| August 29, 2022 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
I have been talking up the FIA's Innovator's Pavilion at FIA EXPO to be held on November 14-15. One firm does auto inventory risk management and another is involved in managing data and connecting butchering operations with meat providers. That could be anything from someone wanting to know where to get a deer butchered to a cattle farmer selling directly to the public. I hope they both register for the competition.
The FIA published a look back at 10 firms that participated in the 2017 Innovators Pavilion. The title of course is "Innovators Pavilion 2017 - Where are they now?" I won't say FIA cherry-picked the year, because five years is a good amount of time, but those are some good results for those firms.
One impact of the energy crisis in the U.K has been people abandoning their exotic pets to the wild. Thus, Dragons, lizards and cobras are popping up in England's suburbs, according to a Wall Street Journal Story. Dragons in England? Where are the damsels in distress? They are at their desks looking at their energy bills, I guess.
The Optiver Foundation is partnering with the University of Oxford to launch an international scholarship program to encourage diversity in STEM-related education that will provide support for 30 masters' students over a period of five years. It is focussed on empowering women from low and middle-income countries to access STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education at a postgraduate level.
During the pandemic, interest in camping soared as it was a good way to maintain social distancing and get out of the house. According to The New York Times, interest in camping may persist even as the pandemic and the restrictions that drove the interest begin to wane. The story is "Trying to Keep Americans Camping With Treehouses and Yurts," with the sub-headline "Interest in camping soared in the pandemic, and now, as social-distancing restrictions are winding down, the sector is showing signs that it may maintain its popularity."
Are you interested in joining the MIAX team? Well, here is the list of jobs that are currently open at the exchange group.
Ian Grieves, the head of product and engineering at ErisX (Cboe Digital), is hiring for multiple roles across product and engineering, including for one as a Product Manager - Intermediaries.
Charles Cutshall is leaving the CFTC and starting a new position as chief privacy officer and director of open government at the U.S. Department of Commerce.
J.D. Burch is starting a new position as director of accounting at OCC.
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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CME Group launched Bitcoin Euro and Ether Euro futures today, the group's eight and ninth crypto contracts. The exchange has introduced one new crypto product per month in 2022. Euro-denominated cryptocurrencies are the second highest traded fiat after the US dollar, according to Tim McCourt, global head of equity and FX products at CME Group.~SR
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MWE SHORT: Terry Duffy - My Road and the Industry Challenge
JohnLothianNews.com
When starting your career, it's best to think about where each opportunity can take you, rather than being envious of your peers. Terry Duffy, chairman and chief executive officer of the CME Group, gives a brief glimpse of how he entered the financial industry and addresses how his audience should utilize each opportunity they receive. According to Duffy, we should not look at our careers in a "near-sighted" way, but instead look at long-term possibilities each job can eventually lead to.
Watch the video »
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Morningstar CEO Kunal Kapoor: 'Cryptos have not proven their case for the masses'; The chief executive of Morningstar says there are still plenty of opportunities for asset managers to learn to connect with a radically different audience
Justin Cash - Financial News
"Investment must be rational; if you can't understand it, don't do it". Warren Buffett's aphorism on simplicity dates to 1991, but memories seem to have faded as institutional investors line up plays in the notoriously complex world of digital assets.
/jlne.ws/3cv5qCr
***** Where are we on the innovation curve?~JJL
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Revenge of the Founders: A Generational Struggle on Wall Street; The abrupt departure of Kewsong Lee as Carlyle Group's chief executive followed conflicts over how to run the financial firm.
Maureen Farrell, Peter Eavis - The New York Times
In early August, Kewsong Lee, the chief executive of the Carlyle Group, got on a video conference call with two of the private equity firm's board members. They told him that Carlyle's septuagenarian founders were planning to play a more active role managing the firm. Mr. Lee, 58, was not pleased. "Life's too short," he responded, according to people familiar with the call.
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****** Why do I see Rick Moranis cast in the movie version of this?~JJL
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Texas Crypto-Mining Rush May Need as Much Power as Entire State of New York; Demand is 33% more than what grid was preparing to handle; Miners have applied to draw up to 33 gigawatts from grid
Naureen S Malik - Bloomberg
Crypto currency miners are accelerating their push to expand in Texas far beyond what authorities had initially expected, threatening to send the state's electricity use skyrocketing. Enough miners have applied to connect to Texas's power grid to use up to 33 gigawatts of electricity, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which runs the system, said in an email Friday. That's a third more than what the grid operator's chief executive officer said in April that officials were preparing to handle over the next decade. It's also enough to power all of New York State.
/jlne.ws/3cp8hNp
***** That move to Texas is looking shakier and shakier.~JJL
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As Online Gambling Grows, So Does the Financial Crime Risk; An explosion in U.S. online gambling could attract criminals, compliance experts say
Richard Vanderford - The Wall Street Journal
Online gambling is booming across the U.S. and compliance experts caution that it creates opportunities for criminals to launder money or take part in other financial crimes. The U.S. has seen states pile into legal online gambling with fervor, eager for potential tax revenue. Since 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a ban on sports wagering, online sports betting has undergone a sharp increase. "The more activity you have, the greater risk that you have," said Alma Angotti, a former senior enforcer with the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network who now works as a partner at consulting firm Guidehouse Inc.
/jlne.ws/3ATD7a1
****** I don't enjoy all the gambling advertising and references during sports competitions, specifically when I am watching the Chicago Cubs play. I don't care about the Parlay or the odds some player will strike out so many batters or get so many hits. ~JJL
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The Optiver Foundation partners with Oxford University
Optiver
We're pleased to announce that the Optiver Foundation is partnering with the University of Oxford to launch an international scholarship programme to encourage diversity in STEM-related education. The scholarship programme will provide support for 30 masters' students over a period of five years, and is focussed on empowering women from low and middle-income countries, to access STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education at a postgraduate level.
/jlne.ws/3Kve9Rv
****** Nothing like trying to STEM the inequality of educational opportunities.~JJL
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Friday's Top Three
Our top story Friday was More Than Half Of All Bitcoin Trades Are Fake, from Forbes. Second was Meet One of the World's Few Self-Made Women Billionaires. She Wants to Teach You How to Play the Game — Literally., from Entrepreneur, about Jenny Just, who began her career as an options trader. Third was World's Most Popular Password Manager Says It Was Hacked, about LastPass, from Bloomberg.
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| All MarketsWiki Sponsors» | | | | | | | John Lothian News (JLN) is the news division of John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. (JJLCO). The online media and financial services firm is staffed by derivatives industry, journalism and technology professionals. | | | | | | | John Lothian News Editorial Staff: | | | John Lothian
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| Lead Stories | Meme Stock Mania Is Here to Stay — Even With Those Wild Price Swings
Bailey Lipschultz - Bloomberg
Wall Street says the meme stock is here to stay. Born of lockdown boredom, no-fee brokers and social-media chatrooms, the phenomenon drew in a new generation of traders, who fueled massive rallies by banding together to pump up the stock prices of companies Wall Street was betting against.
/jlne.ws/3PWjym2
Is $110mn man Jake Freeman lucky gambler or conviction investor? Student bet his whole $27mn on one volatile stock and sold his stake just weeks later
Patrick Jenkins - Financial Times
When news emerged recently of the 20-year-old student who had made $110mn buying and selling shares in a tired homeware brand, there was an understandable uproar. The Financial Times revealed Jake Freeman had invested $27mn in Bed Bath & Beyond in July, selling it only a few weeks later for nearly five times as much. Social media exploded with snide commentary, most of it focused on how entitled Freeman was to have $27mn at his disposal in the first place. (Family and friends helped fund the trade, Freeman told the FT.) A few sniped, too, that the return was "not that impressive". (Really?)
/jlne.ws/3Kv6uCR
Companies attack Texas over 'politicised' ESG blacklist; A battle over corporate environmental and social policies in US is heating up
Brooke Masters and Patrick Temple-West - Financial Times
Financial groups included on a blacklist of companies that Texas considers hostile to fossil fuels have attacked the process as politicised and arbitrary. Texas comptroller Glenn Hegar is implementing a 2021 law that requires state pension and school funds to divest shares they hold in listed financial groups which, in the government's view, "boycott energy companies". But critics complain that his office relied on a single ESG ranking to reduce the pool to 19 banks and asset managers. Meanwhile, targeted firms claim the state communicated with them so haphazardly that it was not clear that all companies knew that they were on the final list of 10, which was announced last week. BlackRock was the sole US entity on the list, which also included Credit Suisse, UBS and BNP Paribas.
/jlne.ws/3dXkHMB
Energy Crisis Tearing Through Markets Leaves a Trail of Losers; Inflation surge will weigh on earnings, hobbling stock rebound; Higher interest rates, recession risks also damping sentiment
Kat Van Hoof and Abhishek Vishnoi - Bloomberg
The energy crisis that's sent inflation soaring across the world is getting worse each week, leaving stock traders with a challenge to figure out where to put their money. The nightmare scenario that's developed this year has already walloped equities, which suffered a bruising first half. A rally over the summer helped to reduce losses, but the worsening crisis, which appears nowhere near over, is putting up a huge hurdle to further gains.
/jlne.ws/3PWhZUY
Wall Street Rails Against Costs of Chairman Gary Gensler's Regulatory Agenda at SEC; Industry targets SEC's economic analysis as it prepares for legal challenges
Paul Kiernan - The Wall Street Journal
Wall Street is attempting to derail Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler's agenda by challenging economic assumptions underpinning dozens of policy proposals. Brokerages, hedge funds, private-equity firms, mutual funds, high-frequency trading firms and public companies have argued in comment letters filed this year that the costs of many of the proposals would outstrip the benefits, and that the SEC's studies of the issues are flawed.
