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Tag Archives: Credit Suisse

SEC charges ICO backers with fraud; Libor alternative; UK gender pay gaps John Lothian Newsletter,Newsletter

First Read Hits & Takes JLN Staff Dr. Richard Sandor, chairman and CEO of AFX, will discuss his personal journey of innovation throughout the capital markets during a keynote presentation at Fintech Exchange 2018 in Chicago on April 26.~JJL Speaking of the AFX, they set a volume record in March.~JJL CME Group put out a couple of pieces about Asia recently. In case you missed it, March 22 had The Growing Influence of Asia In Derivatives Trading and on March 29 CME published Asia’s Growing Role in Energy Trading. Sensing a theme yet?~SD According to their 2017 Corporate Citizenship Report,…

The Spread – The (Out)Take from FIA Boca Commentary,Video,video

After much travel and a spell of ill health, we can confidently say The Spread is back in action. Our “weekly” options news recap will be much more of a weekly affair now. (Flu season is pretty much over, right?) The JLN crew was at FIA Boca last week and your humble host really struggled without our usual teleprompter rig. As such, welcome to a rambling, stumbling version of The Spread that includes some outtakes from my poor pool performance. If you just want the behind the scenes action, skip to the last minute. The following are stories referenced in…

Financial fragility rising; Clayton “not happy” with CAT delay; VIX action Newsletter,Options

Lead Stories Goldman Sees ‘Financial Fragility’ Rising in Markets Joanna Ossinger – Bloomberg Early-February VIX spike might be a symptom of a larger issue; There are reasons to believe ‘liquidity is the new leverage’ Markets are becoming their own worst enemies, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The stock-market rout in early February that caused a spike in the Cboe Volatility Index is a symptom of growing “financial fragility,” or big swings in prices caused by breakdowns in markets themselves as opposed to changes in fundamentals, an economist at the bank wrote Monday in a note to clients. To make…

Options investors accuse brokers of fueling sell-offs Newsletter,Options

pointing accuse

Observations & Insight Potential CME-NEX Deal Is Full of History, Dilemma, Risk and Reward John J. Lothian – JLN For many years, the Chicago Board of Trade had cash treasuries envy, wanting to add the trading of cash treasury bonds and notes to its offerings. For many years, the CME has had cash currency trading envy. Both exchanges, now part of the CME Group, have tried to compete in cash Treasury and FX through various collaborations and initiatives. None of them succeeded. Chicago Board Brokerage and FXMarketSpace are long gone, but the desire to add treasuries and cash FX trading…

Legal battle over Credit Suisse ‘volatility’ product expands to second firm Newsletter,Options

legal gavel

Lead Stories Legal battle over Credit Suisse ‘volatility’ product expands to second firm Trevor Hunnicutt – Reuters The legal fight over a complex Credit Suisse financial instrument betting on stock market swings is expanding, with a new lawsuit targeting one of the product’s service providers. An investor on Thursday sued both the bank and the service provider, a unit of Janus Henderson Group PLC, over the VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Short-Term Exchange-Traded Note (ETN). jlne.ws/2HGN6RP Hey, Credit Suisse—Just Because You Disclose the Risks of Your Volatility ETN Doesn’t Mean You Can’t Be Sued Crystal Kim – Barron’s Investors were burned…

FINRA looking at VIX; China curbing options trading; Exotic ETP concerns Newsletter,Options

Observations & Insight What’s the Deal With the VIX Manipulation Letter? Inaccuracy and Misunderstanding Spencer Doar – JLN The big options news pertains to a letter alleging VIX manipulation. The letter, written on behalf of an anonymous whistleblower by a Washington D.C. law firm, alleges market makers manipulate the VIX by quoting far out of the money SPX put options so they are included in the VIX calculation at junctures that benefit their trading activities. It’s understandable financial instruments are subject to concerns about manipulation when their inner workings are complicated and not fully understood by the general public. VIX…

Don’t hate the game, hate the players; Volatility investors – once bitten but not shy; Vol funds worked – that’s the problem Newsletter,Options

Observations & Insight The VIX Can’t Cause Vol – Cboe’s View on Volatility ETPs Spencer Doar – JLN As volatility began to surge in February, and then exploded on the fifth of the month, exchange traded products (ETPs) that shorted or provided inverse exposure to VIX futures came under fire. The two most popular, Credit Suisse’s VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Short-Term exchange traded note (ETN), ticker XIV, and ProShares’ VIX Short VIX Short-Term Futures exchange traded fund (ETF), ticker SVXY, were the main focus, as they suffered huge losses. Trading in them was halted and then Credit Suisse announced it…

Short volatility Waterloo; Hedging activity pop; VIX ETPs in all their glory Newsletter,Options

Observations & Insight Vol-cano Erupts – How’s Seth Golden Doing? Spencer Doar – JLN Last year there were a few stories that came across the desk regarding the juniorization of firms and how removing experienced senior personnel could present risks of its own. After all, if you came into the markets in the 2010s, how would you have experience with crazy drawdowns? (Myself included.) Maybe some are ahead of the curve and have at least seen Trading Places. Well, a lot of staff just gained some experience. The options and volatility stories of the day are intertwined and generally fall…

Currency vol expectations regarding Jackson Hole; Debt-ceiling concerns; Credit Suisse hires Ebert from BAML Newsletter,Options

Observations & Insight Risk of sharp currency moves drives investors into hedged ETFs Helen Reid, Saikat Chatterjee and Trevor Hunnicutt – Reuters Investors have been piling into currency-hedged equity tracker funds, seeking protection against big moves in foreign exchange rates. Typically foreign investors buy un-hedged equities since share prices are usually negatively correlated to currencies. In fact, they offer a partial hedge against sharp moves in foreign exchange. /goo.gl/8JWyxh ****SD: How do ETF providers do this? Generally with forwards and options. The “o” word is only mentioned once in the article, but currency derivatives are really the heart of the…