December 26, 2012: We’re back after a short Christmas holiday. Today’s issue features a number of predictable prediction stories for 2013, including one from former IMF economist Simon Johnson and another from Forbes. There is also a break though in the bankruptcy...
MF Global News
MF Global Trustee Deal: Customers Get $130M from CME Group
MF Global trustee James Giddens struck a deal with the CME Group that recovered $130 million in customer funds from the exchange group. The agreement must be approved by a bankruptcy court and is not associated with the $1.6 billion in missing customer funds. In...
Trading Industry Hit by Recession
The world of trading is experiencing a recession. If you were to define industry GDP as traded and cleared volumes times commissions and fees, we would have experienced two consecutive quarters of lower GDP in futures, equities and options markets. Besides this...
MF Global Report Points Out the Weak Spots
There isn’t much left out of the June 4th report from MF Global Trustee James Giddens “Report of the Trustee’s Investigation and Recommendations.” It’s a thorough 181 page (275 if you count all the charts and graphs at the end) Titanic journey of MF Global under Jon...
Trustee for the Liquidation of MF Global Inc. Submits Report of Investigation and Recommendations
Link to the report: http://jlne.ws/NcOJYp (PDF) Press release from James W. Giddens, the Trustee for the liquidation of MF Global Inc.: June 4, 2012 – New York, New York – James W. Giddens, the Trustee for the liquidation of MF Global Inc., today filed a report on his...
CFTC Files a General Creditor Claim in the Liquidation of MF Global
Press Release from the CFTC: Washington, DC – On June 1, 2012, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission) filed a general creditor claim in the liquidation of MF Global, Inc., No. 11-02790 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y.). The Commission took this action in relation to...
CME Group Advisory Notice: Enhanced Customer Protections
The CME Group released the following notice on April 2, 2012: To: Chief Executive Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Financial OfficerFrom: Audit Department, Clearing House DivisionAdvisory #12-04Notice Date: April 02, 2012Effective Date:May 01, 2012 As a leader...
Self-Interest of a Customers’ Man
“John is looking out for his self-interest,” said a reader. “John must be out money,” said another. It is often assumed that what motivates each of us is our own self-interest. We could not take a breath without that being true. We have to breathe. I am not without...
JLN Special Report: January 2012 Volumes Down
On Your CalendarA little over a month ago, I asked an exchange executive about falling volumes in the options space, to which he said. “January is going to tell us a lot.” January’s message to the options industry wasn’t kind. Most exchanges are reporting lower...
Competition is the Key
I believe in competition. We need competition in regulation. Creating competition in the Self Regulatory Organization sector I believe should be part of the plan to restore customer confidence in our markets. I started thinking about this as reports surfaced that the...
CME Group Establishes 100M Fund to Provide Additional Protection for Family Farmers and Ranchers
CME Group released the following statement on February 2, 2012: CME Group Establishes $100M Fund to Provide Additional Protection for Family Farmers and Ranchers Fund Launched as Initial Step in Restoring Confidence of Market Users Press Release CHICAGO, Feb. 2, 2012...
Pay Now or Pay Later
So far the number one voted-on question on FuturesCrowd.com is "The Number One Priority: Make the Customers Whole." I put that question on the site. I have heard lots of people express this sentiment: that in order to restore customer's confidence in the futures...
This is No Bank Robbery
When someone robs a bank and gets away with the money, they have something fungible (cash) and easily hid. While the authorities may be able to trace the serial numbers on the bills as they start to show up in circulation, there are no other official records for the...
John Lothian News launches FuturesCrowd.com
Who wants to be a Millionaire? In the television game show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," contestants have 4 choices on how to answer the questions. They can answer themselves, or if they don't know the answer, they can use one of three lifelines to try to come up...
John Lothian Newsletter
Today’s Newsletter

Washington Made a Fortress for Inauguration After Capitol Riot
First Read $25,451/$300,000 (8.5%) Ricardo Manrique and Philip Slocum ++++ ++++ Elevated Risk Levels, Volatility Seen Continuing as 2021 Debuts Suzanne Cosgrove and Matt Raebel - John Lothian News The pandemic of 2020 and its associated economic fallout pushed the...
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JLN Options Newsletter
Today’s Newsletter

Why everyone is now an options trader; Strategists See Growing Bets on Emerging-Markets Via ETF Options
Why everyone is now an options trader; Strategists See Growing Bets on Emerging-Markets Via ETF Options
Everything you need to know about Options Today