What we’re reading (6/14)
“Crypto Is Crashing. It Deserves To.” (New York Magazine). “[S]omething feels different now: The fear is pervasive, the uncertainty is obvious, and the doubt is smart. And while there are plenty of threats from outsiders — like regulators threatening to rein in fraud, and countries like China shutting down the markets — the problems driving the recent declines appear to be largely self-inflicted. A lot of big players (Celsius and Saylor being just two, in addition to the recently imploded Luna project) seem to have put themselves in a dangerous position and made commitments they may not be able to keep.”
“Coinbase To Lay Off 18% Of Staff Amid Crypto Meltdown” (Wall Street Journal). “Further waves of reckoning swept through the cryptocurrency industry Tuesday, with exchange company Coinbase Global Inc. saying it would cut almost a fifth of its staff and crypto lender Celsius Network LLC hiring a law firm to examine restructuring options.”
“3 Signs The Labor Market Isn’t As Great As It Looks” (CNN Business). “While missing workers are a concern, there is another equally disturbing trend: the impact inflation has had on wages. Workers continued to see fatter paychecks, but rising prices mean they don’t go as far. For example, on a year-over-year basis, accounting for inflation, wage gains in real terms have been stuck in negative territory through April. With inflation still around its 40-year high, we expect the same in May.”
“Wall Street Is On A One Way Trip To Misery Until Fed Hikes Stop, Market Forecaster Jim Bianco Warns” (CNBC). “‘The Fed only has one tool to bring in inflation and that is they have to slow demand,’ the Bianco Research president told CNBC ‘Fast Money’ on Tuesday. ‘We may not like what’s happening, but over in the Eccles building in Washington, I don’t think they’re too upset with what they’ve seen in the stock market for the last few weeks.’”
“Market Rout Evokes Memories Of Trading Before Lehman Blowup” (Bloomberg). “‘Liquidity in the market is worse than it was leading up to Lehman,’ said Hoffmann, who worked at the firm that imploded back then, triggering the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. It’s the kind of problem that can exacerbate losses in a big way. ‘That creates even more risk, because if the market doesn’t have liquidity, it can gap down very quickly.’”
