Nobody is Good at This, S&P Nears Oversold, Divest From Oil? 'Absolutely Not'
Shortcut: Economics, Investing, Business
"The world has become so complex that the idea of a power in which everything comes together and can be controlled in a centralized way is now erroneous."
- Ulrich Beck
"For the first time in history, information technology allows for the creation and protection of assets that lie entirely outside the realm of any individual government's territorial monopoly on violence."
The S&P 500 is nearing oversold territory
What Else?
- 6 Rules From 6 of the World's Top Investors (Investopedia)
- The Secret is Consistency (Novel Investor)
- 20 stocks in the S&P 500 skidded as much as 21.5% during another brutal week (MarketWatch)
- Carl Icahn warns ‘the worst is yet to come’ for investors (Fortune)
Nobody is good at this
In his latest post, titled "You're not good at this", the Joshua Brown observes, "Zero percent interest rates plus fiscal and monetary stimulus with housing up 40% and stocks at an all-time high was a ridiculous policy." Unequivocally agreed. He continues, "At a certain point, a person who is charge of price stability should probably look in the mirror..." Let us zoom out now. Perhaps we all need to look into the mirror. Of course "they" are "not good at this," because it's not a winnable game from an outside-the-box perspective. There should be no "person" or centralized entity in charge of price stability to begin with. What did we think that centralized control of the price of money would lead to?
The money printing (see: monetary inflation via increased money supply), which started well before the pandemic, accelerated dramatically during 2020, and continued increasing after, led to this haunting inflation. The Fed's options to quell inflation were limited within the confines of the current economic box in which we all operate. Well, they could have taken the laissez faire approach and let inflation run even hotter allowing people to see the real effects of currency debasement. And a Bitcoin Standard might become even more appealing to more people. However, we live in a world where the consequences of economic decisions are cushioned or altogether annihilated, in the short run at least, by centralized throttling of interest rates.
Furthermore, according to Matthew Piepenburg of Matterhorn Asset Management AG, the Fed's "fake war on inflation" probably won't accomplish much with "a Fed Funds Rate at 3%, 4% or even 5% is not only mathematically crippling to a nation which simply can’t afford such rates, it is equally impotent against a headline CPI print in the 8-9% range (and rising)."
What Else?
- The Fed Is Finally Seeing the Magnitude of the Mess It Created (Mises Institute)
- Tight Dairy Supplies Send Prices Surging Ahead of Baking Season (WSJ)
- Risk of Global Recession in 2023 Rises Amid Simultaneous Rate Hikes (Mish Talk)
- Global Food Supply Crises May Worsen Due To Poor US Harvest (ZeroHedge)
- This Inflation Will Be Tough to Get under Control (Wolf Street)
- US Is Inflating Its Debt Away After Unprecedented Spending Binge (Bloomberg)
- JPMorgan CEO skeptical of President Biden's energy, student loan policies (FOX Business)
- Recession odds just skyrocketed up to 80% (Fortune)
'Absolutely Not': JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon Rebuffs Rashida Tlaib Request To Divest From Oil And Gas
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich): "You have all committed, as you all know, to transition the emissions from lending and investment activities to align with pathways to net-zero in 2050… So no new fossil fuel production, starting today, so that's like zero. I would like to ask all of you and go down the list, cause again, you all have agreed to doing this. Please answer with a simple yes or no, does your bank have a policy against funding new oil and gas products, Mr. Dimon?
Jamie Dimon (CEO, JPMorgan): "Absolutely not, and that would be the road to hell for America..."
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