The Japan Bubble: How One Country Is Holding Up The Entire World

Andrei Jikh
19 Aug 202419:48

Summary

TLDRThe video script explores the concept of the 'carry trade', illustrating how a small interest rate change by the Bank of Japan can have global financial impacts. Using magic as an analogy, the narrator explains how misdirection in economics can lead to significant market reactions. The script delves into historical context, the mechanics of the carry trade, and its potential to trigger market crashes. It also discusses current economic indicators, suggesting a possible recession, and shares the narrator's personal investment strategies amidst uncertainty.

Takeaways

  • ๐Ÿ˜Ž The concept of misdirection in magic is likened to macroeconomics, where small changes can have large, seemingly unrelated effects.
  • ๐ŸŒ A 0.25% interest rate increase by the Bank of Japan can have a significant impact on global markets, illustrating the interconnectedness of economies.
  • ๐Ÿ’ก The 'carry trade' is a financial strategy where investors borrow in a country with low-interest rates and invest in higher-yield assets elsewhere, which can lead to substantial profits or losses.
  • ๐Ÿ“‰ The Japanese stock market's drop of 12.4% was its worst single-day decline since 1987, and it affected global markets, including the US and the NASDAQ index.
  • ๐Ÿ›๏ธ Andrey J uses the analogy of a card castle to represent the foundations of the carry trade, including low-interest rates and a declining yen, and how changes can lead to instability.
  • ๐Ÿ“ˆ The carry trade has been a significant factor in global finance for decades, with various countries participating and experiencing both benefits and risks.
  • ๐Ÿ“Š The size of the carry trade is difficult to measure accurately, with estimates ranging from hundreds of billions to trillions of dollars, indicating its potential impact on the global economy.
  • ๐Ÿšซ The carry trade can lead to 'flash crashes' in the market when there are unexpected changes, such as an interest rate increase by a central bank.
  • ๐Ÿ’ผ Warren Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway, is holding a large amount of cash, which some interpret as a sign of economic caution or preparation for a downturn.
  • ๐Ÿ›‘ Indicators such as luxury item sales, unemployment rates, and small business struggles suggest potential economic slowdowns or a possible recession.
  • ๐Ÿ’ฐ Andrey J shares his personal investment strategy, which includes dollar-cost averaging into Bitcoin and the S&P 500, and reinvesting dividends to build wealth over time.

Q & A

  • What is the concept of misdirection in magic and how is it related to macroeconomics?

    -Misdirection in magic is a technique where a magician creates a small action to draw attention away from the real trick. In macroeconomics, this is akin to how a small change, like a slight interest rate increase, can have a significant impact on the global economy by drawing attention and causing reactions in financial markets.

  • What is the carry trade and how does it work?

    -The carry trade is a strategy where investors borrow money in a country with low-interest rates and invest it in another country or asset with a higher return. As long as the return on investment exceeds the borrowing cost and the borrowed currency is weakening, the strategy can be profitable.

  • Why did the Japanese stock market drop 12.4% in a single day?

    -The Japanese stock market experienced its worst single-day decline since 1987 due to the Bank of Japan's unexpected decision to raise interest rates for the first time in 17 years. This small increase scared investors and led to forced liquidations.

  • What is the significance of the VIX index in the financial markets?

    -The VIX index, or the 'fear index,' measures market volatility and investor fear. A high VIX indicates significant market stress and is often associated with market downturns, such as during the 2008 financial crisis and the pandemic.

  • How does the carry trade affect global financial markets?

    -The carry trade can inject significant liquidity into global markets when investors borrow cheaply to invest in higher-yielding assets. However, when conditions change, such as an increase in interest rates, it can lead to a rapid unwinding of these trades, causing market volatility and potential crashes.

  • What historical event is the carry trade's origin often linked to?

    -The carry trade's origin is often linked to Japan's economic collapse in 1989. In response, Japan slashed interest rates to nearly zero, creating an opportunity for speculators from other countries to borrow cheaply and invest in higher-yielding assets.

  • How did the carry trade influence the Australian dollar in the 1990s?

