Finance Archives - THE STERN OPPORTUNITY

The Election, the Vaccine, and the Moolah

The Election, the Vaccine, and the Moolah

By David Kammiel on November 15, 2020

If you haven’t heard Joe Biden is president-elect of the United States of America, you should probably stop reading now. The market had priced in several predictions for the US elections of 2020. We all know the polls were not as accurate as projected but, as usual, the devil is in the details. The Senate and House election outcomes have caused the major moves in the market thus far, not so much the presidential election. And don’t worry, we will obviously get into the Covid vaccine’s effects on the market, too.

First and foremost, the Senate and House election surprises. What this means in market speak is the unwinding of the “blue wave” bet.…

The Election & The Market

The Election & The Market

By David Kammiel on October 16, 2020

This year has been peculiar to say the least. A pandemic that started more or less in January killed more than a million people and is now on the cusp of a second wave across the globe. In late spring, we experienced nationwide protests against police brutality and racism that ultimately spread around the globe. Then riots captured our attention. Now we come to fall where we have, as you may have heard, likely the most important American election in the past 50 years. It may decide who the next Supreme Court Justice is. It obviously can flip the executive branch, but even more importantly,it may also flip the senate, resulting in the “blue wave” many political strategists have predicted (more on this later).…

Fixed Income Capital Markets Technology: The Future of Primary New Issuance

Fixed Income Capital Markets Technology: The Future of Primary New Issuance

By Robert Charles on October 16, 2020

Fintech firms are actively working to electronify and digitalize fixed-income primary markets

Global fixed-income primary markets continue to develop away from voice-driven communications and manual operational processes to more streamlined interoperable platforms. Firms that once struggled through paper document-driven offerings with no transparency, insights, compliance or regulatory audit trails are now embracing the electronification and digitization offered by firms such as IHS Markit.

Global markets have historically traded fixed income products with a specific set of information and data, allowing for technology firms to standardize and electronify the process; identifying, mapping and modeling the necessary data into digital workflows. Many sectors (investment grade, high yield, emerging markets, structured and securitized) carry unique structures, pricing mechanisms and optional provisions – most of which are specific to each asset class – however, often times this data does remain consistent within each sector and is capable of being identified and tagged for digital standardization.…

Coronavirus and the Market Part III

Coronavirus and the Market Part III

By David Kammiel on June 9, 2020

Note: Considering the potential market fluctuations throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic, it should be noted this article was originally written on 3 June 2020

A few weeks ago in May, the US treasury announced a record high $96 billion quarterly refunding driven by the Covid-19 emergency stimulus. This compares to $84B from last quarter, an amount which held for the previous 5 quarters. So how does a former Goldman Sachs Banker, who is one of the longest-tenured cabinet members in Trump’s administration, decide to structure such debt in such crazy times? In other words, how does Mnuchin, the U.S. treasury secretary, think?…

Coronavirus & the Market: Part II

Coronavirus & the Market: Part II

By David Kammiel on April 5, 2020

Note: Considering the potential market fluctuations throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic, it should be noted this article was originally written on 4 April 2020.

These are unprecedented times. Shamefully, the biggest thing I first noticed was the lack of a long commute to work. It went from 80 minutes to 25 to 0, which was actually quite nice. Then I noticed how sad the cereal aisle looked. This is essentially the only place I’m allowed to go now. All kidding aside, I, and probably most of us, fail to appreciate the full gravity of the pandemic at this point, and how it will affect the decades to come.…