Enlightenment - A Herold & Lantern Investments Podcast
Enlightenment - A Herold & Lantern Investments Podcast
Meme Coins vs. Real Assets: Lessons for Long-Term Investors
December 16, 2024
Season 6 | Episode 44
This episode dives into the evolving views of Bitcoin among Wall Street leaders, highlighting a shift from skepticism to cautious optimism. It also covers the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting and Barron's predictions for market performance and key stocks in 2025, providing listeners insights into navigating the financial landscape.
• Discussion of Bitcoin’s recent surge to $104,000
• Examination of Wall Street leaders' changing views on Bitcoin
• Anticipated interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve
• Analysis of Barron's predictions for 2025 financial markets
• Insight into ten stocks identified as potential outperforms
• Exploration of market dynamics between speculation and technology
• Key takeaways for investor strategies moving forward
** For informational and educational purposes only, not intended as investment advice. Views and opinions are subject to change without notice.
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And now introducing Mr Keith Lanton.
Keith Lanton:Good morning. Today is Monday, December 16th, just at the halfway point of the last month of the year. Hope everyone had a peaceful weekend getting ready for Christmas and New Year's. Financial markets, though not in vacation mode yet. This morning we are seeing records in Bitcoin and futures on the markets are modestly higher, and this is after last week where we saw interest rates move up on the longer end of the yield curve here in the United States 10-year yields touching 4.4%, up about 25 basis points for the week. But that really didn't set back the equity markets here in the US much, but we did get pullbacks in the Dow and the S&P, the NASDAQ, up slightly, largely on strength from Broadcom, tesla and Alphabet. So this morning we're going to talk some more about what we talked about last week from Barron's, which is cryptocurrencies, a lot of emphasis on Bitcoin. We're seeing lots of enthusiasm here in the United States from individual investors and throughout the world, so we're going to touch on that once again. Give a little bit of a follow-up, and then we'll talk about Barron's a follow-up, and then we'll talk about Barron's. Barron's this week had their 2025 prognostications of what they foresee going forward and they also had their list of their 10 stocks for 2025. So we'll cover that. Barron's despite being concerned about lofty valuations, barron's is optimistic that we will see continued strength, expecting a little bit of a melt-up in 2025. And then we'll touch on the topic last week that lifted Alphabet stock and that's quantum computing sort of the next thing after artificial intelligence, and they kind of go together and try and explain a little bit about what quantum computing is and whether or not it's coming anytime soon. And then we will turn things over to Brad to get his insights into a financial market see what he's seeing in overall markets and what he's seeing with interest rates. Federal Reserve does meet this week and we'll talk about that as well. That is certainly important and potentially market-moving and will affect anyone who's got loans that are tied to short-term indexes like the Fed funds or a broker call and prime rates. So we'll talk about all of those factors as well.
Keith Lanton:So last week we talked about Bitcoin and Barron's changing their thought process on Bitcoin, becoming more constructive on it, and this morning the Wall Street Journal had a section in their markets and finance portion of the edition. These five Wall Street titans thought Bitcoin was a fad. Here's what they say now. So Bitcoin this morning is around $104,000. It had gone up to $106,000 over the weekend, president seeing a little bit of a pullback, but Bitcoin has eclipsed the $100,000 mark and has been staying above that level at this time Along the way the digital currency has, but by their parents as well, but some Wall Street luminaries still aren't convinced of its value.
Keith Lanton:Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JP Morgan, has never been a fan of. Jp Morgan has never been a fan of Bitcoin. In 2017, he famously called the token a fraud and said he would fire any JP Morgan employee found trading Bitcoin for the bank. Recently, jp Morgan Jamie Dimon has maintained his personal skepticism of Bitcoin, but the bank has delved deeper into the product and I don't think he's fired anyone who's been actively engaged in it. Jp Morgan has become a pioneer in adopting blockchain technology and agreed to facilitate trading in some of the exchange-traded funds that hold Bitcoin, but nevertheless, recently, jamie Dimon did say Bitcoin is as useless as a pet rock, so remaining skeptical. Larry Fink over at BlackRock, chief executive, also once a proud skeptic of Bitcoin, calling it an index of money laundering back in 2017 and later rebuffing cryptocurrencies as something his clients weren't looking to buy weren't looking to buy these days. Fink, whose company runs the world's largest Bitcoin fund, says he has changed his opinion after studying the digital currency, saying I am a major believer. There is a role for Bitcoin in portfolios. I look at it as digital gold.
