The Trading Floor with David Axtell

Why do two desks quote different prices for the identical cross-currency swap? Episode three goes inside the market's plumbing: the concentrated dealer panel, how the leverage ratio and balance-sheet costs shape who quotes, electronic RFQ versus voice execution, and what really drives the bid-offer spread. Plus the misconception that runs deepest — standard cross-currency swaps are still bilateral, not centrally cleared, and clearing transforms counterparty risk rather than eliminating it. Host David Axtell works a live collateral-terms example worth six figures. Companion season to Cross-Currency Swaps and Basis Trading, out 15 December.

If you can't describe every cash flow in a cross-currency swap, you don't yet understand it. Episode two builds the trade from the ground up: principal exchange (physical and notional structures), fixed-for-fixed, fixed-for-floating and floating-for-floating legs, day-count pitfalls, RFR lookback and lockout conventions, settlement across multiple holiday calendars, and the four-part ISDA architecture that makes it all enforceable. Host David Axtell walks through a full worked example and a basis-swap sign-convention trap that costs people real money. Companion season to the book Cross-Currency Swaps and Basis Trading, out 15 December.

Why do companies borrow in a currency they don't need, just to swap into the one they do? Episode one of The Trading Floor's new season introduces the cross-currency swap: the instrument connecting FX, interest rates and credit, born from a real 1981 IBM–World Bank trade and now underpinning a market worth tens of trillions. Host David Axtell explains comparative advantage, the basis, and why this market was reshaped after 2008. Companion season to the book Cross-Currency Swaps and Basis Trading, out 15 December.

The Trading Floor is a professional markets podcast from Rondanini Publishing Ltd.

Hosted in Season 2 by veteran FX-market practitioner David Axtell, the programme examines cross-currency swaps and basis trading from an institutional perspective. Episodes cover market structure, quotation conventions, principal exchanges, curve construction, valuation, basis behaviour, hedging, collateral, funding, capital, documentation and operational risk.

Designed for FX and rates traders, corporate treasurers, risk managers, quantitative analysts, finance professionals and advanced market practitioners.

Season 2 accompanies the book Cross-Currency Swaps and Basis Trading by Luigi Pascal Rondanini and David Axtell, published on 15 December 2026 as part of the Foreign Exchange Markets Professional Series.

Why do FX options sometimes behave very differently from what the pricing formula suggests?

In this episode of The Trading Floor, Luigi Pascal Rondanini explores the gap between financial models and the realities of the foreign exchange options market.

Models such as Black-Scholes, local volatility, stochastic volatility and SABR are essential tools—but every model is a simplification. Professional skill lies in recognising when a model is providing a useful approximation, when its assumptions are breaking down, and when model risk is becoming a material trading or hedging risk.

The episode introduces Luigi’s forthcoming book:

FX Options: Pricing, Hedging, Exotics, Risk and Institutional Practice

Book Two of the Foreign Exchange Markets Professional Series

The discussion covers:

FX option pricing and volatility surfaces

The difference between model risk and market risk

Hedging with forwards, vanilla options and exotic structures

Delta, gamma, vega and practical Greeks management

Corporate treasury hedging decisions

Volatility trading and relative-value strategies

Black-Scholes, SABR, local volatility and stochastic volatility

Why judgement matters more than the formula alone

The book draws on Luigi’s experience trading FX derivatives and advising corporate treasurers, risk managers and institutional clients.

Published by Rondanini Publishing in September 2026.

Learn more:

rondanini.com/fx-options

Podcast:

thetradingfloor.rondanini.com

Hosted by Luigi Rondanini

"A machine that refuses to guess is rarer than a machine that can talk."In this special bonus episode of The Trading Floor, David Axtell steps away from market stories to address a critical risk facing modern dealing floors: the "fluent wrong answer." Drawing on 35 years of experience, David explains why a chatbot inventing a P&L figure isn't just a novelty—it’s a firing offence.He introduces OrbaLM, a professional-grade control plane published by Rondanini Publishing® Ltd that ensures your AI never bypasses your authoritative tools. Unlike public SaaS chatbots, OrbaLM is a private, governed specialist runtime designed to sit inside your firm's own security boundary.

Key Takeaways:

• The Golden Rule: The model explains; governed tools calculate.
• Governed Calculations: Why FX options (Garman Kohlhagen), bonds, and IRS valuations must come from deterministic tools, not model prose.
• The Practical Heart: How OrbaLM integrates with the Excel workbooks the desk actually runs on, reviewing multi-tab files with full provenance.
• Founding Beta Offer: Details on the September shipping window and the unique "OrbaLM Promise"—keep the runtime for free even after the pilot ends.

