August 22, 2017 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | John Lothian Publisher John Lothian News | |
|
| | First Read | |
| 2017 Newsletter Subscriptions: | |
Hits & Takes By JLN Staff People lined up on LaSalle Street at midday yesterday like there was a sports championship parade happening. Instead, it was just an eclipse.~JJL John M. Ruth has joined Grey Street Capital as Chief Operating Officer. Ruth was formerly the CEO of ABN AMRO Clearing Chicago LLC.~JJL Check out SGX's Bull Charge, Climb for Charity.~JJL Cinnober has taken over the @MovetoStockholm Twitter handle for the week.~JJL Bruce Tuckman was appointed chief economist at the CFTC yesterday. And tells us he couldn't be Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's older brother. ~SD At the NFA yesterday, I heard that some soybean farmers in Southern Illinois were taking advantage of the solar eclipse craze by tearing up plantings and selling parking spots for $40 a pop. I guess that's one way to lock in a price...~SD Our apologies to Rich Mackey for a broken link and misplaced "a" on first mention in yesterday's newsletter. His video about what he learned from caddying can be found here. ~SD Our top read story of the day yesterday was from and about Mark Thornberry, who is battling cancer and raising money to fight the disease as well. It is an incredible act of courage and determination.~JK ++++
Building a Foundation - JB Mackenzie Education.MarketsWiki.com "Ask yourself if you'd be interested in an operations or compliance job. Because that gives you a foundation to help you excel." In this video from MarketsWiki Education's World of Opportunity event in Chicago, JB Mackenzie, director of futures and forex at TD Ameritrade, talks about the importance of understanding every detail about the technology influencing your industry of choice and how it can be a useful springboard for a successful career. Mackenzie went to college in hopes of becoming a doctor, but after taking organic chemistry, he realized it wasn't for him. He went into consulting in New York City and ended up being exposed to equity markets. After working for several large banking institutions, Mackenzie quickly identified the rapid change technology was having on the market. He positioned himself accordingly and now is a managing director at one the largest retail brokerage firms in the world. Read the rest and watch the video » ++++ CloudQuant Launches with Unprecedented $15 Million Allocation to Crowd Researcher CloudQuant CloudQuant, the trading strategy incubator, has launched its crowd research platform by licensing and allocating $15 Million (USD) to a trading algorithm. Created by a crowd researcher, the algorithm licensor will receive a direct share of the strategy's monthly net trading profits. (NOLINK) ++++ CloudQuant Opens the Trading Door to a Crowd By John J. Lothian News broke today that CloudQuant allocated $15 million to a non-employee, crowd researcher using its platform. Thus begins what I think is one of the most interesting, innovative, disruptive and game changing market trading concepts. Somewhere in the United Kingdom, a professor with a day job now has had his strategy tested by CloudQuant's platform and attracted a $15 million dollar allocation. That account is now traded by a professional with high frequency trading skills and a focus on best execution who is working on an agency basis to trade the algorithmic strategy for CloudQuant. Read the rest HERE. ++++ Read Warren Buffett's touching tribute to NYSE's James Maguire, 'world's greatest specialist,' dead at 86 Bob Pisani - CNBC The NYSE's James Maguire Sr. has died at age 86; Maguire was the specialist for Berkshire Hathaway at the New York Stock Exchange; In a note to CNBC, Warren Buffett wrote: "I labeled him the 'World's Greatest Specialist.' He also was the world's greatest guy." James Maguire Sr., a titan of the Wall Street trading community, has died at age 86. /goo.gl/jeJL29 ***** A great loss for the NYSE community. ++++ The Principles That Divide Us Might be Greater Than Those That Bind Us Together Ray Dalio - LinkedIn I believe that a) most realities happen over and over again in slightly different forms, b) good principles are effective ways of dealing with one's realities, and c) politics will probably play a greater role in affecting markets than we have experienced any time before in our lifetimes but in a manner that is broadly similar to 1937. /goo.gl/tzP8Qi ***** I am with you Ray. ++++ Vanilla price surge hits high-end ice cream consumers; Pod supplies squeezed after cyclone affects