Keith Lanton:Ken Griffin, chief of hedge fund Giant Citadel, has cautioned against what he saw as the speculative bubble in Bitcoin over the years. He compared it to the tulip mania of the 17th century. At a public appearance in 2021, he said let's face it, it's a jihadist call that we don't believe in the dollar. Griffin now calls his prior judgment of Bitcoin a mistake, but says he still questions the economic utility of the virtual currency. He goes on to say of course, I wish I bought something that trades at a price that's 100 times where it was a few years ago. Saying that recently in an interview with the New York Times. Saying we all have FOMO. That's fear of missing out. It's just universal. It's part of human psychology. What I don't care for about crypto is the question what problem does it solve for our economy?
Keith Lanton:And then Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, been a longstanding critic of Bitcoin. One of his most scathing comments came during Berkshire's 2018 annual meeting, when he described it as probably rat poison squared. The billionaire investor didn't mention Bitcoin at Berkshire's meeting in May. He said in emailed comments last week that he is saving any discussion for Berkshire's next meeting, when shareholders will get a chance to ask him whatever they wish. He did recently reaffirm his critical stance on Bitcoin in April of 2023, when he attributed the long-lasting crypto craze to Americans' strong gambling instincts. He said I've seen people do stupid things all my life. People like to play the lottery. They are appealing to the gambling instinct.
Keith Lanton:And finally, ray Dalio, founder of Ridgewater Associates, dismissed Bitcoin as a speculative bubble in 2017, but he has become more bullish on the cryptocurrency over the past few years In 2021, so relatively a long time ago in the world of Bitcoin, I guess one of the more early mind changers here. He called Bitcoin one hell of an invention and an alternative gold-like asset. He said that in an essay. He disclosed that he owns some Bitcoin and also some Ether. But he did discuss concerns about long-term demand for Bitcoin and a potential government crackdown on the cryptocurrency, saying that perhaps the biggest risk for Bitcoin is it becomes too successful and it becomes an alternative to whatever currency the major powers of the world are using, in our case, the dollar, and if it becomes too successful, perhaps governments will try and kill it, and they have a lot of power to succeed. More recently, dalio warned about the rising debt load of global central banks and suggested investors look to gold and Bitcoin. All right, well, let's move on to more traditional matters.
Keith Lanton:Federal Reserve. Federal Reserve is meeting this week, on Wednesday. Markets are pricing an almost 100% chance of an interest rate cut and many are asking why. Why cut interest rates now, when the economy is arguably strong? We got inflation data last week and the CPI came in in line, but still north of 2%, and the producer price index actually surprised to the upside. One of the reasons that we saw some weakness in the bond market. So why is the Fed still going to be cutting rates on the bond market On the longer end is saying that they are concerned about rising rates and the Markets and the Fed still widely expect the cut rates by 25 basis points this week. Well, the rationalization of the cut will likely hinge on Fed officials looking to bring the benchmark rate in line with what they perceive as current economic conditions. So, given that inflation has subsided significantly from its 2022 peak, I may view that the labor market is normalizing. So while the Federal Reserve may not view 2% or 1% Fed funds rate as appropriate, some are suggesting that, given the current level of inflation, that perhaps a 3.5% Fed funds rate is appropriate. And the current Fed funds rate is 4.5% to 4.75%. So bringing it down another quarter of 1% they feel is still within the margin of safety.
