| August 10, 2023 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
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John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
You can add Dave Portnoy to the list of great traders for his sale of Barstool Sports to Penn Entertainment for a reported $550 million and buying it back for $1 when Penn ditched Barstool for a bigger name in ESPN. Bloomberg has the story.
Of course if you have ever heard an advertisement for a gambling site, (and who has not these days, as they are everywhere?) there is a disclosure read very quickly at the end about gambling being addictive and to seek help if you need it.
The Financial Times picks up on this theme with a story titled, "The dark side of the US sports betting boom" with the subheading, "Americans have bet $245bn on sporting events since restrictions were loosened in 2018. But many fear a surge in gambling addiction is coming."
I am not a gambler. I made one bet on a Purdue-Notre Dame football game when I was in my twenties through a First American Discount colleague who regularly bet with a bookie. The bet was a push. I took this as a sign and never bet again. Quite frankly, I always had enough risk from being a broker or trader. I did not need to add any more.
People often ask me what the difference is between gambling and trading. I tell them, trading is the assumption of risk that already exists. Gambling is the creation of risk that did not previously exist. Trading has an economic purpose. Gambling is entertainment, very expensive and potentially addictive entertainment.
Now, there have been some very good gamblers who have gone on to become great traders. I think of Blair Hull for one. But as a broker, I saw far more very bad gamblers who were very bad traders. I prefer to watch my sports for the love of the game, not because I am winning money if my team wins.
As I am now 62 years old, I am officially eligible for Social Security. However, the longer I wait to take it, the more I am purportedly going to get from the program in monthly payments. However, Bloomberg is reporting that about the time I expect to apply for Social Security benefits, in about 10 years, there will be significant cuts to benefits as payroll taxes that flow into the program won't be enough to cover the monthly payments of retirees. This is the cost of being a Baby Boomer at the end of the Baby Boomers and into the baby bust years of workers.
There has been an uptick in the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, The HIll reports. The number of people admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 rose by 12.5% as an additional 9056 people were admitted to U.S. hospitals, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Employees of the CME Group's London Office volunteered to kayak through the canals in Hackney Wick to support the Lower Regents Coalition in reducing plastic pollution. The team collected 200 KG of litter, which did not reach the oceans.
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 yesterday on JLN Options were:
- Three Big Reasons Why You Should Sell Options
- The Market's Skeptics Are Giving Up. It's Time to Worry.
- Options Discovery Episode 21: Intro to Options and Dividends; Ceo of Matrix Executions, Jordan Naylor, Breaks Down Options and Dividends With JLN's Alex Teng~JB
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The Russell 2000 Index Quarterly Chartbook - July 2023
Year after year, the Russell 2000 Index sets the standard for US small cap measurement. For index performance, sectors/IPOs, and risk characteristics, check the latest Russell 2000 Quarterly Chartbook - July 2023. Read now: https://www.ftserussell.com/research/russell-2000-index-quarterly-chartbook-july-2023.
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Deutsche Bank's Asset Manager Targets 'Holy Grail' of World's Ultra Rich; Firms pursue wealthiest to support alternative investments; DWS's Kelly sees demand for private credit and property
Laura Benitez and Benjamin Stupples - Bloomberg
The investment unit of Deutsche Bank AG is the latest asset manager to target the ultra-wealthy in a bid to grow its alternatives business. DWS Group is approaching high net worth individuals and family offices globally, Paul Kelly, the head of its Alternatives unit, said in a phone interview with Bloomberg News. He sees an opportunity to tap into demand for assets such as real estate and private credit.
/jlne.ws/3qvIY2X
****** I humbly suggest this is a misuse of the phrase "Holy Grail." How about "Deutsche Bank's Asset Manager Targets Whales of World's Ultra Rich" instead?~JJL
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Supermarket AI meal planner app suggests recipe that would create chlorine gas
Tess McClure - The Guardian
A New Zealand supermarket experimenting with using AI to generate meal plans has seen its app produce some unusual dishes - recommending customers recipes for deadly chlorine gas, "poison bread sandwiches" and mosquito-repellent roast potatoes.
/jlne.ws/3YvQh7j
****** I would maybe stay away from the AI recipes for a while.~JJL
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Retirees Face $17,400 Cut to Social Security Benefits in 2033; A new analysis has calculated the potential reduction in payouts if politicians are unable to address the looming budget shortfall.
Suzanne Woolley - Bloomberg
A new analysis puts a dollar figure on the cuts Americans could see to Social Security benefits in 2033, when analysts expect payroll taxes that flow into the program won't be enough to cover monthly payments to retirees. Many Americans have heard about the potential for benefits to be cut a decade from now if no changes are made to the program. To put the impact in more real-world terms - and prod policymakers to act sooner - a new analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget calculated the potential hit to annual benefits in dollar terms.
/jlne.ws/3ORSA1E
****** I have faith in the U.S. government to live up to its commitments. I was a commodity broker. I had to believe my customers were going to meet their margin calls, so I have a high tolerance for suspending disbelief. ~JJL
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Wednesday's Top Three
Our top story Wednesday was the Financial Times' The untold history of today's Russian-speaking hackers, which was also our top story Tuesday. Second was Wall Street groups fined $555mn by regulators over messaging violations, also from the Financial Times. Third was a tie among The world's oldest living bond (subtitled "No, it's not George Lazenby"), also from the Financial Times; Beer billionaire Jim Koch buys a random stock every 2 weeks - and trusts his former babysitter to execute his trades, from Business Insider; and A complicated options trade that has helped prop up U.S. stocks is starting to unravel, from MarketWatch.
