Commentary
Presidential Historian Jon Meacham’s Keynote Address at Expo Aimed to Give Hope in Divided Times
In the keynote address to a large audience on Tuesday at FIA Expo, the historian and presidential biographer Jon Meacham talked about how we are living in “the most divided time since the 1850s” and compared what’s going on now politically with past tumultuous periods in U.S. history, in particular the 1930s and 1960s. His address was titled, “Hope Through History: How To Endure and Prevail When Everything Appears Hopeless.”
The Mistaken Harshness in Cboe Leadership Change Press Release Sends Wrong Message
I had just landed in Charlotte, NC yesterday morning on my way to Bermuda and the WFE’s General Annual meeting and I turned off airplane mode on my phone. The first text quickly flashed on my phone with the message, “Ed Tilly has resigned as CEO of Cboe in a scandal, do you want to comment for the newsletter?” No! I said.
ICE’s Chris Edmonds Expands on Crypto Commentary in JLN Video Interview
Last Friday John Lothian News interviewed ICE Chief Development Officer Chris Edmonds about the commentary he wrote that JLN published and why he wrote it and what he was trying to accomplish.
We asked him what lessons were learned from the BAKKT experience and what was ICE trying to accomplish with the exchange and clearing offering and what didn’t work?
Edmonds said the lesson learned was that the market did not want a physically delivered bitcoin contract.
The Failed Promise of Unregulated Crypto; By Chris Edmonds, Chief Development Officer, ICE
Markets have short memories. Four years ago, ICE created a fully-regulated, physically-delivered crypto futures market, with institutional-grade custody provided by ICE’s then-subsidiary, Bakkt. The custodian was regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services – a license which is, rightly, not easy to obtain – and all crypto transactions were protected by our highly regulated clearing house.
Why did we start here? The answer is simple. The history of markets shows that physically delivered commodities provide price signals and allowing such pricing to occur in a transparent manner with clear rules INCREASES consumer confidence.
MWE SHORT: Boris Ilyevsky – Growing Up with Options
“Your first impressions matter quite a bit, and perception is reality.”
THE JOHN LOTHIAN NEWS DAILY UPDATE – 4/12/2022
John’s Take: Four New Women CFTC Commissioners Was More Historic Than I Thought
When four women were confirmed by the U.S. Senate for the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and it was heralded as a historic event, I decided to look into the history of the commission and the number of women who have served and who they served with. At no...
John’s Take: Why I hate Chuck Mackie and Thoughts on FTX’s CFTC Request
I have a love/hate relationship with Chuck Mackie. I love him because he is a great guy, good citizen and cheerful practitioner of solving the world’s problems with market based solutions. I hate him because he really knows how to make me work, and work hard. Don’t worry, there are others on this list too (Hello Barbara).
On Thursday Chuck emailed me and asked when I was going to write a comment letter for the FTX request to the CFTC for LedgerX LLC, doing business as FTX US Derivatives, “to amend its order of registration as a DCO to allow it to modify its existing non-intermediated model.”
John’s Take – Hitesh Mittal of BestEx Research on Payment for Order Flow
This week comedian and TV star Jon Stewart shined a big bright light on the subject of payment for order flow in equities trading on an episode of his show, The Problem with Jon Stewart. While his take is always entertaining and sometimes impactful, I wanted to share with you another source that has also looked at the subject.
Hitesh Mittal and Kathryn Berkow of BestEx Research released a paper last year titled “The Good, The Bad & The Ugly of Payment for Order Flow” that looked at the impact of the practice on institutional investors.
New Non-Price Oriented Risks to Manage: Covid and Cancer
This newsletter is all about managing non-price oriented risks. I used to have a lot of trading related risks when I was an online futures broker and actively managing money as a Commodity Trading Advisor. Today I have different kinds of non-price oriented risks to manage, ones that would fall into our Wellness Exchange section: COVID-19 and cancer.
Suzanne Cosgrove Accepts New Role, Leaves JLN for PR Agency; Alex Perry Promoted from Intern to Associate Editor
JLN Deputy Managing Editor Suzanne Cosgrove gave her notice to John Lothian News and accepted a position with Purpose Brand, a woman-run, Chicago-based PR, brand, and digital marketing company that’s all about diversity and inclusion and seeks to expand its coverage of financial firms. She leaves JLN at the end of the year and starts her new position on January 3, 2022.
U.S. Growth Slows, But Tesla Options Rev Up; Cboe Goes Nanos For Retail; John’s Take Previews Expo; Strategizing with Butterfly Spreads – The Spread – October 29, 2021
– The U.S. economy sputtered to a 2% growth rate in Q3, but Tesla traders are unfazed; Cboe expands S&P 500 Index options offerings for retail with smaller options; ethereum gets a boost from new ETF expectations;
– John’s Take previews next week’s in-person return of FIA Expo;
– Catching up with long butterfly spreads in the Term of the Week with Jermal Chandler.
Crypto Steals Headlines With Cboe-ErisX Deal, U.S. Bitcoin ETF; John’s Take Connects With ICE Mortgage Tech; A Look at Cash-Secured Puts – The Spread – October 22, 2021
– Crypto edges into the mainstream with Cboe-ErisX acquisition announcement, first-ever bitcoin U.S. ETF debut; SEC’s GameStop study a reflection without regulation;
– John’s Take reviews the data-driven mortgage experience with ICE Mortgage Technology;
– Are you bullish on a stock? The Term of the Week looks at a cash-secured put strategy with Jermal Chandler.
Stock Rally Resumes Despite Mixed Bag of Data; John’s Take Dives Into FIA Tech’s Atlantis; Covered Calls Unmasked – The Spread – October 15, 2021
– Equity options volatility ebbs as markets resume rally, fixated on upbeat earnings;
– John’s Take looks at FIA Tech’s expanded Atlantis service for options brokers;
– Why use Covered Calls? The options Term of the Week with Jermal Chandler.
SGX Looks To Expand A50, Grow China-Centric Risk Management Business
SGX learned much from the experience a year ago when their equity index products switched from MSCI to FTSE Russell. Those lessons are being utilized as they contemplate growing their equity index offerings by increasing the number of stocks in the A50.

Gold Bars and Tokyo Apartments: How Money Is Flowing Out of China
First Read Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff Today is GivingTuesday. According to the official GivingTuesday website, "GivingTuesday was created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good." I encourage you to make a donation to your...
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The Spread
A Deeper Dive into 0DTE Options trading: Jonathan Zaionz, Senior Derivatives Analyst at Cboe Global Markets and Author of “The Rise of SPX & 0DTE Options,” Discusses 0DTE and More in this Options Discovery Full Interview
In this Options Discovery full interview, Asma Awass speaks with Jonthan Zaionz, a senior derivatives analyst at Cboe Global Markets who recently had his paper, “The Rise of SPX & 0DTE Options” published.
Goldman Says Sharp Drop in Volatility Is Opportunity for Hedging
Observations & Insight Nasdaq's Kevin Kennedy Discusses GEMX Launch on AWS Cloud, Highlights Latency Improvements and Future Cloud Migration Plans JohnLothianNews.com Nasdaq has been moving its markets to the cloud, and it recently announced GEMX had moved to its...