One Year After Oct. 7, Israel Sees a Future at War | John Lothian News (2024)

First Read

Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff

Today, October 7, is one of those solemn days we shall remember every year. We remember those innocent people killed or taken hostage on this day and the beginning of a conflict that led to more deaths and destruction as a result of this unnecessary act of aggression. We pray for all in harm’s way and that the conflict will end soon.

Another hurricane is headed for Florida and this one is aimed directly at me here in Sarasota. Thus, I am bugging out and heading north after finishing the last few keystrokes of today’s newsletter. I am heading to Atlanta, where I will be holing up in a Hampton’s Inn in Bucktown until at least Thursday. If there is power in Sarasota after the hurricane, I will return to Florida. Otherwise, I might have to go back to Illinois for a while until things get under control.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced two events for World Investor Week, aimed at educating the public on fraud protection. The first event, on October 8, titled “Romance Investment Fraud: A Global-Scale Crypto Scam,” will feature Dr. John Griffin discussing how crypto flows finance crimes like human trafficking and money laundering. A panel of regulators will explain how to detect and prevent relationship confidence scams. The second event, a webinar on October 9, will provide resources to help consumers avoid fraud. Both events are free and open to the public.

FIA reported on LinkedIn that in September, trading volume on swap execution facilities (SEFs) reached a record daily average, primarily driven by OTC interest rate derivatives. Non-FRA interest rate trading accounted for $1.2 trillion of the total $1.62 trillion volume, reflecting increases of over 34% from August and 62% from September 2023. Tradeweb dominated with 63% market share, followed by Tullett Prebon at 13.9%. Additionally, credit default swap trading averaged $134 billion per day, also a record, with Bloomberg’s market share dropping to 63.8% and Tradeweb’s rising to 30.5%.

Donald Trump has pledged to commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the dark-web marketplace Silk Road, if he wins the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Bloomberg reported. Ulbricht, known online as “Dread Pirate Roberts,” was convicted in 2013 for drug trafficking, computer hacking, and money laundering, receiving a double-life sentence. Despite allegations of arranging murders to protect his business, none were confirmed. Trump’s promise appeals to the crypto community, which views Ulbricht as a symbol of Bitcoin’s potential as a censorship-resistant financial system. Crypto advocates have long criticized Ulbricht’s sentence for being excessively harsh for a non-violent crime.

Bloomberg wrote a story titled “Interactive Brokers Gets Into Politics With Yes/No Bets on Races” with the subheadline “Thomas Peterffy’s firm is offering wagers on the outcome of elections as US voters prepare to head to the polls next month” in which it did not mention the name of the exchange on which the contracts would trade; ForecastEx.

Proprietary trading firms are back to being “titans,” according to the Financial Times. Today’s story is titled “New titans of Wall Street: how Jane Street rode the ETF wave to ‘obscene’ riches” and has the subheadline “A quirky and opaque New York firm has rapidly expanded to become the most profitable trader of all.” All this godmaking at the FT is tiring.

The Wall Street Journal has a story titled “Meet the HENRYS: The Six-Figure Earners Who Don’t Feel Rich.” HENRY is an acronym for “high earner, not rich yet.” Of course, there are many definitions of rich. The Wall Street Journal is probably not using my definition. See my commentary “The Richness of Giving – A John Lothian Commentary from 2012” for my definition of rich.

Here are the headlines from in front of FOW‘s paywall from some recent stories: HKEX, ASX see trading volumes jump as Asia rebounds; LME welcomes latest UK ruling over 2022 nickel closure; EEX’s Koehler to run commercial as September volumes spike; TraditionData targets Asia Pacific growth with latest hires; Eurex rates market drives exchange to strong September volumes; ANALYSIS: Euronext’s German options first in next generation of new products.

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:
– Cboe Global Markets Reports Trading Volume for September 2024 from Cboe.
– Miami International Holdings Announces Renaming of Minneapolis Grain Exchange to MIAX Futures Exchange from MIAX.
– When Options Trading Goes According to Plan from ETFdb.com ~JB

Subscribe to the JLN Options Newsletter HERE (it’s free).

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Indexing the Future: How AI and ESG are Reshaping Asset Management

JohnLothianNews.com

In the ever-evolving world of finance, asset managers are facing a new frontier: the intersection of artificial intelligence, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns, and the growing appetite for private markets. Rick Redding, CEO of the Index Industry Association, offers a glimpse into this brave new world.

Watch the video »

Corties Draper – John Lothian News

Watch Video »

Corties Draper – John Lothian News

Watch Video »

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A Glossary for the AI Revolution; Every advance in artificial intelligence comes with a confusing plethora of arcane terminology. Here’s a guide to distinguish your AGIs from your GPTs.
Seth Fiegerman and Nate Lanxon – Bloomberg
The arrival in late 2022 of the ChatGPT chatbot, with its remarkably sophisticated – if occasionally erroneous – answers to a vast array of queries, was a milestone in artificial intelligence that took decades to reach. Scientists were experimenting with “computer vision” and giving machines the ability to “read” as far back as the 1960s, and chatbots began life when the Beatles were still making music. Now tech companies are racing to develop ever more sophisticated AI products that can talk back to users, solve complex math problems, produce short films and perhaps one day outperform a human in a wide variety of tasks. Whether you’re worried about being replaced by a machine, or just intrigued by the possibilities, here’s the terminology you need to navigate an AI-driven world.
/jlne.ws/3TXBMby

***** More fodder for MarketsWiki.~JJL

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Florida Menaced by Rapidly Strengthening Hurricane Milton; Milton may become a Category 4 or stronger hurricane in days; DeSantis declares wide emergency as Biden positions resources
Brian K Sullivan and Natalia Kniazhevich – Bloomberg
Hurricane Milton is threatening to grow even stronger, possibly reaching Category 4 power, and may spark the largest evacuation in seven years as it aims for Florida’s Gulf Coast and Tampa. The storm has the potential to cause billions of dollars in damage and heap more misery on a state and region still reeling from Hurricane Helene less than two weeks ago.
/jlne.ws/47Xwhzp

****** Milton could not be aimed at me any better.~JJL

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The True Cost of Losing Your Home in a Hurricane (After Insurance); Families need years to pay the bills and rebuild savings after a storm
Veronica Dagher and Katherine Hamilton – The Wall Street Journal
Storms like Hurricane Helene need only minutes to devastate people’s finances. Even those with decent insurance and thousands in government support need many years to recover. Jason Johnson, 49, watched from his neighbor’s third-floor window two years ago as 10 feet of water from the Gulf of Mexico surged through his Fort Myers Beach, Fla., house during Hurricane Ian.
/jlne.ws/3Yf457G

****** I don’t have insurance on my Florida home, which is a 1958 trailer/mobile home. Insurance companies in Florida don’t insure lots of different types of people or homes, including 1958 trailers. ~JJL

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Friday’s Top Three
Our top story Friday was Miami International Holdings Announces Renaming of Minneapolis Grain Exchange to MIAX Futures Exchange, from MIAX. Second was Tradeweb Reports Record September 2024 Total Trading Volume of $56.1 Trillion and Record Average Daily Volume of $2.63 Trillion, from Tradeweb. Third was Trading Technologies establishes Platform Services business unit, from Trading Technologies.