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| Lead Stories | From Options to Sports Bets, Americans Love to Gamble
Gunjan Banerji - The Wall Street Journal
Americans got hooked on risky options during the pandemic. Now, they can't let go of the trades. Individual investors recently accounted for 27% of all options-trading activity, according to estimates from Bloomberg Intelligence. That's below the pandemic peak of almost 30% but well above the levels in early 2020. By comparison, everyday investors recently made up 18% of all activity in stocks. Options give traders the right to buy or sell stocks at a specific price at a later date. They can offer explosive gains-or losses. For example, put options tied to Tesla with a $225 strike price-or the level at which the trader has the right to sell the shares-changed hands for $3.38 in trading this week, according to FactSet, up from around $1.76 Friday. The shares have fallen 1.6% in the first two days of this week.
/jlne.ws/3OQlf7e
Inside the PR Machine That Made Climate Denial Work; "I'm a big believer in the idea that you can't solve a problem if you don't know where it came from," 'Drilled' podcast host Amy Westervelt says on this week's Zero.
Christine Driscoll and Akshat Rathi - Bloomberg
When Amy Westervelt set out to create a compelling climate podcast, she found inspiration in the format's most popular genre: true crime. A climate journalist for more than 20 years, Westervelt knew there were interesting companies and characters behind the rise of climate denialism, even if her pitch for a podcast about them was rejected by multiple production companies.
/jlne.ws/3KzCGq0
With AI, Hackers Can Simply Talk Computers Into Misbehaving; Using a technique called 'prompt injection,' hackers can break AI systems using plain English
Robert McMillan - The Wall Street Journal
ChatGPT's ability to respond quickly and effectively to simple commands has attracted more than 100 million users, and a few hackers along the way. Johann Rehberger, a security researcher, is one of them. Using plain English, he recently coaxed OpenAI's chatbot to do something bad: Read his email, summarize it and post that information to the internet. In the hands of a criminal, this technique could have been used to steal sensitive data from someone's email inbox, Rehberger said.
/jlne.ws/3KBvAkH
U.S. and China Poised to Drift Further Apart After Investment Ban; President Biden's order comes on top of a slowing Chinese economy, Covid lockdowns and rising tensions between the two powers
Charles Hutzler - The Wall Street Journal
After years of blacklisting Chinese companies and scrutinizing their investments in the U.S., the Biden administration is sending an unmistakable signal to American business to steer investment away from China. An executive order President Biden issued Wednesday-while narrowly targeted at critical leading-edge technologies with military, surveillance and cyber capabilities-more broadly aims to reorder the flow of American capital and expertise away from its biggest global rival.
/jlne.ws/43Y7is4
FTX Hits Out at Profit-Hungry Crypto Traders Riled by Draft Reorganization Plan
Suvashree Ghosh - Bloomberg
The administrators of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX criticized traders and market makers on a key creditor panel, accusing them of seeking control of assets regardless of the impact on other stakeholders. The dispute flared in the wake of last month's draft reorganization plan from FTX's new management team under Chief Restructuring Officer John J. Ray III. The official committee of unsecured creditors alleged a lack of consultation and said FTX is missing out on better returns from its vast cash and token holdings.
/jlne.ws/3OtxcOO
FCA tells UK asset managers to prove they offer value for money; Regulator warns it will take action over firms that fail to make necessary improvements in wake of new consumer duty
Sally Hickey - Financial Times
The UK Financial Conduct Authority has ordered asset managers to justify the fees charged on their funds, as firms come under mounting pressure from cheaper passive funds and new consumer protection regulation. The regulator on Thursday said a review of authorised fund managers showed that tensions between profitability concerns and assessments of funds' value for money were influencing how much to charge clients.
/jlne.ws/3Kvodvm
US SEC seeks to appeal Ripple Labs crypto decision
Jonathan Stempel - Reuters
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission plans to appeal a recent court decision involving Ripple Labs that was a setback for the agency's efforts to oversee cryptocurrency markets. In a letter on Wednesday, the SEC asked U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in Manhattan to let a federal appeals court review her July 13 decision, in which she said the sale of Ripple's XRP digital token on public exchanges complied with federal securities laws.
/jlne.ws/441sltW
BlackRock launches suite of Ucits iBonds in Europe; The fixed-maturity funds work like bonds and have seen a surge of interest in the US
Emma Boyde - Financial Times
BlackRock has launched a suite of Ucits iBond ETFs, giving European investors easy access to fixed-income exchange traded funds that mature on a fixed date, just like their underlying portfolios of bonds.
/jlne.ws/3qhWBD7
ETFs evolve in the active investing space; Expect more launches if the investment trust drought continues
David Stevenson - Financial Times
Not everything in life is binary. That's not a mantra from the culture wars but a statement of fact from the front line of the key struggle in the world of investing: the battle between passive and active funds. Most passive funds are structured as exchange traded funds (ETFs) but there's also a growing cohort of so-called "active ETFs".
/jlne.ws/3YvRawF
In Wall Street's Hottest CEO Race, Morgan Stanley Hopes for Drama-Free Handoff; It would break with the industry norm if Morgan Stanley names new leader without losing those passed over
Sridhar Natarajan - The Wall Street Journal
As Morgan Stanley's James Gorman considers who to put forth to succeed him as CEO, he's unleashing a summer of speculation inside the bank. Executives bumping into him on weekends try to tease out which way he's leaning. Colleagues spend idle moments trading theories. And some have given the boss unsolicited advice, hoping to tip the scales toward their favorite - Ted Pick, Andy Saperstein or Dan Simkowitz.
/jlne.ws/4599mPy
The Protocol: Coinbase Launches Own Blockchain as Sleuths Scour PayPal's Stablecoin Software
Bradley Keoun - CoinDesk
Today's big news story in the blockchain tech world is the U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase's launch of its new Ethereum layer-2 network, Base - possibly the first of its kind to be launched by a publicly traded company. Is it the start of a new era? (Please see coverage in Protocol Village, below.)
/jlne.ws/3qinc2R
Ripple v. SEC: Why the crypto industry may have celebrated too early
Peter Fox - Fortune
Last month's decision by a court in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on the SEC's claims against Ripple Labs has been generally hailed as a victory for the token issuers and exchanges. However, the actual impact of the decision on the future of cryptocurrencies in the U.S. is not so clear.