    -In the 1990s, Australia had a high-interest rate and a strong currency due to an influx of money from around the world. Investors would borrow in Japanese Yen and invest in Australian treasury bonds, profiting from the difference in interest rates.

  • What is the current estimate of the size of yen-denominated loans outstanding globally?

    -According to the Bank for International Settlements, the loans outstanding from one country to another denominated in yen are valued at 41 trillion yen, or a little over $400 billion.

  • Why is it difficult to determine the exact size of carry trades worldwide?

    -The exact size of carry trades is difficult to determine because foreign exchange borrowing is not included or counted on a bank's balance sheet. Instead, it's hidden within foreign exchange swaps, which are not recorded as debt.

  • What are some signs that suggest a potential recession?

    -Signs of a potential recession include wealthy individuals holding more cash, a decline in luxury item sales, rising unemployment, and small businesses struggling to get loans. Additionally, the market may predict a decrease in interest rates by the Federal Reserve, which is often a sign of a slowing economy.

Outlines

00:00

๐Ÿ”ฎ Economic Illusions and the Power of Misdirection

This paragraph introduces the video with an analogy of a magic trick involving a spoon, demonstrating the concept of misdirection. The presenter, Andrey J, compares this to macroeconomics, where small actions can have significant impacts elsewhere. The example given is how a 0.25% interest rate increase by the Bank of Japan affected global markets, leading to massive financial losses. The paragraph sets the stage for a discussion on the carry trade, its effects on the world economy, and the potential for such small changes to cause large-scale economic shifts.

05:01

๐ŸŒ The Global Impact of Japan's Monetary Policy

The second paragraph delves into the historical context of Japan's economic rise and fall, and how its policies inadvertently created opportunities for the carry trade. It explains that Japan's low-interest rates and deflation led to a situation where speculators from other countries borrowed Japanese yen to invest in higher-yield assets globally. The paragraph outlines how this practice has been used by various countries, including Australia and others, to profit from the difference in interest rates. It also touches on the 2008 financial crisis and the subsequent revival of the carry trade under Shinzo Abe's policies, highlighting the potential risks of this practice, such as market crashes when conditions change.

10:03

๐Ÿ“‰ The Unintended Consequences of Monetary Policy Shifts

This paragraph discusses the potential triggers for a carry trade collapse, using the example of the Bank of Japan's unexpected interest rate hike in 2022, which led to market corrections and investor liquidations. It draws a parallel to the European Central Bank's rate hike and its impact on the Vanguard International Market ETF. The paragraph emphasizes the uncertainty surrounding the size of carry trades and their potential to cause significant market disruptions, as well as the difficulty in predicting the severity of a potential crash due to the lack of transparency in the size of these trades.

15:04

๐Ÿ’ผ Economic Indicators and Personal Financial Strategies

The final paragraph shifts focus to the current economic indicators and the presenter's personal financial strategies amidst uncertainty. It notes trends such as wealthy individuals holding more cash, a decline in luxury goods sales, rising unemployment, and the potential implications of these trends on the economy. The presenter shares his approach to investing, which includes dollar-cost averaging into Bitcoin and the S&P 500 ETF, as well as reinvesting dividends. He emphasizes the importance of saving and having an emergency fund, while also acknowledging the unpredictability of economic conditions and the potential for a recession. The paragraph concludes with an invitation for viewers to share their thoughts and strategies.

Mindmap

Keywords

๐Ÿ’กCarry Trade

The carry trade is an investment strategy where an investor borrows money at a low interest rate in one currency and invests it in another asset that is expected to generate a higher return. In the video, it is mentioned as a mechanism that allowed Japan to prop up the world economy by borrowing at near-zero interest rates and investing in higher-yield assets globally, which could lead to significant market reactions when conditions change.

๐Ÿ’กMacroeconomics

Macroeconomics is the study of the economy as a whole, including topics like inflation, unemployment, and economic growth. The video uses the concept of misdirection in magic to illustrate how small changes in macroeconomic policies, such as interest rate adjustments, can have large-scale impacts on the global economy, as seen with the Bank of Japan's actions.