Keith Lanton:And then when you delve into the numbers, last week when we had that consumer price index, it showed that many of the factors driving the November CPI increase are arguably short-lived. Food, used cars and hotel accommodations saw notable price growth in November. But some economists are saying there's nothing in the industry data when you look at each of those individually that suggests that those inflation metrics for those items will persist. Additionally, rent inflation, decelerated to levels consistent with a 2% target and base effects will be more favorable next year. In other words, the rent component is looking like it will remain benign in the next couple of readings. And this all leading to the CPI showing that November's CPI amalgamated to 2.7% year over year. The Bureau of Economic Analysis also released data that revised labor costs to a slower growth pace in the third quarter and that indicates that the upward pressure on inflation through the labor market or consumer demand may be less of a threat in coming months than previously assumed.
Keith Lanton:But don't be surprised if next week's rate cut comes with forward guidance from Chairman Powell signaling that the central bank will be looking to pause cuts at the start of the year to go from here, so sort of taking us off the 25 basis point autopilot and putting us into a market dependency cycle. As opposed to the prior, expectations were that the Fed would keep cutting rates, perhaps an additional 1% next year for cuts. Now we'll see if Chairman Powell suggests that that isn't as certain when we hear what he has to say. On Wednesday. The Fed will get a key inflation report this week on Friday, but that comes after their meeting. No one knows for sure whether or not they get a sneak peek at this, but the PCE comes out on Friday. This is the Fed's preferred measure of inflation. It's expected to show that inflation picked up two-tenths of one percent. So that number could be market moving even after the Fed makes their decision on rates. To give us some insight into what the Fed may do at their next meeting after this one.
Keith Lanton:All right, well, let's take a look at markets this morning and we are seeing, as I mentioned earlier, and we are seeing, as I mentioned earlier, futures. They were higher. Now we're seeing Dow futures down 86. Nasdaq futures up 24. S&p futures are almost completely flat. Moving on to the bond market, which I mentioned last week sold off, causing yields to move higher. This morning we see slightly higher bond prices, slightly lower yields On the long end. The 10-year is at about a 4.36, down from about a 4.4%.
Keith Lanton:Us economic data today we get the New York Empire State Manufacturing Survey at 8.30, so that number has come out this morning, and then at 9.45, we will get data here for S&P Global US Manufacturing and Services. The New York Fed Empire State Manufacturing Index came in at 0.2. The expectation was for it to be 10, so not usually a market-moving number, but nevertheless coming in weaker than expected, perhaps driving a little bit of a pullback this morning. Equity futures and the equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region traded lower, undercut by some weaker than expected. Retail sales Data out of China contribute to concerns about lackluster consumer demand Markets in China. Hang Seng down about 1%. The Shanghai was down two-tenths of 1%.
Keith Lanton:Individual stocks in the news Apple aiming to introduce thinner and foldable iPhones, according to the Wall Street Journal, up slightly this morning. Google, up about 1%, told by lawmakers. They and Apple were told by lawmakers to remove TikTok from application stores on January 19th. Tesla saying that they're going to increase the price of their Model S by $5,000, stock up about four points this morning. Honeywell, up about eight points this morning, exploring strategic alternatives for unlocking shareholder value, perhaps looking to sell their aerospace unit. Smith Micro Computer, which has been on a wild ride this morning, is down about 14%. Five points considering tapping Evercore to raise equity in debt, raising some concerns about the overall health of their business.
Keith Lanton:Moody's downgraded France's credit rating to AA3 from AA2 on concerns over the deficit and the political issues over in France. In South Korea, president Yoon Suk-yeol was suspended from office following an impeachment vote. Here in the US, lawmakers have disagreements over a government funding bill which has a deadline of Friday. Washington Post reporting that President Trump is considering privatizing the US Postal Service. That would require congressional approval. Bloomberg reporting that President Biden is planning an artificial intelligence executive order and I mentioned earlier that President Trump suggested creating a Bitcoin reserve Reuters talking about that this morning.
