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Mark Camper
b7e453f6fdeb79cca1d86fbf0c4b20ebeead1de9f5067522638d03ce9ff08e8c
Bitcoin Pleb & Econ larper. Paying bills with Product & UX. Love for the tough mountain climbs and manual labor. Currently enrolled in a Blue collar bootcamp. CZ/EN

Looking slick!

Who wants eternal riches?

:nevent1qqswlu0yyhf8jrk8qwavkqmnkpn5n8klyst5hpz6c8aezu5cw4ffgkcpvemhxue69uhkv6tvw3jhytnwdaehgu3wwa5kuef0dec82c33ddkx5wfcv95xzctyw46k2emhvdjrwmrnvd4x2utpxp5ryd3cxpnrwdtj8qexwmnjxv6hqatp8pk8xvek0pckswt58yens0mzwfhkzerrv9ehg0t5wf6k2q3q2rv5lskctqxxs2c8rf2zlzc7xx3qpvzs3w4etgemauy9thegr43sxpqqqqqqzrthlgt

Replying to Avatar Ivan

πŸ“‰

SimilarWeb can be sometimes totally off. Although, more precise for the US than the rest of the world. Still, I wouldn't follow their guesstimates; especially not for such an early website.

Directionally, seeing the hype wearing off sounds right.

All slaves eventually did.

Replying to Avatar Dylan LeClair

Disinflation is Here, What Could It Mean?

Long form post:

1) Disinflation is in motion. Sufficiently tight Fed policy is doing it's job, as evidenced by 1m & 3m annualized sticky CPI decelerating meaningfully. Focus from market participants should be shifted from inflation to the reality of the tightest monetary policy in fifteen years. (see chat #1)

2) High inflation, particularly in the core basket (ex. food & energy) masked the effects of the fastest tightening cycle in history - a tight labor market fueled the flames for higher wages, second half of the inflationary impulse wasn't energy driven, it was instead fueled by wages in a tight labor market.

3) Real yields (using both trailing 12m inflation and forward expectations) are the highest they have been in decades. This isn't the 1980s, debt levels don't allow for sufficiently positive real yields for long before things start to deteriorate. (chart #1)

4) Take a look at previous Fed tightening & cutting cycles. There is a reason that much of the pain in equity markets is felt after the Fed starts cutting. Is the Fed causing distress by lowering interest rates? Obviously not, they are merely attempting to ease the pain from the second and third order effects of sufficiently tight monetary policy.

Look at when 2y yields topped in previous cycles (2y yields are essentially a proxy for the blended average of the next two years of Fed Funds) - look at what follows for equity markets/the real economy historically (chart #2)

5) Disconnect between bond markets and equity markets is large and growing by the day. It's understandable that equity earnings would be in favor relative to bonds during an inflationary regime due to pricing power advantage of equities, but with disinflation now underway, the growing divergence between equity multiples & real yields can no longer be ignored. This can also be seen through the equity risk premium (equities yields - bond yields, chart #3).

6) In equity markets in particular, the FOMO is real, with the latest round of buyers being lots of long only funds caught offside sitting in cash and plenty of retail from what I can see. 2021 bubble favorites are so back.

7) Looking at what's fueling strong earnings surprises and a resilient U.S. consumer, look partially to excess savings. COVID-era fiscal stimulus remains in the coffers of U.S. consumers, but the distribution of those excess saving is key to monitor. (chart #4)

β€œWe estimate that the top income quintile currently holds just over 80% of excess savings. The 0-20% and 20-40% quintiles have already depleted their excess savings balances, while the 40-60% quintile will likely follow in the next month or so.” - BNP Paribas

With consumer savings running dry for all but the upper class, expect the resilient consumer of late to begin to feel some stress, with student debt obligations restarting at the same time as excess savings running dry, with possible/expected labor market weakness on the horizon as well.

8) Final Point:

I've admittedly been pleasantly surprised by the strength of the U.S. economy and the equity markets in particular so far in 2023.

The recent bull parade, especially following the cool CPI print this week, has been especially interesting to see. Meme stonks are back, Nvidia is the new Tesla, and shorting vol is once again a path to infinite riches, all is right in the world...

In the midst of it all however, I cannot escape the thought that some of the recent celebrations and fist pumping may be a bit premature.

If history is to serve as any sort of precedent, the cycle is far from over, as the fun doesn't even begin until the Fed starts to cut rates...

Are the banks in the eye of the hurricane?

Makes sense. This has been lot of hustle, and doesn't seem to be worth it if you're needing the precision. Maybe if ai would have a joiner at least πŸ˜…

I'm using this one just for a floating shelve in the laundry closet; good enough for that. But it would make a lousy table top.

Still, lot to learn. Didn't have the confidence for the 45 bevel rip cut...

Biscuits here. Seems like an easier option to me.

But I did end up with a little bend. Gonna have to be more cautious next time, and do it on a flat surface.

Always take the work outside when you can.

At least it's very cash friendly, isn't it?

I'd say it's little more organic, self-emergent structure than a 100% centralized top down entity.

And the rules of the emerged game at this point are not giving strong enough incentives to the counterfeit class to deflect to any other strategies.

That's why playing the game is futile, and the need is to opt out.

100%. Avoidance of tradeoffs is just being oblivious to second degree consequences.

Best example - money printing to pay off the debt.

The better you understand Bitcoin, the better you understand human action.