When I was a kid the only thing hyped-up was the funny bearded lady in the circus! Now I am older, circuses are closing down because bearded ladies, many with penises, are no longer a curiosity.
Indeed, a type of person you used to pay to see and were allowed to mock will now punch your lights out if you call them by the wrong pronoun!
I’m not making fun of the mentally challenged, but I do sometimes find myself at a loss when expected to use the right terms or today’s fashionable jargon for what’s going on in the economy or investment world.
For example, economic decline, recession, or stagflation all really add up to the same thing for most people: a shitty time ahead. But if you mix them up, some jerk will attack you. Indeed, it will probably be the type of jerk whose own analysis adds up to little more than writing, “the trend is your friend.”
For those types of trolls, many of whom only follow cryptocurrencies, I’ll give you another catchphrase for your next blog: “What goes up must come down,” or more importantly, “If it stops going up, it must come down!”
I love everyone in our business who puts their neck on the line, puts their money where their mouth is. But I’m getting a bit fed up with opening my email each morning and seeing it full of useless emails from people who, like ladies with beards and penises, don’t know what day it is and just want to be noticed.
Rant over, so let’s get back to where we are today.
First, a bit of a pat on the back for yours truly. Having been bullish on commodities since the beginning of the year, two weeks ago I informed readers that I was taking profits (see my report). Looking at values today, that proved to be great timing. Copper, aluminum, and wheat are all down around 10%, and even boring corn is trading lower.
I still like commodities in the long term, so I will look to get back in over the coming months. But I see no need to spoil the summer with a cocktail of positions I don’t need.
My main exposure currently is physical gold, which I am keeping as a hedge against government greed and future mismanagement of our economy. I am also a bit long on dollars (also see my report of May 9th) and will keep this exposure a little longer, giving it a chance to close under the 1.06 support level in EUR/USD.
Here, I must make it clear: I do not issue trading recommendations. I simply discuss what I am looking at and what I am doing or considering doing. For example, I am seriously looking at buying SP500 out-of-the-money put options expiring mid-September, which I might buy over the coming week but haven’t purchased yet.
I also do not have exposure to BTC, nor do I need one currently.
As a speculator with a strong belief in holding a diversified portfolio, I am forced to look at a wide variety of financial instruments for opportunity. While “hype and noise” can move the markets, too much hype can cause investors to trade without thinking.
In the case of BTC, if we believed all the hype, one Bitcoin should be worth a gazillion dollars, but it’s not. As speculators who can put our money into a multitude of instruments, do we need the headache of trading in something whose nature and future we are still debating?
Furthermore, despite all the hype, BTC has basically flat-lined since the beginning of March, yet people still talk about it going to the moon.
If asked, I suppose I am bullish longer term on BTC and some other cryptocurrencies. But it’s not the best game in town, especially if you are not looking to go in and out of the market every five minutes.
The name of the game is to put your money where there is good opportunity and exploit the situation for profit. I know exploitation is considered evil, but as speculators, that’s what we do, so live with it.
You should never “marry” an asset you are using for financial gain, and you should be prepared to drop it and move on to new pastures if it is no longer performing in your best interest.
Sure, some people are attracted to bearded ladies and want to give one a try. Each to their own, I suppose. But getting married to one? Hell no! No matter how much potential she/he promises!
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