April takes its name from the Latin word aperire, meaning ‘to open’. Flowers in bloom, makes sense. Thus, this month’s topic is on things opening up. Coincidentally, April 1 happens to be the opening day for Major League Baseball. So, let’s plaaaay ball!
Thanks to vaccines rolling out and lockdowns being rolled back, the economy is opening up. The outcome of the investing game will be interesting to see. The team from Washington is directing a massive fiscal-PLUS-monetary-policy stimulus to help the economy recover. The Washington side is coached from the dugout by manager Joe Biden. Catcher and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is behind home plate, working with pitcher and Fed Chair Jay Powell to select the right pitches. Needless to say, the scoreboard for asset prices is lighting up. A few questions: What inning are we in? Can the pitcher hold out? How will the game end? The formidable team from New York, the ‘Bonds’, will continue to challenge this Washington team.
The $1,900,000,000,000.00 stimulus is complicated, sloppy, necessary for many, and probably excessive. No one knows how it will all end. With cash and credit spigots wide open, the party rolls on. In addition to Wall Street, Main Street has lots of money looking for a home. Last month, wallets opened up big time for digital art auctions. An animated video titled Nyan Cat (click here to watch, tap ‘unmute’, be ready to turn off) sold for $590,000.00 in the form of a non-fungible token (NFT). An NFT gives the owner the rights to the original digital image; however, anyone can view the image online. The. Exact. Same. Image. For. Free. Sensing opportunity, Mike Winkelmann, the digital artist known as Beeple, decided to auction the NFT for his piece ‘Everydays: The First 5000 Days’ (click here to view, allow cookies). The top price for a prior Winkelmann creation? A hundred bucks. At auction’s end, the Christie’s gavel hammered down at (drum roll) ……. $69,346,250.00. Talk about hitting one out of the park. I suspect most people would be perfectly satisfied with the free image and an eight-figure bank credit. But what if these NFT buyers are onto something? As with many things in life, it’s best to keep … an open mind.
Happy April. Only time can tell who the fools will be.
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