| January 03, 2025 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
In Bob Pisani's CNBC Trader Talk column on December 31, he shared the story of how two of the late Art Cashin's sons, Arthur Cashin III and Peter Cashin, were carrying on the tradition that Cashin, the former UBS director of floor operations, had of writing a New Year's poem. The Cashin family also led the NYSE in the New Year's Eve tradition of singing "Wait 'till the Sun Shines, Nellie" with current and former NYSE members. Pisani had told me about this when we met at the NYSE for lunch earlier in December and that some older members come to the NYSE from Florida to participate in the tradition.
The poem written by the Cashin sons and Pisani's article can be found HERE.
AWS posted a story to its AWS Public Sector Blog titled "Transforming financial markets: How FIA Tech built the Trade Data Network on AWS." The lead says "This post discusses how FIA Tech, a leading technology provider for the exchange traded derivatives (ETD) industry, built the Trade Data Network (TDN) on Amazon Web Services (AWS). TDN is an industry initiative that provides a shared ledger of trading information to address the fragmentation and lack of transparency in ETD post-trade processing. The TDN initiative currently includes 17 banks/brokers and 40 investment managers and hedge funds with combined assets under management of more than $34 trillion."
As we moved to the first of the year, lots of people and companies had news of job changes or status changes. Here are some I picked from my LinkedIn feed:
Lamia Merzouki, deputy general manager at Casablanca Finance City, has been appointed chair of the World Alliance of International Financial Centers (WAIFC) and Hubertus Vath, managing director at Frankfurt Main Finance, was named vice-chair, the WAIFC announced.
Cboe Digital's LinkedIn account is now officially inactive. Follow Cboe's crypto derivatives offerings on its Cboe Global Markets LinkedIn page.
Jamie Farmer is starting a new position as chief operating officer at Morningstar Indexes, he shared on LinkedIn. He was chief administrative officer previously.
David Mears is starting a new position as head of trading business development at the London Metal Exchange, he shared on LinkedIn. He was previously senior vice president of market structure at the LME.
Vincent Van Dessel, the former chairman and CEO of Euronext Brussels, has been named chairman of the Federation of Individual Investors, he shared on LinkedIn.
Congratulations to Karen Bruni, who has been named a partner at Steptoe LLP, she shared on LinkedIn.
Farhan Husain has been promoted to global group head of communications - market intelligence, mobility and enterprise data organization at S&P Global.
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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Matrix Executions Enhances Institutional Trading with Focus on Confidentiality and Liquidity
JohnLothianNews.com
At the FIA EXPO, Joe Corona, Chief Strategy Officer of Matrix Executions, discussed how the firm ensures confidentiality while facilitating institutional investors' orders. In an interview with John Lothian News, Corona said: "When an institutional investor sends us an order, that order can send out indications of interest to counterparties, liquidity providers, and market makers." However, the information shared is carefully managed to prevent leaks. "We do not disclose buy or sell information, nor do we disclose the price. We just indicate the structure and size of the order," he said.
Watch the video »
John Shay - AFX
Watch Video »
James Putra - Tradestation
Watch Video »
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Gambling, Murder and Mayhem: Welcome to the New Futures Markets of Today
JohnLothianNews.com
Gambling, murder, and mayhem are now part of today's CFTC-regulated financial futures markets. While mayhem has always been a feature of financial futures, you can now trade the outcome of the Super Bowl with "event contracts." These contracts strip away any pretense and reveal themselves as straightforward bets on "The Big Game." This isn't trading-it's gambling, wrapped in the guise of a financial instrument.
A week ago, Crypto.com unveiled a sports-focused version of its platform, enabling users to trade event contracts on "The Big Game." A promotional video is pinned to the Crypto.com X/Twitter feed, and the new offering is prominently featured on the frontpage of its website.
Read more (or listen to the podcast) »
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Honoring Decades of Service
Jim Toes, STA President & CEO
There are several hallmarks of year-end in our industry: closing out books and records, office holiday celebrations, and, of course, performance reviews. This time of year also brings announcements of retirement from industry veterans who have chosen to begin a new chapter in their lives. Before 2025 begins, we want to take a moment to recognize and celebrate the careers of several outstanding professionals. After decades of hard work and dedication, they are leaving our industry not only to pursue other interests but also having left it stronger than when they started. It is both fitting and meaningful to honor their achievements as they embark on this next chapter.
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***** It is that time of year, when people leave the industry, some move to new jobs and some look for new opportunities as positions have opened up.~JJL
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India Again Bans Ex-Broker in 2001 Stocks Scandal for Front-Running; SEBI orders impounding of 658 million rupees in unlawful gain; Parekh earlier faced a 14-year ban from SEBI for price rigging
Chiranjivi Chakraborty - Bloomberg
Former stock broker Ketan Parekh, who shook India's stock market at the turn of the century in one of the worst financial scandals in its history, has been banned by the securities market regulator, this time for allegedly front-running trades of a US-based fund. The Securities and Exchange Board of India on Thursday prohibited Parekh and others from buying and selling securities, as well as associating with any entity registered with the regulator, an order published on SEBI's website showed.
/jlne.ws/40ji1ik
***** Dan Sullivan and John Nuckel, you need to develop a Bollywood version of The Frontrunner.~JJL
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Thursday's Top Three
Our top story yesterday was a video of Pat Kenny's polar plunge, Witness the Polar Plunge: Pat Kenny's Crazy New Year's Ritual! Fun? Insane? You decide. Second most read was, Gambling, Murder and Mayhem: Welcome to the New Futures Markets of Today from John Lothian News. Third was another YouTube video, "No more trust in the media" - Why Prediction Markets are the Future (Kalshi Founder Tarek Mansour).
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| Lead Stories | The Stock Market Is Like a Fashion Show, and Here's One of Its Hot Must-Haves; Software companies are touting something called the 'Rule of 40,' but some are more flash than substance
Jonathan Weil - The Wall Street Journal
Like hemlines and haircuts, stocks go in and out of fashion. So do the ways companies communicate their performance to investors. Whatever numbers investors want to see, management will supply them, especially if they can be easily tailored to look flattering. For so-called SaaS companies, selling software as a service, a favorite metric nowadays is something called the "Rule of 40." The first thing to know is it isn't a rule, because there is no standard definition for what it means. For some companies it has become a big deal to claim membership in the "Rule of 40 club" nonetheless.
/jlne.ws/49Zh3el
Fast-Money Quants Saw Big Year Go Bust in Wild Cross-Asset Ride; SocGen CTA index ends 2024 with a 2% gain after a strong start; Volatile currency and bond markets put pressure on the cohort
Denitsa Tsekova - Financial Times
Quant funds that make money surfing the momentum of markets saw a promising year slip away in 2024 when big bouts of volatility lashed everything from Japanese stocks to cocoa futures and Treasuries. After jumping out to the best start to a year since 2008 thanks to concerted rallies in equities and commodities, the trend-chasing cohort saw gains all but vanish as orderly markets turned turbulent. An index compiled by Societe Generale SA tracking the category finished with a 2% rise.
/jlne.ws/3PmVLhi
Lamia Merzouki Appointed Chair of WAIFC and Hubertus Vath Named Vice Chair; Following the WAIFC Annual General Meeting in Tokyo, Lamia Merzouki, Deputy General Manager at Casablanca Finance City, has been elected as Chair of the WAIFC, with Hubertus Väth, Managing Director at Frankfurt Main Finance, serving as Vice Chair.
