Our colleague Jim Rickards took the podium to outline in great detail -- through the geopolitical lens -- why that is.

“It’s simple,” he says: “It has everything to do with the weaponization of the US dollar.”

Of course, he goes on, “Economic and financial sanctions are not new -- US has used asset seizures, freezes, embargoes, blockades, tariffs, and trade bans many times in the past.”

BUT…

Recent history reveals that US sanctions only work under three conditions:

1.] Target is a small to medium sized economy

2.] Target has no alternative payment channels

3.] Target has limited hard currency (or gold) reserves

“None of these conditions apply to Russia,” said Jim.

The U.S. sanctions on Russia are without precedent. Assets of Russia’s central bank and commercial banks were seized. Russian banks were ejected from SWIFT. Investment by U.S. entities in Russia is prohibited.

Russian exports of oil, gas, strategic metals, and other goods have been banned.

Imports of high-tech equipment, semiconductors, luxury goods, automobiles, and many more goods are also banned.

And yet…

“Russian sanctions have been a complete failure,” said Rickards. “Russian growth in 2023 is projected at 2.1%. USD/RUB was stable at around 70 from May 2022 to May 2023; down slightly now to 95. “

If you’re not worried about this…

You might be worried about the blowback.

Or the response to weaponization..”

Author: Jim Rickards

(excerpts)

“In trading, patience and the ability to sit still is not only a virtue, it’s gold . Doing nothing can be one of the most productive things you can do. But as one would expect, being the addicts that we are, the moment the trading session opens, we feel the urge to become more productive all of a sudden. It’s like our minds will not let us enjoy doing nothing. We have to analyze, anticipate, worry, stress, tweak, especially when we’re not supposed to”

“Society… it conditions us to continually chase money, power, and a faster, wilder pace of life. Don’t slow down, and God forbid don’t pause, don’t reflect. Keep chasing or you fall behind.

Over-schedule, overthink, overwork… this is the mantra. This is supposed to be what progress is. This is supposed to be what success is. Early, we learn to believe that this is absolutely normal, and in due time it becomes an addiction.

We can’t sit still for a moment. Just like any addict, sitting still and doing nothing makes us feel unproductive. We feel we’re losing time, so we become agitated.”

“Have you ever noticed that all these experiences–thoughts and sensations–are continuous?

You’re constantly pulled to mental states and body states, and, most of the time, you’re not aware that you are. You’re automatically in the stories, you believe them, and they urge you to act in a certain way. Which you do. Have you ever noticed that too?

Then, next thing you know, you’re entering your trades at the wrong time; you’re exiting at the wrong time; you’re removing your stop-loss; you’re increasing or decreasing your position size… essentially, you’re going against your trading rules.

This is a problem because this lack of awareness of your urges is costing you money. Trading is mostly a waiting game where you have to strike only when the time is right. If you want action that happens on your own terms, you’re in the wrong field. As a trader, you simply can’t afford to lack self-awareness.”

“The market does not hurry, it moves at its own rhythm, on its own time. And self-awareness helps you cultivate patience and ‘do nothing’ as that happens. This ability to let the market do its thing saves you time and energy. It allows trades to come to you. It puts a stop to the chasing. It embraces the natural order and evolution of things.” -

“The Do-Nothing technique is simply about interrupting your impulsive behaviors. It’s cultivating a calm acceptance that things in life can and will often happen in a different order than the one you could be holding in mind. It’s keeping a good attitude while waiting for your pitch. And this all starts with awareness.”

Source: TradingView

Why do Africans not benefit from the vast amounts of natural resources that dot the continent? Is “modern colonialism” a significant factor in this or are there other factors at play?

Africa is not that rich in many critical natural resources. US or Saudi Arabia alone produce more oil than the entire continent of Africa. List of countries by oil production. There is not as much water in a large chunk of the continent compared to United States or even China. And it has far less fertile lands. Thus, the 3 critical resources for humanity - energy, water and food are not in plenty.

Here are the world's top countries by natural resources - Top Ten Countries with Most Natural Resources - and no African country comes up there.

Africa seem to export a lot of natural resources only because there are not enough domestic companies that can process those resources into high value components, unlike other places with abundance of natural resources. This is why countries that export the fewest of natural resources are in general richer, because they always find a way to build a value layer on top of that. This value layer is where employment is.

The way to benefit from the resource is to create valued added services on top of that. Thus, instead of exporting iron ore, you refine it to steel and then machinery & automobiles with it. With this, you will have jobs for miners, factory workers, engineers and mechanics. The deeper you are in the value chain better the benefit will be to the people.

To get deeper into the value chain, you need visionary leaders, spending on infrastructure & worker training and setting up the environment for businesses to operate freely.” - Balaji Viswanathan,Quora

How exactly did one become an executioner in medieval times?

Answer: We must understand it was not a fun job.

It was dirty, dangerous, and despised by most people. Executioners were often shunned by society, forced to live on the outskirts of town, and barred from many public places.

They were also considered ritually unclean, and some believed that even touching them could bring bad luck or disease.

Why would anyone want to be an executioner?

