| January 03, 2023 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
Welcome to 2023. Remember to start using that year when writing checks or dating papers or anything else that requires a date. Let's hope 2023 brings us all improvement and progress, good health and strong relationships.
Longtime tax and derivatives lobbyist Tad Davis, who long represented the Chicago Board of Trade in Washington, D.C., has died at the age of 84. He was a former U.S. Army officer who worked as a strategic intelligence officer with the Defense Intelligence Agency. He also worked for the Internal Revenue Service as an attorney in the chief counsel's office. His firm, Davis & Harman LLP, represented the Chicago Board of Trade for many years. I was lucky enough to attend a Fourth of July party at the offices of Davis & Harman in the Willard Office Building by the White House many years ago with my son Tim.
Michael Penick has retired from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission after 31 years, leaving as a senior economist. He has worked on everything from corn to crypto during his tenure.
The generous people at Wedbush Securities made a last minute gift to the JLN MarketsWiki Education GofundMe campaign on December 30, 2022, of $1500. I had made an appeal for the GoFundme Campaign so that we might max out the pledge that Trading Technologies made of $20,000 in 2022. TT had indicated they were not funding the pledge in 2023. Luckily, Exchange Analytics, Jim Downs and an anonymous donor came through to prompt TT to make its final $1474 match. And then Wedbush Securities gave us $1500 for the cherry on top of 2022, giving us a working total on the GoFundMe website of $74,502.
The exciting news is that JLN is going to give you even more reasons in 2023 to support our GoFund Me campaign. First, we have a project underway to turn our Open Outcry Traders History Project videos into podcasts, with new music and audio engineering. Secondly, we are looking at starting a new historical series on The History of Clearing and Settlement. And third, we will be producing more of all of the historical content that you support with your GoFundMe contributions. Our historical work includes collaborating with the FIA on the videos for the new members of the FIA Hall of Fame.
According to The Wall Street Journal, "More Bosses Order Workers Back to the Office as Job Market Shifts." The companies cited in the article include Vanguard and Paycom Software. Goldman Sachs is also noted in the story.
The Journal also says "Tech Layoffs Are Happening Faster Than at Any Time During the Pandemic." The story says that collectively tech employers in 2022 cut 150,000 jobs, based on estimates from Layoffs.fy., a website that tracks reports of layoffs. Comparatively, there were 80,000 jobs lost in the tech sector in the March to December 2020 timeframe and in 2021 there were 15,000, according to the website.
In a case of someone must not be reading the headlines these days, the Journal reports "IRS Sees Crypto Companies as Potential Crime-Fighting Partners." Maybe they can turn some of them into snitches, but the crypto world is still the wild west. Before you can turn some of the crypto companies into crime fighting partners, maybe you should set the regulations so they know where the lines are to avoid.
So you worked at FTX and you want to get another job, what do you do? Well, The Wall Street Journal has some advice for you. The first thing they say is, you need to own up to it. Do anything you can to prove you are not deceptive, the story says, quoting recruiting firm Hamlyn Williams.
A new term I recently learned was "nepo babies." Essentially, this is a new way of referring to nepotism and the people who are hired as a result of nepotism. Of course, I am guilty of nepotism as I have hired nephews and offspring. The word "nepotism" derives from Latin and comes from the Catholic church's practice of allowing popes to appoint their nephews to the College of Cardinals, The New York Times tells us. I have been lucky that the nephews, sons and daughter I have hired have been talented workers. Family businesses are an important part of the economic fabric of the U.S. and I could not have accomplished what I have at John Lothian News without my own nepo babies.
China is not happy about countries imposing testing rules on travelers from China to their countries and is threatening to impose testing rules on travelers from those countries into China, The New York Times reports. Canada, the United States, France, Spain, Japan and the United Kingdom are among the countries that have imposed testing requirements for travelers from China.
The New York Times and Andrew Ross Sorkin and his team have an interesting story about "How Sam Bankman-Fried Negotiated His Way Out of Jail." Look for Sorkin to continue to follow the SBF travails during 2023.
The New York Post has a story about the Netflix docuseries on Bernie Madoff that says "Bernie Madoff went to jail to avoid mob hit." As you might recall, Madoff was managing some money for international organized crime and was sure they would kill him. Going to jail was a way to save his life, the story says.
Why do I think that Barbara Walters' first celebrity interview in heaven will be with Pope Benedict XVI?
Yesterday was not a good day for Purdue athletics. The football team was beaten badly by LSU in the Cheez-it Citrus Bowl, 63-7. Then the number one ranked basketball team was defeated by one point again by Rutgers, for the second year in a row, but this time on Purdue's home court. Let's just say I am not surprised by the football score based on the fact Purdue had 12 players opt out of the game to either prepare for the NFL draft or transfer to other schools. And that abandonment does not even include the coach bailing on the team to jump to Louisville and leaving the team in the hands of his brother and new assistant coach for the game, Drew Brees.
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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Economist Impact, the events arm of The Economist Group, is hosting ESG and Climate Risk Week, September 12-14, 2023, in London and virtually. Conference programming will focus on how impact investments could help meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Case studies and roundtable discussions will be geared to an audience of financial services executives and institutional investors. You can learn more and register interest here. ~SAED
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CQG's Moroney, Brennan on how collaboration builds a healthy ecosystem
JohnLothianNews.com
Ryan Moroney, CEO and managing director of CQG, said it was a no-brainer to expand Alli Brennan's role to head of Americas and EMEA, running sales for the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) office as well as the Americas office. In the role since early November, Brennan said she's excited by the opportunity to grow CQG's footprint and launch products in a new region. Moroney and Brennan spoke with John Lothian News about developments in CQG's world of trade routing, market data, and technical analysis tools in an interview at FIA Expo 2022.
Watch the video »
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A breakout year for artificial intelligence; Generative AI has big implications that we do not fully comprehend
The editorial board - Financial Times
Farewell crypto, hello generative AI. With the selective amnesia that is one of the defining characteristics of their trade, venture capital investors have already moved on from their unfortunate dalliance with the imploding FTX crypto exchange and fallen in love with the next big thing. This year, they say, will be the breakout year for artificial intelligence. Although that statement might have been made in any of the past few years, this time they really mean it.
/jlne.ws/3VG6jIX
***** I believe this is true and we are all going to have to look for ways to use AI in our businesses.~JJL
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What UBS' Art Cashin taught me about the art of storytelling
Bob Pisani - CNBC
If you had met Art Cashin on the street outside the New York Stock Exchange in 2019, you would have thought you were meeting a man one step removed from homelessness. His suit would have been rumpled. His ties would have been 20 years old, knotted carelessly and skewed to one side. He would be wearing a dilapidated trench coat straight out of "Casablanca." He would be slouching. He looked like he might have slept outside on the pavement. But for 60 years, Art Cashin has been one of the most influential men on Wall Street. Head of floor trading for UBS, he is old-school Wall Street to the core: a market historian, a great drinker, but above all a raconteur - a teller of stories.
/jlne.ws/3VzGIBq
****** Cashin is also a great gardener.~JJL
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Barbara Walters, trailblazing TV icon, dies at 93
Luchina Fisher and Bill Hutchinson - ABC News
Barbara Walters, the trailblazing television news broadcaster and longtime ABC News anchor and correspondent who shattered the glass ceiling and became a dominant force in an industry once dominated by men, died Friday. She was 93. Walters joined ABC News in 1976, becoming the first female anchor on an evening news program. Three years later, she became a co-host of "20/20," and in 1997, she launched "The View." Bob Iger, the CEO of The Walt Disney Company which is the parent company of ABC News, praised Walters as someone who broke down barriers.
/jlne.ws/3vyUp9i
***** Barbara Walters was one of the most consequential journalists of our times. She blazed a trail and opened doors for women journalists and will be greatly missed for her interviewing skills and grace.~JJL
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Russia outlines plan for 'unfriendly' investors to sell up at half-price
Alexander Marrow - Reuters
Foreign investors from "unfriendly" countries selling stakes in Russian assets may have to do so at half-price or less, the finance ministry said on Friday, with the Russian budget potentially taking a 10% cut of any transaction. Since Moscow sent its army into Ukraine in February, many Western companies - from energy producers to food and clothing chains - have left Russia. Minutes from a meeting of a government commission monitoring foreign investment listed a set of measures that could apply to "foreign persons associated with foreign states that commit unfriendly acts against Russian legal entities and individuals" when selling assets.
/jlne.ws/3Z8ZkLF
****** And if you ever wondered why you should not do business with Russia, here is your answer.~JJL
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Winklevii vs Silbert; Crypto kicks off 2023 with a bang
Robin Wigglesworth - Financial Times
Individual crypto businesses and their (cough) related parties often have more than a whiff of the ouroboros about them. But the industry as whole mostly resembles the spidermen circle of blame meme these days. The latest example came earlier today, when Cameron Winklevoss of Gemini published an "open letter" to fellow crypto baron Barry Silbert of Digital Currency Group about $900mn that Gemini users are owed by DCG's Genesis unit, which suspended withdrawals last year.
