The Banker Next Door

This episode is a book review of Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre. The book is a fictionalized biography about Jesse Livermore, who was one of the greatest stock traders that ever lived. This book is a financial classic and one of the most recommended investment books ever written.

The Banker Next Door (BND) weekly live stream show. Strategy Room provides financial news, commentary, top stories in the business world, economic indicators, and all things banking for the week.

This episode is a book review for The Wealth of Nations. We discussed the book, the author Adam Smith, context around the year it was published in 1776, and its enduring influence. The Wealth of Nations is considered the cornerstone of modern economics, shaping capitalism, and policy worldwide. The Wealth of Nations is a masterpiece that birthed Capitalism and fueled America’s economic rise.  

The Lords of Easy Money series continues with an exclusive interview with Dr. Thomas Hoenig. Dr. Hoenig is the former Governor of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank and Vice-Chairman of the FDIC. Dr. Hoenig is the main character in the book The Lords of Easy Money by Christopher Leonard. Dr. Hoenig became famous for his dissenting votes during FOMC meetings in 2010 along with his warnings about...

This episode examines an article from Bank Director titled “2025 Compensation & Talent Survey: Powering the C-Suite” and the Bank Director 2025 Compensation & Talent Survey. The Key findings from the report include measuring CEO performance, hiring plans level off, DEI programs decline, handling mishires, head count plateau, and costs continue to rise. Links to the article and report are i...

This episode examines two reports from the Office of the Controller of the Currency (OCC). Both reports are for the 1st quarter of 2025. The first report is “OCC Mortgage Metrics Report” and the second report is “Quarterly Report on Bank Trading and Derivatives Activities.” The Mortgage Metrics report showed 97.6% of mortgages were current and performing at the end of the quarter. The Bank Trading...

This is part 23 of the crypto series. In this episode we review an article from The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) titled “Crypto billionaire is accused of fraud.” Barry Silbert, one of the original crypto moguls, is being accused of fraud through his defunct company Genesis Capital. What makes this really interesting is that the creditors in the case allege that the ‘Crypto Winter of...

The Banker Next Door (BND) weekly live stream show. Strategy Room provides financial news, commentary, top stories in the business world, economic indicators, and all things banking for the week.

This episode examines three articles from Investopedia. The articles are titled “How many people retire with $1 million or more in their retirement account? The number might surprise you”, “Which generation is the wealthiest in U.S. history, and why?”, and “US added over 1,000 millionaires a day last year – more than elsewhere, UBS says.” These three articles together can give us a very interestin...

This episode examines an article from Bank Director titled “Crafting your data strategy.” The article considers how advancements in technology can enable community banks to unlock greater labor efficiency, new revenue opportunities and create better risk management. This all depends on the bank’s data strategy. The article considers potential ‘blind spots’ in your data strategy, advances in techno...

This episode examines a blog post from PCBB titled “The impact of halting penny production.” As a result of high production costs, the US Mint will discontinue printing pennies in 2026. What does this mean for banks, businesses, and consumers? Banks may see adjustments serving cash-based businesses and coin inventory changes. Businesses may need to change their marketing strategies and how they pr...

This episode examines a series of AI related articles from The Wall Street Journal and Epoch Times (Subscriptions required). The articles primarily cover AI related developments with Meta and OpenAI. Meta is seeking to fully automate ad creation using AI and is teaming up with Anduril to develop combat VR headsets for the Army. OpenAI has committed to developing a gigantic data center with the U.A...

This is part 22 of the crypto series. In this episode we review all the latest news in the crypto world. Genius Act passes the U.S. Senate. Shares of Coinbase and Circle ride high. Stablecoin legislation could juice demand for Treasury’s. Walmart and Amazon may create their own stablecoins. Various companies are investing in crypto. DOJ seizes record $225 million in Pig Butchering scams. JPMorgan...

The Banker Next Door (BND) weekly live stream show. Strategy Room provides financial news, commentary, top stories in the business world, economic indicators, and all things banking for the week.

This episode examines a blog post from PCBB titled “Benefits of digital lending keep growing, along with loan volume.” The market for small business loans continues to grow. A digital lending platform can provide borrowers with the convenience of applying for loans at the time, place, and using the device that is best for them. Digital lending can help banks with faster loan decisions, more consis...

This episode examines a blog post from PCBB titled “What is Proptech, and how can it help with CRE lending?” Proptech is the marrying of real estate and technology to change the way that real estate is marketed, sold, and managed. Some examples include Zillow, Airbnb, Appfolio, and Buildium. Proptech can help banks in the following ways: CRE transactions, risk management, lending decisions, stream...

This episode examines an article from Independent Banker Magazine titled “What makes a leader truly great? Experts weigh in.” This article shares seven traits of great leaders. Those traits include putting people first, make community a top priority, lead with authenticity, listen and respond mindfully, value education, make thoughtful but efficient decisions, and lift others up. A link to the art...

This episode examines an article from Bank Director titled “Billions of sub debt set to reprice, forcing banks to explore options.” Banks issued billions in subordinated debt in 2020 and 2021. That debt is about to be repriced. Bank boards and management teams have some interesting decisions to make. A link to the article is included below. Link: Billions of Sub Debt Set To Reprice, Forcing Banks...

This episode provides an update on the bank M&A market for the first half of 2025. We examine three articles from S&P Global Market Intelligence (subscription required) and we review a blog post from PCBB titled “Stats show 2025 is M&A’s year, but what’s helping deals succeed.” Bank M&A was quiet for most of 2024 and then picked up toward the end of the year. 2025 is off to a slow...

The Banker Next Door (BND) weekly live stream show. Strategy Room provides financial news, commentary, top stories in the business world, economic indicators, and all things banking for the week.

This episode examines an article from the abfjournal titled “Federal Reserve Research Warns Bank-Private Credit Ties Create “Systemic Risk” and a research report from the Federal Reserve titled “Bank Lending to Private Credit: Size, Characteristics, and Financial Stability Implications.” Private Credit has grown exponentially in the last five years. The growth of this lending area has now gotten t...

This episode examines an article from The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) titled “Bags of cash from drug cartels flood teller windows at U.S. banks.” Chinese money launders are hard at work funneling their ill-gotten gains through big banks. What is going on here? Why are big banks allowing this? Why are people not being prosecuted for it?

This episode examines an article from The Business Journal (subscription required) titled “Employers put a price on master’s degrees. It’s changing pay scales.” An MBA degree used to be a sure-fire way to the executive ranks and a big salary. Not so much anymore. Employers’ opinions on the value of an MBA are changing. Some value it and some do not. These opinions influence pay and advancement. Is...

This episode examines a blog post from Bank Director and an article from The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) titled “The Giants of Silicon Valley are having a midlife crisis over AI.” As the major players in Silicon Valley battle over dominance in the AI space, the rest of us are left to wonder, how will AI be regulated?

This is part 21 of the crypto series. In this episode we review the potential for crypto in your 401(k), Block’s bitcoin checkout in Vegas, Circle’s IPO, Trump Media shares drop as it decides to buy bitcoin, and President Trump’s memecoin dinner.