Modern Money SmartPod

If you think policy moves by the Trump Administration have throttled the market for renewable energy certificates and other clean energy marlets, you are mistaken. Day Two of our coverage from the Futures Industry Association's Global Cleared Markets Conference continues with this conversation with IncubEx CEO Dan Scarbrough, who explains that despite regulatory challenges, environmental commodity markets are thriving, especially in North America. Scarbrough also discusses:

• The work IncubEx is doing on a financially settled California carbon allowance futures contract, the first of its kind in the market.
• The growth of state-based programs like Virginia's re-entry into the Reginoal Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) program and New Mexico's low carbon fuel standard.
• How recent volatility in European carbon markets due to political and regulatory changes has led to significant activity in the option market.

Day Two of our coverage from the Futures Industry Association's Global Cleared Markets Conference kicks off with this conversation with Meaghan Dugan from Cboe. Dugan expands on Cboe's announcement here in Boca that it is launching a new derivative-based product relevant to prediction markets. Dugan explains how the new event contracts expand on the binary outcome possibilities of "Yes or No" by adding a "Plus" or "Payout Zone". Dugan also discusses:

• Cboe's goal of designing new products that appeal to retail investors.
• Continued efforts at The Options Institute offers educational content in multiple languages to reach global investors.
• Cboe's aim to move faster and more aggressively in the market between TradFi and DeFi worlds.

Day One of our coverage from the Futures Industry Association's Global Cleared Markets Conference concludes with this conversation with Michael Blaugrund, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). Blaugrund outlines ICE's focus on building next-generation infrastructure for trading, clearing, settlement and capital formation. Blaugrund also discusses:

• The recent move by ICE to launch a tokenized equities platform, offering 24/7 tokenized trading with on-chain settlement versus stablecoins.
• ICE's investment in Polymarket and plans to use the platform's signals in traditional markets, including crypto, FX rates, equity indices and single names.
• How ICE leverages its exclusive relationship with Reddit to parse data and generate trading signals and sentiment data, providing unique insights for market participants.

Our coverage from the Futures Industry Association's Global Cleared Markets Conference keeps rolling along as we catch up with Bill Gulya, Managing Director and Head of the Americas at SGX Group. This was Gulya's second consecutive year joining the show in Boca, where he shared his insights on numerous topics, including:

• SGX's goal to round out its multi-asset approach with the addition of Asia government bonds.
• The nuanced approach SGX is taking to prediction markets.
• How the war in the Middle East has impacted various markets, including freight. 
• SGX's partnership with NASDAQ to advance listings between the two exchanges.

To kickoff our week at the Futures Industry Association's Global Cleared Markets Conference, I connected with NinjaTrader Chief Executive Officer Marty Franchi. We covered a lot of ground during our coversation, including:

• NinjaTrader's efforts to serve retail traders as product offerings continue to expand
• How prediction markets are shifting the industry agenda
• What being acquired by Kraken has meant for NinjaTrader's expansion goals
• What NinjaTrader Live is and what that platform means for traders

In what is an annual tradition for this podcast, Futures Industry Association President and CEO Walt Lukken stops by the show to preview what's in store at the annual Global Cleared Markets Conference in Boca Raton, Florida. The agenda in Boca is always packed with fireside chats, speeches and panel discussions featuring some of the most influential leaders in the derivatives industry. Lukken also shares his insights on key issues that are likely to be top-of-mind in the Florida sun, including:

• Prediction markets, digital assets, 24/7 trading and Treasury clearing
• The importance of tokenization and other advancements in improving market efficiency
• What the presence of new regulators in the US means for policy priorities
• The FIA's work and achievements since last year's gathering in Boca

Hoosier Walt!!!: We also had a bit of fun during our conversation. Walt was in South Florida earlier this year to watch Head Coach Curt Cignetti, Heisman Trophy-winner Fernando Mendoza and the rest of the Indiana Hoosiers win the college football national championship. As a proud Hooiser alum, Walt says he might have a few surprises up his sleeve in Boca to help mark IU's iconic achievement. 

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the better part of the last year, you know tariffs implemented by the Trump administration have wreaked havoc on global trade. And now that the US Supreme Court declared a large swath of those tariffs illegal, I've invited an expert onto this show to help make sense of this tariff mess. Marc Busch is a professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and he joins the show to share his insights on what to expect as the story of Trump’s tariffs continues to evolve. 

Marc is also a co-founder at TariffWizard, which has launched a new tool that helps importers and other businesses navigate tariff codes. Marc's dynamic way of describing the complexity of tariffs -- including examples that cite X-Men action figures and Snuggies -- helps explain the maze of details companies are facing as they try to make heads or tails of tariff policy. 

Episode highlights

• Marc's reaction to the Supreme Court decision - (2:17)
• How businesses have responded to tariffs - (4:39)
• Details about TariffWizard - (7:33)
• How TariffWizard is helping businesses save money - (10:54)
• X Men and Snuggies navigate tariff codes - (19:56)
• Will tariff refunds actually happen? - (22:52)

Intercontinental Exchange is launching the Reddit Signals and Sentiment Tool. The tool is designed to offer investors actionable insights about topics and trends that are prominent on Reddit. Considering the rise of Reddit, and the high profile that platform has enjoyed among traders since the pandemic, this collaboration makes perfect sense. Chris Edmonds, the President of Fixed Income and Data Services at Intercontinental Exchange, stopped by the show to share details about how the tool was created and potential use cases across markets.

Regulatory changes and shifting market dynamics are shining a spotlight on repo clearing. Amid all the changes, Yama Darriet, Head of OTC and Repo Expansion at Euronext, stops by the show to discuss the factors that are driving more firms to turn to repo clearing. Darriet also outlines Euronext's Repo Expansion Initiative, which aims to boost market access, liquidity provision and collateral optimization across Europe. Darriet also provides an update on Euronext's effort to bring the buy side into clearing via the build out of its Sponsored Access solution.

With rising energy prices making headlines, Amperon Co-Founder and CEO Sean Kelly stops by the show to discuss the strategies utilities, policymakers and traders are employing to tackle market volatility. Kelly highlights the significant demand growth in Texas and notes the impact of PJM's recent auction results. Kelly emphasizes the need for a diverse energy mix, including nuclear, solar, and natural gas, to meet future demand. Kelly also outlines the solutions traders are leveraging to manage their positions and highlights the importance of AI and machine learning in forecasting and managing energy demand.