/jlne.ws/3wCUQjx
Secret Service recovers $286M in stolen pandemic loans
Fatima Hussein - AP News
The U.S. Secret Service said Friday that it has recovered $286 million in fraudulently obtained pandemic loans and is returning the money to the Small Business Administration. The Secret Service said an investigation initiated by its Orlando office found that alleged conspirators submitted Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications by using fake or stolen employment and personal information and used an online bank, Green Dot, to conceal and move their criminal proceeds. The agency worked with Green Dot to identify roughly 15,000 accounts and seize $286 million connected to the accounts.
/jlne.ws/3TmHJwC
Singapore's Central Bank Slams Crypto Trading, Talks Up Digital-Asset Opportunities; Regulator tries to clarify position on cryptocurrencies after market meltdown
Elaine Yu - The Wall Street Journal
Singapore's top financial regulator said cryptocurrencies are "highly hazardous" to many investors, but made clear the city-state still wants to develop and actively promote a digital-asset ecosystem. Ravi Menon, the managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the country's central bank, on Monday criticized the trading of cryptocurrencies by individual investors. He said cryptocurrencies lacked the fundamental qualities of money and offered no uses outside a blockchain network—except for speculation.
/jlne.ws/3PXoLdc
Crypto and climate change: can web3 help get us to net zero? New tech ventures want to use blockchain to clean up a messy carbon market — but critics fear more greenwashing
Camilla Hodgson and Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan - Financial Times
Last year, a British oil exploration company and a tech start-up joined forces on a project to permanently lock away untapped fossil fuel reserves in Greenland. The idea was simple: the energy company, Greenland Gas and Oil, would not extract oil from an area on the east coast that it had exploration licences for. Instead it would monetise keeping the oil in the ground via a partnership with the tech company, Carbonbase, which works on offsetting carbon emissions.
/jlne.ws/3dSjciL
LME member default fund contribution jumps 89% Following record-breaking margin breach in Q1, the CCP plumped up its line of defence
Alessandro Aimone - Risk.net
Required members' contribution to LME Clear's default fund rose 89% in the second quarter of the year to the highest level ever reported by the central counterparty (CCP). Aggregate pre-funded contributions to the fund to handle a member collapse totalled $2.08 billion, with members asked to pour an additional $975 million over the three months to end-June.
/jlne.ws/3Kt4RWg
Cattle, Pot Scheme Raised $650 Million, Led to Fraud Verdict
Michael Hirtzer - Bloomberg
An Illinois woman and a Georgia man who raised $650 million with promises to invest in cattle and marijuana businesses were convicted of fraud for a Ponzi scheme that prosecutors said left clients with tens of millions in losses. Reva Joyce Stachniw, 70, of Galesburg, Illinois, and Ron Throgmartin, 58, of Buford, Georgia, solicited money from 2017 to 2019 for short-term bets in cattle with promises of returns of 10% to 20% in periods as short as a few weeks, the US Department of Justice said in a press release. They also used "fraudulent pretenses to solicit money" for their Colorado-based marijuana business, Universal Herbs LLC, the DOJ said.
/jlne.ws/3PURUFR
Europe's Deepening Fertilizer Crunch Threatens Food Crisis; About 70% of region's fertilizer production capacity halted; Repercussions will hurt farmers and consumers beyond Europe
Samuel Gebre and Elizabeth Elkin - Bloomberg
Europe's fertilizer crunch is deepening with more than two-thirds of production capacity halted by soaring gas costs, threatening farmers and consumers far beyond the region's borders. Russia's squeeze on gas shipments in the wake of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine is hurting industries across Europe. But fertilizer companies are being especially affected because gas is both a key feedstock and a source of power for the sector.
/jlne.ws/3wC9esh
SEC Changes Whistle-Blower Award Rules to Boost Tipster Payouts
Matt Robinson - Bloomberg
The US Securities and Exchange Commission changed its whistle-blower rules to give the agency more leeway to pay out hefty awards. Wall Street's main regulator will be able to pay tipsters who help other government agencies that don't have whistle-blower reward programs like the SEC, the agency said in a Friday statement. Under rule changes, officials will also lose some discretion to reduce the size of an award based on its size.
/jlne.ws/3Kt7CH1
Powell's 8-Minute Speech Erases $78 Billion From Richest Americans
Brian Chappatta - Bloomberg
In the span of just eight minutes, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell sparked a market rout that slashed the fortunes of America's richest people by $78 billion. Elon Musk's saw $5.5 billion erased from his wealth. Jeff Bezos lost $6.8 billion, the most of anyone on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The fortunes of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett declined by $2.2 billion and $2.7 billion, respectively, while Sergey Brin's was knocked below $100 billion.
/jlne.ws/3pST7Da
Japan's Drying Rice Paddies Are Now a National Security Threat
Isabel Reynolds and Grace Huang - Bloomberg
Russian missiles pounding Ukraine have spooked Japan into boosting defense spending. Now, with tensions rising over the Taiwan Strait, calls are growing to address another security threat: shriveling rice paddies.
/jlne.ws/3pV13DT
Dried-Out Farms From China to Iowa Will Pressure Food Prices
Kim Chipman and Tarso Veloso - Bloomberg
Drought is shrinking crops from the US Farm Belt to China's Yangtze River basin, ratcheting up fears of global hunger and weighing on the outlook for inflation. The latest warning flare comes out of the American Midwest, where some corn is so parched stalks are missing ears of grain and soybean pods are fewer and smaller than usual. The dismal report from the Pro Farmer Crop Tour has helped lift a gauge of grain prices back to the highest level since June.
/jlne.ws/3e3VMHx
SEC Commissioner Calls for Less Secrecy in Whistleblower Awards
John Holland - Bloomberg
The SEC's decision on Friday to reverse Trump-era restrictions on its whistleblower program divided the five-member body, with its newest member citing concerns about the program's secrecy that were outlined in a recent Bloomberg Law investigation. "The Whistleblower Program has come under increasing scrutiny from some on the basis that it operates with a lack of transparency. These concerns are understandable, given that the Whistleblower Program has paid out more than $1.1 billion in awards since inception from funds that would have otherwise benefitted taxpayers," Securities and Exchange Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda wrote in a statement.
/jlne.ws/3pRAQpC
Singapore's Central Bank Wants to Foster Digital Assets, Restrict Crypto Speculation
Sandali Handagama - CoinDesk
Singapore's central bank wants to promote a digital asset ecosystem, while restricting crypto speculation, said Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Menon insisted that this stance is not contradictory during his opening remarks at a Green Shoots Seminar on Monday. Green Shoots sessions are used to introduce new announcements, products and policies to the financial services community.
/jlne.ws/3pRz9IR
Singapore Mulls Making It Harder for People to Trade Crypto; Regulator to hold public consultation on proposals by October; Ban on retail access to cryptocurrencies unlikely to work: MAS
Suvashree Ghosh and Joanna Ossinger - Bloomberg
The Monetary Authority of Singapore is considering restricting retail investors' use of leverage and credit facilities to trade cryptocurrencies as it joins global regulators in forging rules to govern digital assets.
/jlne.ws/3PZKYqS
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | How Ukraine is using resistance warfare developed by the US to fight back against Russia
Oren Liebermann - CNN
As the war in Ukraine has passed the six-month mark, US and European officials say Ukraine has successfully used a method of resistance warfare developed by US special operations forces to fight back against Russia and bog down its vastly superior military. The Resistance Operating Concept was developed in 2013 following Russia's war with Georgia a few years earlier but its value was only realized after Russia's invasion of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula in 2014. It provides a blueprint for smaller nations to effectively resist and confront a larger neighbor that has invaded.
/jlne.ws/3ATRfQN
Pentagon expands use of seas to send weapons to Ukraine
Dan Lamothe - The Washington Post
The Pentagon has expanded its use of maritime shipping to deliver weapons for the war in Ukraine, U.S. defense officials said, after relying heavily on aircraft early in Russia's invasion to get arms to Kyiv as quickly as possible. The Defense Department began sending some items by sea a few weeks after the invasion but significantly broadened the effort this spring, as the United States began providing Ukraine with howitzer artillery and other heavy weapons that require a steady flow of large-caliber ammunition, U.S. defense officials said here at the headquarters of U.S. Transportation Command, as Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks visited recently.
/jlne.ws/3QVwz0v
Britain Hasn't Quite Managed to Kick Its Russian Diesel Habit; Government data sets disagree about Russian oil imports; Some fuel from Russia may have come through other countries
David Goodman and Jack Wittels - Bloomberg
Britain has yet to completely remove its reliance on Russian fuel, according to data that contradicts an official report earlier this week that the UK has successfully brought buying to zero. The Office for National Statistics said Wednesday that the UK imported no fuel from Russia for the first time on record in June. That suggested the government achieved its ambition to phase out all purchases of natural gas and oil in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine. Data released by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy a day later told a different story. It showed that Russian imports of diesel in the month were still around half the total of a year earlier.
/jlne.ws/3cvieZB
Dell ceases all Russian operations after August offices closure
Reuters
Dell Technologies Inc. said on Saturday it had ceased all Russian operations after closing its offices in mid-August, the latest in a growing list of Western firms to exit Russia. The U.S. computer firm, a vital supplier of servers in Russia, has joined others in curtailing operations since Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24. Dell suspended sales in Ukraine and Russia in February, saying it would monitor the situation to determine next steps.
