August 14, 2017 | "Irreverent, but never irrelevant" | | | John Lothian Publisher John Lothian News | |
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Hits & Takes By JLN Staff Former John Lothian News contributor Carlise Newman, who worked on the John Lothian Newsletter in the pre-MarketsWiki era, passed away late last year. Former Dow Jones reporter Howard Packowitz recently shared this news on Facebook. We were sorry to hear of her passing.~JJL If you haven't watched Tom Sosnoff's take on why passive investing is the worst thing to happen to investors, you can catch it in today's featured video from our MarketsWiki Education event in Chicago this month.~JK FIA Expo will be in Chicago before you know it. October 17 to 19. Register now!~JJL The FIA commented on equity market derivatives growth in India.~JJL Bitcoin and institutional investors. Institutional investors and bitcoin. When will the marriage occur and will it be successful? Will derivatives herald acceptance? We'll have to see about that but some of the trading community is already on the scene - did you know DV Trading has a sister company (DV Chain) trading cryptocurrency and so does DRW (Cumberland Mining)? ~SD Ah, the Bitter End! I remember it well from my post-college days. ALTSO is having its next musical event for charity at the well-known club on NYC's Bleecker Street on September 26 at 7pm. Today is the last day for "early bird" tickets for the event, which stars Hedge Fund Rocktoberfest performers and will raise money for children with limb disabilities in the developing world. To find out more about the event and/or get tickets, go HERE. ~SR There was a typo in Friday's Russell story about ICE Russell volume. It has been corrected online.~JJL ++++
Change the Game - Tom Sosnoff Education.MarketsWiki.com "The U.S markets are the global hub of liquidity. That's why they're so wonderful. So when you get truly liquid markets, you have very accurate expected value." In this video from MarketsWiki Education's World of Opportunity event in Chicago, Tom Sosnoff, co-CEO of tastytrade, maps out the importance of decision making. Trading is one of the few industries where you have the ability to make an unlimited number of decisions with both emotional and monetary outcomes. Sosnoff says the most important thing you can do as a recent graduate is monetize your know-how. The more valuable you are to your company, the happier you will be. Read the rest and watch the video » ++++ Wall Street Trader Chris Arnade Seeks Redemption for 'Intellectual Grift'; Former bond trader profiles and photographs America's disaffected poor, in part to atone for a 20-year career in finance Matt Wirz - WSJ "God it smells like dead animal in here," says Chris Arnade, a former bond trader, as he opens the doors of his battered minivan in an attempt to clear the baked-in stink. It's 105 degrees in the parking lot of a Bakersfield, Calif., McDonald's on a recent Saturday. Homeless men and women pass by on their way to get breakfast, free ice or to sit in the air conditioning. jlne.ws/2vWPMJl ++++ Gary DeWaal - Bridging The Week Spoofing; Disaggregation; Cybersecurity; Cooperation The affirmation by a federal appeals court of the conviction of the first trader prosecuted for spoofing under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, and a sanctions discount for a non-US banking entity that cooperated with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission after detecting spoofing activity highlighted last week's financial services industry developments in the US. jlne.ws/15ZyR7H ++++ Big Ben to be silenced for four years for maintenance; People are being asked to gather to mark the moment, at noon on 21 August, when restoration work halts the hourly chimes Jamie Grierson - The Guardian The bongs of Big Ben, the bell inside the clock tower above the Houses of Parliament, are to be silenced for four years for conservation works. /goo.gl/csMN5a ++++ Friday's Top Three Friday's top read story was Bloomberg's piece on Coinbase, Bitcoin Exchange Gets $100 Million Investment. Second went to John Lothian's piece Russell Suite Competition Ambiguity Raises Some Questions. And third went to the Wall Street Journal's The Fed Has 6,200 Tons of Gold in a Manhattan BasementÂOr Does It? ++++ MarketsWiki Stats 106,031,117 pages viewed; 22,673 pages; 207,756 edits MarketsWiki Statistics ++++
