Headlines – January 9/18

  • Japan’s Nikkei stock index hit 26-year high. Read story
  • Microsoft halts some AMD patches after PCs freeze. Read story
  • Indian banks are choking bitcoin exchanges by blocking payments and withdrawals. Read story
  • Intel CEO comments indicate chip issue may cause bigger slowdown. Read story
  • Signs of euphoria are so high investors are having a ‘tough time imagining a decline.’ Read story
  • Highly classified US spy satellite appears to be total loss after SpaceX launch. Read story
  • Mike Novogratz wants to build the Goldman of Crypto. Read story
  • ‘We’re not Trump’ isn’t enough for Democrats to win votes. Read story
  • Americans owe more, save less, and are poorer than in decades. Read story
  • North Korea strikes deal to join Winter Olympics, commits to military talks. Read story
  • Toyota sees food trucks as future for retail, and Amazon is in. Read story
  • Wolf: If probe goes near Trump finances, ‘he’s sunk.’ Read story
  • You’re better off buying than renting in these US cities. Read story
  • On the lighter side. Check it out!

Stay tuned!

Headlines – January 8/18

  • Equity euphoria grips the entire world. Read story
  • Nvidia lands Uber as self-driving partner to kick off CES. Read story
  • China wants an “orderly exit” from Bitcoin mining. Read story
  • Bitcoin drops below $15,000 as South Korea reviews accounts. Read story
  • Oprah Winfrey’s Golden Globe speech. Read story
  • Why you might need your passport even to fly within the US. Read story
  • ‘It can’t be true.’ Inside the semiconductor industry’s meltdown. Read story
  • Oil approaches 2015 highs on fewer US rigs, OPEC. Read story
  • Bannon apologizes for comments about Trump family in book bombshell. Read story
  • Trump book author faces questions on book accuracy. Read story
  • Blazing Iranian oil tanker at risk of exploding after collision at sea. Read story
  • Mexico’s Trumpian populist could mean trouble for Trump. Read story
  • Sahara desert covered in 15 inches of snow in freak storm. Read story
  • On the lighter side. Check it out!

Stay tuned!

How far can ‘irrational exuberance’ push this market?

Back in December,1996, in a speech titled “The Challenge of Central Banking in a Democratic Society,” then US Federal Reserve chair Alan Greenspan used the term “irrational exuberance” to describe the DOT COM spike in the stock market.

The stock market was already in a 15 year bull market, but had really started to spike in 1995. Greenspan was concerned with the steeper rise, and warned that unsustainable investor enthusiasm would drive asset prices up to levels that aren’t supported by fundamentals. And he was right.

But before he was right, asset prices continued to rise almost 100% over the next three years, before the big Tech Bubble crashed in 2001.

s&Pexuberance

That bull market lasted 18 years from 1982 to 2000. We are not saying that this current 9 year bull market in stocks has another 9 years to go, but we need to be aware that just because this market is getting very expensive and we are hearing the word ‘bubble’ an awful lot these days, we could see this market really ramp up in the next few months.

While prices are high, prices are not what will kill this market. We need to continue to see more “irrational exuberance” where everyone who is not yet in the market starts to panic and jump in, not wanting to get left behind. It is when the mass investors, those who are always last to the party, step up and buy stocks. That will be when the top will be in, as there will be no one left to buy. We haven’t seen enough signs that signal we are there just yet.

In our January 8/17 issue of The Trend Letter, our models had targeted the S&P 500 at 3000 by March’18.  To reach that target, the S&P 500 would need to rise a further 9.4% in the next two months, certainly not out of the question.

March’18 would be 9-years since this bull market started, after the previous 9-year bear market. But we believe that this market still has more room to run.

Very near-term this market is overbought and needs to take a break, so a correction into the mid 2600 range should be expected, before the next run to 2900.

If we do get that spike to the 2900 level in March, then watch for a pullback/correction. We will be updating subscribers in next week’s issue of The Trend Letter how our models see the rest of 2018.

S&P2018

While we do expect the equity bull run to continue, you must to have a strategy to protect yourself in case of a severe market correction, or even market crash.

Trend Technical Trader (TTT) is an excellent hedge service with many strategies to hedge and protect your wealth in the event of a severe market correction. Not only does TTT allow you protection, it also gives a great opportunity to actually make significant gains in a down market.

We are offering you TTT at $250 off the regular price of $649.95, now just $399.95. Click here if you wish to subscribe.

Stay tuned!

Headlines – January 5/18

  • All Macs. iPhones, and iPads affected by chip flaw. Read story
  • Marijuana stocks slammed for second straight day. Read story
  • FBI launches new investigation into Clinton Foundation. Read story
  • Ten cryptocurrency predictions for 2018. Read story
  • Trump book author contradicts president, says he interviewed him. Read story
  • Philip Morris says it’s quitting cigarettes. Read story
  • North Korea agrees to talks after US and South Korea postpone military drills. Read story
  • Virtual currency boom throws world’s richest list into disarray. Read story
  • Global debt hits record $233 trillion. Read story
  • US debt deficit swells to largest since January 2002. Read story
  • We should raise AIs like parents, not programmers – or they’ll turn into terrible toddlers. Read story
  • Baltimore: Fed up business owners hire private security guards to patrol streets. Read story
  • How Zuckerberg might improve Facebook in 2018. Read story
  • On the lighter side. Check it out!

