Enter the oracle known as CryptoQuant, offering us a glimpse into the cryptic world of Ethereum’s derivatives. We learn that the Estimated Leverage Ratio on Binance has taken a nosedive to a mere 0.557-its lowest since last December. This decline follows a raucous period of leverage that peaked at a rambunctious 0.675, evoking images of traders tossing caution to the wind like confetti at a wedding.
Lululemon? Oy, the name alone! Everyone thought they were just selling fancy yoga pants. Turns out, they were selling a lifestyle. And then… well, people got tired of bending over. The stock took a tumble, and now Wall Street’s saying it’s over. Balderdash! They’re writing this off like a bad borscht. The shares are down more than half from their peak, trading at a P/E of 13? That’s practically a giveaway! My grandmother got better deals on herring!
The official line is “strategic investment.” I call it a slow-motion train wreck. They jumped the gun, saw Tesla’s shadow, and panicked. Now they’re flailing, throwing money at a problem that isn’t just about technology, it’s about… timing. The American consumer wasn’t ready to ditch the rumble of the V8 for the whine of an electric motor. They wanted it NOW, cheap, and with all the comforts of home. Ford gave them… well, they gave them a money pit.
Amazon and Alphabet – two companies so big they practically are the market, if you believe in such things – are throwing money at this AI business. Trillions, almost. They’re building cloud fortresses, hoping someone will rent space. It’s a gamble, naturally. All money is, really.
This charade intensifies the positioning within a “key demand zone,” a phrase so laden with bureaucratic optimism it could only be concocted by those who have never felt the cold embrace of a bear market. One wallet, in a fit of prudence, reduces the exchange supply, while the other, with the stubbornness of a party loyalist, increases leveraged exposure despite drowning in over $1M of unrealized losses. Such is the nature of man: to double down on his mistakes with the fervor of a true believer.
The truly sensible course, naturally, is to simply buy and hold decent stocks. A bit pedestrian, perhaps, but undeniably effective. These leveraged contraptions are, at best, a frivolous distraction. A rather expensive one, at that. One imagines the marketing chaps are having a perfectly ripping time, though. Preying on the anxieties of the insufficiently informed is, sadly, a time-honored profession.
The thing about long-term investing is it sounds so…responsible. So grown-up. I keep telling myself I’ll become a disciplined long-term investor. Then I see a shiny new tech stock and it’s all over. It’s a pattern, really. A deeply ingrained pattern. But Buffett, he actually does it. Or, he did. And now he’s…adjusting the portfolio. Which is code for “selling some things.”
For the first time ever, Ethereum’s proof-of-stake (PoS) contract is holding more than half of the total ETH supply. According to Santiment, over 80.95 million ETH (50.18% of the supply) is locked in staking! Holders are committing to securing the network like I commit to avoiding eye contact with my neighbors.
The prevailing explanation, offered by those who traffic in headlines and pronouncements, is this: artificial intelligence, that mechanical phantom, threatens to disrupt the very foundations of these digital empires. A most convenient scapegoat, wouldn’t you agree? To blame a machine for the inherent volatility of human fancy!
One must consider the broader currents. The years following the pandemic saw a deluge of cheap capital, a veritable flood of liquidity, enabling developers to erect these steel and concrete mausoleums at an alarming rate. A glut of space, naturally, dampened occupancy and strangled rental rates. It was as if the market, in a fit of generosity, had provided too much room for everyone’s excess baggage. A most illogical outcome. But the tides, it seems, are beginning to turn. CubeSmart reported a flicker of life in the third quarter – a modest increase in move-in rates, the first such instance in years. And Extra Space Storage, that behemoth of belongings, noted a similar, though equally tentative, resurgence. A promising sign, perhaps, but one must not mistake a swallow for a summer. The market, like a mischievous imp, delights in false dawns.