The Wall Street Skinny
What if finance could be fun? Or better yet…entertaining?! Join us, Kristen and Jen, two Wall Street veterans and life long best friends as we break down deals, talk about the news and the markets, and interview industry experts & celebrities. We're not afraid to ask all the dumb questions so YOU can go be smarter in real life. Meet us at the intersection of finance and pop culture --- subscribe today!
The Wall Street Skinny
Paramount / Netflix Bidding War | Breaking Down PSKY's $108bn hostile bid for WBD + Don’t call It QE: The Fed’s new playbook
0-21:30: PSKY / WBD Deal breakdown
21:30-51:08 The Fed Breakdown
51:08-56:27: Donor Approved Funds for Charity
In this episode, Kristen and Jen continue to unpack Warner Brothers Discover bidding war from what the media is constantly getting wrong including missing the non apples to apples bids from PSKY and NFLX as well as why Paramount’s bid looks nothign like traditional M&A and is basically a straight-up leveraged buyout. They also break down the question everyone’s up in arms about: who is in control when this deal goes through.
Then Jen shifts gears into the Fed…and why the headlines are missing what actually matters. Yes, there was a 25bp rate cut — but the bigger story is the Fed’s new plan to support funding markets through reserve management purchases (RMPs) and short-dated Treasury buying. Jen translates the Fed’s most painfully dry policy language into plain English, explains what “ample reserves” really means, and walks through why the Fed is stepping in now — with historical parallels to 2019’s repo market stress and the post-2008 era of balance-sheet whiplash. The takeaway: this isn’t a red-alert crisis moment, but it is a meaningful shift in liquidity support… and it sets up some very interesting asymmetry heading into 2026.
Finally, they end with a practical PSA that could save high earners real money: a tax change coming in 2026 (and why there’s urgency before year-end) makes donor-advised funds newly relevant if you give to charity consistently. They explain how “bunching” donations can potentially maximize deductibility — and how donating appreciated stock can help you avoid capital gains taxes while still supporting the causes you care about. Not tax advice (seriously: ask your CPA), but if you’re philanthropic and market-savvy, this is one of those “tiny line in a bill, huge impact” moments you don’t want to miss.
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