The short answer is: they didn't. Most executioners didn't choose their profession, but inherited it from their fathers. That's right, execution was a family business, passed down from generation to generation.


This created long-lasting "execution dynasties" that spread across Europe during the Middle Ages.

There were other ways to get the job, but none of them were very appealing.

Sometimes, butchers were recruited to become executioners, since they had some experience with cutting meat and blood.

Other times, convicts were offered the job as an alternative to their own deaths.

Imagine that: you're sentenced to death for a crime, and then someone says: "Hey, how about you kill other people instead?" Not exactly a great deal, huh?

But let's say you somehow ended up as an executioner. What did your work entail?


Well, it wasn't just chopping off heads or hanging people from trees. Executioners had to perform a variety of tasks, such as torturing prisoners, flogging offenders, branding criminals, collecting corpses, burying the dead, and even acting as doctors or veterinarians.

They also had to follow strict rules and rituals to ensure that the executions were carried out properly and with respect for the law and the church.

Executioners also had to deal with the emotional and psychological toll of their work.

Contrary to popular belief, most executioners were not sadistic or cruel, but rather professional and compassionate.

They often tried to ease the suffering of their victims, by granting them last wishes, comforting them with prayers, or giving them a quick and painless death.

Some executioners even felt empathy or remorse for their victims, and sought forgiveness for their sins.

Thus, the life of an executioner in medieval times was not a glamorous or easy one.

Source: Quora

You have seen the caption.

Most of the honey you see in those bottles, containers, cups, etc, is completely fake or heavily diluted.

I won’t mention those superstores but this is the reality. And it doesn’t matter how well packaged or labelled the honey container is.

It is fake.

Is eating sugar not safer than eating fake honey?

Why can’t specialists test the quality of the honey before allowing it on their shelves?

I don’t even know, but I’ll advise that it is high time you started looking somewhere else to get original, pure honey, not at superstores.

Does it make sense to always buy the dips?[b][/b]


“Buy the dip.”

You hear this all the time in crypto investing. It refers, of course, to buying more bitcoin (or digital assets) when they go down in price: when the price “dips.”

Some people brag about “buying the dip," showing they know better than the crowd. Others “buy the dip” as an investment strategy: they’re getting a bargain.

The problem is, buying the dip is a fallacy.

You can’t buy the dip, because you can't see the total dip until much later.

First, I’ll explain this in a way that will make it simple and obvious to you; then I’ll show you a better way of investing.

You Only Know the Dip in Hindsight

When people talk about “buying the dip,” what they’re really saying is, “I bought when the price was going down.”

Here’s a look at the price of bitcoin from earlier this year. When it dropped to $39,000, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele proudly tweeted that his government had just purchased an additional chunk of bitcoin: that it “bought the dip.”

But the next day, the price of bitcoin dipped further, to $34,500:

Could you “buy the dip” then? No, because the next day, it dipped further still, to $33,500:

Why “buying the dip” is probably not the best economic policy.

We could take any time period, for any cryptocurrency, and show this same principle: you can only see the dip in hindsight, after the price has gone back up.

This assumes, of course, that the price will go back up. There are plenty of investors who “bought the dip” on their favorite token, only to find out it wasn’t a dip, but a ride off a cliff.” - John Hargrave

Recently, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) announced a partnership with Chainlink (LINK) to experiment with connecting private and public blockchains.

Swift is the traditional global financial messaging system that underpins most international money and securities transfers. After several tests with private blockchains, Swift is expanding its experiments to include public blockchains, with plans to use Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP).

The collaboration includes major financial institutions like BNP Paribas, BNY Mellon, Citi, Euroclear, SIX Digital Exchange (SDX), and the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC). Chainlink is providing what Swift calls an “enterprise account abstraction layer.”

“What’s missing is the ability to send [assets] from a bank chain to a public chain — banks want to do that,” said Sergey Nazarov, co-founder of Chainlink.

The proof of concept will demonstrate how banks can practically interoperate across these networks, both public and private.

CCIP is a “universal messaging interface” for cross-blockchain communications. It has the ability to interface with private blockchains and includes security features like active risk management networks. These features differentiate it from alternatives like Axelar’s general message passing and make it appealing to major financial players.

Swift aims to use existing bank systems and sees a multichain future. However, connecting to hundreds of different chains is not feasible for most banks. Chainlink aims to save thousands of global banks time and money by linking chains through one integration.

“I think they realize the digital asset class is not going anywhere,” Nazarov said.

Investor takeaway: This collaboration certainly has the potential to greatly increase the adoption of blockchain technology in the traditional financial sector. Chainlink would be an obvious beneficiary, but demand for other blockchain-related products and services is likely to follow.

That said, many regulatory hurdles exist (assuming the technology works). In other words, this is all very early, but it bears watching, particularly for LINK investors (or those considering investing in LINK).

“But, despite inherent risks, a well-executed investment strategy, with due diligence, patience, and consistent monitoring, can yield stable high returns and significant upside.”

A strategic goal of the U.S. has been to ensure that no power, or combination of powers, could dominate the Eurasian landmass.

