The Banker Next Door

Major high frequency trading firms are now battling over milliseconds!

Mosaic, a French high-speed trading firm, recently complained to Eurex and European regulators about other high-speed trading firms using a method in which they bombard an exchange with ‘useless data.’ This maneuver buys them just enough time to react fractionally faster to market-moving information. This move is apparently making certain high-speed firms a lot of money. This episode reviews as article from The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) titled “High-speed traders are feuding over a way to save 3.2 billionths of a second.”  

How did economists get President Trump's tariffs so wrong?

When President Trump declared ‘liberation day’ back in April economists were quick to predict that increased tariffs would ‘wreck the economy’ leading to a recession, increased inflation, and increased unemployment. Eight months later, tariff revenue is flowing in, GDP is strong, inflation has held steady, and the employment market is okay. The world has not ended. Why did economists get it so wrong? This episode reviews an article from The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) titled “Why everyone got Trump’s tariffs wrong.” This article examines the predictions made on employment, prices, tariff revenue, economic growth, manufacturing, and trade balance.

BND: Strategy Room 12-20-2025

The Banker Next Door (BND) weekly live stream show. Strategy Room provides financial news, commentary, top stories in the business world, economic indicators, and all things banking for the week.

Do Kwon found guilty, crypto players in Abu Dhabi and regulation update (Crypto Series Part XXXI)

This is part 31 of the crypto series. Do Kwon the founder and CEO of Terra Labs, which operated TerraUSD and Luna stablecoins, was found guilty and sentenced to 15-years in prison. The collapse of TerraUSD and Luna coins led to losses of approximately $40 billion dollars, and some believe was the impetus for the Crypto Winter of 2022. Crypto’s biggest players including Michael Saylor and Changpeng Zhao flew over to Abu Dhabi to woo potential Emirati investors for the crypto industry. Finally, the FDIC proposed a stablecoin application process for banks. This episode reviewed articles from The Wall Street Journal and S&P Global (subscriptions required).

Charter applications boom as new banks are coming!

It seems everyone is getting into the banking space! The OCC is seeing an application boom as they grant conditional approval to Circle, Ripple, Paxos, BitGo Bank & Trust, and Fidelity Digital Assets for national bank trust charters. PayPal applies for a bank charter to open PayPal Bank. Fintech payday lender Enova entered into an agreement to purchase Grasshopper Bank. Three ex-Signature Bank executives are starting N3XT, which will specialize in B2B business payments and blockchain technology. Chime has not yet ruled out going after a bank charter. Who else will jump in? Block, Robinhood? This episode reviewed a series of articles from Banking Dive.

The race for the next Federal Reserve Chair is on fire!

Kevin Hassett came out last week saying that he was going to shake things up at the Fed if he is nominated to be the next chair. Well, that didn’t go over so well with Wall Street and the DC establishment. They like the Fed the way it is, meaning working for them! The wagons were circled and the backlash campaign came hard with a big push for either Kevin Warsh or Christopher Waller. Will Hassett hang in there? This episode reviewed multiple articles from CNBC and prediction odds on Kalshi and Polymarket websites.  

Largest U.S. banks busted for 'debanking' clients!

The OCC has found that nine major U.S. banks ‘debanked’ certain businesses and individuals between 2020 and 2023. The nine banks include JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, US Bank, Capital One, PNC Bank, TD Bank, and BMO Bank. The OCCs report found that these banks restricted assess to the following industries: oil and gas exploration, firearms, coal mining, private prisons, tobacco, e-cigarette manufacturers, adult entertainment, and digital assets. Punishment for the banks named has not yet been determined, so there is still more to come. This episode reviewed three articles from Banking Dive, The Epoch Times, and S&P Global Market Intelligence.   

BND: Strategy Room Bonus - Federal Reserve Statement

This bonus episode is a clip from the BND: Strategy Room on 12-12-2025. This clip goes through the Federal Reserve statement from 12/11/2025, the 3 dissenting votes, and the reappointing of all Fed Presidents and Vice Presidents, effective March 1, 2026.

BND: Strategy Room Bonus - How the Federal Reserve balance sheet & REPO market are tied together!

This bonus episode is a clip from the BND: Strategy Room on 12-6-2025. This clip goes through various charts showing how the Federal Reserve has reduced its balance sheet over the last few years and the effect this has had on the REPO market. The Fed has created a liquidity crisis which is going to lead to more quantitative easing!

BND: Strategy Room 12-12-2025

The Banker Next Door (BND) weekly live stream show. Strategy Room provides financial news, commentary, top stories in the business world, economic indicators, and all things banking for the week.