/jlne.ws/3ClWj0K
****** Two on one does not seem fair, but Silbert brings a group to this fight.~JJL
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Remote Work Is Poised to Devastate America's Cities
Eric Levitz - New York Magazine
The "work from home" revolution has been very good for political columnists who like to write shirtless in pajama pants and share too much personal information with their readers. But the phenomenon hasn't been so great for America's cities. The nation's office buildings aren't as empty as they were before COVID vaccines became widely available in spring 2021. But they're still far less populated than they were in 2019. A recent analysis of Census Bureau data from the financial site Lending Tree found that 29 percent of Americans were working from home in October 2022. In New York City, financial firms reported that only 56 percent of their employees were in the office on a typical day in September.
/jlne.ws/3WGsxMl
***** The devastation can be measured in the Chicago financial district by looking at the empty windows in building after building at the ground level where stores and restaurants used to be.~JJL
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Friday's Top Three
Our top story Friday was Case for blockchain in financial services dented by failures, from the Financial Times. Second was No, Advisors, Crypto Is Not a Ponzi Scheme, from CoinDesk. Third was The Wall Street Journal's A Year in Reading: Our Favorite Books of 2022, a pretty comprehensive and eclectic list.
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MarketsWiki Stats
27,114 pages; 242,143 edits
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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 | Rookie Traders Are Calling It Quits, and Their Families Are Thrilled; Many who picked up investing during the pandemic are cooling on the hobby
Rachel Louise Ensign - The Wall Street Journal
Some novices who took up trading during the pandemic are abandoning the hobby. Their loved ones are breathing a sigh of relief. Spouses, parents and other family members who were subjected to one too many play-by-plays of market movements say they are happy to have their loved ones back-and equally glad they no longer have to hear about buzzy stocks or cryptocurrencies. The market swooned in 2022, taking the fun out of day trading for many newbies. The S&P 500, after surging during the pandemic, just wrapped up its worst year since 2008. Bitcoin lost about 65% of its value throughout the year.
/jlne.ws/3VGzKug
Commodities trading boom raises fear of big losses among retail investors; Experts warn of market volatility as trading volumes of gold, oil, silver and copper have surged
Madison Darbyshire and Nicholas Megaw - Financial Times
Growing numbers of retail investors are being drawn into commodity trading after two consecutive years of bumper returns, despite concerns that they could suffer huge losses or disrupt the complex and volatile markets. Retail trading volumes in commodity futures and the largest commodity-focused investment funds surged in 2022. But while activity has been spurred by commodities' much better recent record than that of stocks and bonds, some market participants and analysts have voiced fears about retail traders wading in to a highly volatile market dominated by specialised players.
/jlne.ws/3WX0RD7
How Not to Play the Game; Magic beans, Bahamian penthouses, old-fashioned fraud and other important SBF-inspired insights. A postscript to Bloomberg Businessweek's The Crypto Story.
Matt Levine - Bloomberg
On Oct. 25, Bloomberg Businessweek published "The Crypto Story," a cover-to-cover issue of the magazine that I wrote about what crypto is and what it all might mean. Over the summer prices had crashed and several prominent crypto companies had failed, and it looked like the popular enthusiasm for crypto was finally fading. People called it a "crypto winter." Still, I wrote, "it's a good time to be talking about crypto. There's a pause; there's some repose."
/jlne.ws/3GeOURZ
This Little-Known U.S. Agency Determines Millions in ESG Investing
Lenders have rushed to earn the government's socially conscious seal of approval. Now, they are pushing back on reforms.
Jacob Adelman - Barron's
Change Lending says it has an edge over its competitors: It can provide mortgages to borrowers who can't document that they have the income or job security to pay those loans back. Change says it offers this "unfair advantage" by virtue of being a Community Development Financial Institution, a little-known program under the U.S. Treasury that certifies businesses that lend to underserved communities.
/jlne.ws/3GBxbFN
A new world energy order is taking shape; Global oil trade is de-dollarising slowly but surely
Rana Foroohar - Financial Times
On Valentine's Day in 1945, US president Franklin Delano Roosevelt met Saudi King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud on the American cruiser USS Quincy. It was the beginning of one of the most important geopolitical alliances of the past 70 years, in which US security in the Middle East was bartered for oil pegged in dollars. But times change, and 2023 may be remembered as the year that this grand bargain began to shift, as a new world energy order between China and the Middle East took shape.
/jlne.ws/3Xj56sr
How Sam Bankman-Fried Negotiated His Way Out of Jail; Intense legal wrangling led to the disgraced crypto mogul paying virtually nothing to live with his parents ahead of his upcoming trial. He returns to court on Tuesday.
Andrew Ross Sorkin, Ravi Mattu, Bernhard Warner, Sarah Kessler, Michael J. de la Merced, Lauren Hirsch and Ephrat Livni - The New York Times
The truth about Bankman-Fried's historic bail deal
Andrew here. Happy New Year and welcome back to DealBook. We're looking forward to a big 2023. One story line we'll be following, of course, is the saga of Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX. The fallen crypto mogul is scheduled to be in court in New York on Tuesday, where he is expected to plead not guilty. We'll bring you all the behind-the-scenes details in Wednesday's newsletter.
/jlne.ws/3GCnxTc
Former 27-year JP Morgan executive to replace ascending Tradeweb president; Incoming individual will replace Billy Hult as he assumes the role of chief executive officer, replacing Lee Olesky who confirmed last year he would be stepping down.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
Tradeweb Markets has selected a former JP Morgan executive to replace William (Billy) Hult as president. Thomas Pluta has been appointed as president of Tradeweb Markets, after most recently serving at JP Morgan where he spent nearly 27 years and was most recently global head of linear rates trading and co-head of North America rates trading.
/jlne.ws/3vC0OAy
Bernstein Says Crypto Exchange Binance Is Not Likely to Fail
Will Canny - CoinDesk
Binance is solvent, liquid and stable and this is evident in the exchange's more than $55 billion in verifiable cold wallet addresses, Bernstein said in a research report Monday. The crypto exchange can also "pass the test of withdrawals" as it did when some $6 billion of customer funds were withdrawn on Dec. 13, the report said.
/jlne.ws/3jN8BZy
IRS Sees Crypto Companies as Potential Crime-Fighting Partners; A top official in the IRS's law-enforcement arm said the agency wants to build ties with the digital-assets sector
Richard Vanderford - The Wall Street Journal
"Cryptocurrency is here to stay," a top Internal Revenue Service law enforcer said, and the tax-collection agency wants to partner with the industry to fight financial crime. The IRS Criminal Investigation division is bringing on hundreds of new agents a year, including many who will be directed to work on digital assets and cybercrime, said Thomas Fattorusso, the special agent in charge of IRS-CI's New York field office.
/jlne.ws/3Z5K2Hg
FTX, Axie Infinity, and other crypto hacks and scandals that took over $3 billion from victims this year
Anushree Dave - MarketWatch
A year of headline-grabbing hacks and scandals made 2022 a tough year when it comes to securing digital assets. Victims lost $3 billion to crypto hacks in 2022, according to Chainalysis, a spike from $2 billion lost in 2021. Another estimate shows that victims of major hacks and scandals have lost a total of $4.3 billion, according to data security firm Privacy Affairs. The same report shows that Americans lost $329 million in just the first quarter of 2022, long before the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, during which hackers allegedly drained wallets after it filed for bankruptcy.
/jlne.ws/3WHVxTF
Sam Bankman-Fried Likely to Plead Not Guilty to Fraud Charges
Caitlin Ostroff and Vicky Ge Huang - The Wall Street Journal
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is likely to plead not guilty to fraud and other charges at his arraignment next week, according to people familiar with the matter. The U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York earlier this month charged Mr. Bankman-Fried with engaging in criminal conduct that contributed to the cryptocurrency exchange's collapse, alleging that he oversaw one of the biggest financial frauds in American history. Mr. Bankman-Fried is likely to appear in person in New York to enter his plea on Jan. 3, one of the people said.
/jlne.ws/3i21MTy
Elon Musk Becomes First Person Ever to Lose $200 Billion; The Tesla CEO has seen his wealth tumble in recent weeks after shares of the electric car maker tumbled.
Brian Chappatta - Bloomberg
Elon Musk was the second person ever to amass a personal fortune of more than $200 billion, breaching that threshold in January 2021, months after Jeff Bezos. The Tesla Inc. chief executive officer has now achieved a first of his own: becoming the only person in history to erase $200 billion from their net worth. Musk, 51, has seen his wealth plummet to $137 billion after Tesla shares tumbled in recent weeks, including an 11% drop on Tuesday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His fortune peaked at $340 billion on Nov. 4, 2021, and he remained the world's richest person until he was overtaken this month by Bernard Arnault, the French tycoon behind luxury-goods powerhouse LVMH.
/jlne.ws/3iamLTW
Bahamas regulator denies FTX CEO's claims over seized assets
Zoltan Vardai - Forkast
The Securities Commission of The Bahamas has rejected "material misstatements" made by FTX's newly-appointed CEO, John J. Ray III, over the commission's seizure of US$3.5 billion in assets from FTX Digital Markets.
/jlne.ws/3jAtxmj
Bahamas regulator sticks to estimate of FTX assets
Reuters
The Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB) rebuffed on Monday FTX's claims about the digital assets of its Bahamas unit held by the regulator, saying the debtors of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange had "incomplete information". Last month, the SCB said it had seized more than $3.5 billion in cryptocurrency from the unit, FTX Digital Markets, which it was holding for future repayment to customers and other creditors.
