First Read
Making It Attainable: RCM Buys Attain To Broaden Managed Futures Reach
Jim Kharouf – JLN
RCM Asset Management pushed further into the managed futures space today with the announcement it has acquired Attain Capital Management.
With the move, RCM aims to strengthen its education offerings and broaden its customer base.
“Things that they do very well, RCM does not do well or at all. So the combination of the two firms will really enable us to further our reach in the space,” said Bobby Schwartz, CEO and managing director at RCM.
Attain, which started in 2002 offering trading systems to high net worth individuals, has grown over the past 13 years into a higher profile firm in the managed futures space. That crop of high net worth investors also led Attain into the registered investment advisor (RIA) space, an area that RCM has targeted heavily recently with a series of 26 events around the country. RCM, which launched in 2010, has been focused heavily on the RIA space and creating the tools and products that make it easy for those advisors to offer managed futures.
Read the Rest of the Article on JohnLothianNews.com
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China censors curb discussion of pollution documentary
Gabriel Wildau in Shanghai, FT
Chinese censors have moved to tamp down discussion of a hard-hitting documentary on air pollution that sent the country’s blogosphere into overdrive, highlighting political sensitivity about China’s smog problem. Propaganda authorities directed news outlets on Monday not to publish stories about Under the Dome, the emotional first-person documentary by a former state television anchor, journalists from three news organisations told the Financial Times on Tuesday.
jlne.ws/17NzJgk
****** I believe free markets demand a free press. Certainly freer than this.
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Air Pollution Turned This Chinese City Into a Ghost Town; Mill shutdowns in Hebei province worsen industrial China’s ills
by Dexter Roberts, Bloomberg
The city of Handan in Hebei province is the birthplace of Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of China. That illustrious history isn’t apparent today. Aging, coal-burning steel factories belch grime over the city of 1 million, one of China’s 10 most polluted. Dotting the downtown area are half-constructed high-rises, relics of a property bubble that started more than five years ago but was finally punctured last summer after the central government in Beijing curtailed credit and developers stopped paying creditors. Locals who lost their savings in dodgy real estate investments regularly block city streets in angry protests, demanding their money back from the developers.
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****** This is a problem in search of an economic solution. Who will be China’s Dr. Richard Sandor?
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Why even mid-sized trading firms are hurting
By Lynne Marek, Crain’s Chicago Business
High-speed trading profits have been trending down for years, knocking off Chicago’s small traders along the way. Now the city’s midtier firms are feeling the squeeze. Chopper Trading sold out to DRW Trading in January, Infinium Capital shuttered after selling part of its business last year and Allston Trading recently dropped its stocks strategy to focus on futures…
jlne.ws/1F1xroH
****** I missed this over the weekend and Lynne Marek let me know. She is that way.
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The 15 Most Miserable Economies in the World; Consumers in Venezuela are expected to suffer the most in 2015
by Michelle Jamrisko, A Catarina Saraiva, and Andre Fonseca Tartar, Bloomberg
Inflation is a disease that can wreck a society, Milton Friedman, the late Nobel laureate economist, once said. Add rising unemployment to the diagnosis, and his profession ascribes a rather non-technical term to the debilitating effect on people: misery.
jlne.ws/1Na1ccL
****** Ah, the misery index. Does that include being a Chicago Bears fan?
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TT News
Guy Scott has returned to TT as VP, Head of Sell Side Sales.
We promise to build a bio for him on MarketsWiki.
(NO LINK)
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MarketsWiki
MarketsWiki Page of the Day
Jamal Oulhadj
MarketsWiki Recent Updates
People
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Companies, Organizations and Groups
Trayport; The Institute for Financial Markets?
