| July 15, 2024 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | | John Lothian
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John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff
The weekend was full of the deaths of famous people: Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Richard Simmons, James Sikking, star of the TV show 'Hill Street Blues', and Beverly Hills 90120 TV star Shannon Doherty, as well as the unsuccessful assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump. But our focus today is on the June 14 death of Advantage Futures founding partner Bill Harrington in the form of this message from his partner, Advantage CEO Joe Guinan:
Bill Harrington, one of the founding partners of Advantage Futures, passed away June 14 after a three-month battle with bile duct cancer.
Bill moved to Chicago in 1987 immediately after graduating the University of Notre Dame. He began as a runner on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and quickly advanced to become a talented salesman and member of the exchange with a valuable book of client business. While Bill had many friends on the exchange floor, he and a group of six became particularly close, and Bill worked with them for the next 37 years at a couple of different firms-culminating with the last 20 years at Advantage Futures. In fact, Bill is the founding partner who came up with the name Advantage Futures.
Bill was devoted to his loving wife, Allison, and their two children, Talia and Will.
Visitation will be Thursday, July 18 from 4 to 7 at Donnellan Family Funeral Services, 10045 Skokie Boulevard, Skokie, IL 60077. The funeral mass will be Friday, July 19 at 10:30 AM at Divine Mercy Parish at Sacred Heart Church, 1077 Tower Road, Winnetka, IL 60093. Click on this link HERE to view the obituary.
JLN wishes condolences to the family and friends of Bill.
The alleged unsuccessful and now dead assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks was featured briefly in a BlackRock ad, according to a story in Bloomberg. The Bloomberg story says, "Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old gunman who shot and injured former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally, briefly appeared in an advertisement for BlackRock Inc., the company said on Sunday." BlackRock has smartly pulled the ad.
Dr. Ruth promoted several key messages regarding sexual education and awareness. Firstly, she emphasized the importance of open and honest communication about sexuality. She encouraged individuals to have conversations with their partners, families, and healthcare providers to foster understanding and address any concerns or questions. Secondly, Dr. Ruth emphasized the significance of consent and respect in all sexual relationships. She advocated for consent education and taught individuals to prioritize their own boundaries and those of their partners. Thirdly, Dr. Ruth believed in the importance of comprehensive sex education in schools. She argued that providing accurate information about sexual health, contraception, and consent was crucial for young people to make informed decisions and have healthy relationships. Lastly, Dr. Ruth emphasized the need to overcome societal taboos and stigmas surrounding sexuality. She promoted body positivity and acceptance of diverse sexual orientations and identities, and encouraged individuals to embrace their own desires and pleasure.
Richard Simmons was a renowned fitness guru and motivational speaker who made a significant impact on the health and wellness industry. With his infectious energy, flamboyant personality, and distinctive workout style, Simmons inspired countless individuals to embrace a healthier lifestyle. He was known for his compassionate approach, offering support and encouragement to people of all ages, shapes, and sizes. Simmons dedicated his career to promoting the importance of physical fitness, mental well-being, and self-acceptance. Through his fitness programs, television appearances, and philanthropy work, he touched the lives of many, leaving a lasting legacy as a true champion of health and happiness.
James Sikking was a highly talented and versatile actor who is best known for his role as Lieutenant Howard Hunter in the popular television series "Hill Street Blues," where he portrayed a tough, no-nonsense police officer with a dry sense of humor. Sikking's ability to bring depth and complexity to his characters has earned him critical acclaim and a dedicated fan base. Throughout his career, he has showcased his versatility by taking on a wide range of roles in various genres, from drama to comedy. With his undeniable talent and captivating presence, Sikking continues to leave a lasting impact in the world of acting.
Good news on the AT&T hack. According to a Bloomberg story, "A hacker who claims to have stolen sensitive call and text logs from AT&T Inc. said they were paid about $400,000 to erase the data trove."
The Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center is looking to hire a vice president of communications, marketing & business development. You can find details about the job HERE.
Have a great day and stay safe and treat people the same way you want to be treated: with respect, equality and justice.~JJL
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Our most read stories from our previous edition of JLN Options were:
- Product modification Summary: Availability of Additional Treasury Invoice Swaps and Spreads - Effective August 05, 2024 from CME Group.
- Product Modification Summary: Amendments to the Termination of Trading for Existing Crude Oil Weekly Option Contracts - Effective July 22, 2024 from CME Group.
- Options Bulls Come Out to Play from The Wall Street Journal. ~JB
Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it's free).
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NYSE Executive Hyde Sees Retail Surge and Regulatory Hurdles Shaping Options Market Future
JohnLothianNews.com
In an interview at the Options Industry Conference in Asheville, NC, James Hyde, head of business development and strategic partnerships at NYSE Options, offered insights into the current state of the options industry. The interview, conducted by John Lothian News as part of the JLN Industry Leader video series sponsored by OCC, touched on several key topics shaping the market.
Watch the video »
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Even Wall Street bankers' kids need lessons in financial literacy; In the US, entrepreneurs, donors and family foundations are backing initiatives to teach the basics of managing money
Andrew Jack - Financial Times
David Peng presses a key on his computer and a "wheel of fortune" spins on the whiteboard at the front of his class, on financial literacy for teenagers. It stops on a painful scenario: "A neighbour's air conditioner leak has destroyed your computer." Some of his students laugh with relief: they had allocated one of 17 plastic beans on the worksheets in front of them to insurance premiums. The rest sigh as they are forced to remove three beans from other items to pay for a new computer, depriving them of planned spending on clothes, concerts or eating out.
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*****If you are reading this, you are adding to your financial literacy. We all need financial literacy lessons. My whole day is one gigantic financial literacy lesson.~JJL
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A Couple Won the Powerball. Investing It Turned Into Tragedy; How high fees and low returns hurt a nonprofit that trusted a local financial adviser
Jason Zweig - The Wall Street Journal
In spring 2008, Paul Rosenau, a construction supervisor and heavy-equipment operator in Waseca, Minn., bought a Powerball ticket-and hit a $59.6 million after-tax jackpot. Rosenau, a devout Lutheran and the son of a pastor, recalls with a tremor in his voice how he and his wife, Sue Rosenau, felt when they woke up the next morning. Rosenau, a devout Lutheran and the son of a pastor, recalls with a tremor in his voice how he and his wife, Sue Rosenau, felt when they woke up the next morning.
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****** You win big and want to do good, but your financial literacy is not up to the job and the implications that can come from that are not good.~JJL
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Friday's Top Three
Our top story Friday was The Wall Street Journal's AT&T Says Hacker Stole Cell, Text Data on Nearly All Its Wireless Customers. Second was TIME Magazine's 'We're Living in a Nightmare:' Inside the Health Crisis of a Texas Bitcoin Town. Third was the Notice of Summary Action against TP ICAP for violating Rule 536.B.1, from CME Group.
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| Lead Stories | The World's Power Grids Are Failing as the Planet Warms; Outages from Albania to Texas show how electricity networks aren't ready for climate change.
Eamon Farhat, Misha Savic, Fiona MacDonald, and Mark Chediak - Bloomberg
Under the blazing Adriatic sun, life almost stopped in Montenegro's capital Podgorica earlier this summer. Cars and buses were stuck in gridlock as traffic lights went out, the internet crashed, and security alarms blared in reaction to a sudden loss of power supply. "After one hour without electricity, we were on the verge of panic because it was getting unbearable," said Drago Martinovic, a 61-year-old retired police officer. "I'm afraid it could last longer if it happens again."
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ICE Says Europe Diesel Contract Thrives After Russian Exclusion; Options open interest soared to a record last month, ICE says; Russian barrels were excluded after the war in Ukraine
Alex Longley - Bloomberg
Trading in European diesel futures and options has thrived since Russian barrels were excluded from the continent's benchmark, according to Intercontinental Exchange Inc. ICE said Monday that it saw a series of open interest records in the gasoil, or diesel, market that it operates last month. Activity was particularly strong in options with open interest and quarterly volumes at a record.