But Russia and China could be cooperating to do just that, to strategically encircle Eurasia. Here’s what I mean:

Much of the early exploration by Europeans of New England and the Canadian Maritime provinces was not based on a desire to settle and farm but was driven by a search for the “Northwest Passage.”

This was the name given to a hypothetical sea route from the Atlantic to the Pacific somewhere between North America and the North Pole that would allow direct sea transportation from Europe and Asia without having to navigate the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn around Africa and South America, respectively.

Early voyages up the St. Lawrence, Hudson and Delaware rivers were driven as much by the hope that explorers would find a Northwest Passage as they were by indigenous exploration.

The Northwest Passage was never found.

It existed on a map north of Canada, but that route is frozen most of the year and extremely dangerous because of ice and bad weather even when it is not entirely frozen. But that was then.

Today, with some help from warmer temperatures, improved icebreakers and GPS navigation, vessels can now routinely make the passage.

The 21st-Century Northwest Passage

China and Russia are now prepared to pick up where the 17th-century explorers left off.

Russia has its own Arctic passage between its northern territory and the Arctic Circle similar to Canada’s. It has also made strides in opening up its Arctic sailing routes through the East Siberian, Kara and Barents seas with connections to Moscow, St. Petersburg, the Baltic Sea and the ports of Europe.

Meanwhile, China has been building a new maritime “Silk Road” around South Asia, Africa and the Middle East that would facilitate Chinese trade with countries in those regions (and, not coincidentally, enhance the operational flexibility of an expanding Chinese navy).

The combination of an Arctic passage and China’s Maritime Silk Road would encircle much of the Eurasian continent by sea. That opens up potential for wealth creation (and military dominance) that early explorers could only dream.

The U.S. would largely have itself to blame.

Author: Jim Rickards

Let me repeat that: CBDC WILL CENTRALIZE POWER IN A WAY IT HAS NEVER EVER BEEN CENTRALIZED IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND.

Centralized power has never led to increased rights and increased freedom.

Ask yourself: What could the Central Planners do?

What if the central planners decide that since you went to Hawaii last summer, your currency won’t be able to buy tickets this summer?

What if central planners decided that your money can’t pay for a Financial Times subscription anymore because their editors are corrupting your mind?

What if the central planners decide that, after Christmas, everyone should lose a few pounds and through a program, limit the amount of food you can buy for you and your family?

What if elections are run on manifestos promising the redistribution of funds? And as soon as the election results are confirmed, the central planners automatically implement the debits and credits of the promises?

What if the central planners decide you don’t get to buy food until you’ve received the vaccination that they were lobbied for?

What if a lobbying group convinces the central planners that every digital US dollar wallet should automatically buy one of their products or services annually?

What if Artificial Intelligence hacks the Central Bank Digital Currency?

What if another nation hacks the Central Bank Digital Currency? - Nolan Loxton

[b]NB: [/b]In the 5-part articles in this series, we would explain the strategies used to trade Forex, stocks, indices, crypto pairs, and other cryptocurrencies, for our VIP followers, because they are interested in making profits with us.

Kunle F. is one of our signals strategists in the VIP Group. His strategy is described below.

Kunle F’s Strategy

My Strategy Description

I trade Smart Money Concept with the use of Demand and Supply zones. Firstly, I identify strong bullish or bearish trends. I do not trade ranging markets. Strong trends are characterized by impulsive displacements in specific directions and this is what I seek to ride on. The pullbacks or corrections are lethargic. I take advantage of inefficiently traded regions because they are used as anchor points for retracement.

I trade Forex pairs. To have an edge in the market I have a minimum of 1:3 RRR. I use the market structure to determine the adjustment of my stop loss and to also break even. I take partial profits as the trade moves in my direction.

Haa... People are extremely bitter, hateful, desperate and aggressive because of politics.

Many people automatically assume that if they like a political candidate, this means all those who do not support the candidate are bad people, and if they hate a political candidate, it means all those who support the candidate are bad people. The truth is that any political candidate with a number of supporters will eventually have some people who are not happy with them. All but the most dedicated bad players in politics will usually have some supporters who are happy with them.

When someone is politically biased, any real event that corroborates their beliefs will simply make those beliefs more embedded in their psyche; while any real event that goes contrary to their belief would be dismissed as a mere exception.

I always say that people do not speak what everybody thinks about politics; they speak their personal beliefs about politics. In that same way, I'd like to point out that my statements reflect my beliefs. I find my political beliefs useful for myself, for we always think others should believe what we believe. As for me, I’m happy to share my beliefs with my readers. However, if your political beliefs are not similar to mine, then this information may not be useful to you. Thus, if you are inclined to go through some sort of intellectual exercise to prove one of my beliefs wrong, simply remember that everyone can usually find lots of evidence to support their beliefs and refute others. Just know that I admit that these are my political beliefs and that your beliefs might be different.”

A caution to obedient

They think that their own opinions reflect the opinions of everybody in Nigeria.

They also think that everybody must love Obi and everybody must hate Tinubu.