59,368,672 pages viewed, 8,156 articles, 190,079 edits
MarketsWiki Statistics
Lead Stories
Exchanges in Asia Seek to Counter China Stock Tie-Up; Japan, Singapore, Taiwan explore connections a year after Hong Kong-Shanghai deal
By Gregor Stuart Hunter, WSJ
Exchanges in Japan, Singapore and Taiwan are exploring new connections in an effort to drive up volumes, a year after the combination of Hong Kong and Shanghai’s stock exchanges claimed the top spot as Asia’s biggest single market. But such links may prove a hard sell to financial firms.
jlne.ws/1wQ0Ihn
US Federal Reserve urged to clarify bank capital requirements
Ben McLannahan in New York, FT
The Federal Reserve must shed more light on how it plans to calculate extra capital requirements for the biggest US banks so it gains broader support for its proposals from a sceptical banking industry, according to Sheila Bair of the Systemic Risk Council.
jlne.ws/1CoXLf6
Corporate-Bond Market Poses Systemic Risk, SEC’s Gallagher Says
by Dave Michaels, Bloomberg
A lack of liquidity in corporate-bond markets could pose a “systemic risk” to the economy when interest rates rise, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission member Daniel Gallagher said.
jlne.ws/1vY5SNo
Hedge Funds Failing to Meet Investor Expectations, Report Finds; Funds have cut risk in recent years to meet demands from institutional investors
By Laurence Fletcher, WSJ
Hedge funds are failing to live up to their investors’ expectations.
jlne.ws/1zE4T02
ICAP response to the Fair and Effective Markets Review
ICAP
ICAP plc (IAP.L), a leading markets operator and provider of post trade risk mitigation and information services, has submitted its response to the Bank of England’s Fair and Effective Markets Review (FEMR). The consultation looks at the effectiveness of the fixed income, foreign exchange and commodities (FICC) markets and seeks to address malpractice and restore confidence in them, while influencing the international debate on trading practices.
jlne.ws/1M4DXiD
At JPMorgan Chase, Business Tilts Toward the Consumer Side and Away From Wall St.
NYTimes.com
The diverging prospects for JPMorgan’s biggest businesses reflect a split within the broader financial industry. Investors are betting that banks like Wells Fargo and U.S. Bancorp, which focus primarily on American consumers, will grow much faster than firms like Goldman Sachs, which are concentrated on Wall Street business.
jlne.ws/17NC1Mk
DTCC Releases Scorecard Report Enhancement to Mutual Fund Profile Service
WatersTechnology
The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) announced the release of the Scorecard Report, an enhancement to DTCC’s Mutual Fund Profile Service that supports the exchange of reliable fund security issue data provided by fund companies for use in trade execution and regulatory compliance.
jlne.ws/1aJOoLe
Investors want the world’s largest banks to be sliced up
By Kevin Dugan, NY Post
Investors are trying to do what Janet Yellen can’t. They are circling around some of the world’s largest banks, pushing for a breakup into as many as four different companies, as expensive regulations from Yellen’s Federal Reserve make “too big to fail” a heavy burden for shareholders.
jlne.ws/1FRqQNS
Commodities explained: Hedging oil volatility
Gregory Meyer in New York, FT
How companies manage risks from market swings
The plunge in oil prices has strained the balance sheets of drillers and reduced costs for airlines. One way that companies manage the risks from commodities market swings is through hedging.
jlne.ws/1EcEhLg
Barclays suffers loss after GBP 750m forex provision
Martin Arnold, FT
A sharp drop in profits at Barclays’ investment bank and the cost of a likely fine for rigging foreign exchange markets dragged the UK-listed lender to an annual net loss.
jlne.ws/18J2xYv
Glencore oil trading could see ‘blow out’ year
James Wilson and Neil Hume, FT
The oil trading operations of Glencore could “blow out the lights” this year if current market trends continue, the head of the Swiss-based trading group has forecast.
jlne.ws/1GM6TsS
Saudi king keeps close hand on oil in remodelling strategic team
By Rania El Gamal and Angus McDowall, Reuters
Saudi Arabia’s subtle change of energy policymaker line-up since the accession of new King Salman in late January appears to give the monarch’s inner circle a firmer hand on the kingdom’s oil strategy than previous rulers have enjoyed.