Keith Lanton:What else do we have going on this week? Tomorrow we get retail and food service sales for November, looking for that to increase five-tenths of 1% month over month. Wednesday, besides the Fed meeting, we get Micron Technologies, mu with results. Fedex and Nike come out with earnings on Thursday and then, I mentioned Friday, we get the PCE report for the month of November. All right, let's move on to Barron's.
Keith Lanton:Barron's short term a little bit concerned about just the pace and the magnitude of the run up. But long term, I mentioned before Barron's suggesting that 2025 could be another strong year for the financial markets. So last week I mentioned markets slightly declining and right now we are seeing. The futures I mentioned earlier were kind of mixed, still staying to the positive side. Nasdaq futures I think I misquoted earlier up about 115 points.
Keith Lanton:So if we're looking at what's taking place in the market and the overall breadth of the market, last week most stocks outside of the tech industry have been in the midst of a gradual but persistent sell-off. But 10 straight days through last Friday, more stocks in the S&P fell than rose, the longest streak since 2000. Stocks that look cheap have gotten even cheaper. The iShares S&P 500 value ETF has fallen for 10 straight days, also its worst streak since 2000. While the daily drops have not been significant more of a drip. That drip did take the index down 4% over the past two weeks, but they also show just how much the recent rally has been driven by the most exuberantly priced assets.
Keith Lanton:Interesting story in Barron's, this having to do with famed value manager Bill Nygren saying that he was recently shopping for razor blades at a drugstore when an employee noticed him from TV and he said to him hey, I bet your portfolio isn't up as much as mine said to him hey, I bet your portfolio isn't up as much as mine. So if you're looking for anecdotal stories to discuss the excitement and exuberance even for individual investors, that might be one little data point to hang your hat on, all right. Well, let's move on to Barron's, and the cover story in Barron's is why the stock market could gain another 20% in 2025. This from a usually pretty conservative, value-oriented publication. So when they say they think that the markets could move up significantly for next year, especially on the heels of a super strong 2024, I take note Markets this year, if you're looking at the S&P up almost 30% and the NASDAQ up almost 35%, saying the S&P could rally on a combination of AI growth and deregulation. But investors should prepare for a wild ride. So I'm not expecting it to be a straight shot up. So investors do need conviction in order to be successful in the upcoming volatility they suggest Stock market is surging as the year winds down, shows no signs, they say, of slowing down in 25. Investors should embrace the expanding bubble. So you see, they do think it's a lot of froth, but nevertheless they think it could get frothier.
Keith Lanton:Investing this year was arguably easy. Aside from a brief sell-off in August, the clients have been few and were best used as opportunities to reload. Events that should have sent shutters through the market, like the presidential election, escalating conflicts overseas uncertainty about the path of interest rates and the Fed's cutting plan, have all elicited barely a shrug. S&p 500 is on track to post a gain I mentioned, of almost 30% and as at 35%. Such ebullience seemed unlikely, if not remote, at the start of 2024. Equity valuations were relatively low. Economists were on recession watch. I know it seems like that wasn't the case, but just a year ago sentiment was extremely concerned and many expected by this time of the year we would already be in recession right now. Investor sentiment a year ago was reserved and the Fed had yet to start cutting interest rate. Today, of course, conditions are far less benign. S&p 500 PE is at about 22 times next year's earnings, which they say is approaching frothy.
Keith Lanton:Positive sentiment about the economy and markets has fueled the rise of animal spirits, from equities to Bitcoin to art, and talk of the Fed is no longer focused on when it will cut rates, but when it will stop cutting rates due to inflation's potential resurgence. If the stock market were predictable, a significant pullback would be in order right now, but they say prices are more likely to rise further in 2025. They say there is a good chance the S&P will gain far more than Wall Street expects due to the combination of the incoming Trump administration's deregulation drive, continued advance of artificial intelligence. Either one of those on their own would be enough to push the markets higher. Last time you had a deregulation drive along with a potentially breakthrough technology was the 1920s, when you had the automobile and you had the Hoover administration deregulating and cutting back on business rules. And we know what happened in the 20s. Of course it led to the 30s, but nevertheless we saw very strong markets in the 1920s. So these two factors could act as rocket fuel, send stocks into the stratosphere.
