Suzanne Cosgrove, Author at John Lothian News

Cannabis Shares Underperform Going Into Year-End Amid U.S. Regulatory Logjam

by Suzanne Cosgrove | Dec 17, 2021

Although adult-use sales of cannabis remain robust in U.S. states where it is legal, Nasdaq IR Intelligence analyst Saleem Daya sees continued stock underperformance across the cannabis space going into year-end, building on activity in the second and third quarters of 2021.

In an interview with John Lothian News, Daya notes the benchmark Solactive North American Marijuana Index is about 13% lower this quarter and is down close to 20% year-to-date, a move he attributes to disappointment that the U.S. federal reform that many were hoping for in early 2021 has not taken place and impatience with a regulatory process that remains mired in disagreement over its scope and depth.

New FTSE Russell Research Links ESG Performance With Pandemic Preparedness

by Suzanne Cosgrove | Dec 16, 2021

The long-running pandemic has thrown much of the global economy off-kilter in the last two years, but some sectors have nonetheless thrived – ESG among them. Capital linked to FTSE Russell’s sustainable Investment indexes, for example, has grown to more than $167 billion, according to the company’s year-end insight from Arne Staal, the CEO of FTSE Russell.

FIA: Global Exchange-Traded Volume up 38.8% in November; Open Interest Posts Record

by Suzanne Cosgrove | Dec 14, 2021

The continued investor appetite for equity derivatives helped push global exchange-traded volume higher again in November, according to the FIA’s monthly report released on Monday. The group said 6.17 billion futures and options contracts were traded in the month of November, an increase of 11.5% from October and up 38.8% from November 2020.

FIA Asia-V: Call for Greater Operational Efficiency Unanimous, But ‘We Need a Few Heroes’

by Suzanne Cosgrove | Dec 9, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic and the period of intense volatility that followed its initial onslaught highlighted gaps in the infrastructure that supports global exchange-cleared derivatives systems. But those glitches have been at play for a while and need to be addressed, panelists at FIA’s Asia-V said.

In a panel on operational efficiencies during day two of the conference, Don Byron, FIA’s head of global industry operations and execution, pointed to the group’s November 2021 “Blueprint” plan to modernize trading processes.

FIA Asia-V: Facing Challenges of Pandemic, Opportunities in Retail, ESG and Crypto

by Suzanne Cosgrove | Dec 7, 2021

Much like its Western counterpart, the Asian derivatives industry spent the last year navigating an ever-changing environment dominated by the pandemic and the emergence of new market trends in retail investment, cryptocurrencies and ESG.

In a discussion on the outlook for Asia-Pacific exchanges on Day One of the FIA’s Asia-V conference, panel participants reported no slowdowns in opportunities despite a host of challenges faced by exchange-traded markets in 2021.

Hemp Prices Hold Mostly Steady As Year End Approaches; Added Volatility Seen In 2022

by Suzanne Cosgrove | Dec 7, 2021

— Hempcrete finds a new role in as a carbon reduction agent

As the books close on the fall harvest, most midpoint hemp prices remain steady to marginally higher, according to the November 2021 PanXchange Hemp: Benchmark & Analysis report.

James “Jamie” Dimon

by Suzanne Cosgrove | Nov 29, 2021

JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon remains an active naysayer on the subject of cryptocurrencies. He reportedly told CBS Boston last week that cryptocurrencies have no intrinsic value, and while people have a right to invest in them, he would stay out.

FIA Expo 2021 Video: IncubEx Primed as Interest In Cap-and-Trade Markets Surges

by Suzanne Cosgrove | Nov 29, 2021

Timing is everything in the derivatives industry. In the case of IncubEx, which develops financial products in environmental, climate risk and related commodity markets, the company appears to be right on time.

In an interview with John Lothian News at FIA Expo, Dan Scarbrough, the founder, president and COO of IncubEx, described his start in the industry with the Chicago Climate Exchange more than 15 years ago. The Intercontinental Exchange bought the Chicago Climate Exchange and its parent company, the Climate Exchange, in 2010.

FIA Expo 2021 Video: ICE Exec Says Pandemic Volatility Offers Lessons For Clearinghouses

by Suzanne Cosgrove | Nov 15, 2021

The intense market volatility seen during the beginning of the global pandemic, particularly in April and May, underscored both the interconnectedness of the markets and the fact that not every participant is at the same level, said Chris Edmonds, global head of closing and risk at the Intercontinental Exchange, Inc.

In a video interview with John Lothian News at FIA Expo 2021 following a roundtable on operational efficiencies, Edmonds said it became clear during COVID-19 and the abrupt move to working at home that more efficient ways to share information sooner are needed.

FIA Expo 2021 Video: Trading Technologies’ Execs Say Deal Was Good For Industry

by Suzanne Cosgrove | Nov 11, 2021

It was nearly a week after Trading Technologies announced it would be acquired by the private equity firm 7RIDGE, along with its limited partners Cboe Global Markets, Inc. and the Singapore Exchange, but the company’s top executives were still celebrating.

Interviewed together at the FIA Expo last week, Tim Geannopulos, chairman and CEO of Trading Technologies, and Keith Todd, incoming CEO of TT and current chairman and CEO of KRM22, were positively giddy with excitement about the deal.

London Stock Exchange Group

by Suzanne Cosgrove | Nov 5, 2021

The LSE Group today said it is developing a capital markets initiative to promote investment in global carbon mitigation projects. It plans to list funds that provide capital for projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and remove CO2 from the atmosphere.

FIA Expo: Sustainability Markets Growing, But Participants Search for Clarity of Its Parameters

by Suzanne Cosgrove | Nov 5, 2021

Although the five speakers at a Thursday FIA Expo panel titled “Sustainability/ESG and Markets” agreed that the ESG sector is one of the biggest growth areas in the marketplace, they said it can be difficult to define exactly what ESG encompasses.

The “E” (for environmental) is self-evident, but the “social and governance components are much more challenging,” said Elizabeth Turner, Qontigo’s director of index product management.

FIA Expo: CFTC’s Dawn Stump Urges Return to Basics When Regulating Crypto, Carbon Markets

by Suzanne Cosgrove | Nov 4, 2021

In a keynote address at the FIA Expo on Wednesday, CFTC Commissioner Dawn Stump urged the industry, and regulators, to go back to the basics in their discussions of who should oversee digital assets and how they should be overseen before “engaging in a jurisdictional power-grab.”

FIA Expo: Reunited After Two Years, Exchange Leaders Trade Friendly Barbs