jlne.ws/1FRuUha
Regulatory
Yellen Turning from Friend to Foe for Dollar Bulls
by Lukanyo Mnyanda, Bloomberg
Janet Yellen is turning from currency traders’ best friend to their biggest foe.
jlne.ws/1aJOEtK
Bitcoin Investment Trust Receives FINRA Approval
FINalternatives
Barry Silbert’s Bitcoin Investment Trust (BIT) has received approval from FINRA to become the first publicly traded bitcoin fund.
jlne.ws/1M4ArVB
Court rules CFTC lawsuit against multiple clients’ attorney may proceed
Gary DeWaal, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP – Lexology
A US federal court in Florida declined to dismiss a complaint filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that alleged that Jay Grossman, an attorney, aided and abetted violations of law by multiple clients. The CFTC filed charges against Mr. Grossman during September 2014, claiming that he helped four of his clients—who allegedly held themselves out to the public as metals clearing firms—to engage in unlawful off-exchange retail commodity transactions and fraud.
jlne.ws/1M4AnVI
Don’t weaken leverage ratio, U.S. bank regulator tells peers
by Douwe Miedema, Reuters
Regulators shouldn’t weaken a rule that limits banks’ borrowing, a senior U.S. bank supervisor said on Monday, indicating a possible split with the derivatives watchdog over the issue.
jlne.ws/1aJNpdX
Keynote Address by Chairman Timothy G. Massad before the Institute of International Bankers
CFTC
Thank you for inviting me today, and I thank Roger for that kind introduction. I want to also thank the IIB for its participation in the work of the agency. I have had the opportunity to meet with the IIB previously as well as many of you individually. I value your input and look forward to continuing to work with you.
jlne.ws/1Aw565F
Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO) Rulemaking and National Market System (NMS) Plans
SEC
NYSE: Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change Specifying in Exchange Rules the Exchange’s Use of Certain Data Feeds for Order Handling and Execution, Order Routing, and Regulatory Compliance (“Release No. 34-74410; File No. SR-NYSE-2015-09″); see also Exhibit 5
NYSE: Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change Amending Its Price List (Release No. 34-74405; File No. SR-NYSE-2015-08); see also Exhibit 5
jlne.ws/1eCTnOv
Former Company Officer Earns Half-Million Dollar Whistleblower Award for Reporting Fraud Case to SEC
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced a whistleblower award payout between $475,000 and $575,000 to a former company officer who reported original, high-quality information about a securities fraud that resulted in an SEC enforcement action with sanctions exceeding $1 million.
jlne.ws/1ABkE8e
Be an informed investor: Check before you invest
CSA
March is Fraud Prevention Month and the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) are encouraging Canadian investors to take the time to research investments before making important investing decisions. Before investing, the CSA recommends that investors follow these four easy steps
jlne.ws/1GM3VVb
FINRA Foundation Military Spouse Fellowship Application Period Open From March 2 to April 17
FINRA
Program Helps Military Spouses Foster Their Own Careers and Maintain Financial Readiness in Military Communities
Now in its tenth year, the FINRA Investor Education Foundation’s Military Spouse Fellowship Program has opened the application process for its 2015 class of military spouses. The FINRA Foundation Spouse Fellowship Program provides military spouse recipients with the education and training needed to earn the Accredited Financial Counselor® (AFC®) designation. Military spouses can apply until April 17, 2015, to become a member of the 2015 class of fellows.
jlne.ws/1GffTJE
Barclays gives information to U.S. precious metals probe
By Jan Harvey, Reuters
Barclays has been providing information to an investigation into precious metals by the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), the bank said in its 2014 annual report on Tuesday, a week after a similar statement by HSBC.
