Remembrances of the life of Bart Chilton from friends and colleagues I am very saddened to learn about the passing away of Bart Chilton. I had the privilege of working with Bart while he was Commissioner and I was a division director at the...
Bart Chilton
Former U.S. CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton Dies at Age 58
Get a FREE 90 day trial of John Lothian Newsletter First ReadHits & TakesJLN StaffWe mourn the passing of former CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton. He was full of life while he was among us. He and I shared time at Purdue University, though...
FINRA looking at VIX; China curbing options trading; Exotic ETP concerns
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...
John Lothian Newsletter: Nasdaq Suspends Currency-Trading Plans While Rivals Race Ahead; Betting big against the yuan? Beijing will crush you; Bowie Bonds: When the Man Who Sold the World sold asset-based securities
First Read Yesterday's Top 3 The top read stories in yesterday's JLN were: Chicagoans help subdue unruly passenger on detoured United flight which included industry veteran Bob Fitzsimmons; Upstart IEX exchanges blows with small investors over high-frequency trading...
John Lothian Newsletter: As Silence Falls on Chicago Trading Pits, a Working-Class Portal Also Closes; Speed Traders Team Up in Microwave-Tower Superhighway Plan; China’s Mass Affluent to Have Double U.S. Counterparts’ Assets by 2020
First Read High Frequency Chatter Doug Ashburn - JLN The talking heads on TV love anniversaries. They are the easiest way to fill space in the 24-hour news cycle. In the debate over high-frequency trading, however, the network brass at CNBC and Fox Business could not...
Guest Commentary: Regulating Automated Trading, Not Just Chilton’s Cheetahs
Guest commentary by Zachary Ziliak. Zachary Ziliak runs Ziliak Law, LLC, a law firm that focuses on the needs of trading companies and the vendors that service them. Prior to law school, Ziliak worked in the financial sector as a trader and quantitative analyst. He...
John Lothian Newsletter: In Fight Over Bank Rules, Regulator Calls for Compromise; EU agrees breakthrough in market rules; FX Rates Said to Face Global Regulation in Libor Review
A CFTC commissioner wants the regulatory agency to reach out and compromise with overseas regulators on regulating foreign risk. In a probably unrelated turn of events, EU member states reached a milestone agreement on certain bank transactions and competition between...
John Lothian Newsletter: Chilton Seeks End-User Enforcement Delay for CFTC’s Swaps Rules; Bank of Japan Launches Easing Campaign; Flash crash explanation questioned
CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton wants to hold off on punishing swap end-user errors until all the rules are complete and understood. After much shuffling and considering, the Bank of Japan unveils an aggressive new course of action to hopefully improve the nation’s...
John Lothian Newsletter: S Korea Plans Tax On Options And Futures; U.S. Banks Told To Make Plans For Preventing Collapse; Another Day, Another Trading Glitch: RBS Owns EUR/CHF Spike
South Korea is planning a transaction tax for futures and options activity, and not surprisingly some say that the move could harm exchange volume in that country. Formerly-secret plans regarding the banking industry come to light, showing that the U.S. government...
A Speculator Does Not Bet
As I was listening to one of the High Frequency Trading subcommittee reports at the Technology Advisory Committee Meeting of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission a week ago, I took umbrage at some of the language being used to describe trading. Specifically, I...
John Lothian Newsletter: CFTC Won’t Delay Position Limits; Regulators inching forward on Dodd-Frank rules; Bring Back Boring Banks
The CFTC rejects the idea of further consideration on position limits, and moves forward with its rules. With regard to Dodd-Frank, however, rule adoption continues at a snail's pace. Calls arise from economists and bloggers to return banks to an old and tested...
Futures Seeing Blue
As regulators, exchanges and firms comb through the mess that is MF Global, its painfully clear that this industry needs some self-examination. One of the life bloods of the futures business has come from retail and individual traders who help pump in liquidity. One...
Dear Mr. Chilton
Commissioner Bart Chilton says, in defense of position limits that: While I'd have an even tougher rule in many respects if I were the only author, this is nonetheless a very strong, needed and imperative rule to ensure more efficient and effective markets devoid of...
Red Herring Futures Part 1: Speculators, Bart Chilton and the Toaster-Jerk Reaction
Read part 2 here. I read Bart Chilton's commentary about speculators and speculative limits as it went into the Friday edition of this newsletter. In my new practice of staying calm and even-headed when reading government-related editorials, it took several seconds...
John Lothian Newsletter
Today’s Newsletter

Libor Moves to Its ‘Final Chapter’ as U.K. Sets End Dates; Libor to cease for most currencies by end of 2021
Libor Moves to Its ‘Final Chapter’ as U.K. Sets End Dates; Libor to cease for most currencies by end of 2021
We visit more than 100 websites daily for financial news (Would YOU do that?)
JLN Options Newsletter
Today’s Newsletter

Wall Street’s ‘fear index’ surges to highest level in about 5 weeks as Treasury-yield spike sparks stock-market selloff; A new era of volatility begins, but equity inflows continue: BofA
Wall Street’s ‘fear index’ surges to highest level in about 5 weeks as Treasury-yield spike sparks stock-market selloff; A new era of volatility begins, but equity inflows continue: BofA
Everything you need to know about Options Today