/jlne.ws/3OChZeq
Orange juice futures hit record high after storms ravage Florida crop; Hurricanes and disease have devastated US growers
George Steer - Financial Times
Orange juice futures have surged to fresh all time-highs as a series of hurricanes and the spread of an incurable disease have devastated thousands of acres of citrus crops in the US. Overall orange juice production in the US is the lowest in "over 100 years", said Matthew Joyner, chief executive of Florida Citrus Mutual, a trade association representing almost 2,000 growers. "Just over 20 years ago we were producing 240mn boxes, now we're finishing this season at just under 18mn."
/jlne.ws/3s1DjCh
Antarctica's 'staggering' exposure to climate change worsens global threat
Clive Cookson - Financial Times
Antarctica faces a catastrophic cascade of extreme environmental events as global warming increases, which will affect climate across the world, scientists have warned in a report commissioned by the UK government. Under the obligations of the Antarctic Treaty that came into force in 1961 and its subsequent 1998 protocol on environmental protection, signatories must protect the region from the "considerable stress and damage" it faces from accelerating ice melting and rising temperatures, the scientists said.
/jlne.ws/47oysLv
China Sprints Ahead in Race to Modernize Global Money Flows; The digital yuan challenge to US dollar dominance in $7 trillion of daily FX flows is dashing ahead thanks to blockchain-enabled mBridge project
Bastian Benrath, Alessandro Speciale, and Christopher Condon - Bloomberg
A new platform to expand the reach of China's digital yuan and other central bank digital currencies is moving closer to reality, raising eyebrows among some defenders of a system long dominated by the dollar. The Beijing-backed digital prototype for sending money around the world without relying on US banks is advancing so quickly that some European and American observers now view it as an emerging challenger to dollar-denominated payments in global finance.
/jlne.ws/47tv560
FX clearing volumes on the up despite a lack of clearing mandates; A quarter of derivatives traders and portfolio managers on the buy-side want FX options to have increased clearing availability over the next two years, report finds.
Claudia Preece - The Trade
The fact that regulators have yet to make clearing a requirement for FX has been a principal reason for its lack of adoption thus far, however volumes are on the rise despite this according to a report from Coalition Greenwich. "FX clearing opportunities are expanding, interest rates have gone up, the market structure is evolving, and the cost of capital is rising-all tailwinds for FX clearing growth," said Coalition Greenwich.
/jlne.ws/44UaaaJ
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | How 'creative insecurity' is stimulating Ukrainian innovation; Russia's target has had to rapidly develop its own defence capabilities, often by adapting civilian technologies for military use
John Thornhill - Financial Times
Maria Berlinska, one of Ukraine's drone warriors, articulates in three sentences what regiments of social scientists struggle to explain in reams of research papers. "We have to be innovative, man. You know why? Because we would like to survive," says Berlinska, who heads her country's Victory Drones project, in a recent FT Film on Ukraine's tech sector.
/jlne.ws/3YqHofv
Grain exports back in Russia's sights in Ukraine war; Fears for global food security as Moscow pushes for a greater share of wheat trade
Shotaro Tani and Harry Dempsey and Isobel Koshiw - Financial Times
The collapse of the Black Sea grain deal and Russian strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure have renewed the threat to the world's food security from disrupted supplies, as Moscow pushes for a greater share of global grain exports. Russia and Ukraine have targeted one another's commodity exports infrastructure since the Kremlin in July pulled out of a UN-brokered deal enabling exports of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, leading traders to fear that further disruption will hit supplies.
/jlne.ws/3QEr0pX
Yandex co-founder condemns 'barbaric' war in Ukraine; Arkady Volozh breaks silence to become one of the few Russian businessmen to speak out against invasion
Max Seddon - Financial Times
The co-founder of Russian tech giant Yandex has spoken out against the "barbaric" war in Ukraine, an unusual public criticism from one of the country's leading businessmen. "Russia's invasion of Ukraine is barbaric, and I am categorically against it," Arkady Volozh said in a statement published on Thursday. "I am horrified about the fate of people in Ukraine - many of them my personal friends and relatives - whose houses are being bombed every day."
/jlne.ws/3OPjOFT
Ukraine Navy Seeks to Reopen Black Sea Ports Shut for Month; Trade ships will be admitted into corridors amid military risk; Routes to allow passage of ships in and out of Ukrainian ports
Aliaksandr Kudrytski and Aine Quinn - Bloomberg
Ukraine laid out temporary Black Sea routes for ships that are willing to navigate waters threatened by Russia, as it seeks to reclaim control over its maritime trade. The initiative will focus on allowing ships to exit three deep-sea Ukrainian ports, the Navy said in a statement on Facebook. Chornomorsk, Odesa and Pivdennyi have been effectively blockaded since Russia last month exited the grain deal allowing safe passage and threatened any ships sailing to Ukraine.
/jlne.ws/3QtoEKk
Rheinmetall Buys About 30 Leopard 1 Battle Tanks for Ukraine
Alexander Michael Pearson - Bloomberg
Rheinmetall AG has bought around 30 Leopard 1 A5 battle tanks from a Belgian company on behalf of the German government as part of a package of military hardware for Ukraine unveiled at last month's NATO summit. A spokesman for the Dusseldorf-based arms manufacturer confirmed the purchase, which was first reported by the Handelsblatt newspaper. He declined to provide further details.