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Ontario Securities Commission Announces Results Of Enforcement Activity In 2014
MondoVisione
Recognizing the importance of a strong and visible enforcement presence to public confidence in the capital markets, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) continued to make targeted investments in its enforcement program in 2014. Staff commenced an increased number of quasi-criminal and criminal proceedings, enhanced the OSC’s forensics capabilities and strengthened its alliances with police services. By expanding its partnerships and bolstering its enforcement toolkit, the OSC made advancements in detecting, investigating and prosecuting misconduct.
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Exchanges & Trading Facilities
World Federation Of Exchanges: Strong Increase Of Equity Trading Volumes (+17.4%) In 2014
MondoVisione
Today, the World Federation of Exchanges Ltd. released its Annual Statistics Market Highlights report. The main trends for 2014 were:
The value of share trading rose 17.4% worldwide to 81 trillion USD from 2013.
The number of trades rose 23.7% from 2013; the average value of trades continued to decrease.
A continuing good performance of equity markets as Global Market Capitalization rose 4.3% to 68 trillion USD from 2013.
Good performance of IPO markets and investment flows. The number of IPOs rose 24.3% from 2013 to 1421. Total investment flows in USD increased 22.6% from 2013 to 894 billion USD.
Exchange Traded Derivatives (ETD) volumes rose 2.8% from 2013, mainly driven by commodity derivatives.
jlne.ws/1CYPMEZ
CBOE Holdings Reports February 2015 Trading Volume
CBOE
ADV of 4.7 Million Contacts Down 13% vs January
Total Volume of 88.5 Million Contracts Traded
CBOE Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBOE) reported today that average daily volume (ADV) during February for options contracts on Chicago Board Options Exchange® (CBOE®) and C2 Options ExchangeSM (C2SM) and futures contracts on CBOE Futures Exchange (CFE®) was 4.7 million contracts, a decrease of 22 percent from February 2014 and a decline of 13 percent from January 2015.
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CBOE Futures Exchange Reports February 2015 Trading Volume
CBOE
3.2 Million VIX Futures Contracts Traded
VIX Futures ADV Down From Year Ago
CBOE Futures Exchange, LLC (CFE®) today reported that February 2015 monthly average daily volume (ADV) and monthly total volume, both for exchange-wide at CFE and futures on the CBOE Volatility Index® (VIX® Index), declined from year-ago levels.
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ISE Holdings Reports Business Activity for February 2015
ISE
ISE and ISE Gemini combined represent 12.5% of equity options market share, excluding dividend trades.
ISE and ISE Gemini reported a combined ADV of 1.8 million contracts.
Dividend trades made up 1.1% of industry volume in February 2015.
jlne.ws/1BCJEBs
CME Group Volume Averaged 15.8 Million Contracts per Day in February 2015, Up 13 Percent from February 2014
CME Group
Delivered highest February average daily volume ever
Reached record energy average daily volume of 2.4 million contracts; bolstered by records in WTI crude oil, Brent crude oil, and heating oil
Increased interest rate average daily volume 27 percent
CME Group, the world’s leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced that February 2015 volume averaged 15.8 million contracts per day, up 13 percent from February 2014 and representing the all-time highest February average daily volume. Total volume for February 2015 was more than 300 million contracts, of which 87 percent was traded electronically. Options volume in February averaged 2.8 million contracts per day, up 14 percent versus February 2014, with electronic options growing 13 percent over the same period.
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Performance Bond Requirements: Equity Outrights- Effective Tuesday, March 3, 2015
CME Group
jlne.ws/1Gfr6tD
Average daily volume of 7.6 million contracts at Eurex Group in February
Eurex
An average daily volume of 7.6 million contracts (February 2014: 7.9 million) were recorded at the international derivatives markets of Eurex Group in February 2015. Of those, 5.8 million were Eurex Exchange contracts (February 2014: 5.4 million), and 1.8 million contracts (February 2014: 2.6 million) were traded at the U.S.-based International Securities Exchange (ISE). In total in February, 116.8 million contracts were traded at Eurex Exchange and 34.2 million at ISE.
