Economist Dave Rosenberg has ridden several market rodeos in his day, and, thus, like yours truly, has his concerns about what’s presently occurring beneath our very noses.
In his morning note he quotes from the Sunday NYT:
“Everybody has to read Investor Craze Turns Sneakers and Pixels to Gold on the front page of the Sunday NYT.
Not to be believed. We are in a world where the stimulus checks are free and the outer fringes of what could ever could be considered an “investment ” are literally off the charts. And not just how GameStop moves up and down like a yoyo (check out last week’s action) or Bitcoin’s market value topping $1 trillion (crossing $60,000 per unit over the weekend).
Crazy, no? This pandemic-driven investment craze cannot possibly end well, though I realize I have said that frequently and yet these bubbles just get bigger and bigger. The advocates of the “Roaring Twenties” theme tell you not to worry, that there was plenty of money to be made being a speculator right up until the crash of 1929. The thing is, that cycle ended with a bubble, it didn’t begin with one.
“This past week, a trading card featuring the quarterback Tom Brady sold for $1.3 million[…] followed a similar Brady card going for $555,988 in January.”
“And Christies sold a digital artwork by an artist known as Beeple for $69.3 million after bids started at just $100.”
“Last month, NBA Top Shot crossed $232 million in total sales since it started last year –including $47.5 million in sales on a single day.”
“SPACs have been so plentiful this year that they outnumber new listings from real companies by nearly four to one, according to Renaissance Capital, which tracks public listings. Some investment firms have rolled out three or four SPACs at a time, while celebrities and sports stars including Shaquille O’Neal, Serena Williams, Colin Kaepernick and Ciara have formed their own.”
“Often, the SPACs merge with companies that have never made a dollar. Two electric air taxi companies that do not expect any revenue for years –Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation –announced SPAC deals last month that valued them at $6.6 billion and $3.8 billion respectively.””