Keith Lanton:They say up another 15% to 20%, even 25%. Yet coming atop this year's advanced gains of that magnitude will force uncomfortable decisions. Should investors hold on and ride the market higher or take profits as it climbs? Head of Global Equity Derivatives Research at Bank of America, benjamin Bowler, saying there is a likelihood of building a bigger bubble. Booms result in bigger busts. Wall Street is expecting a solid if unspectacular year. So if you're looking at what Wall Street's saying, they're saying that the S&P 500 will hit around 6,500 by the end of next year. That's up 7% from where it currently is trading. About half of strategists have targets of between 6,500 and 6,700, a few outliers both to the upside and the downside.
Keith Lanton:But history rarely is reasonable. Over the past hundred years, the stock market was more likely to gain 10% to 20% than 0% to 10%. I think that's a fascinating statistic. Overall, stocks have gained 20% or more 39% of the time, while dropping 26% of the time. An average year which we just talked about up about 7%, which analysts are predicting, doesn't happen all that often, despite the frequency of such predictions. But strings of 20% annual gains don't happen too often either. The S&P has gained 20% or more in consecutive years. Just three times it happened in 1935 and 1936, only for the market to plunge 39% in 1937. Only for the market to plunge 39% in 1937.
Keith Lanton:Things did turn out better after the 20-plus percent rallies of 1954 and 55. In 1956, the market was up about 2.5%. Most recently, when you had periods of hefty gains, they were in the mid-90s. That's the third time Stocks rose more than 20% in 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998, and almost did it in 99. Only the popping of the dot-com bubble in 2000 brought an end to that sequence, and those who were around know it was really ugly. By the time the market bottomed in 2022, the S&P had dropped about 50%. All right, moving on Barron's 10 stocks for 2025. I will, before I launch into these 10 stocks, give you the warning that they had their 10 stocks for 2024. And last year's picks did underperform where we are today in the market, so hopefully 2025 will be kinder to Barron's picks.
Keith Lanton:The list here only includes one of the magnificent seven stocks, and that is Alphabet, but it does include a couple of other technology stocks, one of which was Alibaba B-A-B-A, which they say may be the cheapest e-commerce and cloud computing investment in the world. The stock's around 89, trains for 10 times earnings, sitting on $50 billion of cash, about 25% of its market value. But it does have some hair here that you have to factor in. Number one is the Chinese economy, number two is the Chinese government's mercurial attitude towards homegrown tech companies. And number three is being a US investor in a Chinese company. Two is the Chinese government's mercurial attitude towards homegrown tech companies, and number three is being a US investor in a Chinese company has got its own risks and concerns about what the government of China may have to say about that one day if relationship between the US and China gets dicier. Nevertheless, barron's finding the risk-reward favorable for Alibaba symbol BABA.
Keith Lanton:Next up is Alphabet symbol. Goog Mentioned it as the Magnificent Seven stock that remains on Barron's top 10 list. Operates the world's dominant search engine company under a cloud due to artificial intelligence-driven competitive challenges. Government's efforts to break it up. Barron's we talked about this recent cover story feels that Alphabet should be able to fend off competitive and regulatory challenges. Stock at around $195 is the cheapest of the Magnificent Seven, trading around 21 times 2025 earnings. Stock also looks inexpensive based on the sum of its parts YouTube, cloud computing, android operating system. Other bets, including Waymo, which is the leader in self-driving robo-taxis, operating in four cities, compared with their biggest competitor, tesla, currently operating in none, varencing altogether, justifying a $250 price target for Alphabet.
