Week InReview
Friday | Aug 2, 2019
Powell just learned the first rule of trade fight club
in case you missed it...
Warren Buffett’s warning that you only learn who’s swimming naked when the tide goes out is hardly heard these days as waves of easy monetary policy wash over the world’s financial markets. With the Fed set to lead central banks in adding stimulus, the unintended consequences are getting harder to ignore. (Bloomberg Economics | Jul 29)

The eight US global systemically important banks have authorized planned stock buybacks of $125.5 billion, up from $96.7 billion in 2018, after passing the Federal Reserve's annual Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review. (The Wall Street Journal | Jul 29)

Investors are bracing for a souring economy with demands that managers of CLOs provide an option to swap defaulted or distressed assets for similar loans. The hope is that these alternatives would afford a better chance at recovery. (Reuters | Jul 25)
the cyber cafe
RIP hacker hoodies? Competition calls for better cybersecurity art
When you read a cybersecurity news article, you'll probably encounter one of these images: a shadowy hacker in a hoody, a glowing digital lock symbol, or a neon screen full of 1s and 0s. Indeed, the stock imagery for cybersecurity topics is pretty unoriginal and full of dumbed-down concepts that risks perpetuating misconceptions about hacking. But a new project aims to change this. 

Unlocking market forces to solve cyber risk
Markets have been slow to adjust to the multi-dimensional perils of cyber risk. Even headline-grabbing cyber incidents such as breaches of Equifax, Target, Anthem, Sony, and Home Depot — along with NotPetya’s devastation of Merck, FedEx, and Maersk —have thus far had only fleeting impacts on assessments of major corporations’ prospects by investors, credit rating agencies and insurers.
— Lawfare

American tech shudders as China cyber rules are expected to get tougher
New draft rules and standards flesh out an existing law that the US and many foreign businesses already consider draconian. If enacted, the measures are likely to hit a swath of American companies, including such tech manufacturers as Cisco Systems Inc., International Business Machines Corp., Juniper Networks Inc., and Dell Technologies Inc. Providers of financial services and the automotive sector also could be affected.
binge reading disorder
Sports cars, psychopaths, and testosterone: Inside the new frontier of fund manager research
Ferraris are a red flag. Should investors care about a fund manager’s relationship status? What kind of car they drive? Ask them if they’ve won any poker games lately? Research points to yes.

The Jeffrey Epstein guide to cutting your tax bill by 90%
There are a lot of theories about the sources of Jeffrey Epstein’s wealth and how he earned his one-time reputation as a brilliant money manager. One thing that isn’t disputed is that he knew how to cut his tax bills by setting up shop in the US Virgin Islands.

A recession is coming (eventually). Here's where you'll see it first.
Economists don’t know when the decade-long expansion, now the longest in American history, will end. But here are the indicators they will be watching to figure it out.
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