/jlne.ws/3vxdR6j
Gemini's Cameron Winklevoss accuses Genesis boss of stalling on returning $900 million to its customers, escalating their war of words
Zahra Tayeb - Business Insider
Gemini cofounder Cameron Winklevoss has blasted Digital Currency Group CEO Barry Silbert, accusing him of acting in bad faith by stalling on resolving a dispute with Genesis over nearly $1 billion in customers' crypto funds. Winklevoss kicked off a Twitter spat by publishing an open letter to Silbert on Monday, claiming DCG and its crypto lending arm Genesis are dragging their heels on a deal to return the frozen $900 million they owe to users of Gemini's Earn program.
/jlne.ws/3WzccJb
So You Worked for FTX. Now What? Advice From Recruiters and Employers; 'It's the elephant in the room, and you need to do anything you can do to diffuse that you're deceptive.'
Mengqi Sun -The Wall Street Journal
Former employees of FTX and other failed crypto firms will likely face extra scrutiny in their job hunt. But recruiters and hiring managers say they can move on if they are transparent about their past employment. "First step is to own it, really," said Will Brown, executive search lead for financial services at recruiting firm Hamlyn Williams.
/jlne.ws/3jOUovj
Up To Four-fifths Of Crypto Trading Could Be Phony, New Research Shows
Simon Constable - Forbes
If the scandal surrounding the FTX crypto-exchange wasn't bad enough to scare all-but the crypto diehards to flee, now there's even more bad news for cryptocurrency investors. Up to four fifths of crypto trading on unregulated crypto exchanges may be phony, new research shows. "[...] most major unregulated crypto exchanges feature excessive wash trading," states the report titled Crypto Wash Trading, which was recently distributed buy the National Bureau of Economic Research.
/jlne.ws/3jKvgWi
How can you be the best possible parent, lover, friend, citizen or tourist? Here's what the experts think
Moya Sarner - The Guardian
I used to think I was a good person. I was caring to my friends, my partner, my family; I gave to charity and I volunteered; I wasn't racist, homophobic or sexist. Boxes: ticked. But when I started training to become a therapist in the NHS, I began to understand that however much we might like to think of ourselves as good people, we don't actually know ourselves very well. We don't know what's really going on under the surface; why we do the things we do.
/jlne.ws/3Z3uqUJ
China Stock Investors Eye Better 2023 After $3.9 Trillion Rout; End of Covid Zero, policy support may boost beaten-down stocks; Virus disruptions, tensions with US likely to fuel volatility
Charlotte Yang and Henry Ren - Bloomberg
While China stock bulls had another miserable year, their fortunes may finally improve in 2023 if the nation's abrupt reopening from Covid curbs eventually leads to a robust economic recovery. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which tracks Chinese firms listed in Hong Kong, just suffered a third straight year of declines, a record losing streak since its inception in 1994. The slump in 2022 was accompanied by spiking volatility that was the worst since the global financial crisis and ranked the highest among major benchmarks in the world. Combined losses from stocks traded on the mainland and in Hong Kong reached $3.9 trillion.
/jlne.ws/3X4WhSV
Thomas Albert Davis; 1938 - 2022
The Washington Post Legacy
Thomas Albert "Tad" Davis, 84, passed away on December 28, 2022. He died peacefully at home, surrounded by his family, from complications related to Parkinson's disease. Tad was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1938 and grew up in Jacksonville, Florida where his family was in the restaurant business. A life-long Gator fan, Tad left Jacksonville to attend the University of Florida. There he earned Bachelor of Arts and Doctor of Jurisprudence degrees. He received his LLM in Taxation from the Georgetown University Law Center.
/jlne.ws/3IiUC7N
In 2023, Reality Tempers Our Revolutionary Bent; Bloomberg Opinion columnists have a few ideas about what we can expect in the year ahead.
Brooke Sample - Bloomberg
So that was 2022, then. The world emerged from a pandemic that is still very much with us; a dictator continues to wage war against an enemy that is having none of it; riding-high tech stocks and crypto bros discovered that you can't actually create value with imagination. For the third year in a row, the world collectively wishes for a fresh start - with eyes wide open.
/jlne.ws/3Qe76j5
Why Japan's Sudden Shift on Bond Purchases Dealt a Global Jolt; The world has relied on ultralow interest rates in Japan. What will happen if they rise?
Ben Dooley - The New York Times
Japan is the world's largest creditor. At the end of 2021, it held roughly $3.2 trillion in foreign assets, 30 percent more than No. 2 Germany. As of October, it owned over a trillion dollars of U.S. government debt, more than China. Japanese banks are the world's largest cross-border lenders, with nearly $4.8 trillion in claims in other countries.
/jlne.ws/3GDa5i8
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Ukraine Could Get American M-2 Fighting Vehicles. They're Exactly What The Ukrainian Army Needs To Stay On The Offensive.
David Axe - Forbes
The administration of U.S. president Joe Biden is considering donating to Ukraine some of the U.S. Army's redundant M-2 infantry fighting vehicles, Bloomberg reported. It's exactly what the Ukrainian army needs most as Russia's wider war on Ukraine grinds toward its 11th month, the wet winter deepens, the ground freezes and Ukraine positions forces for a possible new counteroffensive.
/jlne.ws/3jOvdIX
As war drags on, young Ukrainians are rethinking their futures
Siobhan O'Grady and Kostiantyn Khudov - The Washington Post
For at least one night, they thought, they would use the basement of the university building not as a bomb shelter but as a place to twirl and hop and stomp - to celebrate their Ukrainian heritage, to again relish being young. "They have forgotten normal life," said Valerii Valiiev, an 18-year-old who managed a molotov cocktail factory during Russia's assault on the capital but on the evening of the students' exuberant gathering was helping to sell entrance tickets. "Dancing ... will be very good."
/jlne.ws/3Ikqedw
Ukraine missile strike on Russian-held city of Makiivka kills scores of troops
Pjotr Sauer - The Guardian
A New Year's Day attack on a complex in the Russian-controlled Ukrainian city of Makiivka has killed scores of recently mobilised troops sent by Moscow, in one of deadliest single strikes against Russia's forces since the war began. Russia's defence ministry, in a rare admission on Monday, said 63 Russian soldiers died when Ukraine hit "a temporary deployment facility" with four US-supplied Himars missiles. Ukraine's military command said up to 400 Russian soldiers were killed in the city, which is in a Moscow-controlled area of the Donetsk region.
/jlne.ws/3VAHdeB
Ukraine Strikes Russian Forces in Donbas in Deadliest Attack in Months; The attack in Russian-held territory came as Ukraine repelled another drone swarm on Kyiv
Isabel Coles and Evan Gershkovich - The Wall Street Journal
A Ukrainian strike killed dozens of newly mobilized soldiers in Russian-held eastern territory, marking the deadliest known assault in months and pressuring Moscow's military leadership, while Kyiv said it shot down at least 39 drones during another wave of attacks on the capital. Russia's Defense Ministry said Monday that Ukrainian forces used a U.S.-supplied Himars rocket system to destroy a facility used as a base for mobilized troops in the city of Makiivka, in the Donbas area of eastern Ukraine. In a statement carried by Russian state news agencies, the ministry said 63 troops had died in the blast after four Himars rockets carrying high-explosive warheads struck the facility.
/jlne.ws/3jO4VXD
How Sumy's residents kept Russian forces out of their city
Isobel Koshiw - The Guardian
On 24 February, when Russia invaded, there were only a few dozen Ukrainian professional soldiers in Ukraine's north-eastern city of Sumy, and they had no command centre. That evening, those 50 or so paratroopers were ordered to leave the city - about 20 miles (30km) from the Russian border - for another area. Most of the police force had already fled, along with much of the city's leadership.
/jlne.ws/3CisH4f
Strike Kills 63 Russian Troops in Occupied Town
Bloomberg
A Ukrainian strike on a Russian military facility in the occupied eastern town of Makiyivka killed 63 troops being housed there, Russia's defense ministry said, making it one of the deadliest losses acknowledged by Moscow. Ukraine warned that Russia may launch more attacks over the Orthodox Christmas holiday later this week even as it downed all 39 Iran-made Shahed drones launched overnight, according to the country's air defense command.
/jlne.ws/3Z7dSLt
Russia's Oil Flows Slump to 2022-Low as Sanctions Squeeze Moscow
Julian Lee - Bloomberg
Russia's crude shipments slid to the lowest for 2022 in the final four weeks of the year as sanctions crimped Moscow's exports. Cargoes bound for China, India and Turkey, which have become a lifeline for Russian supplies displaced from Europe, saw a third straight drop.The country's overall seaborne flows fell by 117,000 barrels a day to 2.615 million barrels on a four-week average basis. Volumes also declined week-on-week, though they recovered from a mid-month, weather-related slump.Inflows to the Kremlin's war-chest sagged amid a combination of G-7 and European Union sanctions designed to punish President Vladimir Putin for last February's invasion of Ukraine.
