A Texas Stock Exchange Wants to Take on New York. The Odds Aren’t Good

First Read

Hits & Takes
John Lothian & JLN Staff

Gary Gensler, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), recently delivered remarks commemorating the 90th anniversary of the SEC’s establishment through the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. While his speech focused on the SEC’s history and role in regulating financial markets, an unexpected connection emerged with Taylor Swift’s ongoing Eras Tour.

In his speech titled “Eras Tour of The Securities and Exchange Commission,” Gensler highlighted the SEC’s evolution over nine decades, from its inception during the Great Depression to its current mandate of maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets. He emphasized the agency’s core principles of transparency, accountability, and investor protection, which have guided its actions through various market cycles and technological advancements.

Gensler’s remarks underscored the SEC’s commitment to adapting to changing times while upholding its fundamental mission. As he stated, “The SEC has evolved over the decades, but our principles have remained constant: protecting investors, maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitating capital formation.”

While Gensler’s speech primarily focused on the SEC’s regulatory role, an intriguing parallel emerged with Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. The tour, which celebrates Swift’s musical eras and discography, has captivated audiences worldwide and shattered numerous records.

Just as the SEC has navigated different eras in its history, Swift’s tour represents a journey through her artistic evolution, showcasing her growth and adaptability as an artist. Both the SEC and Swift have demonstrated resilience, innovation, and a commitment to their respective crafts, resonating with their dedicated followers – investors and fans alike.

The juxtaposition of the SEC’s 90th anniversary and Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour highlights the importance of embracing change while staying true to core values and principles. Both entities have faced challenges, criticisms, and the need to evolve, yet they have managed to remain relevant and impactful in their respective domains.

As Gensler emphasized, the SEC’s principles of transparency, accountability, and investor protection have remained constant, even as the agency has adapted to new market realities and technological advancements. Similarly, Swift’s artistic integrity and connection with her fans, including my daughter Kat and wife Cheryl, have been unwavering, even as she has explored different musical genres and embraced new creative directions.

While the SEC’s regulatory role and Taylor Swift’s musical artistry may seem worlds apart, their shared ability to navigate different eras while maintaining their core values and relevance is noteworthy. As the SEC celebrates its 90th anniversary and Taylor Swift continues to captivate audiences worldwide, both serve as reminders of the importance of adaptability, resilience, and a steadfast commitment to one’s principles – qualities that transcend industries and disciplines.

I attended an event sponsored by Aon, Metcap, GDCA and Strands called “A Digital Summer Night” at the RPM Seafood restaurant in Chicago, right on the Chicago river at Clark street. The event featured a fireside chat with an Aon executive moderating a discussion with former FTX US General Counsel Ryne Miller, now of Miller Strategic Partners LLP. Miller recalled the experience of the FTX bankruptcy and how he dealt with the process, including having just had a child born the week before the disclosure by Sam Bankman Fried’s father to him of the financial problems.

I asked Miller a question about the impact of whistleblowers on situations like that and before he replied he asked me if I was retired. Not wanting to give anyone that idea, I replied, “HELL NO!”

This question has been put to me before and made me scratch my head. I am old enough to collect Social Security. I was also inducted into the FIA Hall of Fame, which previously went to people who were retired. I broke the mold on that one. Thus, it is a legitimate question. But what else is prompting the question? I concluded it must be my wardrobe. Last night I wore my late stepfather-in-law’s hand-me-down seersucker sportcoat to the event. That is a retired guy’s jacket. I wear it as a seasonably appropriate style of clothing. I do have a theory about retirement wardrobe. When you retire, you stop buying new clothes and you are stuck in the era of when you worked stylistically. Maybe I need to update my style.

Have a great day and stay safe and treat people the same way you want to be treated: with respect, equality and justice.~JJL

*****

Our most read stories from our previous edition of JLN Options were:
– GameStop Shares Soar as Keith Gill Schedules YouTube Return from Bloomberg.
– GameStop surges almost 50% as ‘Roaring Kitty’ teases livestream from Reuters.
– SEC Hedge Fund Fee Disclosure Rule Struck Down by US Court Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance. ~JB

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

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Lead Stories

A Texas Stock Exchange Wants to Take on New York. The Odds Aren’t Good; Red-blue divide underpins the TXSE’s challenge to the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq
Alexander Osipovich – The Wall Street Journal
The Texas Stock Exchange is looking to steal New York’s crown as the center of U.S. capital markets. It has a powerful force behind it: red-state frustration with the perceived liberal agenda of Wall Street. But that might not be enough to win business from the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, which enjoy an effective duopoly on corporate listings and have withstood repeated attempts by others to break in.
/jlne.ws/3XcH4Cg

Real Estate Investors Are Wiped Out in Bets Fueled by Wall Street Loans; Syndicators made big purchases that are unraveling with high interest rates, adding distress to an already troubled US property market.
Prashant Gopal, Patrick Clark, and Scott Carpenter – Bloomberg
Lynn Nathe was growing tired of the meager gains from her family’s retirement account. In late 2021, she invested $200,000 with a company that was making 30% returns by buying the hottest ticket in global real estate: US apartments. Now, she says, most of that money is gone. For Nathe, a business school graduate who invested earnings from her husband’s dentistry practice in Yakima, Washington, the loss is a personal calamity. Yet the story of her ill-timed bet – and the collision of social-media fueled investing, Wall Street’s securitization machine and sharply higher interest rates – also shows how FOMO and easy money once again combined to burst an American real estate bubble.
/jlne.ws/4caQF0Y

Wall Street’s Hot ‘Window’ Metaphor Is a Real Pane in the Glass; With a wave of companies going public, everyone is obsessed: Is the IPO window open, closed, or just ajar? Bankers can’t seem to agree.
Corrie Driebusch – The Wall Street Journal
The IPO window has “slammed shut.” Wait, now it’s open “at least a crack.” Hang on, some say the “IPO window is always open for good companies.” When it comes to measuring how heartily investors will welcome initial public offerings, bankers, analysts and reporters (yes, even this one) can’t resist citing the metaphorical “window” that opens and closes. But when did window watching become one of Wall Street’s favorite sports? And why a window-why not a door?
/jlne.ws/3VzhCG9

Hong Kong Plans to Start Trading During Typhoons in September
Kiuyan Wong – Bloomberg
Hong Kong plans to stop shutting the stock market during severe weather as soon as September to allow trading in such conditions like in other advanced economies, according to people familiar of the matter. Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. is expected to announce the framework in the next few weeks, the people said, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The plan is still being finalized and subject to last minute changes, the people said.
/jlne.ws/45dIGxD

Ukraine Invasion

Ukraine isn’t ‘one system away from some massive breakthrough,’ but there are things it can’t get enough of, White House official says
Ella Sherman – Business Insider
Deputy National Security Advisor Jonathan Finer said there isn’t a specific single weapon Ukraine needs to defeat Russia. Instead, Ukraine needs a consistent flow of certain capabilities. There is this idea out there that “they are one system away from some massive breakthrough where they will get the system and run roughshod over the Russian army,” Finer said during a Center for New American Security conference Thursday. “This is not that kind of war,” he added.
/jlne.ws/45d9fmG

