Author: Ken McElroy
Source: YouTube: Inflation is SKYROCKETING… Do this NOW. (with Berkadia’s Clay Akiwenzie)
By Ken McElroy
Bitcoin has a chance of increasing in the final months of 2021, as the first ETF pegged to the cryptocurrency was launched this week.
According to Tom Lee, the founder of Fundstrat, and crypto expert, the release of the ProShares Trust fund might help bring more money into bitcoin by many new retail and other investors. Because of this, prices for bitcoin might jump higher.
Fund company ProShares created the Bitcoin Strategy ETF using the ticker “BITO” this week, becoming the first United States ETF linked to cryptocurrency, a milestone for the new digital-asset sector, which was started back in 2008.
The potential of an ETF, which in theory will give more people access to bitcoin without needing to worry about custody problems for the virtual asset, has pushed bitcoin prices to almost a record high close to $65,000.
Lee stated that one of the two factors that could push bitcoin even higher is the expectation that this launch will bring in greater inflows. The second reason is that only some investors are currently exposed to bitcoin. With a new avenue to buy cryptocurrencies safely likely to support more buying.
Fundstrat estimated that around 93 million households now own stocks, while only 40 million own some bitcoin, with average balances per household being around $10,000 for bitcoin, a small fraction of the average $200,000 in equities per household.
“Crypto is around 1% of liquid assets,” said the Fundstrat executive.
However, Lee’s “back of the envelope” data suggests inflows into the new ETF will be a key near-term supporter for bitcoin’s price.
“We do not know the exact amount of U.S. households that own bitcoin, but we know it is not as widespread as equities,” Lee stated, in a research note this week.
Lee speculated that the Bitcoin ETF demand might rise by $50 million per day, if the new fund BITO proves anywhere near as popular as the Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ ETD. The QQQs has around $190 billion in assets, and another fund connected to bitcoin, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust GBTC has around $32 billion in their asset pool, making it the top crypto fund in size.
Author: Steven Sinclaire
The total crypto market cap has gone up around 200% this year, reaching $2.5 trillion at the time this was written. Much of that growth has come from Bitcoin, which makes up around 45% of the market. But over the long haul, other cryptos like Cardano and Aave might help support growth and adoption in this exciting sector. Let’s take a look at them.
1. Cardano
Cardano is a public blockchain that allows peer-to-peer transactions through its cryptocurrency called Ada. Users can program decentralized apps (dApps). And it has an edge over its rivals such as Ethereum because of its more energy friendly proof-of-stake process which is known as Ouroboros.
Unlike proof-of-work protocols, during which miners have to use thousands of computers to solve computational problems to ensure transactions are valid (and create new coins), Ouroboros instead allows miners to validate blockchain transactions based on the amount of coins they have. This system takes less energy, giving Cardano an edge in an increasingly environmentally focused world.
Ada prices have gone up over 1,100% since the beginning of the year, earning Cardano a total market cap of around $69 billion, and making it the fourth largest crypto. Cardano’s environmentally friendly mining and its ecosystem of good dApps could allow for continued long-term increases.
2. Aave
Cryptocurrencies usually rely on the bigger fool theory, which means people buy in order to then sell to someone else for a greater price without thinking about the fundamentals. Assets like Aave push back on this narrative by creating real-world use cases to encourage more adoption.
Aave is an ERC-20 protocol that was programmed on Ethereum. It aims to decentralize consumer finance by giving a way for people to borrow and lend over 20 different cryptos without one central intermediary.
Users deposit their digital assets into “liquidity pools” where they get interest. These pools also serve like funds that borrowers can draw against, with the loans overcollateralized (borrowers must give more than 100% of the loan in other tokens) to lower risk. Lenders get the benefit from earned income from their cryptocurrency holdings, while borrowers can get their holdings without needing to sell.
At a recent price of $301 per coin, Aave has increased around 500% during the previous 12 months. Its market cap is now around $4 billion, making it a small coin compared to Ethereum or Bitcoin, with market values of around $450 billion and $1.2 trillion, respectively.
Author: Blake Ambrose
The Q3 2021 earnings season is now gaining pace. We are early in the reporting cycle and results have been very encouraging so far. This is in comparison to the view of some economists that the momentum of the American economic recovery lowered in the past quarter owing to prolonged supply-chain problems and more inflation.
As of October 15, 41 companies on the S&P 500 had reported their third-quarter numbers. Total earnings for these companies were up 40.4% y/y on 13.4% greater revenues, with and 85.4% of them beating EPS estimates and 70.7% beating revenue estimates.
Our Top Pre-Earnings Report Picks
We have focused our search to the following mid-cap stocks that will report their Q3 earnings this month. Each of these has a strong buy rating from us.