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Lead Stories | Tudor and Brevan Howard abandon Mifid; Two large hedge fund companies have dropped their licences for the EU regulation Madison Marriage and Siobhan Riding - FT Two of the world's largest hedge fund companies have dropped their Mifid licences. The move will enable the investment managers to avoid controversial new rules that will radically transform how Europe's financial industry operates next year. /goo.gl/nskGwU Bitcoin Surges Past $4,000 on Speed Breakthrough Justina Lee and Yuji Nakamura - Bloomberg Transactions seen quickening after solution was activated; Coinbase's new funding is also expected to boost demand Bitcoin soared past $4,000 for the first time on growing optimism faster transaction times will hasten the spread of the cryptocurrency. /goo.gl/9ytLzR Barclay CTA Index gains 0.64 per cent in July HedgeWeek Managed futures traders gained 0.64 per cent in July according to the Barclay CTA Index compiled by BarclayHedge. The index is down 1.04 per cent for the year. /goo.gl/LQd6UB Fund managers deny AI threatens jobs; Finance industry says artificial intelligence will create more opportunities Madison Marriage - Financial Times A prestigious Boston-based consultancy issued a warning to the asset management industry this year: within the next seven years, more than 90,000 jobs in the sector would be eliminated by the rise of artificial intelligence. /goo.gl/Yqy3mn Blockchains Get Into the Catastrophe Business Nathaniel Bullard - Bloomberg A new development in cat bonds is a glimpse into the future of paying for and settling risks. /goo.gl/zc6qWa Aviva Investors and JP Morgan sign up for new London Stock Exchange clearing service to improve efficiency and reduce risk William Turvill - City AM The London Stock Exchange Group's clearing house, LCH, has launched a new clearing service to improve efficiency and reduce risks for customers. /goo.gl/9Wuae6
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Exchanges, OTC & Clearing | Top news from exchanges, clearing, settlement and trade execution facilities | CME Hires Ex-Analyst, Strategist Honoré to Lead Data Product Management Joanne Faulkner - WatersTechnology Honoré's hire is part of a broader initiative by the exchange to leverage derived data as a revenue stream. Those also include the management of both data administration and distribution on behalf of third-parties leveraging CME Group's technology and expertise, officials say. The team is also responsible for the product management of the platforms that support the delivery and administration of those products. /goo.gl/CZejMv 'Flash Boys' exchange IEX aims to price out predatory traders John McCrank - Reuters IEX Group Inc plans to push what it views as predatory trading strategies out of the market by raising fees for firms that cash in on stale prices, the stock exchange operator said on Friday. /goo.gl/tF17K9 Electronic dealing marks the end of an era, as Hong Kong's iconic trading hall to close in October SCMP Brokers given notice about the closure of 32-year old trading floor. On an average day less than 30 traders might be using a desk there - a fraction of HK's 500-strong broker community /goo.gl/qKGyZ9 HKEX Plans To Implement Proposed After-Hours Trading Enhancements Mondovisione Enhancements to be introduced in three phases, starting with extension of after-hours trading of index futures to 1 am from 11:45 pm; Second and third phases include inclusion of index option contracts and extension of after-hours trading to 3 am respectively; Changes subject to regulatory approval and market readiness /goo.gl/G9fg3T Euro Fixed Income Futures: Definition of reporting and position limits for September 2017 Eurex The reporting and position limits for the September2017 contracts in the Euro Fixed Income Futures were set as follows /goo.gl/EymM9b LCH launches new client account type; CustodialSeg account provides premium level of collateral protection for clients, with assets segregated at custodian level; J.P. Morgan is the first clearing member to use the new account; Aviva Investors is the first buy-side client to use the new account; Euroclear Bank acting as International Central Securities Depository at launch LCH LCH Limited, a leading global clearing house, announced today that it has introduced a new type of client account within its SwapClear service. The account allows buy-side clients to deliver collateral directly to the clearing house and to retain beneficial title to it. Segregation at an International Central Securities Depository (ICSD) ensures that such securities collateral remains client-specific. This increases operational efficiency and also eliminates the transit risk arising where a client delivers collateral to the clearing house via its clearing member. J.P. Morgan is the first clearing member, and Aviva Investors is the first buy-side client, to use this new account type. HSBC has also confirmed its readiness to support the new account structure. /goo.gl/VD5Yef Adjustment of China Mobile Structured Products, Futures and Options HKEX Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) has announced the arrangements for the adjustment to China Mobile Ltd (China Mobile) structured products, futures and options to account for China Mobile's special dividend. /goo.gl/K5qzVC