Western weapons are getting to Ukraine’s front lines. Soldiers say it’s not enough yet to tip the balance.
Sinead Baker – INSIDER
Western military aid is reaching Ukrainian soldiers on the front line, but not at a scale that enables Ukraine to challenge Russia’s artillery advantage. Ukrainian troops in Vovchansk, in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, told The Telegraph that ammunition had started to reach their lines after the long US aid hiatus ended, but that they were still being outmatched by Russia. “If we use 10 shells, they send 50 back,” one artillery gunner told The Telegraph.
/jlne.ws/3Kx6CCD

Putin threatens ‘asymmetric response’ to attacks on Russian territory
DPA
Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened an “asymmetric response” if Russian territory is attacked by Ukraine with Western-supplied weapons. “We are thinking that if anyone considers it possible to deliver weapons to the war zone to carry out attacks on our territory (…), why shouldn’t we have the right to place such weapons in regions of the world where attacks are carried out [on Western nations]?” Putin said in St Petersburg on Wednesday at a press conference with major international news agencies, including dpa.
/jlne.ws/3wX45Pb

Russian Spoofing Sends War Scenes to Kids’ Channel in Europe; TV programming in Europe replaced with violent war images; Russia has also targeted GPS since the invasion of Ukraine
Alessandro Speciale – Bloomberg
European satellite companies have been suffering for months from interference attempts originating from Russia, according to documents seen by Bloomberg, leading to interrupted broadcasts and even violent programming sent to a children’s television channel. At least three of French operator Eutelsat SA’s satellites have been seriously affected since mid-March, and the disruption continued until at least until the end of May, a person familiar with the issue said.
/jlne.ws/3yZyigR

Russia’s Gain Is Turning Out to Be China’s Pain; As Ukraine fires Western missiles across the border, the costs of supporting Vladimir Putin are rising for Beijing.
Minxin Pei – Bloomberg
Until very recently, Chinese President Xi Jinping may have felt vindicated in striking a “no limits” partnership with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. China has managed to provide just enough support to strengthen the Russian war effort in Ukraine, tilting momentum on the battlefield, without blatantly contravening US and European red lines against direct weapons sales. Russia’s recent string of advances, however, threaten to make Xi’s life far more difficult.
/jlne.ws/4efGhXE

Israel/Palestine Conflict

Hezbollah dents Israel’s Iron Dome with guided missile strike
Sophia Yan – The Telegraph
It could be the first time that an Iron Dome missile launcher had been hit in an attack
Hezbollah claims to have hit an Iron Dome launcher with a guided missile in what could be the first hit on the defence system. The Lebanon-based group released a video on Wednesday that appeared to confirm its claims. The 90-second clip, captured from the missile’s onboard camera, shows it flying towards an Iron Dome launcher at a military base in Ramot Naftali in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon. The feed cuts out just before impact.
/jlne.ws/3x6GhIB

Exchanges, OTC and Clearing

Hong Kong will reportedly stop halting stock markets during typhoons and severe weather
Lim Hui Jie – Bloomberg
Hong Kong will no longer shut down its stock market during severe weather conditions, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter. The planned move, which could reportedly start as soon as September, will mean that Hong Kong’s $4.2 trillion market (32.8 trillion Hong Kong dollars) won’t stop trading in the event of typhoons and heavy rainstorms.
/jlne.ws/4aQqjjK

SIX Wins Three Awards at the Prestigious Global Custodian – Leaders in Custody Awards; Once again, SIX collected a number of the top prizes at Global Custodian’s annual Leaders in Custody Awards, which took place at The Savoy Hotel in London on May 30.
SIX
SIX was recognized for being the Best in Class for Data Services; Best in Class for Technology and Best in Survey – Agent Bank of the Year. The accolade from Global Custodian is a testament to the numerous enhancements SIX has implemented in its business model recently. Over the past several years, these strategic improvements have significantly bolstered the company’s operations and service offerings.
/jlne.ws/3KyTih6

Nodal Exchange achieves growth records in power and environmental markets in May
EEX Group
Nodal Exchange today announced new records in power and environmental futures. In power, Nodal set a calendar month record for May with traded power futures volume of 245 million MWh, up from 234 million MWh in May 2023. Nodal continues to be the market leader in North American power futures with 55% share of open interest at the end of May with 1.395 billion MWh open interest representing $131 billion of notional value based on both sides.
/jlne.ws/3x5gT64

The European election, volatility and the US: Why does it all matter?
Eurex
The European elections are upon us, and this is the ideal moment to reflect on upcoming macro events this year, as investors could be in for more volatility going forward. “Elections matter for markets,” says Holger Schmieding, Chief Economist at Berenberg Bank. “They can change the course of economic and fiscal policies. Even more so, they can reduce or exacerbate geopolitical risks. Ahead of any election, uncertainty about the outcome can make investors cautious.” These potential changes have the power to trigger volatility events.
/jlne.ws/3VbNjnu

SME owners in Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Free State are encouraged to apply to participate in the JSE Rise Capital Matching Roadshow
Johannesburg Stock Exchange
Building on its successful debut in the Western Cape last year, the JSE Rise Capital Matching Roadshow is poised to expand its reach in 2024, welcoming Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) from the Eastern Cape and Free State to participate. This initiative – now covering other provinces – offers a significant opportunity for small and medium sized businesses, who meet the specified criteria, to connect with potential funders – facilitating access to critical funding, networking and development resources aimed at fostering business growth and market access.
/jlne.ws/3yNxXy2

Handling of Tick Sizes from June 11 onward
Japan Exchange Group
As previously announced, TSE have applied a separate set of narrower tick sizes to TOPIX500 constituents (as prescribed in Rule 14, Paragraph 3, Item 1-b of the Business Regulations; hereinafter referred to as “narrow tick sizes”). The handling of the application from June 11 onward shall be as follows.
/jlne.ws/45cIGOo

FTSE SET Index Series June 2024 semi-annual review
London Stock Exchange Group
One change to the constituents of the FTSE SET Large-Cap Index. Three additions to the FTSE SET Mid-Cap Index. Sixteen additions to the FTSE SET Shariah Index. FTSE Russell announces that there will be one change to the constituents of the FTSE SET Large-Cap Index, following the June 2024 semi-annual review. The index series is reviewed semi-annually in accordance with the index ground rules.
/jlne.ws/3KDwtZy

Caution for Investors
Multi Commodity Exchange of India
It has been brought to the notice of the Exchange that a person / entity named “Tradex” operating through mobile numbers 8269826739 & 9685928703 and social media / web links: “https://t.me/tradeX_CFD”,”https://x.com/Tradex_live_”,”https://tradex.live/”,”https://www.instagram.com/tradex.live/”,”https://www.facebook.com/tradex.ive”,”https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=919685928703″ & “https://www.youtube.com/@tradexlive”, is providing illegal dabba trading platform and misusing the Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd. (MCX) brand name.
/jlne.ws/3KxefJh

