First Read Volcker Rule Won't Allow Banks to Use 'Portfolio Hedging' WSJ.com In a defeat for Wall Street, the "Volcker rule" won't allow banks to enter trades designed to protect against losses held in a broad portfolio of assets, according to people familiar with the...
commodities trading
John Lothian Newsletter: French Tax on Intraday Trading Loses Support; Javelin Seeks CFTC Permission to List Interest-Rate Swaps; Commodities traders face increased competition
First Read Chicago-based AlphaMetrix ordered to repay improper loans Reuters AlphaMetrix, a Chicago-based fund manager with $700 million under management, on Monday was ordered by its regulator to repay about $600,000 in fees owed to outside money managers by Nov. 1,...
JLN Managed Futures: A Plea to the Retail Investors; Another legal headache for SAC’s Cohen; Harding plans continued success for Winton
Observations - Statistics - Commentary It has been a rough stretch for some commodity players, with the long-only commodity funds bearing most of the brunt. Speaking of bearing the brunt, Steven Cohen and SAC Capital Advisors have had a pretty tough week. June brings...
JLN Managed Futures: Richard Dennis, Bill Eckhardt and the Turtle Traders; The Pension Rate-of-Return Fantasy; Hedge fund spotlight: Credit, global macro and managed futures
In this issue, we see some of the aftermath of lagging performance from the managed futures and other alternatives sectors.Some municipal pensions have been keeping the long-term solvency dream alive via expected returns outside fixed income portfolios. One in...
JLN Managed Futures: Managed Futures and Hedge Funds: A Match Made in Heaven; Commodities Funds Not What They Used To Be; CME Europe to debut with 30 forex products
A new white paper by Sunrise Capital Partners calls managed futures and hedge funds "A Match Made in Heaven." Commodity funds are not what they used to be, according to a WSJ article, as such funds' popularity may be pushing them toward correlation with the S&P...
JLN Managed Futures: The Secrets of The World’s Greatest Traders; Hedge Fund ETF Weapons Turn Dangerous For Solo Investors
In this issue of JLN Managed Futures, hedge fund ETFs are apparently lethal weapons in the hands of non-savvy investors. Commodities run the risk of “de-financialization” according to Dan Kemp in a Reuters story. The illustrious David Einhorn professes his love of...
Mary McHenry of the National Futures Association Discusses the NFA’s CTA Marketing Policies
Mary McHenry is senior manager of compliance at the National Futures Association (NFA). Among the NFA’s oversight responsibilities is the monitoring of the marketing and promotional activities by commodity trading advisors (CTAs). John Lothian News Editor-in-Chief...
JLN Managed Futures: Boca 2012; MF Global Clients’ Details Published
Observations - Statistics - Commentary The JLN Managed Futures team is in Boca Raton, FL this week for the FIA International Futures Industry Conference. As expected, there were three key topics that consumed a majority of conversation, from panels to "table talk":...
Max Eagye – Altegris
Max Eagye is a director of Altegris Clearing Solutions, a San Diego-based introducing broker specializing segregated managed account services for institutional clients, family offices, commodity pools, hedge funds and mutual funds. John Lothian News Editor-at-Large...
Bart Mallon – Cole-Frieman & Mallon
Bart Mallon is a partner and co-founder of Cole-Frieman & Mallon, a San-Francisco-based law firm specializing in hedge fund and alternative investment legal services. His areas of specialization include setting up offshore hedge funds and separately managed...
John Lothian Newsletter
Today’s Newsletter

CME Group to Launch a Global Emissions Offset (GEO) Futures Contract on March 1
First Read $27,051/$300,000 (9.0%) Jeremy Grant ++++ Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff Janet Yellen was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as U.S. Treasury Secretary, the first woman to hold the position first occupied by Alexander Hamilton. The vote was 85-14...
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JLN Options Newsletter
Today’s Newsletter

Retail Traders Are Piling Into Viral Options Calls at All-Time High Level
Observations & Insight Sarah Ponczek of Bloomberg News shared on Twitter that 32 million call options traded yesterday, the second most on record, only behind a day last November. Lead Stories Retail Traders Are Piling Into Viral Options Calls at All-Time High...
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