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Fintech | A roundup of today's market tech news and a look at tomorrow's disruptors | What Fintech Can Learn from the Decline and Reinvention of High-Frequency Trading Sviatoslav Rosov, CFA Institute - TabbForum It is possible that more investment in fintech such as blockchain or machine learning can give firms a competitive edge  for the moment. But the experience of high-frequency traders suggests that eventually the technology will diffuse through the market and fintech firms will face the difficulties that HFTs are now experiencing. Fintech growth may hit a brick wall, just as HFT growth has done, once these firms' competitive advantage is eroded or the financial market itself adjusts to their existence. /goo.gl/HcGjP8 China VC Fund Relies On Machine Learning To Invest In U.S. Startups Rebecca Fannin - Forbes Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Machine learning is trickling over into venture capital thanks to a China-connected investor, Hone Capital, the Silicon Valley offshoot of large Chinese private equity player CSC Group. /goo.gl/UWc6Gz Fintech CEO says tech giants like IBM may go on M&A 'shopping spree' for start-ups in 2018 Ryan Browne - CNBC Tech giants like IBM could go on a mergers and acquisitions "shopping spree" for fintech start-ups next year, the CEO of Auka told CNBC. Fintech firms would provide the capability but not the customer relationship, he said - which would be where larger companies kick in. /goo.gl/rLZpJ2 German Fintech Startup Acquires Rival as Dealmaking Heats Up Edward Robinson - Bloomberg In a sign that dealmaking in the financial-technology sector may be heating up, a German fintech firm has made the rare move of acquiring another startup to beef up its customer base. /goo.gl/CE5udu
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Politics | An overview of politics as it relates to the financial markets | Trump's China trade crackdown coming Monday Andrew Restuccia - Politico President Donald Trump is ready to launch a new trade crackdown on China next week, an administration official confirmed. /goo.gl/myQteK White House to Release Some Tax Plan Details Next Month, Official Says Justin Sink, Sahil Kapur and David Gura Congressman Brady says tax revamp is on schedule for 2017 Chief House tax writer says 3.8% Obamacare tax is 'challenge' /goo.gl/7v7Uko
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Regulation & Enforcement | For more regulatory, visit MarketsReformWiki, our website focused on current market reform efforts. | Immunity Now! Themis Trading As you all know, stock exchange business models have morphed radically in the last decade. Large portions of their business are bed-rocked in the selling of speed (colocation, data feeds, and data services) - as much as 50%. And as you all know, this morphing has been put in the spotlight with the public's awakening to the role that high frequency trading plays in our modern equity markets. /goo.gl/UmQEci Trump Chips Away at Postcrisis Wall Street Rules; Plan to restrict bonuses has been dropped, and some limits on banks' trading are under review Ryan Tracy and Dave Michaels - WSJ Efforts toward financial deregulation are beginning to take concrete shape on rules governing trading desks, bank boardrooms, corporations' financial disclosures and more. Just over six months into the Trump administration, regulators are setting the stage for a wave of eased rules. /goo.gl/hCzSoj Biggest banks prefer full Volcker Rule repeal, but a rewrite would do Francine McKenna - MarketWatch The biggest banks have already digested the myriad requirements of the complex 950-page Volcker Rule and have spun off prohibited proprietary trading units, but the industry is still pushing Congress to fully repeal the rule. /goo.gl/cmXWfN Search Is On for Top Audit Regulator; SEC to replace chief of PCAOB, one of the