SGX Group reports market statistics for May 2024
SGX Group
SDAV jumps to one-year high as retail participation grows; Record derivatives open interest as participants manage increased risk exposure across Asia’s economic landscape. Singapore Exchange (SGX Group) today released its market statistics for May 2024. Open interest (OI) across key equity, foreign exchange (FX) and commodity derivatives rose to record highs as market participants leaned on SGX Group to manage portfolio risk efficiently, amid China’s introduction of fiscal stimulus measures and India’s general elections. Derivatives traded volume rose 17% year-on-year (y-o-y) in May to 23.9 million contracts, while daily average volume (DDAV) climbed 16% y-o-y to 1.1 million contracts. Securities daily average value (SDAV) increased 22% y-o-y to S$1.3 billion – the highest in a year – as total market turnover value gained 16% y-o-y to S$26.7 billion.
/jlne.ws/3VvPNya

TMX Group Consolidated Trading Statistics – May 2024
TMX Group
TMX Group Limited today announced May 2024 trading statistics for its marketplaces – Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange, TSX Alpha Exchange (Alpha), including Alpha-X & Alpha DRK, and Montréal Exchange (MX).
/jlne.ws/4caHixY

The Moscow Exchange and St. Petersburg State University of Economics entered into a memorandum on the development of information services
MOEX
On June 7, 2024, at the XXVII St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF’24), the Moscow Exchange and the St. Petersburg State Economic University (SPbSEU) entered into a memorandum of cooperation in the development of information and analytical products. The official signing ceremony was attended by Andrzej Arshavsky, Managing Director for Data Management and Monetization of the Moscow Exchange, and Igor Maksimtsev, Rector of St. Petersburg State Economic University.
/jlne.ws/4aQzkt6

Fintech

Twitter founder Jack Dorsey warns social media algorithms are draining people of their free will-and Elon Musk agrees with him
Christiaan Hetzner – Fortune
If social media is the equivalent of a weapon of mass destruction, then Jack Dorsey would be a contender for the digital era’s Robert Oppenheimer. Speaking at the 16th annual Oslo Freedom Forum on Wednesday, the remorseful Twitter cofounder expressed how conflicted he felt at his own creation born out of the noble ideals of open-source protocols before becoming corrupted by the realities of needing to survive in a competitive marketplace. And he had a warning: Social media and internet companies that grew into trillion-dollar behemoths by discovering content in the vast, unorganized expanse of the internet and curating it to maximize user engagement are just the first manifestation of this danger. What Facebook and Google were for the Web, companies like OpenAI are for the coming era of artificial general intelligence.
/jlne.ws/3yPn2Ul

Rene Haas: ‘Arm has the most ubiquitous computer architecture on the planet’; Chip designer’s chief executive talks about diversification and how AI is changing the devices we use
Tim Bradshaw – Financial Times
Rene Haas is chief executive of Arm, the chip designer behind the processors in 99 per cent of all smartphones. After being bought by SoftBank in 2016, the UK-headquartered company became last year’s biggest initial public offering, in a deal valuing it at $54.5bn on Nasdaq. Since then, Arm’s market capitalisation has nearly tripled to around $140bn, as it has been caught in the updraft of investor excitement about artificial intelligence.
/jlne.ws/45gtBM3

Silicon Valley in uproar over Californian AI safety bill; Tech companies launch fightback against proposed law to introduce ‘kill switch’ on powerful artificial intelligence models
Hannah Murphy and Tabby Kinder – Financial Times
Artificial intelligence heavyweights in California are protesting against a state bill that would force technology companies to adhere to a strict safety framework including creating a “kill switch” to turn off their powerful AI models, in a growing battle over regulatory control of the cutting-edge technology. The Californian legislature is considering proposals that would introduce new restrictions on tech companies operating in the state, including the three largest AI start-ups OpenAI, Anthropic and Cohere as well as large language models run by Big Tech companies such as Meta.
/jlne.ws/3xaVBE3

US Treasury seeks public comments on AI use in financial services sector
Reuters
The U.S. Treasury Department said on Thursday it is seeking public comments on the use of artificial intelligence in the financial services sector. The agency is looking to improve its understanding of the opportunities and risks presented by the development and application of AI within the sector. Regulators have cautioned that the rapid adoption of AI could create new risks for the U.S. financial system if the technology is not adequately monitored. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will warn that the use of AI in finance could lower transaction costs but comes with “significant risks,” according to excerpts from a speech to be delivered to a Financial Stability Oversight Council and Brookings Institution AI conference on Thursday.
/jlne.ws/3x3EWlV

AI Siphons Copper Supplies Needed for Green Transition; Electrification continues to drive demand for the red-gold metal, but the focus is shifting from EVs to the data centers needed to power artificial intelligence.
Joseph Hoppe and Christian Moess Laursen – The Wall Street Journal
Copper has helped push innovation for thousands of years and today the red metal is playing a role in the green transition. But supplies of the commodity are being stretched by a new technology: artificial intelligence. Today, copper is a key ingredient in electrical systems and renewable-energy technology. Electric-vehicle batteries, power grids, solar panels and wind turbines need the metal in large quantities, placing it center stage in the global transition to decarbonization.
/jlne.ws/4bQq2hN

Cybersecurity

If the US doesn’t win the electronic warfare fight, the joint force will ‘lose’ and ‘lose very quickly,’ Air Force commander says
Chris Panella – Business Insider
Future wars could be decided by electronic warfare like Russia and Ukraine are using right now to interrupt communications, defeat unmanned platforms, and even degrade precision weaponry. For the US, if it doesn’t dominate that invisible domain and win the fight in the electromagnetic spectrum, it will “lose” and do so “very quickly,” an Air Force wing commander said.
/jlne.ws/4e9VCsx

Cryptocurrencies

RoaringKitty a GameStop Billionaire by Friday? Crypto Traders Are Placing 50% Odds
Shaurya Malwa – Coindesk
Market watchers are widely backing retail stock trader Keith Gill to clear a billion dollars on his GameStop (GME) stock positions by Friday in what could become one of the biggest meme-stock trading success stories. Gill, popularly known by his X account @TheRoaringKitty and Reddit account “DeepF*ckingValue” aliases – he doesn’t use an asterisk on the platform – flashed a $583 million position in a Reddit post on Thursday, showing $382 million in profit across options and equity positions. GME stock added 47% to $46 yesterday and surged to $61 in after-hours trading.
/jlne.ws/3KEBlh3

Decentralized Exchange SushiSwap Goes Live on Bitcoin Sidechain Rootstock
Jamie Crawley – CoinDesk
Decentralized exchange SushiSwap is now live on Bitcoin {{BTC}} sidechain Rootstock, according to an announcement shared with CoinDesk on Thursday. Launching in 2018, Rootstock is one of the most established projects aiming to introduce decentralized finance (DeFi) features to the Bitcoin network that are more commonly associated with the likes of Ethereum and BNB Chain.
/jlne.ws/3KA1vSs

NYAG Sues 2 Crypto Pyramid Schemes, Promoters Targeting Haitian-Americans in $1B Scam; NovaTech’s founders Cynthia and Eddy Petion allegedly preyed on Creole-speaking church-goers and advertised their scheme as a way to gain “freedom from the plantation.”
Cheyenne Ligon – CoinDesk
New York Attorney General Letitia James (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed suit against two purported crypto companies and their top promoters, a married couple, for allegedly operating two consecutive pyramid schemes that predominantly targeted Haitian immigrants to the U.S. According to the complaint filed Thursday, the two schemes – AWS Mining and NovaTechFX – preyed on Creole-speaking church-goers via WhatsApp group chats, bilking investors out of more than $1 billion.
/jlne.ws/3VsZXQi