/jlne.ws/3CLWjI6
Ukraine braces for cold winter amid uncertainty over power supplies; Fears grow Russia will target country's gas infrastructure or further cut its supplies to Europe
Isobel Koshiw - The Guardian
Ukrainians are likely to experience the coldest winter in decades, its gas chief has said, as the thermostats on its Soviet-era centralised heating systems are set to be switched on later and turned down. Yurii Vitrenko, the head of the state gas company Naftogaz, said indoor temperatures would be set at between 17 and 18C, about four degrees lower than normal, and he advised people to stock up on blankets and warm clothes for when outdoor temperatures fall to and beyond the -10C winter average. "Heating season", the period when the central heating is on, will come later and end earlier, said Vitrenko.
/jlne.ws/3AoOlSC
Ukraine Latest: Germany Warns That War 'Could Last Years'
Bloomberg
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned the war in Ukraine "could last years," telling a newspaper that Berlin is ready to support Kyiv for the long haul. The situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant "remains very risky, dangerous," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned, even after two power units were reconnected to the country's energy grid following an outage. The plant is working "despite provocations by occupying Russian forces," state-owned operator Energoatom said. Zelenskiy said in a video address that the International Atomic Energy Agency should be allowed to arrive "soonest" to help prevent further incidents. Several strikes were reported near the plant in recent days.
/jlne.ws/3CHCi5A
'We were born here': Ukrainians in frontline towns face painful choice; Brutal Russian onslaught in east Ukraine continues, forcing people to flee to unknown areas or risk death by staying
Dan Sabbagh - The Guardian
ARussian missile slammed into Valentina's garden on a residential street in Kramatorsk at about 6pm on a warm August evening, landing among the squash and cabbages to the rear of the pensioner's house, smashing windows, destroying the roof, scattering glass, tiles, bricks and rubble everywhere. Valentina, 75, was sitting outside under a grapevine, just about far enough from the blast to escape only with cuts and bruises, some all too visible on a visit to her ruined home five days later. But while the wounds will heal, the trauma will linger.
/jlne.ws/3ATkpzm
EU to Propose New Training Mission to Boost Ukraine's Military; Borrell to discuss this week with defense ministers in Prague; Training would take place outside Ukraine if approved by bloc
Natalia Drozdiak - Bloomberg
The European Union could offer Ukraine's armed forces sniper, de-mining or officer training as part of a new mission the bloc's foreign policy chief plans to propose to member states this week.
/jlne.ws/3creSXo
The 'MacGyvered' Weapons in Ukraine's Arsenal; The Ukrainian military has battled Russia with retrofitted equipment, including missiles and rocket systems mounted on trucks and speedboats, experts and officials say.
Helene Cooper and Eric Schmitt - The New York Times
The billions of dollars in military aid the United States has sent Ukraine includes some of the most advanced and lethal weapons systems in the world. But Ukraine has also scored big successes in the war by employing the weapons and equipment in unexpected ways, and jury-rigging some on the fly, according to military experts.
/jlne.ws/3cx1j96
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | CME Group Announces Launch of Euro-denominated Bitcoin and Ether Futures
CME
CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, today launched Bitcoin Euro and Ether Euro futures. "The launch of these new futures contracts builds on the strong growth and deep liquidity we have seen in our existing U.S. dollar-denominated Bitcoin and Ether futures contracts," said Tim McCourt, Global Head of Equity and FX Products, CME Group. "Our new Bitcoin Euro and Ether Euro futures will provide institutional clients, both within and outside the U.S., with more precise and regulated tools to trade and hedge exposure to the two largest cryptocurrencies by market cap." Bitcoin Euro and Ether Euro futures contracts will be sized at five bitcoin and 50 ether per contract. These new contracts will be cash-settled, based on the CME CF Bitcoin-Euro Reference Rate and CME CF Ether-Euro Reference Rate, which serve as once-a-day reference rates of the euro-denominated price of bitcoin and ether.
/bit.ly/3QWHuH2
Launch of 'Invest-verse: An Introduction to the World of Investing' in collaboration with NSE Academy Limited and HDFC Mutual Fund
NSE
NSE Academy Limited (NAL), a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) earlier this year had signed an Agreement with HDFC Asset Management Company Limited (HDFC AMC), the investment manager to HDFC Mutual Fund to collaborate and launch first-of-its-kind program namely 'Invest-Verse: An Introduction to the World of Investing'. The program shall be offered to college students across India. The program will help to reach the next wave of first-time investors through a holistic 5-hour course, which will also be made available on HDFC Mutual Fund's MFBytes application. The programs will be delivered through online and application-based training and will be co-certified by both the institutions.
/bit.ly/3wzXCq0
Bad faith requirement revived in Commodity Exchange Act suits
Reed Smith LLP - Lexology
Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in an opinion issued by Judge Frank Easterbrookin in Brian Barry et al. v. Cboe Global Markets Inc., et al., affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by private plaintiff traders against the Chicago Board Options Exchange and its affiliates (Cboe) for Cboe's alleged failure to curb manipulation of prices related to Cboe Volatility Index contracts (VIX®) in violation of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA).
/bit.ly/3Ku2BOC
Global Funding and Financing (GFF) Summit 2022
"Accelerate your journey;" Global Funding and Financing Summit, 13-15 September 2022,
Luxembourg.
Deutsche Börse Group
With this year's key theme "Accelerate your journey", we will explore trends, hear insights and discuss solutions with delegates from the entire industry and top-level speakers, such as Yuriko Backes (Minister of Finance, Luxembourg), Bertrand de Mazières, (Director General Finance, European Investment Bank) and Sean Kidney (CEO, Climate Bonds Initiative).
/bit.ly/3CD6leC
MiFID II/MiFIR order flagging requirements: Changes to the Short Code processing logic; Eurex Circular 082/22 MiFID II/MiFIR order flagging requirements: Changes to the Short Code processing logic
EUREX
With T7 Release 11.0 which is planned to be launched on 21 November 2022, Eurex will introduce a number of changes to the short code processing logic. These changes will streamline and simplify compliance with the legal requirements on short code-long code registration and use for Exchange Participants.
/bit.ly/3QYXecJ
Approval of Initial listing (ETF):NEXT FUNDS S&P US Equity and Bond Balance Conservative Index (Yen-Hedged) Exchange Traded Fund(Nomura Asset Management)
JPX
Today, Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. (TSE) approved the listing of new ETFs managed by Nomura Asset Management. The ETFs will be listed on Friday, September 16 , 2022.
/bit.ly/3Krjo4O
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | What's Behind a Consolidation of Counsel in the Red-Hot Cryptocurrency Sector; With the recent boom in the space, there's been a heightened—and more selective—need for top-notch regulatory expertise.
Jessie Yount - Law.com
In recent decades, the fastest-growing law firms have hitched a ride to thriving industries. First, it was the banks. Then, it was private equity. Today, it's technology. There's plenty of demand and plenty of firms looking to service the technology sector. Out on the West Coast, firms with a strong base of technology clients are riding a wave of demand in the fintech space. But as financial and technology sectors continue on a collision course, firms with a background in financial services and regulation are also generating more work. It's still early days in the cryptocurrency sector. Joe Castelluccio, a corporate partner at Mayer Brown, likened the sector's current status to that of the nascent commercialized internet in the early '90s.
/jlne.ws/3CD0XZ3
One Man's Dream of Fusing A.I. With Common Sense; Artificial intelligence systems can process vast amounts of data in seconds, but they can't make sense of the world or explain their decisions. David Ferrucci wants to change that.
Steve Lohr - The New York Times
David Ferrucci, who led the team that built IBM's famed Watson computer, was elated when it beat the best-ever human "Jeopardy!" players in 2011, in a televised triumph for artificial intelligence. But Dr. Ferrucci understood Watson's limitations. The system could mine oceans of text, identify word patterns and predict likely answers at lightning speed. Yet the technology had no semblance of understanding, no human-style common sense, no path of reasoning to explain why it reached a decision.
/jlne.ws/3wEVKfr
Ethereum Could Get Kicked Off Cloud Host That Powers 10% of Crypto Network; Hetzner, which hosts roughly 10% of Ethereum nodes, says it does not allow mining or anything "even remotely related," including staking.
Sam Kessler - CoinDesk
Ethereum appears at risk of getting kicked off the cloud-networking provider that powers roughly 10% of the second-biggest blockchain. Hetzner, a German-based cloud services firm, said in a Reddit post this week that its terms of service specifically bar crypto mining and also staking, the approach Ethereum is moving to soon to run the blockchain. "Using our products for any application related to mining, even remotely related, is not permitted," Hetzner wrote. "This includes Ethereum. It includes proof-of-stake and proof-of-work and related applications. It includes trading."
/jlne.ws/3CEHA1N
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Hackers take holidays, too
Sam Sabin - Axios
Attacks on companies and sites dip in the summer months, researchers have repeatedly found, and the reason isn't hard to decode: Hackers take summer vacations, too. The big picture: Cybercriminals love to flaunt their cash and take lavish vacations after successful hacks and online scams — giving U.S. law enforcement a ripe opportunity to arrest or extradite them, experts tell Axios. Between the lines: When criminal hackers leave safe-haven countries, like Russia, U.S. law enforcement gets a rare opportunity to arrest and extradite suspects.
/jlne.ws/3APPOml
China-Linked Bots Attacking Rare Earths Producer 'Every Day'; Campaign aimed at Lynas' environmental record in Malaysia; US push for critical minerals industry behind attacks: experts
James Fernyhough - Bloomberg
Fake social media accounts linked to the Chinese Communist Party are posting daily attacks on Lynas Rare Earths Ltd., according to the Australian company. Cyber-protection experts say the campaign is targeting US and Australian collaboration on critical mineral supply chains. First made public in June, the attacks are focusing on Lynas' environmental record in Malaysia in an attempt to turn public opinion against a new plant it's building in Texas with US government funding.