๐Ÿ’กInterest Rate

An interest rate is the percentage of an amount loaned that a lender charges for its use, typically expressed as an annual percentage. In the script, the increase of 0.25% in the interest rate by the Bank of Japan is highlighted as a catalyst for significant global financial market reactions, demonstrating the sensitivity of financial markets to central bank policies.

๐Ÿ’กMisdirection

Misdirection, in the context of the video, refers to the concept in magic where the magician's actions are designed to draw the audience's attention away from the method of the trick. The video compares misdirection in magic to the way small changes in economic policies can be overlooked but have significant effects, such as the impact of the Bank of Japan's interest rate adjustments.

๐Ÿ’กDeflation

Deflation is an economic phenomenon where the general price level of goods and services in an economy falls over time. The video discusses how Japan experienced deflation, leading to the central bank setting interest rates to nearly zero to encourage spending, which inadvertently fueled the carry trade by making Japanese Yen an attractive currency to borrow.

๐Ÿ’กFlash Crash

A flash crash refers to a sudden, dramatic decline in the prices of assets, typically within a short period. The video mentions a flash crash in the context of the carry trade, where an unexpected rise in interest rates by the Bank of Japan led to a rapid sell-off in financial markets, illustrating the volatility that can be triggered by shifts in monetary policy.

๐Ÿ’กYen

The yen is the official currency of Japan. In the video, the yen is highlighted as the currency that was borrowed in large amounts due to Japan's low-interest rates, which facilitated the carry trade. The script also discusses how changes in the value of the yen and Japanese monetary policy have had significant global financial implications.

๐Ÿ’กUnwinding

In financial terms, unwinding refers to the process of closing or reversing a position in an investment or trade. The video discusses the potential for large-scale unwinding of carry trade positions if interest rates were to rise, which could lead to significant market corrections and financial instability.

๐Ÿ’กRecession

A recession is a period of negative economic growth that lasts for at least two consecutive quarters, indicating a decline in economic activity. The video raises the question of whether the current economic conditions might lead to a recession, citing factors such as rising unemployment and changes in consumer behavior as potential indicators.

๐Ÿ’กDollar-Cost Averaging

Dollar-cost averaging is an investment strategy where an investor consistently buys a fixed dollar amount of a particular investment, regardless of its price. In the video, the creator discusses using dollar-cost averaging in the stock market and Bitcoin, as a way to mitigate risk and invest systematically over time.

๐Ÿ’กPortfolio

A portfolio refers to a collection of financial assets such as stocks, bonds, and cash equivalents held by an investor. The video creator shares insights into their personal investment portfolio, discussing strategies like reinvesting dividends and dollar-cost averaging as methods to grow and manage their investments.

Highlights

The concept of misdirection in magic is analogous to macroeconomics, where small actions in one area can cause significant reactions elsewhere.

A 0.25% increase in the Bank of Japan's interest rate had a global impact, causing billions of dollars to be lost.

The carry trade mechanism involves borrowing from countries with low interest rates and investing in higher-yield assets.

The Japanese stock market dropped 12.4%, the worst single-day decline since 1987, affecting global markets.

Markets reacted with fear to the potential end of the carry trade, with the VIX index reaching levels seen only during the 2008 financial crisis and the pandemic.

The carry trade has been a significant factor in global finance for decades, influenced by Japan's economic policies.

The collapse of Japan's economy in the late 1980s set the stage for the carry trade, as Japan introduced near-zero and negative interest rates.

Countries borrowed cheap Japanese Yen to invest in high-yield assets, creating a global financial dependency on Japan's low-interest rates.

An unexpected interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan can trigger market crashes and force investors to liquidate positions.

The size of the carry trade is difficult to measure, with estimates ranging from hundreds of billions to trillions of dollars.

The potential for a recession is increasing, with indicators such as high cash reserves among the wealthy and a decline in luxury goods sales.

Unemployment rates are rising, which historically has been a sign of an economy slowing down and potentially entering a recession.

Market predictions suggest a high likelihood of the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates, signaling a possible economic slowdown.