World Alliance of International Financial Centers
Following the AGM held in Tokyo on 18 October 2024, Lamia Merzouki, Deputy General Manager at Casablanca Finance City is appointed as the new Chair of the WAIFC's Board of Directors, and Hubertus Vath, Managing Director at Frankfurt Main Finance, as Vice Chair. The Board of Directors of the World Alliance of International Financial Centers (WAIFC) unanimously elected Lamia Merzouki, Deputy General Manager at Casablanca Finance City, as Chair, succeeding Keiichi Aritomo, Executive Director of FinCity.Tokyo. Previously Lamia was the Vice Chair and commences her tenure leading the WAIFC. Hubertus Väth, Managing Director at Frankfurt Main Finance, will be Vice Chair, formerly a co-founder and board member of WAIFC since its inception in 2018.
/jlne.ws/4gDsCdn
ETF Companies Are Racing to Launch the Next 'Hot' Crypto Fund; We'll see a lot more filings in 2025, says BI's Psarofagis; Proposed ETFs would invest in convertible bonds, derivatives
Vildana Hajric - Bloomberg
Purveyors of exchange-traded funds are finding ever more creative - and potentially riskier - ways to lure investors into the crypto craze. Paperwork covering a plethora of newfangled offerings was filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission as 2024 was ending. Among the proposed products was an ETF from ProShares that would denominate the S&P 500's return in Bitcoin. Funds planned by Strive Asset Management and REX Shares would offer exposure to convertible bonds issued by companies to buy Bitcoin. And ETF company Volatility Shares envisions getting inverse and leveraged Solana funds off the ground, alongside a vehicle that would track the sixth-largest digital token using futures contracts.
/jlne.ws/4gWjCjt
Clearing members ponder the purpose of CME's mystery FCM; Some think licence will be used to boost crypto clearing capacity, but many questions remain
Luke Clancy - Risk.net
hen CME Group first applied for a licence to operate a futures commission merchant (FCM), it sparked plenty of controversy and questions about conflicts of interest. But with the licence now in the bag, the talk among FCMs is turning to what CME plans to do with it. Many in the clearing industry are still nervous about the idea that a clearing house with all the powers of a US self-regulatory organisation (SRO) can set up a business that could compete with its own members. That's especially
/jlne.ws/4gBrDuz
Record share of OTC trades eschews interdealer, CCP channels; More than one-fourth of global notional involves a single dealer and is not cleared, BIS data shows
Lorenzo Migliorato - Risk.net
A record share of over-the-counter derivatives notional sat outside the interdealer or centrally cleared spaces at end-June 2024, reducing regulators' visibility in the market at a time of persisting volatility. Of the record $727.1 trillion notional amount held by dealers in Bank for International Settlements member countries, 26.2% had a counterparty other than another reporting dealer or a central counterparty (CCP) - the highest proportion in eight years' worth of data, up from 24.4% a year
/jlne.ws/4gRdiKg
Citadel Offers to Let Clients Take Profits But Most Decline; Firm made profit redemptions optional for first time in years; Citadel's main multistrategy fund returned 15.1% last year
Nishant Kumar - Bloomberg
Citadel invited clients to cash out profits after a roughly 15% gain in its flagship strategy last year, but the vast majority opted to keep their money in the multistrategy hedge fund. The elective profit distribution offered in recent weeks had few takers, according to a person familiar with the matter. Out of billions of dollars in profits Citadel made last year, only about $300 million is exiting the firm, the person said, asking not to be identified because the details are private. The latest proposal differed from recent years, when Citadel required investors to redeem profits rather than making it optional. The firm, which manages $66 billion of assets, previously gave clients the choice of whether to redeem profits but hasn't done so in recent years.
/jlne.ws/4fLiA8O
Hedge Funds Eye Dollar Parity for Euro as Option Trades Boom; Rabobank, Wells Fargo and Investec see currency hitting parity; Balance of risks are skewed toward euro downside, says OCBC
Ruth Carson, David Finnerty, and Alice Atkins - Bloomberg
The euro has kicked off the year on a grim note, and hedge funds see it hurtling toward parity with the dollar - if not lower - in the coming months. Leveraged funds in Europe and the US rolled down their euro options positions on Thursday as the currency dropped to its lowest level since November 2022, traders said. Some 2.5 billion euro options wagers with strikes targeting parity and below changed hands on Thursday - about four times last month's daily average, according to Bloomberg's calculations based on Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation data.
/jlne.ws/3BVFcpy
Biden rejects Nippon Steel's proposed deal to acquire US Steel
Associated Press Finance
President Joe Biden has rejected the nearly $15 billion proposed deal for Nippon Steel of Japan to purchase Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel - affirming his vow in March to block the acquisition. "We need major U.S. companies representing the major share of US steelmaking capacity to keep leading the fight on behalf of America's national interests," Biden said in a Friday morning statement.
/jlne.ws/3C5JWZz
Seven Billionaires Created By India's IPO Boom in 2024; Around 85 companies looking to raise $18 billion in 2025; Slowing economy, weak corporate profits key concerns
Advait Palepu - Bloomberg
A blockbuster year for initial public offerings in India catapulted seven entrepreneurs into the dollar billionaires league, many of them early movers in the country's booming renewable energy sector. Chiranjeev Singh Saluja of Premier Energies is among those who successfully rode the wave. "My father was in the business of supplying hand pumps to rural villages," the 51-year-old said in an interview. "He saw that access to electricity was sparse in those areas, so he started Premier Solar in 1995," Saluja said.
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The Most Reliable Scapegoat in Politics? Red Tape; Less regulation is an easy rhetorical pitch. Better regulation is harder to stump for.
Peter C. Baker - The New York Times
Just before the November election, Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a Democrat from Washington's Third Congressional District, posted a video explaining why she was running to keep her seat. Unlike many other Democrats, she didn't talk about Donald Trump or the state of democracy. She talked about fruit. She dressed casually and spoke directly, like one parent sharing a grievance with another at the playground. It all started, she said, when a constituent who worked at a day-care facility complained to her that she was not "legally allowed to peel bananas or oranges for the kids." Why not? "She said peeling fruit is considered food prep." (Here Gluesenkamp Perez tightened her eyebrows, as in: Can you believe it?) Even worse, while peeling a healthful banana was against the rules, opening a bag of potato chips was apparently fine.
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Surgeon General Calls for Cancer Warnings on Alcohol; Dr. Vivek Murthy's report cites studies linking alcoholic beverages to at least seven malignancies, including breast cancer. But to add warning labels, Congress would have to act.
Roni Caryn Rabin - The New York Times
Alcohol is a leading preventable cause of cancer, and alcoholic beverages should carry a warning label as packs of cigarettes do, the U.S. surgeon general said on Friday. It is the latest salvo in a fierce debate about the risks and benefits of moderate drinking as the influential U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans are about to be updated. For decades, moderate drinking was said to help prevent heart attacks and strokes.
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*****This story from Bloomberg US Surgeon General Calls for Cancer Warnings on Alcohol Labels
ESMA launches first stage of bond CTP selection process; Parties interested in becoming the bond CTP are invited to register and submit requests to participate by 7 February 2025.
