Going down.

Stocks in Asia are poised to open lower following declines in the US ahead of a pivotal monthly payrolls report. Equity futures for Australia, Japan and Hong Kong all declined after the S&P 500 sunk 1%. The US monthly jobs report is forecast to show employers added the fewest jobs in a month since late 2020. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve officials stressed support for extending the run of interest-rate hikes, highlighting the need to quash stubborn inflation. Almost half of US families surveyed by the Census Bureau found the recent rise in consumer prices to be “very stressful.”

As the dollar strengthens and interest rates rise, price swings in the Treasury market are getting more intense: FT montage: Bloomberg/Dreamstime

Big swings across asset markets raise risk of a financial accident

Investors and Wall Street analysts are sounding the alarm about a possible “market accident,” as successive bouts of tumult in US stocks and bonds and a surging dollar cause rising levels of stress in the financial system. A gauge of strain in US markets – produced by the Treasury’s Office of Financial Research – has soared to its highest level since the coronavirus pandemic ructions of May 2020. (Financial Times | Oct 5)

Asset managers may regret becoming the new banks

Asset managers are the new bankers, and they are finding it decidedly uncomfortable. They are under scrutiny on two continents for their power and importance as well as concerns about the products they sell. Once again the focus is on an alphabet soup of acronyms, in particular ESG and LDI. (Financial Times - opinion | Oct 5)

US starts fiscal year with record $31 trillion in debt

The nation’s gross national debt has surpassed $31 trillion, according to a U.S. Treasury report released Tuesday that logs America’s daily finances. Edging closer to the statutory ceiling of roughly $31.4 trillion – an artificial cap Congress placed on the U.S. government’s ability to borrow – the debt numbers hit an already tenuous economy facing high inflation, rising interest rates and a strong U.S. dollar. (Associated Press | Oct 4)

Scary October?

It’s shaping up as a possible “Red October” to follow a “Black September.” October does not start auspiciously. The sting in September’s tail involved surprisingly bad US inflation numbers that dampened hopes that the Federal Reserve would soon have to peg back its campaign of interest rate hikes. (Bloomberg Opinion | Oct 3)

Crypto could threaten financial system, FSOC warns

Risks tied to cryptocurrencies could grow rapidly and eventually threaten the broader financial system, a panel of senior U.S. officials warned Monday, calling for tougher oversight of digital assets. The Financial Stability Oversight Council, chaired by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, said the crypto industry remains small compared with the overall financial system, but that could change quickly and exacerbate potential systemic risks. (The Wall Street Journal | Oct 3)

Board members, CISOs mismatched on cyber threats, new survey shows

Company boards are struggling to get on the same page with lead security executives on how susceptible their organizations are to cyberattacks, according to a new survey. Email security company Proofpoint and MIT Sloan School of Management's cyber program released a survey Tuesday detailing how 600 board directors worldwide view the cyber threats facing their companies.

— Axios

Hacking responders battle stress

Cybersecurity specialists who respond to hacks say they are stretched thin as ransomware and other attacks proliferate, often working on multiple cases at once while trying to avoid burnout. The stress of the job is magnified by the amount of work incident-response teams are asked to undertake, industry veterans say. International Business Machines Corp.'s X-Force incident response unit estimates that it performed 25% more jobs in 2021 than in 2020.

— The Wall Street Journal

Cybersecurity leaders are having a hard time keeping companies secure, and there's no easy solution

According to Foundry's 2022 Security Priorities Study, which surveyed nearly 900 security leaders around the world, 90% think their organization is not doing enough to address cybersecurity risks. The growing problem companies face today is that the technology threats are evolving too fast for cybersecurity staff to keep pace.

— ZDNet

Lindt, the Swiss chocolate maker, is protective of its “Gold Bunny.” Photo: Arnd Wiegmann | Reuters

It's a bunny-eat-bunny world

With Easter still far away, there are none to melt down. But, backing Lindt after a yearslong battle, the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland ordered Lidl to 'destroy' its chocolate bunnies. It found that Lidl’s chocolate bunnies could be confused with Lindt’s chocolate bunnies, which are protected under Swiss trademark law.

— The New York Times

More than martinis: 60 years of James Bond

The classic Bond cocktail, the Vesper Martini, has become inextricably associated with the world’s best known intelligence agent (something of an oxymoron). Ian Fleming himself devised the cocktail in his first book, Casino Royale in 1953. Bond decides to name the drink after his love interest, Vesper Lynd, prompting her to quip about it having a bitter aftertaste before he then retorts: “No, because once you’ve tasted it, that’s all you want to drink.”

— The Drinks Business

Stressed Wall Street execs flock to ‘ketamine clinic’ for IV therapy

Wealthy stock traders are flocking to a Manhattan “ketamine clinic” that doles out the hallucinogenic drug in a lavish setting to treat depression, stress and burn-out syndrome, according to the psychiatrist who runs it. The Jeff Ditzell Psychiatry center in the Financial District legally doses patients with the drug – best known as a psychedelic party favor – via IV drip for $750 a pop.

— New York Post