At Eurex Exchange, the equity index derivatives segment totaled 57.1 million contracts compared with 50.7 million in February 2014. The future on the EURO STOXX 50 Index recorded 19.8 million contracts, the options on this blue chip index another 23.3 million contracts. DAX index futures recorded 2.0 million contracts while the DAX options reached another 3.9 million contracts.
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Boerse Stuttgart Generates Turnover Of Around EUR 8.6 Billion In February – Trading Volume Up On February 2014 – Brisk Trading In Corporate Bonds
MondoVisione
According to its order book statistics, turnover at Boerse Stuttgart amounted to around EUR 8.6 billion in February 2015. This meant the trading volume was down in comparison with January, when turnover was particularly high, but up by almost 7 percent year on year.
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NYSE Options: Reduction in Fees for Ports Used for Market Maker Direct Quote Takedowns
NYSE AMEX OPTIONS, NYSE ARCA OPTIONS
Effective March 1, 2015, NYSE Amex Options and NYSE Arca Options are modifying Port Fees to reduce the cost of ports used for Market Maker Direct Quote takedowns. For each port utilized to enter quotes and/or orders, ATP/OTP Holders and any Affiliates may utilize one port dedicated to Market Maker Direct Quote takedowns, free of charge (the “1-to-1 ratio”).
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Updated NYSE ARCA Trader update for Short Sell Restriction Activation Deactivation
NYSE ARCA EQUITIES
jlne.ws/1vJQIpD
NYSE and NYSE MKT: Pillar Update: Phase I Functional Platform Changes
NYSE, NYSE MKT
As previously announced, NYSE Arca Equities will be the first market to migrate to Pillar, our new, integrated trading technology platform, during the third quarter of 2015. During Phase I, customers will continue to connect to the existing NYSE Arca gateways and use existing messaging protocols. Please refer to this document highlighting certain changes that will go into effect on a symbol-by-symbol basis as they are migrated to the Pillar matching engines.
jlne.ws/1vJQIpD
NYSE Options: Pillar Update: Phase I Functional Platform Changes
NYSE AMEX OPTIONS, NYSE ARCA OPTIONS
As previously announced, NYSE Arca Equities will be the first market to migrate to Pillar, our new, integrated trading technology platform, during the third quarter of 2015. During Phase I, customers will continue to connect to the existing NYSE Arca gateways and use existing messaging protocols. Please refer to this document highlighting certain changes that will go into effect on a symbol-by-symbol basis as they are migrated to the Pillar matching engines.
jlne.ws/1vJQIpD
NYSE Arca Options// Super Tier Pricing for Market Maker Transactions
NYSE ARCA OPTIONS
Effective March 1, pending effectiveness of the SEC rule filing, NYSE Arca Options will introduce an additional Monthly Posting Credit Super Tier for Market Maker Executions in Penny Pilot Issues.
jlne.ws/1vJQIpD
Hedge Funds & Managed Futures
Traders Brace for End of Quiet After VIX’s Biggest Drop: Options
by Callie Bost, Bloomberg
Traders in one of the most popular exchange-traded notes tracking volatility are convinced the calm in U.S. stocks won’t last.
jlne.ws/1M4BMM1
Bill Gross Goes to the Dogs
By Paul Vigna, WSJ
Bill Gross is going to the dogs. Literally. The Janus Capital JNS +1.15% money manager, whose monthly investment letters are famous for their flights of fancy, begins this month’s offering with an extended musing on dogs, and ends with a stark warning about the dangers to investors of the currency war that none dare call a currency war.
jlne.ws/1DLY9Cb
IPOs and volatility underpin equity trading rebound
Philip Stafford, FT
A resurgence of corporate listings and returning volatility underpinned a rebound in the value and volume of share trading on the world’s stock exchanges last year.
