We are seeing that bias in Machine Learnings Models can be a big issue since the Data available to train these models can be biased. Consequently, using biased Machine Learning Systems can be dangerous when it becomes the basis to make decisions about humans automatically, with no human oversight, resulting in biased outcomes in fields of Employment and Loans. Similarly, another area of concern is ML Models that are being used for Political Reporting with significant “left wing” bias and publishing Reports and Stories with a left leaning slant, which makes the current political divide more pronounced. Putting this
Navigating impact of higher interest rates on commercial real estate – some points to consider
The near-term outlook for commercial real estate (CRE) has become increasingly complicated due to rising interest rates along with lingering fears of a recession. Banks today are facing a greater pressure on CRE Asset valuations (on their Balance Sheet) as higher interest rates have resulted in tighter credit standards with regulators more closely monitoring the quality of CRE loans. A tighter lending market, along with declines in real estate investment trust (REIT) stocks, have negatively affected yield expectations on CRE and price declines / distress in certain asset classes are underway. Due to decreasing asset values, some properties coming
Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Financial Markets, Securities and Exchange Commission, US Regulators, US Stock Market
Washington DC Federal Court of Appeals ruling: Does this open the door for Spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) availability soon?
(Posted September 2023) A three-judge panel of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals in Washington, DC ruled recently that U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was wrong to reject an application from Grayscale Investments to create a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) which would track its underlying market price, giving investors exposure to the digital asset, without having to buy the currency. The SEC has denied all proposed bitcoin ETFs, including Grayscale’s, on the grounds that they do not meet its bar for preventing market manipulation. Grayscale Investments sued the SEC for rejecting their application, in response to
Key consideration to accurately value Digital Assets for successful M&A Transactions
For any existing enterprise, acquiring the appropriate digital asset as a part of an inorganic M&A will generally lead to increased growth, revenue and greater market share which can be expressed in clear quantitative metrics when driven by clear business case. New technology disrupts markets and generally require a fresh set of metrics to calculate the value that digital assets being considered for this acquisiion. Consequently, calculating M&A risk accurately in such instances is crucial to avoiding overpayment and losses down the road along with steps to focus on steps that will improve the odds of a successful M&A
Geo Political Irony – A bit of sardonic humor!
Till 1947, the Indian Subcontinent was a colony of Great Britain and was referred to as the “Jewel in the Crown” while their populace was clamoring for Independence from Great Britain led by Mahatma Gandhi. However, Great Britain following the famous “divide and conquer” philosophy of their Foreign Policy, partitioned the Indian subcontinent into Hindu India (led by Nehru) and Muslim Pakistan (led by Jinnah) resulting in 2 countries viz. India and Pakistan becoming Independent in 1947. Fast forward slightly over 75 years and UK now has for the first-time elected a Hindu of Indian-Origin Rishi Sunak as Prime
Strategic Countermeasures to combat Software Vulnerabilities effectively in AI/ML enabled applications
Looking back, Application Security has evolved significantly in the last couple of decades. In the early 2000s, SQL injection and Cross Site Scripting (XSS) attacks were a nightmare for cybersecurity teams as attackers easily bypassed network firewalls through attacks at the application layer. Since traditional network firewalls at that time were not application-aware, these attacks proved a blind spot allowing attackers to compromise web applications easily. Hence, the computer industry developed countermeasures which included and not limited to web application firewalls (WAF), source code security reviews, and DevSecOps, who automate these checks within CI/CD pipelines to and allow security
Banking Regulations, US Federal Government Oversight, US Federal Reserve, US Fiscal Policy, US Monetary Policy
Hobson’s Choice for the Fed – Raise Rate or not this time?
