Heads up: I'll be traveling on Monday and Tuesday this week. So I'm writing this on Saturday, which means the crypto quotes will be outdated by the time you read this on Monday morning. There won't be a Stocks and Income issue on Tuesday. But don't worry, I'll be back in action on Wednesday.

Alts are perfect for SDIRAs

In this issue, we'll show you why self-directed IRAs (or SDIRAs) are the perfect vehicle for investing in alternatives.

​Alto​ allows you to invest in alternative assets with their retirement funds. You can transfer cash from any existing 401(k) or IRA, or initiate a new contribution to invest in alternatives. Alto helps you with all the administrative stuff.

They've recently launched ​Alto Marketplace, a platform that connects individual accredited investors to private alternative opportunities.

Their suite of integrated partners includes some names you might recognize:

• Startups (with AngelList)

• Peer-to-peer lending (with Prosper)

• Real estate (with CalTier)

• Artwork (with MasterWorks)

• Infrastructure (with InfraShares)

• ​See the full list​

Optimize your retirement strategy, diversify your portfolio, and minimize your tax burden with a tax-advantaged retirement account from Alto.

Create an Alto IRA today. Go to ​altoira.com/marketplace​ to learn more.

Disclaimer:

Alto Marketplace offerings are currently available only to accredited investors. Private securities involve risk and may result in significant losses. Important disclosures apply. Alto does not provide investment advice. Consult an investment advisor to determine whether an investment is appropriate for your portfolio.

SPONSOR

Nearly 2/3 of you think SpaceX will be a trillion-dollar company one day. Time to load up on pre-IPO shares.

Too high

“Paying for business greed”

Ideas, trends, and analysis

• Ten e-commerce stocks to consider for long-term buys.

• Is it time to short NVIDIA?

• The lobbying group that claimed $45 billion worth of theft at American retailers made the number up.

• A great option if you’re hunting special dividends.

• Is it time to add small-cap and mid-caps to your portfolio? [ed note: probably not]

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Prices will go up when we launch, but the first 50 people to sign up lock in a 50% discount for life. Just use the code Forever100.

📊 Income

• Why are bonds making a comeback?

• The sharp rally in US high-yield or “junk” bonds since late October was on pause Friday after the release of a robust jobs report for November called into question market expectations for significant rate cuts

• Two dividend picks with 11% yields.

📊 Crypto

• Bitcoin dipped a bit on the strong jobs numbers, falling 0.5% in the minutes after the report was released.

• Two crypto provisions addressing anti-money-laundering concerns were dropped from a joint version of the National Defense Authorization Act, a military-funding bill viewed as must-pass legislation, ending a backdoor effort to get digital-asset rules passed this year in the US.

🌍 Global Perspectives

🇨🇳 China’s consumer prices fell at the steepest pace in three years while producer costs dropped even further into negative territory. Deflation looms.

🌍 The fastest growing global economies.

🇻🇪 🇬🇾 🇺🇳 Venezuela is pushing oil companies to restart operations near the Guyana border. The United Nations Security Council took no immediate action at a closed emergency meeting requested by Guyana.

🇺🇸 🧄 🇨🇳 Republican Senator Rick Scott has called for a government investigation into the impact on national security of garlic imports from China.

💎 Wealth Watch

• How much do you really make when you sell your house?

• How realistic is your stock-market forecast?

• The US states that gained and lost the most home equity in 2023.

🗳️ Outside the Box

• When it comes to investing, is it better to be lucky or good?

• The year’s best photojournalism.

  

• Why you shouldn’t read too much into the monthly non-farm payroll numbers.

• America’s biggest gun economies.

• Taylor Swift’s Eras tour was the first to gross over $1 billion.

• What you should know when buying olive oil. Plus, the economics of growing your own olive trees.

📈 Trends you need to know

Brought to you by our friends at Glimpse, my favorite way to spot trends.

The U.S. is running out of miners. More than half of the nation’s mining workforce, about 220,000 workers, are expected to retire by 2029, and the number of candidates willing to fill those slots is shrinking. At the same time, demand for minerals like lithium, cobalt, and copper, critical components used to make batteries for electric vehicles and smartphones, is rising. Globally, at least 384 new mines will need to be built to meet demand for EVs by 2035.

That’s all for today. Did we miss anything? Smash the reply button to let us know.

Cheers,

Wyatt

Notes

Please read this disclaimer. The authors of Alt Assets, Inc. are not attorneys, investment advisers, accountants, tax professionals or financial advisers and any of the content should not be taken as professional advice. They are self-taught accredited investors, sharing information, research, entertainment and lessons learned based solely on their own experience and circumstances. Individual results may vary. The published content is unique, based on certain assumptions and market conditions at the time of publishing, and is intended to serve solely as research, not financial advice. For entertainment purposes only. Not investment advice. Alts I LLC (the “Fund”) is an affiliate of Alt Assets, Inc. and the Fund has conducted a private placement offering under Rule 506(c) of Regulation D of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The Fund may invest in one, several, or all of the alternative asset classes that Alt Assets, Inc. publishes content about on its site. Any of the Fund’s investments that have positive designations on the Alt Assets, Inc. site are purely coincidental, as the Fund is actively managed and guided by its own investment parameters, as summarized in the relevant private placement memorandum. Alternative investing involves a high degree of risk, including complete loss of principal and is not suitable for all investors. Past performance does not guarantee future results. The newsletter may contain affiliate links, meaning that Alts.co and its associated entities may receive compensation for referring customers to the noted companies. We recommend seeking the advice of a financial professional before you make any investment in an alternative asset class or any associated entities, and we accept no liability whatsoever for any loss or damage you may incur.