top producer Madagascar Emiko Terazono - FT Is your artisanal vanilla ice cream under threat? A surge in the price of vanilla pods after a cyclone this year hit Madagascar, the world's top producer, has left ice cream makers scrambling to secure supplies of the flavouring extract. /goo.gl/rFxXGg ***** Chocolate is the new vanilla. ++++ Monday's Top Three Our top story yesterday concerned Mark Thornberry, Running the odd mile...to help beat cancer. Second on the docket was Gary DeWaal's weekly recap of industry goings-on, Bridging the Week by Gary DeWaal. In third was a timely piece regarding yesterday's eclipse and its potential impact on trading, Superstitious Stock Traders: Beware of an Eclipse Crash. ++++ MarketsWiki Stats 106,435,473 pages viewed; 22,681 pages; 207,936 edits MarketsWiki Statistics ++++
|
| | | | |
Lead Stories | Are Long-Term Investors the Market's True Gamblers?; New study challenges traditional thought on how value and momentum investors make money James Mackintosh - WSJ To politicians and voters, "investors" carry on the noble work of capitalism, while "speculators" are no better than gamblers who treat share prices the same way as racing odds. A new study suggests the caricature has it backward. The most speculative of speculators, it turns out, make their money when the companies they gamble on have good fundamentalsÂthe cornerstone of what we traditionally think of as investing. And those who think of themselves as the most fundamentalist of fundamental investors make most of their money when the luck of the markets pushes prices up, absent improving company financials. /goo.gl/zDxno5 Insider Trading Case to Be a Test of the Role of Friendship Peter J. Henning - NY Times Inside information is like a child's allowance, burning a hole in the pocket of the recipient who just has to pass it along to others. But not everyone who gets a tip about an impending deal violates the law. There is a fuzzy line between innocent trades and securities violations. /goo.gl/gSsktN Math Geeks Behind ETFs Scramble to Defend $1 Billion Index Boon Rachel Evans - Bloomberg Cost-conscious issuers need cheaper benchmarks for their funds; Newcomers threaten the revenue of S&P, MSCI and FTSE Russell Who are the biggest winners of the shift to passive investing: investors who appreciate the cheap products, asset managers who sell them in bunches -- or the index firms that create the benchmarks backstopping it all? /goo.gl/yiGvvU A New Entrant Into the Crowdsourced Quant Fray Institutional Investor Kershner Trading Group's CloudQuant is the latest firm to back qualitative investment algorithms discovered through crowdsourcing. bit.ly/2x8Mu2Y SEC Is Studying Spotify's Plan to Bypass IPO in NYSE Listing Lucas Shaw - Bloomberg Direct-listing plan is said to draw scrutiny from regulators; New York Stock Exchange rule-change proposal still pending Spotify Ltd. executives have met with U.S. regulators scrutinizing the music company's plan to skip a traditional share sale and list directly on the New York Stock Exchange, according to people with knowledge of the matter. /goo.gl/xHpP7R The new dynamics of financial globalization Susan Lund, Eckart Windhagen, James Manyika, Philipp Härle, Jonathan Woetzel, and Diana Goldshtein - McKinsey Cross-border capital flows have fallen 65 percent since the financial crisis as global banks retrenched, but a more stable form of financial globalization is emerging. /goo.gl/gEC7vb Quantitative easing is like heroin, says former Treasury official; Nick Macpherson says it's 'time to move on' from QE, nearly 10 years after the financial crash, because of its unwanted side-effects Richard Partington - The Guardian A former senior Treasury mandarin has compared quantitative easing to heroin and called for an end to almost a decade of electronic money printing by central banks. /goo.gl/mjHfDi Brexit  CCP Location and Legal Uncertainty ISDA The UK's withdrawal from the European Union (EU), set for March 2019, is now little more than 18 months away. Negotiations between the UK government and the European Commission (EC) on an exit deal are still in their early stages, and there is a very long list of details to be squared away, covering a whole range of legal and economic areas. The shape of any final Brexit deal will have far-reaching consequences for ISDA's members and the broader derivatives market. This is the opening whitepaper in a series that will examine Brexit-related issues, and highlight the need for a smooth transition. /goo.gl/nEBFYD CloudMargin Connects To The DTCC-Euroclear Global Collateral Margin Transit