Fire Hydrant of Freedom

https://michaelyon.locals.com/upost/5650962/gaza-genocide-is-land-grab-it-s-about-routes-energy-etc-the-ireland-netherlands-luxembou

Thank you for calling that out.  Gaza isn't a genocide, unless he's talking about what Hamas is doing to its own people, and the Israeli operation in Gaza is not a land grab.

Was there some context to his comment I'm missing?  How do you make any comment on what's happening in Gaza without mentioning Oct 7?

https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/surging-hospital-prices-are-helping-keep-inflation-high-a146258b

How can that be?  Aren't the buildings paid for yet?  Where I live, all hospitals are "non-profit".  Are the nurses striking because they make too much?  Where does the money go?

Profit is such a waste (if you don't understand our economic system).  Remove the profit and you remove the greed.  Why should anyone profit over someone else's misfortune?

Of course the answer is that all the alternatives to a 'profit' based investment system are worse.  Everything under government subsidy and government control costs more, performs worse.

"Public employees in California saw premiums increase 11% this year, largely because of rising prices"

Total government control and this is what they do with it??

Meanwhile, what have all these government-owned, government-run entities done to innovate lately?

"Surging Hospital Prices Are Helping Keep Inflation High
A 7.7% increase in prices at hospitals last month was the highest in 13 years"

Did care get 20% better under Biden?  Are outcomes better?  Or are costs just higher?

Don't we have lower cost doctors and nurses surging across our southern border, or are we importing the wrong kind of workers, uh, welfare recipients?

BTC’s big new HODLer is … Wisconsin?!

After a week of lower volatility, crypto prices spiked on Wednesday as new U.S. consumer price index (CPI) figures showed inflation easing slightly. One key index, “core inflation,” which removes food and energy costs, hit its lowest rate since April 2021.

As markets of all kinds got a boost, BTC climbed toward $65,000 and ETH approached $3,000.

Meanwhile, the BTC ETF category saw weekly inflows return for the first time in a month and futures markets continue to suggest a bullish path for BTC, with many traders betting on a new all-time high north of $75,000 by the end of June.

Here are three more crypto stories to know this week.

1. Wisconsin reveals $160 million crypto portfolio

The spot BTC ETFs that began trading in January were created in part to make crypto a more viable option for big-money institutional investors like pension funds.

According to a new SEC filing, that promise is already coming true. The State of Wisconsin Investment Board — which manages state-employee retirement funds among other assets — disclosed that as of the end of March, it held around $160 million in spot BTC ETFs (split between BlackRock’s and Grayscale’s funds).

Those weren’t the board’s only crypto-related investments. According to the Block, “shares of other cryptocurrency firms such as Coinbase, Marathon Digital, Riot Platforms, Block, Cipher Mining, Cleanspark and MicroStrategy were also in the Board's portfolio.” 

Follow the leader... According to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, other big institutional investors are likely to follow in Wisconsin’s footsteps. “Normally you don't get these big fish institutions … for a year or so (when the ETF gets more liquidity),” he noted, “but as we've seen these are no ordinary launches. Good sign, expect more, as institutions tend to move in herds.”

Inflation down: "things are (not) getting better, just that they are getting worse more slowly."

Savings rate: Worst in 17 years.

Stocks:  "there will be a correction."  Could be a "significant correction"

Consumer sentiment:  6 month low. (going in the wrong direction).
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(Doug)  Can't even be optimistic about a change election.   Polls show Trump winning, but we know to be skeptical.  Polls also show Republicans underperforming in Senate races and a strong likelihood they lose the House.  Divided government means largely status quo, not change.

World is in disarray.

Investments should be in defense mode.