Best Books On Finance & Global Macroeconomics with Jack Farley

— Discussion of "Lords of Finance" by Liaquat Ahamed, focusing on 1920s central bankers (Benjamin Strong, Montague Norman, and others) and their role in the gold standard's collapse into the Great Depression.

— Exploration of David Graeber's "Debt: The First 5,000 Years," arguing that debt predates barter and that debt itself functions as money across millennia of human commerce.

— Money market hierarchy: how Federal Reserve liabilities (reserves and cash) form different tiers of "moneyness," with shorter-term instruments (overnight repo, T-bills) behaving more like money than longer-dated bonds.

— Repo market mechanics and the dealer system's dependence on $1.8 trillion in overnight treasury repo funding to function daily; the September 2019 crisis and the Fed's standing repo facility.

— Bitcoin's correlation with stocks (S&P 500 / NASDAQ) and price trajectory: Nik's view that Bitcoin will reach six figures and beyond regardless of equity market conditions, despite near-term correlation in risk-off environments.

— Overview of influential finance and macro books: "Reminiscences of a Stock Operator," "When Genius Failed" (LTCM), works by Adam Tooze, Bethany McLean, and Barry Eichengreen on financial crises and economic history.

— Nik predicts Bitcoin will reach six figures over the coming months and enter a "big bull market" extending well into 2025.

— Current SOFR (Secured Overnight Financing Rate) volumes remain high, indicating ongoing dealer reliance on treasury repo; the reverse repo facility (RRP) has declined as T-bills offer more attractive yields.

— Bitcoin and stocks show positive correlation (approximately 0.40–day rolling correlation studied by The Bitcoin Layer), but Nik argues correlation does not guarantee return parity; Bitcoin can deliver outsized gains while moving directionally with equities.

— Short-term risk-off episodes correlate Bitcoin and stocks (both decline when yields rise, dollar strengthens), but long-term Bitcoin bull case does not depend on sustained equity bull market.

— Study the repo market and SOFR daily volumes as a leading indicator of financial system stress; $1.8 trillion in overnight dealer funding is the floor that keeps markets functioning, and any disruption signals potential liquidity crisis.

— Monitor long-term Bitcoin fundamentals separately from short-term equity correlation: Bitcoin's secular bull case rests on independent demand factors that can drive outsize returns even during choppy equity conditions; do not assume Bitcoin price is hostage to stock market direction.

— Deepen your understanding of money hierarchy and credit instruments by reading Perry Merling's work and foundational texts like "Lords of Finance" and "Debt: The First 5,000 Years"; grasp how central bank liabilities, deposits, and repo form the operational backbone of modern finance.