Doomscroll News

Tag: Economy

  • The Payments Duopoly: A Comparative Analysis of the Visa and Mastercard Business Models

    Executive Summary

    Visa Inc. and Mastercard Incorporated form one of the global economy’s most powerful duopolies. While their brands are ubiquitous, the mechanics of their business models are often misunderstood. This report provides a comparative analysis of how these payment technology giants generate revenue.

    At their core, both companies operate on an identical foundation. They use an “open-loop,” four-party model that connects consumers, merchants, issuing banks, and acquiring banks. They are not financial institutions. They do not issue credit or assume the risk of consumer default. Instead, they operate the vast technology platforms—VisaNet and the Mastercard Network—that serve as the digital rails for global commerce. They earn fees on immense transaction volumes. However, this shared foundation gives way to increasingly divergent strategic priorities.

    The analysis reveals Visa’s clear dominance in scale. In fiscal year 2024, Visa processed $15.7 trillion in total volume across 233.8 billion transactions. This generated $35.9 billion in net revenue.¹ Its business model is deeply rooted in monetizing this scale through transaction-centric revenue streams: Data Processing, Service, and International Transaction fees.

    Mastercard is smaller, with $9.8 trillion in gross dollar volume and 159.4 billion switched transactions in fiscal year 2024.²,³ It has strategically positioned itself as a more diversified technology partner. This is most evident in its financial reporting, which is structured around two distinct pillars: the core Payment Network and a rapidly expanding Value-Added Services and Solutions (VAS) segment. In 2024, the VAS segment generated $10.83 billion. This accounted for a remarkable 38.5% of Mastercard’s $28.2 billion in total net revenue and is growing much faster than its core payments business.²,⁴

    This report concludes that the competitive dynamic between the two companies is evolving. The fundamental mechanism of earning fees on payment volume remains the bedrock for both. However, Visa’s strategy now focuses on leveraging its scale to expand its “network of networks” into new payment flows, like business-to-business payments. Mastercard, conversely, is executing a clear strategy of differentiation through services. It embeds itself more deeply with clients through offerings in cybersecurity, data analytics, and loyalty programs. The future of this duopoly will be defined less by processing payments and more by their ability to innovate and monetize the ecosystem of services surrounding the transaction.

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  • An Analytical Overview of the FTSE China 50 Index Constituents: Q4 2025

    Decoding the FTSE China 50

    The FTSE China 50 Index is a real-time, tradable benchmark designed to provide international investors with exposure to the largest and most liquid Chinese companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK). Administered by FTSE Russell, the index comprises 50 constituents selected based on market value and liquidity, employing a transparent, rules-based methodology. To prevent over-concentration in any single entity, individual constituent weights are capped at 9% on a quarterly basis. This structure makes the index a critical tool for creating index-linked financial products, such as Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and derivatives, and serves as a key performance benchmark for global investors seeking access to the Chinese market through an established international exchange. This report provides a detailed profile of each of the 50 constituent companies, reflecting the index’s composition as of October 1, 2025. The list is current following the FTSE Russell Q3 2025 quarterly review, which concluded with no changes to the index’s membership.   

    Clarifying Index Composition: H-Shares, Red Chips, and P Chips

    A nuanced understanding of the FTSE China 50 requires a clear distinction between the types of share classes eligible for inclusion. Unlike indices focused on mainland-listed A-shares, the FTSE China 50 is composed exclusively of stocks traded on the SEHK, which fall into three specific categories designed for international investment. This composition is fundamental to the index’s role as a gateway for global capital into the Chinese economy.   

    • H Shares: These are securities of companies incorporated in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) but listed and traded on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. While subject to PRC corporate law, they are traded in Hong Kong Dollars and are freely accessible to international investors. This category typically includes China’s large, state-owned enterprises in foundational sectors like banking and energy. Examples within the index include Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and Petrochina.   
    • Red Chips: These are companies incorporated outside of the PRC (often in jurisdictions like Hong Kong or the Cayman Islands) but traded on the SEHK. A company qualifies as a Red Chip if at least 30% of its shares are held by mainland state entities and at least 50% of its revenue or assets are derived from mainland China. This structure represents state-controlled interests operating through an international corporate framework. CITIC Limited is a prominent example in the index.   
    • P Chips: Similar to Red Chips, P Chip companies are incorporated outside the PRC and trade on the SEHK. The key distinction is ownership: a P Chip is controlled by private-sector Mainland China individuals or entities, not the state. The company must also derive at least 50% of its revenue or assets from mainland China. This category includes many of China’s most dynamic and globally recognized technology and consumer companies, such as Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group.   
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  • Decoding the NASDAQ: Copper, Bonds, and the VC Canary

    The daily fluctuations of the NASDAQ Composite often dominate financial headlines, creating a narrow focus on immediate price movements. But what if the most important clues about the tech market’s future aren’t in the headlines at all? Some of the most potent signals hide in plain sight—in the bond market’s quiet warnings, the global demand for raw industrial metals, and the private funding decisions made far from Wall Street’s trading floors.