Bitcoin Miners With Attractive Power Contracts Are Potential M&A Targets, JPMorgan Says
Will Canny – CoinDesk
Hyperscalers and artificial intelligence (AI) firms are exploring different alternatives to securing their energy needs, and this may make bitcoin {{BTC}} mining companies with attractive power contracts appealing acquisition targets, JPMorgan (JPM) said in a research report on Wednesday. A hyperscaler is a large-scale data center specializing in delivering huge amounts of computing power.
/jlne.ws/3Vgv3JL

Bitcoin Bets Hit Peak of $37B as ETF Inflows Set New Record
Shaurya Malwa – CoinDesk
Bitcoin {{BTC}} traders have now placed the highest-ever positions on BTC-tracked futures in the asset’s history as open interest crept over $37.7 billion late on Thursday, setting a new record. This eclipsed a previous peak of just under $37 billion in mid-March when bitcoin recorded fresh highs of $73,700.
/jlne.ws/4bNsCFf

Spot Ethereum ETF Debuts Hinge on Fast Replies: Gensler
James Rubin – Yahoo! Finance
/jlne.ws/3Kw3Bmj

Franklin Templeton Weighs New Crypto Fund Investing in Tokens Beyond Bitcoin, Ether: Report
Krisztian Sandor – CoinDesk
/jlne.ws/3xeeea4

Politics

Trump Defends Vow to Prosecute Rivals, Saying ‘Sometimes Revenge Can Be Justified’
Chris Cameron – The New York Times
Former President Donald Trump has in recent days been escalating his suggestions that he could prosecute his political enemies if elected in November. In interviews broadcast on Thursday and earlier this week, Trump’s remarks demonstrated how he is trying to put his legal troubles on the ballot as a referendum on the American justice system and the rule of law. His allies in the Republican Party have also joined his calls for revenge prosecutions and other retaliatory measures against Democrats in response to his felony convictions by a jury in a New York court on 34 charges.
/jlne.ws/4aRMrtR

San Francisco Fetes Trump on Post-Conviction Fundraising Tour
Sarah McBride – Bloomberg
Donald Trump raised millions of dollars from technology industry leaders at a campaign event in San Francisco hosted by investor David Sacks that signaled growing interest from Silicon Valley in the former president’s comeback bid. Wealthy donors converged Thursday at Sacks’s home in San Francisco, where the presumptive Republican nominee addressed attendees for roughly an hour on topics ranging from cryptocurrency to artificial intelligence to preventing deep fakes.
/jlne.ws/3VwPDqx

Trump raises a reported $12 million from Silicon Valley in one night
Ben Werschkul – Yahoo Finance
Donald Trump traveled to Silicon Valley Thursday night and raised a reported $12 million from tech executives, a notable foray into a long-time Democratic stronghold. The event, co-hosted by billionaire investor David O. Sacks and venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, capped a wave of new Trump inroads with wealthy donors from the worlds of tech, crypto and Wall Street.
/jlne.ws/4ebADFO

Biden Says Democracy at Risk in Ukraine Fight as He Marks D-Day; Anniversary offers platform for 2024 pitch on saving democracy; Biden hails allies and fight against tyrants to make contrast
Jordan Fabian and Michelle Jamrisko – Bloomberg
President Joe Biden delivered a pointed rebuke to two men he’s identified as present-day threats to democracy – Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump – as he marked one of the US’s greatest triumphs against authoritarianism. Biden did not mention Putin and Trump by name, but his remarks at an American cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, where he is marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy during World War II, linked the historic backdrop to Ukraine’s current struggles to repel Russia’s invasion and hailed the importance of alliances such as NATO to preserve democracy.
/jlne.ws/4bPlfNA

EU’s Von der Leyen Says She’s ‘Confident’ of Retaining Post as Voting Begins
Jorge Valero – Bloomberg
The most prominent official in the European Union, Ursula von der Leyen, is bullish about her chances to be re-appointed as president of the bloc’s executive arm as polls begin to open across the bloc. “I am confident that I have the support of many leaders, they know me and they know my experience,” she told several reporters in Porto, Portugal, on Thursday evening after one of her last campaign events. The Netherlands voted Thursday, with polls open on Friday in Ireland and the Czech Republic. The bulk of the EU votes on Sunday.
/jlne.ws/3yQYcnb

Europe’s Swing to the Right Threatens Global Climate Policy; Many populist, nationalist and far-right parties have attacked environmental, climate and clean energy policies during the campaigns for this week’s EU parliamentary election.
Bob Berwyn – Inside Climate News
/jlne.ws/4eatmGe

‘Convergence of Anger’ Drives Disinformation Around E.U. Elections; False narratives and conspiracy theories about climate change, immigration and Ukraine are spreading via politicians and foreign operatives.
Tiffany Hsu – The New York Times
/jlne.ws/3wWwMvH

Ukraine ready for EU membership talks, Brussels says; European Commission recommends start of accession negotiations this month but Hungary could cause delays
Paola Tamma and Henry Foy – Financial Times
/jlne.ws/3VcxrRy

Putin’s Wartime Central Banker Tells Him What He Doesn’t Want to Hear; Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina is helping keep Russia’s war economy on the rails but increasingly finds herself out-of-step with the government over key policies.
Bloomberg News
/jlne.ws/3X74p8C

Mexico Elected a Climate Scientist. But Will She Be a Climate President? Mexico’s outgoing president put climate policy on the backburner. His mentee, incoming President Claudia Sheinbaum, talks a good game on renewables-but remains committed to oil and gas.
Martha Pskowski – Inside Climate news
/jlne.ws/3Xe9VX1

Regulation

Were Roaring Kitty’s GameStop posts illegal? A former SEC lawyer explains the recent scrutiny.
Gordon Gottsegen – MarketWatch
When Roaring Kitty came back to social media nearly a month ago, shares of GameStop Corp. jumped, but is that enough to qualify as market manipulation? A former SEC prosecutor thinks it warrants investigation. The issues being raised are whether Roaring Kitty broke any laws by posting on social media. Since Roaring Kitty has a large following of retail investors (1.4 million on X – the former Twitter – alone), regulators may try to determine whether he intentionally led people toward GameStop for his own financial gain.
/jlne.ws/4bNrDox

HF Foods Settles Fraud Charges With SEC, to Pay $3.9 Million Fine
Ben Glickman – The Wall Street Journal
The Securities and Exchange Commission said it had settled fraud charges against food-distributor HF Foods related to a former executive buying luxury cars. The SEC said Thursday that former Chief Executive Zhou Min Ni, with the help of former finance chief Jonathan Ni, had misappropriated about $3.4 million from the company between 2018 and 2020 for personal purposes, including purchasing and maintaining a stable of luxury vehicles.
/jlne.ws/3yKwvME