Hobson’s Choice is defined as “a choice of taking what is available or nothing at all” which is where we feel the Fed is standing at the present moment. The Fed currently holds its benchmark funds rate, which banks charge each other for short-term lending, is at 4.58% today compared to 0.33% last year and is lower than the long-term average of 4.60%. We are in this position because of tremendous volatility in the Financial Markets since last week with the failure of three medium sized US banks viz. Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and Silvergate Bank along with well publicized
Speed up your iPhone Battery Charging by disabling new Clean Energy Charging Capability
iOS 16.1 introduced a feature we weren’t necessarily expecting with the latest iPhone software update — a Clean Energy Charging capability that aims to reduce the carbon footprint that your phone can rack up during charging. With Clean Energy Charging enabled, an iPhone will charge if / when lower-carbon emission electricity is available, by getting a forecast of carbon emissions for your local energy grid and timing charging sessions when cleaner energy production is happening. At the moment, Clean Energy Charging is only available to iPhone owners in the U.S. running iOS 16.1 on their handsets. However, for most
The Secure Act 2.0 – Highlights of rule changes related to 401(k) and other Retirement Accounts
(Posted February 2023) The Secure Act 2.0 has some noteworthy provisions related to rules changes for 401(k) and other Retirements Accounts. It may be noted that this law was passed towards the tail end of earlier 116th Congress, and many of the affected entities and institutions are still unpacking all the provisions in the Act. Several of the Act’s provisions came into effective immediately, after President Biden signed into law this SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, on December 29, 2022. Based on what we have seen in the provisions of this Act, Congress
Winter Weather Energy Saving Tips
(Posted Jan 2023) With Energy Costs up significantly this year over the previous years due to inflation and other factors, we may need to find ways to reduce Energy Consumption to keep our overall Energy Expenditure from our personal budget close to last year’s levels. In this connection, we have provided some tips to help with this overall objective: Adjust Your Temperature: A programmable thermostat can make it easy to keep your house at the recommended setting of 68 Degrees F as your Heating Costs account for about 50% of your Energy Bill Treat your fireplace like a window:
Fed Speak: Pause vs. Pivot
(This post was posted in Nov 2022) The Federal Reserve’s November 2022 statement contained dovish language, but Fed Chair Powell warned investors not to expect the Fed to stray from its full focus on fighting inflation. Upside inflation led the U.S. Federal Reserve to hike its policy rate by 75 basis points (bps) for a historic fourth time. This brought the fed funds rate up to a 3.75%–4% range, meaningfully above the Fed’s 2.5% median long-run estimate, as inflation continues to justify monetary policy with the objective to tame inflation. In spite of continued inflation, the Fed also indicated
Irrational Exuberance 2.0: Another Tech Bubble a la circa 2000?
Posted Aug 27, 2020 We are watching the US Stock Market indices rising dramatically in the last few weeks, with Tech Stock Prices leading the charge upwards. We are almost back to March 2020 levels. This Bull Market has been fueled by dramatic rise in stocks of Tech Titans like Amazon, Tesla, Apple, Facebook, Twitter to name the notable few. In fact, Tesla’s stock has been on a tear since March and is now up ~600% leading to a humorous remark making the rounds “Tesla Bears – stay in your caves” which aptly sums up this irrational exuberance sentiment.
Algorithms, Big Tech, Cybersecurity, Tech Leadership, TikTok, US Federal Government Oversight, US National Security, US Trade Policy
TikTok Takedown Order: National Security recommendations to prevent actionable surveillance of American Citizens by a Hostile Foreign Power (China)
(Uploaded 8/25/20) TikTok is a very popular app with over 1 Billion downloads, which translates to almost 1/7th of World Population. This app is very popular among youngsters here in the USA, just as it has taken the world by storm. TikTok like all other “free” social media platforms, treats its users as their product, their personal data as its currency, and their Business Model is predicated on trading one’s personal information to use these “free” services. The app’s privacy policy says TikTok “may share your information with a parent, subsidiary, or other affiliate of our corporate group” while
Senator Kamala Harris Nomination as running mate in the Biden / Harris Ticket – An intriguing pick – Our Observations
We are now getting ready to kick off the 2020 Presidential Campaign in earnest and the stage is now set with former VP Biden nominating Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate yesterday. This is an intriguing pick and our observations are as follows: There was a lot of excitement in the African-American community with VP Biden and his staff making bold predictions that he was going to choose an African-American woman as his running mate. However, now many “true multi-generational African Americans” who are peers or descendants of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr do not consider Sen. Kamala Harris
Mainstream Media (MSM) double standards is putting communities at risk – Very sad state of affairs!!!!
Posted June 2020 Talk about double standards! The mainstream media will “shame” people going to the beach or go to a “pool party” in MO like a few days ago — for not observing “Social Distancing” nor wearing masks — and TMZ and others gleefully declared these people are selfish and do not care for the health of others by not staying in “lockdown” to “save lives”! But now I do NOT see these BLM Protestors / Rioters wearing masks nor maintaining “social distance” — and the same mainstream media outlets — dare not bring this up because these
Well Played Mr. President!
Posted May 29, 2020 President Trump’s today issued an Executive Order to address the issue of “Online Censorship” by Social Media “Big Tech” companies. In our opinion, this is a great first step in enforcing “fairness” in Social Media content moderation. Section 230 of Communication Decency Act, also known as “Internet Law” provides a framework for Internet operation granting broad immunity to platforms (such as Twitter) that curate and moderate content from lawsuits. This protection is predicated on tech platforms operating in “good faith” failing which these entities lose their “legal immunity” making them open to litigation. However, in
Anti-Trust, Big Tech, Big Tech Breakup, Corporate Governance, Financial Markets, Tech Leadership, US Regulators
Big Tech Breakup – Considerations and Reality – Our Thoughts
Netflix is an amazing digital success story – starting out almost 15 years ago as a predominantly DVD subscription service, Netflix was able to pivot along the way and take advantage of rapidly evolving mobile technology and ever-improving internet speeds to become one of the largest video distribution networks on the planet. The success of Netflix is an excellent example of “creative destruction,” a term originated in the 1940s by economist Joseph Schumpeter, who described it as the “process of industrial mutation that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new