Tim Scala

Tim Scala’s experience in the international financial markets began in 1969 as a young foreign exchange trader for a British Merchant Bank at a time when the Breton Woods system was still functional. He was an active currency and fixed-income trader during the most chaotic and volatile periods in history. As a member of senior management for a large regional bank and a member of the bank’s ALCO Committee, helped construct, analyze, and execute the institution’s risk-management function. He has broad and deep experience as a Trader, a Manager, an Instructor and an Expert in trading rooms, courtrooms, and teaching venues for decades. He has a practitioner’s perspective of the major international events influencing global financial markets. Financial professionals from well over one hundred major financial institutions throughout the world have attended his seminars.

Archives

Reserve Currency? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Reserve Currency

_{Tim Scala
May 18, 2023}

A hot question among economic pundits of late is, “What will replace the US dollar (USD) as the world’s reserve currency?” Perhaps a better question is, “Does there need to be an actual replacement?” Currently, the USD plays several major roles: It is universally accepted as payment of goods and services, It is highly liquid and can be instantly converted into other currencies, It can easily be invested in broad and deep capital markets, and The sovereign risk is that of a stable government. There would appear to be no current alternative that completely contains every one of these attributes. But recently, there has been a plethora of bi-lateral and multi-lateral trade agreements, particularly among the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, …

A Limitless Limit

_{Tim Scala
May 12, 2023}

The National debt now stands $32 trillion, a literally incomprehensible number. President Biden and Speaker McCarthy have yet to engage in the meaningless ritual referred to in Washington D.C. as Federal Budget Negotiations, necessary to reach a compromise enabling the nation to increase its debt ceiling.

Fed Transfers Risk from Banks to You and Me

_{Tim Scala
May 2, 2023}

The Federal Reserve (i.e. the “Fed”) recently shifted a huge risk from the banking system to the taxpayer through something called the Bank Term Funding Program (BTFP). The negative consequences of this historic action were lost on many because of the complex nature of the banking system.