Did You Know?
27 articles
Market curiosities and how it works under the hood.
What was the 2020 dash for cash?
In March 2020 even Treasuries and the yen fell as investors scrambled for dollars, and the Fed's broad dollar index rose 7.6% in two weeks. What was the dash for cash?
What was the taper tantrum?
In 2013 the Fed only hinted it would slow its bond buying, and the 10-year yield jumped from 1.66% to 2.98%. What was the taper tantrum, and why did the rupee lose 22%?
What was the 2016 pound flash crash?
On 7 October 2016 the pound lost almost 9% against the dollar in under 40 seconds, then won most of it back. What was the 2016 pound flash crash, and why did it happen?
What was the 2022 yen intervention?
Japan spent ¥9.19 trillion on three separate days, and after the first round the dollar still hit a 32-year high against the yen. What was the 2022 yen intervention, and what finally turned the yen?
The biggest trades in history, and the two that were forex
The biggest forex trades in history: of the eleven famous traders we profiled, only two of their trades were single bets on a currency. What each one traded.
What was the Bretton Woods system?
In 1944, 44 nations tied their currencies to the dollar and the dollar to gold at $35 an ounce. What was the Bretton Woods system, and why did it end?
What was the Volcker shock?
Rates went from 10.94% to 19.10% and inflation fell from 14.6% to 2.5%. What was the Volcker shock, and why is it the benchmark for every hiking cycle?
What was the Asian financial crisis?
A dollar bought 24.52 baht one day and 30.18 the next. What was the Asian financial crisis, and why did it not stop at Thailand?
What was the Nixon shock?
For five days the dollar bought 357 yen to the second decimal. What was the Nixon shock, and why does every floating exchange rate start there?
What was Long-Term Capital Management?
A fund with two Nobel laureates lost almost everything in four months. What was Long-Term Capital Management, and who really paid for the rescue?
What was the Plaza Accord?
Five governments published a short statement on a Sunday in 1985. What was the Plaza Accord, and why did the dollar lose half its value in two years?
What was the Frankenshock?
For six weeks EUR/CHF barely moved. What was the Frankenshock, and why did stop-losses fail to protect anyone on 15 January 2015?
What was Black Monday 1987?
The Dow fell 22.6% in a day and it is still the record. The odd part: the market's fear gauge did not exist yet — 1987 is why it was built.
Did you know 'pip' is actually an acronym?
Every trader talks in pips, but almost nobody knows it's an acronym — Percentage in Point. What is a pip really, why is the yen the exception, and how does it become your risk plan?
Why do they call the yen carry trade the 'widow-maker'?
For years the yen carry trade pays like clockwork — then wipes out months of gains in days. The story behind forex's darkest nickname, and the risk lesson inside it.
Did you know market fractals were discovered in the price of cotton?
In 1962, Benoît Mandelbrot studied cotton prices and found the jumps repeated at every scale. That's how fractals were born… and a lesson about the market's real risk.
Did you know the forex market is only truly 'alive' for a few hours a day?
Forex is open 24/5, but almost all the real volatility fits in four hours: the London–New York overlap. Why does that window change everything?
What was the Medallion Fund?
One hedge fund returned about 66% a year for three decades — and has been closed to outsiders since 1993. What the Medallion Fund was?, and why you can't copy it?
