Issue #13 of Net Interest, my newsletter on financial sector themes. Welcome to all those who’ve signed up since last week—we’re now over 3,600 subscribers, which is incredible! Every Friday I go deep on a topic of interest in the sector and highlight a few other trending themes underneath. If you have any feedback, reply to the email or add to the comments. And if you like what you’re reading, please do share and invite friends and colleagues to sign up.

Plumbing the World’s Markets: The Story of ICE

Last week the owner of the New York Stock Exchange announced that it’s getting into the mortgage business. At first glance these businesses look like they have nothing in common. One allows people to trade stocks between each other, which they do in huge volumes and at high velocity. The other allows them to buy houses, which tend to be less frequent and more considered purchases. Not the most obvious of bedfellows.

So what’s going on?

Broken down into their core elements, the process of tra…