/jlne.ws/45GjI9t
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Tel Aviv Stock Exchange CEO Warns 'Israel's Economic Power in Danger' Due to Judicial Overhaul; Stock exchange head says 'Israeli government must take responsibility and be attentive to the increasing warnings of the international bodies which indicate the significant risks that could damage Israel's economic strength'
Jenya Volinsky and Gilad Levy - Haaretz
Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) CEO Itai Ben-Zeev commented on Israel's economic state on Tuesday, saying that "The market's underperformance since the beginning of the year...indicates that Israel is moving further away from the world's financial markets." Ben-Zeev's remarks come as TASE published its financial reports published on Tuesday as well. He said that the Israeli market's underperformance, which might "reflect the investors' expectations more than anything," "and the negative sentiment towards the local economy, indicates that Israel is moving further away from the world's financial markets which are in a recovery."
/jlne.ws/3qqqXTP
Singapore Exchange revises IPO rules for life science firms
Reuters
Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX) (SGXL.SI) is amending its initial public offering (IPO) rules to clarify that life science companies seeking to list on its mainboard exchange do not need to be revenue-generating. The revision was based on a publication of a Listings Advisory Committee's decision on SGX's life sciences listing framework on Thursday. SGX introduced the life science listing framework in 2009, where it waived certain IPO requirements including profitability and revenue for life science companies.
/jlne.ws/3YqFxY5
TSE Signs Agreement to Provide Japanese Investors Access to US Securities
Regulation Asia
The MoU between the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Blue Ocean Technologies will enable Japanese investors to trade US stocks during their daytime hours.
/jlne.ws/3Qsfyxs
TMX Datalinx Announces Production Date for Distribution of Term CORRA Reference
TMX Group
TMX Datalinx, TMX Group's information services division, today announced the production date of September 5, 2023, for the distribution of new Term CORRA (Canadian Overnight Repo Rate Average) reference rates. The launch of CanDeal/TMX Term CORRA (Term CORRA) supports Canada's financial industry transition from the Canadian Dollar Offered Rate (CDOR), the current key interest rate benchmark, to a new risk-free, transaction-based benchmark, scheduled for June 2024. The Term CORRA benchmark is a forward-looking term rate to replace CDOR in loans and associated derivative hedges, and will be derived from transactions and executable bids and offers from CORRA interest rate futures traded on the Montréal Exchange.
/jlne.ws/3OOq9l6
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Bain & Company acquires Max Kelsen's consulting and managed services divisions to bring enhanced machine learning and AI services to clients globally
Bain & Company
Bain & Company today announced that it has acquired Max Kelsen's consulting and managed services divisions (collectively referred to as "Max Kelsen Consulting"), a provider of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) solutions, to offer enhanced ML and AI capabilities to clients across the globe.
/jlne.ws/3qsFOgE
Virtu partners with InvestorLink to connect retail investors to the primary markets; InvestorLink to integrate order management and AI-based matching platform with Virtu's infrastructure to give retail broker-dealers access to the primary markets and secondary market liquidity.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
Virtu has entered into a strategic alliance with InvestorLink to offer retail investors better access to the primary markets. As part of the collaboration, Virtu's network of retail broker-dealers will gain access to the primary markets and to secondary market liquidity via an integration with InvestorLink's primary market order management and artificial intelligence based matching platform.
/jlne.ws/45kj6pC
Can Coinbase's Blockchain Fix Its Losing Streak?
Vicky Ge Huang - The Wall Street Journal
Coinbase Global launched on Wednesday a platform for developers to build crypto applications, the exchange's latest bid to boost revenue outside its core trading business. Dubbed Base, the initiative is a blockchain and in some ways is akin to iOS or Android on mobile phones. It would provide a platform for investors to send money, trade on decentralized exchanges, borrow and lend cryptocurrencies, and create nonfungible tokens.
/jlne.ws/3OM4iKZ
This Payments Company Is Winning Big After SVB Collapse; Brex says it now oversees close to $7 billion in customer money, after startups fled Silicon Valley Bank
Angel Au-Yeung and Peter Rudegeair - The Wall Street Journal
Brex isn't a bank, but it got a lot of new business from the collapse of one. Startups and other tech companies fled Silicon Valley Bank during its final days, and many put their money in too-big-to-fail institutions such as JPMorgan Chase. Some also opted to store at least some of their money at Brex, a payments company better known for issuing corporate credit cards.
/jlne.ws/47oFgJc
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Data is a Key Component for Enterprise Resilience - Lessons from the ION Trading Ransomware Event
BornTec
It's no secret: cyberattacks are a perpetual pandemic. Incidents rose by 38% in 2022 according to Check Point Research, with a new attack occurring every 40 seconds or less. And, as the trading industry learned from the ransomware attack on ION Trading in January 2023, a company doesn't have to be a direct target of an attack to feel the negative effects.
/jlne.ws/452scYs
Biden admin launches hacking challenge to use A.I. for cybersecurity
Lauren Feiner - CNBC
Hackers will have the chance to compete for millions of dollars in prizes by using artificial intelligence to protect critical U.S. infrastructure from cybersecurity risks, the Biden administration announced Wednesday.
/jlne.ws/45rre81
The Biden administration wants to put AI to the test for cybersecurity
Tim Starks - The Washington Post
The Defense Department kicked off a two-year competition on Wednesday that seeks to harness the power of artificial intelligence for cybersecurity, putting up nearly $20 million worth of prize money. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is leading the competition in collaboration with top AI companies Anthropic, Google, Microsoft and OpenAI, which are making their technology available to participants in what's known as the AI Cyber Challenge (AIxCC).
/jlne.ws/3Qtx4RX
NIST Drafts Major Update to Its Widely Used Cybersecurity Framework
Chad Boutin - NIST
The world's leading cybersecurity guidance is getting its first complete makeover since its release nearly a decade ago. After considering more than a year's worth of community feedback, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released a draft version of the Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) 2.0, a new version of a tool it first released in 2014 to help organizations understand, reduce and communicate about cybersecurity risk. The draft update, which NIST has released for public comment, reflects changes in the cybersecurity landscape and makes it easier to put the CSF into practice - for all organizations.
