First Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff Intercontinental Exchange reported its strongest third quarter and year-to-date performance in company history, with third quarter net revenues of $2.4 billion (up 3% year-over-year) and GAAP diluted earnings per share of $1.42 (up 25% year-over-year). The company generated adjusted diluted EPS of $1.71 (up 10% […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff Euronext CEO Stephane Boujnah told CNBC he is open to greater consolidation among European stock exchanges, including potentially with the London Stock Exchange, as his company has already aggregated trading and order book platforms that could form the basis for a single European exchange. Japan […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff LME Week is over, but you can watch all the LME Metals Seminar 2025 videos now. LME Metals Seminar 2025 brought together leading voices in the metals industry for a series of sessions covering global economic trends, supply chain security, digital innovation, and the evolving […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff Trump Media & Technology Group is partnering with Crypto.com to launch prediction markets on its Truth Social platform, entering the growing event-betting space just as record volumes drive industry interest from major financial players. This move comes after a curious period of regulatory uncertainty for […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff We have a new nominee for CFTC chairman. The whispers and stories were right, Michael Selig, the front-runner for the role and the SEC Crypto Task Force chief counsel and senior advisor to the chairman, was nominated by President Trump to become CFTC chairman. Selig […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff Congratulations to ALTSO on a great Rocktoberfest event last night at the House of Blues in Chicago. It was well attended, the bands were terrific, and there was plenty of cowbell from Diane Saucier, playing with the ALTSO Allstars, which included Ray McKenzie, Jennifer Jucovics […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff The FIA announced eight startups selected to exhibit in the 2025 Innovators Pavilion at the Futures and Options Expo on November 17-18 in Chicago. The startups-ADHOC Teknoloji (low-latency trading platform), AiMi Technologies AB (agentic AI for trading and market data operations), D2X Group (a regulated […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff I have written and said repeatedly that artificial intelligence (AI) will impact us all, that AI is the new epoch. Purdue University’s Senate has approved a plan to embed AI competency into all undergraduate programs, ensuring that every graduate achieves a baseline level of AI […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff On Friday, the CME released contract specifications for several event contracts, including on E-Mini contracts on the S&P 500, Nasdaq, Russell 2000, and Dow Jones. Additionally, the CME announced the contract specifications on economic reports from the government, including CeP, GDP, Non-Farm Payrolls, Unemployment Rate, […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff America is once again caught in a wave of speculative excess spanning artificial intelligence, crypto, sports betting, and even gold markets, all reflecting what Wall Street Journal columnist Greg Ip calls a “speculative fever” infecting the nation’s political and economic culture. In his story, “From […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff The Futures Industry Association and its affiliated organizations, the European Principal Traders Association (EPTA) and the Principal Traders Group (PTG), announced a new organizational structure under which EPTA and PTG will operate independently of FIA to advocate for their members across multiple markets and asset […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff Bloomberg crypto reporter and author Zeke Faux has a genuine Faux smile on his face today. Federal prosecutors seized $15 billion in cryptocurrency. They charged Chen Zhi, a Chinese emigre who built Cambodia’s Prince Group conglomerate, with money laundering and wire fraud conspiracy in connection […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff Bloomberg wants to know what your AI-dentity is. In order to determine how you see AI shaping our future, or how you want it to shape our futures, they have constructed a six question quiz. I am guessing that AI analyzes the results, but why […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff Sad news to start the week as two notable industry contributors passed away recently. Yesterday morning, the longtime futures industry accountant Harlan Ten Pas passed away peacefully, surrounded by his wife and two sons. Also, on September 30, Eli Watson Tullis, Sr. died at the […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff U.S. bond markets will be closed on Monday, October 13, in observance of Columbus Day, a holiday that many celebrate as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Stock markets, however, will remain open. Notably, Columbus Day marks the anniversary of the 2005 announcement of the accounting problems at […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff The London Metal Exchange has published a roadmap to modernize its options market through a phased approach beginning in early H2 2026. It will begin with automated expiry processes and a shift from American to European expiry style, followed by the launch of electronic outright […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff President Trump called for the imprisonment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker in a Truth Social post on Wednesday, claiming the Democratic leaders have “failed to protect ICE officers” amid ongoing immigration raids in Chicago, according to a Wall Street Journal […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff The big news is ICE’s deal to invest in Polymarket. I decided to take a look at the history of presidential election prediction markets and found a paper by the economists Paul W. Rhode and Koleman S. Strumpf from 2004 that addressed this issue. One […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) today launches its ninth annual World Investor Week (WIW), a global event dedicated to promoting investor education and protection. Taking place from October 6 to 12, WIW is marked by coordinated efforts worldwide to raise awareness about safe […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff Alexander Osipovich reports in The Wall Street Journal that traders are increasingly betting on a prolonged U.S. government shutdown amid stalled negotiations between President Trump and congressional Democrats. According to the prediction market Kalshi, the odds of the shutdown lasting more than 10 days have […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff The CME/CBOT class action lawsuit is back for round two, as the plaintiffs have appealed the case. The introduction to the suit says: “Plaintiffs now respectfully move for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or, alternatively, a new trial on their breach of contract claims. Applying the […]
Read articleFirst Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff The White House last night pulled the nomination of Brian Quintenz to be chair of the CFTC without notice or explanation, according to a source close to the situation. The news upended the commentary I was working on; however, I gave it an update based […]
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