• Markets were rocking and rolling yesterday, with the S&P eyeing a new ATH, until the bottom fell out around 2 pm. Volume was down, volatility was up, and it was probably just profit-taking ahead of the holidays.

• The major indices ended down between 1.3% and 1.9%, and futures are pointing lower today.

• Consumer conference numbers leaped in December, up across the board.

• The Biden administration auctioned off the rights to drill for oil and gas on 1.7 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico.

• Existing home sales were up slightly in November, halting a five-month losing streak.

Cash is king 👑

Not long ago, investors were chasing rocketship startups in hopes of a huge payday.

Boy how times have changed.

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• They buy overlooked businesses already earning money

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It's like micro private equity on autopilot.

Unlike a lot of startups, WebStreet is doing great.

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Greed is good.

Fearful

“No way will we get back to a long-term bull market this fast. There hasn't been enough suffering. I suspect a decline of the Dollar will be the largest problem next year since we import so much of what we buy.”

Ideas, trends, and analysis

• There were nearly 400 strikes in 2023, and experts think there’s more to come.

• Three AI-backed stocks that could pop by 2028. Yes, 2028.

• Three penny stocks that could triple next year (or go to zero. or do both).

📊 Income

• The Shrek royalties I told you guys about pre-IPO popped 50% on the first day of trading.

• Hundreds of corporate bonds are currently yielding 20% or more.

📊 Crypto

• Bitcoin neared $44k as the equity markets tumbled yesterday.

• A bearish call saying Bitcoin will hit resistance around $45k and could slide to $36k.

• More than $1 billion in assets belonging to the founders of the bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) have been frozen by a British Virgin Islands court.

🌍 Global Perspectives

🇺🇸 🇬🇧 🇧🇭 🇨🇦 🇫🇷 🇮🇹 🇳🇱 🇳🇴 🇸🇨 🇪🇸 🇾🇪 Responding to the US-led coalition formed against it, Houthi rebels have countered, “We have capabilities to sink your fleet, your submarines, your warships. The Red Sea will be your graveyard.”

🇦🇷 Speaking of loveable rebels in the Finding Out stage, Argentina’s new president, Javier Milei, is finding out what it’s like being on the other side of a protest.

🇰🇷 🇯🇵 South Korea’s top court ordered two Japanese companies to financially compensate Korean workers for forced labor during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

💎 Wealth Watch

• Do you qualify for some of the $1 billion worth of penalty waivers the IRS announced?

• How big a nest egg do you need to retire at 55? It’s not as big as I thought.

• Eight weird tricks the wealthy use to avoid taxes.

🗳️ Outside the Box

• The six biggest AI innovations of 2023.

• Why your plane is more likely to crash this holiday season than any other in living memory.

• How the Supreme Court could affect the 2024 presidential election.

• Meet the jerk who won’t let you spend $400 on an Apple Watch this Christmas.

• Nicolas Puech, a fifth-generation heir of the Hermes family, wants to leave half of his $13 billion fortune to his gardener.

📈 Trends you need to know

Search results are from our friends at Glimpse, my favorite way to spot trends.

Testing the saying that all news is good news.

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

Cheers,

Wyatt