/jlne.ws/3qjB7FV
Top cybersecurity products at Black Hat USA 2023
Shweta Sharma - CSO Online
Black Hat USA 2023 served as launchpad for a host of cybersecurity products and services, with many notable vendors as well as up-and-coming startups showcasing their innovations at the annual conference, held this week in Las Vegas. The CSO team has put together a list highlighting the most significant debuts at the show -- which, along with the RSA Conference, is one the premier global cybersecurity events. This summary of top security technology illustrates the diversity of security products at the show, including generative-AI based cybersecurity tools, extended detection and response (XDR) software, threat hunting and Security Operations Center (SOC) automation, application security products, and vulnerability management programs.
/jlne.ws/452S5HA
New York State Debuts First Cybersecurity Strategy; State will upgrade networks, provide free cybersecurity tools and consider new regulations
James Rundle - The Wall Street Journal
/jlne.ws/446gHOa
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Class-Action Lawsuit Filed Against Top VCs Including Temasek, Sequoia Capital, Sino Global For Promoting FTX Fraud
Hope C - CoinMarketCap
Due to their connections to the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, a lawsuit has been filed against a number of large venture capital (VC) investment firms in the Northern District of California.
/jlne.ws/3qyyMGZ
Is PayPal's new stablecoin a watershed moment for crypto?
Forkast.News
There's never a dull moment in the crypto space. This week, as exciting news breaks that PayPal has launched its own stablecoin, there's also a drip-drip of claim and counterclaim - a cocktail of conjecture, rumors and denials - about whether or not Huobi, one of the world's biggest crypto exchanges, is about to become insolvent. And if that weren't enough, worries about Tether, the world's biggest stablecoin, appear to be resurfacing.
/jlne.ws/47qFDTy
SEI Token Could Reach Nearly Half a Billion Market Cap on Binance Debut
Omkar Godbole - CoinDesk
Dominant cryptocurrency exchange Binance is set to list layer 1 blockchain SEI Network's native token SEI on Aug. 15. As of now, traders see SEI changing hands at 26 cents immediately after the debut, data from decentralized exchange Aevo's pre-listing futures show.
/jlne.ws/3OQEehS
The surprising reason behind the recent influx of Ether futures ETF applications
Leo Schwartz - Fortune
After months of collapses, hacks, and frauds, the crypto industry has had a relatively boring start to the summer, with the news cycle dominated by legislative markups and everyone's favorite financial instruments, ETFs. While they may not be as rousing as innovations like liquidity pools and perps, ETFs represent crypto's best chance to go mainstream, at least in the world of traditional finance, through their ability to provide investors a familiar route to portfolio exposure.
/jlne.ws/450utDj
Why Binance Is Abandoning Most of Europe
Sandali Handagama - CoinDesk
If recent headlines are taken at face value, it looks like Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, could be exiting Europe. The exchange, having survived a wave of crypto collapses of 2022, is now facing regulatory pressure from all directions, with the U.S. likely to strike the greatest blow. U.S. prosecutors are weighing charges against Binance, while multiple regulators have filed suit against the company and its CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao. Zhao reportedly considered shutting down Binance's U.S. unit in a bid to save the wider company.
/jlne.ws/3OuH3nl
Bank of England Wants Digital Pound Advisers as It Moves to CBDC Design Phase
Camomile Shumba - CoinDesk
/jlne.ws/4483lky
Bitcoin Miner Riot Made Millions From Credits During Heat Wave; Riot has one of the world's largest Bitcoin sites in Texas; Miner made $13.5 million in power credits in second quarter
David Pan - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3Yxsnsq
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | The little activist Engine that couldn't; Plus, CVC learns the price of ESG after Unilever tea deal
Financial Times
One big thing to start: The Biden administration will ban US investment into quantum computing, advanced chips and artificial intelligence sectors in China, as it ratchets up efforts to ensure the Chinese military does not benefit from American technology and capital. The prohibitions will largely affect private equity and venture capital firms as well as US investors in joint ventures with Chinese groups.
/jlne.ws/452Krgq
Could loneliness explain why Trump won? Hillary Clinton suggested this week that social isolation might have been behind his victory
Gillian Tett - Financial Times
Why did Hillary Clinton lose the 2016 presidential election to Donald Trump? That is a question a few Democrats are still asking themselves seven years later, as the legacy of Trump's victory casts its long shadow over the 2024 elections.
/jlne.ws/3DRKobq
Congresswoman Waters 'deeply concerned' about PayPal's stablecoin launch
Reuters
Democrat Congresswoman Maxine Waters said on Wednesday she was "deeply concerned" about payment giant PayPal launching its own stablecoin in the absence of a federal framework to regulate digital assets. Earlier this week, PayPal became the first major financial technology firm to embrace digital currencies for payments and transfers with the launch of a U.S. dollar stablecoin, dubbed PayPal USD.
/jlne.ws/3Ov3R6D
Republicans Wasted Their Summer Attacking DEI and ESG; Corporate practices now considered mainstream turned out to be a poor target for the GOP.
Sarah Green Carmichael - Bloomberg
The Republican "war on woke" has taken many forms, but perhaps none is more bizarre than the party's attacks on a couple of three-letter corporate acronyms: DEI and ESG, or, to spell them out, diversity, equity and inclusion and environmental, social and governance. Both are mainstream business practices and have been around in one form or another for decades - which makes them odd targets for the party that once proudly proclaimed itself a job-creation engine.
/jlne.ws/3OmGAU4
Retirees Face $17,400 Cut to Social Security Benefits in 2033; A new analysis has calculated the potential reduction in payouts if politicians are unable to address the looming budget shortfall.
Suzanne Woolley - Bloomberg
A new analysis puts a dollar figure on the cuts Americans could see to Social Security benefits in 2033, when analysts expect payroll taxes that flow into the program won't be enough to cover monthly payments to retirees. Many Americans have heard about the potential for benefits to be cut a decade from now if no changes are made to the program.
