If you would've told me a few months ago that we'd see a large crypto exchange (FTX) go bust and later a number of big banks become insolvent and collapse to zero, I would've laughed you out of the room if you followed up with: "...and bitcoin will rally."
I mean, there is no way I would've agreed with that sentiment.
Thankfully, I don't get paid for my opinions. Because the market couldn't care less about what I think.
The strength in Bitcoin (and crypto in general) has truly been a sight to behold in recent months and in particular over the last few weeks.
The poster child instrument to play bitcoin in the equities market is via Microstrategy $MSTR. For those with their head in the sand on all thing bitcoin, this software services company has transformed itself into essentially a bitcoin ETF, having invested all of its working capital into bitcoing, and taking loans to leverage into even more bitcoin.
We'll leave the discussion on whether or not this is crazy to another blog post. But for now, MSTR offers us a great way to participate in continued strength in bitcoin and we're going to do it with a defined risk options spread.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell spoke this afternoon after the central bank announced a 25-basis-point rate hike.
The fed funds futures were all over the place, from pricing in a 25-basis-point increase to a double-hike. They settled in around a single hike, with a slim chance of a pause.
But, instead of guessing the Fed’s next step or parsing Powell's words, I’ll rather sit back, wait, and prepare to trade a decisive breakout.
When I think about the latter stages of the hiking cycle or a potential pause, my mind immediately turns to one currency in particular…
The Japanese yen.
Since the Fed began raising rates last spring, the yen has been one of the strongest trending markets. It stands to reason it could experience a significant trend reversal as the Fed changes course.
Luckily, we have a clear level to set our alerts and define risk.