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The Institutional Risk Analyst
© 2003-2025 | Whalen Global Advisors LLC All Rights Reserved in All Media | ISSN 2692-1812
Banks | Markets | Finance


New & Old Names in Nonbank Finance
In dollar terms, the moves in 2023 were tiny vs the post March rally in 2020.
R. Christopher Whalen
Aug 21, 20247 min read
479 views


The Powell Hedge Fund Drives Private Market Instability
In 2019, the FOMC essentially nationalized the US money markets, eliminating private price discovery for a representation of a market.
R. Christopher Whalen
Aug 12, 20247 min read
880 views


Market Volatility and Loan Defaults
The market tantrum which began on Friday was largely over by the market close on the following Tuesday.
R. Christopher Whalen
Aug 8, 20246 min read
1,192 views


Inside the Private Credit Trade
Direct lenders are the pawnbrokers of the 21st Century for subprime commercial borrowers, usually firms financed via leveraged buyouts.
R. Christopher Whalen
Jun 4, 20246 min read
1,311 views


WGA Releases Bank Quarterly Q2 2024
The unrealized losses on COVID era securities remain a huge problem for banks large and small, especially if long-term interest rates rise
R. Christopher Whalen
Jun 2, 20242 min read
793 views

The Bull Case for Large Banks
Big banks have big CRE exposures, too. So what drives this marvelous progression up the wall of worry?
R. Christopher Whalen
May 15, 20247 min read
568 views

Debt Deflation in CRE? PFSI, COOP & RKT
If the run-of-the-mill Republic First interest rate mark is 13.3% of assets that is not just wiping out one bank’s 8% capital but also FDIC
R. Christopher Whalen
May 5, 20249 min read
692 views


The Death of Leverage; What's the WAC of Bank America?
The yield on BAC's $320 billion commercial and industrial (C&I) book was just 5.4% or more than 150bp below peer at year-end 2023.
R. Christopher Whalen
Apr 24, 20247 min read
936 views

GSE Release? Really? Update: Ally Financial
You take the GSEs out of conservatorship, the big banks led by JPMorgan and U.S. Bancorp will own the conventional loan market
R. Christopher Whalen
Apr 11, 202410 min read
2,029 views

Inside the WGA Bank Top 10 Index
So what makes the WGA Bank Top 10 unique? Below we provide some quantitative and qualitative comments on each of the ten best US banks
R. Christopher Whalen
Mar 13, 20247 min read
631 views

Home Mortgage Rates Falling? Really?
If President Trump starts talking about fixing the federal budget deficit and redeveloping moribund urban real estate, he’d win in November
R. Christopher Whalen
Feb 18, 20246 min read
1,503 views

NYCB Cleans House Badly, NAIC Gives Insurers Pass on Realized Losses
Sad to say, the business at NYCB is doing better than you'd think reading the bank's absurd disclosure.
R. Christopher Whalen
Feb 1, 20247 min read
1,902 views


Good, Bad & Ugly: AXP, SOFI & BAC
AXP is a premium stock that is best acquired when people think, incorrectly, that the world is ending.
R. Christopher Whalen
Jan 30, 20246 min read
863 views


EVs Wane, Fintech Sputters & COF Dumps Commercial Mortgages
Now let’s take a look at how some members of the banking and fintech sector are doing in the first month of 2024.
R. Christopher Whalen
Jan 29, 20248 min read
811 views


Bank Earnings Setup Q4 2023
Look for falling rates sooner rather than later as the Fed and other agencies prepare to resolve more bank failures in 2024.
R. Christopher Whalen
Jan 11, 20245 min read
619 views


End of Fintech? Biden GSE Release?
Is AFRM maturing from a hot new fintech entrant to a familiar face headed for a bank license?? Yikes.
R. Christopher Whalen
Dec 31, 20237 min read
1,537 views


Another Progressive New Year?
Many participants in the equity markets are chewing on ski tips this holiday season after boldly predicting lower interest rates in 2024
R. Christopher Whalen
Dec 19, 20236 min read
724 views


Rates Rally Financials, But Credit Fears Remain
The key term for risk managers and investors in 2024 remains unchanged from this year: Volatility.
R. Christopher Whalen
Dec 15, 20237 min read
483 views

Update: Flying Fintechs & Zombie Banks
COIN has been helped by a groundswell of positive comment about crypto in 2023...
R. Christopher Whalen
Nov 29, 20236 min read
660 views


The Moral Hazard of Jerome Powell
Instead of seeking authority from Congress, Chairman Bernanke and other members of the FOMC merely turned on the public spigot.
R. Christopher Whalen
Nov 27, 20236 min read
1,738 views
Christopher Whalen
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