/jlne.ws/3jMkIGi
Reinsurance costs rise up to 200% as Ukraine war and extreme weather bite; Soaring increases in crucial January renewals threaten to raise premiums and reduce cover on offer
Ian Smith - Financial Times
The war in Ukraine and extreme weather events have driven up the cost of reinsurance by as much as 200 per cent in crucial January renewals, according to a new report, threatening to raise premiums and reduce what insurers are willing to cover.
/jlne.ws/3i9HCqB
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | ESG Bonds on Euronext Hit All-Time Euro 1trn in 2022; Euronext recorded 83 new equity listings with market cap of Euro 23 billion in 2022; The exchange company launched the Euronext Tech Leaders segment in June.
Solomon Oladipupo - Finance Magnates
The value of money raised from the issuance of environment, social and governance (ESG) factors-based bonds in Euronext markets hit an all-time high of Euro 1 trillion in 2022 with over 310 new ESG bonds listed in the outgoing year. Overall, the pan-European exchange recorded over 7,800 new bond listings on its markets in 2022.
/jlne.ws/3Gei57K
Domestic listings helping Thailand, Indonesia exchanges to shine
Raphael Lim - Business Times
South-East Asia's exchanges could see some solid initial public offering (IPO) activity in 2023 as their domestic companies grow and their pools of liquidity grow, industry watchers said. While market sentiment will remain weak in the first few months of the year, listings could pick up by the second quarter. Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines collectively saw 149 listings in 2022, versus 132 recorded in 2021, showed Bloomberg data in late December.
/jlne.ws/3vwOIbK
The Spanish stock market trades 28.3 billion euros in December; Monthly Trading Statements For Bme's Markets
BME-X
The cumulative trading volume in 2022 was 362.1 billion euros, down 4.2% year on year; The number of trades in the year totaled 38.9 million. New issues in the Fixed Income market totaled 380 billion euros; Trading in Futures contracts on the IBEX 35® index increased by 3.5% in 2022. The Spanish stock market traded 28.3 billion euros in Equities in December, up 1.7% year on year and 0.8% more than in the previous month.
/jlne.ws/3Z4EmgS
Deutsche Boerse publishes cash market annual statistics for 2022; 1.8 trillion. Euro Turnover on the trading platforms Xetra, Boerse Frankfurt and Tradegate Exchange (January-July 2022); The most traded share in 2022 was SAP SE.
Deutsche Boerse
The shares of SAP SE , Commerzbank AG , Nordex SE and 2G Energy AG were the most traded securities in the German indices DAX, MDAX, SDAX and Scale All Share last year. Deutsche Boerse announced this today with the publication of its cash market trading statistics for 2022. Overall, an order book turnover of EUR 1.8 trillion was recorded on the three trading platforms Xetra, Boerse Frankfurt and Tradegate Exchange (January-July 2022). Euro achieved. In 2021 it was 1.9 trillion.
/jlne.ws/3Qf3IES
Dhaka Stock Exchange upgrades Nasdaq trading system to support expansion; The extended partnership will support increased trading activity following the launch of a new Alternative Trading Board (ATB) and SME markets, the Dhaka Stock Exchange said.
Annabel Smith - The Trade
The Dhaka Stock Exchange has extended its technology partnership with Nasdaq to support its expansion into new market areas. As part of the new partnership, an agreement has been reached to upgrade Nasdaq's X-stream INET technology. The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) said this was to accommodate increased trading activity on its platforms and "facilitate the next stage of its expansion".
/jlne.ws/3WYLMQT
Dhaka Stock Exchange Extends Technology Partnership with Nasdaq
Nasdaq
Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) today announced the extension of their partnership where Nasdaq provides DSE with trading technology. The agreement includes an upgrade of Nasdaq´s X-stream INET technology in order to accommodate the increasing trading activity of the exchange with maintained market resiliency and investor integrity.
/jlne.ws/3QatcD3
Notification of Routine Recalculation of Rates and FX Guarantee Fund
HKEX
Please be advised that pursuant to Rule 1503 of the OTC Clear Rates and FX Derivatives Clearing Rules ("Clearing Rules"), OTC Clearing Hong Kong Limited has completed its routine Rates and FX Guarantee Fund recalculation on the Rates and FX Contribution Determination Date i.e. 3 January 2023. The GF Calculation Period is from 1 December 2022 to 30 December 2022 (both dates inclusive) in accordance with Chapter 6 of the OTC Clearing Hong Kong Limited Clearing Procedures (Clearing Procedures).
/jlne.ws/3GBsDiI
Warehouse Company Stock Checks
LME
Summary. In accordance with rule 7.4.1.1 of the Warehouse Agreement, would warehouse companies please notify the LME of the date(s) in 2022 of their visual inspection of metal under warrant in their authorised warehouses for every location, together with supporting documentation.
/jlne.ws/3vimcfa
LME Warranted Stock Turnover January - December 2022
LME
Summary. Please find attached summarised information, by metal, of warranted deliveries to and from LME approved locations for the calendar year 2022.
/jlne.ws/3vimcfa
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | China Regulator Says Futu, Up Fintech Violated Laws; Companies accused of allowing customers on the mainland to make cross-border trades
Weilun Soon - The Wall Street Journal
China's securities regulator said two Nasdaq-listed online brokers violated its domestic laws by allowing customers on the mainland to make cross-border trades, stoking concerns that Chinese authorities aren't finished with their crackdowns on private-sector companies. The American depositary receipts of Up Fintech Holding Ltd., which is also known as Tiger Brokers, fell 29% Friday in New York trading, and Futu Holdings Ltd. fell 31% after the China Securities Regulatory Commission put out a statement that mentioned both companies.
/jlne.ws/3i9dSdq
A.I. is here, and it's making movies. Is Hollywood ready?
Brian Contreras - Los Angeles Times
Scott Mann had a problem: too many f-bombs. The writer-director had spent production on "Fall," his vertigo-inducing thriller about rock climbers stuck atop a remote TV tower, encouraging the two leads to have fun with their dialogue. That improv landed a whopping 35 "f-cks" in the film, placing it firmly in R-rated territory. But when Lionsgate signed on to distribute "Fall," the studio wanted a PG-13 edit. Sanitizing the film would mean scrubbing all but one of the obscenities.
/jlne.ws/3Qe5cyX
TikTok Ban Debate Moves From Washington to Main Street; City council in South Dakota weighs measure to ban the ByteDance-owned app from municipal devices, pitting councilors against each other
Stu Woo - The Wall Street Journal
One of the earliest public debates about blacklisting TikTok in the U.S. isn't taking place in Washington. It is happening in South Dakota's second-most populous city. The Rapid City council on Tuesday will consider a proposal to ban TikTok from city-owned devices and networks, and to prohibit city agencies from using the app. Championing the idea is a councilman-and potential mayoral candidate-who calls TikTok a security threat.
/jlne.ws/3GyFcLC
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | What To Expect For Security And Privacy In 2023
Wayne Rash - Forbes
We're finally done with 2022. The pandemic is mostly behind us, the world's economy is rebounding and the year ahead looks bright. But as we move into 2023, it's helpful to get some idea what's ahead, especially when it comes to data security and privacy, since they will control much of what happens over the next year. To find out, we asked several industry leaders what they expected. The consensus - things will not get better and they may get worse, perhaps much worse.
/jlne.ws/3WClbJA
Expect the Unexpected in 2023: Cyberattacks and the Next Covid; Ukraine, Taiwan and Iran top the list of potential crises, but the US isn't prepared for less-obvious global cataclysms.
James Stavridis - Bloomberg
With the new year upon us, the big worries for global security are pretty obvious. We should be concerned about a springtime escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war, with the potential for Russian leader Vladimir Putin, in increasing desperation, to use a tactical nuclear weapon. While highly unlikely, a nuclear yield could further distort the world's military, economic and diplomatic foundations. A second clear danger is a Chinese attack on Taiwan, which would be even more seismic - in regard to everything from a huge impact on the manufacture of high-end microchips to reordering global trading patterns as sanctions are levied against Beijing.
/jlne.ws/3WIryuQ
2022 Crypto Attacks Were Least in December, With $62M Lost in Heists, Certik Says
Shaurya Malwa - CoinDesk
Crypto market participants had few reasons to cheer in the last month of 2022 - with a low attack and theft figure among one of them. December saw $62 million worth of tokens stolen, scammed, or attacked, making it the least harmful month in 2022 in terms of money lost to nefarious activities. In contrast, CertiK recorded over $595 million worth of crypto-based attacks in November.
/jlne.ws/3Q8l8Tx
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Valkyrie Unveils Proposal for Grayscale's Troubled Bitcoin Trust (GBTC)
Katie Greifeld and Vildana Hajric - Bloomberg
Valkyrie Investments is out with a proposal for a much larger rival product: to become the new sponsor and manager of the crypto industry's largest fund, the Grayscale Bitcoin trust. The Nashville, Tennessee-based asset manager, which oversees roughly $180 million, on Friday announced the launch of the Valkyrie Opportunistic Fund, which seeks to take advantage of the massive discount in Grayscale Investments' $10.5 billion product (GBTC). The Valkyrie fund will be increasing its holdings of GBTC, allowing the company to realize "the true value of the underlying Bitcoin for our investors," which it says is a goal it will actively pursue on their behalf, according to the company.