/jlne.ws/3TrR9qH
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | 7 Types of People Who Should Never Buy Bitcoin or Other Cryptocurrencies
Kylie McQuarrie - Finance Buzz
If you've ever considered investing in cryptocurrency, you're far from alone. About 16% of all adults in the U.S. have invested in some form of cryptocurrency, according to Pew Research Center. If you have not yet tried your hand at crypto, you might wonder if investing in something like Bitcoin is a great way to make extra cash. The answer depends on a number of factors, but you should know upfront that investing in crypto carries a lot of risk. Because of that risk, people with certain personality types or in specific financial situations should steer clear of cryptocurrency investments. Find out if you are among the groups that might be best off avoiding crypto so you can steer clear of making a foolish money mistake.
/jlne.ws/3wZzKML
$ETH: Coinbase Derivatives Exchange Perfectly Times Launch of Its Nano Ether Futures Product
Siamak Masnavi - Cryptoglobe
Coinbase Derivatives Exchange seems to have found the perfect time to launch its second listed crypto derivatives product, i.e. Nano Ether futures (ET). As you may already know, on January 12, Coinbase announced that it was "acquiring FairX, a CFTC-regulated derivatives exchange", that this acquisition was "a key stepping stone on Coinbase's path to offer crypto derivatives to retail and institutional customers in the US," and that this acquisition was "expected to close in Coinbase's first fiscal quarter."
/jlne.ws/3PXONgu
Coinbase Pledges to 'Evaluate' Forked Ethereum Tokens in Update to 'Merge' Policy
Danny Nelson - CoinDesk
Coinbase pledged on Thursday to "evaluate" Ethereum forks that may spawn after the Merge, reopening the door to listing competitor tokens that could arise after the popular blockchain's imminent tech upgrade. "Should an ETH [proof-of-work] fork arise following the Merge, this asset will be reviewed with the same rigor as any other asset that is listed on our exchange," Coinbase said in an Aug. 25 edit to its Aug. 16 blog post discussing what customers needed to know about the tech upgrade. The policy shift showcases how exchanges are navigating Ethereum's long-delayed transition to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, which will reshape how the decentralized finance hub ticks.
/jlne.ws/3RkmTfQ
Tether Says Audit Is Still Months Away as Crypto Market Falters; Many crypto companies lack basic financial guardrails; 'Tether needs an audit that's akin to a corporate colonoscopy'
Jean Eaglesham and Vicky Ge Huang - The Wall Street Journal
This year's slump in digital assets is pressuring crypto companies to show investors that their money is safe. So far, they haven't delivered. Many crypto companies lack the basic financial guardrails that help protect investors in traditional banks. Firms often don't publish financial statements, or have anyone check their books. Even if they are audited, there are no agreed accounting standards for digital assets.
/jlne.ws/3ATyBIL
'Like a Y2K moment': Crypto markets brace for Ethereum's Merge next month
David Hollerith - Yahoo! Finance
After years of delays, Ethereum (ETH-USD) is ready to ditch its all-important consensus layer for a new one. This software change, also known as "the Merge," represents a crucial milestone for the digital asset sector's most widely used blockchain and its cryptocurrency, ether. The Merge will see the Ethereum blockchain shift from proof of work to proof of stake. Right now, Ethereum is a blockchain protocol secured by miners who validate its transactions in real-time using their computing power in return for new tokens. After the Merge, the protocol will be secured by validators who post capital in return for a percentage yield on their pledged funds.
/jlne.ws/3CDh0pG
Ex-Bond Star Who Switched to Crypto Career Is Unfazed by Layoffs; South Korean Lee Mi-seon moved to crypto just before 2022 rout; Industry is slashing jobs but she still sees growth potential
Hooyeon Kim and Whanwoong Choi - Bloomberg
The finance professionals who switched from traditional careers to the cryptocurrency sector are now seeing the latter retrench globally, but South Korea's highest-profile example of such a job move has no regrets. Lee Mi-seon, 39, became research head at eight-year-old crypto exchange Bithumb in March after 12 years as a bond strategist at giant conglomerate Hana Financial Group, where she won media accolades for her forecasts. Two months after her move, virtual coins began a chaotic $1 trillion rout sparked partly by the $40 billion implosion of South Korean entrepreneur Do Kwon's Terraform Labs ecosystem and related algorithmic stablecoin. Bankruptcies and job losses have since proliferated worldwide among digital-asset companies.
/jlne.ws/3pWuN2Y
Animoca Brands Isn't Going to Let the Crypto Winter Go to Waste
Zheping Huang - Bloomberg
As crypto investing falls off, a few groups are betting bigger. The crypto winter is real. Funding for digital currency-related startups fell 26% last quarter from the one before, and it's on pace to fall further still in the current period, according to PitchBook data. But a few big crypto believers are using the slump to buy up major stakes in companies at much lower prices. Animoca Brands Corp. is one of them. Animoca is Asia's biggest blockchain investor. It has a 340-company-deep portfolio, including the crypto analogs of Pokémon, Minecraft, eBay and PayPal. It started as a video game studio, but now has the much broader goal of subverting what the company calls the "digital dictatorships" of Big Tech.
/jlne.ws/3KuamnD
NFTs Are a Favorite With Crooks. But Crime Isn't the Biggest Problem.
Jack Denton - Barron's
A morning briefing on what you need to know in the day ahead, including exclusive commentary from Barron's and MarketWatch writers. More than $8 million in illicit funds have been laundered through NFT-based platforms since 2017, according to a review of the numbers by Elliptic, a crypto-risk management firm.
/jlne.ws/3cwSk7S
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Meta's Facebook Agrees to Settle Cambridge Analytica Suit; Depositions of Zuckerberg, Sandberg scheduled for September; Terms of data sharing settlement not disclosed in court filing
Joel Rosenblatt - Bloomberg
Meta Platforms Inc. settled a long-running lawsuit that claimed Facebook illegally shared user data with the research firm Cambridge Analytica. The preliminary settlement, disclosed in a court filing late Friday, follows the revelation last month that Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg would have to sit for as long as six hours of questioning by plaintiffs' lawyers. Terms of the agreement weren't disclosed.
/jlne.ws/3PUUT1a
Biden Drives His Corvette for Episode of 'Jay Leno's Garage'; The president filmed a segment with the comedian Friday; Biden stepping up appearances following recent policy wins
Akayla Gardner - Bloomberg
President Joe Biden drove his classic Corvette and talked cars with Jay Leno on Friday as the two filmed a segment for the comedian's CNBC show. "It was really good. It was even more fun driving my old Corvette," Biden told reporters after taping the clip for "Jay Leno's Garage" at the James J. Rowley Training Center, a Secret Service facility, in Beltsville, Maryland. "We talked about how electric cars are going to change the nature of our environment in the United States," he added.
/jlne.ws/3CDSUuT
World Economy Needs Policy Reset to Revitalize Growth, BIS Says; Attention must shift from managing demand to helping supply; Central banks must focus on inflation, work with governments
Jana Randow - Bloomberg
The global economy risks sustained weakness without a change in how it's run, according to Agustin Carstens, who heads the Bank for International Settlements. The pandemic and war in Ukraine have proved a "rude awakening" for central banks, which had assumed for too long that supply adjusts automatically and smoothly to shifts in demand, Carstens told the Federal Reserve's annual Jackson Hole symposium. He suggests monetary officials focus primarily on tackling inflation but work much more closely with governments, with only the latter able to nurture innovation and resilience, while shepherding necessary institutional, technological and ecological transitions.
/jlne.ws/3QYWZhA
Europe Can't Go Into Winter Thinking All Is Lost; France's Macron says it's the end of an era of abundance. Although leaders must be clear about challenges ahead, they shouldn't be defeatist.
Maria Tadeo - Bloomberg
Europe is getting back to business after its summer break — but this year feels like jumping into a cold shower. Just listen to Emmanuel Macron. The French President told his ministers during their first formal gathering last week that a new paradigm is on the horizon — it's the end of abundance in a care-free world.
/jlne.ws/3AUMarx
Tax expert: New IRS funding will target the rich, crypto, and tech
Rebecca Chen - Yahoo! Money
Worries over a beefed-up Internal Revenue Service are unfounded for most American taxpayers, according to one tax expert, who said the agency would likely zero in on wealthy folks and crypto investors with its newly allocated funds along with much-needed tech upgrades. Nearly $80 billion in the Inflation Reduction Act signed last week by President Joe Biden will go to various aspects of the IRS, a federal department that had experienced numerous budget cuts and understaffing issues for the past decade.
/jlne.ws/3RiR6eY
Morgan Stanley Banker Put on Leave as Block-Trade Probe Heats Up; Charles Leisure was a part of equity syndicate desk at bank; Authorities increased inquiries tied to probe in recent weeks
Sridhar Natarajan and Matt Robinson - Bloomberg
Another Morgan Stanley executive whose communications were sought in a US probe into how Wall Street handles big stock trades has been placed on leave, amid a flurry of behind-the-scenes activity in the investigation. Charles Leisure, an executive director who worked on the New York-based bank's equity syndicate desk, was put on leave this week, people with direct knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be named because the information isn't public. He was part of a team that handled block trades -- deals that have been facing scrutiny from federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York and the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
/jlne.ws/3CA9USY
Trump May Get a 'Special Master' Review of Seized Documents; Judge says she has 'preliminary intent' to grant Trump motion; Hearing is set for Sept. 1 in West Palm Beach, Florida
Erik Larson - Bloomberg
A federal judge said she will likely grant Donald Trump's request for a so-called special master to review documents seized by the FBI from the former president's home and seek out any privileged material. US District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, issued a preliminary order on Saturday and scheduled a hearing on the matter for Sept. 1 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Cannon said the preliminary order is warranted by "the exceptional circumstances presented." "The court hereby provides notice of its preliminary intent to appoint a special master in this case," Cannon said. The two-page order "should not be construed as a final determination," she added.
