I was around for America’s bicentennial year in 1976. That was a national celebration for everyone. A massive wave of patriotism. The American Freedom Train touring the country with historical artifacts. The bicentennial quarter. And now comes the 250th celebration - a gaudy, partisan shitshow that looks like a monster truck rally held inside a Section 8 trailer park wrecked a tornado, all presided over by the worst example of humanity America has ever given rise to. This is not a celebration that brings the country together. It’s one man’s demented vision of what America is: a violent nation where brawn shines brighter important than brains - ironic, given that he has neither.

WHILE 1 MILLION PEOPLE LOST $2.3 BILLION IN CRYPTO, ONE FAMILY MADE $2.3 BILLION!!! It was the same trade... Reuters traced it all yesterday. On-chain data, corporate filings, 27 investor interviews. And the family's own money at risk? Under $1 million total. The whole operation was licensing. Lend the name, post about it, take up to 75% of revenue, done. TRUMP token hit $75 three days before inauguration. It's $2.38 now. Down 97%. WLFI is down 87% and most holders can't even sell, 80% of tokens are locked until 2030. Accountants value them at zero. ALT5 raised $750M from shareholders, spent $717M of it buying WLFI tokens, and over $500M of that went straight to the family. The stock fell from $9 to under a dollar. A woman in California put $2,000 into TRUMP after he posted about it. She has $120 left. Reuters interviewed 27 investors. 5 made money. All of them sold early. A million people bet on the name. The name got paid either way. I don't care which side of politics you're on. If a name can extract $2.3 billion from retail with zero risk, the manipulation problem is bigger than any one family.

So @NancyMace got her ass destroyed in the SC governor’s primary. Such a shame. Thoughts and prayers.

Elon is a fucking idiot. His assumption is that redistributing wealth leads to waste among people who aren’t smart enough to steal Tesla from the original founder. But that just undercuts the entire GOP notion of trickle down economics. The wealth from tax savings supposedly trickles down to help build up those underneath the wealthy. (It doesn’t. Proven.) So which one is it: people are too stupid to create benefits for themselves and society by taxing the rich? Or does trickle down not work?

All the SpaceX/Elon fanboys are upset that I said SpaceX is a wildly overvalued IPO and that at some point the share price will crater... and that is when you buy. But I hear all kinds of jibber-jabber about what SpaceX does and is and whatever. It's all the same words, just in a different order that defined the last 30 years of tech investing... and I've been around for all of it as a financial writer. So, here's a list of every IPO that was the biggest/most relevant of its time and what came of it: Netscape (1995): The company that lit the dot-com fuse. briefly dominated the internet browser market before Microsoft crushed it by giving away a competing product for free. limped into AOL's arms at a fraction of its peak value. Yahoo (1996): A $13 IPO that became a $110 billion fever dream at the peak of the bubble, then collapsed 93% to $8, spent a decade mismanaging itself into irrelevance, turned down a $44/share Microsoft buyout offer when it was already dying, and was finally sold to Verizon for parts in 2017. Amazon (1997): Went public at $18, rode the bubble to $113, crashed 94% to $6, then methodically became the most dominant retail and cloud computing empire in history. theglobe dot com (1998): Exploded 600% on its first trading day on pure mania with no real business model, and was bankrupt and forgotten within three years. VA Linux (1999): Holds the all-time record for the largest single-day IPO pop — up 700% — on just $17.8 million in annual revenue, and spent the next 15 years slowly selling itself off for scraps at a 90% discount to its opening-day price. Google (2004): The rare IPO that was actually priced like a real business, debuted into post-bubble investor skepticism, and rewarded anyone who held it with a 7,500% return over 20 years. Facebook/Meta (2012): Priced at $104 billion with a broken mobile strategy, immediately cratered 54% in under four months to $17 as investors fled, then finally cracked the mobile monetization code and turned a humiliating IPO into a 1,300% return for anyone who didn't panic. Snap (2017): Sold non-voting shares in a money-losing company with decelerating growth at 25x revenue, popped on day one, collapsed 75% within two years, and now nearly a decade later an IPO investor has still lost more than half their money. Uber (2019): Private market fantasies priced this one at $120 billion, the public market immediately said "no" and sent it below its $45 IPO price on day one, the stock bled another 25% in four months, and it took years of grinding toward actual profitability before the stock finally vindicated long-suffering holders. Alibaba (2014): Legit one of the greatest businesses in the world at IPO, rode to $300, then the Chinese government decided Jack Ma needed to be humbled, and a decade after its record-breaking debut the stock still trades below its first-day opening price. I am NOT saying that SpaceX is a bad company. I am saying SpaceX IPO is stupidly valued by an excessively greedy Wall Street trying to extract as much wealth as possible in this latest tech hype period. SpaceX will go on to great things one day ... but at 90x sales, the shares are destined for a deep, deep enema-like cleansing at some point. Extremely rich valuations never last. The history above tells you the trajectory.

