Down again.

Photo: Richard Drew | Associated Press

Renewed fears that Federal Reserve interest rate hikes may trigger a global recession looked set to weigh on Asian stocks Friday, with equity futures for Japan pointing to a hefty drop after the S&P 500 saw its fourth straight decline. The slump in stocks came as a key segment of the Treasury yield curve reached new extremes of inversion, touching a level not seen since the 1980s. The Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said turmoil hitting the UK this year is worse in economic terms than anything that struck in the 1970s.

Fed Chair Jay Powell has refused to rule out the possibility of a recession in the world’s largest economy. FT Montage | Reuters/Dreamstime

Federal Reserve hikes by 0.75 point, signals slower increases but ultimately high rates

The Federal Reserve lifted interest rates by another 0.75 percentage point to combat inflation and signaled plans to keep raising them, possibly in smaller increments but to higher levels than previously anticipated. The increase approved Wednesday, the Fed’s fourth consecutive 0.75-point rate rise, lifts the central bank’s benchmark federal-funds to a range between 3.75% and 4%. (The Wall Street Journal | Nov 2) see also Tough-talking Powell wipes out $59 billion from biggest fortunes (Bloomberg Wealth | Nov 2)

Gensler touts SEC's enforcement crackdown, says it will continue

The head of Wall Street’s main regulator has a stern warning for market players: the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s crackdown is just getting started. SEC Chair Gary Gensler told securities lawyers on Wednesday that his agency would continue to pursue violations wherever and however they occur. In remarks for the Practising Law Institute’s 54th Annual Institute on Securities Regulation, Gensler ticked through enforcement actions the agency had brought during his tenure. (Bloomberg Markets | Nov 2)

Economists warn of deeper US downturn as Fed keeps up inflation fight

When Federal Reserve officials last met to set US monetary policy, Chair Jay Powell made it clear that a recession in the world’s largest economy could not be ruled out. “No one knows whether this process will lead to a recession or if so, how significant that recession would be,” he said at the press conference after the Federal Open Market Committee’s gathering in September. (Financial Times | Nov 1)

Asset managers pay vastly unequal fees for using indices

Index providers charge some asset managers 13 times as much as other clients for similar bundles of products and services, according to research into the opaque pricing models that could lead to higher costs for investors. Trillions of dollars are benchmarked to financial indices, but the costs paid for access to them remains a tightly guarded secret. Index providers often bundle products and services, which makes accurate like-for-like comparisons problematic for asset managers to find. (Financial Times | Oct 31)

Rocky Treasury-market trading rattles Wall Street

Rising friction in the trading of U.S. government debt has investors worried about the health of a $24 trillion market that is critical to the functioning of the broader financial system. The ranks of traders ready to buy and sell Treasurys are shrinking. Individual trades are moving prices more. Treasury securities with similar characteristics are trading at larger-than-normal price differences. Major players, including the big banks and asset managers that have long been significant buyers, are in retreat. (The Wall Street Journal | Oct 30)

Photo: Brian Snyder | Reuters

U.S. Treasury thwarted attack by Russian hacker group last month

A pro-Russia hacking group known as Killnet launched a "pretty low-level" denial-of-service attack at U.S. Treasury computer systems in October, said Todd Conklin, cybersecurity counselor to Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo. Treasury stopped the attack and shared details with the financial services industry.

— Reuters

US warns ransomware attacks are outpacing ability to stop them

While the White House wrapped up its international summit on ransomware Tuesday, corporate security chiefs were debating the finer points of incoming cyber rules. One point in question: Is materiality the best way to define thresholds for reporting cyber incidents?

— Bloomberg Technology | Cybersecurity

CISA releases guidance on phishing-resistant MFA

CISA released two fact sheets on Monday to highlight threats against accounts and systems using certain forms of multifactor authentication (MFA). CISA strongly urges all organizations to implement phishing-resistant MFA to protect against phishing and other known cyber threats.

— Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

Sign up for cybersecurity advisories from the

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency here.

Illustration: Institutional Investor

The death of crypto has been greatly exaggerated, again

There is a curious page tucked away in the folds of the internet that proclaims Bitcoin has died more than 460 times. By that website’s count, the cryptocurrency has been vanquished 24 times so far this year, after dying 47 times in 2021 and 14 times in 2020. Its death rate peaked in 2017 — the year Bitcoin shot to a then-record high near the symbolic $20,000 handle in December, only to fall below $11,000 five days later, shedding 45 percent of its value. That year, the cryptocurrency apparently met its demise no fewer than 124 times. Perhaps only Prometheus has been felled, only to regenerate, quite so many times.

— Institutional Investor

How investors feel about ESG initiatives

Big asset-management companies have increasingly used their voting power as shareholders to encourage companies to adopt ESG initiatives. But is that what their clients want? Investors 58 years old and over were the least likely to support ESG objectives in general, and those between 18 and 41 were the most likely — a difference that showed in their willingness to put their savings at risk to support various initiatives.

— The Wall Street Journal

The rise of the social wellness club

Founded by Dr. Jonathan Leary, Remedy Place is a “social wellness club.” (Let Leary himself define that for you: “It’s a club that is temptation and toxin-free, that enhances health and social life at the same time.) There’s no gym equipment, massage tables, or beauty offerings. Instead, there’s an extensive array of holistic treatments. Facilities include an infrared light sauna, acupuncture and cupping rooms, cryo chambers, hyperbaric chambers (they’re different!), and ice baths, just to name a few.

— Vogue