Triumph Bancorp Inc. is a financial holding firm with a diversified commercial finance, community banking, and asset management activities. It operates in three sectors: Banking, Factoring, and Corporate.
The firm has an expected earnings growth of 80.6% for the past year. The estimate for earnings improved 1.3% over the past 30 days. It recorded earnings surprises in the past four quarters, with an average beat of around 48.4%. The company will publish its earnings on Oct 20.
AutoNation Inc. is the largest auto retailer in the country. The company gives vehicle parts, vehicle maintenance and repair services, extended contracts, vehicle protection, and other aftermarket products. Also, it arranges financing for vehicles through third-party sources. It works through three segments: Import, Domestic, and Premium Luxury. The company will release its earnings on Oct 21.
Olin Corp. distributes and manufactures chemical products in the U.S., Europe, and internationally. The company operates like a vertically-integrated global distributor and producer of chemical products. It operates through three sectors: Vinyls, Epoxy, and Winchester.
The company is expected to have an earnings growth of over 100% for the current year. Executives will release the earnings report on Oct 21.
Range Resources Corp. is an independent gas and oil company that works in the development, exploration, and acquisition of gas and oil properties, mostly in North Louisiana and the Appalachian Basin.
The company also has an expected earnings growth rate over 100% for this year. They will release their earnings on Oct 26.
Author: Blake Ambrose
Author: Ken McElroy
Source: YouTube: Are we OVERDUE for a housing crash? – Ken McElroy LIVE!
Bitcoin’s price might catch a serious wave from a brand new ETF, according to an analyst at Fundstrat.
Fundstrat’s team, which had published a yearly-end bitcoin target of $100,000, now states that bitcoin’s equilibrium price might spike up to $168,000 if the ProShares ETF that started trading this Tuesday gets a serious boost of inflows from hungry investors.
Fundstrat is now predicting the new bitcoin-based ETF will give higher first-year inflows than even what the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF brought in during 2002 by watching the Nasdaq.
“This bitcoin ETF will allow vastly more people to invest in crypto,” the co-founder of Fundstrat Global Advisors, Tom Lee, said. “We believe Bitcoin demand will go beyond the inflows for QQQ.”
Gary Gensler, the SEC Chair, has reiterated his acceptance of an ETF connected to bitcoin futures (compared to one based on spot bitcoin). And Fundstrat’s thesis is especially bullish about the enthusiasm for a new fund which is settled in bitcoin futures.
Today, investors can already buy and hold bitcoin through exchanges such as Coinbase and others, though Lee said how the new ETF might bring in more demand.
He mentioned the Invesco QQQ ETF, which gave diversification among top tech companies. The fund saw inflows of $36 billion in the ETF’s initial year.
Fundstrat is predicting that ProShares bitcoin ETF will go beyond that by attracting in $50 billion during its first year, which would mean around $50 million more in demand for the top cryptocurrency per day. That, combined with the prices for bitcoin right now, got Fundstrat to give equilibrium price of up to $168,000 per coin.
Analysts will have a reference to work with concerning what successful inflows could look like. The SPDR Gold Shares fund has the fastest increase to $1 billion under management — doing this in only three days.
Lee further said the idea that bitcoin’s eight-year long wait for an ETF was not already priced in.
“There are probably some who think the boost in the price is already discounting approval,” Lee said. “To an extent, this might be true, since Bitcoin has gone to almost all-time highs in the previous few weeks. But in our view, the value of Bitcoin will keep rising, well after real approval of the ETF.”
Author: Scott Dowdy
There are different ways that investors put their portfolios together. Some might go for high-growth stocks, and some go for dividends. Successful portfolios usually have a good mix of both.
If you are looking to round out your portfolio with two options that can help build a stronger portfolio, Apple and Johnson & Johnson are among the buy-and-hold picks.
Apple
Whoever said money does not grow on trees never had a share of Apple stock. This corporation has been a great investment, especially after the first iPhone in 2007.
The company has been delivering dividends on its stock going back to 1987, with consistent yearly payouts since 2012. The current yearly dividend has a yield of 0.59%, although this rate lags below the S&P 500 average of around 1.3%. For this reason, it’s not likely that investors go to Apple for just its dividend.
Even still, it can make for a great portfolio addition for investors (maybe retirees) who are seeking quarterly income. And for people who choose to reinvest their dividends, that strategy might turn into an even better return due to results in buying more shares, which in turn can deliver better gains in future dividends as they compound each year. And more shares can then lead to better gains when you consider the possible growth on this historical growth.
Throw in some increasing speculation that Apple is in the middle of creating its own car to compete with Tesla and others in the EV market, and it makes for an intriguing time to buy the stock. Meanwhile, the whispered fourth-quarter earnings is $1.35 a share compared to the market expected number of $1.23, suggesting the potential for a 9.7% beat on earnings.