The speaker is personally building a cash position and investing through dollar-cost averaging, despite market uncertainties.

Diversification and consistent investing, even without perfect timing or stock-picking skills, can lead to significant wealth accumulation over time.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of saving and having an emergency fund, as well as the benefits of reinvesting dividends.

Investors should be cautious of relying on market timing and instead focus on consistent investment strategies.

Transcripts

play00:00

so I want to show you how one country's

play00:02

currency was able to prop up the entire

play00:04

world using just a spoon sounds weird

play00:07

but if I place the spoon on my hand like

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this and I start to slowly rub it it's

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going to start to look like the spoon is

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bending watch you see that tail end of

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it Rising just by rubbing it the metal

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is bending just like that with the power

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of my mind it's fully bent okay not

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really that was just a magic trick but

play00:31

within magic there's this really

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interesting concept called misdirection

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and the way misdirection works is not

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that different from macroeconomics

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because by creating One Small hidden

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action in one place I can cause a much

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bigger reaction in another by lowering

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my fingers on one end of my hand I can

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create the illusion of the metal bending

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on the other but where you look is where

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all the action happens and that's

play01:00

exactly how a tiny increase of just

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0.25% of another country's Central

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bank's interest rate the bank of Japan

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could cause the world to lose hundreds

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of billions of dollars imagine one small

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country one currency did all that how

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and this is where it gets really

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interesting because the mechanism that

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caused this to happen is something

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called the carry trade imagine borrowing

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a million million dollar at 0% interest

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which right now you can't do because

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interest rates are just too high but

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it's possible to borrow from a country

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where interest rates are close to zero

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like Japan and then using that loan to

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invest in anything stocks real estate

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treasury bonds gold Bitcoin doesn't

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matter as long as the return on

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investment is higher than the interest

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rate of your loan and the currency that

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you borrowed is on the decline then this

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could work until it doesn't that's why

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the Japanese stock market dropped

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12.4% and that was the worst single day

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decline since the Black Monday of 1987

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and the US the stock market lost 3% and

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the tech heavy NASDAQ index fell

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3.4% even the vix which is what people

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like to use to measure people's fear

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went up to 65 and that's a level seen

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only two other times before the 2008

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financial crisis and the pandemic so the

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markets got really scared and they sold

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off and of course right now they've

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recovered but I still have a lot of

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questions like was that the end of it

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did we fully unwind or is there more

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left to go how big are these trades how

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did Japan cause US Stocks to fall and

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are we in a recession already there's a

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lot of questions I don't know the

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answers to but I want to try to

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understand so with that said let's get

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into it hi my name is Andrey J hope

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you're doing well well come for the

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finance and stay for macroeconomic magic

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let me just show you a visual analogy of

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what I think is happening all around the

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world as I'm building this little card

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Castle I just want you to imagine that

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each and every one of these pillars

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represents what allowed the Japanese

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carry trade to sort of exist like for

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example Japan's low interest rate and

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the declining yen in the 1990s combined

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to make this little Foundation that

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everything was built on top of because

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on top of that we built some interesting

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things like we added some investor

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confidence and then we added some Global

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Financial liquidity so as you'll see

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there we go and on top of that we added

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another

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Foundation which represented all the

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countries in the world that wanted to

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get yields from their cheap

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loans so it looks like that creates a

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beautiful little pyramid but here's

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where it gets interesting because as

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things start to change like for example

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interest rates are no longer zero or

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negative we get this very interesting

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effect to happen then we start to remove

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other things like investor confidence

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for example kind of interesting and then

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of course we remove other things like

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Global

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liquidity and we get something that

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makes no sense at all and that's a

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visual analogy of the stock market as it

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is today the only thing that's holding

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up this sculpture is the invisible force

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of Central Banking now in Magic I like

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to call this fake it until you make it

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but in economics it's called fake it

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until you break it and break it we did

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because on August

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5th we broke it because that's when

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Japan introduced the force of gravity my

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first question is would you please

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subscribe cuz that took me way too long

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to do and the second question is how did

