The Middle Class may serve two masters … Real estate analyst Melody Wright made an observation today on the Julia La Roche Show that is in line with my thinking over the past few months. This economy, she noted, is becoming one where labor services the rich or the less fortunate. Restaurants, financial services, etc., … Continue reading The markets: It’s the exploding froth on the water that gives real information.
Kugler speech missed the mark … On 22 April 2025, Federal Reserve Board governor Adriana D. Kugler gave a speech on the transmission of monetary policy through the economy. Governor Kugler explained how the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) manages monetary policy by adjusting the federal funds rate, the rate at which banks make uncollateralized … Continue reading What Governor Kugler’s speech missed yesterday…
American traders have been showing their overall ignorance of politics in reaction to President Trump’s expressions of disgust with Jerome Powell’s approach to interbank rates. The chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System has long pushed back against threats from the President to dismiss Mr. Powell from the chairmanship. Caselaw found … Continue reading Imagining overnight rate volatility from a President’s involvement in rate setting. Scary. …1:01 PM AST
According to data from MarketWatch, the DOW, S&P 500, and the Nasdaq are up after 48 hours of onslaught of the markets. The price of gold and oil are also up as volatility measured by the VIX has decreased. I do not know how much of the turnaround is due to the reported 90-day pause … Continue reading Back to the Future: A quick post on mercantilism.
Should I bet against the euro? At 1.0959 and not too cheery attitude out of the Eastern Central Bank, maybe I should find a contract and take the sell side. Reuters cited ECB policymaker Isabel Schnabel’s belief that Europe is facing structural headwinds exacerbated by a surge in uncertainty that could get worse with U.S. … Continue reading EUR/USD, the euro: Europe’s yearning for world war days does not impress me.
For the past couple of years, I have been listening to the debate between the gold bugs and the crypto bros. After listening to the arguments, I came up with my own definition of money which I may have shared in the past. Money is energy plus sweat plus output. It is sound money where … Continue reading Are gold and crypto energy?
What I’m reading today: A Lawyer’s Perspective on U.S. Payment System Evolution and Money in the Digital Age. Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. In 2022, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System published a paper authored by Jess Cheng and Joseph Torregrossa discussing the legal underpinnings of the payment … Continue reading U.S.-Eastern Caribbean Interbank Market as of 1:00 pm AST: Thoughts on capturing legal risks in interest rates …
What we are reading … U.S. Treasury. Michael Faulkender. “Yesterday, the United States Senate confirmed Michael Faulkender to be the Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of the Treasury.” — U.S. Department of the Treasury. Note: Deputy Secretary Faulkender spent almost 17 years in academia, according to his LinkedIn profile. He also spent three … Continue reading U.S.-Eastern Caribbean Interbank Market News Scan as of 1:39 pm AST: Is the PCE index keeping hindering progress to two-percent target?
What we are reading today … White House. Venezuela. Tariffs. “On or after April 2, 2025, a tariff of 25 percent may be imposed on all goods imported into the United States from any country that imports Venezuelan oil, whether directly from Venezuela or indirectly through third parties. Duties imposed by this order will be … Continue reading U.S.-Eastern Caribbean Interbank Market News Scan as of 11:00 am AST: Trump’s tariffs on Venezuela appears to have little impact on the Eastern Caribbean; European money supply increases.
Lawyers Write the Bets. Bankers Sell the Bets. 