G’day
All,
Well,
been a while between blog posts. Ahhh, priorities. Anyway, time to empty some
stuff from the mailbox.
Sadly,
the Aussie ocean swimming season is now over.
The
penultimate swim at Warriewood saw some spectacular surf....but the swim was
cancelled.
Warriewood
swim cancelled
And let's make no bones about
it: that swim could not go ahead in those conditions. The Warriewood break is
difficult at the best of times, but the dump onto the bank on Warriewood beach
on Sundee was the most deadly we've seen in years. The swell just thumped onto
that bank, with such force that, even watching it from the safety of the cafe
under the surf club, it made one's skin prickle; we could feel the crash; it shook
our chairs. Each and every dumper in such shallow water fired a volley out
behind, ejaculating sand and water along 100 metres of wave into the face of
the next dumper rolling in. It was frightening to watch.
Still,
a week later, under heavy skies with a light rain falling....A swim...
Report
here:
Results
here:
I’ve
managed to catch the occasional game of Rugby.
...and
fortunately missed our loss to Scotland.
I
mean please. That hurts!
This week I saw a great gadget which
I love:
...But
we felt that we could try to do something about the situation where computers
had become so expensive and arcane that programming experimentation on them had
to be forbidden by parents...
Circuit
diagram at:
Which
I read about here.
I’ve
registered my interest to get one here (flag in top right hand corner lets you choose
jurisdiction):
My
son has downloaded so much rubbish onto our home PC it did what all windows PCs
do....crash.
So
I thought we could use various components and build him his own tower PC.
Clever?
Ummm,
I think he was slightly more excited at the thought of collecting the dog’s
poo.
Why
build it when you can just get a new one out of the box?
...I’m
sure he’ll be enticed by some raspberry pi?
This
was one of the better hoax’s....
On
6th June 2012 a massive swell hit Sydney, Australia. The giant waves broke all
the way into the harbour, making a perfect 2km wave at Bennelong Point
...and
here it unfolds....Hoax video of surfers at Opera House
So,
with a while between blog posts, I’ve missed a lot of news, ho..hum...but what
did I see?
Chi-East
closed. Various reasons I’m sure. Complexity of post trade model being one of
them.
ASX’s
relatively new CEO spoke eloquently and presented well at the annual
stockbrokers conference. Ummm. The less I say about the self serving content
the better. (NB. MY PERSONAL VIEW).
Dark
pools continue to be a focus in Asia and Aust.
Medcraft
of ASIC also spoke well and I was pleasantly surprised by how across the
subject matter he was. He answered 3 questions on various industry sectors in
context and with relevance.
Medcraft
is also chairing the IOSCO board. So Aust punching above our weight in global
trading trends...and I think he’ll want to leave his mark both locally and
internationally. Dark pool consultation is far from over in Aust.
ASX
can match 19 equity options.
Eurex
has sold itself and is partnering with the industry to clear IRS.
Oh,
Link is a share market registry service ASX sold for 150 myn and is now looking
to buy back for 6 times that amount.
APX
is a new Aussie market set to target Asian capital. Both here and abroad. There
is no CCP so it will be bilaterally cleared running on the Trayport platform.
I
like 360. The rapper more than the research.
My
brother, calls himself a geologist, but we know that’s an environmental rapist.
Well, he is looking at going into the wilds and exploring. I thought I’d give
him an analogy about generals and the front lines. Then it dawned on me I don’t
know anything about generals and military campaigns. (rest assured I do know
how to find the bar in my local Returned Serviceman’s League club). Anyway, I
thought of MacArthur so I googled him and came across the downfall of Admiral
Kimmel.
Chapter
4...p48-62 makes for an interesting read.
Happy
Jubilee! Long weekend here.
Cuppa
tea, eh what!
So
tomorrow I plan to watch a little Rugby. WooHoo.
I
want Ireland to win...but they only beat Australia.
Sth
Africa will win.
Ummm,
sheepishly, after losing to Scotland...sure, we’ll beat the 6 nations Chumps /
Leaks.
Saturday
9th June:
New
Zealand vs Ireland
Australia
vs Wales
South
Africa vs England
Have
a great week-end all.
S
PLATFORMS
Chi-East
to Close Operations After Disappointing Volumes
2012
ANNUAL STOCKBROKERS CONFERENCE
ADDRESS
BY ASX MANAGING DIRECTOR AND CEO – ELMER FUNKE KUPPER
Dark
pools shine as ASX trade size falls
The
ASX average trade size for the first quarter is around $7000
Link is a share registry service.
ASX
launches Equity OTC Clear service
The
Australian Stock Exchange has launched Equity OTC Clear, a new service for ASX
participants to anonymously report transactions in over-the-counter equity
options
The
ASX Equity OTC Clear service is initially available over the 19 most liquid
equity options, which are AMP, ANZ, AWC, BHP, BSL, CBA, FMG, MQG, NAB, NCM,
OZL, QBE, RIO, STO, TLS, WBC, WES, WOW and WPL, and also over the index XJO
option contract.
MMADX
appoints new executive director
Money
Market and Debt eXchange has named former NAB heavyweight, Michael Go, as a new
executive director, where he will focus on finalising the firm's capital
raising.
New
Australia Stock Exchange Targets Asian Firms, Investors
The
Asia Pacific Exchange is scheduled to go live next month, subject to final
Australian regulator approval.
New
switching device cuts latency
Trading
times are on the brink of becoming even quicker with today's launch of the
world's fastest switching device with a latency of 130 nanoseconds
TURMOIL
AT PLUS MARKETS CONTINUES AS DISSIDENT SHAREHOLDERS LOOK TO OUST EXECUTIVES
Dissident shareholders of Plus Markets Group have tabled a resolution to oust
the chairman and chief executive over their proposals to sell the small cap
exchange business to Icap for £1.