Stay tuned!

Headlines – January 4/18

  • Dow pushes above 25,000 with fastest 1,000 point surge in history. Read story
  • Ripple coins soar to record above $3 – stalks Bitcoin for crypto dominance. Read story
  • US AG Sessions to end policy to allow legal marijuana. Read story
  • Tesla pushes back Model 3 production targets yet again. Read story
  • Trump lawyer seeks to halt book. Read story
  • Iran accuses US of ‘grotesque’ interference. Read story
  • US military warns against getting hopes up over North Korea overture. Read story
  • Bitcoin is a hit in countries where locals face currency troubles. Read story
  • Rush to fix ‘serious’ computer chip flaws. Read story
  • The hidden reasons why stock market volatility has been so low. Read story
  • Massive winter storms threatens East Coast with snow and floods. Read story
  • Iceland just made it illegal to pay men more than women. Read story
  • North Korea accidentally hit own city with ballistic missile. Read story
  • SpaceX’s latest advantage? Blowing up its own rocket automatically. Read story
  • On the lighter side. Check it out!

Stay tuned!

Headlines – January 3/18

  • S&P, Nasdaq open higher as techs gain. Read story
  • North Korea calls hotline to South for the first time in two years. Read story
  • Bitcoin is the “new world currency” that Peter Thiel wanted PayPal to be. Read story
  • Trump taunts Kim: I have a “much bigger” button. Read story
  • Oil-rich Venezuela out of gasoline. Read story
  • Alibaba surges while Walmart stalls. Read story
  • Prediction: Amazon will buy Target this year. Read story
  • US braces for explosive and bone chilling ‘bomb cyclone’. Read story
  • Eurasia Group warns a “Major Geopolitical Crisis” may be coming in  2018. Read story
  • Anti-establishment parties pushing Europe into new way of doing politics. Read story
  • No idea what MiFID stands for? Here’s what you need to know. Read story
  • How far is the earth from the moon? Take a look. Read story
  • ‘Kernel memory leaking’ Intel processor design flaw forces Linux, Windows redesign. Read story
  • Congressional investigators find irregularities in FBI’s handling of Clinton email case. Read story
  • Breakthrough blindness treatment will cost $425,000 per eye, if it works. Read story
  • On the lighter side. Check it out!

Stay tuned!

Getting started with crypto

Investing in the Crypto Currency market space can be a little daunting for the traditional investor, as investing directly in Crypto Currency (CC) requires the use of new tools and adopting some new concepts.  At Crypto Trend we will continue to provide information and guidance, so if you do decide to dip your toes in this market, you will have a very good idea of what to do and what to expect.

Buying and selling CC’s requires you to choose an Exchange that deals in the products you want to buy and sell, be they Bitcoin, Litecoin, or any of the over 1300 other tokens in play. In previous editions we have briefly described the products and services available at a few exchanges, to give you an idea of the different offerings.  There are many Exchanges to choose from and they all do things in their own way.  Look for the things that matter to you, for example:

– Deposit policies, methods, and costs of each method
– Withdrawal policies and costs
– Which fiat currencies they deal in for deposits and withdrawals
– Products they deal in, such as crypto coins, gold, silver etc
– Costs for transactions
– where is this Exchange based ?? ( USA / UK / South Korea / Japan … )

Be prepared for the Exchange setup procedure to be detailed and lengthy, as the Exchanges generally want to know a lot about you.  It is akin to setting up a new bank account, as the Exchanges are brokers of valuables, and they want to be sure that you are who you say you are, and that you are a trustworthy person to deal with. It seems that “trust’ is earned over time, as the Exchanges typically allow only small investment amounts to begin with.

Your Exchange will keep your CC’s in storage for you.  Many offer “cold storage” which simply means that your coins are kept “offline” until you indicate that you want to do something with them.  There are quite a few news stories of Exchanges being hacked, and many coins stolen.  Think about your coins being in something like a bank account at the Exchange, but remember that your coins are digital only, and that all blockchain transactions are irreversible.  Unlike your bank, these Exchanges do not have deposit insurance, so be aware that hackers are always out there trying everything they can to get at your Crypto Coins and steal them.  Exchanges generally offer Password protected accounts, and many offer 2-factor authorization schemes – something to seriously consider in order to protect your account from hackers.

Given that hackers love to prey on Exchanges and your account, we always recommend that you use a digital wallet for your coins.  It is relatively easy to move coins between your Exchange account and your wallet.  Be sure to choose a wallet that handles all the coins you want to be buying and selling.  Your wallet is also the device you use to “spend” your coins with the merchants who accept CC’s for payment.  The two types of wallets are “hot” and “cold”.  Hot wallets are very easy to use but they leave your coins exposed to the internet, but only on your computer, not the Exchange server.  Cold wallets use offline storage mediums, such as specialized hardware memory sticks and simple hard copy printouts.  Using a cold wallet makes transactions more complicated, but they are the safest.

