The takeaway … Back on 25 October 2023, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System voted to reduce the cap on the interchange fee, a fee received by debit card issuers. 12 CFR 235.2(j) defines the interchange fee as “any fee established, charged, or received by a payment card network and paid by … Continue reading A reduction in the interchange fee cap may not hurt debit card transactions activity….
The takeaway … I listened to Jerome Powell’s press conference held yesterday after the release of the Federal Open Market Committee’s decision on the federal funds target range. The FOMC decided to maintain the target range at 5.25% to 5.50% by keeping its administered rates, the discount window and the interest on reserve balances, at … Continue reading No surprises as the Fed keeps rates the same. If there is a pivot, it is coming from the media not the Fed…
At 10:06 am as President Joe Biden began delivering remarks from Tel Aviv, the EUR/USD was 1.05475 and GBP/USD was 1.21622. Mr Biden reiterated that the United States supported Israel; that the Jewish state would not stand alone. Mr Biden also noted that the United States saw no higher priority than getting back American hostages. … Continue reading Biden supports a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.
How do you as a market maker extract energy from the political economy? First, under your role within the State. You are the State. Bankers, lawyers, traders, and commodities owners and producers are the State. Within this group is held the philosophy and narrative for the extortion of the underlying political economy. When I say … Continue reading Market makers: How do you extract energy from the economy?
Watching a television commercial featuring an attorney claiming how much money he can win for you in a personal injury suit or seeing a billboard featuring extravagantly dressed attorneys standing in front of a Rolls Royce is enough to give consumers the impression that attorneys are nothing but ambulance chasers. I can see why the … Continue reading The attorney’s role in a political economy goes beyond chasing ambulances ….
The bar, media, church, and academy must present the illusion that all positions can be accommodated while in actuality only one position may prevail: that of the State.
True intellectualism is purposeful, narrow, and intentional. When it claims universality, it is properly masking its true intent. Continue reading True intellectualism equals deceitful narrative …
The State relies on the political means of extracting financial energy. The political means are based in coercion, a coercion that combines police power with the narratives produced from executive orders and rules; court opinions, and legislation from Congress. Mr Biden, as America’s chief political officer thus chief architect of the political means, was able enough not to weaken this narrative.
Mr Biden’s remarks, fumbling speech and all, was a smart one. Continue reading For all his stumbling, Joe Biden managed to successfully spin two narratives.
The Biden Administration’s narrative on the consumer price index lacked any support for or preferred direction of the US currency with today’s release of the consumer price index. Continue reading Consumer price index: The government’s narrative on inflation lacks support for its currency.
If I am assessing the probability of the exchange rate of a currency pair exceeding a certain price at a certain time, that expectation is going to be based, in part, on what government action may or may not occur. For all the anti-intervention chatter we hear from asset managers all over mainstream and social media, going through the following back-of-the napkin exercise has brought me to a contrarian view. Maybe some of these asset managers would like to see some kind of government action that creates profits for them. Continue reading Should traders pray for state intervention in foreign exchange markets?
Lawyers Write the Bets. Bankers Sell the Bets. 