/jlne.ws/3e86I72
Does Jerome Powell Have It Under Control?; In our latest episode of the Bloomberg Opinion podcast, we examine the Fed's glide-path, the evolution of the Ukraine war and Germany's energy conundrum.
Eric Mollo - Bloomberg
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell continued to set the monetary policy narrative at Jackson Hole this week. As the Fed looks to quell inflation, what direction will it send the economy, and how hard will it land? We also track the evolution of the Ukraine war. As Russia considers conscription, what options do Russians who want to leave the country actually have? How is this war also reshaping the German economy?
/jlne.ws/3pS5rDA
The enemies of globalisation are circling; Rising nationalism and concerns about inequality and the environment threaten international trade
Gideon Rachman - Financial Times
Globalisation is not just about trade and technology. It is also about politics. Political change, above all the collapse of communism, created the conditions for an age of hyperglobalisation. Now political change, above all rising nationalism, is threatening the dense network of economic ties built up over the last three decades.
/jlne.ws/3AUzFft
Germany Wants Power-Market Overhaul to Dampen Soaring Prices; Economy minister proposes changing current pricing mechanism; Habeck reiterates backing for windfall tax on energy companies
Arne Delfs - Bloomberg
Germany's economy minister proposed tackling soaring energy costs over the longer term by reforming power markets so that prices are no longer coupled to the most expensive supplier. Under the current system, producers with lower costs such as in the wind or solar sector are paid the same as those with higher costs such as operators of gas-fired power plants.
/jlne.ws/3QcmQlj
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Canadian securities regulators issue warning about suspicious e-mails
Autorité des marchés financiers, CSA
The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) has been monitoring its systems for unusual activities after several market participants received e-mails that purport to come from CSA members' staff.
/jlne.ws/3e6BBsx
SEC files no objection to Ripple request to seal non-party identities in XRP lawsuit
Timmy Shen - Forkast
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has decided not to object to Ripple Lab's request to seal identities of certain non-parties and Ripple employees in the Daubert motions, as its lawsuit against Ripple drags on. The SEC said on Friday in a letter to Judge Analisa Torres that it does not object to Ripple's motion filed on Aug. 19 seeking to seal identities of non-parties, certain Ripple employees and personal financial information of an employee. mHowever, the SEC clarified that in doing so, "the SEC does not concede that the above categories of information should properly be sealed for summary judgment briefing, and reserves its rights to oppose similar sealing requests for summary judgment."
/jlne.ws/3QZK5Qr
CFTC Announces Review and Public Comment Period of KalshiEx Proposed Congressional Control Contracts Under CFTC Regulation 40.11
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced the beginning of a review of KalshiEX, LLC's (KalshiEx) proposed contracts on which political party will be in control of each chamber of the U.S. Congress (Congressional Control Contracts) under CFTC Regulation 40.11(c). KalshiEX, a designated contract market, voluntarily submitted the Congressional Control Contracts for CFTC review.
/jlne.ws/3R0oMhJ
Dissenting Statement of Commissioner Caroline D. Pham Regarding the Review and Stay of KalshiEX LLC's Political Event Contracts
CFTC
I respectfully dissent from the Commission's decision pursuant to CFTC Rule 40.11 to require a review and impose a stay of up to 90 days on KalshiEX LLC's (Kalshi) Congressional control political event contracts, because Rule 40.11 does not apply to the contracts and because the appropriate process is to review the contracts under Rule 40.3.
/jlne.ws/3AtIviL
SEC Issues First Fee Rate Advisory for Fiscal Year 2023
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that the fees that public companies and other issuers pay to register their securities with the Commission will increase from $92.70 per million dollars to $110.20 per million dollars, effective Oct. 1. The new fee rate will be applicable to the registration of securities under Section 6(b) of the Securities Act of 1933, the repurchase of securities under Section 13(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and proxy solicitations and statements in corporate control transactions under Section 14(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
/jlne.ws/3wCAtTJ
SEC Amends Whistleblower Rules to Incentivize Whistleblower Tips
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today adopted two amendments to the rules governing its whistleblower program. The first rule change allows the Commission to pay whistleblowers for their information and assistance in connection with non-SEC actions in additional circumstances. The second rule affirms the Commission's authority to consider the dollar amount of a potential award for the limited purpose of increasing an award but not to lower an award.
/jlne.ws/3KqJZiy
Statement on Final Amendments to the Whistleblower Program
Chair Gary Gensler - SEC
Today, the Commission voted to adopt amendments to rules governing the SEC's whistleblower program. I was pleased to support these amendments because they will help whistleblowers when eligible to receive appropriate awards for reporting potential violations of the law to the Commission.
In 2010, Congress under the Dodd-Frank Act directed the SEC to establish a whistleblower program, which to date has greatly aided the Commission's work to protect investors. In the years since the program was established, the SEC has used whistleblower information to obtain sanctions of over $5 billion from securities law violators, return over $1.3 billion to harmed investors, and award over $1.3 billion to whistleblowers for their service.
/jlne.ws/3dY9gUZ
Statement on the Final Rules Related to the Whistleblower Program
Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda - SEC
The Whistleblower Program was created by Congress to provide monetary incentives for individuals to come forward and report possible violations of the federal securities laws to the Commission.[1] Today, the Commission is adopting final rules amending the Whistleblower Program rules. Specifically, the final amendments (1) expand the scope of related actions eligible for an award under the Commission's Whistleblower Program, and (2) amend the rules so that the Commission may use its statutory authority to consider the dollar amount to increase, but not decrease, the award.[2] While I support the important work of the staff in the Office of the Whistleblower in their efforts to arrive at an appropriate result in evaluating claims, I am unable to support today's amendments.
/jlne.ws/3wCOLDQ
On the Consequences of an Inconsequential Rulemaking: Statement Regarding Amendments to Whistleblower Program Rules
Commissioner Hester M. Peirce - SEC
I did not support the proposal to amend the Commission's whistleblower rules, and cannot support the amendments adopted today.[1] The Commission's whistleblower program is successful, increasingly so in recent years.[2] Today's amendments, although themselves inconsequential and unlikely to inhibit that success, nonetheless carry harmful consequences both for the whistleblower program and for the Commission's rulemaking processes.
/jlne.ws/3An9cFW
Statement on the PCAOB Agreement with China and Hong Kong
Commissioner Jaime Lizárraga - SEC
Today's agreement between the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and the Chinese authorities is a step forward in holding China- and Hong Kong-based public companies to the same accountability standards as all other issuers that access U.S. capital markets.
For more than 15 years, authorities in China have impeded hundreds of their publicly-traded companies from fully complying with U.S. law. This is unacceptable.
/jlne.ws/3RelJTv
Gatekeepers Ordered to Pay Nearly $1 Million in Monetary Remedies for Microcap Shell Factory Fraud
SEC
On August 10th, broker-dealer Spartan Securities Group, LTD., transfer agent, Island Capital Management LLC, d/b/a Island Stock Transfer and two of their principals, Carl E. Dilley and Micah J. Eldred, were ordered to pay nearly $1 million in monetary remedies in connection with their roles in the creation of at least 19 purportedly legitimate public companies that were in fact sham, blank check shells. Concluding that "the evidence demonstrated that defendants abused their 'gatekeeper' role," the District Court also ordered injunctive relief as to Island Stock Transfer and the two individuals, and imposed penny stock bars against Spartan Securities, Dilley and Eldred, prohibiting them from participating in the issuance, trading, offer or sale of a penny stock.
/jlne.ws/3cr3z1p
Super trustees urged to improve effectiveness of target market determinations
ASIC - Australian Securities and Investments Commission
ASIC is calling on superannuation trustees to review and if necessary improve the effectiveness of target market determinations (TMD) for their products, after a sample review of trustee compliance found some poor practices.
TMDs are an important requirement for all financial products under the new design and distribution obligations (DDOs). A TMD is a mandatory public document that sets out the class of consumers a financial product is likely to be appropriate for (the target market), and settings relevant to the product's distribution, monitoring and review.
/jlne.ws/3cwiHe3
Federal Court penalises MobiSuper and ZIB Financial for superannuation advice breaches
ASIC - Australian Securities and Investments Commission
The Federal Court has ordered MobiSuper Pty Limited (MobiSuper) and MobiSuper's financial services licensee, ZIB Financial Pty Limited (ZIB), to pay combined penalties of $250,000 for failures surrounding promotion of the MobiSuper Fund.
ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said, 'Superannuation is important for the future financial security of Australians. It is essential that consumers, when choosing their super fund, are not misled or given personal advice that is not in their best interests.'
/jlne.ws/3wCyjng
PRA and FCA conclude investigations into senior managers in relation to the 2008 failure of HBOS plc
FCA
The PRA and FCA (together, the 'Authorities') joint investigations into certain former senior managers at HBOS plc have now concluded with a decision by each of the Authorities' independent decision-makers to take no further action. The investigations, which began in 2016, were in response to Andrew Green QC's November 2015 report into the reasonableness of the scope of the FSA's enforcement investigations in relation to the failure of HBOS (the 'Green Report').
/jlne.ws/3wD04vX
"Yes to Digital Asset Innovation, No to Cryptocurrency Speculation"
Monetary Authority of Singapore
Good morning. Thank you for joining us today.
Let me start with the elephant in the room.
MAS seems to be sending mixed signals when it comes to crypto and digital assets.