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Lead Stories

One Year After Oct. 7, Israel Sees a Future at War; The Hamas-led attack has convinced the country that it must take the battle to its enemies
Shayndi Raice – The Wall Street Journal
One year after the brutal Hamas attack that ended Israel’s two-decade golden age of relative peace, expanding wealth and growing diplomatic ties, the country is now firmly on the counterattack and preparing to be at war for years. Weathering a ferocious Iranian missile assault in recent days and shaking off calls from allies for a cease-fire in Gaza, Israel is instead opening new theaters of fighting.
/jlne.ws/4eTameK

NSE Clears Key Hurdles For Its IPO
Chiranjivi Chakraborty – Bloomberg
The National Stock Exchange of India recently settled a long-drawn unfair practice case with the securities regulator for $80 million, which removes another obstacle in the exchange’s journey to go public. This follows last month’s acquittal in a different unfair market access case. Plus, NSE’s valuation has almost doubled in the last six months, based on the deal prices listed on the exchange’s website.
/jlne.ws/3YbAfkF

Interactive Brokers Rolls Out Election Contracts As Kalshi Resumes High-Stakes Congressional Bets
Michael Cohen – Benzinga
A simple line tells you when to buy and when to sell that’s helped Nic win 83% of his trades. Click here for access. Interactive Brokers IBKR launched a new range of political betting contracts, allowing U.S. investors to hedge their portfolios against election-related risks. The contracts, which are available through the company’s ForecastEx exchange, give traders the opportunity to speculate on the outcomes of the 2024 U.S. elections, including key races for the presidency and Congress.
/jlne.ws/4ezy2Fn

Donald Trump’s transition chief says appointees must prove ‘loyalty’; Billionaire investor Howard Lutnick dismisses Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 as ‘radioactive’
Alex Rogers – Financial Times
Donald Trump’s transition team co-chair has warned that people appointed to the former president’s next administration must prove their “loyalty” and slammed the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 as “radioactive” Howard Lutnick, who is also the head of investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald, told the Financial Times that Trump would execute his agenda at a “speed no one’s ever done before” if he was elected again in November.
/jlne.ws/3ByOU0t

New titans of Wall Street: how Jane Street rode the ETF wave to ‘obscene’ riches; A quirky and opaque New York firm has rapidly expanded to become the most profitable trader of all
Will Schmitt and Robin Wigglesworth – Financial Times
When Wall Street scrambled to launch bitcoin funds earlier this year, there was just one trading company named in regulatory filings as an anchor market-maker for every single one: Jane Street. The move underscored how a quirky and opaque New York firm has used its dominance in exchange traded funds and embrace of more finicky financial securities as a springboard to become the most profitable of all the trading firms that are now a significant force in markets.
/jlne.ws/4dD07dy

Interactive Brokers Gets Into Politics With Yes/No Bets on Races; Thomas Peterffy’s firm is offering wagers on the outcome of elections as US voters prepare to head to the polls next month.
Claire Ballentine – Bloomberg
Interactive Brokers Group Inc. is getting into the action on election bets. The online brokerage, founded by billionaire Thomas Peterffy, said Thursday it is offering users “forecast contracts” with yes or no answers on a host of political outcomes, including the presidential race and control of the US Senate.
/jlne.ws/47UVhr2

Elliott Loses UK Appeal Over LME’s Nickel Market Shutdown; Appeal judges rule that LME could legally halt nickel trades; Elliott had argued against wide discretion handed to exchange
Jonathan Browning – Bloomberg
Elliott Investment Management lost its UK appeal over the London Metal Exchange’s controversial decision to halt a runaway short squeeze in the nickel market. The LME successfully saw off the appeal by the US hedge fund in a ruling that backed the wide discretion offered to the exchange to suspend the market and cancel trades in 2022. The judges at the Court of Appeal said that Elliott’s officials “should have realized” that they were trading in a market where the exchange could halt the transactions. “The LME was legally required to ensure that it had the power to cancel trades in the event of extreme price movement during a short period,” Judge Stephen Males said in Monday’s ruling. “That was a once in a generation event.”
/jlne.ws/3XTuU08

Departing SEC Enforcement Chief Grewal to Join Milbank Law Firm; SEC had said Gurbir Grewal plans to leave agency on Oct. 11; Grewal is a former US prosecutor and New Jersey state AG
Nicola M. White and Ava Benny-Morrison – Bloomberg
Gurbir Grewal, the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s top enforcement official, will join law firm Milbank after he leaves the regulator later this month, according to people familiar with the matter. Grewal will work out of Milbank’s New York office as a partner in the litigation and arbitration practice, according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified as the plans haven’t been made public. Before joining Wall Street’s main regulator, Grewal served as the attorney general for the state of New Jersey and as a federal prosecutor.
/jlne.ws/3zZQ3xv

T+1 impact on FX costs: The story so far
Paul Golden – Euromoney
Four months on from North America’s move to a shorter settlement cycle, market participants have used a combination of liquidity management, technology pivots and human resources to mitigate their exposure to higher FX costs. Market participants may have underestimated the FX costs involved in the move to T+1 in North America, because they were not the primary focus during the implementation phase, when the emphasis was on settlement efficiency. This is the view of Gary Wright, director of capital markets industry body ISITC Europe, who says investor costs have risen by around four to five basis points on the back of higher spreads and treasury funding expenses. But as global financial markets follow North America toward T+1 and eventually real-time settlement, there is a growing need to fuse capital-market assets with liquidity management.
/jlne.ws/3TXM2kb

UK task force proposes excluding ETFs in event of early T+1 move; If endorsed, and Britain moves to one-day settlement before the EU, UK ETFs would wait until the EU also moves
Alf Wilkinson – Financial Times
The UK could exclude exchange traded funds from the shortening of trade settlement cycles in the event it makes the transition ahead of the EU, if proposals from a government-appointed task force are adopted. The Accelerated Settlement Taskforce has put forward its draft recommendations for the cutting of settlement cycles from two days after the trade date to one day, or T+1. The task force recommended earlier this year that, following the US shift to T+1, the UK should follow suit no later than the end of 2027 and should work closely with European jurisdictions to see if a “co-ordinated move to T+1 is possible”.
/jlne.ws/3Yevreg

What Trading Volume Is Telling Investors About the Stock Market; Investors who follow price movements along with spikes or dips in share volume can glean information about indexes’ or stocks’ direction
David Saito-Chung – The Wall Street Journal
Wall Street veterans have a saying: “Only price pays.” Yet volume shouldn’t be ignored. A keen understanding of volume, or the level of trading activity, can give investors a clearer idea of a stock’s or market’s strength. And unusual changes in volume help point investors to potential changes in price direction. But first, let’s take a step back and explain what volume is, what is typical for the market and where it comes from. When a trader closes a transaction to sell 100 shares of XYZ stock to a buyer, the trade counts as 100 shares of volume, not 200. Volume on the New York Stock Exchange averaged 3.81 billion shares in the 50 sessions ending Oct. 3. On an average day in the Nasdaq, 5.52 billion shares exchange hands.
/jlne.ws/3XNRaIE

FTSE Russell Cites Positive Talks With India SEBI on Bonds; Indexer mentioned the discussions in a document last month; Company is to announce whether to add India’s debt on Oct. 8
Greg Ritchie – Bloomberg
FTSE Russell told investors it had very positive meetings with India’s securities regulator on access to the nation’s bond market, ahead of its decision on including the country’s debt in its index, according to a document seen by Bloomberg. The index provider is consulting investors on whether to add India’s so-called Fully Accessible Route bonds to its emerging market gauge. India has been on FTSE’s watchlist for potential inclusion since 2021, and in March it said issues around investor registration process, increased regulatory reporting and tax clearance meant the nation was not ready yet. It’s due to announce the outcome of its next review Oct. 8.
/jlne.ws/4dwBPC8