jlne.ws/1vXS9WI
Banks & Brokers
Morgan Stanley Expects Suit From NY AG Over Mortgage Bonds; Action stems from about 30 subprime securitizations sponsored by bank
By Justin Baer, WSJ
Morgan Stanley said the New York Attorney General’s Office plans to sue the firm alleging it had misled investors in bonds tied to subprime mortgages.
jlne.ws/1zUH1GC
KCG Holdings’ Market-Making Unit Head George Sohos Resigns; Departure comes several months after CFO Steven Bisgay left company
By Bradley Hope
George Sohos, the longtime head of KCG Holdings Inc. ‘s profitable market-making division, has resigned from the company effective immediately, the company said.
jlne.ws/1wQ1b3l
Foreign Banks Brace for Fed Stress Tests; Firms hire staff, overhaul operations to meet tougher requirements
By Ryan Tracy And Matt Turner, WSJ
The Federal Reserve’s growing scrutiny of global banks has set off a scramble among foreign firms as they staff up and revamp operations to meet the central bank’s rising expectations.
jlne.ws/18J4jJ5
Barclays Posts Loss as Foreign-Exchange Provisions Rise; Bank says effort to shrink and restructure starting to pay off
By Margot Patrick, WSJ
Barclays PLC on Tuesday raised its provision for potential foreign-exchange settlements to £1.25 billion ($1.92 billion), leading it to report a full-year net loss, but said an effort to shrink and restructure its business is starting to pay off.
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Electronic Broking: February 2015 Volumes
ICAP
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Clearing & Settlement
Don’t weaken leverage ratio, U.S. bank regulator tells peers
GlobalPost
Regulators shouldn’t weaken a rule that limits banks’ borrowing, a senior U.S. bank supervisor said on Monday, indicating a possible split with the derivatives watchdog over the issue.
jlne.ws/1aJNpdX
OCC Announces Cleared Contract Volume Declined 13% in February
Globe Newswire
OCC announced today that total cleared contract volume in February was 306,531,839 contracts, a 13 percent decrease from the February 2014 volume of 350,507,077 contracts. OCC’s year-to-date average daily cleared contract volume is down 9 percent from 2014 with 17,049,163 contracts.
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Indexes & Products
Russell’s Bundy Talks Combination With FTSE
ETF Trends
Russell Indexes CEO Ron Bundy joined ETF Trends Publisher Tom Lydon at the ETF.com Inside ETFs conference in Hollywood, Fla. to discuss Russell’s recent marriage with FTSE Group to create one of the largest provider of indexes in the world. Last year, London Stock Exchange acquired Russell Investments to bolster its indexing footprint with Russell Indexes. Combined, there are nearly $10 trillion in global assets benchmarked to Russell and FTSE indexes.
jlne.ws/1aJPpmt
Russell Indexes Announces Schedule for 2015 Annual Reconstitution
Business Wire
Russell today announced the 2015 schedule for its annual reconstitution process, which is designed to capture and reflect global equity market shifts in the past year to ensure that investors continue to have the most accurate proxy for global markets.
jlne.ws/1aJPoPo
S&P Dow Jones Indices introduces tax-aware index solutions in Australia
Professional Planner
S&P Dow Jones Indices (“S&P DJI”), one of the world’s leading providers of financial market indices, today announced the launch of a tax-aware benchmark series for the Australian market – the S&P/ASX Franking Credit Adjusted Indices, which allow investors to more precisely measure the performance of the Australian equity market by factoring in the impact of franking credits attached to dividends.
jlne.ws/1aJPiaI
What would the Dow look like if it included Apple?
