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stevedewald

188 karma · joined September 16, 2009

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stevedewald··on New Federal Rule Caps Credit Card Late Fees at $8
This article is incorrect. The rule implemented a safe harbor for large card issuing companies that have to comply with rules regarding late fees. The safe harbor means issuers can charge $8 late fees and be sure they are in compliance.

Card issuers can still charge more than $8 for late fees. They just need to comply with existing regulation, specifically that whatever late fees they charge are “proportional” to their costs.

Don’t expect an $8 cap on late fees as a result of this.

stevedewald··on Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor
You introduced sex into a discussion where their sex is completely irrelevant.
stevedewald··on Moody's lowers outlook on US debt to 'negative'
$32.6T national debt as of August 2023 / population of 333M in most recent census = $98K/person

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_of_the_United_... [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_S...

stevedewald··on Home schooling's rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education
Is oxygen flammable? I’m pretty well-educated and that question gave me pause. I know oxygen is involved in the combustion process, so I think the answer is yes, oxygen is flammable. That feels like a trick question though.
stevedewald··on US Air Force shoots down drone swarm with THOR microwave weapon
Yes. You give away information about your position and capabilities if your defensive system triggers inadvertently.
stevedewald··on Credit Suisse’s takeover causes turmoil in a $275B bond market
Hedge fund manager here. Depositors and banks are counterparties, and every financial institution & fund I’ve ever encountered does significant and ongoing diligence on their multiple banking relationships.

It’s hard to imagine how irresponsible these VCs and startups were.

stevedewald··on Can the FDIC Afford to Bailout SVB?
It does not come from “taxpayers” per se, it comes from people who keep money in U.S. bank accounts.
stevedewald··on Three Logicians Walk into a Bar
That is not correct though. With the question phrased this way the second and third logicians don’t know if the previous ones want a drink or not.
stevedewald··on The free money machine that went into reverse: Grayscale Bitcoin Trust
It’s because someone could short (borrow) GBTC and redeem it for BTC for an immediate profit. The premium would disappear near instantaneously as short sellers captured the spread.
stevedewald··on Ask HN: How did Sam Altman fail upward so well?
Dropping out of school isn't really an accomplishment. Neither is failing at building a company despite raising $30 mil in funding.
stevedewald··on Apple to allow outside app stores in overhaul spurred by EU laws
You already can. You just can’t sell them to other people on Apple’s platform.
stevedewald··on SEC Says Sam Bankman-Fried Defrauded Investors of $1.8B
This is just investor fraud. Customers funds are a separate issue not regulated by the SEC.
stevedewald··on SEC charges Sam Bankman-Fried with defrauding investors
The SEC isn’t responsible for protecting customers. We’ll have to see which other agencies get involved and what they charge him with.
stevedewald··on BlockFi files for bankruptcy as FTX fallout spreads
Labeling them as Ponzi schemes affords people in the US who lost money special tax benefits. It’s treated more similarly to theft than a bad investment. I am not sure about other countries, but in the US the label has real consequences.

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/help-for-victims-of-ponzi-inves...

stevedewald··on Proof of solvency and beyond
It doesn’t cover any off-chain liabilities.

Note that for most exchanges a material portion (most?) of their liabilities will be off-chain—e.g. fiat customer deposits.

stevedewald··on Z-library founders arrested in Argentina
I think you have it backwards. The supply of quality education hasn’t increased. Only the dollars chasing that supply have increased. Hence prices have gone up.
stevedewald··on How SBF(FTX) used his status as the right kind of "White Boy" to con the world.
The title of this article is pretty offensive. I don’t want to read it. Is there some context that makes the racial slur appropriate here? Or we allow it because racism against white people is in vogue?
stevedewald··on How safe is ayahuasca? Large-scale study explores
“Drugs are bad, mmkay” is something we teach kids at an age when they are unable to process more complex or nuanced positions.

It’s highly unlikely that you’ve never taken psychoactive substances—caffeine, for example, is found naturally in enough foods that it’s hard to avoid. Many spices produce psychoactive effects—e.g. vanilla, pepper, cinnamon, ginger, saffron, etc. I suspect it’s not your opinion that these are all bad as well.

Your kids at some point will be exposed to some of these things, and if “drugs are bad” is what you’re teaching them then they will understand, as we do, that your opinion on this subject really isn’t helpful.

stevedewald··on How safe is ayahuasca? Large-scale study explores
That was delightful. Thanks
stevedewald··on Ask HN: Amazon lying about shipping dates?
Just my personal experience—the estimated delivery at checkout is almost always 1-2 days earlier than in the email confirmation a minute later.
stevedewald··on The World Excel Championship is being broadcast on ESPN
Do you mean programming competitions? They were a huge thing for me in high school, and that was 20 years ago. I have to imagine they’re an even bigger thing now.
stevedewald··on Coinbase earnings: $1.1B loss, lower-than-expected revenue
Most of their spend is on employees and marketing/advertising.
stevedewald··on Coinbase earnings: $1.1B loss, lower-than-expected revenue
They really lost money because their trading volume fell.
stevedewald··on Dems propose raising taxes on couples making more than $500k
Most investors care about after-tax returns, so increasing the tax rate on certain assets will decrease demand for them.
stevedewald··on Dems propose raising taxes on couples making more than $500k
1.5 million won’t be a huge amount in a couple of years either at this rate.
stevedewald··on I think you can reasonably attribute ~7% of our engineering team to me (2020)
He thinks 7% of the engineering team works there because of him? I wonder how important he thinks compensation, work satisfaction, and the rest of the team is to engineers’ decisions to work there.

This guy strikes me as pretty egotistical.

stevedewald··on Ask HN: Are We in a Bubble?
Evergrande and Lehman Brothers aren’t really comparable.

A real estate development company defaulting on its debt means losses for investors, most of which have diversified portfolios and can absorb the loss. $300bn in debt is a lot, so I don’t want to discount how serious that is, but they’re not a bank.

Lehman Brothers, on the other hand, was deeply interconnected with the U.S. banking system and touched tens of thousands of businesses. The $600bn they owed were not to “investors” but to businesses, insurance companies and other counter parties that were not prepared to absorb the loss. The prospect of unwinding Lehman’s positions was beginning a catastrophic domino effect on the global financial system. They were quite literally “too big to fail.”

Evergrande is just a big company.

stevedewald··on The Silence Is Deafening
I'd encourage you to consider NOT nuking a post/comment just because it gets downvotes. We already have too many people afraid to speak for fear of judgement by the mob. You're clearly a thoughtful person, and I believe the silent majority out there would appreciate more diversity of opinions.
stevedewald··on Cash Is King: Flows, Balances, and Buffer Days
Yes, after paying salaries, owner distributions, etc. There isn’t much incentive for small businesses in the US to keep excess cash in the company.
stevedewald··on Japan's PM to ask all schools to temporarily close
Visited Tokyo last week. At least 95% of the people were wearing masks. Probably closer to 99%.
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