Amid the ongoing war, you would have heard Nickel rising by over 200%, Wheat by 80% and Oil by 50%

But did you know there is another asset class that rose by over 2000% since Dec

Todays thread is about Credit Default Swaps, an asset class only accessible to the ultra rich 🧵👇

This thread is divided into the following parts

1. Basics & History of Credit Default Swaps
2. How Russian CDS rose over 2000%?
3. Why these instruments are limited to the ultra wealthy?
4. Can you profit indirectly from CDS?
Credit Default Swaps belong to a category of derivative products called Swaps.
Derivative products are usually of two kinds

1. Standardized Derivative Products like Futures and Option Contracts that are traded over the exchange

2. Non Standardized Over the Counter Products like Forwards and Swaps
Swap at its simplest is an agreement between two parties to exchange a series of cash flows for a set period of time

Swaps were basically invented to help large banks and companies manage their interest rate and currency exposures
Take for example a bank that receives fixed rate interest on a bond

The bank expects the interest rates to go up and as such wants to participate in the upside by exchanging payments from the fixed rate bonds in its portfolio for payments from floating rate bonds
On the other side you have a risk averse bank that wants a fixed cash flow and doesn't want the volatility associated with a floating rate bonds
Two parties can get into a swap agreement, where Bank A will exchange cash flows from a fixed rate bond in exchange for the cash flows of a floating rate bond from Bank B

This agreement is know as a Swap and big financial institutions like GS, JPM etc. act as Swap Dealers.
Here is the kicker, in real life, both the banks don't even need to hold these bonds and can just enter into agreements without ever buying the underlying financial instrument

These are called synthetic derivatives and its a multi billion dollar yearly market.
Its like gambling, only on a larger, legal and more sophisticated level.

I wont get into the technicalities of synthetic derivatives as it will get very complicated, but do Google them if you are interested.
Credit Default Swaps are a type of swap derivative instruments that let two parties bet on the credit rating and standing of a company or a country
If you're rich enough and have one of the large investment banks as your broker, you can buy CDS on anything in the world as long as it has a credit history.
Think India's credit rating with fall? You have a CDS for that.
Think China's real estate market will collapse? You have CDS products for that as well.

Anything that has a credit rating in the world, has an equivalent CDS product for it as well.
In a CDS agreement, the buyer pays a regular premium in exchange for a lumpsum payment should in case the underlying event occurs.
In our case, the ultra rich and giant banks of the world could buy a CDS on Russian Sovereign Debt which required them to pay a regular premium in exchange for a hefty payout if and when Russia's credit rating diminishes.
And that's exactly what happened.

When Russia attacked Ukraine in late Feb and the West started sanctioning Russia, the value of these CDS products sky rocketed, rising by over 2000% (20x) since their value in Dec.
So why are these products limited to only ultra rich, you ask?
Well, cause the governments around the world wants to 'protect' small investor interests and only allow smart rich accredited investors to invest in such complicated financial products.

These arent meant for dumb retail investors like you and me.
The world of finance is a walled off place that is meant to feel complicated so that insiders keep making more money and common crowd stays away.

Its the same reason why there are so many jargons in this profession.
Okay, if we 'dumb retail investors' cannot participate in these CDS directly, can we indirectly benefit from it?

The answer is yes!
You see, Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th Feb 2022, but the prices of Russian CDS started moving up from 17th Feb itself.

The prices of these CDS rarely move up and to those who knew about it, this was a signal that an invasion of Ukraine by Russia was around the corner.
There are always signals in the market, someone somewhere always knows something relevant.

We just need to know where to look.
So that was a short thread on how CDS works and how maybe in the next macro event, you can leverage the CDS price data to identify the signal from the noise.

I do encourage you to learn more about CDS, the synthetic derivative market is a fascinating world.
If you find this thread useful then follow me @itsTarH

I write a new thread every weekend simplifying investing concepts.

All my previous work, can be found here.
https://t.co/sMnxlGcQ99
I also write occasional deep dives and long form articles on stocks and emerging investing trends, you can subscribe to them for free here

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Here is my latest article on Delhivery 🚚

https://t.co/M2w5AYOw5d
Occasionally, conduct webinars that deep dive into a sector in its true sense.

Here is a 5 hour long webinar on Green and Renewable Energy ☀️

Lots of India, Chinese and US companies covered along with Global Demand and Supply scenario

https://t.co/rkiK2iHlS0
Thank you for reading, please retweet the first tweet in this thread.

See you in the next thread.

More from Tar ⚡

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@franciscodeasis https://t.co/OuQaBRFPu7
Unfortunately the "This work includes the identification of viral sequences in bat samples, and has resulted in the isolation of three bat SARS-related coronaviruses that are now used as reagents to test therapeutics and vaccines." were BEFORE the


chimeric infectious clone grants were there.https://t.co/DAArwFkz6v is in 2017, Rs4231.
https://t.co/UgXygDjYbW is in 2016, RsSHC014 and RsWIV16.
https://t.co/krO69CsJ94 is in 2013, RsWIV1. notice that this is before the beginning of the project

starting in 2016. Also remember that they told about only 3 isolates/live viruses. RsSHC014 is a live infectious clone that is just as alive as those other "Isolates".

