weekend notes

Hope all goes well… “Before investing in a fund that holds bitcoin futures contracts, make sure that you carefully weigh the potential risks and benefits,” warned the SEC via a Thursday evening tweet. Twitter blew up. Digital asset prices surged. Because of course, Biden’s SEC Chairman, who consults with the Treasury Secretary and others on crypto would only approve an ETF if they were going to le

“Always buy ahead of buy orders,” he said on my first day. I’d started my career in the corn pit because old-timers said I’d lose money less quickly there. “Sell in front of sell orders,” he said. Made sense. If brokers held large orders to sell corn at $2.50 per bushel and a buy order entered the pit, I’d fight to sell at $2.50. If prices subsequently dropped, I’d make money, and if they pressed

Hope all goes well… The United Arab Emirates has the world’s best performing equity market this year (+52.8% year-to-date, priced in US dollars). Russia has the second-best performing market (+33.6% priced in US dollars). Saudi Arabia is third (+33.5% in dollars). All three have a lot of oil, the consumption of which quite obviously contributes to climate change. Public companies throughout the de

“Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak,” whispered Xi to himself, refocusing on Sun Tzu wisdom, pushing Lao Tzu to the far recesses of his rattled mind. Xi recognized the near impossibility of his renminbi overtaking the US dollar, and yet there is value in having so many people believe this is his plan. The world’s nations hold $7.1trln in official US dollar reserves (22.7

Hope all goes well… “Is it your intention to ban or limit the use of cryptocurrencies, like we’re seeing in China?” asked Ted Budd, Republican congressman from North Carolina. “No,” replied Fed Chairman Jay Powell. “No intention to ban them?” asked Budd again. “No intention to ban them, but stablecoins are like money market funds, they’re like bank deposits; they’re to some extent outside the regu

Anecdote: “I’m stressed Dad,” said Jackson, nearly twenty-years-old, preparing for mid-terms. I smiled, hearing in his voice the story of my life. “Stress is okay, drowning isn’t. Which is it?” I asked. “Let me put it this way, my easiest classes are Calc 3 and Physics.” I laughed, couldn’t help it. “What’s your favorite class?” I asked. “Matrix Theory for sure. My professor is awesome.” Jackson a

Hope all goes well… “When you and I grew up, half the world was covered in communism,” said the CIO. “Global markets and international business provided the keys to liberate the human potential stifled by that system,” he continued. “When we started in the business, there weren’t vast pools of human capital moving piles of paper. But those days are done.” Too much of society has become financializ

Anecdote: “There are numerous ways to look at current circumstances in an area of change,” said the Chairman. “When analyzing an area, it’s helpful to consider at least a few, and explore how we develop our various opinions,” he continued. “What we often discover is that our perspectives are path dependent. How we got here, dominates how we view the future.” We were discussing blockchain technolog

Hope all goes well… “The #Inspiration4 launch is one outcome of our nation’s partnership with private industry,” tweeted NASA’s deputy administrator, Musk’s rocket racing into orbit. “Creating a sustainable economy in low-Earth orbit including commercial transportation to space for people & crew and commercial space stations is critical to our future on Earth & in space.” Half a world away