Claudia Preece - The Trade
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has launched the first stage of the selection procedure for the bond consolidated tape provider (CTP). Interested parties are invited to register and submit requests to participate by 7 February 2025 - after which ESMA will assess these requests against the 'exclusion and selection criteria' before successful candidates are invited to submit their official applications.
/jlne.ws/4gGLkkw
Asset management in the digital age: Making the most of data
The Trade
Asset management was once an industry built on personal relationships, market intuition, and carefully guarded investment philosophies. Now, at a time when manufacturers harness digital twins and healthcare providers leverage predictive analytics, investment firms face a similar technological inflection point, writes Paul Ronan, chief technology officer at FE fundinfo. Research reveals a stark reality - 48% of asset managers are racing to overhaul their data infrastructure, recognising that while their competitors across banking, insurance, and fintech surge ahead with digital innovation, the traditional 'wait and see' approach to technology has become a liability. Yet, transforming an industry that manages trillions of global assets isn't as simple as installing new software.
/jlne.ws/41YN0kH
Jimmy Carter vs. Iran: The Untold Story Revealed in the Archives; The late president was often criticized as too passive in engaging a new U.S. enemy. But evidence from the time shows his attempted interventions were forceful-just misguided.
Ray Takeyh - The Wall Street Journal
The popular impression for the four decades since his presidency is that Jimmy Carter, who died this week, is responsible for somehow "losing" Iran. His passivity, it has often been argued, helped build the militant Islamist state that has stalked the Middle East since Iran's revolution in 1979. But if that is seen as his most meaningful legacy, the archives of the time tell a different story. No American tried harder to thwart the revolution than Carter. And when that failed, he plotted to subvert the Islamic regime.
/jlne.ws/4fI2FbE
Outlook 2025: Travis Schwab, Eventus
Anna Lyudvig - Traders Magazine
What were the key themes for your business in 2024? Eventus' core themes for 2024 revolved around adaptability, scalability, cutting-edge technology and client-driven innovation in our platform. Enhancements to Validus have been pivotal, focusing on advanced analytics, seamless scalability and comprehensive market coverage to meet the diverse needs of our client base across asset classes and jurisdictions. Key advancements appreciated by clients include enhanced market visualization tools with dynamic zooming, faster performance, and increased flexibility for analyzing trades and orders.
/jlne.ws/3BGErRa
FLASH FRIDAY: After-Hours Trading: Price Discovery or Market Babysitting?
Peter C. Earle - Traders Magazine
Markets, at their core, are information systems. They aggregate the collective knowledge, expectations, and preferences of market participants in a price which functions as an exchange ratio. In equities trading, each trade contemplates the exchange of a certain amount of money for a title of ownership to some amount of capital goods. Price discovery, the mechanism through which markets reveal this information, is essential for economic calculation and resource allocation. But what happens when markets operate with less liquidity, fewer participants, or, increasingly, automated systems? The rise and fall of night trading two decades ago offers an opportunity to revisit that question, as its recent resurgence prompts a critical examination of whether these extended sessions foster meaningful price discovery, or merely act as a superficial exercise in keeping markets open for longer.
/jlne.ws/40hX5rL
Outlook 2025: Keith Todd, Trading Technologies
Anna Lyudvig - Traders Magazine
What were the key themes for your business in 2024? Multi-asset expansion, traction in new services and continued momentum. In 2024, we made significant progress in our continued transformation into a true multi-asset platform with services across the trade lifecycle. Trading Technologies has long been known as the go-to platform for exchange-traded derivatives. Our establishment of six business lines in 2024 enabled us to truly diversify our business, with the ability to meet client needs across asset classes as well provide the X factor to improve trading and compliance through analytics, algos and surveillance. These six areas of focus include product areas, such as futures and options, fixed income and foreign exchange (FX), along with trade lifecycle offerings in data and analytics, compliance and quantitative trading solutions.
/jlne.ws/4a4zXR5
Outlook 2025: Alex Knight and Tucker Dona, Baton Systems
Anna Lyudvig - Traders Magazine
What was the key theme for your business in 2024? From geopolitical tensions to the global equities sell-off this summer, the events of 2024 have been a wakeup call for banks to look closer at the adequacy of their intraday liquidity management processes. Hampered by legacy technology and sluggish settlement cycles, post-trade inefficiencies and a lack of real-time transparency into liquidity positions have become glaringly apparent and even more restrictive during the many periods of market stress we have seen this year. Today's world demands real-time, data-driven liquidity management decisions so even minor balance sheet inaccuracies can become significant vulnerabilities - especially in a bout of turbulence.
/jlne.ws/4h2IpT9
Outlook 2025: Jamie Grant, CanDeal Markets
Anna Lyudvig - Traders Magazine
What were the key theme(s) for your business in 2024?
Across CanDeal, a common theme in 2024 has been supporting our clients across multiple markets in Canada and beyond. Our clients and stakeholders participate in dynamic and challenging environments, and we partner with them in trading, data, analytics and ongoing innovation such that they, and the Canadian markets, can remain globally competitive. In our Markets business, we are seeing increased demand for the electronification of fixed income, and our volume growth is a testament to that. As data-driven insights become even more crucial, we have also seen more demand for our best-in-class pricing and analytics via our CanDeal Data & Analytics (DNA) business.
/jlne.ws/4gGbrYN
Outlook 2025: Michael Hughes, Capgemini
Anna Lyudvig - Traders Magazine
What was the highlight of 2024? The way that the industry came together to successfully implement the move to shorten the securities settlement cycle to T+1 in North America was noteworthy.
/jlne.ws/4a4Abrp
Here's How Much a Family of 4 Needs to Live 'Comfortably' in Every U.S. State, According to a New Report; In 26 states, a family of four has to earn at least $100,000 a year to be considered "financially secure."
Erin Davis - Entrepreneur
As the cost of living continues to rise in the U.S., a family of four needs to earn more than ever to live "comfortably," according to a new report by GOBankingRates. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center's 2024 Cost of Living data series, GOBankingRates researchers analyzed annual living expenses for a family of four in all 50 states. For the report, a "living wage" is defined as the income required to cover 50% of necessities, 30% for discretionary spending, and 20% placed into savings.
/jlne.ws/40mP6Kk
2024; The Year in Graphics
Bloomberg
In 2024, we watched as world powers realigned. More than 60 countries went to the polls. Some places saw ruling parties toppled, others saw the return of previous leaders. Athletes competed on the streets of Paris. Climate disasters ravaged landscapes and lives. War continued on multiple fronts and regimes were ousted. Companies rerouted ships, avoiding attacks, sanctions and closed ports. Commercial real estate teetered despite more return-to-office mandates. Chinese EVs started pushing out other automakers even as China's consumers spent less. Here's how Bloomberg told these stories in maps, charts and visuals.
/jlne.ws/3BVosyu
What Colleges and Student Borrowers Can Expect in 2025; Donald Trump's presidency could bring changes for federal debt and colleges across the country.
Claire Ballentine and Francesca Maglione - Bloomberg
This year is likely to bring big changes to the world of higher education as President-elect Donald Trump takes office. For the 40 million Americans with federal student debt, a new president is the latest twist in a saga of potential loan forgiveness and paused payments. President Joe Biden's time in office has seen more than $175 billion in debt relief and the rollout of income-driven plans that reduced bills. Trump's administration could change all of that just as federal student-loan payments restart in earnest.
