While US stocks look unstoppable, the biggest investment bank in Europe looks to be headed for a crisis.

Deutsche Bank (DB), which has failed to make a profit for the past three years, has dropped to new all-time lows. Everything about DB screams disaster. It has lost a stunning 93% of its value since 2008. It’s laying off staff. And US authorities have put it on a list of troubled lenders. As recently as 2007, DB was the second largest bank in the world by assets. Today it ranks nowhere near the top ten. In fact, its market cap has shrunk to a tiny $20 billion.

'The tug-o-war continues.'

The market is faced with three major headwinds: 1) quantitative tightening by the US Federal Reserve, 2) the potential devaluation of fiat within next couple of years, and 3) the potential break up of the EU. This is countered by the near record levels of quantitative easing that continue to flow into US stocks. The tug-o-war continues.

"The gifted are the lucky few who have found something that they’re passionate about. So passionate in fact, that they’re compelled to investigate it whether anyone else is interested or not. Their temperament allows them to spend countless hours and years refining their craft by practicing the things they can’t do simply because that process is the thing they find most enjoyable in life. That’s the gift."

'Ever see a dog chase his tail?'

Contrary to common logic and consensus expectations, Fed rate hikes and balance sheet reduction will only exaggerate budding inflation concerns.
The economy has never experienced a sustained reduction in the monetary base of the magnitude currently underway. The path of QT and higher rates, that the Fed is currently on, will counter-intuitively increase inflation while reducing economic growth.

Separation of $ and State

'Unsurprisingly, global debt still would tower over the value of the cryptospace as it currently stands at $233 trillion, and continues to grow. Indeed, bitcoin should nicely accomplish the separation of money and state much as we have had separation of church and state. This will help put an end to central bank money printing which remains the biggest legalized Ponzi scheme ever. Meanwhile, as the renowned Naval Ravikant has said, "Bitcoin is freeing humanity from corrupt governments, all the while disguised as a Ponzi scheme." 

In the meantime, how do governments unwind the QE-generated debt without undoing the QE-bull market which began in 2009? According to Bridgewater's founder Ray Dalio, a major devaluation of fiat currencies is coming within the next few years as quantitative easing has failed to jump start the global economy even after nearly a decade of money printing. The cryptospace is likely to be the primary beneficiary of such a devaluation. Centralized systems which include centralized governments and corporations will pay the ultimate price since decentralized, open source, trustless, p2p, censorship resistant, private, secure protocols will always win over centralized, closed source, third party, insecure platforms'.

Principles for Success: "The Call to Adventure" | Episode 1

I'd like to know how many of you think that the world sits at a major tipping point economically, financially, socially, and politically?

'The brilliance behind blockchain is that governments in their current form are rendered obsolete as the technology eliminates the need for trusted third parties (TTPs). Ed Seykota writes that governments have always controlled by initially reducing then quashing productivity and freedom, and details his point nicely in his book "Govopoly in the 39th Day". 39th day is the analogy to duckweed in pond ecosystems. Duckweed doubles each day so goes unnoticed the first 25 or so days. But by the time it is noticed, it is too late to reverse its course. On the 40th day, duckweed strangles all life in the pond. Seykota equates the current systems of government to being one day away from the 40th day given the beyond onerous levels of regulation, taxation, and unjust rights-crippling laws not just in third world countries but also in first world nations. The world sits at a major tipping point economically, financially, socially, and politically.' 

You have all weekend to think about this, enjoy thinking!

Some people think inflation should not rise going into a recession, but actually the opposite is true.