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Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

Many things that are scarce and thus valuable cannot be bought on the global marketplace.

Amazon has done it again, and following a lukewarm second quarter and with Goldman warning not to get too excited going into earnings, Amazon is back to its short-crushing ways, reporting both revenues and EPS which blew away expectations.  In Q3, Amazon reported EPS of 52 cents, unchanged from a year ago (due to fudging the company's tax rate) and beating consensus estimates of 4 cents, on net sales of $43.7 billion, also well above the $42.19 billion consensus estimate, entirely due to the contribution of AWS.  It was also above the high end of the company's own range, which topped out at

Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

The majority of middle class wealth is locked up in unproductive assets or assets that only become available upon retirement or death.

One of my points in Why Governments Will Not Ban Bitcoin was to highlight how few families had the financial wherewithal to invest in bitcoin or an alternative hedge such as precious metals.

Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

The goal of maximizing profits for shareholders by any means available incentivizes discord as the primary source of profits.

Few would deny that social discord is rising. The proposed causes range from wealth/income inequality to the rise of polarizing political ideologies and the Trump presidency.

Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

Those who see governments banning ownership of bitcoin are ignoring the political power and influence of those who are snapping up most of the bitcoin.

To really understand an asset, we have to examine not just the asset itself but who owns it, and who can afford to own it. These attributes will illuminate the political and financial power wielded by the owners of the asset class.