/jlne.ws/3BUNA8z
Capital neutrality key to completing Basel III, says Quarles; Former Republican Fed vice-chair thinks Hill or Bowman could help revive stalled prudential rules
Janice Kirkel - Risk.net
Months before Donald Trump's election as president, the US implementation of key prudential rules appeared to have stalled, as regulators quarrelled over how far to soften an original proposal from July 2023. Now, the fate of this Basel III endgame - the US implementation of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision's post-crisis package - is likely to depend on Republican-dominated regulatory agencies. To understand what kind of redraft might pass muster, few are better placed than the former
/jlne.ws/4h0SKyY
For banks, change risk is inevitable; managing it, optional; Regional bank survey shows steady growth of dedicated change risk functions and adoption of leading indicators
Tom Osborn - Risk.net
Last year's Op Risk Benchmarking survey saw widespread acknowledgement among regional banks that effectively managing the risks arising from organisational change was increasingly important - and that regulators were showing growing interest in it - but little agreement was reached on how to tackle it, or even what to call it. At a more basic level, the survey revealed a split between banks who view change as a driver of other
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Flagship Ukrainian brigade trained in France goes AWOL
Joe Barnes - The Telegraph
About 1,700 soldiers from a Ukrainian unit equipped by the West and trained in France went AWOL before firing a shot. At least 50 members of the new 155th mechanised brigade, one of the few to operate the Leopard 2 battle tank, disappeared while elements of the unit were being drilled in France. By the time it entered battle for the first time, at least 1,700 of its troops went absent without leave at numerous points. Some 500 soldiers were still missing, it was reported as recently as November.
/jlne.ws/3PmttDu
Ukraine's Zelensky says Trump 'capable of stopping Putin'
Filip Timotija - The Hill
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview that President-elect Trump is "capable of stopping" Russian President Vladimir Putin and that he will be a key factor in the outcome of the war in Eastern Europe, which has been ongoing for nearly three years. "Trump can be decisive. For us, this is the most important thing," Zelensky said in an interview with Ukrainian TV that aired Thursday, according to Reuters. "His qualities are indeed there," he added when discussing the incoming U.S. commander in chief. "He can be decisive in this war. He is capable of stopping Putin or, to put it more fairly, help us stop Putin. He is able to do this."
/jlne.ws/3W53O5Z
Russian Court Tells Yandex to Hide Refinery Images Over UAVs
Bloomberg News
Russia is moving to restrict online images and maps showing one of the country's oil refineries in an effort to protect the crucial infrastructure from Ukrainian drone attacks. A Moscow court ordered Russia's leading online search engine, Yandex, to block access to maps and images of the facility, which has been attacked multiple times by drones, according to court documents. The lawsuit was filed by the prosecutor's office on behalf of the Russian state.
/jlne.ws/4a1x3fI
Moldova Region's Industry Grinds to Halt on Lack of Russian Gas
Bloomberg News
Moldova's pro-Moscow breakaway region of Transnistria halted almost all industrial activity except for food production, following the end of Russian gas flows through Ukraine, Interfax reported. "The government will do everything to help economic agents ship manufactured goods," said Sergei Obolonik, self-proclaimed economy minister of Transnistria, according to the Russian news agency. "At the moment, the situation is manageable and predictable, but if the problem with gas supplies isn't resolved, enterprises will lose their ability to restart."
/jlne.ws/420jX0j
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| Israel/Hamas Conflict | | News about the recent (October, 2023) conflict between Israel and Hamas | Middle East latest: Israeli strikes across Gaza kill at least 50, including several kids
Associated Press
Israeli airstrikes killed at least 50 people across central and southern Gaza, including an attack on a sprawling tent camp that Israel has repeatedly bombed despite designating it a humanitarian safe zone. Israel said the strike targeted a high-ranking police officer, and blames Hamas for civilian deaths. The airstrikes took place Thursday and continued into Friday. On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he authorized a delegation from the country's intelligence services and military to continue negotiations in Qatar toward a ceasefire deal in Gaza.
/jlne.ws/424RKFP
120 commandos deep inside Syria: IDF reveals daring raid on Iranian missile factory; Elite Air Force unit breached underground facility 200 kilometers from Israel, laid explosives and escaped unscathed after 2.5 hours, in one of the most complex operations to date
Emanuel Fabian - The Times of Israel
The Israeli Air Force on Thursday revealed details and footage from one of its most daring and complex commando operations ever, in which 120 members of special forces units raided and destroyed an underground Iranian missile manufacturing plant deep in Syria in September. At the time, the regime of Bashar al-Assad was still in power in Syria, and Israel had not yet launched its devastating campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
/jlne.ws/4gKTOXR
Israel struggles to deter escalating attacks from Yemen's Houthi rebels as other fronts calm
Tia Goldenberg - The Associated Press
The rockets from Gaza have mostly fallen silent. A ceasefire with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon has taken hold. But repeated fire from Yemen's Houthi rebels, a faraway foe, is proving a stubborn threat for Israel. The Iran-backed Houthis are stepping up their missile attacks, sending hundreds of thousands of Israelis scrambling for shelter in the middle of the night, scaring away foreign airlines and keeping up what could be the last major front in the Middle East wars.
/jlne.ws/41Tcz6W
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | CME Group Reports Record Annual ADV of 26.5 Million Contracts in 2024, Driven by Growth Across All Six Asset Classes
CME Group
CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, today reported its full-year, Q4 and December 2024 market statistics, showing it reached a record average daily volume (ADV) of 26.5 million contracts during the year, an increase of 9% over 2023. Q4 ADV reached 25.5 million contracts and December ADV reached 22.3 million contracts. Market statistics are available in greater detail at https://cmegroupinc.gcs-web.com/monthly-volume.
/jlne.ws/3DSxGvW
Deutsche Borse to publish cash market annual statistics 2024
Deutsche Borse Cash Market
SAP SE, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Morphosys AG and 2G Energy AG were the stocks with the highest trading volume in the German indices DAX, MDAX, SDAX und Scale All Share last year. This was announced by Deutsche Börse today when publishing its cash market trading statistics for 2024. In total, an order book turnover of EUR1.3 trillion was achieved last year on the trading venues Börse Frankfurt and Xetra. The total order book turnover for 2023 was EUR1.2 trillion.
/jlne.ws/4047kPi
Xetra-Gold ends 2024 with lower holdings
Deutsche Boerse
The gold holdings of the exchange-traded bearer bond Xetra-Gold (ISIN: DE000A0S9GB0) decreased to 166.5 tons at the end of 2024. This is about 32 tons less than at the end of 2023, when they stood at 198.7 tons. While gold holdings have declined, the price of gold has continued to rise during this period and stood at EUR80.61 per gram at the end of the year. Xetra-Gold's assets under custody thus increased by around 13 per cent compared to the previous year, to EUR13.5 billion.
/jlne.ws/3PltrM1
Nasdaq to Hold Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Investor Conference Call
Nasdaq
Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) has scheduled its fourth quarter and full year 2024 financial results announcement. Senior management will be available for questions from the investment community following prepared remarks. All participants can access the conference via webcast through the Nasdaq Investor Relations website at http://ir.nasdaq.com/.
/jlne.ws/4gZcuCZ
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | IBM, GlobalFoundries settle lawsuits over contract, trade secrets
Blake Brittain - Reuters
GlobalFoundries and IBM said on Thursday they have settled dueling lawsuits in which GlobalFoundries was accused of breaching a contract with IBM and the computer giant was alleged to have misused the chipmaker's trade secrets. The companies said in a joint statement the terms of the settlement were confidential and would allow them to "explore new opportunities for collaboration."
