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Introduction Economically, we are certainly in unchartered territory these days. Recovering from a global pandemic, we now face rising inflation pressures coupled with lackluster economic growth as evidenced by the negative 1.4% growth in the U.S. first quarter GDP. Central Banks worldwide are now dealing with the growing pressures of…

Introduction Cryptocurrency derivatives now make up the majority of the cryptocurrency market. I will be writing a series of articles/blogs on the spot and derivatives markets. This first article will address the cryptocurrency futures markets and, in particular, will give an overview of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) contracts. Cryptocurrency…

Leadership: How Is the Remote Workplace Changing Its Definition and Skills Set? Allow me to start with a powerful and inspirational quote from John Quincy Adams:   Leadership – In Simple Words Leadership is the process of persuasion by which an individual induces a group or another person to pursue…

I asked one of my friends what they thought SPAC could stand for. As it is the holiday season, she replied, “Send Presents at Christmas?” Nice try, but no cigar. SPACs, or Special Purpose Acquisition Companies, have been around for years, but recently have garnered much more attention due to…

Since 2008, much has changed in regards to how the Fed manages monetary policy/interest rates. We might even say “what a long strange trip it’s been.” A lot has transpired since the credit crisis in 2008, up to and including the 2020 COVID outbreak. In 2015, I wrote an article…

Inflation The press is abuzz with inflation news. Since the great recession, inflation has been extremely low, primarily registering below the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%. Recently though, inflation has increased above the Fed’s target with the Consumer Price Index coming in at over 5% for two straight months. The…

Introduction The Fisher equation is a way of decomposing a nominal yield into three components: Real yields Inflation expectations Inflation risk premium It is expressed as: (1 + nominal rate) = (1 + real rate) (1+ inflation expectations) (1+ inflation risk premium) It is common for practitioners to combine the…

Commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) have been one of the most successful sub-classes in the structured finance clade of the fixed-income genus. This article reviews the performance of the asset class, focusing on the nexus of CMBS collateral with specific aspects of the real economy and financial markets. The goal is…

Background A former U.S. Defense Secretary responded to a U.S. Department of Defense news briefing question in 2002 about the lack of evidence linking the government of Iraq with the supply of weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups about known knowns; “there are things we know we know. We…

Why Python? Financial professionals are expected to be able to work with increasingly large datasets. Whether you are analyzing the bank’s trade positions or working tirelessly to find exploitable anomalies in the plight for alpha, you must learn to efficiently clean up, sift through, and interpret vast amounts of data.…

Brighter Days Ahead Like so many, I am cautiously optimistic that the end of the COVID-19 pandemic is in sight. By December 2020, COVID vaccines were developed and tested. Now they are being delivered, giving us all hope.[i] However, variants of the virus may prolong the disruption to everyday lives,…

The Evolution of Student Loans The new administration and the hyperbole around socialism has led many pundits to discuss the student loans that are on the U.S. Government’s balance sheet. There are currently over $1.5 trillion of student loans outstanding. These loans can be categorized as either government backed/originated or private…