Friday's Markets Update (December 13, 2024)

14 Dec 2024 by rate3

On Friday, equities were mixed, with the S&P and Nasdaq hovering near flat. Tech stocks like Nvidia and Marvell surged, while other giants like Meta and Amazon declined. The broader market was cautious ahead of the Fed's interest rate decision on Wed next week as import prices suddenly jumped. Chinese economy deteriorated further which is reflected in sharply decreased number of new loans and absence of stimulus from CCP. Japanese yen declined on BoJ dovish stance faced by a slowing production. BTC (100K) and ETH (3.9) slowly push towards ATHs. Crypto adaption in the Nigeria exceeded 80%.

Details

Import prices increased by 1.3% YoY in November, up from 0.6% in October. This marks the highest annual growth rate since July 2008. 1Y trend: "Up"(BLS)

Crypto

Cryptocurrency ownership is rising globally. More than 50% of respondents in Nigeria (84%), South Africa (66%), Vietnam (60%), the Philippines (54%) and India (50%) reported owing a crypto wallet in 2024. Turkey (44%) and the USA (43%) rank lower. (source)

World Markets

European stocks declined as investors assessed the ECB's rate cut and China's economic outlook (contrary to expectations China’s Economic Work Conference ended without specific details on the policies). Despite a move by Macron appointing Bayrou - pro-EU centrist Boomer, concerns about economic growth and inflation weighed on the market. 1Y trend: "Up" Industrial production in the Euro Area declined by 1.2% YoY in October. This indicates a continued slowdown in manufacturing activity in the region although with a slowing speed of decline. 1Y trend: "Up" (source)
Chinese banks extended less than 50% new loans in November than in the previous year (1.2T CNY), indicating weak credit demand despite the central bank's efforts to stimulate the economy. 1Y trend: "Down" (CN)

Currencies

The Japanese yen weakened to a two-week low against the dollar as market expectations for a rate hike by the Bank of Japan declined on worsening economy. The central bank's cautious stance on further tightening and improving economic sentiment in Japan contributed to the yen's weakness. 1Y trend: "Up, Weakening"

On Week 51, key economic events include the Fed's interest rate decision, inflation data, and Chinese economic indicators. Central banks in the UK, Japan, and several other countries will also announce their policy decisions. Additionally, various economic data releases from the US, Europe, and Asia will be closely watched by investors.

Comment: What's Up with EU? (2)

The EU, which was first launched in the post-war period as an economic union and worked effectively to combat communism, has been transformed by lazy, entitled, and overall ineffective Brussels bureaucrats into a human progress-slowing machine.

There are two main types of people: those who think every day about how to make the world a better place and those who think every day about how to make the world a better place for themselves. We refer to the first group as producers and the second as bureaucrats. Producers create; bureaucrats cannot do that because they lack the abilities to do so. Instead, they scheme to position themselves atop the producers to "manage" them based on an innumerable array of "ideologies" which bureaucrats steal from creators. To maintain their power over producers, bureaucrats use coercion and demagoguery.

Over the past 5,000 years, bureaucrats have always prevailed over producers by exterminating them in various types of wars and concentration camps. However, in the past ten years, producers finally invented the algorithmic consensus mechanism, which allows them to manage themselves without bureaucrats. In the past three years, bureaucrats have tried to exterminate those who invented and employed these mechanisms, but they have not succeeded.

EU bureaucrats have been at the forefront of efforts to eliminate decentralized algorithms by smearing and "regulating" them. However, as a result, these bureaucrats have demonstrated once again that all they can do is to imprison people—achieving nothing.

As a result of these bureaucrats being in power for the past 30 years since the European Union was created, the economy of this union has drastically underperformed compared to the less regulated transatlantic cousins' economies. Moreover, EU bureaucrats, through their outrageous stupidity and arrogance, have managed to turn their allies into enemies and spark almost a nuclear conflict in the midst of their continent. All the individuals directly responsible for this still cling to power with all their might, despite their incompetence being apparent to everyone.

However, those who will replace them—thoughtless henchmen—are even more dangerous, and their ascent to power will lead to a complete disassembly of the European Union. But it will cost Europeans dearly, who will pay for their mental laziness with both money and blood.

In a time of impending global wars, the world needs a military coordinated but economically and politically decentralized Europe. Economics must be governed by direct democracy based on the consensus mechanism facilitated by machines. War must be conducted by several leaders, each of whom can be controlled by consensus and replaced quickly if needed, and that war must be won with high technologies produced by liberated producers and inventors not by blood of recruits.

The advance of bureaucratic class must be stopped if the world wants to continue to exist.