CFTC Charges Unregistered Commodity Pool Operator and Its Owner with Futures Fraud and Misappropriation
CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today filed a civil enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee against Three Bridges Trading Fund, LLC, a Tennessee corporation, and its owner, president, and manager, Donald Wray Rodgers of Collierville, Tennessee. The complaint alleges the defendants operated a fraudulent scheme in which they solicited and accepted at least $2 million from pool participants to invest in a commodity pool. The defendants, however, misappropriated much of the funds, attempted to conceal their fraudulent scheme by issuing false account and trading statements to pool participants, and misappropriated funds by paying some pool participants using funds from other pool participants, in the manner of a Ponzi scheme.
/jlne.ws/4cdiztf

Prepared Remarks before the Investor Advisory Committee
Chair Gary Gensler – SEC
Investors today can get information from more sources than ever before. They can share advice peer-to-peer via new social media platforms, as well as Reddit communities and YouTube channels. This has brought new voices and new research into the field, providing information to everyday investors. At the same time, however, it’s important to remember that market participants still need to comply with our time-tested laws. Those who promote the offer and sale of securities cannot mislead or defraud the public. Further, if you take money to promote a security, you must disclose that you have received consideration for the promotion, as well as the amount of such consideration.[2]
/jlne.ws/3VtONL8

Commissioner Uyeda Remarks at the 90th anniversary of the US Securities and Exchange Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda – SEC
Good afternoon. Today, we commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”),[1] and with it, the founding of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”).[2] I am pleased to celebrate this moment with my fellow colleagues at the Boston Regional Office. The Exchange Act, along with the Securities Act of 1933, provide the legal foundation governing our capital markets. Based on the concept of a disclosure-based, merit-neutral regulatory framework, these laws have facilitated tremendous economic growth, jobs creation, and innovation for the American economy over the past 90 years. It is a period mirrored by our country’s rise to become an economic superpower – and that is not by mere coincidence.
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Technology-Driven Change and Investor Protection: Remarks at the Investor Advisory Commissioner Jaime Lizarraga – SEC
The democratization of finance, the rise of self-directed investing, much faster execution of trades, and the emergence of AI technologies will all continue to have ramifications for our capital markets and for millions of retail investors in our country. A key question the Commission will necessarily confront is: how can we achieve the highest level of investor protection in the face of technology-driven change?
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Remarks at the Meeting of the Investor Advisory Committee
Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda – SEC
Earlier this year, the Commission made an announcement for candidates to fill upcoming vacancies on the Committee. The Commission received a large number of submissions in response to that call. Moving forward, by appointing five new Committee members each year, I hope that the Committee will benefit from increased continuity of members and institutional knowledge.
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Protecting and Respecting Investors: Remarks at Meeting of the SEC Investor Advisory Committee
Commissioner Hester M. Peirce – SEC
An overarching theme to today’s agenda is the prominence of technology in the investing experience. An investor needs nothing more than her phone to research and purchase securities, engage with a financial adviser, and manage her portfolio. As today’s discussions will highlight, these technological advancements bring challenges to investors, markets, and regulators. Let us not, however, lose sight of the benefits. A new generation of young retail investors is participating in our markets due almost entirely to the barrier-breaking functionalities that new technologies provide. A crucial variable in a successful investing life is time. The sorts of technologies that today’s panels will address can facilitate long-horizon investment. By appealing to a younger demographic and facilitating early access, they provide new investors with the time they need to trip and fall and get back up a little savvier with plenty of runway left to put hard-won lessons into practice.
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Nine Decades of Investor Protection and Robust Market Oversight
Commissioner Jaime Lizarraga – SEC
We proudly mark the Commission’s nine decades of effective service to America’s investing public. During the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt sought to protect the public against the rampant investment frauds of the 1920s and worked with Congress to establish this great Commission. It wasn’t always popular.
There was significant Wall Street opposition to the ’34 Act that created the Commission. But I want to tell you a story about this opposition.
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Remarks at the Harvard Law School Program on International Financial Systems, 2024 U.S.-China Symposium
Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda – SEC
Today is a particularly special day for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or the “Commission”). On this date ninety years ago, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”).[1] That legislation created the SEC,[2] and the agency has adapted to nearly a century of changes in the capital markets, technology, and business practices. In Chinese culture, longevity is associated with wisdom. Hopefully, investors and market participants view the SEC as a wiser regulator today than it was in 1934. As the SEC continues to age, I look forward to how future actions by the agency will reflect that increased wisdom.
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SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Chase Lambert in Connection with Insider Trading
SEC
On May 10, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission obtained a final judgment against Chase Lambert, a former minor league baseball player, whom the SEC charged with insider trading in advance of the December 6, 2021 announcement that Jack in the Box Inc. would acquire Del Taco Restaurants, Inc.
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Statement regarding adjournment of FMA’s IPO proceeding against CBLC, Peter Harris, Alistair Hutchison and Carden Mulholland
FMA
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) – Te Mana Tātai Hokohoko – acknowledges the High Court’s decision to adjourn the trial for the FMA’s Initial Public Offer (IPO) proceeding against CBLC (in liquidation), its managing director Peter Harris, director Alistair Hutchison [1], and chief financial officer Carden Mulholland. The IPO proceeding was set down to be heard at the same time as the FMA’s Continuous Disclosure proceeding, starting 25 June 2024. The IPO proceeding has been adjourned until April 2026.
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Publication of the examples of initiatives taken by financial institutions under their EMPs
FSA
The Government of Japan has published “Policy Plan for Promoting Japan as a Leading Asset Management Center” on December 13, 2023.In the plan, “we will implement the emerging managers program (Japanese EMP) through joint public-private initiatives. Specifically, the government has requested that financial institutions entrust asset management to emerging asset managers actively and not exclude them simply because their business history is short. We also encourage asset owners not to exclude them simply because their business history is short.”
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Publication of the “Action Program for Corporate Governance Reform 2024: Principles into Practice”
FSA
The Council of Experts Concerning the Follow-up of Japan’s Stewardship Code and Japan’s Corporate Governance Code (Chairman: Hideki Kanda, Emeritus Professor, University of Tokyo) has now published the opinion statement No.7 “Action Program for Corporate Governance Reform 2024: Principles into Practice”.
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IOSCO Publishes Final Report on Market Outages
IOSCO Press Release via Traders Magazine
IOSCO has published its final report on Market Outages. The final report addresses the need for improved preparedness and management of market outages to ensure market resilience and investor confidence. It identifies key findings from recent market outages and sets forth five good practices to assist regulators, trading venues and market participants in preparing for, and managing, future market outages and thereby helping improve market-wide resilience.
/jlne.ws/4ccWI59

Investing and Trading

GameStop announces share sale plan ahead of Roaring Kitty livestream; Video game retailer launches second capital raise in less than a month amid renewed price swings
Jennifer Hughes and Alexandra White and George Steer – Financial Times
GameStop shares fell more than a tenth in pre-market trading on Friday after the games retailer brought forward its quarterly earnings and moved to take advantage of its renewed meme stock fame to offer up to 75mn new shares for sale. The struggling group, which has not reported an annual operating profit since 2019, has seen its shares rocket more than 150 per cent since the apparent return in mid-May of Keith Gill, who goes by Roaring Kitty on various social media platforms, and who became famous in 2021 for his belief in the company during the meme stock craze.
/jlne.ws/3RiS25t