Utility CloudMargin Enables users to take advantage of straight-through-processing from call calculation to settlement of collateral in order to streamline and optimize collateral management procedures CloudMargin, the multi-award winning creator of the world's first web-based collateral and margin management solution, and DTCC-Euroclear Global Collateral Ltd. (GlobalCollateral), a joint venture of Euroclear and The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), today announced that they have entered into an agreement to connect CloudMargin with GlobalCollateral's Margin Transit Utility (MTU). The agreement expands CloudMargin's settlement capability and enables users to access MTU from the cloud, fully automating the entire collateral lifecycle. /goo.gl/DHwY9k
|
| | | |
|
Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | MIFID II: The Final Countdown LME With the final quarter of 2017 almost at hand, the MiFID II implementation date of 3 January 2018 is fast approaching. The first MiFID II related proposals were published in 2011, meaning the evolution of this legislation has been long and fairly protracted - particularly in view of the 12-month delay pushing the implementation date from 2017 to 2018. Whilst at times it may have felt like implementation would never arrive, that day is now just around the corner and if you aren't already eating, drinking and dreaming MiFID II, then rest assured you will be very soon. /goo.gl/qpMMye EEX: Dairy Derivatives Market Volume Exceeds 2016 Level Mondovisione In August the volume traded on the dairy derivatives market of European Energy Exchange (EEX) already surpassed the total volume traded in 2016. From 1st January until 16th August 2017 a total of 82,065 tonnes of goods equivalent was traded (equals 16,413 contracts). The total trading volume reached in 2016 (Jan.-Dec.) amounted to 82,050 tonnes and represented the highest annual volume in dairy futures on an exchange in Europe so far. /goo.gl/pztMFZ Extraordinary adjustment in MDAX; Free Float Adjustment of STADA Arzneimittel AG / Changes will take effect as of 24 August 2017 Deutsche Börse On Monday, Deutsche Börse AG announced an extraordinary adjustment to the free float of STADA Arzneimittel AG in MDAX. As a result of a takeover by Nidda Healthcare Holding AG, the free float of STADA Arzneimittel AG changed by more than 10 percentage points. /goo.gl/UrYrt1 Forfeiture of Unclaimed Interim Dividend for 2011 HKEX /goo.gl/iZrPYH BSE to 'compulsorily' delist 200 firms, bar promoters, from 23 August; BSE will delist 200 firms this week and bar their promoters from the markets for 10 years as trading in these shares have remained suspended for over a decade PTI viant New Delhi: Leading stock exchange BSE will 'compulsorily' delist 200 firms this week and bar their promoters from the markets for 10 years as trading in these shares have remained suspended for over a decade. /goo.gl/VRBocA
|
| | | |
|
Fintech | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | Identity Thieves Hijack Cellphone Accounts to Go After Virtual Currency Nathaniel Popper - NY Times Hackers have discovered that one of the most central elements of online security  the mobile phone number  is also one of the easiest to steal. Credit Kevin Hagen for The New York Times Hackers have discovered that one of the most central elements of online security  the mobile phone number  is also one of the easiest to steal. In a growing number of online attacks, hackers have been calling up Verizon, T-Mobile U.S., Sprint and AT&T and asking them to transfer control of a victim's phone number to a device under the control of the hackers. /goo.gl/dFvAQV Lack of consumer trust is more than a fintech-nicality; New fintech applications still fail to instil confidence among users Matthew Vincent - Financial Times What is fintech? "Fintech is seen to be a means of encouraging economic activity, improving industry efficiency and providing better services to consumers." "Fintech is a vibrant ecosystem in which all the participants have a vital role to play." "Fintech is gaining traction." on.ft.com/2xlVC3v Tech giants Amazon, Google and Facebook could be the next threat facing banks and financial services firms William Turvill - City AM Forget fintech startups. Amazon, Google and Facebook could be the next big competitors for big banks. /goo.gl/MBfnKJ
|
| | | |
|