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we get to a point in time where one

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country raising its interest by a tiny

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amount could affect someone on the other

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side of the world to wake up and say

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what just happened to my stons so let me

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give you a big picture historical

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context of how we actually got here but

play05:12

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play06:39

this segment of the video and now let's

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get back to it it turns out what made

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all of this possible was Japan trying to

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save itself by the height of the 1980s

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Japan became one of the most powerful

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countries in the world Japan's stock

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market alone was estimated to be worth

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four times more than the entire value of

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us real estate and times were so good

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and Japan made so much money it started

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buying huge portions of the United

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States people in the US thought Japan

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would become the world's dominant

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superpower but then it all reached a

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peak in 1989 and Japan

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collapsed now that's a completely

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separate video not related to the carry

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trade but it was Japan's rise and fall

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that created the opportunity for the

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carry trade because Japan started to

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experience deflation and prices started

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to fall so to save itself Japan slashed

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its interest rate to nearly zero and

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then eventually to negative to encourage

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people to go out borrow money and spend

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it but the Japanese people just

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experienced the worst economic crash of

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their lifetime they didn't want to

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borrow money instead the borrowers

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became speculators from other countries

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and that's what created the carry trade

play07:56

that turned Japan into the biggest

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creditor Nation in the world where

play08:00

countries go to borrow cheap money let

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me just show you some examples of how

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Japan has propped up the entire world

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for decades now because countries with a

play08:10

high interest rate have also done this

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throughout history like Australia for

play08:14

example in the 1990s Australia like the

play08:18

us today had money pouring into itself

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from all over the world which made the

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Australian dollar extremely strong and

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Australia had a high interest rate so

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what countries would do is they would

play08:30

borrow Japanese Yen they would park that

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money into Australian treasury bonds

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collect the high interest rate pay off

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the loan and they would pocket the

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difference that was the infinite money

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glitch it was a way to virtually

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risk-free make a return on their money

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and this has been happening all around

play08:50

the world for decades with other

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countries and their currencies including

play08:55

the Mexican peso which spoiler alert

play08:57

didn't have a good ending the Turkish

play08:59

lead ER the Hungarian forign the South

play09:01

African rand the Indonesian rupia and

play09:04

the Russian rubble and then 2008

play09:07

happened and the carry trade was

play09:10

reset at least until 2013 and the Cary

play09:14

Trade was revived under Shinzo ab's

play09:16

policies which kept Japanese interest

play09:18

rates low and then eventually negative

play09:20

in 2016 while the United States and the

play09:23

rest of the world started to increase

play09:26

their interest rates and that once again

play09:29

creat created this opportunity for the

play09:31

carry trade and once again the cycle

play09:33

started to repeat money could once again

play09:35

be cheaply borrowed and invested into

play09:38

high yield assets like the US Stock

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Market and treasury bond market for a

play09:42

guaranteed return so it works when

play09:44

things are working but when things go

play09:46

bad it can lead to a flash crash and

play09:48

that's how you can get someone to wake

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up one week halfway on the other side of

play09:52

the world and wonder why their portfolio

play09:55

is crashing all right so if the carry

play09:56

trade has been around since the 1990s

play09:58

the next question question I had is

play10:00

could something trigger it to happen

play10:02

again and how bad would it be it turns

play10:05

out yes it can and here's how all that

play10:08

happened was the bank of Japan

play10:10

unexpectedly raised interest rates for

play10:12

the first time in 17 years and just a

play10:14

small increase of 0.25% of the key

play10:17

interest rate was enough to scare

play10:19

investors and force their liquidations

play10:21

when interest rates go from negative to

play10:23

positive really bad things could happen

play10:26

to the market in fact the same thing

play10:27

happened to Europe in July July of 2022

play10:30

that's when the European Central Bank

play10:32

the ECB started to raise rates for the

play10:35

first time in 11 years and watch what

play10:37

happens to the Vanguard international

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Market ETF ticker symbol vxus right

play10:43

around that same time frame the market

play10:45

corrected 15% between the end of July to

play10:49

Mid October and some of that can be

play10:51

attributed to the unwinding of their

play10:53

carry trade thanks to Europe ending its

play10:55

negative interest rate policy so yes all

play10:58

of this can happen happen at any time if

play11:01

Japan decides to raise their interest

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rate now unfortunately because I'm not a

play11:05

smart Economist I couldn't figure out

play11:08

how bad a crash could get but the truth

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is no one really knows because we don't

play11:13

know the size of these carry trades

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around the world but what we do know is

