This was an exciting week for Bitcoin holders and hodlers as the fourth-ever halving took place on Friday. The American consumer got back to work spending ever more on goods and services. Some of that was inflation and some was more consumption. That same consumer is a bit overstretched and some have started paying fees … Read more
This was a big week for connected events. The increase in the CPI was a surprise to the disinflation crowd that’s been screaming for lower interest rates for almost two years. Higher CPI leads to higher for longer interest rates which pushes up the dollar against the yen. That’s about to force the Bank of … Read more
With inflation continuing to erode the purchasing power of the dollar and both gold and Bitcoin hitting all-time highs this month, there’s been increasing interest in the concept of what constitutes a store of value. Michael Gayed has asserted that a store of value can’t have tail risk. That means if an asset can have … Read more
This wasn’t a good week for the “pivot” people and asset gatherers who have been begging the Federal Reserve for lower rates. We got a higher-than-expected CPI and PPI. Making things worse, the short-term monthly numbers have started to accelerate meaning the disinflation story might be dead for now. Retail sales and manufacturing numbers were … Read more
This week, Jerome Powell spoke to Congress and was more dovish than he’s been in years. He’s gone from channeling former Fed Chairman, Volker, who crushed inflation with interest rates approaching 20% to sounding like Volker’s predecessor, Arthur Burns, who reduced interest rates before getting inflation under control. We saw weaker than expected job reports, … Read more
In December, we produced a version of the 5 Things titled “The Smart People Doing Smart Things Issue”. This time, we’re not so positive. This was a week of people being consistently wrong including Bitcoin bears who refuse to apply a consistent lens for their thesis when it’s not working, Fed doves who keep insisting … Read more
Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen speaking in public typically leads to her accidentally saying things out loud that confirm the fears of her critics. At the same time, the Bitcoin bears who celebrated a small decrease in the dollar price of Bitcoin last month have gone into hibernation causing quiet in my Twitter/X feed. I believe … Read more