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BlackRock Hits $10.6 Trillion Asset Record, Cites ETF Boost
Silla Brush - Bloomberg
BlackRock Inc. hauled in $51 billion of client cash to its long-term investment funds in the second quarter, pushing the world's largest money manager to a record $10.6 trillion of assets. Investors added $83 billion to ETFs and $35 billion to fixed-income overall, New York-based BlackRock said Monday in a statement.
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****Here is the story from the Financial Times.
Trillions in Hidden Debt Drove China's Growth. Now It Threatens Its Future; Local governments racked up as much as $11 trillion in off-the-books debt to build industrial districts, resorts, transit systems and housing projects, including many that failed
Brian Spegele and Rebecca Feng - The Wall Street Journal
Officials were bullish about the future of their factory town in early 2019. The economy was prospering, a new industrial district was on the way and an elevated light-rail system was taking shape. "The achievements of the past year have not come easily," Mayor Wu Wei said in a city report at the time. He credited the grit of local party leaders but didn't mention an ace in the hole.
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AI brings soaring emissions for Google and Microsoft, a major contributor to climate change
Dara Kerr - NPR
Researcher Jesse Dodge did some back-of-the-napkin math on the amount of energy AI chatbots use. "One query to ChatGPT uses approximately as much electricity as could light one light bulb for about 20 minutes," he says. "So, you can imagine with millions of people using something like that every day, that adds up to a really large amount of electricity." He's a senior research analyst at the Allen Institute for AI and has been studying how artificial intelligence consumes energy. To generate its answers, AI uses far more power than traditional internet uses, like search queries or cloud storage. According to a report by Goldman Sachs, a ChatGPT query needs nearly 10 times as much electricity as a Google search query.
/jlne.ws/3LjWSfk
Strands Technologies, Ltd., a Global Fintech, receives 56,000 OP from Lyra and the Optimism Foundation
Strands
Strands, a global Fintech using a proprietary ecosystem of novel smart contracts and transactional gateways to develop the most advanced traditional and decentralized institutional tools ever brought to market has announced it is set to receive a total of 56,000 OP tokens - worth approximately $85,000 at current prices - from several grants awarded by Lyra and a direct grant awarded by the Optimism Foundation to support the development and integration of the Strands platform and drive trading volume to Optimism endpoints such as Lyra.
/jlne.ws/3xWZFIq
Europe needs way to price critical minerals independently of China, group says
Eric Onstad - Reuters
Europe needs a system to set prices for critical minerals needed for the energy transition that is not dependent on China, which dominates much of the global sector, the head of an EU-funded group said. Oversupply and weak prices of materials such as lithium, cobalt and rare earths are dampening cash flows of Western start-ups, making it difficult to compete with China, companies have said.
/jlne.ws/3Y4Bp1Q
KKR Says Public Markets Too Short-Sighted for Energy Transition
Alastair Marsh - Bloomberg
The stock market's fixation on quarterly earnings and short-term performance makes it a suboptimal funding venue for companies critical to the energy transition. That's according to Emmanuel Lagarrigue, a partner and co-head of climate at KKR & Co., who says such companies would do better with more patient investors.
/jlne.ws/3S8F1fo
Goldman Sachs profits more than double to $3bn as deals rebound; US investment bank's results were also helped by stronger performance from equities trading business
Joshua Franklin - Financial Times
Goldman Sachs profits more than doubled in the second quarter to $3bn as the Wall Street bank reaped the benefits from an accelerating recovery in dealmaking and its bond and equities traders performed better than expected. Net income for the quarter exceeded the $2.8bn analysts were expecting and was up from $1.2bn a year earlier.
/jlne.ws/3xTcMuh
Investment bosses call for 'radical' Isa overhaul to boost UK equities; AJ Bell and Hargreaves Lansdown say too much choice is deterring people from using the savings products
Emma Dunkley - Financial Times
The UK's largest investment sites have urged the government to overhaul the British savings market in an attempt to channel money into domestic equities, which have suffered from record investor outflows. AJ Bell told the Financial Times it had sent a policy paper to the Labour government asking it to consider "radical" simplification of the Individual Savings Account market, as well as tax breaks for UK stocks, to encourage retail investors to buy domestic equities.
/jlne.ws/3xXjqj0
State Street shifts Brazil head to focus on CF Global integration; Former head of FX trading at State Street Brazil assumes lead role, as Telly Theodoropoulos departs position to focus on the global integration of CF Global Trading.
Chris Lemmon -The Trade
State Street has appointed Tomas Truzzi as CEO of State Street Brazil, replacing Telly Theodoropoulos, who has led operations in the country since its foundation in 2019. In the role, Truzzi will be responsible for overseeing all strategic initiatives and operations within the country, with a view to promoting growth within one of Latin America's key markets.
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ECB Is Set to Delay Findings of Leveraged Loans Probe After Backlash from Banks; Affected lenders criticized how investigation was carried out; Review included Santander, SocGen, JPMorgan and others
Sonia Sirletti, Nicholas Comfort, and Esteban Duarte - Bloomberg
The European Central Bank is set to delay the outcome of a large-scale investigation into high-risk loans, a tacit admission that it sees complaints from several banks about the probe as merited. The ECB will likely hold off from relaying the final results of the leveraged-finance review to lenders until at least September, after initially planning to do it around this month, people familiar with the matter said. The decision is a direct response to an unusual level of criticism from banks included in the investigation about the way it was carried out, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing the private information.
/jlne.ws/4bIYbPG
ETF Aimed at Low-Rated CLOs Surpasses $1 Billion For First Time; Most recent growth in CLO ETFs has focused on AAA rated bonds; JBBB accounts for 55% of all ETF assets rated less than AAA
Scott Carpenter - Bloomberg
An exchange traded fund that buys exposure to lower-rated collateralized loan obligations has surpassed $1 billion of assets, another milestone for fast-growing CLO funds in a market once open only to institutional investors. The ETF by Janus Henderson (ticker JBBB), which focuses on buying CLO bonds rated from BBB+ to B-, has grown by around 50% over the last month thanks to an influx of cash into retail funds that buy CLOs. Total flows into CLO ETFs reached $1 billion in April alone, up from nearly none a year ago. The first CLO ETF was launched in late 2020.
/jlne.ws/3Lozg9x
Wall Street Pushes Back After Activists Escalate Protests
Alastair Marsh - Bloomberg
Against a backdrop of intensifying climate protests targeting Wall Street, the heavyweights of US finance are pushing back against what they characterize as a fundamentally flawed debate. For more than a month now, scores of activists have mounted near-daily protests outside the Manhattan headquarters of Citigroup Inc., with video footage showing tense scenes and a memo to staff urging employees to stay cool. The campaign - dubbed "Summer of Heat" - promises a steady escalation of disruptions and says its ultimate goal is to "shut down Wall Street."
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| Ukraine Invasion | | News about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its military, economic, political and humanitarian impact | Englishman fighting in Ukraine says Kremlin recruiting English speakers
Daniel Hardaker - The Telegraph
The Russian military has introduced training for English speakers who want to fight for Moscow in Ukraine, according to a Manchester man serving in the Kremlin's army. Ben Stimson, 48, who has fought for pro-Russian forces in Ukraine since 2015, said English-speaking instructors are available, but warned that it was better to learn Russian "for when combat starts" and the other soldiers "switch back" to their mother tongue.
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How the war in Ukraine is reviving Russia's rustbelt; Poor regions such as Chuvashia experience a boom as Soviet factories are fired up again for the military
Polina Ivanova - Financial Times
Looking at his pay cheque, which has tripled since 2022, Russian factory worker Anton does not know whether to laugh or cry. The 37-year old is painfully aware that the rise is the result of President Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine and turn Russia into a war economy. "On the one hand, it's war, and people - even my relatives - are dying," said Anton, whose uncle was killed in Ukraine.