Founding Pilot Details: Shipping starts in September 2026. Access is strictly by inquiry for professional desks.To Apply: Visit ⁠orbalm.orbaos.com⁠ or email

• [email protected] from your company email address.

• Limit: One seat per company location.

Luigi Rondanini speaks frankly: the podcast, the books, the effort. FX Cash Products selling well. FX Derivatives out September. Book 3 with David Axtell in progress. Fiction, Market Myths, Commodities series. Thank you and goodbye.FX Cash Products book, FX Derivatives Products, cross-currency swaps book, Luigi Rondanini, David Axtell, Rondanini Publishing, FX professional series, learn rondanini, foreign exchange books, treasury books, financial markets education, FX options book, commodities energy markets book, Market Myths Mathematical Reality, The Trading Floor novel, Tom Fielding fiction, FX practitioner books, professional finance reference, treasury education, financial markets series, axtellconsulting, rondanini.uk

RELATED RESOURCES:

• Book: FX Cash Products — available now through all major bookstores and rondanini.com
• Education platform: learn.rondanini.com — 145+ professional mini manuals plus Python toolkits
• Consultancy: rondanini.net / rondanini.uk (Luigi Rondanini) · axtellconsulting.net (David Axtell)
• Podcast website: thetradingfloor.rondanini.com

Season One finale. David Axtell on the future of FX: AI, T+1 settlement, renminbi internationalisation. Book 2 (FX Options, sole-authored by Luigi) and Book 3 (Cross-Currency Swaps, David returns) both in progress. Ep 20.

future of FX, FX markets future, electronic FX trading, AI market making, algorithmic FX, T+1 settlement, FX settlement reform, CLS settlement, distributed ledger FX, CBDC FX, renminbi internationalisation, digital renminbi, CIPS, dollar reserve currency, FX regulation, non-bank FX, Basel III FX, Volcker Rule FX, FX markets evolution, FX technology, FX career, professional FX markets, trading floor podcast finale, season 1 FX

RELATED RESOURCES:

• Book: FX Cash Products — available now through all major bookstores and rondanini.com
• Education platform: learn.rondanini.com — 122+ professional mini manuals plus Python toolkits
• Consultancy: rondanini.net (Luigi Rondanini) · axtellconsulting.net (David Axtell)
• Podcast website: thetradingfloor.rondanini.com

NDFs carry risks standard forwards don't. David Axtell covers delta exposure, EM VaR, stress testing peg breaks, fixing manipulation, CSA structures, operational controls, and governance frameworks. March 2020 included. Part V. Ep 19.

NDF risk management, NDF delta, NDF VaR, emerging market VaR, fixing risk, fixing manipulation, NDF stress test, currency peg break, CNY devaluation risk, INR risk, Turkish lira risk, NDF counterparty credit risk, credit support annex CSA, NDF collateral, NDF clearing risk, NDF operational risk, trade capture FX, confirmation matching, settlement reconciliation, NDF governance, position limits FX, contingency funding plan, March 2020 FX, EM currency crisis

RELATED RESOURCES:

• Book: FX Cash Products — available now through all major bookstores and rondanini.com
• Education platform: learn.rondanini.com — 122+ professional mini manuals plus Python toolkits
• Consultancy: rondanini.net (Luigi Rondanini) · axtellconsulting.net (David Axtell)
• Podcast website: thetradingfloor.rondanini.com

Not all NDF liquidity is equal. David Axtell breaks down the three-tier market structure, how dealers skew quotes to manage inventory, when electronic beats voice, and why information leakage can cost more than the spread. Part V. Ep 18.

NDF liquidity, NDF execution, NDF market microstructure, NDF dealer, electronic FX trading, voice FX execution, multi-dealer platform, Bloomberg FXGo, Refinitiv FXall, 360T, dealer quote skew, NDF bid offer spread, best execution FX, transaction cost analysis TCA, FX algorithmic execution, TWAP FX, VWAP FX, NDF clearing, LCH ForexClear, central counterparty clearing, NDF bilateral execution, information leakage FX, dealer scorecard, emerging market FX execution

RELATED RESOURCES:

• Book: FX Cash Products — available now through all major bookstores and rondanini.com
• Education platform: learn.rondanini.com — 145+ professional mini manuals plus Python toolkits
• Consultancy: rondanini.net (Luigi Rondanini) · axtellconsulting.net (David Axtell)
• Podcast website: thetradingfloor.rondanini.com