Millions of Dollars in Tax Refund Checks Are Getting Stolen; Refunds sent by mail are a popular target for check fraud
Ashlea Ebeling – The Wall Street Journal
Taxpayer refund checks are getting stolen in the mail. And then, when the Treasury Department issues the taxpayer a new check through the mail, the replacement is getting stolen too. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R., N.Y.) said her office has fielded 218 cases of stolen checks totaling $3.8 million, with amounts ranging from a few hundred dollars up to $500,000. In one case, it took a constituent four tries to get a refund check delivered.
/jlne.ws/3TXaHFk

Japan’s top FX diplomat warns against speculative moves as yen falls
Makiko Yamazaki and Takaya Yamaguchi – Reuters
Japan’s top currency diplomat on Monday issued a warning against speculative moves on the foreign exchange market as the yen fell below 149 per dollar. “We will monitor currency market moves including speculative trading with a sense of urgency,” Atsushi Mimura told reporters, reviving a verbal warning tactic that his predecessor, Masato Kanda, frequently used.
/jlne.ws/3U0GR2N

Meet the HENRYS: The Six-Figure Earners Who Don’t Feel Rich; When you’re a HENRY-high earner, not rich yet-a hefty salary isn’t enough to buy freedom from financial pressure
Callum Borchers – The Wall Street Journal
Fifteen years ago if you’d told April Little that she’d make $300,000 a year, she would have pictured a life free of financial stress. “The white picket fence-I have the whole visual in my head,” says Little, 38 years old, a human-resources executive turned career coach in Rochester, N.Y. “I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but when I got to that proverbial mountaintop I realized there’s a lot of expenses. And I still don’t own a home.”
/jlne.ws/4gOaIW5

Ukraine Invasion

Netherlands Delivers First Batch of F-16 Fighter Jets to Ukraine
Cagan Koc – Bloomberg
The Netherlands has sent a first batch of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, according to the Dutch defense minister. “For the first time, I can officially announce that the first Dutch F-16s have been delivered to Ukraine,” Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans posted on social media site X on Sunday, without saying how many planes have been shipped to the war-torn nation.
/jlne.ws/3XYyLJ8

The Russian economy can’t sustain Putin’s war on Ukraine much longer, expert says
Jason Ma – Fortune
Russia’s economy is in much worse shape than it looks, potentially forcing Vladimir Putin to stop waging war on Ukraine as early as next year, according to economist and author Anders Ã…slund. In a recent op-ed on Project Syndicate, he cited financial, technological, and demographic headwinds weighing on a Russian economy that’s headed for “near stagnation,” and estimated Western sanctions are reducing GDP by 2%-3% each year.
/jlne.ws/3YayUdM

Russian court sentences US citizen to six years in prison for fighting for Ukraine, state media reports
Lauren Kent and Darya Tarasova – CNN
A Moscow court sentenced American citizen Stephen Hubbard, 72, to six years and 10 months in prison on Monday for allegedly fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine, according to Russian state media TASS. Hubbard, originally from Michigan, was accused of fighting against Russia for monetary compensation and pleaded guilty last month to charges of being a mercenary, according to Russian state media RIA Novosti.
/jlne.ws/3NgH1iQ

Russia has opened criminal cases against 14 foreign journalists for crossing Kursk border, FSB says
Reuters
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Monday that it has opened criminal cases against 14 foreign journalists since Aug 17 for illegally crossing the border between Ukraine and Russia’s Kursk region. The FSB said in a statement that the latest journalists to be investigated were from France 24 and Switzerland’s CH Media. Ukraine in August mounted a surprise attack against the Kursk region, taking territory around the frontier town of Sudzha in the first sustained seizure of Russian territory by Ukraine since the outbreak of war.
/jlne.ws/40cSgRd

Putin’s ‘Merchant of Death’ Is Back in the Arms Business. This Time Selling to the Houthis; Russian gunrunner Viktor Bout was traded in 2022 for U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner
Benoit Faucon, Michael R. Gordon, Warren P. Strobel and Alan Cullison – The Wall Street Journal
Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death,” walked out of a U.S. jail almost two years ago in a trade with Moscow for U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner. Now he is back in business, trying to broker the sale of small arms to Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militants. The 57-year-old, whose life reportedly inspired the 2005 Hollywood movie, “Lord of War,” starring Nicolas Cage, spent decades selling Soviet-made weapons in Africa, South America and the Middle East before being arrested in 2008 in a U.S. law-enforcement sting operation.
/jlne.ws/3XVL4WP

Israel/Palestine Conflict

The War That Won’t End: How Oct. 7 Sparked a Year of Conflict; As war in the Middle East spreads, the original conflict between Israel and Hamas has persisted. This is why.
Patrick Kingsley, Ronen Bergman and Bilal Shbair – The New York Times
Yaniv Hegyi, an Israeli community organizer, fled his home last Oct. 7, after terrorists from Gaza overran his village in southern Israel. “I was sure that by January we would go back,” Mr. Hegyi said. Mohammed Shakib Hassan, a Palestinian civil servant, fled his home on Oct. 12, after the Israeli Air Force responded by striking his city in northern Gaza. “We thought it would be two months – at most,” Mr. Hassan said. Instead, the war in Gaza has dragged on for a year, with no end in sight.
/jlne.ws/3zM8hCK

Brown University’s Endowment Gains 11% Ahead of Israel Divestment Vote
Janet Lorin – Bloomberg
Brown University’s endowment returned 11.3% for the year ended in June, boosting the fund’s value to $7.2 billion. With $728 million in investment gains, the endowment provided a record $281 million to the school’s operating budget, Brown said in a statement Friday. The contribution, accounting for 21% of total revenue, helps pay for such costs as financial aid and salary increases.
/jlne.ws/4gTYMls

The year that changed Israel; International criticism of the Gaza war has led many Israelis to retreat inwards. Feeling abandoned, they have backed the government’s military campaigns
Mehul Srivastava and James Shotter – Financial Times
This is the little that Gilad Korngold knows about what happened to his son on October 7. He knows that Tal, the 39-year-old father of Yahel and Nave, and husband to Adi, was taken from Kibbutz Be’eri by Hamas. That he was thankfully uninjured, that he was clothed, that he was stuffed into the boot of a car, and that he then vanished into the hell that is the fate of an Israeli hostage in Gaza.
/jlne.ws/3NdJXwq

Hamas Struck Israel to Spark a Wider Conflict. A Year Later, It’s Got One; The Oct. 7 attack was among the most potent acts of political violence in decades. It’s still reverberating across the globe.
Ethan Bronner – Bloomberg
As missiles filled the dawn skies of southern Israel that Saturday and thousands of armed Palestinians cut through the border fence on a mission of murder and abduction, a prerecorded speech played over regional airwaves. This human flood from Gaza, the speaker said, was the launch of a revolution that required all of Hamas’ Muslim allies to join “in Lebanon, Iran, Yemen, Iraq and Syria.” History, he said, is opening “its clearest, most noble and brightest pages.”
/jlne.ws/4dElF9E

Exchanges, OTC and Clearing

Exchanges around the world Ring The Bell to support financial literacy
The WFE Communications Team – WFE
The World Federation of Exchanges (“WFE”), the global industry group for exchanges and CCPs, is holding its fifth annual Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy event, to promote awareness of the role and importance of investor education and protection. A global network of exchanges around the world are coming together to demonstrate their support for this cause. Many exchanges are holding virtual bell ringing ceremonies, workshops and events this week to drive awareness of the importance of financial literacy in enabling the development of an inclusive market infrastructure and the opportunities that brings.
/jlne.ws/3zBvXK4

