Recent Reads

Is Crypto in Our Future?

By Marty Margolis on May 30, 2024

Crypto is slowly making its way into the consciousness of mainstream investors, including those who invest public funds. One indication is the passage last week by the House of Representatives of FIT21 (the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act), though it is unlikely to become law in this Congress. Another is a (reluctant?) […]

Bank Regulation Meets Toxic Workplace Charges

By Marty Margolis on May 22, 2024

Last week two Congressional committees responsible for the nation’s financial services held six hours of oversight hearings with leaders of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. In normal times these hearings would have focused on the significant and controversial Basel III Endgame rules proposed […]

What Treasury's Borrowing Plans Mean for State and Local Government Investors

By Marty Margolis on May 16, 2024

A shortage of short-term Treasuries? Perhaps not, but after a rapid expansion of issuance that dominated the market in the past two years, three developments could make it feel like there aren’t enough short-term Treasuries to go around. Why it matters. State and local governments rely on Treasuries as the foundation for their portfolios, with […]

What's With Bank Balances?

By Marty Margolis on May 7, 2024

I’ve been puzzling over a surprising set of statistics. The Federal Reserve reports that in recent years state and local government balances in checkable deposits and currency have mushroomed and are now nearly three times greater than they were in 2019. At the same time assets in time and savings accounts have declined. In pre-pandemic […]

A Big Week for the Bond Market

By Marty Margolis on April 30, 2024

It is a big week for the bond market with a slew of economic releases (jobs, consumer confidence and a few inflation measures), the Federal Open Market Committee meeting (Tuesday/Wednesday) and investors desperately seeking direction. Public sector investors have a constrained universe: they do not generally invest in equities (though a few do), and their […]

The Little Engine that Couldn’t: The Demise of BSBY

By Marty Margolis on April 23, 2024

The details. After the Great Recession regulators determined to replace LIBOR as the dominant index to link floating rate securities. LIBOR was meant to represent the rate on unsecured obligations (commercial paper, corporate notes, bank loans, etc.) It had grown over its 40-year life to be the dominant market index, and as such had great […]

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