/jlne.ws/3qqab7j
Political violence in polarized U.S. at its worst since 1970s
Ned Parker and Peter Eisler - Reuters
/jlne.ws/450h5PJ
White House unveils ban on US investment in Chinese tech sectors; Biden cites security risk as he restricts American capital for companies linked to China's military
Demetri Sevastopulo - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3YtMAPA
Windfall taxes are a dangerous form of political meddling; Steps like those announced in Italy this week damage lending and the wider economy when recession may be on its way
Simon Samuels - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3qqb7bP
Ex-Goldman Sachs Banker Tapped to Be Premier in Montenegro; President Milatovic says Milojko Spajic may form new cabinet; Talks expected in coming weeks on new ruling coalition
Misha Savic - Bloomberg
Milojko Spajic, a former finance minister and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. credit analyst, was tapped to become prime minister by Montenegro's president after his party prevailed in general elections.
/jlne.ws/3QEvkpb
EU treads cautious line over US investment bans on Chinese tech; Brussels unwilling to follow suit straight away and says it will issue its own proposals by year-end
Alice Hancock, Laura Pitel and Leila Abboud - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3OxCpVT
'Unsettled' Moscow residents tighten belts as ruble tanks
Agence France-Presse
/jlne.ws/3scau63
China's internet giants order $5bn of Nvidia chips to power AI ambitions
Qianer Liu and Hannah Murphy - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3s0x3KV
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Elon Musk's X fined after fighting US warrant for release of Donald Trump's Twitter records
Hannah Murphy and Stefania Palma - Financial Times
Elon Musk's X, formerly known as Twitter, was fined $350,000 after missing a deadline for complying with a secret search warrant for Donald Trump's account as part of a US Department of Justice investigation into the former president. According to an order by an appeals court on Wednesday, X was served with the search warrant earlier this year, as part of the investigation into potential interference with the peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 presidential election and the storming of the US Capitol by Trump supporters on January 6 2021.
/jlne.ws/44TUuUV
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | European gas price jumps almost 40% over supply disruption fears; TTF futures climb after reports of planned strike action at LNG plants in Australia
Shotaro Tani - Financial Times
European natural gas prices surged almost 40 per cent on Wednesday as the potential for disrupted global liquefied natural gas supply from Australia spooked traders betting on further price declines. Prices on the Title Transfer Facility, the European benchmark, rose to more than EUR43 per megawatt hour, up from almost EUR30 on Tuesday, reaching its highest point since mid-June.
/jlne.ws/3OM5eyZ
Founder of Failed Commodity Trader Noble Sues Over Restructuring; Elman argues that deal was unfair to minority shareholders; Legal action in Hong Kong seeks disclosure of documents
Stephen Engle, Jack Farchy, and Chung Ying Ho - Bloomberg
The founder of Noble Group, the commodity trader that collapsed into insolvency in 2018, is suing the company over a debt restructuring that he says was unfair to minority shareholders including himself. The lawsuit filed in Hong Kong by Richard Elman - whose stake in the company was worth more than a billion dollars at its peak - is the latest installment in the saga of Noble, which rode the China-led supercycle to become one of Asia's largest commodity traders before collapsing just as spectacularly in a scandal over its misleading accounts.
/jlne.ws/3Yxs5Sm
The logic of the de-equitisation trade; Shrinking stock markets and an especially wide valuation gap between bonds and shares made the trend inevitable
Robert Buckland - Financial Times
In 1998, Citigroup poached a team of equity professionals, including me, from HSBC James Capel. I got a pay rise and three months off in the south of France. Legend has it that John Bond, then HSBC chief executive, put in an angry phone call to Sandy Weill, his counterpart at Citi, saying back off. Those were the days.
/jlne.ws/3Ov0NYb
Most stocks are bad for your wealth
Toby Nangle - Financial Times
Arizona State professor Hendrik Bessembinder is something of a favourite of ours. For the uninitiated, he first looked at what proportion of individual US stocks since 1926 outperformed one-month US T-bills over the course of their lives back in 2017. His answer - only 42.6 per cent - was something of a surprise to many, including us. Stocks, after all, are supposed to outperform cash in the long-run. For many, maybe most, people that's their entire point.
/jlne.ws/3rYHazU
Social Security Benefits Will Go Up Next Year, but Not by a Lot; Monthly checks are expected to increase about 3% in 2024, according to analysts
Anne Tergesen - The Wall Street Journal
Social Security recipients are on track to pocket a significantly smaller raise in 2024 because of a slowdown in inflation.If inflation rises in line with its recent trend over the next two months, recipients' monthly checks will rise by about 3% in 2024, according to estimates from analysts and nonprofits. The estimates follow an 8.7% cost-of-living increase in 2023 as inflation soared.
/jlne.ws/3rYIoLw
'It's Hard to Be an Activist These Days': Gadfly Investors Trail Stock-Market Returns; So-called activist shareholders are up about 14% through July, lagging behind the S&P 500's gains
Lauren Thomas - The Wall Street Journal
/jlne.ws/3QyUUM1
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Are Ratings Agencies Cowering Under ESG Fire?
Thomas Pentsy - FinNews
American policymakers are seeing red on ESG, attacking financial institutions for their sustainability practices. Now, a powerful rating agency is doing a surprising about-face on its ESG ratings. Rating agencies evaluate thousands of companies worldwide on their efforts to promote environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards. Among other things, these ratings serve as the basis for sustainable investment decisions. They also decide on inclusion in indexes based on ESG metrics. A billion-dollar market has emerged around the topic of sustainability, as many investors want to invest their money according to these criteria. In Switzerland, too, there is hardly a bank left that does not have ESG investment funds in its product range.
/jlne.ws/3OxC1Xr
On Chicago's South Side, Neighbors Fight to Keep Lake Michigan at Bay; Residents dogged by frequent flooding have finally drawn attention from city and state officials.
