Episode Transcript
[00:00:06] Welcome to the John Lothian News daily Update podcast for March 29, 2024. I am your host, John Lothian. This podcast is brought to you by John Lothian News, the home of Marketswickie and Marketswicky Education. Thank you for joining us. Here are the hits and takes comments from today's GLN. It is good Friday for many christians around the world, and it is another Sam Bankman Freed News day here at JLN. The 32 year old bankman freed was sentenced yesterday to 25 years in prison for fraud, meaning he will be middle aged by the time he gets out, assuming he does not get out early. That is a hard fall for a man who had made more money under the age of 30 30 than anyone except Mark Zuckerberg. It is also a day when we remember the plight of Wall Street Journal reporter Yan Gurshkovich, who on March 29, 2023, was detained by russian authorities and has been deprived of his normal existence for twelve months. The Wall Street Journal's front page story is titled Evan Gurchkovich's stolen year in a russian jail, with the sub headline the Wall Street Journal correspondent has been deprived of twelve months of normal existence, a year of missed weddings, reporting trips and travel with friends. But the sad truth is that Evan is not the only one. More than 520 reporters worldwide are locked up by authoritarian leaders, reflecting the rising pressure on independent media. Add to that the number of reporters killed in war zones, including 21 by israeli forces and 83 other journalists killed in the Gaza Strip during the war, the Wall Street Journal reported. Free Evan now and free journalists everywhere. They are being held unlawfully. Soaring cocoa prices aren't just making the price of chocolate marked much higher this Easter, they are also causing the phenomenon Joe Biden described as shrinkflation. The Financial Times reports that Easter eggs are becoming smaller and more expensive due to a historic rally in cocoa prices, prompting chocolate makers to implement shrinkflation to offset costs. For instance, the Malteser's truffles luxury Easter egg increased from eight pounds to 13 pounds, while Atari's chocolate orange Easter egg decreased by 30 grams and a large Mars milk chocolate egg was reduced from 252 grams to 201 grams. This trend of shrinkflation is not limited to Easter eggs, but is impacting various products globally, leading to concerns from politicians on both sides of the Atlantic. The Financial Times is reporting that copper is contrite the cryptocurrency company Copper, chaired by former UK chancellor Lord Philip Hammond, issued an apology after facing criticism for an event held at a five star Mandrake hotel in central London. Guests at the gathering were served sushi from the bodies of scantily clad models, a practice considered controversial and inappropriate. Copper acknowledged the embarrassment caused by the event and announced plans to conduct an internal review on Nasdaq's trade talks with Jill Malindrino, Jeannie Hightower Celido from EDX Markets, along with versify co founder and co CEO Samir Shalabi and crossover Markets co founder and CEO Brandon Mulville, discuss the convergence of crypto and traditional finance tradfi, the shifting of regulatory landscape and anticipated developments in market structure within the industry. Watch the video discussion with the link in today's newsletter Dave Weisberger on LinkedIn announced a major organizational change at coin routes whereby he is assuming the chairman role, while Ian Weisberger will take over the CEO role. Dave Weisberger previously held Robbie Lothian, the USA version, has a new job, though he will continue to work for John Lothian news part time, and he will be joining me in Asheville, North Carolina, in April for the options conference, where he will be JLN's videographer. Robbie has accepted a contract position with a local it firm in Columbia, Missouri, has a contract to transfer and install all the IT equipment from a hospital being decommissioned and a new hospital being equipped.
[00:05:20] A report by Pitchbook titled the state of private market and impact investing 2024 explores the key trends shaping sustainable investing in that year. Among its findings while some asset managers are retreating from ESG considerations, others are embracing ESG as a tool for value creation and risk mitigation. Though the financial performance of ESG committed asset managers varies, quantitative evidence suggests that integrating ESG factors in private markets does not compromise returns. Despite challenges in implementation and compliance. The sustainable finance disclosure regulation, or SFDR, from from the EU, offers hope that public disclosure will enhance access to higher quality data on private funds. Access the report from Morningstar's pitchbook with the link in today's newsletter. Our most read stories from our previous edition of JLN options were Trump media options are so costly bill gross wants to sell them. From Bloomberg this ViX butterfly spread has a 15 one reward to risk ratio from bar chart and term of the week maturity and options lifetime from John Lothian News subscribe to the free JLN Options newsletter with a link in today's JLN. Here are more stories from the first read section of today's JLN. Here's a story from Bloomberg, the headline meme stocks, crypto and Trump's back herald retail trading shift the past few weeks have looked like a replay of the everything rally in 2021, but analysts and retail investors say it's different this time. Stocks and crypto have surged to record highs. Meme stocks are soaring and shares of Donald Trump's unprofitable social media company spiked, adding billions to the former president's net worth. It's easy to look at the market lately and think it was lifted straight out of late 2021. That autumn was the height of the everything rally, when bitcoin hit an all time high of $68,000 and GameStop shares were rebounding into $60 territory. But those heralding a return to retail trading's heady heyday may be getting ahead of themselves, with researchers already questioning how long the current five month rally in equities can last. My comment ah, the good old days are not just like the good old days, are they? Here's another story, this one from Bloomberg. The headline SBF's best friends who turned on him braced for their punishment. Bankman Freed was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison. Carolyn Ellison, Nishad Singh, Gary Wang face prison risk one moved continents to hunker down in her family home. Another landed a job as a software engineer in Silicon Valley. And the third is pursuing a tech career outside crypto after the exchange he helped build imploded 16 months ago. All three were once the closest associates of Sam Bankman fried before turning one by one against the disgraced star of crypto. Now Carolyn Ellison, Nishad Singh and Gary Wang await their own fate after helping seal their former boss's conviction for pulling off a multibillion dollar fraud involving tens of thousands of customers.