Politics | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | McConnell: 'America is not going to default' Associated Press via The Washington Post Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says there is "zero chance" Congress will allow the country to default on its debts by voting to not increase the borrowing limit. wapo.st/2xm0s0D Mnuchin Hints at Keeping Carried Interest Tax Break for Some Sahil Kapur - Bloomberg U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Monday that President Donald Trump may keep the carried interest tax break for firms that create jobs, while eliminating it for hedge fund managers. /bloom.bg/2xm0NjZ Goldman's Lloyd Blankfein seems to be making a habit out of trolling Trump Evelyn Chang - CNBC Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein tweeted Monday with the hashtag #SolarEclipse2017 that he wished "the moon wasn't the only thing casting a shadow across the country." cnb.cx/2xmdefz Markets Are Losing Their Patience With Trump; Last week brought "good" news, at least as far as markets are concerned, and poor performance. This is telling. By David Ader - Bloomberg Markets are starting to crack. Photographer: Drew Angerer/Getty Images I have been recommending a defensive stance in equities since at least February, and truth be told, that hasn't worked out so well. The S&P 500 Index has returned 4.3 percent since then, including reinvested dividends. I'm not ready to throw in the towel. /goo.gl/Z7URvM Ray Dalio turns cautious amid Washington conflict; Former Trump bull wary as S&P 500 sets course for worst month since before election Robin Wigglesworth, US Markets Editor - FT The world's biggest hedge fund manager is turning more defensive on concerns the political drama in Washington will impair the US government's ability to function and weigh on already wobbly financial markets. /goo.gl/42n6td
|
| | | |
|
Regulation & Enforcement | For more regulatory, visit MarketsReformWiki, our website focused on current market reform efforts. | Chairman Giancarlo Appoints Bruce Tuckman CFTC's Chief Economist CFTC U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo today appointed Bruce Tuckman, an internationally-recognized economist and expert in modern derivatives markets, as the agency's Chief Economist. In addition, Chairman Giancarlo also appointed former Chief Economist Sayee Srinivasan as Special Advisor in the Chairman's Office. /goo.gl/ZKJ7JS CFTC's Office of International Affairs to Host Its 25th Annual Symposium on October 23 - 27, 2017 CFTC /goo.gl/S93CXT Hedge Fund Adviser Charged For Inadequate Controls To Prevent Insider Trading SEC The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that hedge fund advisory firm Deerfield Management Company L.P. has agreed to pay more than $4.6 million to settle charges that it failed to establish, maintain, and enforce policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent the misuse of inside information, including information about confidential government decisions. /goo.gl/Yu2JMj ASIC permanently bans jailed company director from credit and financial services industries ASIC Mr Gavin Keith Hyland has been permanently banned from engaging in credit activities or providing financial services. /goo.gl/iuAb6g Latest enforcement report outlines ASIC's enforcement outcomes from the first half of 2017 ASIC ASIC has today released its enforcement report for the period 1 January 2017 to 30 June 2017. /goo.gl/ayt1nw ASIC announces regtech showcase event ASIC ASIC has announced that it will hold a showcase event on regulatory technology (regtech) on 18 September 2017 in Sydney. With regtech at the top of the minds of both regulators and industry, ASIC believes that this event will stimulate engagement, explore the opportunities and barriers to regtech deployment and identify potential areas for collaboration. /goo.gl/tHptyA Bank crash boss sues for Lloyds bonus Claim against bailed-out lender risks sparking anger Harry Wilson - The Times The former chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group and one of his top lieutenants are suing the bailed-out lender for hundreds of thousands of pounds in unpaid bonuses in a move that risks sparking public outrage. Eric Daniels and Truett Tate, former head of the wholesale banking division, this month filed legal claims with the High Court against the bank. /goo.gl/tVdyuE Around 100 brokers under lens for helping shell companies; Sebi, tax department investigation brokers who may have helped shell companies launder Rs16,000 crore by compromising KYC norms Jayshree P. Upadhyay - Livemint The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the income-tax department are investigating the role of about 100 brokerages which they believe may have helped shell companies launder as much as Rs16,000 