Siri Chilukuri - Grist
Jera Slaughter looks at her backyard with pride, pointing out every feature and explaining how it came to be. The landscaping committee in her apartment building takes such things seriously. But unlike homeowners who might discuss their prized plants or custom decking, Slaughter is describing a beach, one covered in large concrete blocks, gravel, and a small sliver of sandy shoreline that overlooks Lake Michigan. It's a view worthy of a grand apartment building built on Chicago's South Side in the 1920s and deemed a national historic landmark.
/jlne.ws/3Ywyj4X
Hawaii wildfires: Six deaths confirmed as blazes engulf Maui
Max Matza and Bernd Debusmann Jr - BBC News
Six people have died and more have been injured by wildfires sweeping the Hawaiian island of Maui, officials say. Thousands are without power or cell phone service due to fires that are being fuelled by winds from a nearby hurricane in the Pacific Ocean. Several blazes are also burning on the Big Island, also known as Hawaii island, a neighbouring island to Maui. Officials say search and rescue efforts are still ongoing. But they warn that the death toll may rise. Authorities have evacuated neighbourhoods, closed roads, and opened shelters to host thousands of evacuees. An emergency order has been signed discouraging people from coming to Maui, which is a popular tourist destination.
/jlne.ws/45lcG9D
This Moss Survived 165 Million Years. Climate Change Is Killing It; Takakia lepidozioides was one of the first land plants on Earth. Now it's disappearing in the wild, a new study concludes.
Coco Liu - Bloomberg
One of the fastest-evolving species ever studied may not be evolving fast enough to survive rising temperatures. Takakia lepidozioides, a type of moss found mainly in the US, Japan and Tibet, has survived at least 165 million years and multiple catastrophic climate events, including the one that killed the dinosaurs. Now it's disappearing in the wild due to climate change, concludes the peer-reviewed study published Wednesday in the journal Cell.
/jlne.ws/444stsB
ESG is a top investment priority among global CFOs, EY says
Lucy Buchholz - Sustainability
A recent poll from EY found that global CFOs are prioritising ESG funding, however, it would also be the first budget to cut, if needed. A new survey from consulting, assurance, tax and transaction service firm Ernst & Young (EY) found that ESG matters are a top priority for chief financial officers (CFOs) globally. Polling 1,000 CFOs from 21 countries, the survey found that ESG was voted as a top priority, alongside technology and digital innovation (43%). The other categories CFOs were able to rank were supply chain resilience (37%), customer experience and offerings (34%), portfolio optimisation (34%), ecosystems and partnerships (29%), geographic market entry or exit (28%), and talent and culture (20%)
/jlne.ws/453W9Yb
World's Top Food Producers Push Back on Deforestation Rules; Backlash from Brazil is latest example of farmers crying foul; New requirements will increase costs for supply-chain tracing
Dayanne Sousa, Anuradha Raghu, and Mai Ngoc Chau - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3YrhaJL
ESG can pose issues for small Taiwanese companies; Small steps: The way forward to benefits
Paul Shelton - Taiwan News
/jlne.ws/3QyCqeM
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Bank of Russia Halts FX Buys as Ruble Slumps Near 100 to Dollar
Bloomberg
The Bank of Russia announced it will halt purchases of foreign currency on the domestic market for the rest of 2023 in an effort to help the ruble as the currency slumped toward 100 per dollar, its weakest in 16 months. "The decision was made in order to reduce the volatility of financial markets," the central bank said in a statement late Wednesday.
/jlne.ws/3Qta0mk
Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan board defeat shareholders' Jeffrey Epstein lawsuit
Jonathan Stempel - Reuters
A federal judge has dismissed a shareholder lawsuit accusing JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) Chief Executive Jamie Dimon and his board of directors of ignoring red flags surrounding disgraced former client Jeffrey Epstein. In a Wednesday evening decision, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff said shareholders led by Miami and Pittsburgh pension funds failed to first ask the bank's board directly to address their concerns, or show it would be futile to do so, before suing.
/jlne.ws/47nNFN5
Boaz Weinstein's $1.3bn flagship fund stung by stock rally; Setback comes after Saba Capital founder last year predicted a global bear market
Costas Mourselas - Financial Times
Hedge fund manager Boaz Weinstein's flagship investment strategy has fallen sharply this year amid a broad market rally after he predicted late last year that global stocks were heading for a bear market. The $1.3bn fund - which bets long and short in equity and credit markets - run by Weinstein's New York-based Saba Capital has lost 7.7 per cent so far in 2023, according to a letter to investors seen by the Financial Times.
/jlne.ws/3s5whwi
For Ex-Citi CEO, Life After Wall Street Is a Wyoming Resort; Mike Corbat joins Eric Macy investing in Jackson Hole resort; Sellers have invested $300 million in capital improvements
Jennifer Surane - Bloomberg
It's all downhill from here for Mike Corbat, and that's just how he wants it. Corbat, the former chief executive officer of Citigroup Inc., and Eric Macy, a former Jefferies Financial Group Inc. banker, are among a group of investors acquiring Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Teton Village, Wyoming. The sellers - Jay, Connie and Betty Kemmerer - have owned the property since 1992.
/jlne.ws/3YBmfPJ
Citadel Securities Boosts Fixed-Income Presence With New Bond Trade; Firm to offer so-called Strips, boosting fixed-income presence; Market-making giant is challenging dealers on their own turf
Katherine Doherty and Liz Capo McCormick - Bloomberg
Ken Griffin's market-making giant is poised to offer trades in zero-coupon Treasuries, as it ramps up its presence in the world's largest fixed-income industry. Delivering a fresh challenge to Wall Street banks in their own backyard, Citadel Securities will start offering institutional clients so-called Treasury Strips later this month, according to Michael de Pass, the firm's global head of rates.
