Blog Posts

Recent years have seen a surge of retail traders entering markets via zero-commission apps and hype-chasing activity (meme stocks, crypto, etc.). This influx of inexperienced participants created opportunities for sophisticated Wall Street firms to profit from these less experienced traders through information arbitrage, i.e. using superior information and analysis that retail investors lack. Professional traders and […]

A Total Return Swap (TRS) is a financial derivative contract between two parties in which one party agrees to pay the total return of a specific asset, while receiving a fixed or floating interest payment from the other. It enables economic exposure to an asset, such as a bond, loan, equity, or index, without owning […]

Copying successful traders seems like a shortcut to results, but it rarely works out that way. What you’re seeing is just the surface: entries, exits, and maybe a P&L (% returns over a certain past period). What you’re not seeing is the infrastructure, psychology, context, and decision-making process that makes it all work – and […]

When determining whether a currency is overvalued or undervalued, there is no agreed-upon framework.  While traders and governments build models to estimate equilibrium exchange rates, reality is more nuanced – currencies can remain misaligned for years due to politics, policy choices, structural imbalances, regulations, frictions, and other factors.  Let’s break down what influences currency misvaluation, […]

Retiring early is a dream shared by many, but achieved by few. Most people imagine a path paved through tech startups, lucky investments, or perhaps frugal living and index funds.  For the narrator of the story below, however, early retirement didn’t come from minimalist budgeting or Silicon Valley, but from quantitative trading, a high-pressure, high-reward […]

Capital controls – restrictions placed by governments on the flow of capital across borders – have a long and revealing history. They typically emerge not as first-best policy choices but as desperate measures during late-cycle phases of economic and geopolitical stress. Understanding capital controls in a historical context reveals not just their mechanics, but what […]

The divide between retail and institutional FX trading isn’t just about account size. It’s about access, infrastructure, motives, execution quality, and the way markets are understood and analyzed. While both sides trade the same currency pairs and stocks (for the most part), they’re often operating very differently, with separate rules, tools, and expectations.   Key […]

CTA ETFs offer retail and institutional investors access to managed futures strategies – typically the domain of hedge funds and institutional separate accounts – via a liquid, exchange-traded format.  These ETFs aim to replicate the core features of Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA) strategies: trend-following exposure across asset classes, long/short flexibility, and low correlation to traditional […]

Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) have been a prominent force in the financial markets since the 1970s.  These specialized traders focus on trading futures contracts and other derivative instruments across a wide range of asset classes.  Their strategies, known as managed futures, offer a unique approach to diversification and potential returns.   Key Takeaways – CTA […]

Most day traders, and traders of all forms, don’t lose money because markets are impossible. They lose because their feedback systems are broken. In clear skill-based environments, straightforward and timely feedback helps people improve. Trading warps that loop. There’s variance. Discerning luck from skill isn’t easy in the short run. You don’t learn finance in […]