Category Archives: Derivatives

As US Markets Look a Bit Wobbly, the Press Looks for the Next Crisis in the Rear View Mirror

The Wall Street Journal worried about the giddy mood at the annual structured industry conference. But is where to look for the next crisis?

AI Financial Crises

Yes, Virginia, AI, like older forms of automated trading, has a nasty propensity to cause crises.

‘Rooftop Solar Is the Future, but It’s Also a Scam’

The solar panel business illustrate how corporations will always find the least acceptable solution to any problem, as they have with AI

Could It Be the Fed’s Mega-QE Created So Much Liquidity That Tightening Doesn’t Work until this Excess Gets Burned Up?

Financial Conditions loosen further: credit markets blow off the Fed to make sure “higher for longer” gets entrenched? That would be funny.

The Fed’s Bank Capital Three-Card Monte: Undermines Tighter Rules by Allowing Synthetic Risk Transfers to Famed Hedge Fund Bad Actors Like Magnetar, Ares

The Fed again seems unable to contain its bad impulses.

Plaintiffs in Mammoth RICO/Swiss Law Suit Versus Credit Suisse, Many Directors and Execs, and KPMG for Egregious Misconduct File Response to Defendants’ Objections

An update on a monster lawsuit against Credit Suisse (now UBS), KPMG, and various executives for a decade of very costly misconduct.

How the Fed Created the Post-2008 Global Safety Net for Banks

The “liquidity” support provided by the Fed to megabanks through cross-border lending in fact acted as subsidies.

The Lehman Disaster and Why It Matters Today

On September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers, a giant investment bank, filed for bankruptcy. The shock was profound; world markets melted down.

The Overlooked Role of the Financial Crisis in the Subjugation of Europe

Europe faces permanent economic diminution thanks to following US sanctions But did the financial crisis pave the way for this self-sabotage?

Oil Prices, Oil Profits, Speculation, and Inflation

n the not inconsiderable role of speculation in the crude oil market in the increase in the WTI crude oil price.

Eurobanks and London Firms Insist Very Bad Things Will Happened if Euro Derivatives Clearing Moves to Continent

anks and loser clearinghouses are complaining about a (long) planned derivatives relocation to Europe. But is this mainly special pleading?

The Currency Swaps Time Bomb in Global Finance – Rob Johnson

Currency swap exposures have gotten to be uncomfortably large……

Satyajit Das: The Financial Party Is Coming to an Abrupt End

There seems to be no escape from looming economic and financial problems, but the officialdom will do it best to delay the reckoning.

The Inevitable Financial Crisis

We’re again in the Wile E Coyote phase of a financial crisis, but this time, the real economy problems are far worse than in 2008.

“Lehman Event” Looms For Europe As Energy Companies Face $1.5 Trillion in Margin Calls

Why energy price spikes are threatening the financial system. And any derivatives bailout will take prescedence over businesses and housholds.