Reuters
It may be by far the most valuable American company but Apple Inc still can’t get into at least one exclusive club – the 30-member Dow Jones Industrial Average. That may not be a problem for the company behind the iPhone and the iPad, after all Apple shares recently hit record highs. It is, though, hurting those who tie their investments to the performance of the venerable Dow, which was first calculated in 1896 and is still probably the best-known stock index in the world.
jlne.ws/1aJPjv2
February Made Bonds Shiver, Though Energy Kept High Yield Warm
ETF Trends
Investment grade corporate yields widened by 15 basis points as the yield-to-worst of the S&P U.S. Issued Investment Grade Corporate Bond Index moved from the beginning of the month level of 2.16% to an end of month 2.76%. The price return of the index was a -1.44% MTD though 30 bps of coupon return brought the total return down to a -1.15%.
jlne.ws/1aJPnLn
MSCI weight of India to increase to 8.4%
Business Standard Financial X-Ray
India’s weight on the MSCI indices is expected to rise after the finance minister Arun Jaitley made the foreign direct investment and foreign institutional investor limits fungible.
jlne.ws/17NDr9Q
Technology
DNB Selects SunGard to Support the Complete Trade Lifecycle for Commodities
Sungard
DNB, Norway’s largest financial services group, has selected SunGard’s Aligne Trading and Risk Management and MarketMap Energy data management platform to support its commodity trade lifecycle in a fully hosted solution.
(NO LINK)
For Value, Turn to Mature, Cash-Rich Tech Giants
Barron’s
The U.S. is once again front and center of the global economy, seen as outpacing the rest of the developed world with its fastest economic acceleration in more than a decade. Business is picking up, unemployment is down and consumers are spending, especially on smart phones and other ways to wirelessly connect with each other.
jlne.ws/1aJPmXV
EBay’s PayPal to Acquire Mobile-Wallet Startup Paydiant
by Spencer Soper, Bloomberg
EBay Inc.’s PayPal, the digital-payments unit being spun off from the Internet marketplace later this year, agreed to buy startup Paydiant Inc. to broaden its mobile offerings for merchants.
jlne.ws/1zUHSqN
FinTech Sandbox lets startups play with data for free
Finextra
A new non-profit programme offering fintech startups free access to data feeds and APIs from providers such as Thomson Reuters and Xignite is gearing up for launch later this month.
jlne.ws/17NDGSa
First Derivatives strengthens board of directors
First Derivatives
FD (AIM:FDP.L, ESM:FDP.I), a leading provider of software and consulting services, announces the appointment of Virginia Gambale to the Board of the Company as a Non-Executive Director with immediate effect.
(NO LINK)
Do Cryptocurrencies Such as Bitcoin Have a Future?; Innovative alternative currencies come with great possibilities—but also great risks
WSJ
Despite the mystery, the whiff of scandal, and general public unfamiliarity with the concept, somebody out there is buying, and selling, not just bitcoin but dozens of other cryptocurrencies as well. The total market capitalization for these unregulated electronic forms of payment was roughly $4.04 billion as of mid-February, according to coinmarketcap.com, a website that tracks trading in alternative currencies. More than 500 altcoins, as they are also known, were represented on the site recently.
jlne.ws/1EJgi5s
When Time Fails: Trading, Tech and Time
Tabb Forum
In an era of electronic market making, prices change so fast that a delay of just 2 milliseconds can mean the difference between executing an order at the appropriate price versus missing the trade. As an industry, to ensure that we are doing the best by our clients and our businesses, firms and regulators increasingly need to measure the speed of information and transactions in finer-grained increments,
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Enforcement
SEC Suspends Trading in 128 Dormant Shell Companies to Put Them Out of Reach of Microcap Fraudsters
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced it has suspended trading in 128 inactive penny stock companies to ensure they don’t become a source for pump-and-dump schemes.
jlne.ws/1BQV8TG
Environmental & Energy
Even at $10/barrel, oil can’t match solar on cost
By Giles Parkinson – REneweconomy
One of the biggest banks in the Middle East and the oil-rich Gulf countries says that fossil fuels can no longer compete with solar technologies on price, and says the vast bulk of the $US48 trillion needed to meet global power demand over the next two decades will come from renewables.