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Ukraine Battles to Contain Russian Advances Across the Front; Russian forces appear to have captured Urozhaine, a southern village taken back by Ukraine last summer. In the east, they are closing in on a key supply road.
Constant Meheut - The New York Times
Russian forces over the weekend pushed into Urozhaine, a southern village won back by Ukraine last summer, the latest in a series of slow but steady advances that are reversing hard-won Ukrainian victories. The Russian advances are a sobering development for Kyiv as its troops battle to contain attacks along a more than 600-mile front line.
/jlne.ws/4cYgeCG
UK, EU States to Target Russian Oil Fleet With More Checks; Measures could include sanctions on Russian shadow vessels; Nations plan to issue statement at European leaders meeting
Alberto Nardelli, Alex Wickham, and Alaric Nightingale - Bloomberg
The UK plans to launch a "call to action" this week with a group of European nations to target the so-called shadow fleet of oil tankers that Russia uses to skirt international sanctions, according to people familiar with the matter and documents seen by Bloomberg.
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| Israel/Hamas Conflict | | News about the recent (October, 2023) conflict between Israel and Hamas | They Were Told They Were in a Safe Area. Then Came the Missiles; Survivors of a strike in Gaza on Saturday that Israel said had targeted Hamas's top military leader described a scene of carnage, with fire, smoke, blood and bodies everywhere.
Vivian Yee and Ameera Harouda - The New York Times
When the explosions began on Saturday, many Gazans were sitting down to meager breakfasts, or drinking tea. They were waking up their children, or walking down the road. Suddenly, the sound of destruction was booming through Al-Mawasi, the once sparsely populated part of southern Gaza where tens of thousands of Palestinians had fled to after the Israeli military declared it safe for civilians.
/jlne.ws/4djy2IP
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| Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | Abaxx Commodity Futures Exchange and Clearinghouse partners with ION to offer post-trade clearing and risk solutions
ION
ION, a global leader in trading and workflow automation software, high-value analytics and insights, and strategic consulting to financial institutions, central banks, governments, and corporates, announces that Abaxx Commodity Futures Exchange and Clearinghouse has chosen ION's XTP technology to support its building of new markets for the ongoing energy transition. The Abaxx Exchange, which began trading in Singapore on 28 June, has partnered with ION to offer robust, scalable, secure post-trade clearing and risk solutions.
/jlne.ws/3W54Lua
DTCC's FICC Unveils Public-Facing Value at Risk (VaR) Calculator, Increasing Transparency for Market Participants; New FICC tool will calculate the Value at Risk for a given portfolio, providing market participants with further insight into market value, positions and risk profiles ahead of SEC Expanded U.S. Treasury Clearing Rule
DTCC
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the premier post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, today announced the launch of a new public-facing Value at Risk (VaR) calculator. The calculator provides market participants with the ability to evaluate potential margin and Clearing Fund obligations associated with becoming a Member of DTCC's Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (FICC) Government Securities Division (GSD).
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First Initial Access Document on BME Scaleup from BYTETRAVEL
BME
The Market Coordination and Incorporations Committee considers that BYTETRAVEL will meet the requirements to join the BME Scaleup trading segment. It is the eleventh company to register a Acces Document to this BME market so far this year and the first newly created technology scaleup company. The Board of Directors of the company, has taken as a reference for the start of trading of the shares a price of EUR1.26 per share, which implies a total valuation of the company of EUR37.8 million. The company's Registered Advisor is Renta 4 Corporate, while Renta 4 Banco will act as Liquidity Provider.
/jlne.ws/3Ll3V7P
Delisting of the Freight Route Baltic to UK Continent (TC9) (Baltic) Futures and Freight Route Baltic to UK Continent (TC9) (Baltic) BALMO Futures Contracts
CME Group
/jlne.ws/4bNv5yK
Deutsche Borse Photography Foundation confers the HfG Rundgang Award 2024 to Haben Ghebregziabher
Deutsche Borse
The Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation has confered the HfG Rundgang Award 2024 to Haben Ghebregziabher for her project "Heim, Heimat, Pfade - was verbindet?". The prize is given annually to students at the University of Art and Design (Hochschule für Gestaltung, HfG) in Offenbach/Main who engage with the medium of photography. As part of its commitment to supporting young artists, the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation has been awarding the EUR3,000 prize annually since 2010. The award ceremony took place during the traditional HfG Rundgang (open house tour) in Offenbach on 13 July. This year's jury members were photographer Barbara Klemm, gallery-owner Peter Sillem, and Anne-Marie Beckmann, Director of the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation.
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ICE Gasoil Futures and Options at Record Open Interest with Record Q2 Trading Volumes in Gasoil Options
Intercontinental Exchange
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading global provider of technology and data, today announced that its Low Sulphur Gasoil markets hit a series of open interest records through June 2024, reaching a high of 1.2 million across futures and options on July 1, 2024, equivalent to 120 million metric tons. ICE Low Sulphur Gasoil sits at the center of middle distillates trading as the global benchmark for refined oil products. Gasoil futures and options open interest is up over 40% year-over-year (y/y), with trading volumes up 30% y/y. Gasoil options activity has been performing particularly well, hitting record open interest of 234,570 contracts on July 3, while Gasoil options traded at record levels in Q2 2024 with 287,421 options traded. During Q2 2024, a record of approximately 16.2 million oil options contracts traded at ICE, including a record 13.5 million Brent options contracts. Customers can benefit from margin offsets as high as 98% when clearing ICE Gasoil alongside other oil positions at ICE.
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U.S. retail traders turn to Europe to trade election volatility
Eurex
Retail trading in Europe's listed derivatives stayed somewhat muted as investors have access to various leveraged products like CFDs and warrants. However, European markets are increasingly seeing volume growth from American retail investors. This year, a record number of people will go to the polls to choose their leaders, and three key elections in Europe have driven volatility in the first half of 2024, creating opportunities for U.S. retail and institutional traders.
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Discontinuation of the Eligibility of CCASS Stocks
HKEx
With effect from the below-mentioned effective dates, the following securities will cease to be Eligible Securities in CCASS following the withdrawal of listing on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited. CCASS participants are therefore requested to note the following CCASS arrangements.
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Stock Admission - New Listing of Securities
HKEx
The following securities have been approved for admission into CCASS for clearing, settlement, withdrawals and deposits. With effect from their respective listing dates, the Exchange trades of the said securities will be cleared inside CCASS and automatically settled on a Continuous Net Settlement (CNS) basis unless they are isolated from the CNS System by the counterparty Exchange Participants at the time of trade or isolated from the CNS System by HKSCC, in which case such trades will be settled on a trade-for-trade (TFT) basis.
/jlne.ws/3zJOgwg
Trading Arrangements of CSOP Huatai-PineBridge CSI 300 ETF
HKEx
Exchange Participants are requested to note that Trading Arrangements of CSOP HuataiPineBridge CSI 300 ETF (Stock Code: 3133) has been authorized under collective investment scheme by the Securities and Futures Commission and is expected to commence trading on the Exchange and admitted to the list of Designated Securities eligible for short selling on 16 July 2024 (Tuesday). Investors should always refer to the details about the Fund provided by the Fund Manager, e.g. Net Asset Value per Unit, before trading the abovementioned ETF(s). Detail of its trading arrangements (Attachment 1) is attached for reference.
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Cancellation of Designation of Securities Under Supervision (Confirmation): Helios Techno Holding Co.,Ltd.
JPX
The designation of Securities Under Supervision (Confirmation) will be cancelled as follows.
