The Zeitgeist – 3.27.2019

Every morning, we run The Narrative Machine on the past 24 hours worth of financial media to find the most on-narrative (i.e. interconnected and central) stories in financial media. It’s not a list of best articles or articles we think are most interesting … often far from it.

But for whatever reason these are articles that are representative of some sort of chord that has been struck in Narrative-world.


Treasury Swings Jump Like It’s 2016 [Bloomberg]

So … we write a lot here at Epsilon Theory. Maybe too much for people to keep up. But there are a few notes that are canon, and one of them is Things Fall Apart (part 3) – Markets. Here’s the conclusion from that note:

The transformation of capital markets into a political utility results in a structural dampening of equity volatility, not Treasury volatility. Why? Because the equity market is the political scorecard, not the Treasury market.

Trump said it out loud, because he can’t help himself. But it’s been true for a decade.


Uber Steers $3.1 Billion Careem Deal as Implied Value Gains Ahead of Planned IPO [The Street]

There’s been some debate within the ET commetariat as to how one represents the dueling banjos of Deliverance in text.

Whatever … all I know is that “squeal like a pig” comes in Act III.


Apple unveils streaming service, credit card and more [CBS News]

Everyone is focused on the streaming service and content creation. The real move is into financial services. Amazon won’t be far behind.


Cousins Properties, Tier REIT to Merge in $1.5 Billion Deal [The Street]

My god, this is going to be a record year for investment banking, isn’t it? If you know what I mean. And I think you do.

What? Can’t you believe in a comeback?


Opportunity Zones Hype Overshadows Potential Pitfalls and Risks [NREI]

As Neil Young said, rust never sleeps. Neither do raccoons.


Minimum wage would be $33 today if it grew like Wall Street bonuses have [CBS News]

LOL. Just watch … this will be a 2020 campaign factoid. MMT, here we come!


Executive Order on Coordinating National Resilience to Electromagnetic Pulses [White House]

TFW … you’re thinking about breaking up with Little Rocket Man.


Bed Bath & Beyond explodes by more than 25% after activist investors attack [Business Insider]

As a recovering short seller, I have the same reaction to news like this as I do to video of Lawrence Taylor breaking Joe Theisman’s leg … I just can’t watch. Gotta turn away.

It only takes one experience like this to recognize the Golden Rule of Short Selling: never short a stock with >10% of the float short.


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The Daily Zeitgeist

ET Zeitgeist: Raccoons Never Sleep

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Lemonade (LMND) isn’t just an insurance company. No, no … they’re an AI Company! ™.

Plus Chamath is up to his old tricks.

I hate raccoons.

Inflation as Ad Campaign

By Ben Hunt | May 24, 2021 | 0 Comments

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WHO beclowns itself with its “fact-finding mission” to Wuhan.

Hammers and Nails

By Rusty Guinn | February 8, 2021 | 16 Comments

When we talk about bias, we usually think about a political bias. But the world of 2021 now supports persistent idiosyncratic biases and frames through which information is passed. How do we ensure that our information consumption habits account for this?

For Leon Black is an Honorable Man

By Ben Hunt | January 26, 2021 | 10 Comments

O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason. Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with the American dream that once was,
And I must pause till it come back to me.

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