jlne.ws/1EdblRy
Lukoil Hurt by Falling Oil Price; Russia’s Second-Biggest Oil Producer is Battling a Weak Ruble and Inflation
By Olga Razumovskaya
Russia’s second-biggest oil producer, Lukoil Holdings , said Tuesday that 2014 net profit fell almost 40% to $4.7 billion as it battles plunging oil prices, a weak ruble and spiking inflation.
jlne.ws/1ABriv0
Europe Unlikely to Meet Climate Goal, Study Finds
By Melissa Eddy – The New York Times
The European Union will fail to meet an ambitious goal of significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 unless it takes more aggressive measures to limit the use of fossil fuels and adopts new environmental policies, according to a report scheduled for release on Tuesday.
jlne.ws/1GL3wlZ
BoE warns insurers of possible “huge hit” over fossil fuels
Reuters
Insurers may face a “huge hit” if they end up being wrongfooted by rule changes linked to climate change, the Bank of England said on Tuesday.
jlne.ws/1wP097F
Asia-Pacific
MAS and SGX Facilitating Cross-Border Capital Raising in ASEAN – Press Release
Digital Journal
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Singapore Exchange (SGX) today jointly signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Securities Commission Malaysia and the Securities and Exchange Commission, Thailand to establish a Streamlined Review Framework for the ASEAN Common Prospectus. The Framework, which is an initiative under the ASEAN Capital Market Forum (ACMF) Implementation Plan endorsed by the ASEAN Finance Ministers, will facilitate cross-border offerings of Equity Securities and Plain Debt Securities[1] in ASEAN.
jlne.ws/1aJOKBr
Facilitating Cross-Border Capital Raising in ASEAN
SGX
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Singapore Exchange (SGX) today jointly signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Securities Commission Malaysia and the Securities and Exchange Commission, Thailand to establish a Streamlined Review Framework for the ASEAN Common Prospectus. The Framework, which is an initiative under the ASEAN Capital Market Forum (ACMF) Implementation Plan endorsed by the ASEAN Finance Ministers, will facilitate cross-border offerings of Equity Securities and Plain Debt Securities1 in ASEAN.
jlne.ws/1ABFAvV
SPAN Parameter file which will be applicable from March 2, 2015xls
Japan Commodity Clearing House
jlne.ws/14GYdym
Taiwan orders Alibaba to withdraw after rules violation
Patti Waldmeir, FT
Alibaba is again fending off political pressure after Taiwan ordered the Chinese ecommerce group to withdraw from the country, accusing it of violating investment rules by hiding the fact that it was a mainland entity.
jlne.ws/1EdOOUL
Frontier Markets
DSE to launch two subsidiary cos
Financial Express – Financial Newspaper of Bangladesh
The country’s premier bourse has planned to launch two separate subsidiary companies to provide IT related services and facilitate share trading of de-listed companies, officials said.
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Financial institutions boosting staff numbers ahead of Saudi market opening
The National
Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse are among financial institutions seeking to hire traders in Saudi Arabia as the nation prepares to open its stock market to foreign investors, people with knowledge of the matter said.
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Indian state of Maharashtra bans beef
By Amy Kazmin in New Delhi, FT
India’s western state of Maharashtra, home of the country’s financial capital Mumbai, has introduced a draconian beef ban, which would allow for up to five years imprisonment for sale or possession of the meat.
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Securities and Exchange Board of India Notices
SEBI
Adjudication Order against M/s Shree Mahaganga Sugarmills Ltd. in the matter of non-redressal of investor grievances
BNP Paribas Focused 25 Equity Fund
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Miscellaneous
READ MORE: John Lothian Newsletter: Exchanges in Asia Seek to Counter China Stock Tie-Up; US Federal Reserve urged to clarify bank capital requirements; Corporate-Bond Market Poses Systemic Risk, SEC’s Gallagher Says.