/jlne.ws/3Pkr2RO
Soccer Star Honda's Venture Capital AI Fund Raises $98 Million; Sumitomo Mitsui, Nomura are among investors in Japanese Fund; Two SBI firms are biggest shareholders, investing yen2 billion
Nao Sano - Bloomberg
Venture-capital fund headed by former Japanese national soccer team player Keisuke Honda has raised about yen15.3 billion ($98 million), according to a document seen by Bloomberg. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., Nomura Holdings Inc. and SBI Holdings Inc. are among at least 20 companies that invested in Honda's X&KSK Fund, according to the document. SBI Holdings and SBI Shinsei Bank Ltd. have parked a combined yen2 billion in the fund, making them the biggest shareholders.
/jlne.ws/4a00kHN
ByteDance devising $7bn cloud-based GPU strategy
GlobalData
ByteDance is devising plans to invest $7bn in cloud-based graphics processing units (GPUs) to circumvent US restrictions on exporting advanced chips to China, The Information reported citing sources. The company aims to rent access to Nvidia's GPUs via data centres outside mainland China, avoiding direct purchases.
/jlne.ws/42ilorh
Elon Musk to launch 'X Money' payment system in 2025
Fox Business via the NY Post
Hours before ringing in the new year, the CEO of X, formerly Twitter, announced the platform will launch a payment system, X Money, in 2025 In an X post Tuesday afternoon, CEO Linda Yaccarino said users "are the media" and announced "X will connect you in ways never thought possible."
/jlne.ws/3PqhAw4
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Apple agrees to settle a 2019 Siri privacy lawsuit for $95 million; Class members could get up to $20 per Siri-enabled device.
Will Shanklin - Engadget
Apple has moved to settle a five-year-old class action lawsuit over Siri privacy. Reuters reports that the proposed settlement was filed on Tuesday in Oakland, CA. The company agreed to pay $95 million to class members, estimated to be tens of millions of Siri-enabled device owners. US District Judge Jeffrey White needs to approve the settlement before it becomes official. The lawsuit stemmed from a 2019 report that Apple quality control contractors could regularly hear sensitive info accidentally recorded by the voice assistant's "Hey Siri" feature. The clips were said to include medical information, criminal activities and even "sexual encounters." Reuters says Apple denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle the case.
/jlne.ws/40hZpz5
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Crypto Will See Revolution By Acceleration
Paul Brody - CoinDesk
On Nov. 6, I wrote a memo to EY's blockchain leadership team. The headline was simple: "Every single private blockchain just died." Since November 2022, the crypto and blockchain markets have been defined by caution and gradual recovery. The direction has been consistent and positive, but slow, especially in 2023. In 2024, we saw a gradual but sustained acceleration. The year started with the Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), and just kept accelerating through an Ethereum ETF, and the adoption of the EU's Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) legislation.
/jlne.ws/3DPH0kg
Do Kwon Pleads Not Guilty to Fraud Following Extradition to US: Reuters; Kwon's Terraform Labs developed the luna cryptocurrency and stablecoin terraUSD, which folded in 2022, losing an estimated $40 billion
Jamie Crawley - CoinDesk
Do Kwon, founder of the failed Terra Luna crypto ecosystem, pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud following his Dec. 31 extradition to the U.S., Reuters reported on Thursday. Kwon's Terraform Labs developed the luna cryptocurrency and algorithmic stablecoin terraUSD, which collapsed in 2022 with the loss of an estimated $40 billion. Kwon faces charges that include securities fraud, wire fraud, commodities fraud and money laundering conspiracy.
/jlne.ws/3WsoN31
Tron's T3 Financial Crime Fighting Unit Hits $100M in Frozen USDT; The unit is a joint venture between Tron, TRM Labs and Tether.
Sam Reynolds - CoinDesk
The T3 Financial Crime Unit, a collaboration between the Tron blockchain, stablecoin issuer Tether and blockchain intelligence company TRM Labs, said it has frozen a total of 100 million of Tether's USDT used by illicit actors since the unit was formed in September. The venture analyzed millions of transactions spanning five continents, monitoring a total volume in excess of 3 billion USDT, the largest stablecoin, T3 said in a statement.
/jlne.ws/4a0CR9a
Canada's Crypto Industry Is Taking Lessons From US Election Wins; Stand With Crypto advocacy group expanded to Canada last year; New rules for crypto trading platforms took effect on Dec. 31
Monique Mulima - Bloomberg
Following the high-profile successes of the crypto industry in last year's US elections, digital-asset companies in Canada are already applying what they've learned. In November, Donald Trump, a crypto skeptic turned supporter, won the US presidential election and pro-crypto candidates won the majority of their races. Since then, Trump has nominated digital-asset supporters to his administration and Bitcoin's price has surged more than 40%, rising above $100,000 for the first time.
/jlne.ws/4fEdRFX
Peter Thiel's Bubble Theory Gains Relevance As Bitcoin Hovers Around $95K: 'Extremely Hard To Define'
Kaustubh Bagalkote - Benzinga
As Bitcoin trades near $95,000, PayPal Holdings Inc. co-founder Peter Thiel's framework for identifying market bubbles offers crypto investors a timely analytical tool, drawing parallels between historical manias and current market dynamics. What Happened: Speaking at the Yale Political Union in October Thiel outlined three key bubble indicators: extreme abstraction, unsustainable exponential growth, and psychosocial mania. His insights gain particular relevance as cryptocurrency markets reach new heights in early 2025.
/jlne.ws/40jexwg
Bitcoin's Computing Power May Hit a Major Milestone Long Before Next Halving; Bitcoin's hashrate increased by approximately 50% in 2024, and it is currently on course to rise for the eighth consecutive time.
James Van Straten - CoinDesk
Bitcoin's hashrate, the computational energy needed to mine a block in a proof-of-work blockchain, is on track to reach 1 zettahash per second before the next halving event in about 3.5 years, putting miners under pressure to secure cheap power deals and more efficient equipment. The average hashrate could reach that level, equivalent to 1,000 exahash per second (EH/s), by 2027 even if it rises at the rather sedate pace of 20% a year. It's grown an average of 65% a year since 2020 and is currently around 787 EH/s on a seven-day moving average basis, according to Glassnode data.
/jlne.ws/4jfQk1p
BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF Posts Record Outflow After Banner Year
Sidhartha Shukla - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3BVlDxo
Crypto Altcoins Are Outperforming Bitcoin as Investors Diversify in 2025; Ether, XRP, Dogecoin and Solana post bigger gains than Bitcoin; Price of market bellwether Bitcoin surged 120% last year
Monique Mulima and David Pan - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3W5FC3s
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | All Democrats expected to participate in Speaker's vote
Mike Lillis - The Hill
All Democrats are expected to be in the Capitol on Friday for the vote to seat the next Speaker of the House, according to the Democratic whip's office. The full participation of Democrats is significant, given the razor-thin margins in the lower chamber and the threat from some conservative Republicans to oppose the bid by Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), the current Speaker, to keep his gavel in the 119th Congress. Already, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) is vowing to vote for someone other than Johnson on the floor on Friday, which means one more GOP defection would deny Johnson the simple majority of voting members needed to secure the Speakership - if all Democrats are on the floor and voting for their Speaker preference: Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
/jlne.ws/4a1tS7U
Who to watch as Johnson's speakership hangs in the balance; The incumbent speaker can only afford a single GOP defection.