If the leader of Boko Haram supports Obi, they will hail him as a saint and a wise person, but even if Awolowo comes back from the dead to support Tinubu, they would curse and rain abuses on him.

If the Republican party produces a bad president in the US, and the Labor Party produces a bad Prime Minister in the UK, does it mean all those in the party are evil and those parties cannot produce one good person again?

The elections were not rigged in all the states Obi won... And the elections were not rigged in all the states in which PDP won, but it was rigged in the states APC won (only 12 states or so?)... Therefore it must be canceled.

The Governor of Kaduna chose to follow what the Supreme Court said, and Obi’s deputy (Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed), was calling that treason.

What is treasonable in following the order of the Apex Court?

And you are still telling me he gets sense?

What is the unusual wisdom in emphasizing the weaknesses of your opponents and ignoring their good deeds?

Obi and Atiku kept silent when APC governors where pleading with Buhari to reverse the new naira policy, knowing full well their own supporters are also being affected… They thought that Naira scarcity would make APC lose the elections.

Now, they can shout when the elections didn’t go as they want.

Whoever wins… I can’t care less. As long as the guy has good programs and plans for Nigeria.

I would have had more respect for Obi if he was contesting on the platform of APGA, the party that made him a governor of Anambra… (but he left APGA and he had the conscience to join PDP (a party that also, for 16 years, contributed to the woes Nigeria is facing today, so it is not only APC you will blame), he also left PDP and joined LP.

And it was so disappointing that Anambra State doctors were on strike for 13 MONTHS! Under his watch! How could a sitting governor allow the HEALTH sector to be on strike for 13 months without resolving the issue? And it is not that the Federal govt didn’t give them their monthly allocations.

And how did Lagos State, under Tinubu survived for years, even when Obasanjo withheld their allocations in those years? Lagos State survived and the civil servants were not owed, despite nothing coming from the FG. And Tinubu has never left the party that produced him a governor, in spite of all he has had to endure within the party.

These are comparisons.

As you may know by now, ESG stands for environmental, social and governance, which are the three factors business managers and investment advisers are implored to take into account when making business and asset allocation decisions.

It’s a scam, just like the Green New Deal is a scam.

Oil and natural gas are so critical to national security, transportation, home heating and other critical functions that prices are heavily politicized and manipulated for better or worse. The Biden administration has declared war on carbon-based energy sources starting with oil and natural gas.

On day one of his administration, Biden closed the Keystone XL pipeline. He has since banned new oil and gas exploration leases on federal lands, handicapped the fracking industry with new regulations, banned offshore drilling and used regulatory powers to stop the building of new refineries.

Biden has also pushed through green new scam legislation that showered hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies for wind turbines, solar modules, electric vehicles (EVs) and EV battery manufacturing.

Don’t Tell This to Elon Musk

Here’s the problem with these batteries: Despite manufacturers’ efforts to market electric vehicles to the masses, EV models have never been scalable, sustainable or ultimately successful.

Plus, the problem of producing enough power for a successful transition from gas-powered vehicles adds major headwinds for the EV market to contend with. No amount of marketing can overcome these fundamentals.

The first hurdle is a matter of chemistry. Batteries for EVs are made from cobalt, lithium, nickel, copper and other base metals and compounds. Despite some efficiencies in the manufacture of batteries, there have been no major technological breakthroughs in the specifications for batteries in over 100 years.

Batteries have always been the constraining factor for EVs. In 1905, 90% of the taxis in New York City were battery-powered. In the 1950s, 100% of the East German postal system used battery-powered delivery trucks. Golf carts have been a reliable form of EV for decades.

The simple fact is gasoline is by far the most efficient way to power an automobile. That will remain the case as far as the eye can see.

Urgent Note From James – Response Requested By Midnight

I just made a massive change to my Altucher’s Investment Network newsletter.

This is one of the biggest changes to a newsletter in the history of our business…

As far as I know, nothing like it has ever been done before.

I’m adding 3 brand-new benefits to this all-new “Pro level” of Altucher’s Investment Network.

And as one of my readers, I’d hate to see you left behind.

That’s why – until MIDNIGHT tonight – you’ll be able to upgrade your current subscription to this new “Pro level” by clicking here.

Seriously. Just click here now to see how to claim your upgrade.

More Problems

In addition, all of the chemicals and metals needed to make batteries are either in short supply relative to potential demand (especially lithium) or incur enormous costs in terms of electricity, diesel fuel, heavy equipment, waste and disposal of ore and unwanted byproducts.

It’s likely that more coal- and oil-fired electricity generation will be needed to build an EV battery than will ever be conserved by the vehicle itself.

Even assuming these chemical- and fuel-based hurdles can be overcome (an unlikely assumption), the U.S. power grid is not close to being able to provide the power needed for a fleet of EVs even a small fraction of the size demanded by the Green New Scammers in the Biden administration.

If EV usage grows even slightly more from current levels, we can expect brownouts and blackouts as local and state power grids struggle to keep up with demand.