crore by compromising so-called know-your-customer (KYC) norms, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter. /goo.gl/9mH6a9 US claims currency conspiracy in HSBC may involve up to 11 bank employees Bloomberg A foreign exchange front-running scheme at HSBC Holdings Plc may have involved at least 11 bank employees beyond the two executives who have been charged with crimes, a prosecutor said on Monday. /goo.gl/bozNxx FINRA Announces Nomination Process to Fill Upcoming Vacancies on the National Adjudicatory Council; Petitions for Candidacy Due: October 5, 2017 FINRA The purpose of this Election Notice is to announce the nomination process to fill one large firm vacancy and one small firm vacancy on the National Adjudicatory Council (NAC). /goo.gl/hNzS2f Hedge Fund Adviser Charged for Inadequate Controls to Prevent Insider Trading SEC The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that hedge fund advisory firm Deerfield Management Company L.P. has agreed to pay more than $4.6 million to settle charges that it failed to establish, maintain, and enforce policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent the misuse of inside information, including information about confidential government decisions. /goo.gl/Yu2JMj
|
| | | |
|
Investing & Trading | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Fed's Big Bond Unwind May Clobber U.S. Stocks, Corporate Debt Rich Miller and Sally Bakewell - Bloomberg Stocks and corporate bonds may be the surprise big losers once the Federal Reserve starts reducing its $4.5 trillion balance sheet. /bloom.bg/2xmdniW U.S. funds get tougher on climate and diversity, but not CEO pay Ross Kerber - Reuters Even as top U.S. asset managers BlackRock Inc and State Street Corp pressed companies on climate and diversity issues this year, they made few waves on another area of corporate governance: CEO pay. reut.rs/2xlNdgj World's Biggest Piggy Bank Grows by $285 Million a Day By Sveinung Sleire and Mikael Holter - Bloomberg Fund has been ordered to boost stock holdings to 70%; Fund returned $26 billion in second quarter on stocks rally As many investors question a global stock-market rally that's now in its eighth year, the world's biggest wealth fund is prepared to splurge. /goo.gl/vs6S86 Earnings may be about to do something they've never done before Jeffrey Kleintop - Charles Schwab Ever get the feeling that we've been here before? For investors, the sense of déjà vu may be coming from corporate earnings. The analyst consensus estimate for earnings per share over the next twelve months for the world's companies (measured by the MSCI All Country World Index) has risen back to $30 again for the fourth time in 10 years, as you can see in the chart below. /goo.gl/2YMBDo Bitcoin Analysts Compete for the Highest Price Forecast Camila Russo - Bloomberg Bank of America, Goldman, Morgan Stanley paying more attention; Cryptocurrency has surged since development hurdle overcome /goo.gl/SCrhWD Rieger Report: Munis with Equity Like Returns! S&P Dow Jones Indices Sectors of the boring municipal bond market have seen equity like returns in 2017. However, it is the downtrodden segments of the muni market in the last several months of 2016 that have created the opportunities to generate these "equity like returns." bit.ly/2xm0Coy
|
| | | |
|
Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Goldman Said to Name AlDossari Saudi Investment Banking Head Matthew Martin - Bloomberg AlDossari was previously associate director for HSBC Saudi; Banks are expanding in Saudi amid economic diversification Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has hired Eyas AlDossari as head of investment banking for Saudi Arabia as the U.S. bank looks to expand in the kingdom, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the appointment isn't yet public. /goo.gl/aqSGLP No one wants to work at Oppenheimer & Co. since new exec started Kevin Dugan - NY Post Wall Street's newest recruits at Oppenheimer & Co. are "running for the doors," as the son of the bank's boss has laid off analysts and delayed promotions, The Post has learned. /goo.gl/eLdaRf JPMorgan hires again from Goldman to fill key trading post; US bank moves to replace its head of central risk book trading in Europe Samuel Agini - Financial News JPMorgan has made another hire from the trading ranks of its big rival Goldman Sachs to fill a senior equities role in Europe. /goo.gl/j42wiK
|
| | | |
|