Anthony Adragna - Politico
Mike Johnson can likely only afford to lose a single GOP vote if he wants to remain speaker. He's already got one Republican promising to oppose him, and about a dozen more who won't commit to backing him. Many of those publicly undecided lawmakers have indicated they won't reveal how they plan to vote ahead of time so, for now, it's impossible to predict if Johnson can succeed. And while Speaker Mike Johnson said Thursday that it was his "plan" to win on the first ballot that will commence shortly after noon on Friday, even his allies are telegraphing that it might take a few votes before he clinches it.
/jlne.ws/4a4MT9n
Antony Blinken: 'China has been trying to have it both ways'; The outgoing US secretary of state on putting pressure on Beijing over Ukraine, the 'road map' for Syria - and why America must co-operate in order to lead
Demetri Sevastopulo - Financial Times
"What did Mike Tyson say? You have the best plans and then you get hit in the face," quips Antony Blinken when I ask him to take stock of the past four years. "We faced the worst economic crisis arguably since the Great Depression. We faced the worst public health crisis in at least 100 years. We had strong divisions at home, a challenge to our democracy, and we had very fraught relations with our closest allies and partners." Today the US is grappling with many foreign policy crises around the world, from Ukraine and Gaza to Syria. But the outgoing US secretary of state is anything but downbeat about the record of the Biden administration. Back in 2021, he says, adversaries believed the US was in "inexorable decline". Since then, big investments at home, including in infrastructure and the domestic chip industry, in addition to intense work with allies, have changed the landscape. "We're now operating from a position of strength."
/jlne.ws/40hTji5
China punishes dozens of U.S. companies, including 10 for arms sales to Taiwan
Doug Cunningham - United Press International
China's Ministry of Commerce Thursday targeted dozens of American companies for punitive trade actions as U.S.-China tensions increase. The ministry added also 10 U.S. companies to its unreliable entities list, sanctioning them for arms sales to Taiwan. China's Commerce Ministry said it added 28 countries to an export-control list over national security concerns. According to Chinese state media Xinhua citing the ministry, the companies include Lockheed Martin's Missiles and Fire Control, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics and Lockheed Martin Missile System Integration Lab.
/jlne.ws/3Jvap0X
South Korean presidential guards prevent arrest of impeached Yoon after tense stand-off
Hyunsu Yim, Eduardo Baptista and Joyce Lee - Reuters
Some 200 presidential guards, troops clash with investigators; Arrest attempt suspended due to safety concerns - agency; Hundreds of Yoon supporters gather outside compound; Yoon's lawyer says arrest unlawful, threatens legal action; Arrest warrant viable until Jan. 6. South Korea's presidential guards and military troops prevented authorities from arresting impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday in a tense six-hour stand-off inside Yoon's compound in the heart of Seoul. Yoon is under criminal investigation for insurrection over his Dec. 3 martial law bid that stunned South Korea and led to the first arrest warrant to be issued for a sitting president.
/jlne.ws/4gWkW5V
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | Do Kwon pleads not guilty to US fraud charges in $40 billion crypto collapse
Luc Cohen - Reuters
Do Kwon, the South Korean cryptocurrency entrepreneur behind two digital currencies that lost an estimated $40 billion in 2022, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to U.S. criminal fraud charges after being extradited from Montenegro this week. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan on Thursday unsealed a nine-count indictment charging Kwon, who co-founded Singapore-based Terraform Labs and developed the TerraUSD and Luna currencies, with securities fraud, wire fraud, commodities fraud and money laundering conspiracy.
/jlne.ws/4iZiJIO
Statement on PCAOB rule on Withdrawal from Registration
Chair Gary Gensler - SEC
Today, the Commission approved new standards for firms that wish to maintain their registration with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). I'm pleased to support this rule because it helps the PCAOB maintain an accurate public record of registered firms. The new rule states that if a firm currently registered with the PCAOB fails to both file their required annual reports and pay their annual fees for two years in a row, a formal process to withdraw their registration would begin. If a firm isn't filing statutory annual reports or paying their dues, it's logical to presume the firm is inactive. Thus, it's appropriate not to let such firms market themselves to the public as being registered with the PCAOB.
/jlne.ws/3DHHjxJ
SEC Charges Recidivist for Defrauding Investors through False and Misleading Statements
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that on December 30, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a consent judgment against Theodore J. Farnsworth for defrauding investors in Vinco Ventures, Inc., a purported digital media and content technologies company. According to the SEC's complaint which was filed on December 23, 2024, between at least January 2021 and April 2023, Farnsworth secretly controlled Vinco, in part through his control over certain Vinco officers and directors who Farnsworth hand-selected for their roles. The complaint alleges that Farnsworth sought to conceal his role at Vinco because he knew the SEC and the Department of Justice were investigating his conduct in connection with MoviePass, Inc., a movie subscription company, and its parent company, Helios & Matheson Analytics, Inc. (HMNY).
/jlne.ws/3PlR5Ig
SEC Obtains Judgment Against Former Executive at MoviePass's Parent Company
SEC
On December 23, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a consent judgment against Theodore J. Farnsworth, former CEO of Helios & Matheson Analytics Inc. (HMNY), for making materially false and misleading statements concerning HMNY's subsidiary, MoviePass, Inc., a movie subscription service. According to the SEC's complaint, between August 2017 and at least March 2019, Farnsworth and another defendant intentionally and repeatedly made misstatements in HMNY Commission filings, press releases, and in the press concerning key aspects of MoviePass's business model. The misstatements concerned HMNY's claim that MoviePass could be profitable at its new, $9.95-per-month subscription price; HMNY's purported data analytics capabilities; and HMNY's ability to fund MoviePass's operations. As further alleged in the complaint, Farnsworth also devised fraudulent tactics to prevent MoviePass's subscribers from using the service. In addition, the complaint alleges that, between January and April 2018, Farnsworth knowingly approved false invoices that a third defendant, a former MoviePass executive, submitted to HMNY and MoviePass, disguising bonus payments as services purportedly provided by an entity that the third defendant controlled. The litigation against the other defendants continues.
/jlne.ws/4fEcirz
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Britons have 'lowest appetite' for stock market investing in the G7; UK savers trail US and several European nations
Jamie John - Financial Times
Britons have the lowest appetite among their G7 peers for investing in the stock market, according to a new study that showed personal wealth in the UK was mostly tied up in housing, pensions and cash. UK savers invested just 8 per cent of their wealth directly into equities and mutual funds compared with 33 per cent in the US and an average of 14 per cent across the remaining five G7 nations, according to an analysis of national accounts by Abrdn.
/jlne.ws/49ZVI4p
Sterling tries to rebound against relentless dollar
Greta Rosen Fondahn - Reuters
Sterling struggled to rebound against the dollar on Friday and was on track for its worst week since November, while new data added to indications of a slowing British economy. The pound edged up 0.1% to $1.2395, having slid 1.16% on Thursday.
The currency hovered close to the April lows it hit the previous day and looked set to end the week 1.4% lower. Global currencies, including the pound and the euro, recorded steep losses against the dollar on Thursday when investors returned from the New Year holidays.