/jlne.ws/3CemE0n
Sam Bankman-Fried to Plead Not Guilty to Fraud at Jan. 3 Hearing; FTX founder charged with eight offenses, including wire fraud; Bankman-Fried was released on a $250 million bail package
Ava Benny-Morrison and Bob Van Voris - Bloomberg
Disgraced crypto founder Sam Bankman-Fried plans to plead not guilty to fraud after being charged with orchestrating a yearslong scam at FTX. The 30-year-old is due to appear before federal court in Manhattan on Jan. 3 and is expected to enter pleas of not guilty to eight offenses, including wire fraud, according to a person familiar with the case.
/jlne.ws/3Z4TgDE
Troubles at Sam Bankman-Fried's Alameda Began Well Before Crypto Crash
Patricia Kowsmann, Vicky Ge Huang, Caitlin Ostroff and Gregory Zuckerman - The Wall Street Journal
Sam Bankman-Fried built the cryptocurrency exchange FTX on the reputation of his trading firm, Alameda Research LLC. Alameda was applying Wall Street-style wizardry to the crypto world-and outsiders thought it was winning big. But little was known beyond the firm about its trades, which included a lucrative early bet involving bitcoin in Japan. Alameda had no outside investors and didn't disclose its performance.
/jlne.ws/3Q7zy6h
Caroline Ellison wanted to make a difference. Now she's facing prison.
Gerrit De Vynck - The Washington Post
For four years, Caroline Ellison and Sam Bankman-Fried worked together to build a crypto empire. Ellison ran the hedge fund connected to FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange Bankman-Fried founded in 2019. Beyond work, the pair had a lot in common: Both were children of accomplished academics, studied math at prestigious universities and touted the importance of giving money away to make the world a better place. Both also lived with colleagues in a luxury penthouse in the Bahamas, and at times were reported to be romantically involved.
/jlne.ws/3X1p4Yl
Winklevoss says crypto broker Genesis negotiating in bad faith
Mrinmay Dey - Reuters
Cameron Winklevoss, who founded crypto exchange Gemini Trust Co with his twin brother, on Monday accused Digital Currency Group (DCG) CEO Barry Silbert of "bad faith stall tactics" and asked him to commit to resolving $900 million worth of disputed customer assets by Jan. 8. Gemini has a crypto lending product called Earn in partnership with DCG's crypto firm Genesis. Genesis halted customer withdrawals in November, following the collapse of major crypto exchange FTX. Winklevoss said Genesis owed more than $900 million to some 340,000 Earn investors, and that he had been trying to reach a "consensual resolution" with Silbert for the past six weeks.
/jlne.ws/3VIuO8a
Gemini's Cameron Winklevoss Slams Crypto Exec Barry Silbert Over Frozen Funds; Gemini lent user funds to Silbert's troubled Genesis brokerage; Winklevoss says DCG used money from Genesis for other purposes
Olga Kharif - Bloomberg
The fallout from the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto empire just got messier, with digital-asset entrepreneur Cameron Winklevoss accusing fellow businessman Barry Silbert of "bad faith stall tactics" and the intermingling of funds within his conglomerate that Winklevoss says have left $900 million in customer assets needlessly in limbo since FTX's meltdown. Gemini Trust Co., founded by Winklevoss and his twin brother, paused redemptions on a lending product called Earn, which offered investors the potential to generate as much as 8% in interest on their digital coins. It did so by lending them out to Genesis Global Capital, one of the companies owned by Silbert's Digital Currency Group.
/jlne.ws/3jKyNnJ
Bernstein: Returns From Buying Crypto During Downturns Have Been Spectacular
Will Canny - CoinDesk
Before the turmoil of 2022, the digital assets market had witnessed two prior crypto winters, and the returns from buying into such periods of market stress have been spectacular, brokerage firm Bernstein said in a research report Monday.
/jlne.ws/3Ik8hLT
Bitcoin mining difficulty drops 3.6% in latest adjustment
Timmy Shen - Forkast
Bitcoin's mining difficulty level fell 3.59% on Tuesday morning in Asia, after some U.S. mining firms unplugged due to deadly winter storms over the holiday season on top of continued cash shortages mainly caused by low Bitcoin prices and high energy costs.
/jlne.ws/3YYOasC
Ethereum Founder Suddenly Powers A Shock FTX Crypto Price Rally As Bitcoin Struggles
Billy Bambrough - Forbes
BitcoinBTC, ethereum and most other major cryptocurrencies have seen their prices fall sharply over the last month of 2022 after the FTX collapse wiped out confidence and pushed other crypto companies to the edge. The bitcoin price has plummeted under $17,000 per bitcoin, down from almost $50,000 this time last year. EthereumETH has seen similar declines while FTX-linked cryptocurrencies such as solana have seen even steeper declines. Now, ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin has spurred a rally for the ethereum rival solana, causing it to surge over 10% by predicting it has a "bright future" despite FTX's demise.
/jlne.ws/3ig3yjI
Genesis-DCG Loan Leads to Class Action Arbitration Case From Gemini Clients
Sam Reynolds - CoinDesk
Three Gemini Earn users have filed a request for class action arbitration against Genesis Global Capital and Digital Currency Group in response to Gemini suspending its Earn redemption program due to Genesis freezing withdrawals. DCG is also the parent company of CoinDesk.
/jlne.ws/3ZaHtUG
Zodia Custody Appoints Crypto Exchange Bitstamp's Julian Sawyer as Chief Executive Officer
Will Canny - CoinDesk
Cryptocurrency asset service provider Zodia Custody appointed Julian Sawyer as new CEO, the company said in a statement Tuesday. He replaces Maxime de Guillebon, who has been in post since the company was founded in December 2020.
/jlne.ws/3Gc5Us6
Tax-Loss Harvesting Platform Unsellable is Building 'The World's Largest Collection of Worthless NFTs'
Eli Tan - CoinDesk
After the boom of 2021, the hype that fueled non-fungible token (NFT) trading has subsided. Cryptocurrency prices have plummeted from their former highs and mainstream interest in digital collectibles has waned, bringing down NFT prices. But the extended crypto winter has come with a potential silver lining - tax-loss harvesting, where NFT enthusiasts can sell their no longer valuable JPEGs and claim losses to offset their tax bill. Enter Unsellable, a platform launched last month that acquires "worthless" NFTs for the cost of gas plus a few bucks. The site functions as instant liquidity for otherwise, as the name suggests, unsellable NFTs, providing a quick way for NFT investors to capture their losses.
/jlne.ws/3idwDwb
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | When Federal Officials Help Companies-and Their Own Financial Interests
Rebecca Ballhaus, Brody Mullins and James V. Grimaldi - The Wall Street Journal
Last year, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. deliberated over whether to tap Microsoft Corp. as its primary cloud provider. Three key officials involved in the discussions, or their family members, owned shares in Microsoft, including the deputy chief information officer who pushed to pick the company. By early this year, Microsoft had become the agency's primary cloud platform.
/jlne.ws/3Cj9EqF
Treasuries Post Biggest Annual Loss Ever as Inflation Takes Toll; US bond market index fell 12.5%, most in its history; Yields rose through much of 2022, but ended below their highs
Elizabeth Stanton - Bloomberg
The US Treasury market notched a record annual loss in 2022, fueled by inflation pressures that prompted the Federal Reserve to hike its overnight benchmark by more than four percentage points. Yields peaked in October or November, then retreated as inflation gauges began to show moderation and Fed officials slowed the pace of policy tightening. The yield curve inverted, with rates for 5-year notes first exceeding those for 30-year securities in March, while the gap between two- and 10-year yields also flipped.
/jlne.ws/3CjnZTJ
Trump loves to hate the 'fake news media.' But his political team subscribes to the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other mainstream outlets.
Madison Hall - Insider
The "Lamestream Media." The "Fake News Media." "THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE." Former President Donald Trump incessantly denigrates news publications and their "lying" and "slime" journalists for how they cover him, his family, and the Republican Party. But Trump is also a news media patron: his political action committee pays for subscriptions to several of Trump's most detested news outlets, according to an Insider analysis of Federal Election Commission records.
/jlne.ws/3GcRszP
We asked 1,261 voters about the crackdown on ESG investing. You'll never guess which party's voters are most opposed to it
Lindsay Singleton - Fortune
The 2022 midterms brought mostly good news for the business community, with the return of divided government set to force both parties to work together. However, the Republican House majority set to take power this month is ready to crack down on what it sees as "corporate wokeism," using all of the legislative and investigatory tools at its disposal to cast aspersions on companies' socially driven investments. Its case is strengthened by the recent collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, whose founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, had publicly embraced responsible investing principles. Recent data, though, indicates a danger in overestimating Americans' support for the "war on woke."
/jlne.ws/3Za8oj9
NHS named as the Government 'brand' most impersonated by cyber criminals targeting the public in 2022
Katie Grant - inews.co.uk
The NHS has topped a list of the Government departments, agencies and public bodies that cybercriminals most frequently impersonated in 2022 to scam members of the public. Cyber security experts have warned Britons to be vigilant about emails and text messages sent out by imposters that appear at first glance to come from official channels such as the NHS and aim to prompt recipients to click through to unsafe websites or download viruses or spyware onto their devices.