    This article explores four surprising indicators that can signal a potential downturn in the tech-heavy NASDAQ. By looking beyond the usual metrics, investors can gain a deeper understanding of the broader economic and psychological forces shaping the market. This journey from the widest economic outlook to the most sector-specific insights offers a crucial, alternative perspective.

    1. The Bond Market’s Ominous Whisper: An Inverted Yield Curve

    One of the most reliable predictors of economic trouble is found not in the stock market, but in the quiet corners of the bond market. The yield curve, which plots the yields of bonds with different maturity dates, provides a powerful signal. Normally, longer-term bonds have higher yields. But when the curve “inverts”—meaning the 2-year Treasury yield rises above the 10-year yield—it signals investors’ overwhelming conviction that an economic slowdown is imminent.

    This inversion has a stark Negative (Inverted) historical correlation with the market and is a classic recession predictor. The link to the NASDAQ is direct and punishing. Tech companies, particularly those valued on future growth, are punished severely when higher interest rates make their distant earnings less valuable today. More fundamentally, a recession means less corporate and consumer spending on the very software, hardware, and services that NASDAQ companies sell.

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  • Ford’s New Slogan: “Built Ford Tough… With a Little Help from Our Comrades”

    Is that the sound of rattling bolts on a new F-150 or the clinking of vodka glasses in a celebratory toast? Rumor has it, Dearborn might be getting a new sister city: Moscow. With Ford’s stock taking a beating and debt levels reaching for the stratosphere, analysts are wondering where the company will find its next big bailout. After all, when your electric vehicle ambitions are already entangled with Chinese battery technology, what’s a little more foreign investment between adversaries?

    While European allies seem to be keeping their checkbooks closed, don’t be surprised if the next Ford press conference is catered with borscht and the company unveils a new “From Russia With Love” financing plan. Forget diluting shares; the real power move is diluting your national allegiance. The new Ford insignia might just be a hammer and sickle superimposed over the blue oval. Will the stock go up? Who knows. But one thing’s for sure: the cup holders in the next-generation Mustang better be big enough to hold a bottle of Stolichnaya. After all, with over $160 billion in debt, you’ve got to be damn creative to keep the assembly line running. As for their EV battery “lies,” it turns out the secret ingredient might not have been lithium, but a healthy dose of geopolitical pragmatism. So, get ready for the all-new Ford Pravda, coming soon to a dealership near you. Just don’t ask about the trunk space; it’s probably full of rubles.

  • The White House’s Troubling Embrace of Sharia Finance

    The most insidious threat is the normalization of the political ideology that fuels terrorist groups: Islam. While TX Gov. Abbott is fighting back, recently reaffirming the state’s ban on Sharia law, the White House is moving in the opposite direction. It is actively promoting Sharia as a legitimate financial system. Hidden in plain sight on the White House’s own website, among glowing press releases about “trillions in great deals,” is a statement from Franklin Templeton’s CEO, Jenny Johnson. She praises the Trump administration’s policies for helping her company, a global asset manager, grow “leadership in global Sukuk and Sharia compliant investing.” Let that sink in. The Trump White House is celebrating, as a key economic victory, the expansion of a financial system based on religious laws that are fundamentally hostile to American liberty and Constitutional principles. It is a full endorsement of the financial arm of a political ideology we should be fighting, not funding.

    https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/05/what-they-are-saying-trillions-in-great-deals-secured-for-america-thanks-to-president-trump

    https://archive.is/72BVI

  • The American Engine

    A Stablecoin is the exhaust from the American Dollar. Every other digital token is a blueprint with no factory. 

    The Dollar is the engine: anchored in the American heartland, powered by nuclear energy, and backed by the President’s signature and the nation’s steel. 

    First, they offshored the factory. Now, they’re trying to offshore the vault.

  • The Textbook and the Black Hole

    Hearing a statement like, “Reducing interest rates increases inflation, dumb***,” is a perfect example of a textbook classic. It’s a solid rule for a straightforward game. The only issue is the assumption that we’re still playing that same simple game.

    This level of complexity might not even be new. It’s entirely possible that a layered reality, with a simple narrative for the public and a far more intricate one behind the scenes, has been the standard operating procedure for a long, long time.

    The very data used to form these opinions requires a massive leap of faith in its authenticity. As a show like “Rabbit Hole” on Paramount+ pointed out, deepfakes are not just about eroding trust; they are a tool for constructing a completely false reality to get a specific reaction. The fake TV broadcast in the opening scene that sets the whole story in motion is a perfect metaphor; what is presented as ‘the news’ or ‘market data’ could easily be a meticulously crafted illusion.

    This concept extends directly into the financial system itself. The problem of “fails to deliver” is not a simple clerical error; it’s the financial system’s version of a deepfake. Attempts to get the raw FTD data through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests hit a black hole. The trail goes cold under the official reasoning that it’s proprietary “corporate” information, a designation that can make it more secret than classified documents. A mechanism like that being in place during the massive market convulsions and wealth transfers of the COVID era makes tracing what really happened almost impossible.

    Therefore, hearing a simple, clean economic rule is difficult to take at face value. In a world of systemic financial deception and deepfakes that can manufacture reality, claiming to know what’s really going on is a profoundly optimistic stance.