The Banker Next Door

BND: Strategy Room Bonus - Prediction Markets going wrong!

This video is a clip from BND: Strategy Room Live Stream on March 21, 2026. The state of Arizona has filed criminal charges against Kalshi. Arizona is claiming that the Prediction Markets company is operating an illegal gambling business without a license. Businesses are now becoming highly concerned that insider trading is happening on Prediction Market platforms as the market is projected to grow to over $325 billion in 2026. Kalshi secures a market valuation of $22 billion. Amazingly, despite an ongoing gambling scandal, Major League Baseball reached a licensing agreement with Polymarket. Finally, Americans are going all in on online gambling!

BND: Strategy Room Bonus - Private Credit contagion is spreading!

This video is a clip from BND: Strategy Room Live Stream on March 21, 2026. The problems in the Private Credit Market are turning into a contagion! MFS solutions, a UK mortgage lender, collapsed! Banks are looking to lend additional money to Private credit funds, even as withdrawals continue to increase. The legal battles between Western Alliance Bank and Jefferies expose many of the underlying risks for banks in lending to the Private Credit Market. The troubles are now spreading to consumer loans as Stone Ridge Asset Management’s fund is under siege. We take a looking inside Cliffwater’s $42 billion Private Credit black box.

Interview with Wade Peery, former banker, current digital asset expert, consultant, and speaker

Interview with former banker and current digital asset expert, consultant, and speaker Wade Peery. Wade and I discuss several topics. We start with his banking career, background, and why he decided to put off retirement. We then move into what he is currently working on, which is helping banks around the country with digital assets. Beyond helping banks, Wade has also gotten into public speaking, consulting, and working with banking related trade groups such as ICBA. We also get into where crypto legislation is currently at and what happens after the regulatory framework is put into place. Finally, we get into nonbank companies that have received or are trying to get a bank charter. What does it mean for overall bank strategy with the combination of new technology and new competitors on the horizon. If you are interested in connecting with Wade, you can find him on LinkedIn.  

BND: Strategy Room 3-21-2026

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.

How is taxing the billionaires working out so far?

I have covered the trend of major migration from Democrat states to Republican states in prior episodes. Since then, the reality of a billionaire’s tax has been moving ever closer. Washington State is looking to pass a millionaire’s tax. The net effect of these actions has been an acceleration of billionaires moving to red states such as Texas and Florida. What happens to the U.S. if this migration trend continues? Is it really a good idea to tax billionaires? I thought we were taxing billionaires, so how did we end up with a millionaire’s tax? Are Democrat states putting themselves into a death spiral but going down this road? This episode examined multiple articles from The Wall Street Journal, The Epoch Times, and Fox Business.  

Do you really own the secruities in your brokerage account?

Do you really own the stocks, bonds, ETFs, and Mutual Funds sitting in your IRA, 401(k), or brokerage account? You do, but not in the way that you think. You are NOT the legal owner of that security. You own a contractual claim, what the law calls a “security entitlement” against a financial intermediary. Does this matter most of the time? No. Does this matter if we have a major financial crisis or if the financial institution you are dealing with gets into serious trouble, yes! If the financial institution pledges your securities as collateral for a loan and they go under, you could lose your investments. You might say, when has that happened? Think Lehman Brothers, Sentinel Management Group, and MF Global. The problem ultimately lies in Article 8 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), which has been amended and adopted by every state legislature in the country. This episode reviewed two articles from The Epoch Times (subscription required) titled “You don’t own your stocks the way you think you do” and “Your property rights have been taken in all 50 states. Here’s how to get them back.” The episode also discusses the book The Great Taking by David Rogers Webb.   

Behind the M&A curtain: A look at QNB and Burke & Herbert transactions

What happens during a bank merger? How does the deal making process start? How does the deal come together? This episode seeks to answer those questions by going behind the scenes with a look at two bank mergers. We examine mergers between QNB Bank and Victory Bank and LINKBANCORP and Burke & Herbert Financial Services Corp. With both M&A examples we consider the ongoing negotiations, the opinion of value, exchange ratio, and fees for investment bankers. This episode examined two articles from S&P Global Market Intelligence (subscription required) titled “QNB raised exchange ratio to secure $41M Victory Bancorp deal” and “LINKBANCORP sought deals with multiple peers before Burke & Herbert merger.”

Interview with Alex Blomstrom owner of Blue Horizon Clothing Co.

Entrepreneur Alex Blomstrom returns to the podcast. Alex has been very busy over the last year recreating her brand. Alex’s first company was Alex Blom Creates. She has rebranded that business as Blue Horizon Clothing Co. Alex and I discussed business strategy, changes that entrepreneurs go through over time, social media, marketing strategy, and the realities of tariffs and increasing oil prices on product and delivery costs. A link to Alex’s website is included below. You can follow her on Instagram and TikTok @shopbluehorizon.co
Link:  https://shopbluehorizonco.com/

Interview with banker Allan Burkley

Banker Allan Burkley returns to the podcast. We discuss the ongoing issues in the Private Credit Market, stablecoins, crypto legislation, the increase in bank charter applications, and how fintech and crypto players might transform bank strategy. Allan Burkley is a highly experienced commercial banker. He currently works for Tompkins Bank. You can follow him on LinkedIn.

BND: Strategy Room Bonus - Jerome Powell escapes trouble and upcoming FOMC meeting

This video is a clip from BND: Strategy Room Live Stream on March 14, 2026. Jerome Powell appears to have escaped potential problems from subpoenas issued in regards to the renovations of several buildings on which costs have ballooned up to $2.5 billion. A federal court judge blocked subpoenas that were issued from a grand jury. Some will say the investigation into the Federal Reserve was highly politicized. Some will say, once again the Fed has been protected from any type of accountability. In addition, the FOMC has a meeting coming up this week. It is widely expected that interest rates will be held steady.