Tesla customers are already starting to complain about long waits at charging stations. Quick-charge gimmicks don’t help if you’re the fifth car in line for a charge. I know some owners who plan take-out dinners on long trips while they wait two hours or more for a charge.

Simply put, batteries don’t work at scale for transportation. This has been known for more than a century. Nothing has changed.

And for what? The Green New Scam and the environmental component of ESG all trace back to climate alarmism.

Garbage

Climate alarmism has no basis in observable science. It’s all the result of climate models, which have been consistently wrong about warming because they reflect the biases of their programmers.

The climate change models are garbage (and yes, I have studied them and understand the math and complex dynamics and I know why they’re garbage. They can’t even backtest reliably let alone forecast. Like I said, garbage).

So the threats of “existential crisis” and “we’ll all be underwater in 10 years” are based on garbage.

If you listen to the climate alarmists, they’ll tell you we only have a few years to save the planet. If we don’t eliminate CO2 emissions quickly, the planet will warm, sea levels will rise, storms will intensify, cities will be inundated and lives will be lost to starvation, disease and dehydration.

Every one of those claims is empirically false, but that doesn’t stop the global power elite from trying to shut down the oil and gas industries and replace power generation with solar, wind and hydropower or so-called renewable sources.

Hardly a Crisis

Here are the facts: The best evidence is that the planet is not warming, but it may be cooling under the influence of a periodic minimum in solar flare activity and increased volcanic activity (the two may actually be related), which creates an atmospheric ash layer that cuts down on sun intensity.

Sea levels may be rising slightly, but the tempo is about 7 inches in the next 100 years. That’s hardly cause for alarm considering that sea levels rose 400 feet since the end of the last ice age and humans adapted just fine.

CO2 is a trace gas that makes up just 0.04% of the atmosphere (400 parts per million) and doesn’t have a major impact as far as science can tell, except that it is essential for plant nourishment.

Based upon recent studies, a doubling of carbon dioxide would likely result in a temperature increase of only about 1.5 degrees Celsius. That’s hardly a crisis.

But the war on oil continues anyway, and it’s not ending.

How to Invest

There are many moving parts to this story. Oil has gone through extreme ups and downs over the past five years. The Green New Scam and the mishandling of delicate supply has pushed oil stocks into critical territory.

I believe it’s an excellent time to look at select oil stocks. Notice that I said “select.” Not every oil stock will be a winner, even when the price of oil inevitably charges higher.

I’m also looking at refining and pipelines, Appalachian coal and the Marcellus shale gas region. I believe they’ll deliver huge gains over the next few years.

These are ways to profit from energy, despite the ESG scam.

Right here, I talk about my strategy for surviving and thriving through this storm.

Author: Jim Rickards

WHAT ARE THE GOLDEN ADVICES IN LIFE?

1. You are not rich in life until you have something that money can't buy.

2. School is not education. True education is self education.

3. No friend/girl friend will stay up all night to replace wet napkins on your forehead when you have fever. Only moms can and will do that, she should be no.1 priority.

4. Everyone loves you until you become competition.

5. Never put your happiness in someone else's hand.

6. No one ever became big in life by showing how small someone else is.

7. Always act like you trust the ones you don't.

8. We can complain rose bushes have thorns or we can rejoice that thorn bushes have rose. So it's always our choice to be positive or negative.

9. Nothing is free in the world.

10. Beware of person who has nothing to lose.

11. Don't cheat on anyone. Ever. It's the most cheap and disgusting thing to do in life.

12. Don't make promises if you have no intention to fulfill them. It might not mean anything to you but it could mean a whole world to someone else.

13. Respect everyone. I repeat “everyone”. - Prem Tumula, Quora

During the 94th Academy Awards, actor Will Smith walked onstage and slapped comedian Chris Rock across the face during Rock's presentation for Best Documentary Feature. The slap was in response to Rock's joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head, which she had been shaving since 2021 due to alopecia areata. Smith returned to his seat and shouted profanity at Rock, who briefly responded, but completed his presentation without further interruption.

Later that evening, Smith won Best Actor and apologized to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and other nominees, but not to Rock, in his acceptance speech. The next day, he issued an apology to Rock and the Academy through social media. Smith resigned his Academy membership on April 1, facing a potential suspension or expulsion, and was banned from attending Academy events for 10 years, effective April 8.” – (Source: Wikipedia)

But what would have happened if Chris Rock had slapped Will Smith in return?

Horne is a co-founder of crypto startup Zora. He was one of the core developers of the popular stablecoin USDC at Coinbase.

His blog is excellent and worthy of a follow.

So, what is a hyperstructure?

According to Horne, it’s a crypto protocol that can run for free and forever, without maintenance, interruption or intermediaries.

And, says Horne, it has these specific characteristics:

Unstoppable: the protocol cannot be stopped by anyone. It runs for as long as the underlying blockchain exists.

(Uniswap, one of the most popular Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs) in crypto, is a good example. The Uniswap team and website could disappear today, but the protocol will run in perpetuity. )

Free: there is a 0% protocol wide fee and runs exactly at network/transaction fee cost.

Valuable: accrues value which is accessible and “exitable” by the owners.