GameStop 1Q revenue falls as sales weaken for hardware and accessories, software and collectibles
Michelle – Chapman – Associated Press Finance
GameStop managed to narrow its losses in the first quarter, but the video game retailer’s revenue fell as sales weakened for hardware and accessories, software and collectibles. The results were released shortly after the man at the center of the pandemic meme stock craze, who is known as “Roaring Kitty” on social media platforms YouTube and X, disclosed that he’ll be hosting a YouTube livestream on Friday.
/jlne.ws/4aO0OiN

Activists need a better pitch than ditching London listings; The idea that moves stateside or down under are a panacea is fanciful
LEX Opinion – Financial Times
Watch out London – activists are coming for your listings. Activist investors are urging more UK companies to follow the likes of building materials group CRH and gaming group Flutter to shift their primary listings out of London to New York – or even elsewhere. Some of these agitators have gone public. Rio Tinto and Glencore have both been lobbied this year by different activists to consider shifting their primary listing to Australia. Energy services group Wood has found itself targeted with a push to move stateside.
/jlne.ws/3VgEgSg

ECB cuts interest rates for first time in 5 years; Quarter-point reduction to 3.75% comes as bank warns that price pressures remain high
Martin Arnold – Financial Times
The European Central Bank has cut interest rates for the first time in nearly five years, moving faster than its US and UK counterparts, but warning that price pressures remain high. The ECB lowered its benchmark deposit rate by a quarter percentage point to 3.75 per cent after its governing council met in Frankfurt on Thursday. Traders in swaps markets lowered their bets on a second cut by September to close to 60 per cent, from 70 per cent ahead of the announcement.
/jlne.ws/4bMx9rv

Private equity bosses warn of lower returns; Buyout groups assess challenge of selling trillions of dollars worth of companies so they can return cash to investors
Ivan Levingston – Financial Times
Private equity executives have warned that their industry faces the prospect of years of lower returns as they seek to sell assets following a frenzy of investments during the coronavirus pandemic. After booming in recent years and raising record hauls of cash, buyout groups face a challenge in exiting from trillions of dollars worth of unsold companies. Many of those deals were agreed during the 2021 to 2022 window of low interest rates and buoyant markets. “During that period of time rates were low and valuations were high,” Pete Stavros, KKR’s co-head of global private equity, told the SuperReturn industry conference in Berlin, echoing many other executives at the event.
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I’m Retired and I Regret Not Taking Social Security at Age 62 – Here’s Why
Jordan Rosenfeld – GOBankingRates
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The hunt for truly alternative investments – from alligators to concrete; With regular asset classes increasingly correlated, wealthy investors look to some esoteric choices
Alan Livsey – Financial Times
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Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance

‘Slap in the face’: outrage after New York governor halts congestion pricing; Climate advocates say Hochul missed crucial opportunity to follow cities around the world in reducing gas emissions
Oliver Milman – The Guardian
An 11th-hour decision to halt a plan to charge a fee for cars entering the heart of New York City has provoked outrage from environmental advocates and Democratic lawmakers, potentially scuppering hopes of congestion pricing taking hold in any US city in the near future. New York City was, on 30 June, primed to be the first American city to toll drivers in its traffic-clogged centre, with cars entering Manhattan south of 60th Street set to be charged $15 a day in a plan heralded as a landmark moment in tackling air pollution, helping curb carbon emissions and providing a funding boost for New York’s sprawling yet beleaguered public transit system.
/jlne.ws/4bKao7I

‘All these problems are solvable’: Great Lakes shipping fights to cut emissions; A new, cleaner ship points way as US ports in the region are spending millions on upgrades in pursuit of net zero
Stephen Starr – The Guardian
It’s just after 9.30pm on a Thursday night in late May when a conveyor belt begins dumping 21,000 tons of road salt into the cavernous hull of the MV Mark M Barker at a dock in Cleveland. As the first US-flagged freighter to be built on the Great Lakes in nearly 40 years, the 639ft (195-meter)-long ship – launched in 2022 – is the only vessel of its kind in the region powered by cleaner, “tier four” marine engines that meet the federal Environmental Protection Agency rules governing hydrocarbons and particle matter emissions.
/jlne.ws/4bNfpfX

Exclusive: US House committee grills Carney, Schapiro in push against climate coalitions
Isla Binnie and Virginia Furness – Reuters
A U.S. lawmakers’ committee conducted interviews with two Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) leaders, former central bank governor Mark Carney and former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Mary Schapiro, in an escalation of their push against global coalitions to tackle climate change. The House of Representatives’ judiciary committee, which is controlled by Republicans led by its chairman Jim Jordan, set up the interviews earlier this year out of concern that GFANZ “appears to facilitate collusion that may violate U.S. antitrust law,” according to letters to GFANZ staff reviewed by Reuters and people familiar with the matter.
/jlne.ws/4bNhTLj

EU countries push to weaken greenwashing rules; European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has backtracked on parts of the bloc’s climate agenda
Alice Hanco*ck and Javier Espinoza – Financial Times
A majority of EU countries are pushing to water down new rules to prevent greenwashing, as Brussels comes under rising pressure from politicians to ease parts of its landmark climate law. The weakening of the bloc’s green agenda comes as EU citizens start voting this weekend in a marathon election that will determine the shape of its parliament and set the direction for the next five years of policy.
/jlne.ws/3x77GtR

G7 leaders urged to set bolder energy transition and climate finance goals; Ahead of their annual meeting next week, G7 leaders have been urged to rapidly phase out all existing fossil fuel production and end fossil fuel financing, while scaling up sustainable finance for developing countries in line with the global climate goals.
Sidhi Mittal – edie
On the eve of the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Italy, ACT2025, a coalition focused on the climate needs of vulnerable developing countries has urged G7 leaders to take decisive steps for a sustainable future, emphasising five key areas. ACT2025 is calling on G7 countries to set ambitious targets in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) – their plans for delivering their fair share of the Paris Agreement – by early 2025. It recommends reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by at least 43% by 2030 and 60% by 2035, relative to 2019 levels, and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
/jlne.ws/3x8YLIA

New York City Audubon changes name to distance itself from racist namesake; NYC Bird Alliance dropped name of 19th-century conservationist and abolition opponent John James Audubon
Aliya Uteuova – The Guardian
/jlne.ws/4csGCVd

‘Dark Things’ Herald Golden Era for Shipping at Greek Party Week; Some argue that rates are currently so good, that shipping’s efforts to decarbonize are also likely to slow.
Alex Longley and Aine Quinn – Bloomberg
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US solar projects could boom amid deadline to use up tax-exempt panel glut
Nichola Groom – Reuters
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IEA expects global clean energy investment to hit $2 trillion in 2024
Nina Chestney – Reuters
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Saudi Arabia Set to Raise Over $11.2 Billion From Aramco Stock Sale; Unloading a piece of its crown jewel is both financially important and highly symbolic for the oil-rich kingdom
Ben Dummett and Julie Steinberg – The Wall Street Journal
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China Solar Firms Halt Output in Southeast Asia on US Curbs
Bloomberg
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LNG Is Both a Savior and a Curse in Europe; The continent hasn’t emerged from its energy crisis yet.
Javier Blas – Bloomberg
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Long-Range EVs Now Cost Less Than the Average New Car in the US; “Darwinian” competition and a slew of new models helped electric cars with at least 300 miles of range reach another milestone in price parity.
Tom Randall – Bloomberg
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Institutions

