Author: Matt Thalman

Bitcoin Rallying And I Am No Longer Bearish

Posted on by Matt Thalman

If you recall, it was around this time a few years ago, 2017, when Bitcoin became a household name and went on the tear from under $1,000 per coin to more than $17,000 per coin in under one year. The mania of the move came in the latter part of the year and right between the holidays. Fast forward a few years later, and Bitcoin has once again made a surprising move in the latter half of the year and once again set all-new record highs.

I have long been bearish on Bitcoin, but over the years and recent months, I have begun to move more toward the middle in terms of Bitcoin bulls vs. bears and why I have moved towards the middle what I would like to explain today.

My biggest and main issue with Bitcoin from the time I was introduced to it in 2013 is that, like other precious metals, they have no real intrinsic value. Therefore, you can't accurately or even inaccurately value the asset. With that being said, I have never invested in gold, or diamonds, silver, or any other metal, unless you are like my wife and consider "jewelry" an investment. I don't invest in any of them because they aren't like stocks that have value based on what the company plans to do or how much cash they have in the bank. I can value stocks and determine if they are under or overvalued by the market.

Precious metals, like Bitcoin, you can not do that because these things are only worth what they last traded for or what one person or another somewhere in the world is willing to pay for them at this moment in time.

And none of that has changed.

However, in the past few months, we have seen Continue reading "Bitcoin Rallying And I Am No Longer Bearish" →

Square Buys Bitcoin, What Does This Mean For The Crypto-Currency

Posted on by Matt Thalman

In October, news broke that Square (SQ), the payment processing company, had made a $50 million investment into the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. For some market participants, this seems odd. For others, this was a genius move by the founder of Square and Twitter (TWTR), Jack Dorsey, while others were not sure about this decision and just wanted to sit on the sidelines and watch this all play out.

Before we go any further, I want to clarify that I am not a Bitcoin bull, and at no time have I ever owned Bitcoin, or do I plan on owning the cryptocurrency in the near future. I have even written over the years about how and why I don't believe Bitcoin will "rule" the world as some believe. With that all being said, I am also able to admit that I am not the smartest person in the room, and I have been wrong about investments in the past, Bitcoin to this point being one of them.

Jack Dorsey, whom I would consider an extremely intelligent person believes differently than I do because he does advocate for Bitcoin and in 2018 even went on record saying Bitcoin will eventually become the world's 'single currency.' Jack Dorsey believed in Bitcoin's long-term prospects and was willing to put $50 million behind his beliefs. Continue reading "Square Buys Bitcoin, What Does This Mean For The Crypto-Currency" →

Using ETFs To "Time" The Market

Posted on by Matt Thalman

Most legitimate market participants will tell you not to try and ‘time’ the market. What they mean by that is don’t try and predict when the market is going to fall and when the market is going to climb higher. Historically, this has been extremely difficult to predict with any real accuracy, but ETFs could make it easier for you to accomplish.

So, most advisors tell clients to stay invested in the markets and ride the ups and downs. I fully agree with this thinking because it is very difficult to predict major market moves. For example, while some people did predict the market would crash in March, not so many thought it would tear right back higher as quickly as it did. Even those who did predict the move higher had a hard time predicting wh the bottom of the fall was and when the actual bottom was and, therefore, the absolute ‘best’ time to get back in.

The biggest problem with trying to time the market is that you will miss part of the moves back higher. And knowing when the right time to get back in is more difficult than just riding it out the wave up and down.

Think about it this way. If you sell ABC stock at $100 because you think the market is about to crash. And let’s say that you were right about the market falling. When do you repurchase ABC? Continue reading "Using ETFs To "Time" The Market" →

Now Could Be the Best Time To Buy Marijuana ETFs

Posted on by Matt Thalman

After a few years of marijuana stocks being high-flyers, largely due to investors rushing in for fear of missing out on the next big industry, the marijuana industry has not been kind to those early investors in recent years. However, that all may be changing very soon.

With a few more States recently voting to legalize the drug and the U.S. House of Representatives scheduled to vote on the decriminalization of marijuana, it truly now appears that it is just a matter of time until the drug is legally sold throughout the United States.

Furthermore, the Mexican government appears to also be on the verge of legalizing the drug as well. If Mexico does legalize marijuana, it could become the largest cannabis market in the world. And since Mexico's climate is ideal for growing marijuana, it could become a powerhouse in terms of a worldwide supplier, or at a minimum, the top North American supplier. However, none of the major Canadian marijuana companies have a foothold in Mexico yet, which could cause delays in how long investors need to wait to see any meaningful gains from their investments in the industry today.

Regardless, though with more U.S. States legalizing it and decriminalization votes set to take place in the U.S. legislature, and Mexico appearing to be on the verge of legalizing the drug, now would seem like a good time to get on the train. It's usually better to be early than it is to be late.

So, if you are ready to buy into the industry, or even if you want to wait, let me give you a few options you can look at Continue reading "Now Could Be the Best Time To Buy Marijuana ETFs" →

3 Stay-At-Home ETFs For Your Portfolio

Posted on by Matt Thalman

As we continue to deal with the world-wide pandemic and the changes to our daily lives as we knew them before Covid-19, most people would agree a lot has changed. There have even been a few coined terms in the investing world that have arisen from the pandemic, with the most popular being the "stay-at-home stocks. For a large part, this new phrase has become the 'new' FANNG stock group.

The stay-at-home stocks have been on a tear this year as they have seen their popularity not only as investments increase, but they have more users who, in most cases, are spending more money. Revenues from these companies have grown at a tremendous clip in 2020. Even though some are still not yet profitable, many believe it is just a matter of time until they become wildly profitable and monster growth stocks for years to come.

The most popular reason for this type of thinking is not because people believe the pandemic will last for years and years, but because the pandemic has changed our lives so that we will not likely revert to our old habits styles of living. For example, many believe Zoom Video (ZM) has already become a verb and will dramatically reduce the need for some business travel and a large amount of 'in person' meetings that we all used to sit in on. Furthermore, the reduced need for 'in person' meetings will likely continue to reduce the need for employees working out of a central office instead of working remotely.

There are countless ways how the pandemic and the 'new normal' has changed our lives and how these 'stay-at-home stocks' will continue to perform well in the future. So, let's look at a few ETFs that focus on the 'new normal.' Continue reading "3 Stay-At-Home ETFs For Your Portfolio" →