/jlne.ws/3Lpnqfq
Super Micro Computer Inc. to Join the Nasdaq-100 Index Beginning July 22, 2024
Nasdaq
Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) today announced that Super Micro Computer Inc. (Nasdaq: SMCI), will become a component of the Nasdaq-100 Index (Nasdaq: NDX) and the Nasdaq-100 Equal Weighted™ Index (Nasdaq: NDXE) prior to market open on Monday, July 22, 2024. Super Micro Computer Inc. will replace Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (Nasdaq: WBA) in the Nasdaq-100 Index and the Nasdaq-100 Equal Weighted Index.
/jlne.ws/4f5WS0u
NGX Group's Revolutionary e-Offering Platform Goes Live following SEC Approval
NGX
Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX Group) has unveiled NGX Invest, a groundbreaking digital platform designed to streamline Public Offerings and Rights Issues in the Nigerian capital market. The platform, which has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is now live, promising an efficient, convenient, and seamless experience for managing primary market transactions.
/jlne.ws/4cX4hx5
Shanghai International Energy Exchange has released its Circular on Implementing the Preferential Transaction Fee for Hedging at Shanghai International Energy Exchange
Shanghai International Energy Exchange has released its Circular on Implementing the Preferential Transaction Fee for Hedging at Shanghai International Energy Exchange as follows:
/jlne.ws/3S9AitP
MiCA Regulation: Everything You Need to Know About the MiFID of Crypto-Assets
SIX
The European Union (EU) Markets-in-Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation has started applying with a phased approach from 30th June 2024. MiCA is a milestone in the development of the European market in crypto-assets and a precursor in its kind: no other jurisdiction has yet taken a comparable approach in regulating the crypto-assets space.
/jlne.ws/3WkgztZ
Regulator's Column: Potential scenarios when general offers lead to loss of public float
SGX
The SGX Listing Rules provides for certain requirements to safeguard the interests of shareholders in the event of a delisting of an issuer. Under the SGX Listing Rules, Singapore Exchange Regulation ("SGX RegCo") may agree to an application by an issuer to delist if:
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| Fintech | | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | What AT&T Customers Need to Know About the Massive Hack, Data Breach; Cellphone carrier said nearly all of its customers were affected
Alyssa Lukpat - The Wall Street Journal
AT&T's disclosure Friday that a hacker downloaded call and text-message data from its subscribers raised questions about how its millions of customers would be affected. The cellphone carrier said in a securities filing Friday that it became aware in April of someone claiming to have accessed customer data. AT&T said the stolen data was mostly from 2022 and encompassed nearly all of its wireless customers. The company has nearly 90 million cellphone subscribers.
/jlne.ws/4eU1Mxr
Atos Signs Restructuring Lock-Up Deal With Bulk of Creditors
Irene García Perez - Bloomberg
A majority of creditors of Atos SE have signed the lock-up agreement that will see them take control of the embattled French IT services provider following its restructuring, according to a statement on Monday. The company has also secured EUR1.68 billion ($1.8 billion) of new financing from existing creditors, in the upper range of what was announced on June 30. As part of the plan, bondholders and lenders have agreed to convert EUR2.9 billion of loans and bonds into equity and to inject EUR233 million in new equity, either themselves or alongside a private industrial investor.
/jlne.ws/3zKiXRV
Transfix, recently out of the brokerage business, offering its first software solution
John Kingston - Freightwaves
Transitions can take a long time for any company, but Jonathan Salama, CEO and co-founder of Transfix, said that moving from being a digital brokerage to a supplier of SaaS solutions is a path made easier by the fact that Transfix was always building and improving the broker-focused technology it was going to need for its own operations. "It was a lot faster for us because we already had the right building blocks," Salama said in an interview with FreightWaves.
/jlne.ws/4bGcxAt
OpenAI promised to make its AI safe. Employees say it 'failed' its first test; The previously unreported incident showcases the limits of President Biden's strategy for thwarting AI harms.
Pranshu Verma, Nitasha Tiku and Cat Zakrzewski - The Washington Post
Last summer, artificial intelligence powerhouse OpenAI promised the White House it would rigorously safety test new versions of its groundbreaking technology to make sure the AI wouldn't inflict damage - like teaching users to build bioweapons or helping hackers develop new kinds of cyberattacks. But this spring, some members of OpenAI's safety team felt pressured to speed through a new testing protocol, designed to prevent the technology from causing catastrophic harm, to meet a May launch date set by OpenAI's leaders, according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
Chipmaking Hub Taiwan Hikes Power Demand Outlook on AI Boom; Consumption for machine learning to grow eight times by 2028; Island's last nuclear reactor scheduled to close in May 2025
Yian Lee and Sing Yee Ong - Bloomberg
Taiwan said its power consumption over the next decade will grow more than previously expected, complicating its efforts to secure supplies as it undertakes an energy transition and nuclear phase-out. The island forecast its energy use will grow an average of 2.8% a year through 2033. Much of that demand will come from the AI sector, which is expected to consume eight times more by the end of the decade than last year, according to a report by its energy department released on Monday. A previous forecast saw an average 2.03% annual growth in overall power demand until 2029.
/jlne.ws/3S7m5Oe
One VC shares how he uses AI to find the next big innovator
Josh Lipton - Yahoo
Every sector is being impacted by the rise of artificial intelligence. Venture capitalist John Flavin, Co-Founder and CEO of Portal Innovations, says he is using it to find the next biotech company to invest in. Flavin tells Asking for a Trend that his firm has developed an "AI-enabled platform that can predict innovation and start to rank innovative inventors coming out of universities." He points out that most new drugs start "on the bench at a university several years prior to it becoming a drug." Flavin wants to find those ideas and scientists early so he can be an early investor in their ventures.
/jlne.ws/3Wi9FFv
OpenAI whistleblowers ask SEC to investigate alleged restrictive non-disclosure agreements
Chandni Shah - Reuters
OpenAI whistleblowers have filed a complaint with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, calling for an investigation over the artificial intelligence company's allegedly restrictive non-disclosure agreements, according to a letter seen by Reuters. "Given the well-documented potential risks posed by the irresponsible deployment of AI, we urge the Commissioners to immediately approve an investigation into OpenAI's prior NDAs, and to review current efforts apparently being undertaken by the company to ensure full compliance with SEC rules," according to the letter, which was provided to Reuters by the office of Sen. Chuck Grassley.
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Amazon Brings Rufus AI Shopping Assistant to All US Customers; Text-based chatbot appears in company's smartphone apps
Matt Day - Bloomberg
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Tiny Japanese Startup Is Turning 'Her' AI Dating Into Reality; Lonely men are flocking to a dating app without humans; Loverse app lets users pay to message privately with AI
Takashi Mochizuki - Bloomberg
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How Microsoft's Satya Nadella Became Tech's Steely Eyed A.I. Gambler; Microsoft's all-in moment on artificial intelligence has been defined by billions in spending and a C.E.O. counting on technology with huge potential and huge risks.
Karen WeiseCade Metz - The New York Times
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| Cybersecurity | | Top stories for cybersecurity | Google parent in talks to buy cyber security start-up Wiz for $23bn; Acquisition of cloud specialist would be largest in Alphabet's history
Ivan Levingston, James Fontanella-Khan and Maria Heeter
Google's parent company Alphabet is in talks to buy cyber security start-up Wiz for about $23bn, in what would be the largest acquisition in the tech group's history, according to people familiar with the matter. Alphabet's discussions to acquire Wiz are still weeks away from completion, said one person with direct knowledge of the matter, while people briefed about the transaction said there was still a chance the deal would fall apart, with a number of details still needing to be addressed in talks.
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| Cryptocurrencies | | Top stories for cryptocurrencies | Trump's Odds of Victory Hit All-Time High on Polymarket After Shooting; The former president, who was injured at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, now has a 70% chance of retaking the White House, according to traders on the crypto-based prediction market. Trump-themed Polifi tokens and crypto broadly also rose.
