What we are reading:
A week about who lends when the usual lender steps back. Small truckers, graduate students and San Francisco voters all ran into that question.
🚚 Bloomberg counts 221 trucking bankruptcies so far this year. About two-thirds of small carriers report flat or falling revenue, and almost 40% expect to be out of trucking within six months or are unsure. Merchant cash advances and variable-rate equipment debt are finishing what the freight cycle started. https://finance.yahoo.com/small-business/articles/americas-truckers-brink-221-bankruptcies-140026424.html
🎓 Grad PLUS closed to new borrowers on July 1, and federal graduate borrowing now caps at $20,500 a year, $50,000 for professional programs. Students are filling the gap with private lenders, who price on credit rather than enrollment. https://www.wsj.com/personal-finance/students-turn-to-private-lenders-after-trumps-clampdown-on-federal-loans-5a0c838c
🏦 5 Points walks through how Column Bank works: by the author's figures, $174 million of equity, a 73% annualized ROE in the second quarter and an efficiency ratio under 40%, built on its own core and card processing. The argument is that banking-as-a-service has found its consolidator, and it buys deposits. https://fivepoint.substack.com/p/november-how-americas-most-profitable
🏠 The quiet result on Tuesday was property tax. North Carolina cut the cap on annual assessment increases for non-homestead property from 10% to 5% and passed a limit on local levy growth, and Florida approved a homestead cut. Property tax is the revenue behind most local general obligation bonds. https://www.inman.com/2026/11/04/housing-ballot-results-2026-midterms/
🌉 San Francisco voted on chartering the country's first city-run public bank. On preliminary counts Prop B trails 50.18% to 49.82%, about 630 votes, against a Controller estimate of $310 million to $460 million in startup costs over eight years. https://missionlocal.org/2026/11/san-francisco-public-bank-prop-b-2026-results/
Caird's chart of the week: federal interest payments have cost more than national defense for 11 straight quarters, $1.33 trillion against $1.23 trillion at an annual rate in the third quarter, something that had happened in only one quarter since 1947.
Caird Investment Partners, LLC is an SEC-registered investment adviser. Registration does not imply any level of skill or training, or SEC endorsement. This is market commentary, not investment advice, not a recommendation, and not an offer to buy or sell any security. Data as of November 4, 2026.