Regions | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | India's financial sector grapples with effects of demonetisation; Private lenders step in as high-value note ban sucks more money into system Simon Mundy - FT Nine months after India's radical demonetisation exercise, the financial sector is still grappling with its complex implications. /goo.gl/Ew8jAG Lack of literacy promotes unrealistic goals; A large proportion of Australians have unrealistic retirement goals By Sarah Kendell - Financial Observer Australians' lack of financial literacy is contributing to unrealistic expectations about their retirement, with more than half of consumers saying they want to travel regularly in their retirement despite the fact 63 per cent say they do not have a financial plan to guide their savings. /goo.gl/LBcjQH Metals Frenzy Has China Bond Buyers Flocking to Smokestack Debt Bloomberg News Coal company notes provide highest returns after electronics; Old economy firms tend to be more indebted than wider market China's so-called old-economy companies are enjoying a renaissance in the debt market, bouncing back from a beating on Beijing's quest to modernize growth. /goo.gl/NDqk5g With Attacks Soaring, India Races to Regulate Cryptocurrencies By Archana Chaudhary and Santosh Kumar - Bloomberg Focus on banks, companies as ransomware, malware strikes rise; Banning trade in virtual currencies won't improve security A giant cyberattack that crippled India's largest container port in June provided a costly wake up call for a country determined to digitize its mostly-informal $2 trillion economy. /goo.gl/DV8H8h A Second Korean War Could Quickly Spread Across All of Asia By Brendan Scott and Adrian Leung - Bloomberg Northeast Asia's geography reveals the peril of any strike; Great powers risk being drawn into escalating conflict A recent survey commissioned by the New York Times found that people who could find North Korea on a map were more likely to favor talks over military action. A glance at North Asia's geography explains why. /goo.gl/K2jCMK Global funds expanding into massive Chinese investment market Evelyn Cheng - CNBC UBS Wealth Management and Fidelity International are some of the major foreign firms launching private funds in China; The expansion comes as China loosens regulation and global fund managers look for opportunities outside of Western markets; Analysts expect China to be an increasing area of growth for the asset management industry, while Chinese companies are also expanding into the U.S. financial services industry. As China's financial markets mature, major non-Chinese financial firms increasingly want to open funds in the country and tap the multitrillion-dollar institutional investor market there. /goo.gl/BYDRcF
|
| | | |
|
Brexit | Financials stories regarding the decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union | Britain to keep all of Europe's business standards post-Brexit, says BSI chief Peter Foster - Telegraph Asa Bennett, Brexit Commissioning Editor, will be answering your questions and responding to readers' queries in the comments section under this article from 11am. It's free and easy to register to take part. /goo.gl/XiKyfb U.K. Asks EU to Leave Legal Relationships Untouched by Brexit Robert Hutton - Bloomberg Position paper argues that current arrangements work for all Britain plans to sign up to the Hague and Lugano conventions The U.K. wants to keep London at the center of European commercial legal disputes after Brexit. Except, without the European Court of Justice. /goo.gl/L2Zauh
|
| | | |
|
Disclaimer: All John Lothian Newsletters, JohnLothianNews.com, MarketsWiki.com and MarketsReformWiki.com are products of John Lothian News, a division of John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. The opinions expressed in all John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. publications are strictly those of their respective editors. They are intended solely for informative purposes and are not to be construed, under any circumstances, by implication or otherwise, as an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy or trade in any commodities or securities herein named. Information is obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but is in no way guaranteed. No guarantee of any kind is implied or possible where projections of future conditions are attempted. Security futures are not suitable for all customers. Futures and options trading involve risk. Past results are no indication of future performance. Nothing on any John J. Lothian & Company site should be considered an endorsement by any sponsor of any website or newsletter content. © 2017 John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
|
|