Marc Hochstein - CoinDesk
Former U.S. president Donald Trump's probability of retaking the White House jumped to an all-time high Saturday after he was injured from a shooting at a rally in Pennsylvania, according to traders on Polymarket A Secret Service spokesman said the Republican presidential candidate was "safe" after the shooting, according to The New York Times. A suspected gunman was killed, and a spectator died as well, the newspaper said.
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Tornado Cash Co-Founder Alexey Pertsev Denied Bail by Dutch Court; Pertsev sought bail to allow him to prepare for his appeal to the verdict in May which found him guilty of money laundering.
Amitoj Singh - CoinDesk
Alexey Pertsev, the co-founder and developer behind Tornado Cash, was denied bail by a Dutch court on Friday, according to DLNews. Pertsev's lawyers were seeking bail to allow the Russian to prepare for his appeals process but the court said "that continuing his detention does not obstruct his possibility to prepare his defense," Keith Cheng, Pertsev's lawyers said according to the report.
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Bitcoin surges as traders bet on Donald Trump election win after shooting; Former president seen as more crypto-friendly than Joe Biden
George Steer and Nikou Asgari in London and William Sandlund in Hong Kong - Financial Times
Bitcoin surged on Monday following an assassination attempt on Donald Trump as traders increased their bets on the former president winning November's US presidential election. The price of bitcoin rose as much as 9.1 per cent to $62,830, its highest level in two weeks, after Trump was injured in the ear during an assassination attempt by a gunman at a campaign rally at the weekend. The Republican is seen as the more pro-crypto candidate, having hosted industry executives at Mar-a-Lago and voiced enthusiasm for US-based bitcoin mining.
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Texas Leaders Worry Bitcoin Mines and Big Data Will Crash the Power Grid; Cryptocurrency operations are proliferating in the Lone Star state, leaving lots of folks disgruntled.
Inside Climate News via Mother Jones
Cheryl Shadden cannot sleep. The 61-year-old nurse, who works at hospitals giving patients anesthesia, says she is kept up at night by the nonstop mechanical whir of fans spinning to cool tens of thousands of computers. Shadden lives in Granbury, Texas, about 40 miles southwest of Fort Worth, with her seven dogs, six horses, six cats and a parrot. In 2022, after 23 years in the area, Shadden got a new neighbor: a 300-megawatt Bitcoin facility, referred to as a "mine," where computers run around the clock to help maintain a global network of transactions in the cryptocurrency. "Nobody in their right mind would live here," Shadden said. "My windows rattle. The sound goes through my walls. My ears ring, 24/7."
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Germany Appears to Finish Bitcoin Sales, Data Tracker Arkham Says; The German government had received 50,000 Bitcoin in January; Bitcoin's price has been choppy in recent weeks on worries
Olga Kharif - Bloomberg
The German government has sent out its last Bitcoin on Friday, possibly ending billions of dollars in sales that have been the subject of market speculation in recent weeks, according to data from blockchain analysis firm Arkham Intelligence. The government, which has a zero balance in its main account, likely started selling its cache of more than $2 billion in Bitcoin through exchanges such as Coinbase Global Inc., Kraken and Bitstamp three weeks ago, according to Arkham's record of transactions. Arkham didn't immediately return a request for comment.
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Tether Taps Chainalysis Chief Economist Philip Gradwell as Economics Head; Gradwell will be responsible for quantifying the Tether economy to regulators.
Ian Allison - CoinDesk
Tether has hired the chief economist from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, Philip Gradwell, to take up a similar position at the stablecoin giant, where he will be responsible for quantifying the Tether economy to regulators, the company said on Monday. Gradwell spent over six years as chief economist at Chainanalysis, and will take up the role of head of economics at Tether.
/jlne.ws/3W77HGC
MakerDAO's $1B Tokenized Treasury Investment Plan Draws Interest from BlackRock's BUIDL, Ondo, Superstate; MakerDAO's competition to allocate funds will open next month, and would give a big boost for the $1.8 billion tokenized real-world asset space.
Krisztian Sandor - CoinDesk
Crypto lending platform MakerDAO, the protocol behind the $5 billion stablecoin DAI, is planning to invest $1 billion of its reserves in tokenized U.S. Treasury products. Top players in the space including BlackRock's BUIDL, Superstate and Ondo Finance are lining up to apply for the proposal. "We think this is a very good move from MakerDAO and we are excited to participate with Blackrock's BUIDL," Carlos Domingo, CEO of tokenization platform Securitize, BlackRock's issuance partner, said in an email to CoinDesk. "As the leading tokenized treasury issuer, we will certainly apply."
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| Politics | | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | America is staring into the abyss; After the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, an already existential election is now even more fraught
Edward Luce - Financial Times
It is not just Donald Trump who dodged a bullet. Half an inch to the left and the cartridge that grazed Trump's ear would have turned him into a martyr. There is no telling what his death would have unleashed. As it is, the reprehensible attempted assassination of Trump will have profound reverberations for US democracy. Within seconds of being blanketed by secret service agents, Trump was yelling "fight, fight, fight" to the crowd. The instantly ubiquitous photo of him pumping his fist against the backdrop of the stars and stripes will become the emblem of his campaign.
/jlne.ws/4bE0Vy5
'It's where we are politically': Trump shooting takes US to the brink; Attempted assassination is set to reshape election race, with consequences for the world
James Politi - Financial Times
Donald Trump was recovering at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey on Sunday morning, following an assassination attempt less than 24 hours earlier at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. More than 200 miles south, in Washington, President Joe Biden was meeting his top advisers in the White House Situation Room to weigh his own response to the shooting that could change the trajectory of American politics - and the world.
/jlne.ws/3S8Ez0u
Joe Biden urges Americans to 'lower the temperature' after Trump shooting; US president condemns political violence after assassination attempt on Republican candidate
James Politi and Steff Chavez - Financial Times
US President Joe Biden has called on Americans to "lower the temperature in our politics" in the wake of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump during a campaign rally in western Pennsylvania. "The political rhetoric of this country has gotten very heated," Biden said in a rare address to the nation from the Oval Office on Sunday evening. "It's time to cool it down and we all have a responsibility to do that.
/jlne.ws/4d4r8qJ
Haven Rush, 'Trump Trades' on Investor Minds After Shooting
Ruth Carson and Allegra Catelli - Bloomberg
Investors will initially favor traditional haven assets and perhaps lean into trades most linked to former President Donald Trump's chances of winning the White House after he survived an assassination attempt, according to market watchers. Currencies begin trading at 5 a.m. in Sydney when the US dollar could get a boost, along with other refuges from market volatility like Japan's beleagured yen, the Swiss franc and gold. Bitcoin rose above $60,000 in the wake of the attack.
/jlne.ws/3S5ZCRs
Starmer plans to introduce AI bill in King's Speech; Plan for tech regulation will be one of 35 bills to be set out by new Labour government
Anna Gross and Lukanyo Mnyanda - Financial Times
Sir Keir Starmer is expected to introduce a long-awaited artificial intelligence bill this week as he seeks to follow through on Labour's manifesto pledge to create binding rules to govern development of the most advanced machine-learning models. The AI bill, one of 35 bills currently set to be included in the King's Speech on Wednesday, will seek to enhance the legal safeguards surrounding the most cutting-edge AI technologies, according to people briefed on the plans.
/jlne.ws/4eZwKUP
France Rolls Out the Wealth-Tax Guillotine; The left wants to revive a levy that drove capital and talent to flee the last time it was tried.
The Editorial Board - The Wall Street Journal
It's horse-trading season in Paris as a ragtag assortment of political parties try to form an administration after last week's confused National Assembly elections. Which means, inevitably, the idea of a wealth tax is back on the table. What's French for "ugh"? Sunday's election produced a majority for no one. The largest bloc is a loose left-wing alliance calling itself the New Popular Front (NFP in the French acronym), and the largest vote winner within that alliance is the France Unbowed party of Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Think Bernie Sanders with less economic sense, antisemitism and Gallic hair. Parts of this alliance are trying to build a governing coalition with President Emmanuel Macron's technocratic-centrist bloc against Marine Le Pen's insurgent right, but support from the left won't come cheap.