Deutsche
Börse buys Eurex Zurich for €295 million
Deutsche Börse Group has fully acquired Eurex Zürich AG. Representatives of SIX Swiss Exchange/SIX Group AG and Deutsche Börse AG jointly finalized the transaction in Zurich
Deutsche Börse Group has fully acquired Eurex Zürich AG. Representatives of SIX Swiss Exchange/SIX Group AG and Deutsche Börse AG jointly finalized the transaction in Zurich
CLEARING
EuroCCP
news Roundup
Interoperability:
EMIR embeds the concept of CCP interoperability for cash equity markets, acknowledging
the significant benefits of generating scale economies to bring down costs of
EU clearing as well as eliminating CCPs as a potential single point of failure
for a national market. NASDAQ OMX's recent last minute decision to pause its
interoperability project in the Nordic region has raised concerns amongst
Nordic policymakers about the potential future competitiveness of their market.
Eurex
Clearing partners with seven for new clearing service
Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citibank, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley will all support the launch of EurexOTC Clear for IRS
Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citibank, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley will all support the launch of EurexOTC Clear for IRS
Sweden’s
NASDAQ collateral management shakeup
Sweden-based exchange and clearing company NASDAQ OMX Stockholm (OMX STO) set up three clearing funds to mutualise risk, and revised its collateral management structure so as not to rely too heavily on custodians that are also clearing members
Sweden-based exchange and clearing company NASDAQ OMX Stockholm (OMX STO) set up three clearing funds to mutualise risk, and revised its collateral management structure so as not to rely too heavily on custodians that are also clearing members
POLICY
Maintaining
market integrity in a changing environment
Keynote
speech by Greg Medcraft, Chairman, Australian Securities and Investments
Commission to the Stockbrokers Association of Australia 2012 Annual Conference,
1 June 2012.
Today,
I would like to cover some of these changes, such as market structure,
high-frequency trading (HFT) and dark pools, and enhanced market supervision.'
Specifically
on dark pools, ASIC will:
-
make a new rule requiring price improvement for dark trades below block
size;
-
replace the $1 million threshold for block trades with a tiered model;
-
not implement a minimum size threshold for dark orders, but discuss with
industry potential triggers for future application of a threshold; and
-
consult on the draft market integrity rules very shortly, with the aim of
making final rules in September/October 2012.
ASIC
will also create a taskforce to review dark pools and other forms of off-market
trading. The taskforce will look at:
-
compliance with existing market integrity rules and Corporations Act requirements,
including compliance with trading rules and conflict handling,
-
supervision of trading in dark pools; and
-
whether there should be additional requirements to ensure there is appropriate
transparency and supervision.
12-97MR
ASIC chief elected chair of IOSCO board
ASIC
chairman Greg Medcraft was today elected chairman of the board of the
International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), following a vote
of board members at IOSCO’s annual conference in Beijing.
Includes
IOSCO board members.
Compensation
report finds against last resort scheme
The
St. John report on compensation arrangements for consumers of financial services
recommends strengthening existing compensation arrangements before implementing
a 'last resort' scheme
Full
report available here (122 pages):
PARTICIPANTS
NAB
winds up private equity arm
National
Australia Bank is closing its Integrated Capital Solutions private equity
investment division.
MLC
appoints new head of ThreeSixty Research
ThreeSixty Research is an
18-member team that provides investment, insurance and portfolio construction
research support to advice businesses aligned to the NAB Group.
Funny,
I thought 360 was a profane Aussie rapper....with actually a very good chart
release in Child.
I
recommend this:
STUFF
The
Aussie Economy: Why Rates Will Fall, And Need To Fall More
For some time the AMP's chief economist, Dr Shane Oliver has
been arguing that Australian interest rates need to be lower. The Reserve Bank
at its last meeting seemed to be finally coming around to this view, but
preferred to wait for the release of March quarter inflation
‘I’ll Make 250K This Year, While You’re Unemployed LOL’:
Monster.com Recruiting Goes Horribly Wrong
UK
pension reforms tackle longevity crisis
Landmark
reforms to the UK's pension system have been slated during the Queen's opening
address to parliament and could be legislated by 2013.
Jonathan Pain makes big calls because he
made them early
One of Pain’s pet theories is that the
world is now divided between those that are submerging in debt and those that
are emerging because of rapid growth, such as China, India, Vietnam and Indonesia.
“It’s the new reality as opposed to the new
normal, which is an incredibly US-centric view,”
OECD
Economic Outlook
22/05/2012
- The global economy is gradually gaining momentum, but the recovery is
fragile, extremely uneven across different regions and could be derailed by the
crisis in the euro area, according to the OECD’s latest Economic
Outlook (including country summaries...just click on your flag).
(Australia
can be expected to keep reaping benefits from the mining boom. Despite sharp
sectoral disparities, economic growth should be around potential in 2012 and
2013.)
Future
seen for cheques
The
average cost of processing a cheques is estimated at $7.69 each, compared to
less than $1.21 for each electronic payment, according to figures by the
Reserve Bank of Australia.
THE
SECOND PEARL HABOR: ATTACK ON THE PHILIPPINES
General
MacArthur’s first notice that war had broken out occurred around 3:00 a.m. on
the morning of 8 December when his chief of staff phoned him with the news....
Whatever
caused General MacArthur to wait for over seven hours before making a decision
to use his bombers resulted in the unnecessary destruction of his air force.
Since he was the overall commander of forces in the Philippines, this needless
waste of precious air assets falls on his shoulders. Moreover, his decision to
declare Manila an open city without coordination with the Navy resulted in even
more loss of critical
weapons
and ammunition. As a commander, he clearly failed...
Chapter
4...p48-62 makes for an interesting read.