Credit Suisse investors sue Switzerland in New York court; Bondholders seek damages for what they allege was an unjust violation of their property rights during rescue by rival UBS
Owen Walker, European Banking Correspondent – Financial Times
Credit Suisse bondholders have sued Switzerland over the decision to wipe out $17bn of debt when the bank was rescued by its rival UBS last year. In the first major claim brought in a US court over the takeover, lawyers representing the group accused Switzerland of “unjustly violating the property rights of the holders of those instruments” in orchestrating the deal. The rescue, which was the most significant bank takeover since the global financial crisis, has spawned more than $9bn of legal claims in Europe and Asia. While most of the cases have focused on Finma, the Swiss regulator, bondholders have also weighed claims against Switzerland.
/jlne.ws/3xax563

TD Sues Wealth Adviser Who Left During Money-Laundering Review; Suit says he abruptly quit; Finra filing cites internal review; Bank under investigation over anti-money-laundering policies
Christine Dobby – Bloomberg
It seemed like a typical dispute between a company and a former employee: Toronto-Dominion Bank sued wealth adviser Gregg Desmarais last month, claiming he and a colleague “abruptly” resigned and violated their contracts by luring away clients with millions of dollars of assets to competitor Raymond James Financial Inc. But Toronto-Dominion told an entirely different story when it reported his departure to regulators in April: Desmarais voluntarily quit after the bank opened an internal review over suspected violations of anti-money-laundering policies, according to a disclosure the Canadian banking giant filed with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
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Credit Suisse agrees to sell 67% stake in Credit Suisse Investment Partners to BANTLEON; Following the completed transaction, CSIP will operate as BANTLEON Convertible Experts and will maintain existing leadership.
Wesley Bray – The Trade
Credit Suisse has signed an agreement to sell its majority stake in Credit Suisse Investment Partners (CSIP), owned by Credit Suisse Asset Management. Credit Suisse currently holds a 67% stake in the business line. CSIP segment manages funds and associated mandates – including convertible bond funds – with a total of CHF 1 billion in assets under management.
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Hedge Funds Andurand and Rokos Took Big Copper Bets Before Spike; Funds are positioning for a multi-year bull run in copper; Investors hold a record $45 billion in bullish copper bets
Mark Burton and Nishant Kumar – Bloomberg
Rokos Capital Management and Andurand Capital Management have been prominent among hedge funds piling into the copper market, with bold bets on dramatically higher prices that have already delivered early wins. Copper surged to a record above $11,100 a ton last month, driven by a wave of speculative money that many in the industry warned was running ahead of market realities. Futures have since dropped 10% from the peak. But Rokos and Andurand, which have attracted attention with their sizable positions going into the rally, are betting on much sharper gains to come.
/jlne.ws/3Xafzcz

Funds Are Booking Big One-Day Windfalls Buying Private-Equity Stakes; Firms are dramatically marking up stakes bought on secondary market
Jonathan Weil – The Wall Street Journal
The last day of September 2023 was very good for Hamilton Lane Private Assets Fund. It recorded a 39% gain on a group of investments it bought the day before for $52 million, giving a quick boost to the fund’s performance. Of the three dozen investments it bought on Sept. 29, nearly half had more than doubled in value on Sept. 30. The Hamilton Lane fund’s stake in a fund that focuses on Latin America rose eightfold in 24 hours.
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Bain Capital to Buy PowerSchool in $5.6 Billion Deal; Private-equity firm Vista acquired PowerSchool from Pearson in 2015
Colin Kellaher – The Wall Street Journal
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Asset managers proceed with caution despite overwhelmingly successful T+1 transition
Jonathan Watkins – The Trade
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Work & Management

Working remotely is best at a hotel; You can go from work call to happy hour in less than a minute.
Chris Dong – The Washington Post
Working from home isn’t for me. Blame it on cramped apartments and desk-next-to-bed setups. However, I cherish the ability to work remotely. I can be cocooned in a hammock while on the phone or furiously typing away on a wobbly airplane tray table at 35,000 feet. My office can be anywhere with semi-usable WiFi or one bar of cell service, but my favorite place to work is a hotel lobby. The lobby isn’t just about checking in or out anymore. For many hotels, these shared, mixed-use spaces foster a sense of community. It’s where guests can work and mingle outside of tiny rooms, often without a desk. The hotel’s lobby or common area is a “third place” that is often overlooked. Personally, I crave an environment where other people are working; it produces a kind of social white noise.
/jlne.ws/4edNerZ

Google’s AI Overview Search Results Copied My Original Work; Google’s AI feature bumped my article down on the results page, but the new AI Overview at the top still referenced it. What gives?
Reece Rogers – Wired
Last week, an AI Overview search result from Google used one of my WIRED articles in an unexpected way that makes me fearful for the future of journalism. I was experimenting with AI Overviews, the company’s new generative AI feature designed to answer online queries. I asked it multiple questions about topics I’ve recently covered, so I wasn’t shocked to see my article linked, as a footnote, way at the bottom of the box containing the answer to my query. But I was caught off guard by how much the first paragraph of an AI Overview pulled directly from my writing.
/jlne.ws/3x75l24

Wellness Exchange

Everyone You Know Will Eventually Be Highly Vulnerable to Extreme Heat; As we get older, our bodies become less adept at responding to high temperatures. On a warming planet with an aging population, that’s a problem.
Zahra Hirji – Bloomberg
When a heat dome shattered temperature records across the Western US and Canada in June 2021, the resulting fatalities exposed a pattern. In Portland, Oregon, and surrounding Multnomah County, 56 of the 72 people who died were aged 60 and up. In British Columbia, people 60-plus accounted for 555 of the 619 fatalities. Just over a year later, a sizzling June, July and August in England caused roughly 2,800 excess deaths among people 65 and older. More than 1,000 of them occurred over four days in late July. Intense heat waves in recent years offer a stark warning of what’s at stake for humanity. The planet just endured its 12 hottest consecutive months on record, and this summer threatens to be hotter than ever. But those stakes are not experienced equally across age groups. Older adults are more at risk of experiencing dangerous health impacts during periods of intense heat.
/jlne.ws/3xaQ7cr

Regions

China Conducts Large-Scale Audit Reviews on Biggest Mutual Funds
Bloomberg
China’s audit office is conducting comprehensive on-site inspections of the country’s biggest mutual funds, marking one of its most thorough examinations into the industry, according to people familiar with the matter. The National Audit Office sent a team of about a dozen staff each to at least 10 of China’s top mutual funds in the past weeks, the people said, requesting not to be named because the matter is private. They screened through documents, focusing on expenses, the people added.
/jlne.ws/45hgqdO

