Zingers, Questions and Answers
Sorry for those who missed it – we purposely don’t record the Happy Hour because the best insights shared are done “off the record,” and given the unscripted nature of Happy Hours, we never know what is going to be said. Kind of like how we never know what Jerome Powell is going to say before he says it. Here are a couple pivotal questions, zingers and even proposed solutions.
Top Zingers and Fun Exchanges
- Gayed: “Today seemed like a taper tantrum without the taper”
- Alden: “Powell was the main event here.”
- Dziekanski: “The Fed didn’t change its stance that much since last year, but the market took it differently today”
- Alden: “If banks have to trim some of their treasuries or buy fewer treasuries, that will add fuel to the fire” (Regarding SLR relief)
- Alden: “The Fed is basically saying, until things break, we will stick with our existing level of manipulation, so the market is kind of testing that”
- Weiskopf: “How much cash is a cushion?”
- Alden: “It only takes a small outflow of tech to move some of these underweighted sectors significantly”
Laughter and Fun
We launched the Get Think Tanked Happy Hour with this exact purpose: addressing serious investment subjects with humility, authenticity and yes, a little fun during these difficult times. Given that, we were thrilled to raise a glass on March 4, 2021 and use the toasting word “Powell.” Because we felt the central banker wasn’t getting enough media coverage lately.
Questions and Key Discussion Points
Designing portfolios in today’s market has needed to evolve, and Lyn Alden of Lyn Alden Investment Strategy has some answers for you. If you’re looking into finding out how to have the correct allocations and optimizations for not only today but also for the future, this was the right conversation to listen to. It helps that she has an extensive finance and engineering background. Some of the questions and debate covered includes:
- Thoughts on confidence with what’s going on in the market given that, arguably, Fed Chairman Powell realizes that there’s inflation risks but doesn’t necessarily want to raise rates.
- It doesn’t seem that credit spreads are acting that vulnerable amid this recent rate rise, do you think this action is a random air pocket or the start of something bigger?
- While combining sectors and reaction to what investors are doing and the correlation, how does volume play into that? Or does it?
- How much of the longer-term rotation is being driven by commodities?
- With gold and treasuries selling off, where is the money going? (Hint – the USD rose)
- Is Bitcoin sitting next to gold or is it replacing it as an asset in terms of correlation?
- How does one use cash as an allocation, and how much is appropriate?
- How do you weight a particular theme or investment thesis in a portfolio?
- What are the benefits of these crypto lenders and what are the risks to these 8-10% yields on crypto lending?
- Is bitcoin a store of value? Is it scarce? A deeper dive into those narratives, and what the real longer-term argument for bitcoin is. Also, what would reverse that?
- What about Ethereum?
Thank you, Lyn Alden (@LynAldenContact), for giving us some insight on how the macro conditions are affecting the markets overall. We also really enjoyed talking about market structure and long-term rotation plays for the markets. Finally, your take on cryptocurrencies, bitcoin specifically, was invaluable to our listeners.
Key Takeaways
The Happy Hour was a constructive discussion and highlighted various key points that we often address at the ETF Think Tank.
Building wealth and reaching financial freedom is attainable, but only if you know how to analyze and understand what the future trends will be. If you’re an experienced investor already, getting insight from Lyn and how she designs portfolios is invaluable for keeping that edge over time. She has been analyzing and trading things like Bitcoin for years now, and has a recommendation for a non-zero allocation in your portfolio – the asymmetrical return possibility is too enticing to ignore. Our Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces chats afterwards included asymmetrical entertainment as well!
Thank you, Lyn, for coming to our show last week. Check out her twitter to get updates, or her website to get a further background in what she does and even join her free investing newsletter. If you are a Financial Advisor and interested in accessing Lyn’s premium research the ETF Think Tank may be able to sponsor you. Contact Kedar Wilson to learn more.
This week we have Danielle Kayembe (@kkayembe), who is an incredible speaker and entrepreneur, concentrating on women, social impact, and technology. If you want to know why #TheFutureIsFemale, Come join us! Bring your questions.
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