Exchange Invest Weekend Edition 2799: UK’s Top Criminal?
Boomer bankers gone, food stability, El Nino back as EU turns 30, Ken Griffin’s billion dollar des res, Marc Zucker-criminal?
Exchange Invest is a unique information resource combining the day’s stories in a newsletter for investors in exchanges/financial markets infrastructure.
Exchange Invest was founded by former exchange CEO and author of the first bestselling book of fintech (“Capital Market Revolution!” FT 1999) Patrick L Young. Monday through Friday our daily paid subscriber email discusses the business of bourses of all kinds across the world.
On this day in 1997, volatility from the stock downturn known as the “Asian flu” caused US stock market circuit breakers (brought in after Black Monday in 1987) to “trip” for the first time when the Dow fell 7.2% in a single day.
IN BIGWORLD
From Exchange Invest 2795: Tuesday, October 24th:
Mark Zuckerberg the master criminal has a certain ring to it.
I speak of course as somebody who has been trying to a year to stop a blatant identity theft on the Facebook platform which is being totally ignored by Zuk Inc.
That is just the thin end of the wedge it seems.
In the UK alone, Zuck’s corporate behemoth — this is very meta — is now the biggest single source of crimes recorded by the British constabulary. No fewer than 17% of the 6.6 million crimes recorded in the UK were scams on Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram impacting over a million victims.
Just sayin’ but maybe instead of pursuing a cage fight with Elon Musk or whatever, it might be better for Mr Z-berg to stick to managing his own business?
IPO-VID LIVESTREAM
NEXT WEEK TUESDAY!
Season 22: Episode 03: IPO-VID Livestream 123
Guest: Richard Sandor
Tuesday, October 31st: 1800 UK, 1900 CET, 1400 EST
“The Father of Financial Futures”
A Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur, for his accomplishments in the field of environmental finance and carbon trading, Professor Richard Sandor is known world-wide as the “Father of Financial Futures.
Richard L. Sandor (Ph.D., Dr. sc. h. c.) is CEO of Environmental Financial Products (EFP), which was the incubator to the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) and the American Financial Exchange (AFX). Among Dr. Sandor’s academic roles, he is currently the Aaron Director Lecturer in Law and Economics at the University of Chicago Law School and an honorary Professor at the School of Economics at Fudan University and the University of Hong Kong.
In 2002 he was named by TIME Magazine a “Hero of the Planet” and in 2007 as one of the magazine’s “Heroes of the Environment” for his work as the “Father of Carbon Trading.”
“The Doc” as he is affectionately known in Chicago has served on the board of directors of leading exchanges such as the CME, ICE, CBOT, LIFFE and Tianjin Climate Exchange.
Watch the stream on:
NOW ONLINE!
Season 21: Episode 02: IPO-VID Livestream 122
Guest: Ann Berg
Tuesday, October 24th: 1800 UK, 1900 CET, 1400 EST
“Ann Berg: Unravelling Global Commodities”
Ann Berg is a leading expert in commodities, commodity futures, and food security issues. She is a former grain exporter, futures trader and CBOT director. She has worked for governmental and intergovernmental organizations including the USAID, the World Bank, UNCTAD, EC/EU and was a senior advisor to UN-FAO from 2008–2021. She has worked truly worldwide…
Watch the stream on:
IPO-VID LIVESTREAM PODCAST
In the IPO-VID episode 115, Patrick Young engages in a captivating conversation with the esteemed financial astrologer and author, Susan Gidel.
Prepare to be spellbound as they unravel the mystique of financial astrology, lending a nuanced perspective to the conversation.
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EI WEEKLY PODCAST
NASDAQ Report Strong Numbers As Turkeys Vote For Christmas Down Under
In Washington DC, The GG SEC Suspends Basic Economic Logic In The Long March Towards A Socialist USA
HKMA Announces A Bond Expansion
…And CME Has The Most Cash But May Not Use It For M&A
The Exchange Invest Weekly Podcast 217
VICTORY OR DEATH
20 years on from the first fintech bestseller “Capital Market Revolution!”… “Victory Or Death” is a must-read book for anyone interested in the intersection of Blockchain, Cryptocurrency and FinTech as part of the whole future of finance.