/jlne.ws/3AxhU4A
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Credit Suisse Is Questioning China Ambitions in Strategy Revamp; Executives meeting in Singapore next week to review business; Credit Suisse is due to present new strategy with 3Q earnings
Ambereen Choudhury, Cathy Chan, and Jan-Henrik Foerster - Bloomberg
Credit Suisse Group AG is reviewing the long-term plans for its business in mainland China as part of a broader strategy revamp after the lender racked up billions of dollars in losses. New Chief Executive Officer Ulrich Koerner and Asia-Pacific head Edwin Low are among top bankers set to meet in Singapore next week to discuss topics including their view on the China business, according to people familiar with the matter. Senior executives at Credit Suisse have raised doubts on the benefits of building out its existing securities activities and expanding wealth management in the country, the people said, asking not to be named because the talks are private.
/jlne.ws/3R2wA2z
Jeremy Siegel Says It's OK to 'Gamble' on Speculative Stocks; Also says never had labor-force growth, declining GDP before; Federal Reserve should be on the slightly less-aggressive side
Vildana Hajric and Michael P. Regan - Bloomberg
Shares of meme stocks like Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. might be going bonkers again, but that doesn't mean investors need to totally steer clear of them. That's according to Jeremy Siegel, professor emeritus of finance at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, who says such volatile stocks are gambling vehicles more than anything else, though the speculative bets can still be a small part of younger investors' portfolios. Siegel, along with Jeremy Schwartz, global chief investment officer at WisdomTree, joined the latest "What Goes Up" podcast to discuss that, as well as the state of the economy, inflation and markets.
/jlne.ws/3PXTbvY
Jefferies Tech Call Helps Investors Double Money in a Single Day; Analyst named UK's Micro Focus as prime takeover target; Prediction came just before software firm got $6 billion bid
Ben Scent - Bloomberg
Investors who heeded a well-timed research report from Jefferies Financial Group Inc. could have nearly doubled their money in a single day. Charles Brennan, a London-based analyst at Jefferies, predicted in a note to clients late Wednesday that the wave of takeovers in the European technology industry would continue. It included a helpful diagram of possible targets in the space, with UK enterprise software developer Micro Focus International Plc shown as the second-most likely candidate to get bought.
/jlne.ws/3ASEy8F
Goldman Says Buy Commodities, 'Worry About Recession Later'; Slowdown risks outside Europe seen 'relatively low,' bank says; Equities could suffer as raw materials gain, analysts forecast
Yongchang Chin - Bloomberg
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. urged investors to pile into commodities as most recession risks coursing through global markets are overblown in the near term, arguing that raw materials stand to rebound amid a profound energy crisis and tight physical fundamentals. "Our economists view the risk of a recession outside Europe in the next 12 months as relatively low," analysts including Sabine Schels, Jeffrey Currie and Damien Courvalin wrote in a note. "With oil the commodity of last resort in an era of severe energy shortages, we believe the pullback in the entire oil complex provides an attractive entry point for long-only investments."
/jlne.ws/3cAlUZU
A post-dollar world is coming; The currency may look strong but its weaknesses are mounting
Ruchir Sharma - Financial Times
This month, as the dollar surged to levels last seen nearly 20 years ago, analysts invoked the old Tina (there is no alternative) argument to predict more gains ahead for the mighty greenback. What happened two decades ago suggests the dollar is closer to peaking than rallying further. Even as US stocks fell in the dotcom bust, the dollar continued rising, before entering a decline that started in 2002 and lasted six years. A similar turning point may be near. And this time, the US currency's decline could last even longer.
/jlne.ws/3TroMc8
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Coal industry wants to slow down proposed regulations
Jeremy Beaman - Washington Examiner
Grid operators and coal interests are urging the Environmental Protection Agency to rethink a series of proposed rules to crack down harder on pollutants from coal-fired power plants, a signature environmental move by President Joe Biden's administration that starkly contrasts the industry-friendly approach of former President Donald Trump. In April, the Biden administration proposed a number of rules designed to reduce the release of toxins and other dangers from coal plants. That includes nitrogen oxide and mercury pollution, as well as cross-state smog. But such steps would make it nearly impossible to keep coal plants running, the industry argues. Coal interests see it as a gut punch to an industry that is already on its heels, with the future being focused more on lower-emitting sources, such as gas and renewable wind and solar.
/jlne.ws/3e0xpdB
Cities Brace for This Season's Colliding Climate Disasters; May to October has become known as the "danger season" — when the US is most at risk of experiencing back-to-back climate disasters like heat waves, wildfires, drought and storms.
Linda Poon - Bloomberg
As summer in the US approaches peak wildfire and hurricane seasons, with above-normal activity predicted for the latter, experts worry that persistent heat waves can pack a deadly one-two punch as they coincide with extreme storms and severe droughts. Such a threat played out in August 2020, when a heat wave blanketed Louisiana right after Hurricane Laura hit, leaving residents in 100-degree Fahrenheit weather without power. Of the 31 storm-related deaths reported, eight were "heat-related" and nine were due to carbon monoxide poisoning, likely from a generator. Then in October, as parishes were barely recovering in the sweltering heat, Hurricane Delta came barreling up the Gulf Coast.
/jlne.ws/3ATEyoZ
Nothing In History Compares To China's Brutal Heat Wave, Weather Historian Says
Hilary Hanson - HuffPost
The two-month-long stretch of hot weather baking large swaths of China is, all things considered, the world's most extreme heat wave on record, one climatologist argues. The country has kept national weather records since 1961, and this summer's hot spell marks the longest continuous period of high temperatures that southern China has seen since then, Agence France-Presse reported Thursday. Climatologist and weather historian Maximiliano Herrera believes that when all factors are taken into account, it's the most severe heat wave recorded anywhere. "This combines the most extreme intensity with the most extreme length with an incredibly huge area all at the same time," Herrera told New Scientist on Tuesday. "There is nothing in world climatic history which is even minimally comparable to what is happening in China."
/jlne.ws/3Kr80Wy
Dried-Out Farms From China to Iowa Will Pressure Food Prices; US crop tour reveals the damage done by severe drought; Lack of rain is also taking a toll on Europe, China and India
Kim Chipman and Tarso Veloso Ribeiro - Bloomberg
Drought is shrinking crops from the US Farm Belt to China's Yangtze River basin, ratcheting up fears of global hunger and weighing on the outlook for inflation. The latest warning flare comes out of the American Midwest, where some corn is so parched stalks are missing ears of grain and soybean pods are fewer and smaller than usual. The dismal report from the Pro Farmer Crop Tour has helped lift a gauge of grain prices back to the highest level since June. The world is desperate to replenish grain reserves diminished by trade disruptions in the Black Sea and unfavorable weather in some of the largest growing regions. But an industry tour of US fields over the past week stunned market participants -- who had been more optimistic -- with reports of extensive crop damage due to brutal heat and a lack of water.
/jlne.ws/3cp7ITN
U.S. energy secretary urges refiners not to increase fuel exports
Reuters
The U.S. Energy Secretary urged domestic oil refiners this month to not further increase exports of fuels like gasoline and diesel, adding that the Biden administration may need to consider taking action if the plants do not build inventories. U.S. refiners have boosted oil product exports this month as domestic crude oil production rose and global fuel demand continued to recover. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, in a letter sent Aug. 18, urged seven refiners including Valero (VLO.N), ExxonMobil (XOM.N) and Chevron (CVX.N), to build supplies of fuels as the United States enters peak hurricane season.
/jlne.ws/3CFZh16
West Virginia's Coal Dependence Drives Up Consumer Electric Bills; State generates more electricity from coal than any other in the U.S.
Kris Maher - The Wall Street Journal
Coal used to keep utility rates low in West Virginia. More recently, it has caused them to rise faster than in most other states. Jason Zeigler said his monthly electricity bill for his 2,000-square-foot, four-bedroom house on a hilly street just outside this city on the Ohio River hit $368.91 this spring. Like his neighbors, Mr. Zeigler said he has spent thousands of dollars to buy more efficient appliances, adding insulation to his attic and switching to lightbulbs that use less energy. His bills are still rising in a state that generates 91% of its electricity from coal, more than any other state. "I'm not one of these coal or nothing people. You've got to diversify your energy," said Mr. Zeigler, a physical-therapist assistant. He and his wife have spent less on clothes, restaurants and vacations as their bills climbed, he said.
/jlne.ws/3cw0OvJ
ESG - A Defense, A Critique (part 2 now), And A Way Forward: An Evidence-Driven Pragmatic Perspective
Shivaram Rajgopal - Forbes
I am the Kester and Brynes Professor at Columbia Business School and a Chazen Senior Scholar at the Jerome A. Chazen Institute for Global Business.Continuing from last week, this week I look at evidence related to claims that ESG is a savior of our ecosystem and how profit and shareholder value maximization is the residual claimant of virtually every evil in our society.
/bit.ly/3e3O9AS
ESG among key concerns on Qatari business agenda, says report
Gulf Times - QATAR
Environment, social, and governance (ESG) has emerged in recent years as one most important topics on the Qatari business agenda, according to a new report. The report titled 'Qatar's Sustainable Economic Transition', produced by Oxford Business Group (OBG), in partnership with LuLu Group International discusses how ESG policies are being embedded into the Qatari business environment and capital markets.
/bit.ly/3qbefEV
Secret Data, Tiny Islands and a Quest for Treasure on the Ocean Floor; Mining in parts of the Pacific Ocean was meant to benefit poor countries, but an international agency gave a Canadian company access to prized seabed sites with metals crucial to the green energy revolution.
Eric Lipton - The New York Times
As demand grows globally for metals needed to make batteries for electric vehicles, one of the richest untapped sources of the raw materials lies two and a half miles beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean. This remote section of the seabed, about 1,500 miles southwest of San Diego, could soon become the world's first industrial-scale mining site in international waters.