ByteDance plans $2.1 bln investment in Malaysia for AI, minister says
Reuters
China’s ByteDance, parent of social media app TikTok, plans to invest around 10 billion ringgit ($2.13 billion) to set up an artificial intelligence hub in Malaysia, the country’s trade minister said on Friday. As part of the deal, the latest in a number of global tech companies expanding into Southeast Asia, ByteDance will also expand its data centre facilities in Malaysia’s Johor state through an additional 1.5 billion ringgit investment, Investment, Trade And Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said.
/jlne.ws/3ySBdYZ

Asian stocks see foreign outflows in May, India leads net selling
Gaurav Dogra – Reuters
Emerging Asian equity markets faced a second month of foreign outflows in May as robust U.S. economic data fuelled skepticism over Federal Reserve rate cuts. Data from stock exchanges in India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea, the Philippines, and Taiwan revealed that overseas investors withdrew a net $3.58 billion out of regional equities last month, following a $4.92 billion worth of net selling in April.
/jlne.ws/3yNzAvv

Foreigners Snap Up Indian Bonds, Shrugging Off Modi Vote; Setback Buying comes before inclusion into key JPMorgan EM bond index; High yield, economic potential still draw for Indian debt
Malavika Kaur Makol and Catherine Bosley – Bloomberg
Global investors lapped up Indian government debt ahead of the country’s entry into a major global bond index, shrugging off concerns about policy continuity after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slim election win. Foreign purchases of the nation’s index-eligible sovereign securities have reached roughly 50 billion rupees ($599 million) so far this week, according to the local clearing agency’s latest figures. They included 19 billion rupees on Tuesday, when Indian bonds tumbled on results showing tighter-than-expected victory for Modi’s party.
/jlne.ws/4cb6lBi

China’s exports surged in May; Beijing’s focus on manufacturing has fuelled trade tensions with US and Europe
Thomas Hale in Shanghai – Financial Times
China’s exports grew faster than expected in May, official customs data showed on Friday, in a boost to policymakers eager to drive economic momentum even as trade tensions rise. Exports in dollar terms rose 7.6 per cent year on year last month, compared with expectations of a 6 per cent increase among economists polled by Reuters, and higher than any published figure since April last year. Imports climbed 1.8 per cent year on year, far behind forecasts.
/jlne.ws/3XbNqlq

Guinea signs alumina refinery deal with Emirates Global Aluminium subsidiary
Reuters
Guinea has signed a non-binding agreement with a subsidiary of Emirates Global Aluminium for the construction of a major alumina refinery, the second one in the country, two senior officials of Guinea’s mines ministry told Reuters. The agreement, known as a “Term Sheet”, said the company, through its Guinea Alumina Corporation (GAC), will build the 2 million metric ton capacity refinery by September 2026 in the west of the country. Initial production is expected at 1.2 million tonnes annually.
/jlne.ws/4cd1vn9

Saudi Arabia set to raise $11.2 billion selling Aramco shares at lower end of expectations
Maha El Dahan, Hadeel Al Sayegh and Yousef Saba – Reuters
Saudi Arabia is poised to raise more than $11.2 billion selling shares in oil giant Aramco to help fund its spending plans, after pricing the stock at the lower end of expectations, the company said on Friday. Aramco shares were priced at 27.25 riyals ($7.27), near the bottom of a 26.7-to-29 riyals range used in marketing the sale. The offering was covered four to five times, a person familiar with the matter said.
/jlne.ws/3KzPJay

ECB and Canada cut rates as easing among big economies gets going
Naomi Rovnick and Alun John – Reuters
Interest rate cuts from the European Central Bank and Bank of Canada this week mean monetary easing is under way in the world’s big economies, even if there’s an abundance of caution over when others will join in. Following the most aggressive global rate-hiking cycle in decades, here’s where leading central banks stand and what they are expected to do next:
/jlne.ws/4c7li7k

European Central Bank policymakers warn against ‘autopilot’ approach to more rate cuts; Bundesbank chief Joachim Nagel urges caution after borrowing costs were lowered for first time in 5 years
Martin Arnold – Financial Times
A number of European Central Bank policymakers have called for a cautious approach to further interest rate cuts a day after it lowered borrowing costs for the first time in five years. Joachim Nagel, the head of Germany’s central bank, said the ECB was “not driving on autopilot” when considering further rate cuts as the Bundesbank raised its forecast for inflation this year.
/jlne.ws/4edEIcp

Portugal’s former top banker, ex-minister sentenced to prison in graft case
Sergio Goncalves – Reuters
A Lisbon court on Thursday sentenced the former patriarch of the Espirito Santo banking family, Ricardo Salgado, to 6-1/4 years in prison for bribing former Economy Minister Manuel Pinho, who was sentenced to 10 years. The case pre-dates the collapse of Banco Espirito Santo in 2014, for which Salgado has been the target of separate lawsuits.
/jlne.ws/3Vur1yE

Europe’s Fertilizer Producers Sound Alarm Over Big Imports From Russia
Lyubov Pronina and Agnieszka de Sousa – Bloomberg
Two years ago, many European fertilizer plants were forced to close, squeezing supplies of essential crop nutrients and making them more expensive for local farmers. Now, the industry is fretting over large imports – specifically from Russia. Roughly a third of the European Union’s urea imports come from the country, Eurostat data show, and last year’s volumes were near a record.
/jlne.ws/4bPRxs3

Chile’s Codelco targeting 2030 production for Maricunga lithium site, document shows
Daina Beth Solomon – Reuters
Rothschild & Co has formally started to assess candidates to partner with Chile’s state-run miner Codelco on a major new lithium project slated to begin production in 2030, according to documents seen by Reuters on Thursday. A four-page “investment highlight” document from Codelco and Rothschild, dated June 2024, and accompanying memo, reveal new details of Codelco’s plans for the site, now dubbed “Project Paloma.”
/jlne.ws/3XfXUAi

Miscellaneous

How Swans Stay White in Muddy Waters; They use oil from a special gland and their own saliva to keep dirt off their feathers
Helen Czerski – The Wall Street Journal
Swans are the gentle giants of my local waterways: floating paragons of snowy serenity that cruise peacefully through muddy brown water amid the rowdy confusion of their smaller brethren. And they present a puzzle. Around them, mallards, Egyptian geese and Mandarin ducks have plumage so varied that it seems like any little speck of dirt or grime would disappear into the design. But the swans, paddling around in water so opaque that their feet can’t be seen, tip their tail feathers high in the air to forage underwater for the deepest plants-yet they re-emerge an unreasonably pure white. How do they stay so clean?
/jlne.ws/4aSdx3W

Michael Bloomberg Joins A-Rod Group Trying to Buy Timberwolves
Ira Boudway – Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg has agreed to team up with Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore in their bid to buy the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves, according to people familiar with the deal who asked not to be named because it’s private. A spokesman for Bloomberg declined to comment, as did a representative for Lore and Rodriguez. The news was first reported by the The Athletic.
/jlne.ws/3KwdMHt

A Texas Stock Exchange Wants to Take on New York. The Odds Aren’t Good | John Lothian News (2024)