[00:09:14] SPF will soon have a group of new best friends.
[00:09:18] Here's another story, this one from the wall Street Journal.
[00:09:22] The psychologist who turned the investing world on its head, Daniel Kahneman, gave people an understanding of what drives financial decisions. Daniel Kahneman explained investors to themselves. A psychologist at Princeton University and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, Kahneman died on March 27 at the age of 90. Before the pioneering work done by Kahneman and his research partner Amos Tversky, who died in 1996, economists had assumed that people were rational, meaning they were self interested. Use all the available information to make unbiased decisions, and our preferences are consistent. My comment doctor why do I sell my winners and let my losers run?
[00:10:15] Here are the top three stories from Thursday's JLN. Our top story Thursday was a tie between the Wall Street Journal's bonds got relabeled. Now millions of americans get higher electric bills and risk.net quote s volatility shapeshifters arbitrage free shaping of implied volatility surfaces. Second was the CFTC's CFTC energy and Environmental Markets advisory committee to meet April 10 in Kansas City, and third was Bloomberg's Robinhood unveils credit card in further push beyond trading. Here are the top five stories from the lead section of today's JLN. The first story is from the Financial Times. The headline FDX founder Sam Bankman Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraud us court judgment caps the dramatic downfall of one of cryptos most prominent stars. Sam Bankman Fried has been sentenced to 25 years in prison over his role in the collapse of his FTX cryptocurrency exchange after a us judge concluded he had done enormous harm by stealing billions of dollars in customer funds to make risky Betsy the sentence, among the longest ever for a us white collar defendant, caps the swift and dramatic downfall of a figure who was once one of the most prominent faces in the crypto industry, courted by celebrities and politicians alike.
[00:11:54] Here's another story, this one from the Financial Times. The headline UK to cut stock settlement Times from 2027 government approves timetable for the city to join global push to upgrade market plumbing Britain will join the global move to cut the time to settle stocks and bonds at the end of 2027, a year later than originally planned, after pushback from businesses with EU interests, a government backed report on Thursday said the UK financial industry should finish preparations for a change to next day settlement by the end of 2025, with a full switchover completed two years later. The timetable marks a breakthrough after disputes between banks and asset managers over the deadline, with some institutions preferring to move as soon as possible and others preferring a slower approach to align with the EU.
[00:12:52] Here's another story, this one from the Wall Street Journal. The headline Evan Gurshkovich's stolen year in a russian jail. The Wall Street Journal correspondent has been deprived of twelve months of normal existence, a year of missed weddings, reporting trips and travels with friends. Ivan Gurchkovich was supposed to be with his friends in Berlin the first week of April 2023. The Wall Street Journal Russia correspondent was set to stay in an Airbnb in the edgy new Collin neighborhood, a base to explore the city's cobble lined streets with his tight knit crew of journalist pals exiled there from Moscow, he was going to drink coffee and hipster cafes and chat into the night over glasses of beer. It was the start of his stolen year.
[00:13:45] Here's another story of this one from the Wall street journal. The headline authoritarians threatened journalists around the world more than 520 reporters are locked up around the world, reflecting rising pressure on independent media. From Vladimir Putin in Russia to the theocrats in Iran, authoritarian leaders are increasingly shutting down independent media and locking up reporters. With hundreds of journalists now in jail around the globe, the surge in government crackdowns on press, which accelerated after Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago, has left more than 520 journalists imprisoned around the world, including a few dozen under house arrest, according to the Paris based advocacy group Reporters Without Borders. The figure is among the highest the group has ever recorded.
[00:14:42] And then, finally, here's one more story from the Wall Street Journal the Life after FTX Bankman Frieds employees struggled to move on what the hell was going on? Comprehending their ex boss crime proves a challenge. A few weeks after FTX collapsed, Natalie teen started crying in a New York grocery store. She was still in disbelief that the phenomenally successful crypto exchange where she had worked, often putting in 16 hours days, had imploded overnight. Its team of young, idealistic employees in the Bahamas had scattered. Her old boss, Sam Bankman Fried, was facing a criminal investigation. Much of her net worth, at least $500,000 in FTX shares and various cryptocurrencies had evaporated.
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[00:16:11] Thank you for your valued support. Have a great day and stay safe and treat people the same way you want to be treated, with respect, equality and justice. This has been. John Lothian Goodbye. Have a very happy Easter. This podcast has been produced by Andrew Lothian.