best-paid jobs in regulation Dave Michaels - WSJ One of the highest-paying jobs in regulating Wall Street is about to be openÂand the boss is taking applications. /goo.gl/UzzMNg New EU Market Rules Could Kill Brokers' Morning Notes John Glover - Bloomberg Notes intended as marketing may have to be paid for from 2018; Rules put onus on buyside to block receipt of free research Each weekday morning, shortly after 8 a.m. London time, City workers get a cheery "GOOD MORNING" in their inboxes as Anthony Peters's daily note arrives. /goo.gl/Xpti5T Retirement Rule Casualty: Brokers' Mutual-Fund Offerings Brokerage firms and investment advisers are reviewing their mutual fund offerings in light of the landmark fiduciary rule Daisy Maxey - WSJ Is less more when it comes to investor choice? That's the question facing brokerage firms and investment advisers as they look to comply with a landmark retirement-savings rule. /goo.gl/v5C39Y Europe's financial watchdog pressed to investigate asset manager fees Attracta Mooney - Financial Times Europe's financial watchdog is being urged by Ireland's central bank to carry out a major probe into how asset managers disclose fees charged to investors, with concerns mounting that consumers are being misled. /goo.gl/aeeNRs Mumbai: ED seeks details of insider trading in shares of MCX and FTIL from SEBI IndiaToday The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is gearing up for the second round of investigation against Financial Technologies India Ltd (FTIL) promoter Jignesh Shah, his relatives and key management officials. /goo.gl/gthiGU ASIC bans Queensland financial adviser ASIC The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has banned financial adviser Travis Byron McLean from providing financial services for a period of five years. /goo.gl/JZY6Gf ASIC calls for expressions of interest for membership of Financial Services and Credit Panel ASIC The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is calling for expressions of interest from financial services and consumer credit industry participants who are interested in becoming members of the new ASIC Financial Services and Credit Panel. /goo.gl/RYCMyT ISDA Position Paper Challenges with Expanding BRRD Moratoria Powers ISDA The European Commission (EC) published amendments to its Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD 2) at the end of last year that are intended to harmonise the use of moratoria powers by resolution authorities in the European Union (EU). /goo.gl/Y5uoTH
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Investing & Trading | Today's top stories from equities, indices and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) | U.S. Default? Unlikely, But Bond Traders Are Taking No Chances Brian Chappatta and Alex Harris - Bloomberg T-bill rates jump even as Republican lawmakers give assurances; Ideological divide, Trump's unpredictability shake confidence In many ways, the thought that the United States of America would default is utterly preposterous. /goo.gl/RQBKuo Ageing population bolsters flight from US stocks to bonds; More than $27bn floods into debt funds since mid-June as equity valuation concerns rise Eric Platt and Nicole Bullock - Financial Times Redemptions from US stock funds have stretched into an eighth consecutive week, pushing flows for the asset class into negative territory for the year as investors shift deeper into the bond market. The outflows, worth more than $20bn since the middle of June, accompany a growing chorus of high-profile investors warning of expensive valuations, a fraught geopolitical backdrop and market-wide complacency. /goo.gl/QU1kpi Only a Market of Stocks Michael Batnick - The Irrelevant Advisor It's hard to believe that the S&P 500 has been within 5% of its all-time high for the last 284 trading days, going all the way back to June, 2016. It would surprise no one if that streak ended sooner, rather than later. /goo.gl/d7Q4tu An epic winning streak on Wall Street  then one ugly loss Thomas Heath - The Washington Post The financial whizzes cocooned in the serene offices of the Sequoia Fund atop one of New York's iconic office buildings seem far removed from the noise of the city far below. But the 47-year-old mutual fund known as much for its ties to billionaire Warren Buffett as for its uncanny stock picks that created massive wealth for clients  retirement funds, pension funds, university endowments and regular-Joe investors  has had to descend from its lofty perch in the past two years and rescue its good name. Record