Probably an unpopular opinion given the Elon musk fanboys on Xitter, but SpaceX is going to be an amazing short! I lived through and reported on the dot-com boom/bust at The Wall Street Journal back in the day. SpaceX IPO and the whole AI bubble right now is giving dot-com vibes. If SpaceX IPOs at $135, its price-to-sales is above 90x. A stupid valuation on any level. When the AI/tech bubble pops (and it will) you’ll be able to buy SpaceX at $15 or less.

Perhaps the greatest sentence written to describe Donald Trump’s America…

Btw - and this is specifically for maga - you voted for a shitstain who literally sent Americans to war so that he could manipulate financial markets for his personal gain. If you see this any other way, you too are a shitstain.

For he who fucketh his flock shall lead the righteously stupid, who do not deserve to keepeth thy wealth because they art too stupid. So sayeth the (Christian) lord. The Book of Griftians 45:47

And on the seventh day, God said “Let there be grift.” And there was grift. And the grifters rejoiced, in the name of Trump, for he had selflessly forsaken his salary in order that he might grift. And he did so successfully, by the grace of the (Christian) God, who taught that money is the root of all happiness. Paul’s Letter to the Griftians 45:47

"Blessed is the grifter who fleeceth his flock and riggeth thy market, for he shall inherit the profit." The Book of St. Thievery 45:47

For he so loved America that he forsook his presidential salary so that he might grift instead. The Book of Cons 45:47 Amen and hallelujah

Dear, MAGA Please remind me how it is that your Cheeto-in-Chief ran for president for the love of country. You’re sure he didn’t do it for grift, right?

So many people like to claim Trump is running (ruining) America for love of country. That he’s not even taking a salary and has supposedly lost money as president. You are a fucking idiot if you believe that. Trump is 1000% about the grift. Why worry about a measly presidential salary when you can game the system for tens of millions. For those who don’t understand this headline, Trump is betting Kevin Lap Dog Warsh will cut interest rates to appease his dog walker. When that happens these bonds Trump has snapped up will jump in value sharply. Tell me again why he’s president because he loves his country…

The armada of oil tankers in the Gulf of Mexico is a driver of domestic inflation and proof that American energy independence doesn't actually mean much for Americans. #oilprices #fintok #fintwit #oil #inflation

My latest video. Those who are cheerleading the dollar having claimed 51.1% of global SWIFT transactions in March, don't seem to realize that what they're cheerleading is proof of de-dollarization in action. #dollar #dedollarization #economy #petrodollar #fintwit #SWIT

When you’ve decided that whining like a little bitch about “shit hole” countries isn’t enough and you decide to be one instead…

Wall Street breathed a sigh of relief when Warsh was announced as Trump’s Fed chair nominee. He’s an independent thinker, the narrative promised. He will do what’s best for the economy and not just parrot what Trump wants. I called bullshit on Day 1. The next Fed chair has zero to do with who that person is or what their background is. The next Fed chair is 1000% Trump’s stooge. People need to understand that Trump is a simpleton and you take him at his word literally. He said many times that the next Fed chair will only have the job if he agrees with Trump’s desire for 1% interest rates. And that is now vividly apparent. Listen to Trump. And listen to me. 😊

The Fed got got. The Germans couldn't pull it off, but the French did... and it says a lot about what's coming.

Why does anyone on Wall Street believe anything that spews like vomit from Trump’s mouth? So telling that the largest bet yet on the market - more $760m - happened 20 minutes before Trump’s Hormuz announcement. Fucking criminal organization running the White House. And fucking the most gullible sheep on Wall Street. This war will not be over until Iran gets the concessions it demands. Trump has zero leverage other than nuclear. And using that would end America. Any time the market moves significantly on a Trump tweet ALWAYS bet the opposite.