CME Group Embraces ERCOT Trading

The CME ("Where risk meetings opportunity") has initially listed 53 electricity futures and options on ERCOT, effective 31 August 2026.

These are purely financial contracts - with the futures financially settled, and options exercised into financial futures. 

Example contracts include:

ERCOT North 345KV Real-time Peak Monthly 1MW Futures (NRK) 

Europe Imports Record Russian LNG in H1 2026

Data from Kpler suggests Europe has imported 9.89 million tons of LNG from Russia's Yamal LNG field in H1 2026.

Microsoft Fiscal Year Results, 18% Revenue Growth, 41% Growth in Azure

Annual revenue $331bn (+18%), MS Cloud $214bn (+27%), Azure $100bn+ (+41%). Models and copilots are a big future focus.

China Engineering out of Dutch Dependency in SemiCons

China has developed its own "immersion deep ultraviolet" (DUV) lithography machines.  Immersion DUV machines are used in the chip manufacturing process - controlled by one company, Holland's ASML ("Changing the World One Nanometre at a Time").

Multiverse Computing Bags Series C

Multiverse Computing has bagged 500m EUR in its Series C capital raise, seven years after its 2019 founding. This is a 2bn EUR valuation - making it Europe's newest unicorn!

The company specialises in AI model compression, using quantum computing-derived techniques to implement LLMs with reduced cost and energy consumption.

The funding round was led by Forgepoint Capital ("Backing Founders of the Digital Future"), BNPP SIVF and Bullhound Capital.

e-SAF to compete with conventional SAF

e-SAF (electrolytic sustainable aviation fuel) is produced using electricity and is not constrained by biological feedstocks. It is more expensive than bio-feedstock-derived SAF.

Commodities price reporting agency Argus has recently launched the first methanol-to-jet cost indices (weekly calculated prices) for nine major production locations.

This has followed the approval by ASTM International, a US standards organization, for methanol-to-jet as a valid process for making e-SAF (electrolytic SAF), clearing the path for airlines to use it in their decarbonisation programs.

Methanol is an organic chemical compound (also known as methyl alcohol) and is the simplest aliphatic compound (chemical compounds containing carbon that are not aromatic compounds).

Data Companies and MCP

Data businesses are embracing MCP but motivations vary, as well as monetisation strategy.  

Research firm Asymmetrix has done a survey to gain insights into those questions. 

In their "MCP Adoption Survey" they found:

1) 96% of Data and Analytics providers surveyed have adopted or are adopting MCP - almost a full house. Asymmetrix refers to this state as being "MCP Positive"

2) Motivations - 36% new distribution channel, 32% client requests, 17% competitive pressure (doing it because others are doing it), and 17% other

On pricing MCP they found:

1) 30% customer dependent, 28% bundled with existing subscription at no cost, 25% available as a premium or add-on tier, 17% usage based pricing

As cost of tokens fluctuate, pricing programs are likely to evolve as players learn to manage token costs.

MCP is fundamentally a disintermediation technology which makes its widespread adoption (including intended adoption) amongst the distintermediated quite staggering.

Bloomberg has also published some learnings on building MCP integrations in financial services.