Insane Central Bank Posse, Investments

The Low Tightening of Negative Yield Bankers

Jack Duval

Negative yielding sovereign bonds are a form of capital confiscation and can be thought of as a stealth nationalization of the banks.

bantam inc jack duval multi-family office manhattan new york - Yield and Rates Table 2

Negative rates and negative yield curves made clear.

“The percentage you’re paying is too high priced. While you’re living beyond all your means/And the man in the suit has just bought a new car. From the profit he's made on your dreams." from “The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys”, by Traffic The world is now suffocating under a blanket of

negative yielding sovereign debt.  This phenomenon is perplexing to economists and laymen alike.  In this post, I’ll try to clarify how negative interest rates work and their implications. Chart 1:  Global Sovereign Debt Yields[1] How Negative Interest Rates Work Negative interest rates can be thought of as…

Entrepreneurs, Family Businesses, Interview

Why Middle-Market Businesses Need an Industry Specialist Investment Banker – Interview with Pierre Villere

Jack Duval

"The independent producer is going the way of the corner drugstore, the corner hardware store, or the corner grocery store."

bantam inc jack duval multi family office new york manhattan - pierre villere head shot

Pierre Villere

This is the third interview in our Entrepreneur and Family-Owned Business Interview Series. These interviews are designed to help entrepreneurs and family businesses think through the benefits, implications, and consequences of taking outside investment. As part of the project, I am interviewing private equity fund managers, middle-market investment bankers, attorneys,

accountants, and consultants that advise privately held firms. This interview is with Pierre Villere, the President and Managing Partner of Allen-Villere Partners, an investment banking firm with a national practice in the construction materials industry. Pierre has four decades of experience advising middle-market companies in the construction materials industry, including…

Investments

In VC, No One Can Hear You Scream

Jack Duval

Investors are shifting their gaze downward from top-line revenue to the apex predator of VC dreams: free cash flow.

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On the hunt for unicorns.

In the past two days investors have gotten three data points that should cause serious concern: The WeWork IPO getting revalued to $15-$20 billion (or cancelled), when their last raise was done at a $48 billion valuation;Ford being downgraded to junk status, and;Consumer Credit growth unexpectedly doubling. WeWork The bizzaro

world of private unicorns (privately held firms with $1 billion and higher valuations) has now officially begun to crash. Of course, we've seen this movie before, it was called the tech wreck. Back then the companies were public, and your grandmother owned them. In the sequel, only the "smart" money…

Investments

Timestamping Market Indicators; or, the form of no form

Jack Duval

Investing is a kind of combat, mostly of the investor against herself.

bantam inc jack duval multi family office MFO UHNW manhattan new york - bruce lee v. lew alcindor image

Bruce Lee fights (then) Lew Alcindor in the posthumous "Game of Death".

Every time the U.S. market goes into a serious downturn, a roundelay echoes across the financial world as bull market sycophants cry out: “No one could have seen this coming”. Of course, this is a lie.  Anyone willing to look honestly at the markets can see when risks are rising, valuations are

high, markets are weakening, and other indicators raise red flags. In this post, I am timestamping a number of existing negative indicators, near-term risks, and long-term, structural headwinds. Please don't misunderstand me.  I'm not a permabear, I'm a permarealist.  Any biases an investor has are just rocks they…

Investments

(Trade) War… Good God, Y’all!

Jack Duval

(Trade) war, ain't nothing but a heartbreak. - Edwin Starr

bantam inc jack duval multi-family office new york - edwin starr image

Edwin Starr knew everything you need to know about war.

On Friday I wrote about how China could devalue the Renminbi in response to President Trump's September 1 tariff threat. While few commentators were expecting this, I pointed out that it would be seen as a move of strength for fighting back against Trump, instead of a move of

weakness. It would appear that Xi is in the move-of-strength camp because China devalued the Renminbi by about 1.5 percent against the dollar Sunday night. Chart 1: Dollar/RMB Cross Source: Bloomberg Trade War Goes Hot The trade war is now officially on and hot. The two biggest kids on the block…