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they are really really big in fact

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according to bis the bank of

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international settlements which is sort

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of like a group of banks that report on

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information they say that the loans out

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standing from one country to another

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denominated in yen is valued at 41

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trillion yen or a little over A4

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trillion but economists also say that's

play11:44

not an accurate measure of how big carry

play11:48

trades actually are and that's because

play11:51

foreign exchange borrowing is not

play11:54

actually included or counted on A bank's

play11:57

balance sheet instead it's hidden within

play12:00

what's called foreign exchange swaps and

play12:04

the swap Market including the Yen totals

play12:08

wait for it

play12:10

14.2 trillion us that money is not

play12:14

counted as debt it goes completely

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unrecorded because there is no spoon

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that's why no one can agree how big this

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thing really is it could be in the

play12:24

hundreds of billions or in the trillions

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of dollars analysts at UBS for example

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say that it's 500 billion so half of it

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just got Unwound but JB Morgan says it's

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$4 trillion so we're nowhere near it

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being over but no one knows all we

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really know is that we got really lucky

play12:43

this time around because Japan

play12:45

backtracked and was like we're not going

play12:46

to raise interest rates anymore just

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kidding but no one really knows the full

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size of the mother of all carry trades

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and how bad this could really get so all

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of this sort of leads me to ask the

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ultimate questions are we in a recession

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session or are we going to be in one

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soon and of course the answer is no one

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knows for sure so I looked at a bunch of

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different things and here are some of

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the trends that I've noticed I might put

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you to sleep for the next minute or two

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but I promise I'm going to tie it all

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together and show you what I think and

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how I'm investing through all of this

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but the first thing that I noticed is

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that rich people are holding a lot of

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cash right now take Warren Buffett for

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example his company Berkshire Hathaway's

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cash position relative to total assets

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spiked to 25% in Q2 2024 the highest

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level in 24 years he sold off so many

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stocks that is Cash has now doubled in

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Just 2 years and it's not just investors

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raising cash I've also noticed that

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luxury items are not selling as much and

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the prices have significantly dropped

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especially luxury cars which I know is

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anecdotal and it's only a small part of

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the economy but hear me out if you've

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ever looked at auction sites like cars

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and bids or bring a trailer luxury cars

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are not meeting their reserves and in

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general the used car market is

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significantly declined and cars are

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usually the first to go there's also

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Rising unemployment the latest jobs

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market report showed that unemployment

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is now at a three-year high and this is

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a classic sign that the economy could be

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slowing down it's happened a lot of

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times before we get a recession and a

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part of what leads to higher

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unemployment are small businesses and

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right now small businesses are going

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through a recession of their own because

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because it's really hard for them to get

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a loan from the banks right now and the

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harder it is for them to get a loan the

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less people they tend to hire and the

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more they tend to let go and that

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affects unemployment and that's exactly

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what we're seeing in this chart also

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economists say that it takes on average

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roughly 10 quarters after the first rate

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increase to put economies into a

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recession and right now we're on that

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10th quarter which means the likelihood

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of us being in a recession is

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statistically higher and that's why when

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you add everything up together everyone

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is sort of waiting to see what the most

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important Bank of all will do of course

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the Federal Reserve the central bank and

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no one knows what they're going to do

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until September but right now the market

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is predicting a 74% chance that they're

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going to lower interest rates by at

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least a qu% in September now this

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doesn't always happen but when the FED

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starts to Pivot and lower interest rates

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that usually means the sign of a slowing

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economy and a potential recession ahead

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that's not to say that we are in a

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recession or we're going to be in one

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but those are just some of the things

