Breaking News

Author Archives: John Lothian

About Author

Lothian is executive chairman and CEO of John J. Lothian & Co. and editor of the John Lothian Newsletter. He publishes MarketsWiki.com, MarketsReformWiki.com, MarketsWikiEducation.com, JohnLothianNews.com and three industry newsletters.

Happy Anniversary to the S&P 500 Index Futures Standard

John Lothian

I feel old. It seems like just yesterday I was visiting the CME trading floor over on Wacker Drive, meeting a friend from Wisconsin who was a new trader in the S&P 500 pit. Now the Spoos are turning 30 years old tomorrow. Look for news about this on the CME Group’s Facebook page among other places. Later this year, the E-mini S&Ps will celebrate their 15th anniversary, which means that I have been directly involved with electronic trading for 15 years. It was the E-mini S&P that brought me back to trading stock index futures. As a broker, my…

Press Release: With the Participation of Qatar Exchange Muscat Hosts the Annual Meeting of the Arab Federation of Exchanges Standard

The Arab Federation of Exchanges held today its 37th session meeting in Muscat in participation of senior officials representing Arab Stock Exchanges – members of the AFE – and with the attendance of a number of guests who took part in this event. On this occasion, Deputy CEO of Qatar Exchange, Mr. Rashid bin Ali Al Mansouri, expressed in a keynote speech addressed on behalf of HE Dr. Hussain Ali Al Abdullah, AFE President for the year 2011, his satisfaction for Qatar’s presidency of last year’s session, during which the country has undertaken its role in achievement of the AFE…

CME Group Advisory Notice: Enhanced Customer Protections Standard

The CME Group released the following notice on April 2, 2012: To: Chief Executive Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Financial OfficerFrom: Audit Department, Clearing House DivisionAdvisory #12-04Notice Date: April 02, 2012Effective Date:May 01, 2012 As a leader in the industry, and in conjunction with recommendations we have developed with several industry groups to further safeguard customer funds at the firm level, CME is adopting several enhancements to its reporting requirements. Customer segregation is the cornerstone of the futures industry, and it is critical to ensure the protections afforded under segregation are as strong as they can be for our market…

The Richness of Giving Standard

John Lothian

Last week, the last thing I did before taking off for Florida on vacation was to speak at the memorial service for my friend and Assistant Scoutmaster who had passed away in February.  I told the overflowing assembly of friends and family the story about how Bill Griswold was a rich man. Bill was not rich like we often think of rich.  He did not have a big house, a fancy car or a large bank account.  Rather, Bill was rich because all he did was give and give of himself.  He gave his time and his talents generously to…

The Most Interesting Man in the World Standard

Traveling to Budapest for the Association of Futures Markets 15th annual conference was a fun experience for several reasons. On the top of the list was spending time with the most interesting man in the world. During the conference, on Thursday night, there was a gala dinner held at a notable restaurant on a plaza near the hotel where the conference was held. One of the conference attendees, knowledgeable in the ways of conference galas, called the week before and asked the conference secretariat if the gala was a black tie event. He was assured that it was. So he…

Special Report: CME Group’s Craig Donohue to Retire Standard

Craig Donohue

With the Futures Industry Association’s International Conference ready to begin in Boca Raton, Florida tomorrow, CME Group hit the wires with some big news today.  The Boca Raton bombshell came early this year as the CME announced Craig Donohue will retire at year’s end and be replaced by a combination of Phupinder Gill and Terry Duffy.  Donohue took over the CME’s CEO job on January 1, 2004, giving him an unusually long tenure for a CEO or exchange CEO.  Gill will become CME Group CEO and Duffy will add the title of president.  This will give CME Group a new…

There is No Accounting for Chaos Standard

John Lothian

Yesterday, just before 4 p.m., an email arrived at The Price Group. MF Global 1099s would be delayed, it said. The deadline to send out the 1099s to clients, February 16, would be missed and an extension had been filed. A short time later, I learned from sources close to the matter that no 1099s are likely to be issued by MF Global for 2011. One of the leading MF Global GMI technologists had been let go the day before, so were other senior employees. They said the online account interface Emidas was dead and the back office system GMI…

A Bad Trade Standard

John Lothian

Word broke yesterday that the CME Group had a buyer for the historic CBOT Building and the deal would close by June.  The price of the deal was $150 to $180 million. I just have one question.  What numbskulls would sell a building at the corner of LaSalle and Jackson in Chicago?  My apologies for name calling, but I just find this stupid.  This is the greatest location in the Chicago financial district and it’s worth more in intangibles than all the money anyone could give me for this building. The CME Group is a money machine.  It does not…