Business

As we countdown to the launch of bitcoin futures trading on the CBOE (10 December) and CME (18 December), the big banks – via the Futures Industry Association - have suddenly got cold feet about the risks. We don't blame them, somebody's going to get hurt, the only question is who. The banks are worried it could be them. The FIA’s “primary” members include all of the usual suspects like JPM, Goldman, Citi, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, etc. The risk they are most concerned about relates to clearing houses which, ultimately, they stand behind.

The chaotic trading in cable continues, this time spiking to the upside after Bloomberg reports that the EU and U.K. have reached an agreement on the sensitive issue of the role of the European Court of Justice after Brexit, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The agreement on the court leaves the Irish border as the only obstacle to talks moving on to the future relationship.

As a reminder, EU leaders are due to decide whether talks can move on at a summit on Dec. 14-15.

The unemployed in America are telling Bloomberg that they have not been more comfortable since April 2001...

Is that a good thing?

A consultant who worked with the highly politicized Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) claims the organization funneled a large portion of over $5 billion in collected penalties to "community organizers aligned with Democrats" as part of a giant slush fund, the Post reports. 

In his latest monthly investment outlook, Janus Henderson's Bill Gross takes a trip to the dark side of monetary machinations and examines the signals (from credit, yield curves, and bitcoin) to comprehend how long this 'dance' can continue, "until the system itself breaks down."

1. Prior market tops (1987, 2000, 2007, etc.) allowed asset managers to partially “insure” their risk assets by purchasing Treasuries that could appreciate in price as the Fed lowered policy rates. Today, that “insurance” is limited with interest rates so low.