/jlne.ws/4j5jbFx
Natural Diamonds Had a Rough Year-Some Hope to Restore Their Shine; Lab-grown diamonds are gaining share, but they might be getting too cheap and large
Jinjoo Lee - The Wall Street Journal
Natural diamonds are losing their sparkle. What will it take to restore it? After a postpandemic surge in demand in 2021 and 2022, natural-diamond prices are down about 8% compared with the first quarter of 2020, while lab-grown diamond prices are down 75%, according to data from diamond-industry analyst Paul Zimnisky. Lab-grown diamond prices are declining because the cost of manufacturing them keeps coming down, but weak demand is largely to blame for declining natural-diamond prices. It has been bad enough that Anglo American-owned De Beers, one of the world's largest diamond miners, reduced its rough diamond prices by 10% to 15% at its December sale, according to industry publication Rapaport News. Industry watchers say it is rare for De Beers to cut its own pricing. Botswana, one of the top producers of diamonds, is projecting that the country's economy could contract by 1.7% due to the downturn in diamond sales, according to Reuters.
/jlne.ws/3PlzXm8
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Biden Loosens Rules for Hydrogen Subsidies Worth Billions; Final rules provide carve-out for existing nuclear power; Subsidy worth billions subject of intense Washington lobbying
Ari Natter - Bloomberg
The Biden administration loosened some stringent safeguards on a tax credit worth billions of dollars for hydrogen production, after companies argued the rules would stifle domestic manufacturing of the fuel. The tax credit created by President Joe Biden's signature climate law now includes a carve-out, sought by companies including Constellation Energy Corp., that will benefit some existing nuclear power plants, according to final rules released by the Treasury Department Friday. The rules, which were released in draft form in December 2023, also provide pathways for hydrogen made from natural gas with carbon capture systems, methane and renewable natural gas to receive the tax credit.
/jlne.ws/4fD0oyg
Hanoi declared world's most polluted city, authorities seek action
Reuters
Vietnam's capital Hanoi has been covered in thick smog over recent weeks, putting it at the top of a list of the world's most polluted cities, as the government said it would push for more electric vehicles (EVs) to alleviate the problem. Levels of hazardous small particles, known as PM2.5, were measured at 266 micrograms per cubic metre in Hanoi early on Friday, the highest reading among a list of most-polluted cities, according to AirVisual, which provides independent global air pollution information via a phone app.
/jlne.ws/3PmCFI0
The fall of UK North Sea oil and rise of offshore wind
Reuters
The British North Sea is one of the world's oldest offshore oil and gas basins where production has been in steady decline since the early 2000s. At the same time, the region has become one of the world's largest and fastest growing offshore wind basins. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump called to "open up" the British North Sea and get rid of what he called windmills in a post on his social media platform Truth Social on Friday.
/jlne.ws/4gGJ0tO
Big Banks Flee Climate Coalition Formed to Reduce Carbon Emissions; JPMorgan Chase, the last major U.S. bank in the coalition, could also withdraw
Gina Heeb - The Wall Street Journal
U.S. megabanks want to leave behind some green finance pledges in 2024. Morgan Stanley, Citi group and Bank of America this week withdrew from an ambitious pandemic-era climate coalition designed to help drive a shift to reduce carbon emissions by businesses. That followed withdrawals over the past month by Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs from the United Nations-backed coalition, known as the Net-Zero Banking Alliance. JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the nation by assets and the only major U.S. bank left in the coalition, is also considering withdrawing from it, a person familiar with the matter said. A JPMorgan spokeswoman said "the bank regularly evaluates memberships" to ensure they further its "client and business interests."
/jlne.ws/4j2CjDP
Finland power grid operator asks court to seize tanker over cable damage
Reuters
Finland's national power grid operator said on Thursday it had asked a Helsinki court to seize the Eagle S oil tanker in a bid to secure the company's claim for damages related to the breakdown of the undersea Estlink 2 electricity interconnector. The cable between Finland and Estonia was damaged on Dec. 25 along with four telecoms lines, and Finnish authorities the next day boarded the tanker, which carries Russian oil, on suspicion that it caused the damage by dragging its anchor along the seabed.
/jlne.ws/49ZTQZr
What's the UK Energy Price Cap and Why Is It Rising?
Lars Paulsson and Eamon Farhat - Bloomberg
The cost of energy is rising for UK households, with regulator Ofgem increasing the limit on how much it allows suppliers to charge. High energy prices were a big talking point during the 2024 UK election campaign. The winner, Labour, promised to lower bills with a plan to get more energy from homegrown, renewable sources. That policy is unlikely to have much impact before 2030 at the earliest. Meanwhile, the government is facing calls from lawmakers, campaigners and the industry to review the system for pricing household energy and how it works.
/jlne.ws/41YlsvS
This Is How China Builds So Much Nuclear Power; Are there lessons for the US?
Tracy Alloway and Joe Weisenthal - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/40i35AT
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | UBS Wealth Urges Chinese Stock Investors to Stay 'Defensive'; Recommends stocks with decent dividend yields over 6%: Lee; Chinese stocks slip Friday after tumbling in previous session
Audrey Wan - Bloomberg
Chinese stock investors should "stay on the defensive side" as consumption remains weak and volatility is expected to rise with higher tariffs by Donald Trump on the horizon, according to UBS Global Wealth Management. Investors should seek out stocks that "offer decent dividend yields above 6%, compared to 2% government yields," Eva Lee, head of Greater China equities at the wealth manager, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. "There's a 4% yield gap that I think is very attractive," she said, recommending sectors including banks, utilities and energy.
/jlne.ws/3PjjheS
A $20 Billion Fund Puts Its Religious Stamp on Corporate America
Jeff Green and Saijel Kishan - Bloomberg
Jim Lake, a devout Christian in Washington state, said his religious beliefs have always made him opposed to practices such as abortion, transgender transitions or embryonic stem cell research. But until this past year, it didn't cross the retiree's mind that he could put his money to work with his faith. A financial adviser switched Lake's portfolio over to a handful of faith-friendly funds, one of which was run by GuideStone Funds, a 106-year-old investment firm in Texas that oversees some $24 billion in assets. The company caters to Southern Baptist retirees and, increasingly, newly active faith-based investors such as Lake and his wife.
/jlne.ws/4gXsKEu
Discovery Soars 52% as Macro Traders Bet on Trump Bump in 2025; Several macro-focused hedge funds won big during US election; Bridgewater Pure Alpha gave back some gains to end year up 11%
Katherine Burton, Nishant Kumar, and Hema Parmar - Bloomberg
Macro hedge funds got a massive boost from Donald Trump's US presidential victory in November, and are wagering that this year will bring more of the same. Rob Citrone's Discovery Capital Management, which manages about $2.5 billion and focuses on macro bets in emerging markets, jumped 52% last year, according to a person familiar with the matter. Zach Schreiber's PointState Capital rose 47.9%, another person said, asking not to be named as the details aren't public.
/jlne.ws/4j3DW46
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | Japanese Companies Are Pulling Out All the Stops to Recruit Young Workers; Firms are so desperate for graduates they're paying off student loans and offering cheap housing.