/jlne.ws/4cIlieI
What to know about the growing number of treason and espionage cases in today's Russia under Putin
Dasha Litvinova - Associated Press
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China's Economic Growth Comes in Worse Than Expected, Adding Pressure on Xi; GDP expansion slowest in five quarters as demand struggles; Third Plenum meeting in focus after disappointing data
Bloomberg News
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New Zealand prime minister vows to name and shame China over spying; Christopher Luxon, in FT interview, says he wants to raise business awareness of the threat
Demetri Sevastopulo - Financial Times
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Dubious About South African Democracy? The Bond Market Isn't; A new government has investors betting that longstanding risks besetting the continent's largest economy may finally be abating.
Matthew A. Winkler - Bloomberg
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| Regulation & Enforcement | | Stories about regulation and the law. | CFTC "Happy" to Take Over from SEC as Crypto Regulator, Says 80% of Coins are Commodities
Jose Oramas - Crypto News Australia
While the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not figured out whether Ethereum (ETH) is a security or not, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has stated that it is rather a commodity, alongside Bitcoin (BTC) and other crypto tokens. Rostin Behman, Chairman of the CFTC, stated that 70% to 80% of cryptocurrencies are commodities, not securities, at a July 9 hearing before the US Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
/jlne.ws/3xSL54O
Interim Credit Suisse Review Blasts Finma and SNB, SZ Says
Allegra Catelli - Bloomberg
Preliminary conclusions of the Swiss parliamentary commission reviewing the 2023 collapse of Credit Suisse sharply criticize the financial regulator Finma as well as the country's central bank and the Federal Council, according to a report in SonntagsZeitung. Authorities were unprepared to prevent or contain the break-up of the company, even though the bank had been classified as systemically important for years and its problems obvious for many months, the newspaper reported.
/jlne.ws/4cXIW6G
Shein's pursuit of London IPO puts UK regulator under spotlight; FCA must balance Britain's governance reputation against boon for City that blockbuster listing would bring
Suzi Ring and Laura Onita - Financial Times
Shein's pursuit of a London listing has placed the UK Financial Conduct Authority under intense scrutiny, lawyers say, as the regulator looks to balance Britain's reputation for strong corporate governance with its appeal as a place to do business while weighing its approval. The online fashion retailer, which was founded in 2008 in China but is now Singapore-based, filed confidential paperwork with the FCA in recent weeks in a sign that its plans for a UK initial public offering are progressing.
/jlne.ws/3Ll4ZIR
CFTC Staff Issues No-Action Letter Regarding Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements for Fully Collateralized Binary Options
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced the Division of Market Oversight and the Division of Clearing and Risk have taken a no-action position regarding swap data reporting and recordkeeping regulations in response to a request from ForecastEx LLC, a designated contract market and derivatives clearing organization.
/jlne.ws/3y5X277
SEC Small Business Advisory Committee to Explore Recent Changes to U.S. Small Business Administration's Small Business Investment Company Program
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission's Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee today released the agenda for its meeting on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, which will include an exploration of recent changes to the U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program. Members of the public can watch the live meeting via webcast on www.sec.gov.
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Availability of SEC Online Comment Form Option from May 30 until June 26, 2024
SEC
Due to a technological error, members of the public who sought to submit a comment to the SEC using the online comment form option on the Commission website may have received a message indicating that they were unable to complete a submission using the online form. The technological error, which occurred from May 30 until June 26, 2024, has been resolved.
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Former BitConnect promoter John Bigatton convicted for providing unlicenced financial advice
ASIC
John Bigatton, the Australian promoter of BitConnect, has been convicted by the Sydney District Court of providing unlicenced financial advice contrary to s911B(1) of the Corporations Act 2001. He was released on a recognisance to be of good behaviour for three years. BitConnect was a financial services business and online crypto platform which required investors to acquire BitConnect Coin (a crypto token) in order to participate in its investment opportunities.
/jlne.ws/4bNAwOa
Big banks to refund millions in fees to low-income customers following ASIC report
ASIC
Bank customers on low incomes, including First Nations customers, will be refunded over $28 million dollars after a first-of-its-kind ASIC review revealed four Australian banks systemically charged high fees to those customers who could least afford it. ASIC's Report 785 Better banking for Indigenous Consumers (REP 785) found that the ANZ, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, CBA and Westpac kept at least two million Australians on low incomes, including many relying on Centrelink payments to make ends meet, in high-fee accounts.
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Swiss authorities draw flak in Credit Suisse probe, report says
Reuters
Preliminary findings in an eagerly awaited parliamentary report into the 2023 collapse of Credit Suisse have identified serious failings by Swiss regulatory authorities leading up the bank's demise, a Swiss newspaper reported on Sunday. Citing sources inside the parliamentary committee drawing up the so-called PUK report, SonntagsZeitung said financial market regulator FINMA, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) and the finance ministry all drew fire for failing to prevent the bank crash.
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| Investing & Trading | | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | Jane Street Knocks Out Some Millennium Defenses in Trade-Secrets Fight; Judge strikes defense that Jane Street caused its own losses; Both sides have won some legal skirmishes in fight since April
Chris Dolmetsch - Bloomberg
Jane Street Group won a round in its trade secrets suit against Millennium Management and two ex-traders, who tried to argue that losses suffered by Jane Street were due to its own "highly unusual trading activity" rather than alleged strategy theft. US District Judge Paul Engelmayer on Thursday struck that "unclean hands" defense by Millennium and traders Douglas Schadewald and Daniel Spottiswood, saying they failed to adequately allege that Jane Street engaged in "unconscionable" conduct directly related to the case.
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Nvidia investor dilemma: how much is too much in a stock portfolio?
David Randall - Reuters
Outsized positions in artificial intelligence darling Nvidia (NVDA) have boosted portfolio managers' returns this year but the bets stand to magnify risk if the chipmaker's red-hot shares see a reversal of fortune. Nvidia shares are up about 785% since the start of 2023 and have risen some 160% this year alone, boosted by demand for its chips, seen as the gold standard in the AI field. Nvidia briefly became the world's most valuable company in June before a dip in its shares returned that title to Microsoft.
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Stock Dudes Risk a Market Wipeout; Is the megacap trade over?
James Mackintosh - The Wall Street Journal
Waves break when they reach the shore because the sea floor drags on their base, while the energy at the crest keeps pushing forward-until gravity pulls it down. No, this isn't a surfing lesson: This was Thursday's stock market. The wave that broke was the momentum trade, which had pushed the "Magnificent Seven" megacapitalization stocks and anything related to artificial intelligence to dizzying heights, leaving the rest of the market far behind.
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Rare-Earth Prices Are in the Doldrums. China Wants to Keep Them That Way; Overproduction keeps rare-earth prices low, challenging Western efforts to reduce their reliance on Chinese supplies
Enes Morina - The Wall Street Journal
The U.S. and Europe would love to cut their dependence on China for rare earths. Standing in the way of that ambition are low prices and Beijing's willingness to throw its weight around to keep the market down. Rare-earth prices have plummeted this year and are now hovering at roughly three-year lows. The spot price of neodymium-praseodymium, a silver-gray alloy and the most profitable chunk of the market, has fallen by almost 20% since the start of January to around $50,000 a metric ton, according to data provider Argus Media. Other rare earths are down even more.
