Where finance and media intersect with reality.

Spot Markets Live Transcript: 28/11/22

Izabella Kaminska 10:58 … Greetings rabble. Hello and welcome to Spot Markets Live, the weekly tour of what’s going on in markets and finance. Today I’m joined by Anjuli Davies… Hello Anjuli. Anjuli Davies 10:59 Good morning From London for a change Izabella Kaminska 10:59 Also, it’s a special session, as we are currently holed […]

In the Blind Spot (HKD, Semafor, Elon)

This edition of the Blind Spot Wrap was compiled by Izabella Kaminska (IK) and Dario Garcia Giner (DGG). Business, Econ & Finance etc: Nigel Farage has entered the investing world, but his calls have severely lagged the market. After more than a decade and $100bn, the self-driving market appears to be yet another Silicon Valley money […]

What the MrBeast Burgers Phenomenon Tells us About Our Low-Trust Economy

It’s easy to be condescending about a market dominated by shaking rears that can attract more media coverage than statements by political or religious elites. The rise of influencers has left many non-social-media natives confused about the seemingly trivial nature of their success. Trivial they may be. But you’d be wrong to dismiss their power. […]

Mapping the Crypto Shadow Banking System

It took nearly five years for Zoltan Pozsar (then at the New York Fed) to map out the full complexity of the shadow banking system in a bid to help regulators and policymakers to better understand how risks piled up in the system. The end result was this extraordinary chart: Now, thanks to the endless […]

Is the West Quietly Initiating Russian Sanctions Theatre?

Well looky here. The United Kingdom imported around £200mn worth of Russian oil since March, according to the Sunday Times. Much of that sanctions-circumventing oil was transferred into British ports as a result of Russian ships carrying out ship-to-ship transfers at sea to conceal their port of origin. The cargoes were then declared as originating […]

Leaked ‘Zoom Call’ Show Notes: Erik Townsend

In this one-off special edition, the Leaked Lunch podcast becomes the Leaked Zoom call podcast to overcome the geographic challenges of interviewing Erik Townsend of Macro Voices. We discuss everything from selective bias in the media and market structure issues to resource challenges and how media corruption really works. The conversation was recorded on November 22. Brought to you […]

Leaked Zoom Call with Erik Townsend of Macro Voices

In this one-off special edition, the Leaked Lunch podcast becomes the Leaked Zoom call podcast to overcome the geographic challenges of interviewing Erik Townsend of Macro Voices. The convergence in cyberspace occurred on the back of a Twitter exchange we had on Friday last week about media standards and ethics, as well as the pluses and […]

Is It Time To Mark Journalists to Market?

With the world finally waking up to the challenges of valuing any cryptocurrency token properly, here at the Blind Spot — having called the crypto complex right — we’re moving on to pastures new. Notably, how to value a media subscription. In the broad media spectrum that’s far from an easy process. Too much news […]

In the Blind Spot (Bund Chaos, LNG Deals, AWS)

Susbcriber Note: The Blind Spot Wrap is becoming the new weekly free newsletter product! It will now be posted on the Blind Spot website on a Friday afternoon and will later be emailed out on Saturday morning. The wrap is authored by Izabella Kaminska, with contributions and cover from Dario Garcia Giner. You can sign […]

How Does Ripple Mark XRP? Brad Garlinghouse Counts the Ways

Brad Garlinghouse, chief XRP promo-man and CEO of “technology company” Ripple Labs, made an unexpected appearance on a Twitter Spaces hosted by Mario Nawfal on Sunday, November 13 – just as the full extent of Sam Bankman Fried’s empire of lies was becoming understood. It was supposed to be a constructive discussion about what the […]