The Banker Next Door

This is part 40 of the crypto series. In this episode we examine the Trump family crypto drama surrounding their company World Liberty Financial. While Trump family members and other administration figures kids appear to have made out in the company dealings, investors have not fared as well. Justin Sun is one of the crypto investors who is crying foul. In other crypto news, Strategy continues to...

The exodus from Democrat run states and cities continues to increase as they triple down on policies of increasing taxes and regulations. This phenomenon does not happen just in the U.S., it is also affecting places like the U.K. There is nothing that will kill an economy faster than exceedingly high taxes and regulation. This episode goes through a series of articles from Fox Business, CNBC, The...

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a bomb shell report on April 15, 2026 disclosing a massive amount of fraud in the U.S. government. After analyzing data from fiscal years 2018 through 2022, the GAO estimates that the federal government lost between $233 billion and $521 billion ANNUALLY to fraud! The fraud was perpetrated in three main ways. 1) Misuse of Pandemic Relief funds, 2...

Bank M&A activity started 2026 doing okay. Not lighting the world on fire, not bad, just okay. Deal volume in 1Q 2026 slowed to the same level as 1Q 2025 with 36 and 35 transactions respectively. Bank CEOs and executives agree that the window for M&A is still open but geopolitical problems are slowing things down. Many bank CEOs were questioned about potential mergers on 1Q earnings calls....

The FDIC released their state profiles for the 4th quarter of 2025. This series provides quarterly summaries of banking and economic conditions for each state. The FDIC website has a chart of the entire U.S. Click on the state you would like to view, and it gives you a 1-page PDF. Each profile includes the following categories: economic indicators, banking trends, and banking profile. A link to th...

This video is a clip from BND: Strategy Room Live Stream on April 18, 2026. David Sacks, who was the White House AI and crypto czar, has become co-chair of the tech advisory council expanding his role. Mr. Sacks has advocated the White House barrel forward with AI development completely disregarding any associated risks. Last week, Scott Bessent and Jerome Powell called an emergency meeting with e...

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 video is a clip from BND: Strategy Room Live Stream on April 11, 2026. Insurance regulators are concerned about the amount of money major insurance companies have invested in the Private Credit market. In addition, insurance companies may have inflated the valuations of those investments. Where have we seen this before? We also review other related Private Credit news of the week.

This is part 39 of the crypto series. In this episode we examine Bitcoins performance over the last month through a chart and multiple articles. Has Bitcoin found a new resistance level? Will it see continued increases? Has Satoshi Nakamoto been found? Coinbase receives conditional approval from the OCC for a bank trust charter. Franklin Templeton acquires crypto firm 250 Digital to be included in...

Bank Director has released their 2026 Risk Survey. Key findings from the survey include regulatory risk recedes, examiners are learning on the job, cybersecurity oversight, identifying cybersecurity gaps, credit risk concerns, and risk responsibility. Bank are feeling better about being overburdened by bank regulators. They also feel like new bank examiners are inexperienced. Less than 50% of bank...

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon released his 2025 letter to shareholders as part of the bank’s annual report. Mr. Dimon listed five main concerns which include inflation, intensifying competition, Americans’ loss of trust in government, artificial intelligence, and weak allies. Mr. Dimon was critical of Basel III and G-SIB proposals from regulators. In addition, Mr. Dimon has concerns about Private...

Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850) was a French provincial scholar.  As a young man, Bastiat was heavily influence by Adam Smith and Benjamin Franklin. He developed profound beliefs in life, liberty, and property rights. His greatest work is a book simply called “The Law”, which was published just before his death in 1850. Bastiat’s grandfather passed away in 1825 leaving him the family estate. He becam...

The sunk cost fallacy is a mindset of continuing onward with an investment or project based on past information even though logic dictates that the outcome will not be favorable. Even when we are faced with flawed reasoning, human nature will not allow us to change course because of aversion to waste and the need to be right. The sunk cost fallacy can occur in both business and government. The sun...

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.

Foreign banks are seeking to gain access to the U.S. banking market. This is nothing new, but what is new is the type of bank. The new competition tends to be fintechs and neobanks with a digital-first approach. Some examples include OakNorth Bank, Revolut, and Nubank. These banks tend to be built around a customer-friendly digital interface. Younger customers are seeking a digital first approach....

Banks can experience buyer’s remorse when they purchase costly software to upgrade their technology stack. This experience can be extremely painful as most community banks have small technology budgets to work with. Spending the bank’s budget on new technology that does not work out will most likely end up as money that cannot be recovered. This episode considers reasons why organizations regret t...

Two recent reports from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General (OIG) highlights the workforce reductions at the SEC and FDIC. The GAO report states that since January 2025 the SEC had an 18% reduction in their workforce of approximately 871 employee departures. The SEC has made efforts to manage and assess the effec...

This episode reviews the OCC’s quarterly report on Bank Trading and Derivatives Activities for the 4th quarter of 2025. Trading revenue for the 4Q of 2025 was $14.9 billion, down 16% from the 3Q of 2025 and 4.4% year over year. The four largest banks continue to hold the vast majority of total banking industry’s notional amount of derivatives at 85.1%. Derivative notional amounts decreased in the...

This episode reviews ICBA Advocacy in Action for the 2nd quarter of 2026. This is a two-page PDF that provides a short summary of all the major regulatory issues in the banking industry. The topics include digital assets regulatory frameworks, house advances community bank regulatory relief bills, farm bill and aid, executive order to create mortgage rule relief, challenges to 1071 rule and statut...

This video is a clip from BND: Strategy Room Live Stream on April 4, 2026. The conversation around Private Credit continues as redemption's exploded in the last few weeks. The problem has turned extreme at Blue Owl, where they have two funds under pressure. This clip also looks at is another crisis on the horizon, bank’s overall exposure to Private Credit, how loans to Private Credit have been the...

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 special report examines the difficult nomination of Kevin Warsh to Chairman of the Federal Reserve and the awkward transition facing him as Jerome Powell may stay around beyond the end of his term in May. Kevin Warsh’s time at the Fed could be transformational. He would like to do away with Forward Guidance, projections, change the Fed’s main targets, get away from data drift and dependence,...

This is part 38 of the crypto series. In this episode we provide an update on the stalemate with crypto legislation and how that is affecting the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. We also look at Fannie Mae agreeing to accept crypto-backed mortgages in conjunction with Better Home & Finance and Coinbase. Nasdaq is partnering with Kraken to develop a plan for 24/7 tokenized stock tra...

Two monumental cases were brought against social media companies including Meta, Google, TikTok, and Snapchat. TikTok and Snapchat were only involved in the Los Angeles case; they decided to settle out of court before that trial began. The trial in New Mexico accused Meta of tailoring its platforms to prioritize user engagement, promoting and profiting from illegal content that allowed for the exp...

This video is a clip from BND: Strategy Room Live Stream on March 28, 2026. The zero loss-fallacy has evaporated for the Private Credit Market. Now major players such as Apollo, KKR, UBS, and BlackRock are locking down their funds and halting redemption requests. The Private Credit Market is experiencing a decrease in inflowing funds, an increase in redemptions, and an increase in delinquency. Thi...