Expansive: there are built-in incentives for participants in the protocol. They incent value creation and make value extraction cost-prohibitive.

(Uniswap’s Liquidity Provider (LP) fee is a good example. LP fees incentivize participants to provide the key resource to the protocol — liquidity. This fee is paid to anyone providing liquidity, not to Uniswap.)

Permissionless: universally accessible and censorship resistant. Builders and users cannot be deplatformed.

Positive sum: it creates a win-win environment for competitors who use the same infrastructure.

Credibly neutral: the protocol is user-agnostic.
“Hyperstructures,” Horne writes, “treat every participant fairly, to the extent that it’s possible to treat people fairly in a world where everyone’s capabilities and needs are so different.”

As a result of being free, expansive, unstoppable, permissionless and credibly neutral—Hyperstructures create a positive sum environment.

This means you can have an ecosystem of potentially competitive participants using the same piece of infrastructure to the net benefit of everyone.

Consider, if just a small percentage of our key institutions were to adopt such an infrastructure, it would be a paradigm shift so large it would eclipse all technological revolutions before it.

We would go from institutions based on:

→ Permissions

→ Mutability/Censorship

→ Gated Access/Walled Gardens

→ Extractive

To:

→ Permissionless

→ Unstoppable

→ Public

→ Free

Hyperstructures are built for the Space Age. Some semblance of this embedded in our dominant institutions would be a best-case scenario.

And perhaps it’s not as “pie-in-the-sky” as people think.

[Ed. note: Opportunities abound in Web3. But only a few game-changing protocols will gain mass adoption. One of the best ways to play is infrastructure — the protocols necessary for Web3’s growth. – Chris C.

Cathie Wood is the founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Investment Officer of Ark Invest an investment management firm. And while I admire her commitment to investing in the technology of tomorrow, her investment discipline needs some tweaking.

Cathie is invested in several companies my team and I believe will be long-term winners. Companies like NVIDIA, Shopify, Zoom, and Twilio. But repeatedly adding to a position while the price is in a steep downtrend doesn’t make a ton of sense.

For example, after buying hundreds of thousands of shares of Coinbase Global from $234 all the way down to the low-$50s, Cathie turned around and sold 1.133 million shares on July 26, 2022, around $54. She then turned around and purchased more than 207,000 shares on November 9, 2022, in the mid-to-high-$40s and another 255,000 shares on November 18, in the mid-$40s.

If Cathie believes in COIN, a more logical approach would be to wait for the stock to stop falling, give it time to build a base, and begin buying the stock on strength once the bear trend is over.

Look, I’m the first to admit that investing in innovative technology is both risky and highly volatile. If you’re going to invest in companies developing tomorrow’s technology, you must do so cautiously and with an appreciation for how extreme highs and lows will be. In Cathie’s case, I love some of her investment choices, but investment execution needs some refining. – James A.

7 Trading Truths

1. Nobody has the perfect trading plan. Seeking perfection will stop you from trading, and the markets lessons will be forever shrouded in mystery unless you put money into the markets.

2. Most of the things you’re worried about will never eventuate. The frantic and neurotic barely ever excel in the markets. Find that quiet place inside your heart and remember to breathe before you put on your trades today.

3. Clinging to past victories will lead you to miss the chart patterns in front of you right now.

4. Admonishing yourself harshly for past failings will annihilate your energy to keep trading.

5. Do the right thing, even when no-one is looking, because integrity in the rest of your life translates to integrity in following your trading plan. The way we do one thing is the way we do everything.

6. Your self-esteem should never be in the market’s hands. The market is an inconsistent teacher, subject to aggressive swings of fortune and failure, with smatterings of sadism. It’s up to you to stay level and consistent, and not be flung about on tumultuous tides of price action.

You decide how good you are. You decide how you’re going to do this. You decide to implement your trading plan. No one, and I mean no one can topple your tower if you decide to build it with exceptional foundations. It’s in your hands. There’s no one to blame, no circumstance to use as a scapegoat.

Author: Louise Bedford

If Peter Obi didn't win the coming presidential election, that could spell trouble for Nigeria.

We often saw Big Brother Naija housemates falling in love with one another while the shows were going on….

But have there ever been some of these lovers who eventually got married to each other after the shows, at least a couple?

I know there is a difference between boyfriend-girlfriend relationship and getting really married.

In other hand, have any former BBNaija housemates ever gotten legally married to each other?

Early last year Perfect Money could be bought at N500/$ or less. Now you can only buy it at N760/$ (unless you’re dealing with a scammer who will give you a very low rate and later run away with your money).

This is definitely not good news… That you need to pay more for what you paid less for, recently. There are economic problems all over the world and things are getting worse.

There are also serious economic problems in Nigeria which are making NGN to get weaker and weaker. The huge demand for, and the scarcity of USD is one factor driving the rates up.

Perfect Money has become a very scarce commodity and the demand for it is increasing day by day, hence the high rates you see today.

We’re even sad to let you know that the rates can go higher, because of the reasons above, and that is bad news.

What can you do?