Keith Lanton:Next up is a tech company, asml Holdings. Few companies more critical to semiconductors, they say, than ASML. They have virtually no competition in extreme ultraviolet light high-end chipmaking machines. They are Europe's number two tech company in market cap, behind only Germany's SAP Stocks at around $715 a share, 28 times 2025 earnings. They recently cut their guidance for 2025. Stocks fell 20% and that's one of the reasons Barron sees an opportunity. Asml sees lithography spending rising 10% to 20% a year through 2030. Article quotes JP Morgan analyst with a price target of $1,150.
Keith Lanton:Next up is Berkshire Hathaway, despite the fact that, at least at the moment, it looks like perhaps that Warren Buffett's made a few mistakes this year, selling some of his stocks at the very least early. But despite these worries, berkshire has kept pace with the S&P 500, producing solid earnings from their property and casualty business, their railroad business and from Berkshire Hathaway Energy, one of the country's biggest utilities. They are sitting on $310 billion in cash and they may be the most defensive of the mega cap companies. Of course, if a proverbial storm rolls in, well then perhaps Berkshire will be in a prime position to deploy some of that capital that's been built up.
Keith Lanton:Next up is Citigroup Barron's saying that while Citi's returns have been anemic versus their banking competition, they quote a Wells Fargo analyst, mike Mayo, who's a well-known banking analyst, saying that Citi is improving their return on tangible equity. He sees it increasing to 11% to 12% from 7% this year. He goes on to say Citi is my dominant number one pick. No other bank comes close. Shares are up about 40% this year, but that's in line with their banking peers. It's the only major bank trading at a discount to tangible book value, which is now at about 90. Jp Morgan fetches about two and a half times book value. So if Citi were to get a similar multiple which is not what's being suggested here, but you'd be looking at the price of over $200, the article here says that Citi could trade up to $150 over the next few years.
Keith Lanton:Next up is Everest Group. It's a reinsurance company trading at six times earnings. Stock is only up 2% this year. The company is hoping to generate 17% annual returns through 2026. Article saying if the stock can achieve that, it will be up 50% over the next two years for Everest On the list is international company LVH, moet Hennessy, louis Vuitton, top luxury good company in the world.
Keith Lanton:They have not been able to capitalize on the rising wealth. This year. Throughout the world Sales flattened the first nine months, served by weakness in China, its most important market. Barron saying that could change in 2025. Lift the shares, which are down 17% this year, to 135, looking inexpensive at about 23 times earnings. Lvmh represents a play on luxury goods revival and a China recovery. A couple more and then I'm going to turn things over to Brad.
Keith Lanton:Next up is Moderna. That stock is down 50% this year to 43, one of the worst performers in the S&P 500, but they say it looks cheap. Shares have been hammered by disappointing COVID sales but, like many biotechs, moderna has a sizable. Unlike many biotechs, moderna has sizable revenue of about $3 billion. It has a diverse pipeline, including cancer treatments that they are working on with Merck respiratory vaccines and a flu-COVID combination vaccine. They do have $9 billion of cash market value of $16 billion. The problem is they're spending about $4 billion annually on R&D. Barron's saying an activist could service in 2025 to push or cut R&D spending. Moderna also might generate takeover interest, perhaps from oncology partner Merck.
Keith Lanton:Next up is SLB, used to be known as Slumber J Oil and gas industry likely to supply a big chunk of the world's energy for the remainder of the century. Slb will be there to service it. We talked about Slumber J getting into artificial intelligence and using that technology to help their energy partners to find oil reserves and to get pumping really quickly. They are a leader in their field. Operation 100 countries and Barron's saying the press shares don't reflect its profitability. Stock's down about 20% this year, trading for 11 times projected 2025 earnings, well below its five-year average of 25 times earnings. Dividend yield of about 3%.
