Gold, Bitcoin/Digital Gold, and Fiat Currencies

Posted on: 21 March 2024

By Ken Kapner

Introduction In the opening scene of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indy trespasses into a sacred temple to retrieve a golden idol statuette. The viewer is led to believe that this ancient artifact has existed for quite some time. It is no surprise that it is…

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October Scaries: Where are We Six Months After the Banking Crisis and What Might Happen Tomorrow… Boo!

Posted on: 24 October 2023

By Ken Kapner

Introduction Rob McDonough and I coauthored an article in April of 2023 concerning Silicon Valley Bank (https://www.gfmi.com/articles/silicon-valley-bank-interest-rate-and-liquidity-risk-within-asset-liability-management/), their interest rate and liquidity policies, and the reasons for their demise. What has changed since the March banking crisis? Let’s take a look at the current interest rate environment, what challenges may…

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Time for T+1

Posted on: 20 December 2022

By Charlotte Scott

Introduction The late J. Carter Beese Jr., former SEC commissioner, gave a speech in 1993 where he famously said, “Nothing good ever happens to a trade between trade date and settlement date.” Incorporating a riff on Murphy’s Law as it applies to the Lifecycle of Trade (“What can go wrong,…

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Where Does the Municipal Market Go from Here?

Posted on: 15 November 2022

By Julie Barnum

Overview Municipal securities are an important part of the fixed-income market. While small at $4.2 trillion compared with the U.S. bond market at $52.9 trillion, municipal bonds are a critical financing vehicle for cities, towns, and states. The lion’s share of the municipal financings is for large, long-lived assets such…

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ESG from the Issuer’s Perspective

Posted on: 4 October 2022

By Rob McDonough

Trends in Sustainable Security Issuance The number and total size of new issuance deals in the sustainable (or ESG, or Impact) security space has been consistently growing over the past decade around the globe. Even the COVID pandemic was not sufficient to diminish the need for new capital to fund…

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The Long and Short: Inflation + Recession = Stagflation

Posted on: 7 September 2022

By Ken Kapner

Introduction Lots have been written lately about stagflation. Since I have written an article on “Inflation” (https://www.gfmi.com/articles/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-inflation-but-were-afraid-to-ask/) and a blog on “Predicting Recessions” (https://www.gfmi.com/the-long-and-short-predicting-recessions/), I thought I would combine them with an update using today’s economic variables. This article assumes you have read both the prior inflation article and the…

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Offshoring, Outsourcing, Onshoring, Supply Chain, and Baby Formula

Posted on: 1 August 2022

By Ken Kapner

Introduction First, we had, and still have, supply chain issues. These challenges have led to shortages of goods and the inevitable consequences of shortages – price increases. Sourcing products from overseas has been a decades long movement commonly referred to as globalization. Specifically, companies have offshored their production, i.e., they…

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ESG from the Investor’s Perspective

Posted on: 22 June 2022

By Rob McDonough

What is ESG? The acronym “ESG” stands for environmental, social, and governance. More importantly, the term ESG has become synonymous with the concept of “sustainability.” In the capital markets, ESG criteria are a set of standards that should help to assess an organization’s operations evaluate potential investments in securities issued…

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Cryptocurrency Derivatives: Cryptocurrency Perpetual Contracts

Posted on: 25 May 2022

By Ken Kapner

Introduction The rock band YES has a song called “Perpetual Change.” Capital markets resemble the title of the song as they are known for innovation and continually adapting to market changes. (And how apropos to have an adjective in our eNews article and a rock and roll song!) Cryptocurrencies and…

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