/jlne.ws/45omeka
Loan losses at US banks hit $19bn as borrowers feel rate rise pain; Credit card and commercial real estate customers drive 'charge-offs' to highest level in more than three years
Joshua Franklin and Stephen Gandel - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3DMwR4R
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | Illinois farmers join calls for migrant work authorization
Monica Eng - Axios Chicago
Dick Durbin says some Illinois farmers are pleading with him to make it easier for migrants to work in the U.S. Why it matters: As farms and other industries navigate the state's labor shortages, many are struggling to keep their operations running and are looking to the influx of migrants as a solution. The big picture: Leaders in Illinois' hospitality industry have been urging the White House to expedite migrant work permits to help fill thousands of vacant hotels and restaurant jobs.
/jlne.ws/47uKRO3
More US law firms make four-day office work week mandatory
David Thomas
A push to bring more U.S. lawyers back to the office at least four days a week is spreading, most recently to Houston-founded 700-lawyer firm Vinson & Elkins. Vinson's lawyers and staffers will have to work in the office every weekday except either Monday or Friday starting Sept. 11, its leaders said Wednesday in an internal memo viewed by Reuters. Prominent New York-founded law firms Davis Polk & Wardwell; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; and Weil, Gotshal & Manges each said earlier this summer that their lawyers would be expected in the office Monday through Thursday starting after Labor Day.
/jlne.ws/45oww3M
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | With Eris on the rise, US CDC sees no major shift in COVID variants
Reuters
Currently spreading COVID-19 variants such as EG.5, or Eris, do not represent a major shift and updated vaccines in September will offer protection, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday. "Right now, what we're seeing with the changes in the viruses, they're still susceptible to our vaccine, they're still susceptible to our medicines, they're still picked up by the tests," Director Dr. Mandy Cohen said in an interview on former Biden administration adviser Andy Slavitt's "In the Bubble" podcast.
/jlne.ws/47nDcB7
COVID-19: New strain spreading across UK designated 'variant of interest' by WHO; EG.5 - descended from the Omicron variant of COVID - has been detected in 51 countries and is growing in prevalence globally, including in the UK, US and China.
Sky News
A new fast-spreading COVID strain has been designated a "variant of interest" by the World Health Organisation. EG.5 is descended from the Omicron variant of coronavirus and is growing in prevalence globally, including in the UK, US and China. It has been detected in 51 countries in total, including South Korea, Japan, Canada, Australia, Singapore, France, Portugal and Spain. In the week beginning 19 June, one in 13 cases were down to the COVID variant.
/jlne.ws/3KwXQoE
Why Haven't We Made It Safer to Breathe in Classrooms?
Zeynep Tufekci - The New York Times (Opinion)
Two years ago, we got a chance to assure parents and teachers, in any future epidemic, that the air in classrooms was safer, making it easier for children to attend school in person and avoid learning loss and isolation. In March 2021, Congress allocated $122 billion for schools to cope with the Covid pandemic and its aftermath - to hire tutors, retain teachers or improve their facilities. Public health and clean air advocates hoped that this would lead to widespread improvements in classroom ventilation and air quality, to help ward off future pathogenic threats and reduce problems like dust, allergens and wildfire smoke.
/jlne.ws/45eYG1u
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | If a country defaults and no one is around to notice it, does it matter?
Robin Wigglesworth - Financial Times
Credit ratings are hard. There will always been room for disagreement, and no shortage of people saying you're "bizarre and inept" whatever the outcome. But surely an actual default is pretty black and white? Not always, actually, as Cameroon proves.
/jlne.ws/43YvT01
New Zealand, BlackRock Join Forces on Climate Infrastructure
Emmy Hawker - ESG Investor
The world's largest asset manager BlackRock is targeting NZ$2 billion for a climate infrastructure strategy that will be delivered to support New Zealand's net zero goals. BlackRock's country-led strategy will provide institutional investors with a platform through which they can invest in the country's transition to a low-carbon economy, generating investment opportunities in target sectors, such as wind, solar, batteries, electricity storage, and natural capital projects. New Zealand currently has an 83% renewable energy penetration rate, but the transition to a 100% renewable energy mix will require investment up to NZ$42 billion (US$26 billion) in renewable power and distribution.
/jlne.ws/3YtXipg
China's Economy Isn't Ailing-It's 'Evolving': IPO Lawyers Told to Watch Their Language; Authorities' recent guidance has sown confusion over what Chinese companies should say
Rebecca Feng and Dave Sebastian - The Wall Street Journal
Regulators in China have become uncomfortable with how some companies are describing the country's risks to international investors. Last month officials from the country's securities regulator told a group of domestic law firms to soften the wording of China-specific risk disclosures in overseas stock-listing documents, according to people familiar with the meeting. The officials suggested alternative descriptions of certain risks and said some should be dropped entirely.
/jlne.ws/3OTwzQ4
Natural-Gas Prices Soar on Australian Labor Dispute; Threat of strike action at facilities run by Woodside and Chevron raises concerns about supply of liquefied natural gas
Stuart Condie - The Wall Street JOurnal
A dispute between Australian energy companies and their workers is driving natural-gas prices higher as the market braces for a possible curtailment of supply from one of the world's largest exporters of liquefied natural gas.
/jlne.ws/3QChCmv
How Dubai is reshaping the global oil trade; Sanctions on Russian exports has led to a shift in oil trading to a new domain in the Middle East. Will it stay there?
Financial Times
For decades, the global centre for oil trading has been Geneva, Switzerland. But Russia's war in Ukraine changed that. Sanctions have made it harder for western traders to move Russian oil. Now, traders are flocking to a new trading hub that has no restrictions on oil from Russia: the United Arab Emirates. The FT's energy correspondent Tom Wilson explains how this shift has helped the UAE replace Switzerland, and whether the global energy industry is shifting away from western economies.
/jlne.ws/45jKmEL
Amazon nations fail to agree deforestation target; Brazilian president had aimed to persuade neighbours to agree to halt illegal destruction of forests by 2030
Bryan Harris and Michael Pooler - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/45kRcKi
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