BME opens the stock exchange session with a Ringing of the Bell for Financial Education
BME-X
The Spanish Stock Exchange opened the session today with a Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy. The event, held at the Madrid Stock Exchange, is part of the Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy initiative, promoted by IOSCO and WFE as part of World Investor Week, in which more than 60 stock exchanges around the world are participating throughout the week. BME thus joins the celebration of Financial Literacy Day and the ‘Finance for All’ initiative, promoted by the CNMV, the Bank of Spain and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise.
/jlne.ws/3YdIPiQ

September 2024 figures at Eurex
Eurex
Total volume on Eurex rises by 11 percent in September compared to September 2023
Interest rate derivatives at Eurex up 33 percent this September year-on-year
Notional outstanding in OTC Clearing increased by 13 percent compared to September 2023
Eurex, Europe’s leading derivatives exchange, announced an 11 percent growth in total trading volume, reaching 196 million contracts in September, up from 176.6 million contracts in the same month last year. Interest rate derivatives led the surge, climbing 33 percent from 71.7 million to 95 million contracts. Equity derivatives expanded by 15 percent, amounting to 27.3 million contracts, while index derivatives decreased by 11 percent, from 80.8 to 71.7 million traded contracts.
/jlne.ws/4exWdUy

EMIR 3.0 active accounts are set to change the European clearing landscape: are you ready?; By the end of 2024, EMIR 3.0 is expected to enter into force, starting a six-month implementation period for firms that are active in certain euro or zloty-denominated interest rate derivatives to comply with the new rules.
Eurex
A centerpiece of EMIR 3.0 is the so-called “active account” proposals, which mandate that EU market participants that are active in-scope products and are subject to the EMIR clearing obligation must have an “active” account with a clearing house based in the EU. Firms should prepare now for the new rules not only to ensure compliance, but really turn the requirement into an opportunity to optimize margin and capital requirements across products under the Euro Yield Curve.
/jlne.ws/3XRTcHP

EEX Press Release – Changes in the EEX Management Board
EEX
The Supervisory Board of European Energy Exchange AG (EEX) has adopted structural changes to the Management Board in order to better leverage existing synergies between the customer-centered departments of EEX and the European Commodity Clearing (ECC). Steffen Köhler’s mandate as Management Board Member has been extended for further five years, until February 2030, and from 1 March 2025, he will take over the newly created role of Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). Furthermore, Gotz Dittrich, current COO of ECC, will additionally take on the role of COO of EEX, and join the extended EEX Management Board.
/jlne.ws/4eQmsFG

EEX Group Volume Report – September 2024
EEX
10/07/2024 Monthly Volume Report, Monthly Volume Report; Leipzig, 7 October 2024 – EEX Group reports its September monthly volumes with the following highlights:
/jlne.ws/3XUkHQP

Euronext strengthens European derivatives offer with new German, Irish and Portuguese Single Stock Options
Back
Euronext
Euronext, the leading pan-European market infrastructure, announces the launch of an expanded range of Single Stock Options from Germany, Ireland and Portugal, effective today. This expansion further strengthens Euronext’s position as a key player in the European derivatives market. Euronext is introducing 21 new German Single Stock Options, completing its coverage of all DAX 40 Index constituents, six Irish and four Portuguese Single Stock Options. The new Single Stock Options are the first that Euronext has listed on Irish stocks.
/jlne.ws/3YaXLy6

ICE Mortgage Monitor: Average Payment Hits All-Time High; Spiking Insurance Costs Rising at 3X the Rate of Principal, Interest, and Taxes
Intercontinental Exchange
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading global provider of technology and data, today released its October 2024 ICE Mortgage Monitor Report, based on the company’s robust mortgage, real estate and public records data sets. This month’s Mortgage Monitor examines the components that make up what has become, as of August, the largest average monthly payment in history among active mortgages by dollar amount. According to ICE Vice President of Research and Analysis Andy Walden, every element of a mortgage payment – principal, interest, taxes and insurance (PITI) – has been rising in recent years, but spikes in property insurance costs have been particularly sharp. “All in, accounting for both fixed and variable inclusions, the average payment among U.S. mortgage holders hit a record high of $2,070 in August,” said Walden.
/jlne.ws/3BCAgoX

TMX Group Consolidated Trading Statistics – September 2024
TMX
TMX Group Limited today announced September 2024 trading statistics for its marketplaces – Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange, TSX Alpha Exchange, including Alpha-X & Alpha DRK, and Montréal Exchange.
/jlne.ws/3zNYBYi

Fintech

Microsoft’s AI Story Is Getting Complicated; Blowout capital spending, financial reporting changes and the relationship with OpenAI are making investors think twice
Dan Gallagher – The Wall Street Journal
Big tech’s AI champ is looking a little battered these days. Microsoft was an early mover on generative artificial intelligence, and investors benefited handsomely. The software company’s stock surged nearly 57% last year in its best annual performance since 1999, according to FactSet data. But the cold splash of reality that AI stocks have received over the past few months has been particularly chilling for the company that helped introduce the world to ChatGPT. Microsoft’s year-to-date performance of less than 11% lags behind all other megacap techs and the S&P 500. It is also the only one in that crew to trail the Dow Jones Industrial Average for the year.
/jlne.ws/4eJSe7g

Global Investors Are Hoarding Cash to Bet on Taiwan AI Return; Foreigners have moved money to the island despite stock sales
Betty Hou and Charlotte Yang – Bloomberg
Foreign investors are sitting on billions of dollars of cash in Taiwan, an encouraging sign for equity bulls predicting that a recent market decline will be short-lived. Global funds sold $16.9 billion of shares on a net basis on the Taiwan Stock Exchange between January and September, but they still injected $29.5 billion of capital into the island on a net basis during the same period, suggesting that despite recent profit taking, they still have plenty of cash to invest in Taiwanese stocks.
/jlne.ws/4evXDza

The world’s largest chipmaker TSMC is about to be tested as it uses more and more power Helen Li – Business Insider
Taiwan’s “sluggish growth” in its electricity supply will test the growth of TSMC, the world’s largest chipmaker, and also the power-intensive semiconductor industry’s growth, according to a new S&P Global report released last week. For the past four years, TSMC’s total energy usage has grown 10%-20% annually due to its production scale and technology usage, and it’s expected to surge this year, the analysts said. Compared to other chipmakers, TSMC’s electricity consumption far outpaces its peers, such as Micron and Intel, consuming more than 24 billion kilowatt-hours in 2023-almost equivalent to the entire city of Phoenix.
/jlne.ws/3BKe1gH

AI is likely to make our world more divided; Asian governments are split into two camps: Pro-innovation and pro-security
George Chen and Nick Ackert – Nikkei Asia (opinion)
From California to Beijing, and Tokyo to Taipei, global technology leaders are racing to advance artificial intelligence developments, including by expanding new large language models (LLMs) and making rapid progress in improving infrastructure for computing power and chipmaking.
/jlne.ws/3XZ0OYW

Cybersecurity

Chinese hackers breached US court wiretap systems, WSJ reports
Reuters
Chinese hackers accessed the networks of U.S. broadband providers and obtained information from systems the federal government uses for court-authorized wiretapping, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Verizon Communications, AT&T and Lumen Technologies are among the telecoms companies whose networks were breached by the recently discovered intrusion, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter.
/jlne.ws/4dAv7eg

