Market makers are often described as neutral referees — silent guardians of liquidity. But neutrality is an illusion. This essay explores spreads, inventory balancing, OTC desks, adverse selection, and hedging to show how dealers shape price through vested interest. To see the hidden hand is the first step in no longer being led by it.
In this third entry of the Understanding Market Mechanics series, we move beneath the surface of charts and candles into the bloodstream of the market itself: liquidity. From stop runs and iceberg orders to liquidity pockets, fair value gaps, price discovery, and reversion to the mean, this post explores how liquidity shapes every move. The market is not random—it is choreographed. Learn to read the current, and price stops looking like noise and starts speaking as a language.
Most traders enter the market chasing fairness and opportunity—but beneath the surface lies a harsh statistical truth: the structure itself demands imbalance. This blog post explores how the Pareto Principle shapes market outcomes, revealing why consistent winners are few, and why most must inevitably lose.
For decades, homeownership has been sold as the ultimate symbol of success — but behind the glossy promises, today’s housing market reveals a harsher truth. As prices soar and wages stagnate, the last wave of buyers is being lured into a cycle where risk is quietly handed down from early winners. This is the age of exit liquidity — and the illusion of homeownership is its most seductive trap.
Sayed Hamid Fatimi's "The Philosophy of Markets" challenges conventional views on trading, suggesting that markets are not neutral but adversarial systems that exploit predictability and emotions. The book emphasizes the importance of understanding market structure, belief, and behavior over traditional analytical methods. It also discusses emerging financial alternatives like crypto and decentralized systems, proposing a shift toward a post-institutional world.
