First Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff The CME Group members’ class action lawsuit is headed for a big day as there is a status hearing on the CME’s motion for summary judgment today at 1:30 CT that is available by remote access via Zoom. Participants may go to www.zoom.us and or […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff Things are moving faster in the Big Apple. New York City’s morning commute has improved since the introduction of congestion pricing on January 5, with travel times down significantly on major crossings, Bloomberg reported. The Holland Tunnel saw a 48% drop, while the Queensboro and […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff Today’s lead story in JLN from the Financial Times titled “Donald Trump’s commerce nominee Howard Lutnick accused of conflict of interest” with the subheadline “Billionaire entrepreneur expected to be confirmed after senate hearing” tells how Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick is facing accusations of conflicts […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff There are plenty of stories about DeepSeek in JLN this morning and about Liang Wenfeng, the man behind it. Here is a summary description of Liang from a story by Gregory Zuckerman and Raffaele Huang of The Wall Street Journal titled “DeepSeek Chief’s Journey From […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff The launch of DeepSeek, a groundbreaking AI chatbot developed by a start-up in Hangzhou, China, has triggered a global market panic, sending tech stocks plummeting and wiping out an estimated $1.2 trillion in value, The Telegraph reported. DeepSeek’s ability to rival Western AI competitors at […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff A Katherine Doherty story from Bloomberg cast a dark shadow across the start of today’s newsletter. For the first time, the majority of U.S. stock trading is consistently occurring off-exchange, with alternative platforms and internal firm systems accounting for a record 51.8% of traded volume […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff Today I am in downtown Chicago for STAC’s 99th Annual Mid-Winter Meeting. I am moderating a panel on the “Modernization of Derivatives.” OCC’s Patrick Hickey, BAML’s Mark Morrison (not to be confused with the OCC Chief Security Officer Mark Morrison) and STA’s Jim Toes are […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) reported a record 2 billion futures and options contracts traded in 2024, the highest volume in its history. This included 1.2 billion commodity contracts and 753 million interest rate derivatives. Energy derivatives drove much of the growth, with 655 million oil contracts […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff Commissioner Caroline D. Pham was named acting chairman of the CFTC yesterday following her being selected by President Donald Trump and elected by her fellow commissioners at the CFTC, the commission announced. As a student of history-or perhaps just an old guy who has seen […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff What a weekend! And what a big and cold day it is today, unless you are a $TRUMP or $Melania memecoin. The first hostages from the Hamas/Israel ceasefire deal were released. Outgoing President Joe Biden made his last acts as president, including pardoning people who […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff Stock and bond markets will be closed on Monday, Jan. 20, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This year, MLK Day is also Inauguration Day, The Wall Street Journal reminded us all. During yesterday’s confirmation hearing for Scott Bessent, the nominee for Treasury […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff When a certain member of our staff moved to Chicago from New York, she was told to stock up on fleece clothing. It is a good thing she works from home now, as next week she will need it here or if she had stayed […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff The FIA has hired a replacement for many of the duties of Emma Davey, who retired at the end of 2025 and remains as a consultant to the FIA. Melissa Brunton joins the FIA team from the Direct Selling Association (DSA) as the new senior […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is reviewing the legality of Crypto.com’s Super Bowl betting contracts, which allow investors to wager on major football games. The contracts, launched just before Christmas, may violate gaming laws, prompting a potential 90-day review. Despite Crypto.com‘s defense, which points […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff Kalshi, a prediction-market startup that lets users place bets on future events like elections and economic data releases, has appointed Donald Trump Jr. as a strategic adviser, The Wall Street Journal reported. Trump Jr., who has expressed his support for prediction markets, joins the company […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff The devastating fires in Los Angeles have hit close to home here at JLN. JLN’s Patrick Lothian‘s wife’s sister and her family lost their home in the Palisades Fire. Patrick’s wife, Amanda McCune, has set up a GoFundMe account to to assist Scott and Sarah […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff In his final address as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in a fireside chat at The Brookings Institution, Rostin Behnam highlighted the agency’s achievements and challenges during his tenure. He emphasized the importance of balancing regulation, innovation, and collaboration to ensure resilient, […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff News broke this morning that Intercontinental Exchange has acquired the American Financial Exchange (AFX), which renews the relationship between ICE President, Fixed Income & Data Services Chris Edmonds and AFX CEO John Shay. The two were colleagues at International Derivatives Clearing Group LLC, where Edmonds […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff Yesterday I learned that Robert “Bucky” Isaacson, a pioneer in financial innovation and a foundational figure in the managed futures industry, passed away on January 5. Starting in 1969, he helped develop one of the first computerized trading systems and co-founded an early commodity fund […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) has released research analyzing the relationship between stock market development and economic growth across 36 countries from 2003 to 2022. Key findings reveal a two-way relationship between stock market capitalization and economic growth in high-income countries, while low- and […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff In Bob Pisani’s CNBC Trader Talk column on December 31, he shared the story of how two of the late Art Cashin’s sons, Arthur Cashin III and Peter Cashin, were carrying on the tradition that Cashin, the former UBS director of floor operations, had of […]
Read articleFirst Read Gambling, Murder and Mayhem: Welcome to the New Futures Markets of Today JohnLothianNews.com Gambling, murder, and mayhem are now part of today’s CFTC-regulated financial futures markets. While mayhem has always been a feature of financial futures, you can now trade the outcome of the Super Bowl with “event contracts.” These contracts strip away […]
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