Water Supplier American Water Works Says Hackers Breached System; New Jersey-based company has disconnected some systems; US officials have warned about water infrastructure hacks
Lynn Doan – Bloomberg
American Water Works Co. Inc., which supplies drinking water and wastewater services to more than 14 million people, said hackers had breached its computer networks and systems. The New Jersey-based company has disconnected or deactivated some systems in an effort to contain the cyberattack and is investigating the nature and scope of the breach, which was discovered on Oct. 3. The company said in a regulatory filing Monday that it currently doesn’t believe water or wastewater operations have been affected, but noted that it can’t yet predict the full impact of the incident.
/jlne.ws/400MKka

Cryptocurrencies

Crypto Firm FalconX Hunts for Acquisitions After Record Quarter; FalconX’s co-founder expects a wave of consolidation in 2025; The firm has seen a sizable uptick in potential deals recently
Sidhartha Shukla – Bloomberg
Digital-asset trading and brokerage firm FalconX is hunting for acquisitions ahead of an anticipated flurry of deal-making in the sector. Raghu Yarlagadda, FalconX’s co-founder and chief executive, expects the cost of doing business in crypto to rise as more institutional players enter the market and regulations tighten. That in turn will trigger a “wave of consolidation” in 2025, he said in an interview. “Currently, we are actively exploring potential acquisitions and assessing the relevant sectors and key players within them,” Yarlagadda added.
/jlne.ws/4eTc2VA

Premier League Pushed Out Gambling Firms, Teams Turned to Crypto; English football club deals with crypto firms are at a record high.
Emily Nicolle – Bloomberg
The flood of crypto money into English football is continuing, providing an influx of new cash for clubs as regulations tighten around gambling sponsorship, a key revenue stream that will soon fade. Crypto firms have spent a record amount of almost £130 million ($170 million) on deals for the Premier League 2024/25 season, according to sports sponsorship agency SportQuake. That’s likely to increase further, with more partnerships often announced during the season.
/jlne.ws/3ZU90w9

Politics

A Wharton Professor Makes the Economic Case for More Immigration; Ahead of a US election focused on migrants, Zeke Hernandez’s book argues that newcomers can make the whole country richer.
Augusta Saraiva and Enda Curran – Bloomberg
In June, more than half of Americans told Gallup pollsters that they want to curb immigration, the highest share in more than two decades. The surge in southern border crossings after the pandemic put the issue at the top of voters’ minds. Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for the White House, has capitalized on this dynamic-accusing immigrants of taking jobs that would otherwise go to native workers, spreading false rumors about migrants in Ohio and proposing the biggest deportation program in US history. At the same time, Democrats have tried to strike a harder tone: The outgoing Biden administration has made it more difficult for immigrants to claim asylum, while Vice President Kamala Harris is pitching border reform and blaming the GOP for striking down a bipartisan bill that Democrats say would have curbed the numbers.
/jlne.ws/4dwyQcZ

Trump ‘asked Putin for advice’ about whether the US should help arm Ukraine
Rhian Lubin – The Independent
Donald Trump reportedly asked Vladimir Putin for his advice on whether the US should help arm Ukraine at their first in-person meeting. The Republican presidential nominee, who has been vocal in his criticism of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, reportedly asked Putin “what do you think?” when the pair met in Hamburg in 2017, according to The New York Times. Trump has wildly claimed Putin “would never have gone into Ukraine” if he were president and has touted his “very good relationship” with him several times.
/jlne.ws/4ezswTb

‘Free Ross’: Why Trump Wants Ross Ulbricht Released From Prison
Emily Nicolle – Bloomberg
Donald Trump has made a raft of promises to the crypto community should he win the US presidential election in November, including a pledge to commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of dark-web marketplace Silk Road. Who is Ross Ulbricht? Ulbricht, 40, was once better known by his online pseudonym “Dread Pirate Roberts” – a name taken from the film The Princess Bride. In 2011 he founded Silk Road, an online exchange that enabled users to anonymously buy and sell illegal goods and services with Bitcoin. During the two years it was in operation, more than $200 million worth of illicit activity flowed through the site, according to the Department of Justice. A former Eagle Scout who grew up in Austin, Texas, he holds degrees in physics and materials science from the University of Texas and Pennsylvania State University, according to a website dedicated to the so-called Free Ross campaign.
/jlne.ws/48175rF

The Tech Lobbying Group Helping to Broaden the First Amendment’s Reach; NetChoice, backed by tech giants including Meta and Google, has successfully argued in court that Big Tech hosts protected speech.
Cecilia Kang – The New York Times
Ahead of a recent vote in Congress on a child safety bill, a powerful tech lobby representing Google, Meta and other major tech firms sent a forceful warning to lawmakers. The Kids Online Safety Act was “bad on policy and bad on the law,” the lobby, NetChoice, said in a statement, adding, “Courts across the country repeatedly halted these types of provisions.” The child safety bill, which would require social media platforms and other sites to limit features that can promote cyberbullying, harassment and the glorification of self-harm, has been a rare piece of legislation with bipartisan support.
/jlne.ws/4eT9c2S

Venture capitalist Ben Horowitz to make ‘significant donation’ for Harris
Kanishka Singh – Reuters
Venture capitalist Ben Horowitz said on Friday he will make a “significant donation” to entities supporting the Democratic presidential campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris who faces Republican former President Donald Trump in the Nov. 5 election. The co-founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz had thrown support behind Trump in July. At the time he backed Trump, President Joe Biden was the Democratic candidate. Biden later stepped aside in the aftermath of a disastrous debate against Trump and Harris took over.
/jlne.ws/3Bwyzt7

Users Are Getting Scammed Out of Money on Trump’s Truth Social
Peter Wade – Rolling Stone
Users of Donald Trump’s social media network, Truth Social, are reporting being scammed out of large amounts of money by people they meet through the site. According to FTC complaints obtained by Gizmodo through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, some Truth Social users have reported losing tens of thousands of dollars and as much as half a million through cons that start on the social platform. One man wrote that he lost $21,000 while chatting with a “beautiful” woman he met on the site who claimed to be a wealthy entrepreneur. “I haven’t told my wife about this blunder. She still doesn’t know about it,” he said in his complaint.
/jlne.ws/4eRYXvX

The ‘Crypto Punks’ Behind Trump’s Murky New Business Venture; The serial entrepreneurs behind Donald J. Trump’s new cryptocurrency project have left a trail of lawsuits, unpaid debt and tax liens.
Sharon LaFraniere and David Yaffe-Bellany – The New York Times
/jlne.ws/4gXfUqw

Slovakia Backs Kyiv’s EU Bid But Wants It to Keep Gas Flowing; Prime Minister Fico expects Ukraine to behave ‘reasonably’; Fico opposes Ukraine’s Nato membership and sanctions on Russia
Daniel Hornak – Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3BKiyzJ

Slovakia asks Ukraine for ‘friendly gestures’ on Russian gas flows; Premier Robert Fico meets Kyiv counterpart after reaffirming Bratislava’s opposition to neighbour joining Nato
Raphael Minder and Isobel Koshiw – Financial Times
A warning by Ukraine that it could stop the transit of Russian gas to the EU has put pressure on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who must secure energy supplies even as he opposes Kyiv’s wish to join Nato. Ahead of a meeting on Monday with Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Fico called for “friendly gestures from Ukraine” as he seeks to safeguard gas imports.
/jlne.ws/4ezoABQ

Spain to propose mini-coalitions to break EU capital markets stalemate; Madrid wants three or more countries to be able to forge ahead when others are opposed
Barney Jopson in Madrid and Paola Tamma in Brussels – Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3NiMqpD