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I've noticed now if you made it this far

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into the video here's what I'm

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personally doing please understand this

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is not supposed to be Financial advice

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and I don't want anyone to confuse the

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view counts of my video or the

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subscriber count of my channel as me

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having any knowledge about how to

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actually invest I share these numbers

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with you because I think transparency is

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really cool that's what it got me me

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into saving and investing and so I try

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to return the favor and I hope that

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inspires you or it informs you but the

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way that I'm looking at everything is

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this year we're in an election year so

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all the numbers that I'm seeing reported

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by the government I tend to think the

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real numbers are probably not as good as

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what I'm seeing maybe I'm wrong but

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that's the way I look at it now when I

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ask people what they're doing with their

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finances they're saving are you

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investing are you just waiting to buy a

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lot of times I I hear people say I'm

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going to wait until interest rates come

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down until house prices car prices all

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come down and I can finance and buy when

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it's cheaper and that's fine but I think

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what most people forget is that when

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interest rates come down it's because

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the economy is slowing down and when

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asset prices come down it's not because

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interest rates are cheaper it's because

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people lose their incomes now I hope

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that doesn't end up happening but when

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it happens people lose their purchasing

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power that's why things go down that's

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also why I've been building a cash

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position just in case life throws a

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lemon in my face I think it's really

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important to save at least 3 to 6 months

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worth of an emergency fund just in case

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but when it comes to investing I'm also

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dollar cost averaging right now for

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example when the market flash crashed I

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was buying a little bit of Bitcoin

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unfortunately I missed it below 50,000

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but that's okay because I'm putting in

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about $100 a day into Bitcoin sometimes

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more sometimes less but that's about my

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pace when it comes to the stock market

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the S&P 500 I'm also dollar cost

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averaging at the exact same rate of $100

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a day and that's into an ETF ticker

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symbol vti which is basically the broad

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stock market that's made up of thousands

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and thousands of different stocks now

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I'm also reinvesting all my dividends

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and right now I'm buying a dividend ETF

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ticker symbol jeq or Jep Q to

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supercharge my dividends at the rate of

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$200 a day and my goal is to get to

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about $1 $1,000 in that position which I

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also realize all these numbers are

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completely unrelatable to most people so

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I don't want anyone to look at all this

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money that I'm investing in thinking wow

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Andre is really confident and knows what

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he's doing that is not the case and to

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prove to you that I'm no genius stock

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picker I will show you that so far my

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year-to-date returns are only 11%

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compared to vti's 177% so if you want to

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make more money than me just focus on

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the broader stock market and then of

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course I'm also reinvesting all of my

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dividend income back into my portfolio

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which right now is generating about

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$2,000 a month but I will say I wish I

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could just time travel back to my

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younger self and thank that kid for

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putting myself on this path today I wish

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I could show him my portfolio right now

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and say look you're still no genius but

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even though you made only 11% this year

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that's more than six figures it's more

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than what you're making now and it's

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more than what most people are making

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from their day job and here you are

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doing nothing and these stocks and all

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the people on Wall Street are making you

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wealthier every single year just because

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you had the foresight to know that

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someday you will be at this point in

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your life and all it took was just being

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consistent and not particularly smart

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which I think is pretty cool I'll leave

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a link down to the course below just

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kidding I don't have any courses but

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someday in the future if there's any

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interest I will definitely make one and

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if you'd like me to do a more detailed

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breakdown of my portfolio just let me

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know down in the comments below and I'll

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see what I can do but in the meantime

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I'd love to hear your thoughts about

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where you think the world is going and

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what you're doing about it I hope you

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have a wonderful rest of your day smash

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the like button subscribe if you haven't

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already don't forget to grab your free

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stocks links are down below go track

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them automatically with a spreadsheet

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link Down Below in my patreon I'd love

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to see you back here next week I'll see

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you soon bye-bye

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Economic AnalysisGlobal MarketsJapan's Interest RatesCarry TradeMagic AnalogyMarket CrashInvestment StrategyRecession IndicatorsFinancial EducationPortfolio ManagementMacroeconomics