Market Structure Weekly with Larry Tabb, April 6, 2018
Markets already roiled by President Donald Trump’s tough talk on trade with China also are watching the threat of rising interest rates, reports Tabb Group founder and research chairman Larry Tabb, who notes in this week’s market structure segment that the impact on U.S. corporate debt could become a problem for firms’ bottom lines. He also highlights the Treasury’s recent talks with banks about making Treasury price data public. On a positive note, Tabb points out that the renewed volatility is fueling a comeback of Wall Street trading desks; while Credit Suisse has announced it will make a push to return to the top 5 in equities trading, Goldman Sachs is continuing its foray into traditional banking, with a cash management play. Next, Tabb looks at the rise of private equity alongside the electronification of the stock and bond markets, Vanguard’s customer service challenge, and the bidding war for Fidessa. He also discusses the evolving FX markets, MIAX’s challenge of Nasdaq’s options trading patents, and the implications of CME’s acquisition of NEX. On the MiFID II front, Tabb examines the fate of dark pools and liquidity with the introduction of the double volume caps, as well as unbundling’s effect on trading software provision. He also offers a preview of Tabb Group’s latest quarterly equity digest, which is full of data on the U.S. equities markets, including exchange data revenues. Turning to the U.S. equity markets, Tabb reviews articles on measuring brokers’ execution performance and on the SEC’s access fee pilot, and talks about the Spotify IPO and NYSE’s purchase of CHX. He then examines news in the crypto universe, from emerging technologies to the rise of institutional trading. Finally, Tabb reviews the blockchain space, including data privacy and implementation pitfalls, and the fintech threat to traditional banks.