P.D. somehow is able to use funds that he have yet recieved yet, and send results and sequences from late 2019 back in time into 2015,2013 and 2016!

https://t.co/4wC7k1Lh54 Ref 3: Why ALL your pangolin samples were PCR negative? to avoid deep sequencing and accidentally reveal Paguma Larvata and Oryctolagus Cuniculus?

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राम-रावण युद्ध समाप्त हो चुका था। जगत को त्रास देने वाला रावण अपने कुटुम्ब सहित नष्ट हो चुका था।श्रीराम का राज्याभिषेक हुआ और अयोध्या नरेश श्री राम के नेतृत्व में चारों दिशाओं में शन्ति थी।
अंगद को विदा करते समय राम रो पड़े थे ।हनुमान को विदा करने की शक्ति तो राम में थी ही नहीं ।


माता सीता भी हनुमान को पुत्रवत मानती थी। अत: हनुमान अयोध्या में ही रह गए ।राम दिनभर दरबार में, शासन व्यवस्था में व्यस्त रहते थे। संध्या को जब शासकीय कार्यों में छूट मिलती तो गुरु और माताओं का कुशल-मंगल पूछ अपने कक्ष में जाते थे। परंतु हनुमान जी हमेशा उनके पीछे-पीछे ही रहते थे ।


उनकी उपस्थिति में ही सारा परिवार बहुत देर तक जी भर बातें करता ।फिर भरत को ध्यान आया कि भैया-भाभी को भी एकांत मिलना चाहिए ।उर्मिला को देख भी उनके मन में हूक उठती थी कि इस पतिव्रता को भी अपने पति का सानिध्य चाहिए ।

एक दिन भरत ने हनुमान जी से कहा,"हे पवनपुत्र! सीता भाभी को राम भैया के साथ एकांत में रहने का भी अधिकार प्राप्त है ।क्या आपको उनके माथे पर सिन्दूर नहीं दिखता?इसलिए संध्या पश्चात आप राम भैया को कृप्या अकेला छोड़ दिया करें "।
ये सुनकर हनुमान आश्चर्यचकित रह गए और सीता माता के पास गए ।


माता से हनुमान ने पूछा,"माता आप अपने माथे पर सिन्दूर क्यों लगाती हैं।" यह सुनकर सीता माता बोलीं,"स्त्री अपने माथे पर सिन्दूर लगाती है तो उसके पति की आयु में वृद्धि होती है और वह स्वस्थ रहते हैं "। फिर हनुमान जी प्रभु राम के पास गए ।
Recently, the @CNIL issued a decision regarding the GDPR compliance of an unknown French adtech company named "Vectaury". It may seem like small fry, but the decision has potential wide-ranging impacts for Google, the IAB framework, and today's adtech. It's thread time! 👇

It's all in French, but if you're up for it you can read:
• Their blog post (lacks the most interesting details):
https://t.co/PHkDcOT1hy
• Their high-level legal decision: https://t.co/hwpiEvjodt
• The full notification: https://t.co/QQB7rfynha

I've read it so you needn't!

Vectaury was collecting geolocation data in order to create profiles (eg. people who often go to this or that type of shop) so as to power ad targeting. They operate through embedded SDKs and ad bidding, making them invisible to users.

The @CNIL notes that profiling based off of geolocation presents particular risks since it reveals people's movements and habits. As risky, the processing requires consent — this will be the heart of their assessment.

Interesting point: they justify the decision in part because of how many people COULD be targeted in this way (rather than how many have — though they note that too). Because it's on a phone, and many have phones, it is considered large-scale processing no matter what.
"I lied about my basic beliefs in order to keep a prestigious job. Now that it will be zero-cost to me, I have a few things to say."


We know that elite institutions like the one Flier was in (partial) charge of rely on irrelevant status markers like private school education, whiteness, legacy, and ability to charm an old white guy at an interview.

Harvard's discriminatory policies are becoming increasingly well known, across the political spectrum (see, e.g., the recent lawsuit on discrimination against East Asian applications.)

It's refreshing to hear a senior administrator admits to personally opposing policies that attempt to remedy these basic flaws. These are flaws that harm his institution's ability to do cutting-edge research and to serve the public.

Harvard is being eclipsed by institutions that have different ideas about how to run a 21st Century institution. Stanford, for one; the UC system; the "public Ivys".
Trending news of The Rock's daughter Simone Johnson's announcing her new Stage Name is breaking our Versus tool because "Wrestling Name" isn't in our database!

Here's the most useful #Factualist comparison pages #Thread 🧵


What is the difference between “pseudonym” and “stage name?”

Pseudonym means “a fictitious name (more literally, a false name), as those used by writers and movie stars,” while stage name is “the pseudonym of an entertainer.”

https://t.co/hT5XPkTepy #english #wiki #wikidiff

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Alias #versus Stage Name: What’s the difference?

Alias means “another name; an assumed name,” while stage name means “the pseudonym of an entertainer.”

https://t.co/Kf7uVKekMd #Etymology #words

Another common #question:

What is the difference between “alias” and “pseudonym?”

As nouns alias means “another name; an assumed name,” while pseudonym means “a fictitious name (more literally, a false name), as those used by writers and movie

Here is a very basic #comparison: "Name versus Stage Name"

As #nouns, the difference is that name means “any nounal word or phrase which indicates a particular person, place, class, or thing,” but stage name means “the pseudonym of an