Categories Finance
I guess much has been said/written/memed about the most recent r/WSB YOLO short squeeze, and tbh have nothing really smart to add... but i'm puzzled by the pro-investment community reaction to this (namely HFs, bank sales desks
and prop traders)...
While squeezing traders position has long been a guilty pleasure of the Hedge Fund community (and few aggressive banks, with questionable motives to skew prices), everybody seem to be shocked that retail traders do that, and running a decent risk management
scheme...
My best recollection of a brutal position squeeze was the $12bn JPM lost on CDX spread (aka, the London Whale)
https://t.co/bDHAL2UwpX
Back in these days the entire market knew that JP's trader was, in fact, the entire position in the illiquid index (off-the-run)
so almost every credit trader that I knew traded against that position... Now, that's perfectly legal right? it's not crossing any legal boundaries of price manipulation, so why is it ok for pro traders to do that but it becomes shocking when your neighbor's kid does that?
and the CDX example is only one of a handful of examples of skewed position that got squeezed hard, the only difference is the orderbook distribution...
While in "normal" markets orderbook distribution oscillates between normal to slightly skewed, in the YOLO case I think that
FT EDITORIAL: Amsterdam punctures City\u2019s post-Brexit hopes #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/aLM442k6iS
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) February 11, 2021
But I also think that that Andrew Bailey misses the
The Bank of England governor has accused Brussels of double standards by blocking the City from European financial markets https://t.co/vv3OPl9i2a
— The Times (@thetimes) February 11, 2021
During the referendum the argument was made that because the EU regulatory regime was agreed with the UK that passporting would be granted.
And we were told it was crucial by Andrea Leadsom’s campaign team after the referendum.
There is a reason why financial services tend to be in separate chapters of trade deals.
They are not the average service.
Many of their recent contracts have been awarded by the NHS and DHSC, who\u2019ve spent almost \xa325 million on Palantir products since the start of the pandemic, most recently spending \xa323 million for \u201cdata management platform services\u201d within the NHS over the next two years. pic.twitter.com/tk2Tw5yvay
— The Citizens (@allthecitizens) January 6, 2021
examined the NHS contracts Palantir won under Covid19, trying to find out what aspects of our health data this private company has been given access to. But we couldn’t find out - key parts of the contracts are redacted.
At least £25.4m in contracts have been awarded to Palantir from UK Health Services. Their latest (Dec 2020) was worth up to £23m for them to continue deploying their Foundry data management platform within the NHS until
Foundry claims it can ‘source, connect, and transform’ data to ‘make operations analytical and analytics operational.’ It’s a big-data system that, in an NHS context, analyses patient data. More specifically, your
Palantir won their first NHS contract for just £1, supporting the COVID-19 datastore (Mar-June 2020); then a £1m, 4 month extension for the same work; then £908k for aiding the Test & Trace system (June-Sep
Read this first 👇
As someone working in the creator economy space, I love the movement that Substack started.
They mainstreamed paying for independent writing, and changed the lives of thousands of writers in the process.
But they're building for a specific type of creator.
Substack has made it clear that they're focusing on professional writers.
(Putting my product hat on, this is a smart strategy for them to differentiate and win a specific market)
In 2020 they rolled out initiatives like grants, legal support, and mentorship for writers.
If you call yourself "not tech-savvy", their platform is the easiest out-of-the-box option.
Want to take some time off? One of their smartest features gives writers the power to pause paid subscriptions.
If you're a professional writer, Substack might be a good option for you to start with.
But, there are successful writers who are 'graduating' from Substack when they discover a few
Interesting point from @JayCoDon on why he left Substack.
— Austin Rief \u2615\ufe0f (@austin_rief) December 16, 2020
"Substack" becoming synonymous with "newsletter" on Twitter certainly has its pros.
But, there are also cons that may turn off future creators. pic.twitter.com/o5BhWxFv4x
Inside: Competition is Killing Us; Predatory lender seeks national bank charter; Militarizing cops was a failure; and more!
Archived at: https://t.co/mFat1Fsadn
#Pluralistic
1/
Competition is Killing Us: Consumer harm considered harmful.
https://t.co/oJTENrDhFD
2/
2020 was a shitty year for most things, but it was a banner year for books about fighting monopolies, and for the fight itself.
— Cory Doctorow #BLM (@doctorow) January 8, 2021
It started (in Dec '19) with @matthewstoller's GOLIATH, a massive, comprehensive history of monopolies in America.https://t.co/qzY5dPnKRg
1/ pic.twitter.com/QrIiO9xpkC
Predatory lender seeks national bank charter: Oportun led America in suing latinx borrowers during the pandemic.
https://t.co/FPK6NTwFjj
3/
"Partner with us today to build a better tomorrow" - that's the slogan for @oportun, a predatory lender that sued more poor latinx people during the pandemic than any other.https://t.co/ULX8hBCO5a
— Cory Doctorow #BLM (@doctorow) January 8, 2021
1/ pic.twitter.com/iuAerlngZC
Militarizing cops was a failure: Water still wet.
https://t.co/OACizKzNru
4/
In 1997, the Clinton administration created the "1033" program, whereby the Pentagon gave away its "surplus" equipment to local law enforcement agencies, leading to the nationwide militarization of America's cops.
— Cory Doctorow #BLM (@doctorow) January 8, 2021
1/ pic.twitter.com/nfmqyqmGDx
#15yrsago Hollywood’s Canadian MP claims she’s no dirtier than the rest https://t.co/iOEH3n3sON
#15yrsago John McDaid’s brilliant sf story Keyboard Practice free online https://t.co/ciVbtorYiV
5/
My take: the economics aren't very good, but the political economy may make such checks necessary 2/ https://t.co/XY7d9E8SDY
The key economic argument, which @crampell picks up on, is that given a slump that has affected people very unevenly, aid should concentrate on those actually suffering 3/
So if you have a fixed amount to spend, unemployment benefits and maybe small-business aid should be priorities, not checks that will in many cases go to people who are doing OK 4/
But is there a fixed amount to spend? No binding budget constraint for the feds, so this is all about politics. And my sense is that broad issuance of checks is actually kind of a loss leader, helping to sell a package that includes UI 5/
they’re asking for ONE BILLION DOLLARS in additional funding for the rape kits ALONE.
Survivors deserve policies that protect them and support their fight for justice. As President Biden and Vice President Harris take office, we\u2019ve sent them a letter outlining the actions we\u2019d like to see their administration prioritize over the next 4 years. @rainnaction 1/5 pic.twitter.com/dAuhCslVTm
— RAINN (@RAINN) January 26, 2021
notice many of these points are about giving more money to the state so they can put more people in jail.
i’ve long said the concept of a “rape kit backlog” is copaganda. it helps cops look like they’re not the ones actively sabotaging rape cases AND justify get more $$ for an issue they don’t care about.
"as you know, this means that thousands of sexual offenders remain at large, free to reoffend"
Carceral.
Ah, yes, trauma-informed abuse 🤩
Notice how they use "strongest predictor of arrest" as a metric for success. So it isn't even about victims...its about the system throwing more people in jail. They keep talking about rapists being "at large#"
I joined @senatorscarnati to intro a bill to expand voter access, implement greater efficiencies within Pennsylvania\u2019s voting process and maintain election security. It doesn\u2019t matter what the process is for casting a ballot if the results are in question. https://t.co/tEoC4YTuKI
— Senator Jake Corman (@JakeCorman) August 25, 2020