India offers financial support to Maldives after talks to repair ties
Ashok Sharma and Sheikh Scalia – Associated Press
/jlne.ws/40cRBzd

Regulation

Segantii Gives Up Hong Kong Office Amid Insider Dealing Charge; One of the floors taken over by Bitmain related entities; Sadler’s firm left 12,000-square-foot office in Central
Bei Hu and Shawna Kwan – Bloomberg
Segantii Capital Management, the hedge fund firm at the center of an insider trading case, has left its 12,000-square-foot office in Hong Kong, said people familiar with the matter. The firm founded by Simon Sadler vacated the 21st and 22nd floors of 100 Queen’s Road Central, said the people, who requested not to be identified discussing private information. It had more than a year left on its lease, one of them added.
/jlne.ws/4ePFxI0

Whistleblower demands apology from FCA over ‘inaccurate’ report; Regulator remains under scrutiny after chair Ashley Alder refused to quit over the controversy
Martin Arnold – Financial Times
A whistleblower whose identity was improperly disclosed by the chair of the UK financial watchdog has accused it of “factual inaccuracies” and trying to discredit the person behind the complaint in its report into the incidents. The Financial Conduct Authority last month said its chair Ashley Alder “did not follow the policy to the letter” when he passed on key personal details about two internal whistleblowers to several of his colleagues. The regulator’s rules say a whistleblower’s identity should not be revealed without their consent.
/jlne.ws/47TJoSd

CFTC World Investor Week Events Explore Relationship Confidence Scams and Anti-Fraud Resources; CFTC invites the public to two events on Oct. 8 and 9 to learn about fraud protection
October 04, 2024
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Office of Customer Education and Outreach today announced two events as part of its participation in World Investor Week, a global effort organized by the International Organization of Securities Commissions to raise awareness about the importance of investor education and protection with a focus on the most critical, emerging themes.
/jlne.ws/47YcW10

CFTC Staff Issues Supplemental Letter Regarding No-Action Position Related to Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements for Fully Collateralized Binary Options
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Division of Market Oversight and the Division of Clearing and Risk today announced they have taken a no-action position regarding swap data reporting and recordkeeping regulations in response to a request from KalshiEX LLC, a designated contract market, and Kalshi Klear LLC, a derivatives clearing organization, to modify CFTC Letter No. 21-11 to cover transactions cleared through Kalshi Klear LLC.
/jlne.ws/4gRLN3V

AA Insurance to pay $6.175 million penalty for misleading customers
FMA
AA Insurance New Zealand Limited (AAI) has been ordered to pay a penalty of $6.175 million for failing to apply multi-policy and membership discounts, as well as guaranteed no claims bonuses. AAI also misled customers about its multi policy discount offer in marketing material and misrepresented that certain eligible customers would receive its guaranteed no claims bonus for life. The High Court judgment follows proceedings brought by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) – Te Mana Tātai Hokohoko. AAI admitted its conduct, which resulted in approximately $11.12 million in overcharges, breached section 22 of the Financial Markets Conduct Act (FMC Act). The breaches primarily arose out of failure and deficiencies in its systems and processes.
/jlne.ws/3zPQAlO

Investing and Trading

‘100%’ Yields Are Fueling a Retail Boom in New Quick-Buck ETFs; Amateur investors are plunging into the complex world of derivatives-powered ETFs that can dangle huge payouts riding big-name stocks, among other goodies. Industry pros and regulators urge caution.
Denitsa Tsekova and Vildana Hajric – Bloomberg
Across platforms like TikTok, YouTube and Reddit, financial influencers are promoting a new way to speculate in the stock market – touting payouts that, at first blush, can top 100%, or more. Known in the industry as derivatives-enhanced exchange-traded funds, they’ve become a big hit with retail investors who are piling into a slew of bold-faced trades, including those that amp up the daily returns of the hottest stocks on the planet.
/jlne.ws/4eOwiYy

Costco’s Gold Bars Fly Off Shelves as Bullion Prices Smash Records
Yvonne Yue Li – Bloomberg
Gold’s breathtaking surge this year to repeated record highs hasn’t stopped bullion from flying off shelves at Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) stores across the US. Costco’s one-stop shopping convenience is bringing gold (GC=F) buying to the masses by offering prices that undercut traditional precious metals dealers and extra rewards for its most loyal customers. Add to that gold’s appeal as a safe haven and hedge against inflation, and it’s easy to see why bullion buyers are turning to the warehouse retailer.
/jlne.ws/3ZTNkAb

The Great Florida Migration Is Coming Undone; A surplus of housing inventory and dwindling buyer interest are slowing sales. Hurricanes and extreme weather are making it worse.
Deborah Acosta – The Wall Street Journal
Anthony Holmes was part of the great Florida migration. In 2021, he moved from Virginia to a gated suburban community in Tampa. Now that he has had to leave, Holmes is another victim of a glutted housing market where buyers are increasingly hard to find. He paid $550,000 for his five-bedroom home and spent another $50,000 on solar panels and interior improvements. When he had to move back to Virginia for work, Holmes expected to sell his house quickly. But since listing it in February, he has had no luck. He dropped the price five times to $583,900 and would be happy simply to break even.
/jlne.ws/3YcAkEA

Carrying a Credit-Card Balance Has Gotten Way More Expensive; Issuers raise rates in anticipation of an $8 cap on late fees that is tied up in court
Angel Au-Yeung – The Wall Street Journal
Americans can’t remember a time when it cost as much to carry a credit-card balance. Banks have been raising interest rates on credit cards for years, and some are lifting them higher still to recoup the revenue they fear losing from a new cap on late fees. That means cardholders struggling to pay their bills might not see much relief, if any, even with the Federal Reserve expected to continue lowering rates.
/jlne.ws/3U0HTf7

A Tried-and-True Investing Pattern Has Lost Its Shape; Deciding what sectors and companies are cyclical versus defensive has suddenly gotten a lot more complicated
James Mackintosh – The Wall Street Journal
One of the biggest simplifications in markets is to buy cyclical sectors when the economy’s booming, and defensives in a slowdown. It’s obvious-until you try to decide what’s cyclical and what’s defensive. The recent prospect of Federal Reserve rate cuts, inflation-free growth and Chinese stimulus prompted a strong cyclical rally. Or they did on some measures. On others, the picture is confused.
/jlne.ws/4gNehM2

TotalEnergies considers foray into copper trading, top executive says; Comments in closed-door conference show oil groups seek to capitalise on demand for metals needed for energy transition
Leslie Hook – Financial Times
French energy giant TotalEnergies is studying whether to start trading copper, potentially paving the way to expand its vast oil trading operations into metals for the first time to capitalise on the energy transition. Rahim Azouni, senior vice-president of crude, fuel and derivatives trading, said the company had been “studying the case” for trading copper, in remarks made at a closed-door conference in London, according to several people who attended.
/jlne.ws/3Bwqm89

Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance

Norway’s Equinor takes 10% stake in renewables group; Orsted Company becomes second-largest shareholder in world’s biggest offshore wind farm developer behind Danish government
Richard Milne in Oslo and Rachel Millard in London – Financial Times
Norway’s state-controlled oil and gas company Equinor has bought a 10 per cent stake in Denmark’s Orsted, becoming the second-largest shareholder in the world’s biggest offshore wind farm developer behind the Danish government. Anders Opedal, Equinor’s chief executive, said on Monday that the shareholding – worth about $2.5bn – had been accumulated over time and was part of the Norwegian group’s growing focus on renewables.
/jlne.ws/4dA7dje

