

Boxes and Lines
Ronan Ryan, John Ramsay
In today's equity markets, the devil’s in the details. This is a podcast for traders, asset managers, and anyone who wants to understand the machinations, politics, and incentive structures underpinning our shared markets.
With irreverence and insight, IEX’s Ronan Ryan and John “JR” Ramsay hold court on market structure with Wall Street’s most savvy market practitioners, sharing their insiders’ view on how Wall Street really works. You'll never trade the same way again.
With irreverence and insight, IEX’s Ronan Ryan and John “JR” Ramsay hold court on market structure with Wall Street’s most savvy market practitioners, sharing their insiders’ view on how Wall Street really works. You'll never trade the same way again.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Mar 14, 2022 • 32min
VC and Web3 with Matt Harris of Bain Capital Ventures
On this episode of Boxes and Lines, hosts John Ramsay and Ronan Ryan are joined by Matt Harris, Partner at Bain Capital Ventures and an investor in IEX! With over two decades of experience investing in fintech, Matt shares his insights on the evolution of the space, the challenges of going public, the emerging Web3 ecosystem, and running a company post-pandemic. Recorded on February 24, 2022. If you enjoyed Boxes and Lines, don't forget to subscribe, review and share! Learn more about IEX Exchange at https://iexexchange.ioContinue the conversation on Twitter.

Feb 14, 2022 • 36min
The Stock Market’s Morning Routine with Ramon Gonzalez of IEX Exchange
While you were still sleeping, the stock market was busy getting ready for the day. Ramon “Ray” Gonzalez, Head of Technology Operations for IEX Exchange, joins Ronan and JR to walk us through the checklist his team goes through every day – starting at 4 am – to get the market ready for smooth sailing. Plus, they delve into “bare metal” infrastructure, data centers, and the potential for exchanges to move into the cloud. Recorded January 31, 2022.

Jan 24, 2022 • 48min
The FYI on ESG with Paul Bodnar and Eric Van Nostrand of BlackRock
It may be a cliché to say that younger generations care more about “purpose,” but when over 70% of U.S. investors are expressing interest in sustainable investing, there’s obviously money on the line. Paul Bodnar and Eric Van Nostrand of BlackRock joined us during the fall edition of #BoxesAndLinesLIVE for an on-the-ground discussion of sustainable and social impact investing and the end retail investor. Recorded October 11, 2021.

Jan 10, 2022 • 39min
Fact, Fiction, and Finance: Hamilton and Burr
Think you know the story of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr? Think again. Andy Kaplan, former partner at Greenlight Capital and Partner at Freedom’s Edge Cider in Maine joins guest host and IEX colleague Jayme Abrahamsen to tell us what gets missed in one of America’s founding myths – and why we should care. Recorded December 7, 2021.

Dec 20, 2021 • 49min
Are you there Instagram? It’s us, Wall Street with Ri Sharma (Founder, Wall Street Confessions) and Brian Hanly (CEO, Bullish Studio)
As part of our #BoxesAndLinesLIVE event in October, Ronan and JR were joined by Ri Sharma, the voice behind Instagram’s @wallstreetconfessions, and Brian Hanly, the CEO of media company Bullish Studio, to discuss the social media and finance culture. Tune in for a no-holds-barred conversation about how Wall Street is changing for better or worse, how financial professionals are getting their news and information today, and how the online and social media conversation has evolved. Recorded October 13, 2021.

Dec 6, 2021 • 38min
DeFi and Blockchain Finance with Dave Olsen of Jump Trading Group
Dave Olsen, President and CIO of Jump Trading Group, joins Ronan and JR to discuss smart contracts, DeFi, the Solana blockchain, and how the Pyth Network is bringing financial data into this ecosystem. Recorded October 27, 2021.

Nov 22, 2021 • 41min
Shareholder Stewardship with Amy Borrus of the Council of Institutional Investors
“Asset managers have stepped up.” So says Amy Borrus, the Executive Director of the Council of Institutional Investors, in her conversation with Ronan and JR. In this episode, we dive into how say-on-pay changed the game, dual-class share structures, and how today’s workforce is demanding value-based change. Recorded October 20, 2021

Nov 8, 2021 • 35min
European Markets, Post Brexit with Niki Beattie of Market Structure Partners
Niki Beattie, CEO and Founder of Market Structure Partners and Non-Executive Chairman of XTX Markets and Aquis Exchange (among other corporate governance roles), joins us from the United Kingdom to give Ronan and JR the 411 on equity market structure in the European Union and UK post Brexit. We’re diving deep on regulators, dark pools, systematic internalizers, consolidated tapes, retail trading, and more. Recorded October 5, 2021.

Oct 20, 2021 • 1h 1min
Ape Nation Comes to Wall Street with Dave Lauer and Matt Kohrs
In our latest #BoxesAndLinesLIVE series, we took on the meteoric rise of retail trading over the past year. Since the start of the meme stock phenomenon, a new generation of retail traders have taken to Reddit forums to exchange stock (er, "stonk") tips and flood the social media airways with theories about Wall Street. Meanwhile Bloomberg IBs fly with speculation about what the mysterious “retail community” really understands about how the markets work. But we don’t need to live in the dark any longer! Dave Lauer and Matt Kohrs join us to break down those barriers and serve as inside interpreters between retail and institutional trading. Recorded October 11, 2021.

Aug 16, 2021 • 39min
Measuring the 15-Microsecond Dash with Professor Eric “Batch” Budish
Ronan and JR are joined by Eric Budish, the Steven G. Rothmeier Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, to break down the methodology and results in his paper “Quantifying the High-Frequency Trading ‘Arms Race,’” his well-known batch auction market design, and the usefulness of putting a dollar value on vaccine capacity. Recorded July 28.