| China moves to protect its advanced tech, Jacinda Ardern is set for a big win and stockbrokers offer 20 times leverage ahead of Ant Group's "deal of the decade" IPO. Here are some of the things people in markets are talking about today. China is set to pass a new law that would restrict sensitive exports vital to national security, expanding its toolkit of policy options as competition grows with the U.S. over access to technology. China's top legislative body, the National People's Congress Standing Committee, is expected to adopt the measure in a session that concludes on Saturday. It would apply to all companies in China, including foreign-invested ones. The law would help put China on a similar footing to the U.S., which regularly uses export controls and licenses strategically against its adversaries. Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters staged a rally for a second straight day in Thailand's capital, defying a state of emergency declared by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha to quell escalating demonstrations in support of monarchy reform and greater democracy. The mounting protests have weighed on the nation's currency and stocks, gaining momentum amid an economic crisis facing the tourism- and trade reliant nation. The emergency may also hurt the government's plan to gradually reopen tourism to foreign visitors from this month. Asian stocks looked set for a mixed start Friday as traders awaited news on U.S. stimulus negotiations and coronavirus cases rose in some parts of the world. U.S. shares edged lower and the dollar climbed. Futures dipped in Japan and Australia, and rose in Hong Kong. The S&P 500 came off session lows as banks rebounded from a two-day selloff and energy shares rallied. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Democrats that a Covid-19 relief package won't wait until January, while President Donald Trump said he'd go over $1.8 trillion in stimulus. Treasuries were steady, while crude oil ticked lower. Hong Kong stockbrokers are so confident Ant Group's blockbuster IPO will go smoothly that they're offering to let mom-and-pop investors buy the stock with as much as 20 times leverage. That matches the highest ratio ever offered by brokerages, a reflection of fierce competition for finance and trading fees on what could be the biggest IPO in history. Ant's dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai is expected to raise at least $35 billion, though a date has yet to be finalized. While higher-than-normal leverage could help supercharge demand, it exposes both investors and their brokers to greater risk should the stock slump and threatens to wreak havoc on Hong Kong's money markets. The negotiations between Britain and the European Union over their future relationship are lurching toward a crisis after EU leaders told Boris Johnson he must make concessions only hours before the prime minister is due to decide whether to walk away from negotiations. David Frost, the U.K.'s chief Brexit negotiator, said he was "surprised" and "disappointed" at the warning and said that Johnson would respond on Friday. The spat raises the risk that Johnson will decide to pursue a no-deal Brexit. Without an accord, millions of businesses and consumers will face additional costs and disruption when Britain leaves the single market on Dec. 31. What We've Been ReadingThis is what's caught our eye over the past 24 hours: And finally, here's what Tracy's interested in todayHappy options expiry day! One of the biggest stories in markets right now has been the explosion in stock options trading and on Friday, a bunch of those contracts are scheduled to expire. The theory has been that buying of options forces dealers to hedge their books, which then forces the underlying stock higher and encourages even more options trading, especially of bullish calls that benefit as the stock goes up. The concern is that this kind of activity can exacerbate moves on the way down, as much as up. That's something that arguably happened in August and early September, when the big tech stocks fell dramatically and dragged the indexes down with them. The point about "what drives something to go up, must also drive it to go down" was brought home in an overnight note from Nomura's Charlie Charlie McElligott. He argues that tech stocks are getting closer to the level at which dealers will "flip" from needing to buy stocks to maintain a neutral portfolio position, to needing to sell stocks to maintain a neutral portfolio position. He estimates this "Gamma" flipping point with somewhat worrying specificity at 3,389 on the S&P 500 and 284.63 on the QQQ Index of tech.  The bad news is that a messy expiration day combined with stocks and indexes moving lower overall could lead to what's charmingly known as a mass "puking" of dealer positions as the big players strive to rebalance their books and make any move downwards even worse. The good news is that this Friday could end up being an interesting lesson in just how much options activity is actually moving the overall market. You can follow Tracy Alloway on Twitter at @tracyalloway. | 
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