/jlne.ws/3jN2Omx
Xi Jinping has abandoned zero-Covid. What happens now?
Ellen Ioanes - Vox
China is rapidly opening up after years of its "zero-Covid" policy, with strict lockdowns, mandatory testing, and major travel restrictions. But the major policy shift could pose further complications in China as people resume international travel, and geopolitically as a patchwork of countries impose restrictions on Chinese air travelers. The US, the UK, Italy, India, Israel, Spain, Canada, South Korea, and France are all implementing some form of restrictions on air travel from China; that typically means a passenger embarking in China and heading to one of these countries can't board without a negative test, or, in Spain's case, without being vaccinated.
/jlne.ws/3ibY21F
Cyberattacks on Indian Govt Agencies More Than Doubled In 2022: Report
Chetan Thathoo - Inc42
Cyberattacks on Indian government agencies more than doubled in 2022, according to a report by cybersecurity firm CloudSEK. Noting the uptick in cyberattacks, CloudSEK said that India was the most frequently targeted country in the world in this regard. This spike was attributed to a volley of cyberattack campaigns launched by Malaysia-based Dragon Force and numerous other hacker groups. In 2021, India accounted for 6.3% of the total cyberattacks on government agencies, while this number surged to 13.7% in 2022.
/jlne.ws/3YY9Kxo
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | ISDA and AFME Response to PRA's Future Approach to Policy
International Swaps and Derivatives Association
On December 8, 2022, ISDA and the Association for Financial Markets in Europe responded to a discussion paper on the Prudential Regulatory Authority's (PRA) future approach to policy. In the response, the associations highlight their support for the PRA as an independent regulator and endorse the PRA's statement that its position as an independent regulator is an important safeguard for the UK financial system.
/jlne.ws/3Q8mkGm
Masterminds Behind Singapore's Largest Stock Market Manipulation Jailed
Monetary Authority of Singapore
On 28 December 2022, the High Court sentenced Mr Soh Chee Wen (also known as John Soh), and Ms Quah Su-Ling to a total of 36 and 20 years' imprisonment respectively for, among other things, orchestrating an elaborate scheme to manipulate the shares of Blumont Group Ltd, Asiasons Capital Ltd and LionGold Corp Ltd between August 2012 and October 2013, and cheating two financial institutions.
/jlne.ws/3WQG6bp
Record fines on audit profession recycled to help new generation; US regulator's scholarship programme is beneficiary after wave of scandals
Stephen Foley - Financial Times
A wave of exam cheating and shoddy work that has marred the reputation of the world's biggest audit firms has one upside for the profession: penalties imposed by regulators are funding a new generation of idealistic would-be accountants. The US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is planning a big expansion of its scholarship programme for students this year, after levying record fines totalling $11mn in 2022.
/jlne.ws/3CkRLaV
Banks need financial prod to tackle climate change, warns chief supervisor; FSB's Dietrich Domanski says without measures such as a carbon tax, lenders will resist reforms
Laura Noonan - Financial Times
Attempts to convince banks to counter climate change would fall short without financial incentives such as a global carbon tax, a leading regulator overseeing policy in the area has warned. Dietrich Domanski, who as secretary-general of the Financial Stability Board helped to oversee attempts to put green issues to the fore in banking, said in a valedictory interview with the Financial Times: "In the end we are talking about profit-orientated institutions."
/jlne.ws/3Il17HA
How Sam Bankman-Fried 'Madoff' with regulators
By Charles Gasparino - New York Post
To his credit, Securities and Exchange Commission chief Gary Gensler is arguing that the Sam Bankman-Fried crypto scandal doesn't mean we need more regulations to rein in digital-coin excess and fraud. Laws are on the books that give the current regulatory and legal system plenty of tools to prosecute bad actors. Plus theft has been illegal since the beginning of civilization.
/jlne.ws/3WzujPb
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Hong Kong ends 2022 with five listings, closing a tough year with a bang as IPOs trickle back
Enoch Yiu - South China Morning Post
Five stocks changed hands for the first time today in Hong Kong, the busiest debut day in almost three years for the local bourse that helps its effort to reclaim a spot among the world's top destinations for initial public offerings (IPOs). Executives of three of the five debutantes struck ceremonial gongs at the former trading hall of the city's stock exchange to mark their companies' first trading day, while Shanghai Cryofocus Medtech and Shandong Boan Biotechnology attended their debut virtually via teleconferencing.
/jlne.ws/3vwtFpB
Fidelity marks down value of Twitter stake by 56%
Niket Nishant - Reuters
Fidelity funds slashed the value of their Twitter stake by 56% in November, according to a monthly disclosure by the investment firm released on Friday, as the social media giant navigates a period of turmoil following Elon Musk's $44 billion buyout. Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund's stake in Twitter was valued at nearly $8.63 million as of Nov. 30, compared to $19.66 million at October-end, days after Musk closed the acquisition. Another of the asset manager's funds, Fidelity Contrafund, also reported a similar markdown.
/jlne.ws/3GAOZAT
Brazil Takes Top Stock Crown in Dire Year for Equity Markets; Ibovespa gained 4.7% in year when most markets declined; Foreigners net bought $19 billion worth of Brazilian stocks
Matt Turner - Bloomberg
Brazil won the crown of this year's best-performing major equity market after beating contenders with a late rally, in what has been a brutal 12 months for global stocks. The Ibovespa Index climbed 4.7% in local-currency terms, making it one of the few exchanges with more than $500 billion of market cap to finish in the green, outpacing gains by bourses in India and the UK, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The MSCI All-Country World Index tumbled about 20% over the same period as investors faced surging inflation and rapidly rising interest rates worldwide.
/jlne.ws/3GeTkYW
US Stock Options Smash Record, Surpassing 10 Billion Contracts; Single-stock and index options more than double 2019 levels; Yearly growth slows, retail traders retreat from market
Jan-Patrick Barnert - Bloomberg
The boom in stock market options shows no sign of let up, as the number of traded US contracts surpassed the 10-billion mark in 2022 for the first time ever, playing a role in the biggest equity rout in over a decade. For the third straight year, contracts in US single-stock and index options set a record, more than doubling from the level three years ago.
/jlne.ws/3WGBCoi
Some in China return to regular activity after COVID infections
Josh Arslan and Norihiko Shirouzu - Reuters
Some people in the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan braved the cold and a rise in COVID-19 infections to return to regular activity on Monday, raising the prospect of a boost to the economy as more recover from infections. Among those who gathered to sled or ice skate on a frozen lake in the capital's Shichahai Lake Park, some were upbeat about the opening-up after China dropped stringent "zero-COVID" measures on Dec. 7 to adopt a strategy of living with the virus. The switch followed protests over the policy championed by President Xi Jinping, marking the strongest show of public defiance in his decade-old presidency and coinciding with grim growth figures for the country's $17 trillion economy.
/jlne.ws/3IjdDXO
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Curbed Stock Sales When Shares Slipped
Ed Lin - Barron's
Nvidia stock tumbled in 2022, and as shares of the chip maker slid into the red early in the year, CEO Jensen Huang stopped selling. Nvidia stock (ticker: NVDA) lost half its market value in 2022. In mid-February, Nvidia reported a strong fiscal fourth quarter. "We are seeing exceptional demand for Nvidia computing platforms," Huang said in a statement at the time. A week later, Russia invaded Ukraine, an event that complicated chip making because key raw materials are concentrated in the two countries. Nvidia's subsequent quarterly reports reflected the effects of the conflict, Covd-19 manufacturing shutdowns in China, and falling demand.
/jlne.ws/3jNRLJS
European asset managers use 'subadvisory' to crack the US market
Brooke Masters - Financial Times
Asset managers scrambling to boost assets and enter new markets while keeping costs down are turning to partnerships that split responsibility for sales and clients from the actual investing. Enthusiasm for so-called "subadvisory" contracts is especially high among European money managers looking to break into the US market and institutional managers hoping to tap individual investors. That is because the arrangement allows them to tap the US retail market without having to invest in huge sales forces.
/jlne.ws/3QpmLMR
'Good investing should be boring:' It's time to go back to the financial basics in 2023
Alicia Adamczyk - Fortune
Between inflation, rocky equity markets, and a crypto rollercoaster, 2022 was a weird year. Despite a strong job market, uncertainty abounded-and many people have been left worrying about layoffs, a possible recession, or how they're going to afford their next trip to the grocery store. After 2021's epic gains, it's felt like whiplash.
/jlne.ws/3vzBcUP
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | These Are the Climate Numbers to Watch in 2023; With the new year come new updates to the key climate change indicators. It's likely to be a mixed bag.
Eric Roston - Bloomberg
The year 2022 saw the US enact an unprecedented climate bill and countries take bold steps at two United Nations conferences to aid disaster-stricken developing nations and preserve what's left of the natural world. Investment in renewables grew and so did the popularity of electric cars and heat pumps. When it comes to the Earth's vital statistics, however, the outlook remains less promising. Here's where we stand at the start of 2023.