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Social Security Fears Spur These Young Workers to Save More; Justifiably or not, a new generation frets over a possible meltdown in the long-running retirement program
Joe Pinsker - The Wall Street Journal
U.S. workers paid more than $1 trillion into Social Security last year. Younger ones doubt they will get a dime when they retire. The idea of Social Security disappearing is one of the country's longer-running neuroses and shows few signs of abating. Some 47% of U.S. nonretirees believe Social Security won't be able to pay them benefits when they retire, according to a 2023 Gallup survey, a level that has been mostly steady over more than three decades of polling.
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Gen Z's Alternative Investing Bug Will Cost Them Dearly; Younger investors are wrong to think all assets are interchangeable. Watches and sneakers can't compare with a traditional 60/40 portfolio.
Nir Kaissar - Bloomberg Opinion
Younger investors are thinking about their investment portfolios all wrong, and it's not entirely their fault. Ultimately, it's up to them to recognize where the best long-term returns lie before too much precious time is wasted. The mistake they're making is replacing stocks and bonds with more questionable stores of value, such as watches, sneakers and rare cars. According to a recent survey by Bank of America Corp., about 94% of wealthy millennial and Gen Z investors are looking to invest in collectibles, and many of them already do, apparently because stocks and bonds don't pay enough.
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| Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance | | Stories about environmental, social and governance investing | Pump More Oil or Reduce Emissions? Canada Tries to Do Both and Angers Everyone; Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's approach has made climate policy a divisive issue and helped weaken his government
Vipal Monga - The Wall Street Journal
Protesters living in RVs, pickup trucks and tents have formed a semi-permanent camp at a highway rest stop nestled here in Canada's oil country. Their target: measures to reduce emissions, including a carbon-tax on gasoline. "We're paying billions for their climate agenda," said Ron Clark, a former oil-industry truck driver who has been camped out since April.
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Battery maker's surge raises hope of turnaround for EV vehicles sales; QuantumScape's deal with VW is a rare bright spot in a tough market for electric transportation
Patrick Temple - Financial Times
The slowdown in demand for electric vehicles is temporary, US battery executives insist, as strong clean car sales in the second quarter in North America suggest drivers remain eager to go green. This week, battery maker QuantumScape's shares surged 52 per cent following its disclosure of a $130mn payment from Volkswagen for technology royalties.
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Marathon Oil Agrees to Record Penalty for Alleged Clean Air Act Violations; The company will spend $242 million to resolve allegations that it released methane, a greenhouse gas, and other pollutants in North Dakota.
Rebecca F. Elliott - The New York Times
Marathon Oil agreed to spend $241.5 million to resolve federal allegations that it unlawfully emitted methane, a planet-warming greenhouse gas, and other pollutants from oil and gas facilities in North Dakota. Under the proposed settlement announced on Thursday, the oil and gas producer, based in Houston, would pay a $64.5 million civil penalty. The federal government said it was the largest-ever fine for alleged violations of the Clean Air Act that took place at stationary infrastructure.
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What's Greenest and Cleanest When Nature Calls?; Conventional toilet paper has a big environmental impact. We've got the lowdown on alternatives, from bamboo tissue to bidets.
Elizabeth Anne Brown - The New York Times
These days, the toilet paper aisle is crowded with products that claim to be more sustainable, from bamboo and recycled material to products with "forest-safe" labels. But are they really better for the environment? And can you cast aside the paper altogether? Today, we'll try to get to the bottom of it.
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Record-breaking heatwave shifts east as millions of Americans under heat alert; Over 245 million Americans are expected to experience 90F temperatures early this week, with some as high as 105F
Michael Sainato - The Guardian
A heatwave that impacted the US west coast over the past week is now moving east into the midwest and south-east, as millions of Americans have been under a heat alert at some point in the past week. "Numerous near record-tying/breaking high temperatures are possible over the central High Plains and Southeast Sunday, and along much of the East Coast by Monday," reported the National Weather Service.
/jlne.ws/3Y5Ltrc
China Property Crash Is Hurting Niche Pocket of ESG Finance; Fewer Chinese developers are issuing ESG securitized debt
Ishika Mookerjee - Bloomberg
China's property downturn is weighing on yet another corner of financial markets: ESG-labeled securitized debt. Chinese developers are issuing far fewer securities tied to climate or social objectives, resulting in only $2.8 billion being raised in Asia Pacific in the first half, data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence show. That's an 86% drop from a year earlier, and bucks a trend in both the US and the Europe, the Middle East and Africa region, which saw increases.
/jlne.ws/4eZEWV5
UK's Gas Reliance Set to Last Longer on Slow Hydrogen Uptake; National Grid ESO outlines pathways of decarbonization by 2050; Achieving net zero is one of the major challenges Labour faces
Priscila Azevedo Rocha - Bloomberg
The UK is expected to cut reliance on gas more slowly than previously thought, with hydrogen playing a smaller role in scenarios modeled by its grid operator. While natural gas demand so far this year has been 15 terawatt-hours lower than in 2023, switching away from the fuel is expected to take longer in all pathways to net zero calculated by National Grid Plc's Electricity System Operator, the body responsible for grid planning.
/jlne.ws/3y4MrcA
New York's Green Amendment Guarantees the Right to a 'Healthful Environment.' Activists Want the State to Enforce It
Peter Mantius - Inside Climate News
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UK Offshore Wind Power's Potential Needs Labour's Love, Too; It's encouraging to see the party take immediate steps to speed the rollout of renewables, but meeting its targets will be harder if this market is neglected.
Lara Williams - Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3WbP1Wy
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| Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | StoneX unveils new platform to increase efficacy of loan market; The offering, named StoneX LoanMatch, is aimed at the loan market and provides increased transparency and liquidity, as well as lower transaction costs.
Claudia Preece -The Trade
StoneX has launched a new platform - StoneX LoanMatch - aimed at increasing the efficacy of the loan market. Specifically, the offering will provide increased transparency and liquidity, as well as lower transaction costs.
/jlne.ws/4f3VJX1
Investment Bankers Look for a Bigger Money Pot
Sonali Basak - Bloomberg
There had been a growing sense that core Wall Street businesses - investment banking and trading - would push the biggest banks toward greater profits. To some degree, that's true. JPMorgan had record profits. Investment banking surged 50% off of relatively meager levels a year ago. At Citigroup, equities trading soared past analyst estimates and Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason told journalists that the dealmaking pipeline "is quite strong." But if you look under the hood, there are some major questions. One is whether the banks can squeeze more money out of the investment-banking market when there's so much uncertainty in the second half of 2024. Another is whether the big money-center banks can make enough from their Wall Street businesses to offset growing concern that the economy is slowing, weakening Main Street along with it.
/jlne.ws/3Y8QS0V
Foreign Banks Are Snapping Up Short-Term Indian Bonds, Bank of America Says
Subhadip Sircar and Khushi Malhotra - Bloomberg
Global banks are targeting shorter maturities in their purchases of India's sovereign bonds, tapping improved liquidity amid limited supply, according to Bank of America Corp.'s head of India fixed income. Foreign banks bought nearly 600 billion rupees ($7.2 billion) in all maturities since the start of June even as state-run banks and mutual funds sold, according to Clearing Corp. of India data. CCIL doesn't break down the data by maturity.
/jlne.ws/3S2PHw3
Goldman Sachs profits more than double in second quarter as dealmaking comes back on Wall Street
Ken Sweet - Associated Press
Goldman Sachs is posting a massive 150% jump in second quarter profits Monday, helped by a resurgence of dealmaking and underwriting that has revived investment banking after the slow down of the previous couple years. The New York investment bank posted net revenues of $3.04 billion, $8.62 per share, compared with $1.22 billion in the same period a year earlier. for the three months ended June 30, compared with $1.22 billion, or $3.08 per share, a year earlier.
