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Fed Liftoff Day is Here
The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates by 25 basis points today, moving the Fed funds target rate off of zero to a target of 0.25/0.50. The target rate had been at zero since COVID-19 arrived on US shores more than two years ago,... Read →
Image Copyright: Moscow Times
Four Steps to Prepare for A Russian Cyberattack on the US Financial System
I practiced law in Moscow in the 1990s. While there, I learned that Russian law is an oxymoron. I also learned a lot about Russia and its strengths. I am certain that in spite every precaution that US financial institutions have taken,... Read →
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Fed Ends January Meeting Planning to Raise Rates, but Not Until March
The Federal Reserve is going to be raising rates in 2022. This action is desperately needed to fight inflation. But, it isn’t ready to act now. It has been clear that Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell has been about as wrong on... Read →
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2022 Is Signaling Wealth Preservation Mode
I am old enough to remember October 1987. I was a college freshman then and I remember my floormates calling their parents to inquire whether they would be able to stay enrolled in college. I also have vivid memories of 2001 and 2008... Read →
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Capital One Venture X is Probably Not a Replacement for Amex Platinum or Chase Sapphire Reserve
Capital One announced the Venture X card last month to great fanfare. They paid the credit card bloggers handsomely to promote it with many of them obliging all too easily and changing the background of their sites to Capital One... Read →
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Two Credit Cards Stand Apart With Outstanding Reward Rates Across All Personal Spend
Over the last several years, all major credit card companies have gotten into the business of promoting spend in certain categories by issuing cards that provide extra points (or cash back) in certain spend categories. It started when... Read →
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Could the Climate Crisis Lead to A Banking Crisis?
I’ve previously espoused the belief that banks need to be given time to formulate a response to the current climate crisis. After COP26 in Glasgow, it is clear that the costs of wind and solar are falling and production advances in... Read →
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The Biden Administration Needs to Stop Appeasement of the Nuclear Lobby
I follow developments in renewable energy and work in the space. 2021 has been a remarkable year for the decline in the cost of offshore wind. We are seeing something similar in the solar/PV space. It is ending with Vestas's surprise... Read →
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Here is How Banks Can Act Now On Climate Change
At COP26 in Glasgow, unlike before, the financial world showed up and a group of 450 financial institutions pledged to invest $130 trillion in the transition to a low carbon world. But, there is so much to be done and it is now incumbent... Read →
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Federal Reserve Announces Slow Tapering, Fails to Provide Guidance on Raising Rates, Causes Loss of Purchasing Power for Savers
The Federal Reserve has tapered its bond buying, beginning to contract its $120 billion monthly bond buying purchases that propped up the economy after COVID-19 struck in March 2020. The bond buying will be decreasing by about $15 billion... Read →
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Examining the Banks’ Climate Policies Critically
It is pretty clear at this stage that those of us alive today and our children, grandchildren and their descendants are facing a climate crisis unlike anything the inhabitants of Earth have ever faced. It is also very clear that this... Read →
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Bask Bank Launches New Online Savings Account Paying 0.60% APY, but There is a Catch
Bask Bank, a division of Texas Capital Bank, has launched a new online savings account. The account, called an Interest Savings Account, is paying 0.60% APY. The rate is clearly among the best online savings rate available at the moment... Read →
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What I Still Remember 20 Years After September 11, 2001
I was not in New York on 9-11. I was living in London at the time and I was in my office. I remember a woman coming down the hall and saying: “Aren’t you from New York?” and then telling me that the World Trade Center... Read →
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Interactive Brokers is Pathetic, but Americans Have No Choice
Interactive Brokers provides an awful level of service. Their service is constantly failing – it goes down all the time these days locking traders out of access to their positions and costing them serious losses. And, users of the... Read →