Norway’s government collapses over EU energy dispute

Industry News supplied by John Lothian

Date: Jan 30, 2025

First 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 article

Donald Trump’s commerce nominee Howard Lutnick accused of conflict of interest

Industry News supplied by John Lothian

Date: Jan 29, 2025

First 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 article

Euronext to acquire Nasdaq’s Nordic power futures business

Industry News supplied by John Lothian

Date: Jan 28, 2025

First 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 article

How Chinese A.I. Start-Up DeepSeek Is Competing With Silicon Valley Giants

Industry News supplied by John Lothian

Date: Jan 27, 2025

First 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 article

Wall Street enters darker age with most stock trading now hidden

Industry News supplied by John Lothian

Date: Jan 24, 2025

First 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 article

Natural Disasters Cost $417 Billion Worldwide in 2024

Industry News supplied by John Lothian

Date: Jan 23, 2025

First 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 article

TMX Group Launches New US Equity ATS Venue

Industry News supplied by John Lothian

Date: Jan 22, 2025

First 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 article

Trump to declare national energy emergency, unlocking new powers

Industry News supplied by John Lothian

Date: Jan 20, 2025

First 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 article

Can a Computer Learn to Speak Trader? Compliance software firms are pushing artificial intelligence to decode Wall Street’s near-impenetrable jargon

Industry News supplied by John Lothian

Date: Jan 17, 2025

First 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 article

Super Bowl Bets on Crypto.com Poised for CFTC Review of Legality

Industry News supplied by John Lothian

Date: Jan 14, 2025

First 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 article

Nickel Sulphate Futures Debut in Singapore to Tap Growing Demand

Industry News supplied by John Lothian

Date: Jan 13, 2025

First 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 article

Wall Street Job Losses May Top 200,000 as AI Replaces Roles

Industry News supplied by John Lothian

Date: Jan 9, 2025

First 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 article

ICE Acquires the American Financial Exchange (AFX)

Industry News supplied by John Lothian

Date: Jan 8, 2025

First 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 article

US regulator warns of oversight ‘gap’ on cryptocurrencies

Industry News supplied by John Lothian

Date: Jan 7, 2025

First 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 article

Nazi Ties to Credit Suisse Ran Deeper Than Was Known, Hidden Files Reveal

Industry News supplied by John Lothian

Date: Jan 6, 2025

First 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 article

AI-generated phishing scams target corporate executives

Industry News supplied by John Lothian

Date: Jan 2, 2025

First 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 […]

Read article

Contact Contango on

+44 (0)7931 372586

or email