/jlne.ws/3Q5XaGY
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Three different DAX benchmarks to build distinct German ESG portfolios
Serkan Batir - Qontigo
As demand for sustainable investing in the German market grew strongly in recent years, Qontigo has introduced three alternatives to the benchmark DAX® that meet specific needs of investors with diverse responsible objectives. They are the DAX® 50 ESG, DAX® ESG Target and DAX® ESG Screened indices. While the DAX ESG Screened represents a straightforward negative-screening strategy, the other two indices combine exclusionary screening and best-in-class ESG integration. All three were also specifically designed with distinct characteristics in terms of selection and weighting process, and currently serve as underlying for respective ETFs.
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UBS Left Off Texas Muni Deal After It's Named Energy Boycotter
Danielle Moran - Bloomberg
UBS has been dropped from the underwriting ranks of a municipal-bond deal that Laredo, Texas, plans to sell next week after state Comptroller Glenn Hegar included the bank on a list of firms he deems "boycott" the fossil-fuel industry. The decision to remove the Zurich-based bank from the underwriting syndicate for the roughly $119 million revenue-debt transaction came after Hegar released the list on Wednesday, according to Noé Hinojosa, Jr., the chairman and president of Estrada Hinojosa, the financial adviser on the deal. Wells Fargo & Co. took UBS's spot, he said.
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Lone Pine Assets Shrivel as Hedge Fund Reels From Record Losses; Steve Mandel's firm is looking to raise new money from clients; Its total assets have tumbled 42% this year to $16.7 billion
Katherine Burton - Bloomberg
Lone Pine Capital is facing its biggest challenge since Steve Mandel founded the firm a quarter-century ago, with its $5.8 billion hedge fund down the most in its history. The hedge and long-only funds are both mired in a prolonged slump, each losing more than 30% this year through July on bullish growth-stock wagers that soured. Assets have tumbled 42% to $16.7 billion, driven by the wrong-way bets and client redemptions. It's a humbling turn for a firm that long engendered fierce client loyalty with its industry-leading returns and comes just three years after Mandel, 66, stepped back from day-to-day management.
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Fund manager Abrdn poised to drop out of FTSE 100; Expected demotion follows 40 per cent share price plunge this year
Adrienne Klasa and Joshua Oliver - Financial Times
Fund manager Abrdn is expected to be relegated from the FTSE 100 this week for the first time since a 2017 merger brought together two of the country's biggest names in fund management. Abrdn is the seventh-worst performing stock among UK blue chips this year, with a more than 40 per cent plunge in its share price bringing its market capitalisation below the cutoff for inclusion in the index of the UK's biggest listed companies, according to FTSE Russell.
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Wave of Goldman Sachs workers quit en masse at 'toxic' Wall Street giant: sources
Lydia Moynihan - NY Post
Goldman Sachs has been hit by a wave of defections, and the atmosphere at the financial giant is at "an all-time toxic high right now," The Post has learned. Six overworked first-year bankers quit and walked out en masse from the bank's 200 West Street headquarters Wednesday after getting news of their bonuses, sources told The Post.
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Booster Shots Protect Against Severe Covid for at Least Six Months, Study Finds
Kanoko Matsuyama - Bloomberg
A Covid-19 vaccine booster shot protects people from becoming severely ill or dying and its efficacy lasts for six months, according a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, underscoring the importance of additional jabs as the world moves to coexist with the virus. The mRNA booster vaccines -- made by drugmakers Pfizer Inc. and BionTech SE, or Moderna Inc. -- were most effective in cutting the rate of people with severe Covid, scoring an estimated 87%, and there was no evidence of their effect waning within six months, the study found. Inactivated booster vaccines by Sinovac Biotech Ltd. and Sinopharm Group Co. also cut the chance of severe illness by about 70%. Severe Covid was defined in the research as requiring oxygen supplementation, intensive care or death.
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Most Parents Are Saying No to Covid-19 Vaccines for Toddlers; More than a month after the shots became available, roughly 4% to 5% of children under 5 years have received them
Jared S. Hopkins and Jon Kamp - The Wall Street Journal
Parents are having their say about the Covid-19 vaccines for children under 5, and for most, the answer so far is no. More than a month after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended shots for about 17.4 million children ages 6 months through 4 years, about 4% to 5% of them have received a shot, according to the most recent agency data and population estimates from the American Academy of Pediatrics. By contrast, the vaccination rate for children 5 to 11 years reached about 18% a month after the CDC first recommended shots last November. The rate now stands at about 38%.
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Pfizer 'surprised' by Moderna COVID-19 vaccine patent lawsuit
Anjalee Khemlani - Yahoo! Finance
Moderna (MRNA) said Friday it is suing Pfizer and BioNTech (PFE/BNTX), alleging the rival drug makers infringed three patents on the technology it used for its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. In two lawsuits filed in U.S. federal court, and Germany where BioNTech is based, Moderna said it is seeking monetary damages for Pfizer/BioNTech's alleged use of its technology in countries where it is enforcing its patents — that excludes 92 low- and middle-income countries. Moderna is only asking for damages tied to alleged infringement that occurred after March 7. Pfizer and its biotech partner, BioNTech, say they were caught off guard by the litigation.
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Hong Kong buyers snatch up all flats on offer at Sun Hung Kai's Novo Land ahead of city's potential new prime rate increase
Zhang Shidong - South China Morning Post
Hong Kong extended its latest streak of strong weekend property sales on Saturday, as buyers rushed to snap up flats on offer at Sun Hung Kai Properties' (SHKP) Novo Land development, in a pre-emptive move ahead of a potential new prime rate increase in the city.
SHKP, the city's biggest developer by market cap, sold all of the 170 units on offer at the second phase of its Novo Land project in Tuen Mun just four hours after sales commenced at 9am on Saturday, according to local real property agents and media.
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China's Hydro Power Crisis Is Just the Start; Climate-fueled droughts could make climate change even worse. Plus, more of the week's top opinions.
Jessica Karl - Bloomberg
If you're looking for an iconic example of humanity's ability to harness nature to produce clean energy on a massive scale, it's hard to ignore the Three Gorges Dam. Built through the 2000s just as China's rise was at its most headlong, the world's largest power station can generate 22.5 gigawatts, equivalent to 20 nuclear plants. Two more of the world's six biggest generators are upstream of its reservoir on the Yangtze River. Together, they pump out enough electricity to light up Poland.
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Pakistan to Dodge Short-Term Default as Political Turmoil Grows; IMF is expected to approve a bailout program on Monday; Khan to appear at court Wednesday as he faces legal troubles
Karl Lester M Yap and Faseeh Mangi - Bloomberg
Pakistan is poised to evade a near-term default amid expectations the International Monetary Fund will resume its $6 billion bailout program, but a rally in the nation's assets may fizzle out amid escalating political tensions. Columbia Threadneedle Investments, Tellimer Ltd. and Natixis SA predict Pakistan will win a loan approval from the IMF board when it meets on Monday, paving the way for the release of $1.2 billion in immediate funds. Two days later, focus will shift to a court hearing where former premier Imran Khan has been asked to appear as he battles a string of legal troubles.
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Hundreds of children among 1,000 people killed by Pakistan monsoon rains and floods
Michelle Velez and Teele Rebane - CNN
Severe rains and flooding have killed at least 1,033 people, including 348 children, and left 1,527 more injured in Pakistan since mid-June, officials said on Sunday. The country's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) added that 119 people had died and 71 injured in the last 24 hours alone. At least 33 million people have been affected by the disaster, Pakistan's Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman said on Thursday. She called the floods "unprecedented" and "the worst humanitarian disaster of this decade. Pakistan is going through its eighth cycle of monsoon while normally the country has only three to four cycles of rain," Rehman said. "The percentages of super flood torrents are shocking." She highlighted in particular the impact on the south of the country, adding that "maximum" relief efforts are underway.
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China Pessimism Prevails as Traders Overlook Key Earnings Beats; Investors choose to scrutinize bad news out of solid earnings; Power shortage, Covid, property slump weigh on sentiment
Bloomberg
Earnings from Chinese firms have shown resilience under harsh lockdowns, but traders are zeroing in on pockets of disappointment and dumping stocks while analysts continue to trim forward estimates. A number of market heavyweights have seen shares slump after a good earnings show, as investors chose to focus on segment misses or simply used the event as an opportunity to take profit. One striking example was battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., whose stock slid nearly 6% earlier last week even as a 82% jump in profit trumped estimates.
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Highest Rainfall in 30 Years Threatens Pakistan's Recovery
Faseeh Mangi - Bloomberg
Pakistan's economic recovery is facing new risks after the highest rainfall in at least three decades threatens a humanitarian crisis in the world's fifth most populous nation. Rainfall so far this year is running at more than 780% above average levels, Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman said in a text message. About 1,000 people have been killed, while thousands are without shelter and food in a crisis that has impacted 30 million people, according to the National Disaster Management Authority.
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China's Bad Debt Funds Are No White Knights in Property Crisis; Debt woes at Huarong, others worsened amid real estate slump; Beijing was counting on these funds to bolster developers
Bloomberg
China's bad-debt managers, pegged just six months ago as potential white knights to the crumbling real estate sector, have turned out to be part of the problem. Aggressive lending to embattled developers during the sector's boom years has beset the $730 billion funds with heavy credit losses, sending their bonds tumbling and forcing Beijing to weigh a preliminary plan to restructure the sector, according to people familiar with the matter. The troubles at China's four largest managers of soured loans have worsened as the real estate crisis deepened this year, meaning they are unlikely to rescue the sector until they get their own finances in order.
