Do aliens really exist? Have they visited our planet?
I actually don’t know, but yesterday, the U.S. Navy released three videos taken by their pilots depicting flying objects that have yet to be identified. That’s right, they are UFOs.
The videos had been circulating for a few years already, but now that the U.S. government has publicly taken ownership, we can say that ‘Aliens may well be casing our planet’ without putting on a tin foil hat.
Not only that, there’s finally something happening in the news other than COVID-19. So, that was a nice two-minute distraction. Thanks, Trump!
Narratives
It seems more and more people around the world are getting anxious to get on track again, as nearly six weeks of international shutdowns are getting on all of our nerves. Supporting this notion is a video that went viral on YouTube of two Californian doctors discussing their data and how not only is their hospital devoid of COVID-19, but that people who actually need medical attention aren’t even coming in.
There was a bit of controversy around the video, as YouTube had reportedly taken down the original video for “violating terms.” Over time, I’m starting to believe that YouTube is increasingly intentionally tampering with political narratives, but I digress.
Even Dr. Anthony Fauci stated in an interview today that he believes testing capacity in the U.S. has increased to the point that we can start cautiously rolling out the first phases of easing restrictions.
The markets seem pretty happy with the way things are going. This morning they were doing alright, as the Dow Jones industrial average (orange) and the S&P 500 index (red) were up nicely at the start, and printing their highest levels since the recent crash. However, for some reason the Nasdaq (blue) was lagging at the open, and by now, whatever was eating the tech heavy index seems to have brought down the other two.
No doubt, investors are getting a case of cold feet regarding the upcoming earnings. Five of the six FAANGM stocks (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google, and Microsoft) are reporting earnings this week, starting with Google after the bell this evening. As these top six make up about 25% of the S&P 500 index’s market cap, this is really a kind of moment of truth for the entire ‘American ingenuity’ narrative.
Evamarie Augustine, our always timely Equity Analyst at Quantum Economics, wrote an excellent post looking at the tech sector’s response to the virus and what to expect going into earnings.
F
Crude oil tested $10 once again this morning, but has managed to remain in double-digit territory for now as demand is still in the toilet while the tankers are all full.
Silver remains tightly correlated with stocks, and gold has shied away from marking new highs with all the optimism going around. As I mentioned previously, I’ll be looking for a much wider pullback before adding to my current long position.
The U.S. dollar remains the king of fiat currencies, but that’s not saying much. Actually, the Forex market has been pretty boring lately. With all the major countries adjusting interest rates to zero and nobody likely to raise or lower them any time soon, there really hasn’t been much volatility.
Thanks to everyone who sent me their superb feedback on yesterday’s VBW2020 presentation, and special thanks to the Bad Crypto dudes Travis & Joel. Welcome to all the new people who subscribed after watching it. Please feel free to pass this note forward.
