The Banker Next Door

Episode 73: Heartland Tri-State Bank Failure (Crypto Series Part VI)

This episode continues the crypto series with a look at the failure of Heartland Tri-State Bank in July of 2023. The CEO of that bank has been charged with multiple crimes and is alleged to have embezzled money to cover a cryptocurrency scam that he got involved in. This turned out to be the fourth bank failure in 2023 that was directly involved with cryptocurrency. The first three were a flight of deposits, this case was potentially good old-fashioned white-collar crime.

Episode 72: The Lords of Easy Money Part 3

In this episode we continue to review the book The Lords of Easy Money by Christopher Leonard. This book is about the Federal Reserve’s actions from 2008-2021.  The author provides the reader a behind the scenes view on the discussions inside the Fed and ultimately, we see how their eventual actions played out in the larger economy. Did the Fed save the day or permanently destroy our economy? In this episode we review chapter 2. This is a multi-part series.   

Episode 71: Banking Update 2-18-2024

This episode provides a weekly update on U.S. banking industry news.

Episode 70: Review of Netflix documentary Bitconned (Crypto Series Part V)

This episode continues the crypto series with a review of the 2024 Netflix documentary Bitconned. The story revolves around a crypto company named Centra Tech and the three company executives: Ray, Sorbee, and Robert. These men scammed investors out of millions. It is crazy how they pulled this off and you absolutely will not believe the ending!

Episode 69: The Lords of Easy Money Part 2

In this episode we continue to review the book The Lords of Easy Money by Christopher Leonard. This book is about the Federal Reserve’s actions from 2008-2021.  The author provides the reader a behind the scenes view on the discussions inside the Fed and ultimately, we see how their eventual actions played out in the larger economy. Did the Fed save the day or permanently destroy our economy? In this episode we wrap up chapter 1. This is a multi-part series.   

Episode 68: The Lords of Easy Money Part 1

In this episode we review the book The Lords of Easy Money by Christopher Leonard. This book is about the Federal Reserve’s actions from 2008-2021.  The author provides the reader a behind the scenes view on the discussions inside the Fed and ultimately, we see how their eventual actions played out in the larger economy. Did the Fed save the day or permanently destroy our economy? This is the first in a multi-part series.  

Episode 67: Interview 2 with Bob Newman on derivatives

This episode is the second interview with Bob Newman from Chatham Financial. Chatham is a global advisory and technology firm focused exclusively on financial risk management. Chatham has expertise in the debt and derivatives markets. The conversation here is based around an example of a “vanilla” derivative transaction, that can help a bank turn mismatches in assets and liabilities on their balance sheet into matches.
https://www.chathamfinancial.com

Episode 66: Banking Update 2-11-2024

This episode provides a weekly update on U.S. banking industry news.

Episode 65: JPMorgan growing their branches

This episode looks at JP Morgan’s plan to increase their overall branch count by 500. They are looking to beef up around certain major cities including Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Charlotte. This is interesting given the current industry trend for the last decade is shuttering branches.

Episode 64: Fed Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey

This episode looks at the quarterly Federal Reserve Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices. This survey was just released for January 2024. This survey is very important because it informs on what senior bank executives are seeing in terms of loan demand and tightening or weakening of loan standards (i.e. underwriting) across all loan products (Commercial real estate, residential mortgages, and consumer loans). A link to the survey is provided.
https://www.federalreserve.gov/data/sloos/sloos-202401.htm