The Great Taking

The cause of this problem is not hard to find. The Fed caused the first mortgage finance crisis by dropping its key rate from 6% in 2001 to only 1% in 2003. This set the housing market a-tingling. Remember the ‘lo-doc’ mortgage loans? All it took to get a mortgage — guaranteed by the feds — was an application. Then, when the Fed tried to bring rates back into a normal zone, it triggered widespread bankruptcies, defaults and foreclosures.

So, the Fed cut rates again…from over 5% in 2007 to under 1% in 2009. Adjusted for inflation, rates remained under zero for most of the next fifteen years. This led to a huge new bid for housing…much of it coming from institutional buyers able to tap into the Fed’s low rates. The new demand led to the highest prices ever — now averaging about $100,000 more than the typical family can afford.

Don’t panic. Don’t average down. Don’t hold. Don’t hope.

Instead:

Review your open positions. Are any of them hitting your stop loss? Cut them.
Sit in cash if there’s no clear setup. Patience beats forcing trades.
Paper trade if you need the reps. Build your pattern recognition without risking capital.
Watch for opportunities. Red days often create the volatility needed for explosive small-cap moves.

This market will have plenty more red days. That’s guaranteed.

Our Dollar 2.0 investment thesis is well intact. Just getting started, actually. And if you’ve been watching the crypto space lately, you’re aware that the stocks highlighted in our Dollar 2.0 research reports are selling at a nice discount right now.

First, some background.

Washington has a habit of passing laws with names that promise fireworks but paragraphs that deliver footnotes.

The Genius Act was treated exactly that way.

It’s been a year for Google. In July, Google avoided an antitrust breakup. Buffett’s successor at Berkshire Hathaway, Greg Abel, added the search ecosystem to its portfolio in Q3.

Last week, Google unveiled AI chip lines that are competitive with Nvidia.

All good for your 401(k), even if the historic level of market concentration in Mag 7 stocks got more pronounced.