ETF inflows fuel price bubble fears; Growing numbers of investors moving into low-cost vehicles that track an index Chris Flood in London - FT Record-breaking inflows into exchange traded funds this year are fuelling fears that the tide of money surging into passive investment is helping to inflate a bubble in the US stock market. /goo.gl/fTcWLj Investors are not great at predicting politics The Economist Financial markets are supposed to be the font of all wisdom, weighing up the information available and condensing it into a set of prices. Investors are presumed to have an insight into the futureÂfalling bond yields are seen as a sign that the economy is slowing, for example. But are investors that clever when it comes to politics? Gambling markets show how they assess political risk. They expected the Remain campaign to win the Brexit referendum and Hillary Clinton to become America's president, and were proved wrong. /goo.gl/2UKxYx Active management stages a comeback; Industry has closed the gap on passive's rapid growth since the start of the year Attracta Mooney - FT When Warren Buffett revealed in 2014 that he had advised his wife to invest in a low-cost index fund rather than bother with stock pickers after his death, it seemed to signal the final nail in the coffin for active asset management. /goo.gl/wqoMkn
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Banks, Brokers & Managed Funds | The latest from banks, brokers, hedge funds and managed futures | Summers: Why the Federal Reserve's job will get harder Lawrence Summers - Financial Times With the term of Janet Yellen as Federal Reserve chair ending next February, the president will have to nominate and the Senate will have to confirm a new head of the central bank in coming months. There is much discussion of the merits and implications of possible candidates for the job. For Donald Trump and the Senate it will be important to begin by considering the challenges that will face Ms Yellen's Âsuccessor. /goo.gl/rfkUai Bags of cash: how money launderers used Commonwealth Bank of Australia Byron Kaye - Reuters In a run-down mall in one of Sydney's biggest Chinese neighborhoods in 2015, 29-year-old Jizhang Lu showed up at the top-floor offices of a meat export company carrying a carrier bag stuffed with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash. /goo.gl/nPSG9M JPMorgan Plans to Charge $10,000 for Entry-Level Equity Research Stephen Morris and William Canny - Bloomberg JPMorgan Chase & Co. is proposing to charge as little as $10,000 a year for equity research, the lowest price to emerge so far, as the Wall Street giant seeks to grab market share when a European ban on free analysis for clients is imposed, two people with knowledge of the matter said. jlne.ws/2vWBAjl JP Morgan Asset Management says will absorb research costs due to MiFID-II Carolyn Cohn and Helen Reid - Reuters JP Morgan Asset Management said on Friday that it will absorb the cost of paying brokers for investment research rather than pass it on to its clients when new European regulation comes in next year. jlne.ws/2vWsiDV JP Morgan to pay for client research ahead of MiFID II unbundling; MiFID II's unbundling rules could see huge costs transferred to the buy-side. By Hayley McDowell - The Trade JP Morgan Asset Management will pay for the cost of external research under MiFID II instead of passing on the costs to its clients. /goo.gl/w5GyvJ Former FXCM clients move to consolidate legal actions Finance Feeds Plaintiffs in the class action lawsuits Cardi et al v. FXCM, Inc. et al (1:17-cv-04699) and Nguyen v. FXCM Inc. et al (1:17-cv-02729) seek to consolidate their legal actions. As FinanceFeeds reported in June, more related actions have been hitting FXCM and Effex Capital, the company implicated in the broker US exit. There have been some court updates in this respect, as on Thursday, former FXCM clients moved to consolidate their actions against the broker. /goo.gl/xGPcte