/jlne.ws/3Z42foK
European Cities Break Temperature Records as Warm Winter Holds; Mild weather is set to continue, easing region's energy crunch; Lower natural gas demand has driven benchmark prices down
Vanessa Dezem - Bloomberg
Europe has broken temperature records already this year, with cities from Berlin to Warsaw recording their warmest ever start to the month. Temperatures in the German capital reached 16C (60.8F) on New Year's Day, a January record, national forecaster Deutscher Wetterdienst said on Twitter. In Poland's biggest city, the mercury surpassed the previous peak by more than 5 degrees. The Czech Republic registered its warmest ever New Year's Eve.
/jlne.ws/3Ilbviu
Soaring Costs Threaten U.S. Offshore-Wind Buildout
Katherine Blunt and Jennifer Hiller - The Wall Street Journal
Offshore wind developers are facing financial challenges that threaten to derail several East Coast projects critical to reaching the Biden administration's near-term clean-energy targets. Supply-chain snarls, rising interest rates and inflationary pressures are making projects far more expensive to build. Now, some developers are looking to renegotiate financing agreements to keep their projects under way.
/jlne.ws/3GCMcap
Tobacco companies to be billed for cleaning up cigarette butts in Spain; Ruling is part of a package of measures designed to reduce waste and increase recycling; Cigarette manufacturers will also be responsible for educating the public not to discard their butts in the public space.
Stephen Burgen - The Guardian
Tobacco companies are to be forced to foot the bill for cleaning up the millions of cigarette ends that smokers discard every year under new environmental regulations in Spain. The ruling, which comes into force this Friday, is part of a package of measures designed to reduce waste and increase recycling. It includes a ban on single-use plastic cutlery and plates, cotton buds, expanded polystyrene cups and plastic straws, as well as cutting back on plastic food packaging.
/jlne.ws/3CjofCc
Robust inflows obscure a difficult year for ESG funds; Multiple headwinds have taken some of the shine off investing sustainably, but demand is still growing
Emma Boyde - Financial Times
The past year has felt bruising for many devotees of "sustainable" fund investing despite the growing attraction of products aligned with environmental, social and governance criteria.
/jlne.ws/3IjYc1y
Brussels plans energy market overhaul to curb cost of renewables; Industry representatives warn that proposed reforms could stifle investment in wind and solar power
Alice Hancock and Richard Milne - Financial Times
Brussels plans to overhaul the bloc's electricity market to prioritise cheaper renewable power, the EU's energy commissioner has said, despite industry warnings that the reforms could stifle investment in wind and solar farms.
/jlne.ws/3GAdvSp
Exxon and Chevron share $100bn in profit after surge in oil prices; Record haul during Ukraine war marks reversal of fortunes after pandemic demand crash
Justin Jacobs - Financial Times
ExxonMobil and Chevron are expected to rake in almost $100bn in combined profits from 2022 as the US corporate oil titans capitalise on surging fossil fuel prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
/jlne.ws/3GjD4WS
World's largest money managers need a better ESG script; Weaknesses of environmental and social investment positions laid bare by Texas show trial
Joe Miller - Financial Times
The setting - Marshall, Texas, population 23,000 - was unremarkable. But as a piece of political theatre, this month's seven-hour hearing over the supposed heresies espoused by ESG's corporate cheerleaders would have made the ringleaders of the Salem witch trials proud.
/jlne.ws/3IphHWN
4 Things to Expect for Sustainable Investing in 2023
Bob Mann - Sustainalytics vis TabbForum
Europe cements its leadership, while politicization of ESG in the U.S. is slowing progress, says Bob Mann, Morningstar Sustainalytics president. For Morningstar Sustainalytics, despite a year of market turbulence, it was a year of growth. That growth for our company and for the sustainable-investment industry is likely to continue in the coming years, driven by the swiftly changing regulatory environment. I expect 2023 will be a year in which regulators and industry standard-setters catch up with the market to provide much-needed structure and guardrails.
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How Manufacturers Can Avoid Emerging Regulatory ESG Risks; Working with suppliers to identify ESG risks in the supply chain will be imperative for manufacturers looking to avoid steep fines and penalties in the future.
Jamie Wallisch - SDC Executive
As publicly traded companies await the SEC's plans for the pending Mandatory Climate Disclosure rule changes, complex manufacturers must look to their own supply chains for hidden risks that could lead to costly legal consequences. The new rules, which would classify greenwashing as SEC fraud, will require all U.S. public companies or those who work with them to disclose their Scope 3 emissions, including the emissions from the entire supply chain. This will significantly affect manufacturers with deep supply chains, who must prepare for a new level of supply chain reporting and disclosures.
/jlne.ws/3GebQ3O
Top ESG stories of 2022
Jessica Penny - Investor Daily
These were the biggest ESG stories to hit InvestorDaily last year.As 2023 begins, discourse on ESG performance and impact shows no signs of slowing down. Check out the insights that defined 2022. 1. 'Long way to go' to achieving net zero despite recent progress, ESG survey finds. In this story, Fidelity International's annual ESG Analyst survey revealed that while progress towards net zero was beginning to show signs, the journey was far from over.
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ESG Fund Names are on Global Regulators' Radars
Nels Ylitalo - FactSet via TabbForum
Fund AUM has increased substantially, as have the variety of fund types and fund strategies, the adoption of widely varying ESG strategies, the use of derivatives, and electronic delivery of fund documents. In light of such industry changes, certain challenges of Names Rule interpretation, compliance and enforcement have grown more acute. Nels Ylitalo, VP, Director Product Strategy, Regulatory Solutions at FactSet, explains how the SEC is seeking to add clarity and accountability to the Names Rule through the new proposals.
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Hyundai aims for 10% rise in global sales as it shifts to electric cars; Carmaker, which also owns Kia, missed 2022 targets amid shortage of chips and other vital parts
Kalyeena Makortoff - The Guardian
The carmaker behind Hyundai and Kia has said it aims to increase global sales by 10% this year, as the company accelerates its transition to electric vehicles. Hyundai Motor Company's new forecasts come despite it having failed to reach its sales targets for 2022 because of supply chain disruptions that resulted in a shortage of semiconductor chips and other vital car parts.
/jlne.ws/3jMs8t8
Is a Dam in Rural Portugal a Key to Our Alternative Energy Future? When the Portuguese electric power grid needs more electricity, a large multinational power company releases millions of gallons of water from a dammed reservoir.
Stanley Reed - The New York Times
When Portugal's electrical system needs a boost, a signal activates a power plant buried deep in a hillside in the country's scrubby, pine-covered north. Inside the man-made cavern, valves, nine feet in diameter, suddenly open, allowing water draining from a reservoir four miles away to begin streaming through four massive turbines.
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | ECB Raises Deutsche Bank Capital Bar in Leveraged Loan Crackdown
Nicholas Comfort - Bloomberg
Deutsche Bank AG confirmed it faces a higher capital requirement as its main regulator pushes lenders to dial back the risks they face in the lucrative business of leveraged finance. The German lender must hold common equity Tier 1 capital equivalent to 10.55% of its risk-weighted assets this year, up from 10.43% at the end of September, it said in a statement on Friday after market close. The firm already exceeds the requirement by a wide margin, with a ratio of 13.33% at the end of the third quarter.
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Asset managers brace for tough year of cost-cutting in 2023; Long-delayed reckoning comes after falling markets hit both management and performance fees last year
Brooke Masters in New York and Harriet Agnew - Financial Times
Global asset managers are facing a long-delayed reckoning in 2023 as falling assets force them to cut costs and make tough decisions about where to invest for growth.
/jlne.ws/3i9XV6M
Pension funds must take 'extreme care' with liquidity risks, says OECD; Rising interest rates and falling stock markets have changed the picture for retirement schemes
Josephine Cumbo - Financial Times
Pension funds should be "extremely careful" when investing in illiquid assets, as rising interest rates and falling stock markets increase the likelihood of their having to access cash quickly, the OECD has warned.
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Asset managers, please spare us your polyexcuses; Blaming bad results on world crises displays a woeful reluctance to take responsibility for misjudged investments
Stuart Kirk - Financial Times
When I worked for a top English asset manager in the 1990s, if our performance was suffering, we would fly clients to London with their spouses and put them up in a flat we owned overlooking the Thames. It used to be home to George Bernard Shaw. The view didn't suck. A couple of nice dinners and a West End show later, I don't recall ever losing an account.
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Over 40% of U.S. COVID cases caused by Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 - CDC
Raghav Mahobe and Julie Steenhuysen - Reuters
Over 40% of COVID-19 cases in the United States are now caused by the highly contagious Omicron XBB.1.5, data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed on Friday, with the subvariant doubling from the previous week. Although many public health experts are expressing concern about the rising COVID cases in China, infectious disease experts have been increasingly worried about the XBB.1.5 variant.
/jlne.ws/3IjgcJm
Covid-Mutation Risk Drives Rush to Test Travelers From China; UK, France join list of countries monitoring arriving flights; China says it's sharing sequences with the whole world
Madison Muller - Bloomberg
Covid-19 testing requirements for passengers traveling from China highlight mounting concerns about the potential for undetected new strains of the virus spawned by the country's burgeoning outbreak. When the US imposed requirements for travelers from China to show negative test results, it also expanded a program that collects voluntary samples from international passengers at airports to help monitor variants entering the country. On Saturday, Canada said travelers from China, Hong Kong and Macau will need to produce a negative covid test, while Morocco went even further with a ban on visitors from China.
