Good morning, readers. I'm senior reporter Phil Rosen. I never thought I'd see a bankrupt, vilified ex-crypto CEO overshadow comments from the chairman of the Federal Reserve, but alas, I can't think of everything.
Speaking at the Brookings Institution Wednesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that there's still a chance of a soft landing, and it'd be possible for the US to skirt a recession.
He maintained the fight against inflation is far from over, and policymakers will likely have to keep interest rates high for some time.
"We will stay the course until the job is done," Powell said, and stocks rallied on his words.
While the world's most powerful finance official took the lunchtime billing, it was Sam Bankman-Fried who held the primetime slot.
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1. The 30-year-old disgraced FTX founder gave a wide-ranging interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin at the New York Times Dealbook Summit yesterday via a video call from The Bahamas.
Within minutes of starting, Sorkin asked Bankman-Fried directly if there was a commingling of funds between the two now-bankrupt companies he founded, FTX and Alameda Research.
"I didn't knowingly commingle funds," Bankman-Fried said.
He shook visibly as he spoke. Even over video, he appeared nervous and jittery. Bankman-Fried kept his head bowed for much of the hour-long conversation, and his eyes drifted away from the camera often.
"I've had a bad month," he said.
Bankman-Fried said he's working diligently to figure out how to make customers whole again. In his view, American and Japanese customers could actually be made whole right now if the relevant parties — presumably FTX's new management, led by John Ray III — allowed it to be the case.
"I made a lot of mistakes," Bankman-Fried said. "There are things I would give anything to be able to do over again. I didn't ever try to commit fraud on anyone."
Remember, Ray III was the one who cleaned up the mess left by the Enron scandal in the early 2000s, and wrote in a court filing after taking over FTX that he'd never before "seen such a complete failure of corporate controls."
When Sorkin asked whether Bankman-Fried feels he has any criminal liability, Bankman-Fried said that's not what he's focused on right now.
"There's going to be a time and place when I think about myself and my own future, but I dont think this is it," he said, before bringing the conversation back to those who lost money in the tumult.
"What matters is the millions of customers, all the stakeholders in FTX who got hurt, and trying to do everything I can to help them out," he said. "I don't think what happens with me is the important part."
Near the end of the interview, Bankman-Fried, who just a month ago had a net worth of $16 billion, admitted that he has close to nothing left. All his money was tied up in his businesses, and he has only about $100,000 left in a bank account now.
"I don't have any hidden funds here. I'm down to one working credit card," he said.
What do you think of the FTX fallout and Sam Bankman-Fried's latest comments?
Tweet me (@philrosenn) or email me (prosen@insider.com) to let me know.
In other news:
2. US stock futures fall early Thursday, after rallying Wednesday following Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech. Meanwhile, Salesforce's stock slid as much as 6% in extended trading on the shock news that co-CEO Bret Taylor is stepping down. Here are the latest market moves.
3. Earnings on deck: Toronto-Dominion Bank, Bank of Montreal, and Dollar General Corporation, all reporting.
4. BlackRock bond chief Rick Rieder said he's never seen a market this rich in income opportunities. In his view, bond yields will remain high and should be more stable heading into the new year. He explained how he's investing right now to get the strongest returns possible.
5. Investors should stick with energy stocks despite the recent slide in oil prices. Analysts at Datatrek broke down why it's a good time to buy into the sector, even as short interest grows. See their three reasons.
6. A new survey showed global stocks will be in a rut for another three months. Yet, inflation concerns and central bank tightening means any rebound in 2023 won't be enough to erase this year's losses. Analysts are expecting even the top indexes to have single-digit gains by the end of next year.
7. European Central Bank officials said bitcoin is on the "road to irrelevance." In a Wednesday blog post, writers from the ECB's market infrastructure and payments division broke down why bitcoin is on its last gasp — and why the token was already headed for a dead-end even before FTX collapsed.
8. Bank of America's stock chief explained how investors can thrive during a recession. The firm is forecasting a recession, and that will make it tricky to balance a portfolio moving forward. Here's BofA's Savita Subramanian's five-part playbook.
9. An investor with nine real estate properties breaks down his methodology for finding strong deals. Stephen Yin shared the spreadsheet he built that helps him evaluate whether to add something to his property portfolio — and he also explained how he avoids bad deals.
10. Markets will face more turmoil next year and the benchmark US index could see a potential 24% decline. Bank of America strategists warned that the new year could bring a sustained economic downturn that weighs on company earnings targets. "We think the market could drop as low as 3,000 based on a panoply of indicators, given a host of risks we face as payback continues and a recession unfolds."
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Curated by Phil Rosen in New York. Feedback or tips? Tweet @philrosenn or email prosen@insider.com
Edited by Max Adams (@maxradams) in New York and Hallam Bullock (@hallam_bullock) in London.