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Regions | Stories of local interest from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions | Japan Q2 GDP blows past expectations on robust domestic demand Stanley White and Leika Kihara - Reuters Japan's economy grew in the second quarter at the fastest pace in more than two years as consumer spending and capital expenditure both rose at the fastest in more than three years, highlighting stronger domestic demand. /goo.gl/DV9rBY In the Land of Milk and Money, Dairy Boom Feeds Environmental Fears; New Zealand's waterways are suffering environmental damage, coinciding with an expansion of the country's dairy industry By Ben Collins - WSJ This South Pacific country markets itself to international tourists as "100% pure," but a rapid expansion of its dairy industry is endangering its clean, green image. /goo.gl/bpjc1R Now Advising China's State Firms: The Communist Party; At least 32 such companies listed in Hong Kong have proposed changes to corporate structures to install Party committees By Gregor Stuart Hunter and Steven Russolillo - WSJ A push to establish the Communist Party in Chinese state enterprises is rolling through Hong Kong, raising corporate-governance concerns in one of the year's best-performing stock markets. /goo.gl/gfPNqB Japan posts longest unbroken growth streak in more than a decade; Surging stock market and 'wealth effect' on consumer sentiment help boost economy Leo Lewis in Tokyo and Hudson Lockett in Hong Kong - FT A surging stock market and a renewed "wealth effect" helped push the Japanese economy to its sixth consecutive quarter of growth  the longest unbroken streak in more than a decade and a possible lifeline for the foundering "Abenomics" revival programme. /goo.gl/8Utcfa Either China's Bond Market Or Metals Are Getting It Wrong Bloomberg News Analysts split on whether metals gains will stoke inflation; Debt prices will need to decline, First Capital's Shen says China's surging commodity prices are sending a warning signal on inflation. That should be negative for bonds, but the debt market seems unruffled. /goo.gl/s5vR4q London Banker Freed in Probe of Jogger Pushing Woman Near Bus By Jeremy Hodges and Grant Smith - Bloomberg Private-equity specialist released with no further action; Police continue to search for jogger who assaulted woman Eric Bellquist, a partner at Hutton Collins & Co., was dismissed by Metropolitan Police as the jogger who pushed a woman into the path of a London bus. /goo.gl/fcM6vT China VC Fund Relies On Machine Learning To Invest In U.S. Startups Rebecca Fannin - Forbes Machine learning is trickling over into venture capital thanks to a China-connected investor, Hone Capital, the Silicon Valley offshoot of large Chinese private equity player CSC Group. /goo.gl/fDGRUv China steel output hits record in July at 74 million tonnes: stats bureau Reuters China's steel output hit a monthly record in July at 74.02 million tonnes, up 10.3 percent on a year ago as mills in the world's top producer continued to ramp up production even as Beijing intensified its war on smog. /goo.gl/z3HF1i PBOC puts US$1.27 trillion of bank debt under closer scrutiny; As of July the value of outstanding NCDs had grown to 8.43 trillion yuan, 13.2 per cent of China's total bond market Zheng Yangpeng - South China Morning Post China's central bank said it will start to closely examine 8.43 trillion yuan (US$1.27 trillion) of money market debt issued by big banks from next year. /goo.gl/gT3mk6
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Brexit | Financials stories regarding the decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union | Voters sense betrayal in Britain's Brexit heartlands William James and Kylie MacLellan - Reuters There is a whiff of betrayal in the air across Britain's Brexit heartlands where many impatient voters fear Prime Minister Theresa May is going soft on implementing last year's decision to leave the European Union. /goo.gl/XNGTtz Brussels seeks tighter vetting of foreign takeovers; Moves to strengthen EU screening process after rise in Chinese investment Jim Brunsden in Brussels - FT Brussels will call for more rigorous screening of foreign takeovers of European companies, as it seeks to address mounting concerns about a surge of Chinese investment into the bloc's high-tech manufacturing, energy and infrastructure sectors. /goo.gl/C3BCmn Wales Joins Scotland in Opposing U.K. Government Over Brexit Charlotte Ryan - Bloomberg The Welsh nationalist party accused the U.K. government of being ill-prepared for Brexit as it vowed to fight a landmark bill to take Britain out of the European Union. /goo.gl/PAe3k2
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Miscellaneous | Stories that don't quite fit under the other sections | Thinking of becoming an equity analyst? Get relevant industry experience first LSE Business Review Analysts coming from the industry they now cover are 3.6% more accurate in their earnings forecasts, write Daniel Bradley, Sinan Gokkaya and Xi Liu /goo.gl/7B2fXY
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