Your wallet contains the “private” key that authorizes all the transactions you want to initiate.  You also have a “public” key that is shared on the network so that all users can identify your account when involved in a transaction with you.  When hackers get your private key, they can move your coins anywhere they want, and it is irreversible.

Despite all the challenges and wild volatility,  we are confident that the underlying blockchain technology is a game changer, and will revolutionize how transactions are conducted going forward.

If you are ready to make a speculative investment into this disruptive technology, and want to receive all current and future recommendations from Crypto TREND Premium, we are keeping our Early Bird Special offer open for a little longer, to give our readers the opportunity to get started at a $175 discount. To take advantage of this special offer, click here.
Stay tuned!

Headlines – January 2/18

  • US Dollar starts 2018 in doldrums, European stocks groggy. Read story
  • Criminal underworld is dropping Bitcoin for another currency. Read story
  • Bitcoin’s share of the crypto universe is the lowest it has ever been. Read story
  • Oil price steadies above $60 as violent protests spread in Iran. Read story
  • Iran’s leader blames unrest on ‘enemies’. Read story
  • North and South Korea to have talks regarding participation in Olympics. Read story
  • Deep freeze keeps grip on eastern US; four die. Read story
  • Goldman Sachs warns of $5 bln hit from Trump tax overhaul. Read story
  • Is Airbus about to pull the plug on the world’s biggest passenger plane? Read story
  • 2017 was the safest year for air travel. Read story
  • Trump’s strategy to knock out North Korean missiles carries risk. Read story
  • Red tape leaves France lagging as skiers turn elsewhere. Read story
  • Baltimore starts New Year with two murders. Read story
  • On the lighter side. Check it out!

Stay tuned!

Crypto Update – January 2/18

Yesterday we issued our 6th crypto/blockchain recommendation to subscribers of Crypto TREND Premium. There are currently 1,387 crypto currencies, so it is indeed challenging selecting which ones to purchase. At the time of this writing, the five recommendations we have made to date are up an average of 92% in less than a month. With so many cryptos now available, Crypto TREND and Crypto TREND Premium are your guides to explore this crypto jungle and to recognize which are the ones with the biggest upside potential.

By selecting each of the six recommendations we have made to date, subscribers can begin creating a nice small crypto portfolio. This sector reminds us of the DOT COM bull run where hundreds of companies included DOT COM in their name. Same story with the uranium bull market, where we saw tons of companies that owned nothing but “moose pastures” renaming themselves by adding “uranium” to their name. We are seeing similar actions today where companies are adding “Crypto” or “Blockchain” to the their name. Recently, Long Island Ice Tea changed their name to Long Blockchain Corp, believe it or not.

When researching the crypto and blockchain world, understand that many of the people writing about cryptos are often very biased and have their own agendas. Many are holding certain tokens and are doing their best to promote that currency and talk down others. Sifting through all this material and finding the diamonds in the rough is what the Crypto TREND team does.

As with the uranium bull market, there will be many players trying to make a quick hit with a new crypto currency or blockchain application, but in the end, only the ones that are true disruptors, ones that will change the way we do business, will survive. We are looking for companies that have a clear plan to make a difference, such as companies that are using blockchain to solve global challenges, to make transactions cheaper, faster, and more secure for businesses and the general public.

The Crypto TREND team will continue to provide in-depth research and our Crypto TREND Premium will turn that research and analysis into recommendations that we feel will come out on top as this “wild west” sector becomes more mainstream. For investors there is always at least one big barrier to entering a new bull market, and these barriers give the early investors the opportunity to make potential massive gains. While we believe that crypto currencies and blockchain technology are real game changers, possibly on a par with how the internet changed our world, there are numerous obstacles that will likely keep this sector incredibly volatile in these early days.

First, for the average investor, trying to understand blockchain technology tends to cause a painful brain cramp. While almost all investors use debit and credit cards daily, virtually none of these users have any real understanding of the technology of how these transactions work. The key is that they “trust” it to work perfectly. With blockchain technology, even though virtually every bank and government is looking to use this technology, most investors do not yet “trust” it.

Another barrier for crypto is that it is a convoluted process to get started as an investor. Most exchanges that accept credit or debit deposits only allow very small limits until you have completed a number of successful transactions, making the initial accumulation of tokens quite slow and cumbersome. Also, the concept of setting up a digital wallet is a whole new mindset that many find quite challenging.

And then there is the risk that governments will try to outlaw crypto currencies. While we initially felt that the threat of crypto currencies was far too great for governments to allow to succeed, the more they become mainstream the more difficult it becomes for governments to shut them down. With government so heavily indebted, and hungry to tax every transaction they can get their hands on, this threat is still valid. It is quite interesting to note that ever since China and South Korea threatened to clamp down on bitcoin, it rallied to new highs.

As noted earlier, Crypto TREND Premium has just made its 6th recommendation. If you are ready to make a speculative investment into this disruptive technology, and want to receive all current and future recommendations from Crypto TREND Premium, we are keeping our Early Bird Special offer open for a little longer, to give our readers the opportunity to get started at a $175 discount. To take advantage of this special offer, CLICK HERE.