OpenAI was founded in 2015 by a group of prominent tech leaders, including Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and Ilya Sutskever. The company was established as a non-profit research organization with the mission of ensuring that artificial general intelligence … Continue reading OpenAI was founded in 2015 by a group of prominent tech leaders
Derivates were a hot topic during the height of the banking crisis and we all remember they were the specific reason that AIG went out of business because they had been speculating in those products to an extent that far exceeded business requirements. When the markets froze AIG were unable to meet their off balance sheet commitments in the form of derivatives and went under. What followed in September 2008 was an $85 bn bailout. The level of derivatives in the world was close to $700 Bn. To place that figure in perspective, world GDP is around $60 Bn. Derivatives … Continue reading Derivatives remain a dark secret with undocumented risks to economies and consumers
This is a remarkable paper from Andrew Haldane at the Bank of England. There are lessons and direction here for everyone and it is not as dry as one might expect. It is the more remarkable because it addresses human behavior and relates to economic context. Not your typical Central Bank speech. Lessons from Asia are being learned. The most amazing for me is the HFT (high frequency trading) stat about Accenture in bold. A few quotes to whet your appetite. Take happiness. Studies have shown that happy people save more and spend less. Happy people also take longer to make … Continue reading The value of patience | Haldane BofE
Here is one set of regulation that seems to have worked. The article recounts one broker who is down from 85 on staff to 3. What is intriguing is that the bankrate article seems to suggest this is a bad thing. The reasons provided in the quote below just sound like back to basics banking process that provides lenders and customers protection. In fact it suggests brokers can only operate in a loose credit/ no diligence environment. I do not believe that and surely there is a model for brokers that involves lending discipline. http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2010-08-28-mortgage-brokers_N.htm Credit histories must be dutifully … Continue reading Mortgage regulation in US has worked judging by dramatic impact on brokers
I cannot but help believe there is a deeper problem relative to the situation in Greece. Three people died in a central Athens bank that was set ablaze by Greek protesters on Wednesday during a march against government austerity measures, aimed at saving the country from bankruptcy At one level it is a financial crisis and it should get sorted out with banks involved taking losses eventually as debt will have to be written off or at least placed on such terms as to make repayment unlikely. But this situation is altogether different and deeper than Argentinean or Thai defaults … Continue reading Greece and what it means
The always insightful John Mauldin speaks about the crisis that is Greece and the steps towards another banking crisis. When you have full countries falling apart this is not good for anyone. The degree of failure inside Greece is astounding, and will only lead to worse before it gets better. The larger impact is on currencies, interbank lending (again) and banking system confidence if it is first Greece, then Spain and Portugal … then? MACRO-EUROPE: The Titanic is SINKING | Investorsinsight.com There are no good solutions here, only very difficult ones. In order to get financing, Greece must willingly put … Continue reading You truly know when a country is dysfunctional when its AIR FORCE goes on strike
This is a complex article at ProPublica that in simple terms illuminates all that was wrong with CDO’s and synthetic CDO’s. These instruments allowed investment bankers like Magnetar to circumvent insider trading rules. The story of Goldman Sachs being charged by the SEC for fraud is only the beginning. Financial reform is the last thing many financiers and bankers will have to worry about as this story takes hold. Magnetar involved all the big names and most are listed here. You will see many recognisable names, eg. Citi, Wachovia, Deutsche, Lehmans, UBS, Mizuho, JP Morgan. At this point it appears … Continue reading The Magnetar Trade – otherwise known as ‘The Black Hole”
There is lots of wishful thinking contained in this PEW report which is not one of their better ones imho. The people interviewed are by PEW’s admission skewed and several silicon valley names are included. However the views follow the predictable linear thought process, such as, we have social networks therefore tomorrow everything will be social. Clearly there are themes and directional indicators, but there are competing themes such as organisational inertia, shareholder needs, economic crises and last but not least, human nature. Some extracts. The Impact of the Internet on Institutions in the Future | PEW Some 26% agreed … Continue reading The Impact of the Internet on Institutions in the Future | PEW
A general thread that has been building for me for some years now is highlighted in a few things I have seen recently. The thread is my hatred of advertising and in particular online advertising. For me it lies in the same category as junk (paper) mail except worse. I can simply throw paper junk mail out as one package, so it is not intrusive. Online advertising is horribly intrusive because it is pervasive. I use lots of things to ensure my online experience is minimally interrupted by ads In 2004 people were asking about blog business models. Now it … Continue reading The coming media crisis and parallels with the financial crisis
It was exciting to open the mailbox tonight and see my copy of Business Model Generation. I first met co-author Alex at LIFT in Geneva. He and his colleagues have performed much work focused on the aspects of business model creation, and in particular financial services. I was fortunate enough to be involved in a small way when Alex opened up the creation of the book online to what became 470 other online participants. The result is fabulous and a different kind of book … its more of a handbook for your business model. I have been speaking here for … Continue reading Book | Business Model Generation: Osterwalder and Pigneur
Bankwatch 