ET Pro China Monitor

Breaking News #18: The Rise of the Raccoons

By Harper Hunt | March 28, 2024 | 2 Comments

As anyone who has ever left their trash lid loose would know, raccoons have a tendency to come in and clean up the leftovers. And they make a huge mess while they do it. That isn’t the only place they exist, though. Raccoons also exist in the financial world, the self help world and a lot of other places. They come in and take what is leftover from what would otherwise be positive innovations and make a mess of them for their own benefit. In this episode, we take a detailed look at raccoons. We look at the tactics they use and how all of us can better spot them before they do their damage. We also discuss the danger of carved out inflation metrics, whether fundamental investing is dead, what steam boat operators have to do with finding your true self and a lot more.

Why Am I Reading This Now? 03.18.24

By Harper Hunt | March 20, 2024 | 0 Comments

Recent major media stories that feel to us like they’re part of a larger narrativ‌e campaign.

Bitcoin Endgames & The New Hyper-Agents

By Dave Nadig | March 19, 2024 | 18 Comments

If the HODLers are right, they’re also the new Elites.

Not in a “my thumbdrive will make me the Duke of West Hartford in this post-apocalyptic hellscape” sort of way, but in ugly-but-mainstream scenarios with ugly-but-mainstream power/wealth transfers.

Breaking News #17: The Rise of Financial Nihilism

By Harper Hunt | March 14, 2024 | 0 Comments

Younger generations today feel like they don’t have a chance. Whether it be rising home prices or income and wealth inequality, they feel that they are starting with a significant disadvantage relative to older generations. One of the responses to this has been to resort to more aggressive gambling when it comes to their investments and their lives. Whether it be sports gambling or investing in riskier investments, some have sought to overcome their starting position by making risky bets. In this episode, we take a deep dive into this idea of financial nihilism and look at its real world implications. We also discuss Elon Musk’s treason allegations against Joe Biden and also look at the amazing behind the scenes story of the creation of the song “We Are the World.”

That which we call QE by any other name would smell as sweet

By Ben Hunt | March 14, 2024 | 0 Comments

That which we call QE by any other name would smell as sweet.

I think if Shakespeare were reincarnated as a Fintwit luminary, that’s how he’d rewrite the Juliet bit about roses, at least if he were thinking about what’s happening in bank regulation today.

This is the privatization of QE and debt monetization.

And You Wonder Why Bitcoin and Gold are at Record Highs

By Ben Hunt | March 12, 2024 | 7 Comments

The Fed’s inflation-fighting credibility is shot and everyone in Washington and on Wall Street is in the bag for nominal growth, ie Number Go Up on EVERYTHING, through the November election.

After that … well, as Louis XV so aptly put it: après moi, le déluge.

Wheeee!

Financial Nihilism

By Travis Kling | March 12, 2024 | 32 Comments

The Boomers have all the money. The American Dream of upward mobility is dead for you. That is Financial Nihilism.

So if you’re on the wrong end of this, what do you do about it?

You gamble. You f**king gamble.

Why Am I Reading This Now? 03.11.24

By Harper Hunt | March 11, 2024 | 0 Comments

Recent major media stories that feel to us like they’re part of a larger narrativ‌e campaign.

Two Quick Narrative Observations

By Ben Hunt | March 7, 2024 | 0 Comments

I got some more color from Rusty on the shift in our Narrative Monitors this month from hawkish to dovish central bank narratives, and I thought it was well worth forwarding to everyone.

Private Credit Working Group Call 3/1/24

By Ben Hunt | March 6, 2024 | 0 Comments

Recording of last Friday’s private credit working group call, along with a transcript for those who prefer reading over video.

The main takeaway is that we are increasingly thinking that the expansion in private credit is less of a ‘bubble’ than it is a structural transformation within capital markets.