John Kerry Joins Billionaire Tom Steyer’s Climate Investing Firm
Saijel Kishan – Bloomberg
Billionaire Tom Steyer hired former US Secretary of State and top US climate diplomat John Kerry to join his sustainable-investing firm. Kerry, 80, stepped down from the Biden administration in early 2024 after more than three years pressing nations to address global warming. He will be co-executive chair of Galvanize Climate Solutions, which was co-founded by Steyer and Katie Hall, according to a statement on Monday.
/jlne.ws/3zOes9e

Saudi Arabia Said to Tee Up Multibillion-Dollar Bet on Hydrogen; PIF said to create company to finance hydrogen investments; Hydrogen has yet to take off globally because of costs
Matthew Martin and Fahad Abuljadayel – Bloomberg
Saudi Arabia is preparing to make a multibillion-dollar bet on hydrogen and will launch a new company to produce the much hyped low-carbon fuel, according to people familiar with the matter. The kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, chaired by de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has created a company called Energy Solutions Co. to finance so-called green hydrogen power production, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.
/jlne.ws/3NejI9d

A GE spinoff’s stock is surging as it positions itself as the ‘supermarket’ for AI energy demand
Ines Ferre – Yahoo Finance
The massive demand for energy as Big Tech races to build its AI infrastructure has been a tailwind for GE Vernova (GEV), the power equipment maker that spun out of iconic GE earlier this year. Shares of the Cambridge, Mass.-based company have been hovering near all-time highs, along with the broader S&P 500 Industrial ETF (XLI), as investors look to play off the electrification and artificial intelligence theme led by AI chip heavyweight Nvidia (NVDA).
/jlne.ws/4dBHFSw

LNG Needed For Decades to Ensure Energy Security, Importers Say
Shoko Oda and Tsuyoshi Inajima – Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/4euH4DN

Chevron Sells Canada Oil Sand, Shale Assets for $6.5 Billion
James Herron – Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3XYv06J

Libyan Oil Output Climbs Above 1 Million Barrels a Day
Salma El Wardany and Hatem Mohareb – Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3Bwt3XB

Dangote’s Nigerian Crude Grab to Shake Up Atlantic Oil Markets
Bill Lehane – Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/3zOb2Dq

Hurricane Tracker: Milton projected to strengthen into Category 3, set to make landfall in Florida this week; Meanwhile, Hurricane Kirk diminished, becoming a Category 2 on Sunday.
Kaitlin Reilly and David Artavia – Yahoo News
/jlne.ws/4eQK4dl

Institutions

China’s Brokers Skip Holidays to Staff Up for ‘Hectic’ Reopening
Bloomberg
Brokerages and stock exchanges in China are gearing up for a frantic Tuesday when onshore markets reopen after a week-long holiday, with optimism running high that Beijing’s stimulus measures will give shares another leg up. Professionals in the information technology, operations and customer service departments at local brokerages canceled their holidays to prepare for a busy trading session, according to state broadcaster China Central Television. The number of account openings at major brokerages hit a record high during the Golden Week break, with overwhelming client demand in both online and offline channels. A Beijing-based brokerage stationed call center agents to answer client inquiries 24 hours a day, according to CCTV’s report.
/jlne.ws/4dBxQnT

This $9 billion hedge fund just joined the raid on big bank commodity index traders with a senior JPMorgan hire
Alex Morrell – Business Insider
Hedge funds’ push into commodities continues unabated, even amid a down year for the strategy. Alphadyne Asset Management is the latest fund to scoop up a commodity index portfolio manager from the sell side, hiring JPMorgan’s Thomas Byuen, according to a person familiar with the matter, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly. Byuen, global head of commodity index trading, joined the bank in 2012 out of college, according to his LinkedIn profile and industry records.
/jlne.ws/4dvIYTa

Investment Industry Loves Active ETFs. You Probably Shouldn’t; Launches of actively managed exchange-traded vehicles are surging, but their performance is often poor
Jon Sindreu – The Wall Street Journal
For most investors, exchange-traded funds are synonymous with passive investment. The asset-management industry is trying to change that-and likely not for the better. ETFs are the big market story of the past few years: Over the past decade, assets managed by these vehicles in the U.S. have leapt from roughly $1.5 trillion to more than $10 trillion, according to Wall Street analysts.
/jlne.ws/3NfwOmJ

The Math That Explains How Multi-Strat Hedge Funds Make Money; Dan Morillo explains pod shop design.
Tracy Alloway and Joe Weisenthal – Bloomberg
Multi-strategy hedge funds are still all the rage on Wall Street, but what does it actually mean to be a pod shop and how are they being set up? On this episode, we speak with Dan Morillo, co-founder of Freestone Grove Partners and formerly a partner and head of equity quantitative research at Citadel (one of the most successful multi-strats out there.) While lots of people tend to talk about multi-strategy hedge funds as one big blob, he argues that there are important differences in their business models. We talk about how he identifies top portfolio managers, managing crowding risk, and the math behind compensation, scale and returns.
/jlne.ws/3YdxJdL

Over 50 Smaller German Banks See Capital Below Minimum in Test
Nicholas Comfort – Bloomberg
Germany’s top financial regulator said dozens of smaller banks would see their capital reserves drop below their required levels in a economic shock scenario run as part of a stress test. More than 50 lenders ran into difficulty in the test, about twice as high as in the last exam two years ago, which wasn’t as tough, said Raimund Roeseler, the head of of banking supervision at BaFin. The watchdog’s test included 1,200 so-called “less significant institutions” and showed the industry as a whole is “well capitalized,” he said.
/jlne.ws/3BwqJj3

London Set To Reclaim 48% Share Of Banking Vacancies In 2024, Boosting Recruitment Date
Mondovisione
The UK stands out among G8 countries due to its political stability, with the government expected to remain in power for the next five years. As a result, 2024 could be a pivotal year for UK banking, driven by recent deregulation reforms, stable interest rates, divestment of private equity firms as funds near their five-year mark post-pandemic and the Government’s plan to unlock £75 million, potentially boosting savings by £11,000 per person. In particular, London is forecast to see a 2% rise in banking vacancies, increasing from 46% to 48%, whereas the rest of England and Wales face a 12% decline according to the latest UK labour market trends report by leading professional recruiter Morgan McKinley and market data analysts, Vacancysoft.
/jlne.ws/3ZZq0RX

Apollo to Pay $3.6 Billion for Aerospace Manufacturer Barnes
John Lauerman – Bloomberg
Apollo Global Management Inc. agreed to buy Barnes Group Inc. in an all-cash transaction that values the technology and aerospace manufacturer at about $3.6 billion. Barnes shareholders will receive $47.50 a share in cash, the companies said. The price represented a 22% premium over Barnes’ closing share price on June 25, the day before reports emerged the company was exploring options including a sale. The transaction is expected to close before the end of the first quarter of 2025.
/jlne.ws/3zOhrhW

Work & Management

A Goldman Sachs job is a ‘golden ticket’-over 300,000 young bankers try to get one each year
Luisa Beltran – Fortune
Working as an analyst on Wall Street is famously hard. Young bankers work very long hours, have few days off, and are expected to be on call at all times. They must also deal with demanding bosses and clients who expect special attention. Given all this, who would want such a job? Everyone it seems-especially if the job is at Goldman Sachs.
/jlne.ws/3UmKtMX

