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L.5 · INTERMEDIATE · 2 MIN

Repo Markets & Money Markets

The repo market is the plumbing of the financial system. 'Repo' stands for repurchase agreement: one party sells securities and agrees to buy them back, essentially a collateralized short-term loan.

Quiz · 5 questions ↓
§ 01
Money Market InstrumentTypical MaturityRisk Level
ReposOvernight to 2 weeksVery low (collateralized)
Treasury Bills4 weeks to 1 yearRisk-free (government backed)
Commercial Paper1 to 270 daysLow (investment-grade issuers)
Fed FundsOvernightVery low (interbank)
Certificates of DepositVariousLow (FDIC insured up to $250K)
§ 02

When the repo market seizes (as it did in September 2019), the Fed must intervene immediately. Repo stress is like a blood clot in the financial system, blocking the flow of short-term funding to banks and dealers.

§ 03

Money markets are invisible to most investors but essential to the system. When they break, everything else breaks. The 2008 crisis was at its core a money market crisis.

§ 04
Repo market 'freezes' (dealers can't roll overnight funding). What's the fundamental problem?
Five questions · AI feedback

Sit with the ideas.

A dealer finances $200 million in Treasury bonds through overnight repo at a 2.0% haircut. How much cash do they receive, and what happens if the haircut suddenly doubles to 4.0%?

Why:
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