Paid link, as an Amazon Associate, Exchange Invest earns from qualifying purchases.
KASE: INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE FORUM
Catch the last PLY Public Keynote of 2023, on the cusp of the 25th anniversary of his original “Capital Market Revolution!” book…
As part of events dedicated to KASE’s 30th anniversary, KASE will host on November 16, 2023, in Almaty an international exchange forum called “The Role of Exchanges in the Transformation of Financial Markets” organized in association with the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market and Association of Financiers of Kazakhstan within the framework of the XI Congress of Financiers of Kazakhstan.
For more information: click here.
PARISH NOTES
Patrick Birley 1965–2023
I am deeply saddened to report the death of Patrick Birley on Wednesday.
A wave of mourning has embraced the parish worldwide at one of our most charismatic and colourful exchange / clearing house senior executives. I know I am far from alone in mourning the passing of a good man who ran SAFEX, European Climate Exchange and NEX Exchange, was CEO of the London arm of LCH.Clearnet as well as working for LME and consulting for a long time to LSEG & NYSE Euronext.
Patrick was a bright light shining across the parish with a remarkable impact wherever he went. We will all miss him.
Patrick, RIP you did so many good things and we all have so many happy memories, thank you.
Our thoughts are with his family. Condolences.
FINANCE BOOK OF THE WEEK
In response to reader’s queries, we have added a book of the week column to the EI weekend edition — You can sign up for EI Weekend for free at ExchangeInvest.com incidentally.
We’re choosing interesting books pertaining to exchanges and markets, investment et al…
Even the hapless Alameda boss Caroline Ellison (“Reading Reminisces [sic] of a Stock Operator and it’s disturbingly relatable,” was a tweet back when Alameda/FTX were at the high point of feigning solvency) has read our latest book of the week by Edwin Lefèvre, a roman a clef which closely matched the life of the ace investor Jesse Livermore…
First published in 1923, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator remains an absolute must read for every investor.
Get the book here.
*Paid link, as an Amazon Associate, Exchange Invest earns from qualifying purchases.
Suggestions welcome if you would like to nominate a book for us to cover!
Our next Book of the week will be unveiled Saturday in the EI Weekend Edition.
& don’t forget if you want all the news on the bourse business sent daily to your Inbox subscribe to Exchange Invest — via Exchange Invest.com — it’s only $349 per annum to join “The Exchange of Information.”
PLY NOTES
A week in the world of Valereum PLC:
Tuesday 24th: Resignation Of Director
Thursday 26th: Valereum PLC Change Of Directors
Friday 27th: Appointment Of New Directors
Rollercoaster is an understatement. Overall I think history was made this week. Behind the scenes, investor angst was formenting into action last weekend. By the time I heard that VLRM was essentially out of options on various fronts, including the Gibraltar SE take over deal, it was clear there was no role for me as an expert in exchanges when there was no exchange / marketplace strategy left. Thus I tendered my resignation and very amicably resigned.
Somewhere along the line conspiracy theorists could attribute to me the ability of a finer SPECTRE boss than any of the ones defeated by 007. However the truth here is one for the business study casebooks and it demonstrates the power of the crowd.
In the background a small group was educating itself on what an EGM was, how an EGM worked and how you call it. “We need a letter drafted!” Tick “We need 10% of shareholders” Tick…
Hold on hold on, I hear you say, in this narrative they went “we need 10% of shareholders and just ticked a box? Don’t be ridiculous…”
Well that’s the point dear reader, this fine group brought together 10% of the shareholders within hours while this was still an endeavour of the highest secret squirrel capacity.
With a letter on the way… they got to stage two which was approaching other shareholders and indeed a new Telegram group for shareholders only had a new twist on the classic speakeasy password — you had to show how many shares you owned to gain entry.