Keith Lanton:And then one company that is being disrupted by technology, ironically enough, after they disrupted traditional means of traveling through many of our cities, and that is Uber. The stock is down 30 percent from its July peak as investors worry that robo-taxis may bypass the Uber network. After Alphabet unit, waymo said it would launch its own autonomous vehicles in Miami in 2026 without a partner, barrett is saying they think the concerns are overblown. Uber remains the dominant ride-hailing and food delivery service with 150 million users, providing robo-taxi operators access to a huge customer base. Bank of America analyst, justin Post, recently wrote that Uber's entrenched position in many cities makes it an attractive partner for robo-taxis. The stock, now flat on the year, is trading at less than 30 times 2025 earnings and under 20 times 2026 earnings. Analyst at Boyer Research, john Boyer, saying that the big pullback offers investors an opportunity to buy a great business that is growing rapidly at a reasonable price. I'm going to turn it over to Brad to give us some more thoughts and insights this morning. Good morning Brad.
Brad Harris:good morning Keith.
Brad Harris:Good morning everyone. Last week was a tough one for bond traders and bondholders. The 10-year had a 2% correction off its low yield from 4.15% and back all the way up to 4.4%. Longer bonds corrected even with a greater margin of correction. Last week, after a month of being cautiously optimistic, I felt bonds had got into overbought territory. Well, that turned out to be an understatement. I figured, with the demand as well as year-end portfolio rebalancing, the tenure would find a new home around four and a quarter 4.3%. The market blew right through that, though we are a little firmer in price, lower in yields this morning. 4.45% is the new level that needs to be held for the bond market to not fall out of bed. We had a really big rally off that 4.45% level a few weeks ago and the volatility of the bond market has subsequently been unnerving but also opportunistic for those that care. This week will obviously be critical for all markets as the Fed will be commenting and making a rate decision midweek. Municipals are certainly back to investable levels again and, in my opinion, look most attractive in the intermediate range Before I get into investing.
Brad Harris:Over the weekend Barron's mentioned a new meme crypto and I don't know how new it is called Fartcoin. I told my kids about it and we immediately started watching it. Obviously, we couldn't stop laughing about it also, but the reality is, all my kids and their friends care about and talk about right now is cryptocurrency. Kids are not the only ones talking their buck. When we looked at Fartcoin, it was trading at $0.60, a market cap of $600 million for something that was planted most likely as a joke. By Sunday night, it was trading at $0.80. You made 25% if you bought it Saturday morning, with Barron's coming out and basically saying this is ridiculous. These kids at the moment are getting the last laugh, as well as other investors in these joke meme coins. I know there are people, including myself, that don't mind throwing a few bucks at a joke or a real long shot horse, but I don't know. I don't know when, but I also know that a lot of this will ultimately end in tears. If I want to gamble, I'd certainly rather go to the blackjack table where at least, as they're taking my money and smiling, they'll give me a free drink.
Brad Harris:For the long haul, stay in equities, bonds, commodities, whatever the real asset classes are, and I like to say this once a year but if you buy a third-year muni 4% bond at par and receive and reinvest the coupons at that same 4% level in 30 years. On $100,000 investment, you will have over $150,000 tax-free $50,000 created tax-free. Sometimes the tortoise does beat the hare, so think about that when you're balancing your portfolios. If you do need to do any trading, especially tax-loss swaps, this will be the last week that I would encourage people to get them done. Though the market has been tough, there continues to be some demand as well as liquidity for these targeted transactions. Both Christmas and New Year's fall on Wednesdays. The next couple of weeks, which means most of Wall Street will be half-staffed, so please get in what you need to do now. On the other hand, as the market loses a little liquidity, there may be some buying opportunities for new money, so let's please watch that as well. I hope everyone has a great week and I will turn it back to Keith. Thanks.
Keith Lanton:Thank you, Brad.
Keith Lanton:That's everything I've got week
Alan Eppers:Thank you for listening to Mr Keith Lanton. This podcast is available on most platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Pandora. For more information, please visit our website at www. heraldlantern. com.
Ssophie Cohen:Opinions expressed herein are subject to change and not necessarily the opinion of the firm. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. The information presented herein is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide personal investment advice. It is important that you consider your tolerance for risk and investment goals when making investment decisions. Investing in securities does involve risk and the potential of losing money. The material does not constitute research, investment advice or trade recommendations.