Yet, for those who enjoy the fine art of investing in the equivalent of a dragon’s first flight (i.e., likely to end in fire, but with a chance of gold), CRISPR offers a curious case study. Three factors loom over this genetic alchemist like the Discworld’s own Überwald gnomes: cost, clinical trials, and liquidity. Let us dissect them with the precision of a wizard dissecting a griffin.[1]
First up, we have this charming fellow from South Florida. I mean, nothing says “I’m in over my head” quite like plotting to abduct a family over a $3 million debt. I mean, (gesturing wildly) who thinks, “Yeah, that sounds like a reasonable way to settle this?” The guy’s name is Shlomo Akuka. Sounds like someone who’d sell you a bad used car while planning your demise!
XForceGlobal, a modern Cassandra, peers into the void and declares: “The bull run is not yet dead!” 🐂🔪 With the solemnity of a funeral orator, the analyst sketches two paths—one modest, the other grandiose. The “conservative” forecast? A meandering pilgrimage to $0.65, followed by a collapse, then a resurrection to $1. A 2x-3x rally, they say, before the inevitable descent. 🪦📈
Now, the price of BTC has taken a slight dive, splashing into the cool waters of $117K (a refreshing dip, indeed!). Yet, even as the U.S. National Debt waltzes past the eye-popping figure of $37 trillion, Dalio is theatrically asserting that a whopping 15% of one’s portfolio should proudly display the banner of Bitcoin alongside its shiny gold counterpart. How audacious! One is reminded of a particularly fussy chef insisting on the perfect seasoning—to each their own flavor of financial strategy.
Now, let’s chat about a certain cryptocurrency making waves: XRP. This payments-focused token isn’t just some invisible man at the crypto party; it’s got the chance to be a headline act as it garners regulatory victories stateside and takes aim at transforming the international payment scene.
As the dollar wanes, losing its luster like an overripe fruit, companies flock to Bitcoin, seeking solace in its unyielding code. Pompliano, ever the cynic, chides business leaders for clutching cash like a security blanket, blind to its inevitable decay. He poses a question that echoes through the ages: Would you hoard dollars for a decade, watching them wither, or seize Bitcoin’s wild promise? 😏 A choice fit for a Tolstoy novel, where every decision unveils the human condition.
And so, the total tokens burned have surpassed 410.75 trillion, a number so vast it makes one’s head spin—though, truthfully, fewer tokens mean higher value, or so they say on the street corner of crypto wisdom, courtesy of Shibburn. Maybe someday they’ll burn enough to light up the night sky! 🌠
Why, one might ask, do mortals cling to such possibilities? Perhaps because they crave the illusion of control, even as chaos reigns.
According to the scribes of fortune at crypto.news, on that red-blooded Tuesday, July 29, the token surged past a modest $0.023 only to tumble back to its humble abode around $0.0122, leaving behind confused investors scratching their heads like they just realized their favorite sitcom’s last season was a dud.
Let’s talk Carnival (ticker: CCL), the floating city-state of the cruise world. This company, buoyed by demand so persistent it must be hereditary, has watched its stock rise around 18% this year—well ahead of the S&P 500, that most unadventurous of benchmarks. Eight successive quarters of record revenue and an admirably plump bookings ledger stretching towards a future that looks, to Carnival at least, like one continuous deck party.
And what is a cruise except a floating controlled environment in which consumer confidence is measurable in buffet plates per hour?2 While sales of socks and sundries wane—all those would-be shoppers are now queuing for trivia night somewhere off Corfu—Carnival is, quite literally, full steam ahead.
Consider the oracular numbers: anticipation yawns towards $25 billion in revenue by 2025, with $2.00 expected in adjusted earnings per share (doubtless adjusted with the same precision a ship’s purser brings to the dessert table). All this while the broader travel industry’s fate remains subject to the benevolence of mischievous minor deities, such as Grobnar the God of Random Price Hikes.
Industry statistics, which are only accurate to the nearest expert guess, suggest 82% of those who have endured, er, enjoyed a cruise plan to return3. Carnival’s own management, speaking at their Q2 conclave, virtually beamed about bookings filling cabins all the way to 2026, and made it clear there was only so much cruise ship to go ’round. Scarcity, it turns out, is excellent for margins.
And should you be tempted to mutter “overvalued,” consider this: with a forward price-to-earnings multiple of 15, Carnival remains priced more like a humble soapmaker and less like a circus impresario. Analysts, who are to predictions what seers are to chickens’ entrails, expect earnings growth to pace at an annualized 21%. Of course, the only certainty about predictions is that time, like the tide, will one day put them out to sea.