Within a day there were over 30% of shareholders showing their hand. Within 2 days of the operation to assess shareholder interest in an EGM, the total reached a heady 46.9%. Oh and meanwhile the new Chairman was negotiating an exit with the existing management… he hadn’t pledged his 5% at that time…
It’s a true case of crowd power — the individual shareholders rose up in fury and indignation, seeking management replacement. No EGM was required, the Chairman and his chosen CFO departed swiftly stage left.
By Friday PLY was back at Valereum PLC, now as CEO, thanks to an overwhelming vote of shareholder confidence. (On reflection, had I not taken the position it might have been time to dawn a false beard and go into hiding…).
What next for Valereum? It’s exciting and complicated and feels like a breezy day when you have to change the engines of a Boeing 747 which is already somewhere over the Alps in mid flight. Tricky, requires balance but we’re aiming for a safe landing under full power from all 4 engines.
What next for this story?
Well for one thing, I think it’s a business school case study. A few blokes got together online, found a posse then rounded up a majority of shareholders in a matter of days and sent a polite but firm message to the management that their time was up.
For another thing, this shows why I love marketplaces and exchanges: because (admittedly in a baseball context) the novelist Paul Gallico noted “all human life is here”). People power is at the core of markets and seeing the unity of the shareholder base this week it was quite incredible.
Thirdly, if anybody has any contacts at Netflix, after 10 books I have a screenplay I would like to run by them…
BITCARNAGE
Ultimately this week was all about whether or not… In the end the exciting news was that SBF has opted to testify in his own defence. Will he receive the gracious welcome worthy of a leading effective altruist boy wonder? Or might the Prosecution prove a touch more sceptical?
If you enjoyed this excerpt you may be interested to know that you can read Bitcarnage every day in Exchange Invest.
Alternatively, if you want to follow Bitcarnage — the daily update on happenings in the world of crypto and digital assets, then you can find Bitcarnage as a standalone on Substack.
MACRO THOUGHTS
Mapped: The Largest Stock Exchanges In The World
Visual Capitalist
OF INTEREST
As always, a review of interesting reading to provoke thoughts and consideration… Not sure we agree with much of it….but it’s thought-provoking!
EU turns 30: A Look Back At The European Union Through The Years
South China Morning Post
PLY: A fascinating series of pretty photos which remind us of the abject failure of the EU to actually achieve anything much. Over the 30 year period, the EU’s size of the global economy has shrunk despite vast enlargement of the EU to 27 and then back to 26 nations when G7 UK Brexited. A lot of myth making has been attempted to show a historic agreement when in reality the Maastricht treaty was a sleight of hand because voters in some nations disliked the pooling of sovereignty so their mandate had to be amended until they voted the ‘right’ way. A currency was created which has ended up in a series of crises with another looming and er…
Go on remind me, any EU achievements? Last decade — nada, last fifteen years, can’t think of anything. Overall? The people are poorer and the poltiicians are merely managing decline, A tragedy which if it wasn’t for plucky pro growth nations like Poland and other CEESEE nations would be an utter disaster — as these photos show, pretty but vapid, the EU surmised. What a tragic waste of time and money.
Where Did All The Boomer Bankers Go?
The Spectator
PLY: The clear lesson to be drawn here is that perspective is now millennial in markets meaning traders reckon rates must have peaked as this is beyond crazy for a QE inculcated generation…and many other issues aside, Expect the action at the margins to be stultifying when volatility really kicks off in extremis. Amongst the ominous observations in this article are “Advisors have also said that they’ve found some younger clients are struggling to accept losses in the current market since they are not used to markets turning against them.”
Ken Griffin Plans To Build The Most Expensive Home On Earth — A $1b Mega-Estate
NY Post
PLY: h/t Ann Berg for pointing out this remarkable new build.
El Niño Is Back: Surging Temperatures Bring Extreme Weather And Threaten Lives
Euronews
The World Is Precariously Dependent On Just A Handful Of Staple Food Crops — We Must Diversify
Telegraph
LAST WORD
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You can also check out the “Reflections From Young’s Pyramid”, it illustrates the relative value of exchanges around the world.
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The future continues in the water cooler of the bourse business…
- Patrick
