Exchange Invest Weekend Edition 2727: Cracking Up
Global coke prices, quality concerns, sharks on drugs, Niger coup, Israeli justice reform, crypto hacks & offbeat tourism…
Exchange Invest is a unique information resource combining the day’s stories in a newsletter for investors in exchanges/financial markets infrastructure.
Exchange Invest was founded by former exchange CEO and author of the first bestselling book of fintech (“Capital Market Revolution!” FT 1999) Patrick L Young. Monday through Friday our daily paid subscriber email discusses the business of bourses of all kinds across the world.
This weekly edition is a magazine of broader macro topics as well as including our free weekly podcast which reviews the highlights of the week in the world’s market structure.
On this day in 1899, Henry Ford founded his first company, the Detroit Automobile Company.
IN BIGWORLD
From Exchange Invest 2725: Wednesday, August 2nd:
(This month we are attempting to make the entire August BigWorld somewhat upbeat…)
Exchange Invest is an unabashed fan of Taylor Swift — what’s not to like about a talented hard working woman who employs folks all over the world?
…And now our pink-coated ladies in the research department have done the maths and they concluded: “just read this Yahoo summary:” Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, Which Consists Of 131 Concerts Across 17 States And 5 Continents, Has Caught The Attention Of The Federal Reserve Because Of Its Noticeable Economic Impact…
One of our staff is seeking a ticket and is — I kid you not — somewhere over number 2 million in the waiting list for La Swift. That’s in the region of the population of North Macedonia or Guinea-Bissau, a handy 30% more people than Bahrain, waiting for a ticket to see TayTay.
As we race to pixel “The Era’s Tour” has been watched in person by about 3 million people which is more people than reside in Albania.
Anyway, there’s now a Taylor Swift effect in the Fed’s Beige Book such is the power of her concert draw.
Good for her — we need more economic agents of growth like the dynamic and talented Miss Swift.
EI WEEKLY PODCAST
ASX Under Pressure To Further Manage Its Conflict Of Interests
Nigeria Says Absolutely No To Binance
MCX Maintains Profitability Despite Re-enriching Jignesh Shah’s 63 Moons In The Interim While TCS Failed To Deliver The Replacement System — So Far.
And then there was our big story of the week: The Failed Promise
The Exchange Invest Weekly Podcast 205
VICTORY OR DEATH
20 years on from the first fintech bestseller “Capital Market Revolution!”… “Victory Or Death” is a must-read book for anyone interested in the intersection of Blockchain, Cryptocurrency and FinTech as part of the whole future of finance.
FINANCE BOOK OF THE WEEK
In response to reader’s queries, we have added a book of the week column to the EI weekend edition — You can sign up for EI Weekend for free at ExchangeInvest.com incidentally.
We’re choosing interesting books pertaining to exchanges and markets, investment et al.
This week’s book was written by 3x winner of the Gerald Loeb award, Gregory Zuckerman.
“The Frackers: The Outrageous Inside Story Of The New Billionaire Wildcatters,” is a dramatic narrative tracking of a brutal competition among headstrong drillers known as “Wildcatters,” who solved America’s dependence on imported energy in the process making and losing astonishing fortunes. The Wildcatters transformed the economic, environmental, and geopolitical course of history by using their wealth and power to influence politics, education, entertainment, sports, and many other fields. Their story is one of the most important of our time fanning out from the fracking hotspots of the United States to reach the boardrooms of Wall Street and beyond…
Get the book here.
Suggestions welcome if you would like to nominate a book for us to cover!
Our next Book of the week will be unveiled Saturday in the EI Weekend Edition.
& don’t forget if you want all the news on the bourse business sent daily to your Inbox subscribe to Exchange Invest — via Exchange Invest.com — it’s only $349 per annum to join “The Exchange of Information.”
BITCARNAGE
“The Failed Promise of Unregulated Crypto” was our lead story Tuesday as ICE’s Chief Development Officer Chris Edmonds lanced the fallacy that there’s an institutional crypto wave coming soon — spoiler alert (as if we need to remind you?) it isn’t happening until crypto V1.0 gives way to something a lot less sleazy and with regulation aforethought.
You can read The Failed Promise Of Unregulated Crypto free on our website, ExchangeInvest.com.
The analysis is as simple as it is withering, “Four years ago, ICE created a fully-regulated, physically-delivered crypto futures market, with institutional-grade custody provided by ICE’s then-subsidiary, Bakkt.”
For those who adhere to that old mantra “build it and they will come” you would have been sorely disappointed…
Therein lies a huge problem for crypto and those who think somehow crypto V1.0 can move on to crypto V2.0 without a lot of soul searching (and innumerable further insolvencies). The simple fact is crypto looks sleazy.
This is a must-read article and we appreciate Chris sharing it with the parish via Exchange Invest.
NB Accompanying this article, I added some thoughts which can be shared freely on LinkedIn and Medium.
If you enjoyed this excerpt you may be interested to know that you can read Bitcarnage every day in Exchange Invest.
Alternatively, if you want to follow Bitcarnage — the daily update on happenings in the world of crypto and digital assets, then you can find Bitcarnage as a standalone on Substack.
MACRO THOUGHTS
The Street Price Of A Gram Of Heroin Across Europe
ZeroHedge
UNODC World Drug Report 2023 Warns Of Converging Crises As Illicit Drug Markets Continue To Expand
UNODC
PLY: Fascinating stats gleaned from a recent report on the street price of cocaine (nope, no idea how you research that and stay out of jail, either…clearly I just don’t have the knack for discerning prices in at least one market). The average gram of cocaine in Saudi Arabia costs US$266. The average gram costs US$263 in Australia is one number which really struck me — given Australia doesn’t execute folks with alacrity and has a lot of coastline yet still charlie is wildly pricey?
OF INTEREST
As always, a review of interesting reading to provoke thoughts and consideration… Not sure we agree with much of it….but it’s thought-provoking!
Niger Suspends Uranium & Gold Exports Amid Rumors Of Imminent French Military Intervention
ZeroHedge
PLY: UK and US amongst the diplomatic missions paring their embassies in the face of a coup in the former French protectorate which still has a hefty French garrison.
Netanyahu’s Judicial Reforms Are Not The End Of Israeli Democracy
The Spectator
PLY: Interesting perspective compared with the hysteria which has been the western media default.
Flesh-Rotting Tranq Infects Cocaine Supply, Takes Aim At New, Unsuspecting Victims
NY Post
PLY: The perils of drug mixing for consumers — without an FDA who knows what you are sniffing / injecting? In the free for all NYC market it would seem everybody except transfats but nothing that’s good for you all the same.
Sky News
PLY: who would have guessed that?
$3 Billion Hacked Crypto Funds North Korea Nuclear Program, How End Justifies The Means?
Cryptopolitan
How To Have A German Vacation Without Ever Leaving Toronto
Streets Of Toronto
PLY: A diverting answer to a question I must admit to having never pondered previously.
LAST WORD
…If you want to stay abreast of the world of exchanges then please Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter — free 30 day trial.
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You can also check out the “Reflections From Young’s Pyramid”, it illustrates the relative value of exchanges around the world.
Or the “ICE Cost of Borrowing 2020–2022” An Interest Rate Comparison, which illustrates the end of the funny money era of QE and how interest rates have already had a major lurch up from their previous region of zero to, even negative, levels.
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Catch up on Monday for Exchange Invest 2723…
The future continues in the water cooler of the bourse business…
- Patrick