Changing Jobs Can Put a $300,000 Dent in Retirement Savings; Job switchers often reset the savings rate lower on their 401(k) accounts without realizing it, new research from Vanguard finds
Anne Tergesen – The Wall Street Journal
Switching jobs can boost your pay and prospects. It can also drag on retirement savings. The majority of people who change jobs wind up putting less of their pay into their 401(k)s, often without realizing it, according to new research from Vanguard Group. That is because many job switchers either forget to sign up for the 401(k) plan, or get auto-enrolled at a lower savings rate. Over a four-decade career, that can mean as much as $300,000 less in retirement wealth for someone with average pay, Vanguard found.
/jlne.ws/3BAjVkA

3 key questions to ask before you start a company with a friend; Andy Dunn, the founding CEO of Bonobos and Pie, offers advice on leading teams, building things, and surviving the startup life.
Andy Dunn – Fortune
When my Bonobos cofounder, Brian Spaly, and I had a falling-out in 2009, two years after starting the company, we made a strange decision. We decided that we would share the details of how our partnership fell apart with the community where our friendship and our company were forged: Stanford Business School.
/jlne.ws/3zK9qL3

Wellness Exchange

Activist Starboard Value Takes $1 Billion Stake in Pfizer; Drugmaker’s shares have slumped as demand for Covid-19 vaccines and treatments has slowed
Lauren Thomas – The Wall Street Journal
Activist investor Starboard Value has taken a roughly $1 billion stake in Pfizer and wants the struggling drugmaker to make changes to turn its performance around, according to people familiar with the matter. Pfizer had a market value of about $162 billion as of Friday. Its shares have been roughly cut in half from a record high notched in late 2021 after the company delivered the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine. They are little changed so far this year, compared with a 21% rise in the S&P 500.
/jlne.ws/3YeqWAz

Inflammaging Is Chronic, Stealthy and Can Be a Serious Threat to Your Health; Scientists say we should pay closer attention to the chronic inflammation that can build as we age
Alex Janin and Betsy McKay – The Wall Street Journal
“Inflammaging” sounds like just another marketing buzzword wellness companies are throwing around. You would be wise to take the condition seriously. A combination of inflammation and aging, the term describes a simmering form of inflammation-the immune system’s response to a perceived threat-that is chronic and low-grade, and builds stealthily as you age. It is associated with an increased risk of heart attack, cancer, Alzheimer’s and other conditions.
/jlne.ws/4gXgLHK

Old Drug Repurposed for Schizophrenia Could Reap Alzheimer’s Windfall; Bristol-Myers’ newly approved schizophrenia treatment might be coming full circle
David Wainer – The Wall Street Journal
The path to discovering a blockbuster drug is often unpredictable. A promising molecule might be overlooked for decades, only to regain attention when new scientific insights spark fresh interest from pharmaceutical companies. Such is the case with newly approved Bristol-Myers Squibb drug Cobenfy. The underlying drug was first studied in Alzheimer’s patients in the 1990s, but it was abandoned because of severe side effects. Decades later, it was repurposed for schizophrenia, and last month it was approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, making it the first new antipsychotic to come to market in decades.
/jlne.ws/3NesvYH

Regions

FTSE’s Index Revamp Has Korean, Indian Bond Markets on Watch
Catherine Bosley – Bloomberg
South Korea has ticked every box in an attempt to get its bonds included in a major FTSE Russell index, while India has steered clear of public overhauls – but the latter’s popularity with global investors may give it an edge to join a related benchmark. FTSE Russell will on Oct. 8 announce any inclusions into benchmarks including its World Government Bond Index, which tracks $29 trillion of global fixed income. Seoul hopes it finally made the cut after overhauling currency and debt-market operations.
/jlne.ws/3YcdD3m

China Stock Skepticism Gets Louder Amid World-Beating Run
Charlotte Yang and Tania Chen – Bloomberg
The world-beating rally in Chinese stocks is failing to convince many global fund managers and strategists. Invesco Ltd., JPMorgan Asset Management, HSBC Global Private Banking and Wealth, and Nomura Holdings Inc. are among those viewing the recent rebound with skepticism and waiting for Beijing to back up its stimulus pledges with real money. Some are also concerned many stocks are already reaching overvalued levels.
/jlne.ws/3Ye3vHq

How E-Commerce Is Making China’s Deflation Worse; The push by Pinduoduo to lower prices has helped it become one of China’s fastest-growing e-commerce apps, and epitomizes a broader force plaguing the economy.
Daisuke Wakabayashi and Claire Fu – The New York Times
When Lin Yunyun started selling diapers two years ago on Pinduoduo, China’s fast-growing e-commerce site, she was not prepared for the relentless nagging about prices. Pinduoduo, popular among Chinese consumers for its discounts, sent “reminders” whenever other sellers dropped their prices below hers. When Ms. Lin cut her prices, the site would temporarily promote her products – only to warn her a few days later that more reductions were needed for the site to continue driving customers to her goods.
/jlne.ws/3ZOVPN6

Japan to Closely Watch Impact of Yen Moves on Corporate, Household Activity; The yen has swung wildly against the dollar in the past months
Megumi Fujikawa – The Wall Street Journal
Japan’s new finance minister pledged to consider policy responses against sharp currency moves based on how they affect the real economy, a comment that comes as growing global economic uncertainties spur volatility in foreign-exchange markets. “We need to take necessary measures while closely watching the effects [of currency moves] on people’s lives and economic activities, rather than responding to the foreign-exchange market itself,” Katsunobu Kato said in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires and other media on Monday.
/jlne.ws/47ZyScg

Saudi Stocks Face Rising Risks as Regional Conflict Deepens
Fahad Abuljadayel – Bloomberg
The Saudi stock market is wobbling after a summer rally, with the Riyadh bourse enduring its worst fourth-quarter start in years as regional tensions soar. The Tadawul All Share Index index slipped 3.7% in the first four trading days of October, as Israel intensified its campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah and weighed retaliation for Tehran’s missile attacks. While the gauge spent months shrugging off simmering tensions and weak oil prices, the latest setback has wiped out its entire year-to-date gain.
/jlne.ws/3ZO0fUt

Saudi Arabia opens doors to Hong Kong stocks with launch of 2 ETFs at month-end: SFC CEO
South China Morning Post
/jlne.ws/3BIuQIU

Olive Oil Crunch Eases as Spain Forecasts Crop to Jump by 48%; Prices soared to record this year after two poor harvests; World’s biggest olive oil producer set for rebound: ministry
Celia Bergin and Clara Hernanz Lizarraga – Bloomberg
/jlne.ws/47THJfr

Miscellaneous

Workday Billionaire ‘Bored Silly’ of Retirement Chases a Third IPO; Dave Duffield hopes to complete an IPO hat trick with Ridgeline, which aims to replicate his success in HR software for the financial services industry.
Biz Carson – Bloomberg
Dave Duffield keeps trying, and failing, to retire. At 84, the billionaire co-founder of HR software firms PeopleSoft Inc. and Workday Inc. is building another startup after he became “bored silly” each time he stopped working. “I tried to make model airplanes and failed, rocked away on the back porch, sort of failed at that too,” Duffield said with a laugh from his new company’s office on the shore of Lake Tahoe in Incline Village, Nevada. He also played “hours and hours” of FreeCell, an online version of solitaire.
/jlne.ws/4eVszsu

One Year After Oct. 7, Israel Sees a Future at War | John Lothian News (2024)
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Hobby: Backpacking, Jogging, Magic, Driving, Macrame, Embroidery, Foraging

Introduction: My name is Neely Ledner, I am a bright, determined, beautiful, adventurous, adventurous, spotless, calm person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.