Articles

Those owning full-service brokerage accounts at institutions like Morgan Stanley have probably received calls this week from their brokers.  In addition to calming you down about the crisis around the banks, many of these brokers&rs... Read →

There has been a lot of inaccurate information circulating in the media about what precipitated the failures at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, and what happens now.

Let’s try and clear up at least six things... Read →

The FDIC’s and Federal Reserve’s decision to cover fully deposits at both Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) Bank and Read →

The sudden bank run on Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) that materialized over the course of yesterday is quite troubling.  The reality is that banks make bets on interest rates, and when interest rates move suddenly in one direction,... Read →

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is a regulatory agency of the United States government that is responsible for consumer protection in the financial sector. The CFPB was established under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform ... Read →

The US Treasury has never defaulted on its debt obligations in its history, and it is ordinarily considered extremely unlikely to do so. The US government has a high credit rating and is considered a safe haven for investors worldwide.Read →

"Pesoization" typically refers to a process in which a country's citizens or investors lose faith in their own currency and begin to use a more stable currency for transactions and savings.

The US dollar is the ... Read →

The Federal Reserve has raised the Fed Funds target rate by 25 basis points to a target of 4.50% to 4.75%.   Like the Fed’s six moves in 2022, today’s Fed move was very well telegraphed by Chairman Jay Powell. ... Read →

While the rate environment is dramatically different now, the most important piece of advice that I can give as we enter 2023 is the same as that which I would have given in 2022, 2021, or 2020.   Get your cash out of non-compe... Read →

The Federal Reserve moved to raise the Fed Funds rate by 50 basis points to a target of 4.25% to 4.50%.   The move was well telegraphed by the Fed and completely anticipated by the markets.   The move follows four con... Read →

I speak to lots of folks every day in my work and in my travels.   These people are all very sophisticated – they are lawyers, doctors, engineers and other professionals.

It has already been four months since th... Read →

The Powell Fed has completed its November meeting with its sixth rate hike of 2022, bringing the Fed Funds rate to almost 4% for the first time in a generation.   The Fed still isn’t finished with rate hikes as it mo... Read →

The Federal Reserve has raised the Fed Funds target rate by 75 basis points to a target rate of 3.00% to 3.25%.   This is the highest it has been since 2008.

The rate represents the third successive 75 basis point rat... Read →

More than a decade ago, when GMAC Bank had just rebranded as Ally Bank, they ran a series of commercials designed to build the Ally brand around integrity of treating their customers equally, and not giving preferential treatment to new ... Read →

I was watching Fareed Zakaria’s interview of Bill Clinton this morning on CNN.

Fareed threw Clinton a complete softball when he asked him whether the US was responsible for Russia’s behavior and unlawful war against... Read →