Make Money. Period.
All Perfect Money supply we get comes from online traders, online businessmen and online bettors. The fact that PM is scarce means that it is not easy to make profits online.

No matter how expensive PM may become, some people will always buy, because they are successful traders, businessmen and bettors. They are rich.

That is why we humbly beg you to try as much as possible to make consistent profits from the markets. Make use of all your knowledge, experience and wisdom to make money from the markets.

Then you can sell Perfect Money at higher rates and get rich.

Please make money.


To fund and withdraw with Neteller, please visit: www.instantforex.com.ng

3 Emotions Pro Traders Have Mastered

Successful traders may differ in their trading strategy, but they do have one thing in common. Pro traders have learned to manage key emotions that affect their results. Here’s how you can do the same. Finding and properly following a proven trading strategy is one of the most important steps to becoming a successful stock or crypto trader.

But becoming a consistently profitable trader requires more than just having a winning trading system.

It also requires you to understand yourself as an investor and how you react to stress, greed, and the virtue of patience.

As an investor, you must understand your own emotional reactions to market volatility before putting your money on the line.

Your ability to properly manage stress, greed, and patience plays a huge role in your long-term trading success.
3 Emotions Pro Traders Have Mastered1. Stress and Trading

We all experience stress from time to time, but it can destroy your health and relationships when it becomes a way of life.

You are also far more likely to make bad decisions with your money if you’re in a constant state of stress.

Stress may cause you to make rash decisions, such as exiting a trade too soon or staying too long and losing money.

If you want to trade profitably, you must remove as much stress from your trading as you can.

Having a rule-based trading system that works is a great way to reduce stress because it eliminates trading decisions based on emotion.

Also, if you find yourself becoming extremely stressed out when the market is going through a correction, it’s a fantastic time to take a break!

Spend some time to determine what causes stress in your trading and take immediate steps to remove it.

2. Greed and Trading
Greed is one of the most dangerous emotions that any trader or investor can experience.

Greed will lead you to take outsized risks with your money that you really shouldn’t take.

When you are greedy, it’s nearly impossible to walk away from a bad trade when you should.

Greed makes you believe that you deserve to make more money from a trade than you actually do.

Greed also makes it easy for you to take on too much risk with your money.

You might decide to aggressively invest in a trade that is outside your risk tolerance level.

You may also buy a larger position of a stock or crypto than you can afford to lose.

Greed is a feeling that is challenging to get rid of, but it can be managed.
3 Emotions Pro Traders Have MasteredThe best way to keep greed from ruining your success as a trader is to set strict rules for yourself.

That’s why we always suggest a fixed position size to members for each new trade in The Wagner Daily stock portfolio or Morpheus Crypto portfolio.

Don’t let greed make you break your own rules.

3. The Virtue of Patience
Even short-term swing trading is a long-term game, so don’t try to rush the process.

Nearly everyone who properly follows an effective trading technique can eventually become a successful trader—but it requires patience to get there.

When you first start trading, don’t rush to buy every stock or crypto that catches your eye.

Take time to research and determine if the potential trade entry falls within the parameters of your trading system.

If you miss the trade entry, another profitable opportunity is just around the corner.

When the market becomes too challenging, don’t be afraid to shift your portfolio to cash until conditions improve.

Cash is always a valid position.

In fact, the most successful traders we know are out of the market more than they are in it!

At Morpheus, we step on the gas pedal in ideal market conditions, but quickly press the brakes when the bear strikes.

3 Emotions Pro Traders Have MasteredSummary

Becoming a winning trader or investor requires more than just about having a successful trading strategy.

You must truly understand yourself as an investor, and how you react to stress and greed.

If you’re naturally an impatient person, make it your mission to change.

Consistently finding winning stock picks is an obvious element of success, but you must also understand your own reactions to emotions that can affect your trading decisions.

The best way to deal with these emotions is to prepare yourself for them.

Read your emotions and understand how they might affect you.

Doing so arms you with the ability to combat them before they have a chance to affect your trading results.

Source: https://learn2.trade/3-emotions-pro-traders-have-mastered?fbclid=IwAR17zR2wiZ7XASJb5FgbECO5d1zHHazZ6cSPlc49DfRd835SXdBsz5b9YyM

Post-Merge Long-Term Price Forecast For Ethereum (ETH), 2022 – 2025

Ethereum currently is bearish. The bearishness started in 2021 and has lasted till date and will continue for the rest of this year and the year 2023. Even on the day of the Merge, ETH plummeted furiously.

The most important reason for the bearishness is crypto winter. During crypto winter, ETHUSD will be trending downwards no matter how positive the fundamentals surrounding it, are and no matter the number of developments and improvements on the Ethereum blockchain.

When a crypto summer begins, ETHUSD will experience overall bullish movements, even when negative fundamentals are coming out as regards it. The overall bullish movement will inevitably happen irrespective of occasional pullbacks in the market, leading to lower highs, and higher highs.

This is what is called seasonality in the world of crypto. There is a bullish season and a bearish season, and that is the biggest determinant of the overall movement of a major crypto like ETH.