Momoka Yokoyama and Haruka Iwai - Bloomberg
Ryosuke Yamamoto is living the dream. For about 25,000 yen ($160) a month, the 25-year-old rents a single room complete with kitchenette and bathroom in a corporate dormitory 20 minutes by train from his office in downtown Tokyo. On Friday nights, he hangs out with colleagues in the dorm's common area, playing video games on a widescreen TV and drinking beer purchased from a vending machine. With parking and utility bills included in the dorm's rent, he's got money left over for regular golf outings with friends. Last October, he went on vacation to Italy.
/jlne.ws/3BWQ7PJ
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | Why Congress Should Act Now To Prevent Another Pandemic
William A. Haseltine and Robert D. Hormats - TIME (opinion)
Today, the 119th Congress begins and one of its top objectives will be to produce a long overdue budget. One of Congress' highest priorities, a new defense appropriations bill, was passed late last year. But challenges to the wellbeing of Americans today go beyond military threats, as important as these are. Under current conditions, we also require a bold and comprehensive strategy, and significant new funding, to counter the real and urgent threat of a new pandemic. Five years ago, we underestimated the dangers of COVID-19. Now, in light of potential dangers from the threat of H5N1-otherwise known as "bird flu"-we cannot afford to be complacent or make a similar mistake again.
/jlne.ws/402Ei2p
The Mystery of What's Causing Young People's Cancer Leads to the Gut; Obesity and alcohol consumption are first priorities for cancer researchers
Brianna Abbott - The Wall Street Journal
Researchers have identified a focal point for the forces they suspect of driving up cancer cases in young people: the gut. They are searching people's bodies and childhood histories for culprits. Rates of gastrointestinal cancers among people under 50 are increasing across the globe. In the U.S., colorectal cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in men under 50 and second for women behind breast cancer. Each generation born since the 1950s has had higher risk than the one before.
/jlne.ws/41TKJrb
How To Use Your Body To Make Yourself Happier
Janice Kaplan - TIME (ideas)
If your goal is to be happier in the year ahead, you might focus on your body rather than your mind. You can start right now by sitting up a little straighter. Then give a brief smile-even a fake one. These tweaks will tell your brain that something good is about to happen and you're more likely to feel positive and upbeat. Sound unlikely? In research led by cognitive scientist John Bargh at Yale in 2009, people who held a cup of warm cup coffee before an interview were more likely to find an individual warm and kind. A 2010 study led by psychologist Joshua Ackerman, showed that people make different decisions when they're seated in a hard chair versus a soft one. Soft seat, soft heart, you might say. When asked to negotiate to buy a new car, those in the hard chairs offered dramatically less than the others after one offer was rejected. Hard chairs made people harder negotiators.
/jlne.ws/4iXJ363
The Hot Market for Books About Bloodletting and Delivering a Baby in 1669; Collectors with a love of medical history are bidding up the price of arcane texts; 'I don't need a car, but I certainly need a copy of Vesalius.'
Jared S. Hopkins - The Wall Street Journal
Tim Opler was searching an online jewelry auction for a birthday gift for his wife when he stumbled upon something more interesting. The New York investment banker spent the next few hours scanning rare medical books and scooped up about 20 that piqued his interest. Since that day three years ago, he has acquired hundreds more, which he displays on shelves in his Manhattan office and estimates are worth $400,000.
/jlne.ws/41YMJ1q
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Why Are China's Youth Boycotting Pensions? China's system is under stress, and it's being made worse as more young people hang on to their cash.
David Rovella - Bloomberg
China's pension system is under stress-so much so that it could potentially run out of money in a decade. Now it faces an additional threat, a phenomenon that may make things worse: Tens of millions of mostly young workers are taking a break from paying into their retirement. Some say they're pessimistic about China's economic future or worried that money they put in now won't be there when they're older. It's a fear that isn't only endemic to China. All over the world, social safety nets built to support the elderly aren't so much fraying as tearing. In this Bloomberg Originals mini-documentary, we explore how this may be happening in China-and why.
/jlne.ws/4a1xyGK
Tesla's China sales hit record high in 2024, bucking global decline
Reuters
Tesla's 2024 China sales rise 8.8% to record high; Deliveries from Tesla's China plant including exports see first decline; Contrast with global fall points to China as only robust market, says analyst; China outperformance tracks trend in global EV sector. U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab said on Friday its China sales rose 8.8% to a record high of more than 657,000 cars in 2024, a strong performance in a competitive market in a year when its annual global deliveries fell for the first time. Tesla's sales in the world's largest auto market also increased 12.8% in December from a month earlier to a record high of 83,000 units, according to Tesla China.
/jlne.ws/4fGjyTT
Chinese Firm to Build Guinea's Biggest Alumina Processing Plant; SPIC to start building 1.2 million-ton a year plant from March; Company produced 3.14 million tons of bauxite in 2023
Ougna Camara - Bloomberg
China's State Power Investment Corp. will start the construction of its alumina processing plant in Guinea this year after producing bauxite in the West African country for the past three years. SPIC will start the construction in March and complete the refinery that will have the capacity to produce 1.2 million tons of alumina per year by the end of 2027, the presidency said in a statement.
/jlne.ws/3W4zoRb
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| Auditions | | Explore a space for creative trading stories where you can find and share unique works like screenplays, television scripts, poetry, and more, all inspired by the world of finance and trading. |
MIKE HARRIS
I'd like to think I'm tougher than you.
LENA CALDWELL
Is that what you think? I don't think you know me well enough to judge how tough I am. I'd tread carefully if I were you.
She stares at him menacingly.
MIKE HARRIS
Oh, I'll be careful. So, what do you do on the floor?
LENA CALDWELL
I'm a wire clerk. I take orders from upstairs traders and relay them to floor brokers in the pit.
LENA CALDWELL (CONT'D)
I'm sure you wouldn't be able to take half the heat I take everyday. What's it to you anyway? You're a nosy one aren't you?
See today's complete entry of Auditions HERE and the complete script to date [[https://johnlothiannews.com/the-front-runner/|HERE.
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| Miscellaneous | | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | French red wine in sharp decline as tastes change among young drinkers; Domestic consumption falls as consumers switch to beer, spirits and alcohol-free options
Adrienne Klasa - Financial Times
French red wine is facing an "existential" decline if it does not adapt, according to people working in the industry, as younger generations increasingly opt for different beverages or shun alcohol altogether. Consumption of red wine in France has fallen by about 90 per cent since the 1970s, according to Conseil Interprofessionnel du vin de Bordeaux (CIVB), an industry association. Total wine consumption, spanning reds, whites and rosés, is down more than 80 per cent in France since 1945, according to survey data from Nielsen, and the decline is accelerating, with Generation Z purchasing half the volume bought by older millennials.
/jlne.ws/4j3Xzco
Inequality hasn't risen. Here's why it feels like it has; What appears on the surface to be a flat trend masks churn beneath
John Burn-Murdoch - Financial Times (opinion)
It's a curious thing. Between around 1980 and the late 1990s, the English-speaking world saw an explosion in concern about inequality, matching a clear widening of the gap between rich and poor on both sides of the Atlantic. But a second sharp rise in public concern about income disparities over the past decade has taken place during a period when most measures of inequality show no rise, or even a slight decline. By inequality we mean some measure of the dispersion between top and bottom. The Gini coefficient of income inequality, which captures the overall fairness of the distribution, has been either flat or falling for the past two decades in Britain, America and much of western Europe. The ratio between the earnings of the top and bottom 10 per cent is not dissimilar. If anything, it has been falling.
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