board politics-and now he has Donald Trump to worry about. A mole hunt is the last thing he needs. Barron's published a leaked recording last week of remarks made by Mr. Dimon, 68, in a supposedly private meeting. Starting in March, JPMorgan will require employees to work in the office five days a week. Anyone who doesn't like it can leave. "You don't have to work at JPMorgan," he says forcefully. "It's a free country. You can walk with your feet."
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Age discrimination payouts are getting bigger; High value cases of dismissed senior leaders show older workers must be taken seriously
Emma Jacobs - Financial Times
The cost of ageism to employers is getting higher, according to employment law specialists. Fox & Partners, a law firm, says the average compensation awarded in successful age discrimination cases increased 624 per cent in 2022-23, to £103,000. The equivalent the previous year was £14,000.
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Texas' Worst Measles Outbreak in 30 Years Spreads to New Mexico; Cases in Texas have doubled in two weeks; more are suspected New Mexico county bordering Texas now has eight cases
Jessica Nix - Bloomberg
Measles cases in Texas have nearly doubled in the past two weeks, making it the worst outbreak the state has seen in three decades. Now, cases are spreading into neighboring New Mexico. Texas has reported 58 measles cases so far, and 13 of the patients have been hospitalized. The epicenter is in Gaines County, Texas, a rural area in the South Plains region where nearly one in five children are unvaccinated. The county is home to a large Mennonite community, and members often apply for exemptions to school vaccine mandates for religious reasons.
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Bird Flu in Cows Is a Slow-Motion Disaster
Maryn McKenna - The New York Times (opinion)
Farmers in Georgia's northeastern corner woke up on Jan. 15 to discover that birds in their flock of 45,000 chickens were ill and dying. Within 24 hours, the state's veterinary laboratory confirmed the problem was bird flu. Within two days, the Georgia Department of Agriculture sent an emergency team to kill all infected and exposed birds, disinfect the barns, set up a 10-kilometer quarantine zone around the farm and impose mandatory testing on every poultry operation inside it. The agency also told other chicken producers to confine all their birds indoors, and ordered an immediate stop to bringing birds out in public: no exhibitions, no flea market sales.
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | China-Backed $3 Billion Indonesia Nickel Smelter Risks Shutdown
Eddie Spence and Alfred Cang - Bloomberg
One of the biggest nickel smelters in Indonesia has slashed production and is close to shutting down completely, just months after the collapse of its Chinese parent company. PT Gunbuster Nickel Industry, which is affiliated with bankrupted stainless steel giant Jiangsu Delong Nickel Industry Co., is delaying payments to local energy suppliers and is unable to procure nickel ore, according to people familiar with the situation. The smelter will likely halt production soon if the situation persists, said the people, who asked not to be named as the matter is sensitive.
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World's Biggest Miners Pinched by Iron Ore's China Problem
Katharine Gemmell - Bloomberg
The world's biggest miners, having cashed in on China's once-rampant demand for iron ore, are starting to reel from the impact of their main customer's economic struggles. BHP Group Ltd., Rio Tinto Group and Fortescue Ltd. in Australia, and Brazil's Vale SA, all posted weaker profits this week, after prices of the steel-making staple beat a retreat in the face of China's prolonged property crisis and its impact on construction demand in the world's second-biggest economy. The firms most exposed to iron ore fared the worst.
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Cocoa Shortage Sparks Dispute Between Traders, Ivorian Shippers
Baudelaire Mieu and Isis Almeida - Bloomberg
A cocoa shortfall is spurring a rift between local exporters in top producer Ivory Coast and two of the world's biggest traders, according to people familiar with the matter. A group of local shippers wants the nation to allow them to export cocoa initially destined for Olam and Barry Callebaut to other clients, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. The request comes after the two traders refused to pay more than the price set by the regulator, the people said.
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Thai Rice Farmers to Step Up Protests After Demands Go Unmet
Anuchit Nguyen - Bloomberg
Thai rice farmers plan to step up protests after the government's new subsidy plan failed to meet their demands. The government offered a new support program worth about 1.89 billion baht ($56 million) in storage loans and purchases to aid farmers hit by low prices and curb surplus rice supply, Commerce Minister Pichai Naripthaphan told reporters after a government consultation on Thursday.
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Activist Boom in Japan Is Upending Long-Short Stock Strategies
Momoka Yokoyama - Bloomberg
Takeover bids and activist intervention are shoring up shares of some Japanese companies seen as having weak fundamentals, making it harder for investors to succeed in short-selling strategies. Hints of the difficulty are starting to show in trading data. Japan's percentage of short-selling to total trades is at the lowest since July last year, in terms of the 60-day moving average.
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Swiss January gold exports to the US reach highest for 13 years
Reuters
Gold exports from Switzerland rose year on year in January as supplies to the United States soared to the highest in at least 13 years and offset lower deliveries to top consumers China and India, Swiss customs data showed on Thursday. Switzerland, the world's biggest bullion refining and transit hub, alongside Britain which is home to the world's largest over-the-counter gold trading hub, saw a surge in gold transfers to the U.S. in recent months as President Trump readies wide-reaching import tariffs that some market participants fear could affect gold deliveries.
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Saudi Arabia's SMC Plans IPO in Latest Health-Care Offering
Laura Gardner Cuesta and Matthew Martin - Bloomberg
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Legal battle over Italian swaps drags on, frustrating dealers; Despite banks claiming victory in London over disputed interest rate swaps, parallel Italian proceedings could delay payouts
Emma Siponmaa - Risk.net
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