/jlne.ws/3Q8sgPy
2022 ends with looming risk of a new coronavirus variant, health experts warn
Jacqueline Howard - CNN
As the world enters a new year, many public health and infectious disease experts predict that monitoring for new coronavirus variants will be an increasingly important part of Covid-19 mitigation efforts - and some are turning their attention to a surge in cases in China. Subvariants of the Omicron coronavirus variant continue to circulate globally, and "we're seeing Omicron do what viruses do, which is it picks up mutations along the way that helps it evade a little bit of immunity that's induced by previous infection or vaccination," said Andrew Pekosz, a microbiologist and immunologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.
/jlne.ws/3XinkdB
How to sleep well at any age - from babies (and their parents) to dog-tired midlifers
Joanna Moorhead and Daisy Schofield - The Guardian
The fundamental purpose of sleep is to "service" our brains so they're in good working order for the gargantuan tasks we require of them: so it makes perfect sense that babies - whose brains are doing the most demanding work a human brain will ever do - need a lot of sleep. Newborns tend to spend more time asleep than awake (as much as 18 hours in 24), but all babies are different - and their needs change all the time - so don't worry too much about their sleeping patterns. "The rule of thumb is so long as they're alert and happy when they're awake, then they're getting enough sleep," says Professor Helen Ball, director of the Durham Infancy & Sleep Centre.
/jlne.ws/3WHXgID
Australia to Start Covid-19 Testing for Travelers From China
Ainslie Chandler - Bloomberg
Australia said travelers departing China, Hong Kong and Macau will require a negative Covid-19 test before boarding flights to the country. The temporary measure, which will start Jan. 5, has been put in place because of a "lack of comprehensive information" about the situation in China, Health Minister Mark Butler said Sunday.
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Good news about cheese - it's much healthier than you thought
Stephanie Clarke - The Washington Post
Cheese is rich and creamy, and it's irresistible on a cracker, paired with a selection of fresh fruit or sprinkled over a bowl of chili. Americans really do love it. The per capita consumption is 40 pounds a year, or a little over 1.5 ounces a day. But when people talk about their fondness for cheese, it's often in a guilty way, as in, "Cheese is my weakness." "Cheese is packed with nutrients like protein, calcium and phosphorus, and can serve a healthy purpose in the diet," says Lisa Young, an adjunct professor of nutrition at New York UniversityÂ.
/jlne.ws/3Gzj2c0
'Entire Body Is Shaking': Why Americans With Chronic Pain Are Dying
Maia Szalavitz - The New York Times
Anne Fuqua keeps a list of suicide deaths. She's chronicled hundreds of cases of chronic pain sufferers who have killed themselves after losing access to opioid medication since 2014. Recently, she almost became an entry. Ms. Fuqua, a former nurse, has an incurable genetic disorder that causes âEURŒagonizing spasms and shaking. She can only function when she takes opioids. She's one of the estimated five million to eight million Americans with chronic pain who regularly rely on them. But in November, her doctor's license to prescribe controlled substances was suspended by the Drug Enforcement Administration - marking the second time she's been left to fend for herself to avoid pain and withdrawal because of law enforcement action against a pain clinic.
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Hong Kong financial service providers gear up for retail crypto traders
Pradipta Mukherjee - Forkast
Hong Kong's financial services providers, including local brokers and fund managers, are seeking advice to prepare for new licensing requirements which will allow them to provide services to retail traders, according to a media report.
/jlne.ws/3WIELUr
China Ban on Cross-Border Brokers Seen Hurting Market Sentiment
Bloomberg News
China's order for cross-border brokers to rectify their mainland business will likely erode customer base at Futu Holdings Ltd. and lead to negative market sentiment, analysts said. China slammed Futu and Up Fintech Holding Ltd. after market close on Friday, ordering both to rectify "illegal" business activities and stop taking new onshore investors or opening new accounts for them. Existing onshore clients can still trade via the brokerages but additional fund transfers via non-compliant channels to their accounts will be banned.
/jlne.ws/3jLeE0P
Bank of Japan needs the courage to change course; A shift in policy will be painful but the longer the delay in acting the worse it will be
Megan Greene - Financial Times
The Bank of Japan shocked markets in December by widening the band in which 10-year government bonds could trade from 25 to 50 basis points. Investors responded by pushing two- to 10-year yields to their highest since 2015, betting that the widening was the first step in ending yield curve control, the bank's pledge to buy as many bonds as necessary to cap borrowing costs.
/jlne.ws/3ifRMG5
Israel's New Finance Minister Eyes Measures to Boost Competition
Alisa Odenheimer - Bloomberg
Bezalel Smotrich, Israel's finance minister in the government of newly appointed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will seek to boost competition in the economy as the country faces higher inflation and rising interest rates. Smotrich said that Israel is facing a "challenging period" because of inflation and interest rate increases, speaking Sunday at a formal handover event with the outgoing finance minister. He will seek to strengthen the economy, boost government revenue and then provide government aid to those parts of the population that need it most, he said.
/jlne.ws/3WWikLX
'There are no dollars': foreign currency crunch hits Egypt's economy; Cairo says banks will soon be able to help importers clear backlog of goods at ports worth $9.5bn
Heba Saleh - Financial Times
With foreign currency in short supply in Egypt, Rafik Clovis spent December anxiously waiting to find out whether his bank would be able to provide the $67,000 he needed to fund the import of a consignment of car parts from Europe. But by the end of the year, the dollars were still not available; as a result, his imports in 2022 were just a tenth of a normal year's amount.
/jlne.ws/3Q7sAhL
Meet the Cattle Ranchers Working to Preserve Southwest Florida's Wild Side
Kaitlyn Yarborough - Southern Living
It's a cool and breezy morning on Blackbeard's Ranch in Florida's Myakka River Valley. Clouds conceal the early hints of sun and allow the dew to nestle a bit longer on the grass. It's quiet, barring the rustle of droopy palm fronds in the wind and the distant lowing of grazing cows. You'd never guess that the powdery beaches and bright blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico are less than an hour's drive to the west. This land is lush, green, and untamed.
/jlne.ws/3Ik19iQ
Northern California sees historic deluge as atmospheric river slams state
Matthew Cappucci and Ben Brasch - The Washington Post
A powerful atmospheric river drenched Northern and Central California on New Year's Eve, knocking out power to tens of thousands of customers, trapping people in flooded vehicles and prompting Sacramento County to warn some residents to evacuate ahead of "an imminent levee failure." The storm unloaded copious amounts of lowland rain and mountain snow. San Francisco posted its second-wettest day in more than 170 years because of this fire hose of tropical moisture. It was the latest in a line of storm systems to affect the Golden State; at least two more are on the way in 2023's opening week.
/jlne.ws/3WEkQX1
This Iconic South Florida Resort Just Got a Massive Transformation - With 5 New Hotel Concepts and a $65 Million Pool Club
Heather Greenwood Davis - Travel and Leisure
Try as I might to stifle the sound, my giggles were echoing throughout the spa. I'd just had my first taste of mango gelato - served to me on a silver spoon while neck-deep in a bath of bubbles and orange slices. On my way here, I'd marveled at 50,000 square feet of Moorish tiles, elaborate arches, and gardens reminiscent of Spain's Alhambra palace. Though residents of the Alhambra probably weren't lucky enough to experience a Tropical Fusion Ritual Bath. That only happens at The Boca Raton.
/jlne.ws/3X23h2C
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Who Are the Nepo Babies Among Us?; Nepotism is widely frowned on. Yet it continues to thrive in two highly visible areas - entertainment and politics
Adrian Wooldridge - Bloomberg
The essence of modernity is the replacement of nepotism with meritocracy. The pre-modern world was one of family connections and personal favors. Kings and Queens ruled as well as reigned. Families controlled the commercial world. Civil service jobs were handed down to relatives. Oxbridge colleges awarded fellowships automatically to descendants of college founders. The word "nepotism" derives from Latin and was first used to describe the Catholic church's practice of allowing popes to appoint their nephews (who were often illegitimate children) to the College of Cardinals.
/jlne.ws/3CiMmAV
Elon Musk has lost a bigger fortune than anyone in history
David Goldman - CNN
Elon Musk's wealth destruction has become historic. The CEO of Tesla (TSLA), SpaceX and Twitter is worth $137 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, good enough for second place on the list of the world's richest behind LVMH (LVMHF) Chairman Bernard Arnault. But at its peak in November 2021, Musk's net worth was $340 billion. That makes Musk the first person ever to lose $200 billion in wealth, Bloomberg reported last week.
/jlne.ws/3Z8ZUsA
The Key to Success in College Is So Simple It's Almost Never Mentioned
Jonathan Malesic - The New York Times
For Emily Zurek Small, college did what it's supposed to do. Growing up in a small town in Northeast Pennsylvania, she had career and intellectual ambitions for which college is the clearest pathway. "I just kind of always wanted to learn," she told me recently. "I wanted to be able to have intelligent conversations with people and know about the world." She enrolled at a small nearby Catholic college, majored in neuroscience, and in 2016 became the first person in her family to earn a bachelor's degree - and later, a master's. She now works as a school psychologist in Virginia.
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