/jlne.ws/3XYulnl
Boutique bank founded by Goldman dealmakers aims for UK expansion;Ardea Partners hires City grandee Sir Ian Cheshire as it tries to win more business in Britain
Ivan Levingston and Anjli Raval - Financial Times
A boutique investment bank founded by former Goldman Sachs bankers is laying the groundwork to expand in the UK with two senior appointments, the latest firm aiming to cash in on the recovery in dealmaking. Ardea Partners, founded in 2017 and led by Chris Cole and Don Truesdale, is among a crop of independent financial advisory businesses moving in to work on big takeovers.
/jlne.ws/3W6zMOB
Greensill investors challenge UBS redress offer over missing documents; Intervention complicates move to clear up long-standing legal issues tied to Credit Suisse
Owen Walker - Financial Times
Investors who lost tens of millions of dollars with the collapse of Greensill Capital have written to the Luxembourg financial regulator challenging an offer of redress from UBS that the Swiss bank hoped would draw a line under the scandal. The investors claim they have been denied access to crucial documents relating to funds they invested in, which were domiciled in Luxembourg. They argue that without seeing the funds' internal rules they are unable to accept the terms of the UBS offer, which expires at the end of July.
/jlne.ws/4d1frAV
Goldman challenges Fed's demand it hold more capital after stress test; Bank appeals against regulator's conclusion that it would lose more than $40bn in worst-case scenarios
Joshua Franklin and Stephen Gandel - Financial Times
Goldman Sachs has lodged an appeal with the US Federal Reserve challenging its result in the regulator's most recent "stress test", which is set to force the Wall Street bank to hold a greater amount of capital, according to people familiar with the matter. The appeal advances the issues that Goldman chief executive David Solomon expressed publicly two weeks ago, when he argued the Fed's results did not reflect the work the bank had done to make its business more stable.
/jlne.ws/3LmQCn9
Private equity firms slash use of risky debt tactic to fund payouts; Use of fund-level net asset value loans to pay dividends falls 90% after institutional investors raise concerns
Eric Platt, Sun Yu and Antoine Gara - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3WmOh1W
Private equity has become hazardous terrain for investors; The tailwind of freakishly loose monetary policy is now over
John Plender - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3y5okuj
BlackRock's private market ETF ambitions draw scepticism; Preqin acquisition gives access to data but does not solve problems such as illiquidity of assets, say industry observers
Steve Johnson - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3Y5Duue
Investors pile into platinum funds in bet on hybrid vehicles; Highest ETF inflows in four years come as electric car sales flag
Harry Dempsey and Mari Novik and Kana Inagaki - Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3y8JXdc
Impax AM completes acquisition of Absalon's fixed income assets; The transaction will see Impax AM add Absalon's global high yield and emerging market corporate debt strategies to its fixed income range.
Claudia Preece - The Trade
/jlne.ws/3y0ZpYX
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| Work & Management | | Stories impacting work and more about management ideas, practices and trends. | More Women Are Working Than Ever. But They're Doing Two Jobs. Moms have new opportunities with remote work, yet they are still on the hook for most family responsibilities
Rachel Wolfe and Justin Lahart - The Wall Street Journal
More women than ever have entered the American workforce. Heady demand for employees combined with more opportunities for remote work and a surge in female entrepreneurs are sending a flood of women into the labor market. Women now hold a record 79 million jobs, and the share of women in their prime working years who are employed or seeking work now stands at 77.9%, up from 75.8% five years ago. But it's not time for a victory lap just yet. The same work-from-home opportunities that have enabled many moms in particular to enter or rejoin the workforce are also shackling them with fresh responsibilities. Many say they are effectively working two full-time jobs: managing their households and their careers.
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Ivy League grads and top grades don't guarantee you're a great worker, says Jamie Dimon-which is why JPMorgan hires thousands of ex-felons
Eleanor Pringle - Fortune
With more than 240,000 staff working for JPMorgan, America's biggest bank wants to ensure it hires people from across the societal spectrum, including those who have formerly been incarcerated. Speaking to LinkedIn, CEO Jamie Dimon reiterated his long-held view that skills are equally as important as education when it comes to finding the right candidate.
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What's the point of war if you can't make money from it? A behind-the-scenes look at the work of Rutherford Hall, critical communications strategist
Rutherford Hall - Financial Times
WhatsApp to Stephen: Happy days. New Labour, new opportunities. Clients are looking for a guide through the thickets. Also Labour lost a couple of good people on election night so we should try to snap them up. We need to be quick. Strand Partners has already snaffled that bloke who wrote the Starmer biography.
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| Wellness Exchange | | An Exchange of Health and Wellness Information | The New Holy Grail for Weight-Loss Drugs Is Sleep Apnea; Popular anti-obesity medicines are in testing for a range of other diseases. Positive results could prompt more insurers to pay up.
Peter Loftus - The Wall Street Journal
Whether millions of people will be able to afford one of the hot new weight-loss drugs could hinge on whether they cure the sleep apnea of people like Damon Sedgwick. Sedgwick, a technology business analyst in Sydney, enrolled in a clinical trial in 2022 to test whether taking weekly injections of Eli Lilly's anti-obesity drug Zepbound would alleviate the sleep apnea that had plagued his nights for years.
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| Regions | | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | India to require disclosure of commodities positions
Siddesh Mayenkar and Rajendra Jadhav - Reuters
India's commodity exchanges will have to disclose all trading positions of members and their clients from Aug. 13 in all commodities, the markets regulator said, to boost transparency and cut volatility as a drought ramps up farm goods prices. "Whatever the proportion of proprietary and client trades in
a commodity, the exchanges have been asked to display on the websites," Ramesh Abhishek, chairman of the Forward Markets Commission (FMC), said in an interview.
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Institutions snapping up Chinese treasury bonds are shorting the economy, state media says
Reuters
Financial institutions snapping up Chinese government bonds are basically shorting the Chinese economy, China's central bank-backed Financial News reported on Saturday, citing what it said were the views of industry sources and experts. The report is the latest warning to the country's bond market after the People's Bank of China (PBOC) sounded concerns and introduced plans to sell treasury bonds to cool a bond rally.
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Botswana Eyes New Export Route to Exploit Huge Coal Resource
Borges Nhamire, Matthew Hill and Mbongeni Mguni - Bloomberg
Three southern African nations signed a deal to proceed with a rail and port project to help land-locked Botswana export its massive coal reserves through Mozambique, although they still need to find the money to make it happen. The African Development Bank has agreed to finance a feasibility study for the project, at a cost of about $4 million, Mateus Magala, Mozambique's transport and communications minister, said Friday at a signing ceremony broadcast over state television.
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Saudi Wealth Fund Picks JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley for Nupco IPO; Nupco is Saudi Arabia's largest medical procurement firm; The PIF could raise close to $1 billion by selling 30% stake
Julia Fioretti, Nicolas Parasie, and Matthew Martin - Bloomberg
Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund has picked banks for the planned initial public offering of the kingdom's largest medical procurement firm, as it hunts for cash to finance the crown prince's ambitious economic agenda. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley and SNB Capital have been hired to work on Nupco's IPO, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal could come as soon as this year, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn't public.
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Mayor of Amsterdam: 'In time, drug legalisation is inevitable'; As countries and politicians experiment with liberalisation, Femke Halsema wants international agreement
Henry Mance - Financial Times
"There is always a well-known solution to every human problem - neat, plausible, and wrong," quipped the American writer HL Mencken. Is drug liberalisation proving his point? It promised to solve the failed war on drugs - by putting illegal gangs out of business, freeing up police time, and allowing medical help for users. But practice is messier than theory.
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European cannabis companies start IPO planning as US considers looser rules; Federal authorities are proposing to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug
Eri Sugiura - Financial Times
A number of European cannabis start-ups are planning to go public in New York to take advantage of a US proposal to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug and decriminalisation in Germany, despite depressed share prices among bigger groups in the sector. Grow Group, a London-based medical cannabis distributor, is planning an initial public offering on Nasdaq in the first quarter of 2025 targeting a valuation of more than £100mn. It has raised more than £12mn since it was founded in 2017.
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