Over 20+ health care groups from all over the country have joined with a large number of plaintiffs in a lawsuit against every major health insurance company in America. The lawsuit alleges that the health insurance companies used software from a company named Claritev to create a price-fixing environment that allowed them to siphon billions of dollars from care providers and their patients. The stakes could not be higher for the health insurance companies as they could stand to lose billions and see major changes to how out-of-network care is priced and reimbursed for patients and private insurance. This episode examines an article from The Business Journals (subscription required) titled “Philadelphia-area physician groups join massive suit alleging price fixing by ‘mafia enforcer’ for major insurers.”

Mosaic, a French high-speed trading firm, recently complained to Eurex and European regulators about other high-speed trading firms using a method in which they bombard an exchange with ‘useless data.’ This maneuver buys them just enough time to react fractionally faster to market-moving information. This move is apparently making certain high-speed firms a lot of money. This episode reviews as article from The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) titled “High-speed traders are feuding over a way to save 3.2 billionths of a second.”

When President Trump declared ‘liberation day’ back in April economists were quick to predict that increased tariffs would ‘wreck the economy’ leading to a recession, increased inflation, and increased unemployment. Eight months later, tariff revenue is flowing in, GDP is strong, inflation has held steady, and the employment market is okay. The world has not ended. Why did economists get it so wrong? This episode reviews an article from The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) titled “Why everyone got Trump’s tariffs wrong.” This article examines the predictions made on employment, prices, tariff revenue, economic growth, manufacturing, and trade balance.

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 is part 31 of the crypto series. Do Kwon the founder and CEO of Terra Labs, which operated TerraUSD and Luna stablecoins, was found guilty and sentenced to 15-years in prison. The collapse of TerraUSD and Luna coins led to losses of approximately $40 billion dollars, and some believe was the impetus for the Crypto Winter of 2022. Crypto’s biggest players including Michael Saylor and Changpeng Zhao flew over to Abu Dhabi to woo potential Emirati investors for the crypto industry. Finally, the FDIC proposed a stablecoin application process for banks. This episode reviewed articles from The Wall Street Journal and S&P Global (subscriptions required).

It seems everyone is getting into the banking space! The OCC is seeing an application boom as they grant conditional approval to Circle, Ripple, Paxos, BitGo Bank & Trust, and Fidelity Digital Assets for national bank trust charters. PayPal applies for a bank charter to open PayPal Bank. Fintech payday lender Enova entered into an agreement to purchase Grasshopper Bank. Three ex-Signature Bank executives are starting N3XT, which will specialize in B2B business payments and blockchain technology. Chime has not yet ruled out going after a bank charter. Who else will jump in? Block, Robinhood? This episode reviewed a series of articles from Banking Dive.

Kevin Hassett came out last week saying that he was going to shake things up at the Fed if he is nominated to be the next chair. Well, that didn’t go over so well with Wall Street and the DC establishment. They like the Fed the way it is, meaning working for them! The wagons were circled and the backlash campaign came hard with a big push for either Kevin Warsh or Christopher Waller. Will Hassett hang in there? This episode reviewed multiple articles from CNBC and prediction odds on Kalshi and Polymarket websites.

The OCC has found that nine major U.S. banks ‘debanked’ certain businesses and individuals between 2020 and 2023. The nine banks include JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, US Bank, Capital One, PNC Bank, TD Bank, and BMO Bank. The OCCs report found that these banks restricted assess to the following industries: oil and gas exploration, firearms, coal mining, private prisons, tobacco, e-cigarette manufacturers, adult entertainment, and digital assets. Punishment for the banks named has not yet been determined, so there is still more to come. This episode reviewed three articles from Banking Dive, The Epoch Times, and S&P Global Market Intelligence.