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Hong Kong Reports Highest Number of Daily Cases in Five Months
Tania Chen - Bloomberg
Hong Kong reported a total of 9,708 new Covid-19 infections on Sunday, the highest daily tally in five months. The case count included 213 imported cases, health officials said at a briefing Sunday. There were 10 new Covid patients in critical condition and 10 new virus-related deaths.
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How Hong Kong can roll back Covid-19 restrictions to save the economy
Mike Rowse - South China Morning Post
In the 11th century, the story goes, King Canute of England, Denmark and Norway took his courtiers to the beach to show them the tide could not be stopped from coming in. The lesson is that the inevitable will happen and the best any leader can do is manage the consequences. That lesson applies directly to the Covid-19 situation in Hong Kong. We know the latest variants are extremely contagious and cannot be stopped from spreading in the community. We also know they are much less virulent, and vaccines provide a very high level of protection. Given the devastating consequences of our Covid-19 policies on the economy, we urgently need a change of mindset to save our city and economy.
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Ambani Outlines Roles for Reliance Heirs at $220 Billion Empire;Akash to helm Jio, Isha retail and Anant green energy business; Ambani faced a bitter fraternal feud after his father died
P R Sanjai - Bloomberg
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani outlined the businesses each of his three children will oversee during Reliance Industries Ltd.'s annual shareholder meeting, laying down for the first time a clear succession path at the $220 billion Indian conglomerate that became mired in a bitter fraternal feud almost twenty years ago.
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India tipped to join pivotal JPMorgan bond index; Bank consults investors about including rupee-denominated debt in move that could drive $30bn in inflows
Hudson Lockett, Chloe Cornish and Jonathan Wheatley - Financial Times
JPMorgan is sounding out big investors on adding India to its widely tracked emerging-market bond index, setting the stage for tens of billions of dollars of inflows as the country's domestic market opens up to foreign capital. The Wall Street bank is seeking investor views on whether to make a large chunk of India's $1tn rupee-dominated bond market eligible for inclusion in the GBI-EM Global Diversified index of local currency debt, according to two people familiar with the matter. It opened the consultation this summer with fund managers accounting for 85 per cent of the $240bn in assets under management tracking the benchmark.
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A Corner of Europe Starts Living With Blackouts Again; Every six hours the power goes off in Kosovo. It's the first country on the continent to suffer rolling outages as the energy crisis escalates.
Andrea Dudik - Bloomberg
The lights go off and the French chanson music suddenly cuts out. The morning buzz inside the Image Café in the Kosovo capital of Pristina goes quiet. It's 10 a.m. Arbnor Gashi, a server, fetches a small outdoor generator and switches it on. The power is enough to restore the music, but the mood among the politicians, lobbyists and businesspeople who frequent the café has already soured. No more coffee for two hours, except what's already getting lukewarm. "Some people get angry, but it's not my fault," said Gashi, 22. "It's a political problem. No other country has these power shortages in Europe, just us."
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Serbia to Cancel EuroPride Event Planned in Belgrade
Misha Savic and Jasmina Kuzmanovic - Bloomberg
Serbia will cancel the week-long EuroPride event that Belgrade was expected to host in September as the time is "not right" for the gathering, President Aleksandar Vucic told reporters on Saturday. While expressing support for the country's openly gay prime minister, Ana Brnabic, who he had earlier in the day nominated for a third term, Vucic said the government is fighting "bigger problems" and that it has to take into account "many people who sincerely feel threatened" by the event. EuroPride had been scheduled to take place in Belgrade from Sept. 12 to Sept. 18 as the first major event for pan-European LGBTQ community in southeastern Europe.
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UK Students Seek Second Jobs and Food Banks After Inflation Jump; Inflation is eating away at the value of student loans; Cost of living crisis hits those on lowest incomes hardest
Celia Bergin - Bloomberg
Students in the UK face working multiple jobs and even visiting food banks in the coming academic year as rising inflation erodes the value of loans and grants. A fifth of students say they'll have to take on two jobs when universities start up again from September, according to a survey of 1,500 students by recruitment website Breakroom. Maintenance loans that students can apply for from the government are set to be the lowest in real terms in seven years, according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies.
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In Poland, where coal is king, homeowners queue for days to buy fuel
Marek Strzelecki and Kuba Stezycki - Reuters
In Poland's late summer heat, dozens of cars and trucks line up at the Lubelski Wegiel Bogdanka coal mine, as householders fearful of winter shortages wait for days and nights to stock up on heating fuel in queues reminiscent of communist times. Artur, 57, a pensioner, drove up from Swidnik, some 30 km (18 miles) from the mine in eastern Poland on Tuesday, hoping to buy several tonnes of coal for himself and his family. "Toilets were put up today, but there's no running water," he said, after three nights of sleeping in his small red hatchback in a crawling queue of trucks, tractors towing trailers and private cars. "This is beyond imagination, people are sleeping in their cars. I remember the communist times but it didn't cross my mind that we could return to something even worse."
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Britain Bets on Futuristic Batteries to Cut Dependence on Gas; From liquid air to elevated reservoirs, technologies take off; Energy storage will help the UK shift to wind and solar
Will Mathis - Bloomberg
Britain, like most of Europe, is facing an energy crisis of epic proportions. Wholesale gas prices have surged again, putting the rocket under the UK's price cap on household bills. Businesses are at risk of going bust as costs soar. The UK's dependence on gas, which constituted 40% of its power last year, makes it particularly vulnerable and exposes the need for alternative sources of energy to the fossil fuel. As more energy comes from wind and solar, the country will also need power sources that can be turned on when demand spikes and the wind isn't blowing. One option is batteries. Here, we take a look at the energy storage technologies, new and old, that are already taking hold.
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Iran May Drain Offshore Oil Cache If Nuclear Deal Reached; Tehran may have as much 93 million barrels ready to be tapped; 'Sizeable flotilla' could hit the market, JTD's Driscoll says
Sharon Cho - Bloomberg
Progress toward an Iranian nuclear deal has thrown the spotlight onto a sizeable cache of crude held by Tehran that could be swiftly dispatched to buyers in the event an agreement gets hammered out. About 93 million barrels of Iranian crude and condensate are currently stored on vessels in the Persian Gulf, off Singapore and near China, according to ship-tracking firm Kpler, while Vortexa Ltd. estimates the holdings at 60 to 70 million barrels. In addition, there are smaller volumes in onshore tanks.
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Engineer Who Freed Chilean Miners Takes Helm at Top Copper Firm; Sougarret takes over Monday as CEO at state-owned Codelco; Company has been facing string of operational setbacks
James Attwood - Bloomberg
The engineer who led the rescue of 33 trapped miners in Chile more than a decade ago will now oversee the biggest copper-producing company in the world. Andre Sougarret will take over from Octavio Araneda as chief executive officer at Codelco on Monday, the Chilean state-owned company said in a statement. Araneda steps down due to health reasons, ending a 36-year career at Codelco.
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New York Fuel Supply Is So Low It Triggered White House Warning; Stockpiles are at or near lowest ever for this time of year; Gulf Coast fuel exports set to dip with rising domestic demand
Chunzi Xu - Bloomberg
The New York area is running so low on fuel that the Biden administration is warning of government action to address exports and suppliers are resorting to expensive US tankers to restock the region. Inventories of East Coast distillates including diesel are languishing at the seasonal lowest levels ever, while gasoline stockpiles in the New York Harbor area emerged from historic lows only last week. The administration could take "emergency measures" if refiners don't limit exports to replenish domestic stockpiles, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm wrote in a letter last week to companies including Exxon Mobil Corp., Valero Energy Corp., and Phillips 66.
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U.S issues fuel, truck driver waivers after BP Whiting shutdown
David Shepardson - Reuters
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Transportation Department on Saturday took steps to help alleviate potential fuel shortages in four states after the unanticipated shutdown of the BP Whiting, Indiana (BP.L) refinery. Reuters reported Friday the 435,000 barrel-per-day refinery was shut down and undergoing damage assessment following loss of electrical power and cooling water systems in a Wednesday fire. The EPA said Saturday it waived through Sept. 15 federal regulations for fuel volatility on gasoline sold in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin, to facilitate the supply of fuel. EPA said Administrator Michael Regan "determined that extreme and unusual fuel supply circumstances exist and has granted a temporary waiver to help ensure that an adequate supply of gasoline is available in the affected areas until normal supply to the region can be restored."
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | They were some of the last journalists at their papers. Then came the layoffs.; The latest cutbacks at Gannett come amid an industry-wide trend of shrinking newspaper newsrooms
Elahe Izadi - The Washington Post
The only full-time news reporter at the Daily Jeffersonian kept busy until recently. Kristi Garabrandt drove around Guernsey County, Ohio, for three years covering local council meetings and Eagle Scouts, photographing community events and writing a series on drug addiction. The Daily Jeff, as it's called locally, has been around since 1824. "The reality is the community paper is pretty much what holds your community together," Garabrandt said.
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How Do You Build a (Digital) City?; More than three decades after SimCity, tech companies, retailers and governments are using the game's basic building blocks to create three-dimensional worlds.
Immanual John Milton - Bloomberg
In the video game SimCity, first published in 1989, players start with a simple plot of land — digital sediment that gradually transforms into a couple of houses, grows into a suburban utopia and finally materializes as a booming virtual metropolis filled with inhabitants commonly known as "Sims." In-game city planning challenges range from the prosaic, like collecting taxes and building an electricity grid, to out-of-this-world obstacles like UFO attacks. Fast-forward more than 30 years from that initial launch, and today's technologists are pitching a vision in which players don't just control Sims-like characters — they become them.
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