Johnson & Johnson
J&J’s stock price has had dramatic moves since its pandemic-induced decline in March of 2020 to $105 a share from a past high of $152. From this bottom, it went to a peak just under $180 before succumbing to a combination of larger market pressures and a sell-off in pharma stocks in Sept., resulting in the current price about $157.
But as the stock moves, the company continues to give dividends consistently, currently with a yield of 2.65%, based on a yearly payout of $4.24 per share. The firm now has 59 consecutive years of dividend increases, while giving at a rate nearly double that of the average S&P 500 dividend yield. Those 59 consecutive years of dividend growth put the company into an elite category of Dividend Kings — companies that have boosted their payouts every year for 50 consecutive years or more.
Author: Scott Dowdy
Most folks need substantial assets to support themselves while in retirement. With a current monthly average benefit of around $1,559, Social Security is not going to be enough for you to live a comfortable and happy retirement.
Fortunately, there are some tax-advantaged retirement accounts like IRAs that can help. These accounts can be powerful portfolio builders, as a new report from June has revealed: It seems more people, including Warren Buffett’s investing deputy Ted Weschler, have expanded their IRA accounts to hundreds of millions, if not billions.
Weschler’s Roth IRA was around $264 million in 2018. Meanwhile PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, has around an account that started with $2,000 in 1999 and now has around $5 billion.
How wealthy people do it
So how do super wealthy people do like Weschler has and amass so much money, when contribution limits are low and their incomes are so high?
Well, they might be using Roth IRA conversions — taking normal IRA accounts and/or 401(k) accounts and changing them into Roth IRAs. You must pay taxes on the money converted when you do this, but after that, the money grows with the prospect of never getting taxed again.
(Also not that 401(k)s have much higher limits, so they can grow fatter than an IRA account. The 2021 limit for 401(k)s is around $19,500, plus $6,500 for people 50 and older, for a total of $26,000 being possible.)
Wealthy people are often well connected to particularly good investment opportunities. For example, they can put money into a business that is still young and not yet being sold on the open markets. And if they use their self-directed Roth IRA, they might be able to park their shares of future hugely successful companies inside it.
Imagine Netflix, as one example, which began trading after its IPO back in 2002. Some early investors might have been able to get their shares for a split-adjusted $1 or $2 back. They are now worth about $625, representing a 632-fold increase. That would be enough to transform a $6,000 investment into around $4 million.
If you can buy shares of such a huge outperformer before it hits the market, you might get it at much cheaper prices, getting even better gains in the future. This combined with the tax-free nature of your Roth-IRA account could make your retirement a dream come true.
Author: Steven Sinclaire
Bitcoin kept going on its climb toward record highs, increased by optimism for the upcoming creation of the first ever Bitcoin futures ETF in the United States by asset manager ProShares.
The largest crypto delivered gains 1.5% higher to get close to $62,250. It is now more than doubled this year during volatile trading. The April record is right under $64,870.
ProShares plans to start their fund on the NY Stock Exchange this Tuesday, its chief executive Michael Sapir said during an interview. The news is the latest sign of how crypto-related investments are now getting more mainstream.
“ETFs mean this year Bitcoin might see several billions come into management which might keep the whole space buzzing,” Edward Moya, an analyst at the Oanda Corp., said in a note.
The prospect of greater interest in Bitcoin from retail and institutional investors is strengthening the coin, whose 2021 climb far outweighs the returns from normal assets such as bonds, stocks, and gold. That is a marked change from the mid-year, when concerns about its energy and a harsh cryptocurrency crackdown within China sent prices falling under $30,000.
Other coins are also higher this week, including the number two coin, Ether.
Also, crypto-linked stocks rallied this Monday, including exchange platform Coinbase Global Inc., miner Riot Blockchain Inc. and Riot’s London-based peer Argo Blockchain Plc.
The technical chart for Bitcoin during this rally is a worry for Rick Bensignor, the president of Bensignor Strategies, who said in a message that being so close to highs could make him “think twice about purchasing Bitcoin right now.”
Noelle Acheson, lead of market insights at Genesis Trading, warned about the possible demand for a futures-based Bitcoin ETF.
“It is another big step in the convergence between crypto and traditional markets,” she stated. “But, I do believe there will be maybe not quite as much demand for this service as the market seems to be thinking.”
“Bitcoin now has a strong position as it reaches its last resistance at $64,000 higher which a breakout will be for $100,000,” said Rich Ross, strategist at Evercore. “Q4 offers fertile ground for speculative people.”
Author: Steven Sinclaire
Author: Ken McElroy
Source: YouTube: 5 tax changes that could rock real estate investors!