Seasonality trumps everything!

Post-Merge Long-term Price Forecast for Ethereum (ETH), 2022 – 2025

ETHUSD – Daily Chart
ETHUSD Long-term price territories
Distribution territories: $5,000.00 $15,000.00 and $20,000.00
Accumulation territories: $1000.00, $500.00 and $100.00.

ETHUSD Daily Chart:
The daily chart shows that the overall market tendency is bearish. This is a kind of market in which short-term sellers will make lots of money just by selling rallies in the market, using margin trading facilities.

Using margin trading techniques, going long in this market would invariably result in financial disaster, as the price is projected to reach the accumulation territory of $1,000.00 before the end of this year.

The most logical trading approach for margin traders is to sell every considerable bullish attempt on this crypto; since every bullish effort will invariably be transitory.

In the year 2023, the accumulation territory of $500.00 will be tested (or possibly breached to the downside, albeit briefly). That is when Ethereum will be prepping up for the next big rally, which would happen in 2024.

Post-Merge Long-term Price Forecast for Ethereum (ETH), 2022 – 2025
ETHUSD – Weekly Chart
ETHUSD Weekly Chart:
In the weekly chart, it is depicted that the price would reach at least $500.00 territory before the next major rally.

In the year 2020. ETHUSD reached a low of $89.55 and then reached a high of $4,856.65 in November 2021.

The next major rally will begin any time after the next Bitcoin halving has been completed. According to one source, the next Bitcoin halving is scheduled to take place in 2024 at block 840,000. On Apr 28, 2024, 12:16:22 AM UTC the Bitcoin block reward is scheduled to drop from 6.25 Bitcoin per block to 3.125 Bitcoin per block.

Will Ethereum Hodlers Make Profits?
Yes, they will make profits.

In spite of the ongoing bearish bias on the market, Ethereum is always rated a “BUY.” Investors who buy it during massive bearish markets will also make profits if they can wait for just a few years. On the other hand, those who buy ETH in the month of the next Bitcoin halving will make at least 1,000% (10X) returns within several months.

So, investors (apart from margin traders who buy and sell, using stop loss and take profits), can rest assured that ETHUSD will never go to zero (even if they invest when the market is very weak), making the value of their investment go down. They will eventually recover their loss and make massive returns on ETH.

It all boils down to timing: Some investors make money within years and some make money within months, just because of timing.
Ethereum to Reach $20,000.00 in the Year 2025
ETHUSD will breach its All-time High of 4,856.65 in 2024, reaching at least the distribution territory at $10,000.00 in that year.

In the year 2025, the distribution territory at $20,000.00 will be tested and surmounted, and then possibly surpassed, since that is the minimum target for the year 2025.

However, the price territory of $25,000.00 is another possibility before the end of the same year.

Ethereum (ETH) is always a buy, for the long-term bias is bullish, in spite of the current medium-term bearishness.

Source: https://learn2.trade/post-merge-long-term-price-forecast-for-ethereum-eth-2022-2025

You Need To Accept This Trading Truth If You Want To Survive

A TRUTH ABOUT TRADING

A couple of things in life that I really don’t look forward to are:

1. when they draw blood for my semi-annual health checkup and
2. when I have to go to the doctor.

Yet, when I think about it, not going could be a lot worse than going. I don’t know which I would dislike more, finding out I have too high a cholesterol reading or finding out that my blood sugar is too high. Hopefully, I’ll never have to compare the two. Fortunately, I don’t suffer from either condition.
You need to accept this trading truth if you want to surviveRegardless, as I was sitting in the doctor’s office one Monday morning, I realized that sometimes I am like the doctor in regard to the occupation of trading. Sometimes my being blunt about the things that need to be said is not well-liked by some traders. Much of the time there is a little pain involved in doing things the right way, because there is rarely such a thing as instant gratification when you are a trader. However, in the long run, you are far better off if you do things the right way.

As much as I hate going to the doctor, I know that if I take care of things now, even though I experience a little bit of pain, it will save a great deal more pain in the future.

For those who cannot see past the desire to always receive instant gratification from their trading efforts, I am not well received. For those who can see that the information and experience that I provide, although sometimes painful to realize, and even more painful to actually follow at first, will ultimately save them from a great deal of pain in the long run compared with how most traders actually fare.

Knowing this does not make it any easier to go to the doctor, because the immediate pain is the same whether I like it or not. However, knowing and understanding this enables me to go in spite of the small bit of pain that it may cause.

You need to accept this trading truth if you want to survive. Each Spring I enjoy planting a garden. A garden requires work. Tending the plants while they grow requires even more work. Even harvesting the fruit of my garden requires work, but then comes the enjoyment. It is always in that order, which is the way God created it. It’s the same way with investing and trading.[i][/i]

No matter what your situation is right now, don’t compromise to receive instant gratification at the cost of a great harvest later on. I write from many years of experience and from making these kinds of mistakes in the past.

And that is a truth about trading.

Author: Joe Ross

Source: https://learn2.trade/you-need-to-accept-this-trading-truth-if-you-want-to-survive