The Golden Age Of Fraud

"And so we're told, this is the golden age

And gold is the reason for the wars we wage"

The inauguration weekend kicked off with the first ever "Crypto Ball" in Washington on Friday night. Simultaneous to that event, Trump issued his own meme coin which at one point in the weekend was worth $72 billion. Yes, you read that right. And that wasn't even half of the corruption yet to come:

"As the crypto industry celebrates the arrival of a new administration in Washington, D.C., nobody is taking quicker advantage of the coming changes than the person leading the charge: President Donald J. Trump."

“Two years ago, everyone thought crypto was dead,” said one attendee who asked not to be named in order to speak candidly on the topic. “A year ago, we were begging for help, and this weekend, we’re on top of the world.”

Indeed. Here is Bitcoin as of this writing.

As we see, over the weekend, Bitcoin made a new high, but today it's struggling to get back over that new high.

Which gets us to the real markets. Global markets (ex-U.S.) shrugged a sigh of relief on Monday as there was no mention of tariffs during any of the speeches Trump gave during the inauguration. Monday night however, news hit the wires that Trump is still planning large scale tariffs on Canada and Mexico by February 1st. What this means is that Trump plans to tax his own supply chain thereby making the U.S. less competitive vis-a-vis Europe and Asia. Not that Trump understands the ultimate consequences of any of his actions. Over 100 "Executive orders" were issued this week which is a new record for making a joke of democracy. Be that as it may, defeated Democrats were in stunned silence during the entire spectacle. While sending Biden straight to the old age home.

What we are witnessing on Tuesday is widescale short covering that began overnight in Asia and carried over into Europe on the basis that Trump has yet to start his trade war with China.

Which is the main event.

Small caps are once again leading this short covering "rally", but nothing that hasn't fallen apart before.

In January.

I would be remiss if I didn't point out that this week is also that time of year wherein the ultra-wealthy congregate in Davos Switzerland to approve the global management conspiracy.

“I’m reminded of what happened when Napoleon escaped from Elba,” said Lloyd Blankfein, the former longtime chief of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., likening executives’ realignment to the old story about how French newspapers changed their tune in 1815. They initially characterized Napoleon as a “monster” and an “ogre.” As he neared Paris, the papers announced “His Majesty” was arriving."

Clearly the elites fear Trump and his ascendant shit coin empire. Which says a lot about these times we live in - where even the rich and powerful cower before the naked emperor. Not one of them is willing to risk a nickel to lose out on the golden age of unfettered corruption. Such is the quality of the imperiled aristocracy at this juncture.

And in addition to Trump and Davos, Tech earnings kickoff this week with Netflix giving a trifecta of fake optimism to cap off January.

In summary, what the wise man believes at the beginning, the fool makes everyone believe at the end.

Anyone who believes this charlatan deserves their fate.