Halt and Catch Fire

‘Halt and Catch Fire’ is “an early machine command that sent the machine into a race condition, forcing all conditions to compete for superiority at once,” [Wiggin Sessions] April 30, 2022 Halt and Catch Fire ‘Halt and Catch Fire’ is “an early machine command that sent the machine into a race condition, forcing all conditions to compete for superiority at once,” – according to Wikipedia. [Addison Wiggin]Dear Reader, You may notice we had some technical issues this week. But that’s normal if you’re working at a start-up. There’s a great phrase, “Halt and Catch Fire” which means, basically, you know sh&t’s going to hit the fan, so you stop, accept it and move the [another expletive we’d prefer not to write] on. As Mark Ford says: [Fail hard and fail fast](. And, as it turns out, our Wiggin Session with Jimmy Soni became one of our most popular videos this week. Mostly, we suspect, because it’s about Elon Musk. Plus, the “radically candid” culture that created our digital economy. As Musk has proven this week, [he can't even take a breath]( without some journalist describing it in all its excitable glory… oh, wait, did he just breathe again? What a genius! Or maybe he’s just lonely, as Business Insider is claiming. [One Of These Frauds Is Not Like The Other]( “Fuck, you’re making me rummage around the attic,” said Elon Musk. Those words open Jimmy’s book about PayPal, the entrepreneurs who founded it, and our current age of digital commerce were founded. There’s not even a page number yet, because it’s the introduction. Weird timing, right? We all just learned that Twitter accepted Musk’s offer to buy the whole enchilada for $44 billion was accepted. There’s either something woefully wrong with the banking system… or, that’s a shit-ton of money for one company. “I can finance it,” Musk told a group of listeners at a TED conference before the deal was concluded. [What’s The Problem With Free Speech, Anyway?]( When the Constitution was ratified, they had to ride horses with paper in their pouches, storm into the signing hall and wield their feather quills for those juicy John Hancock’s to swoop onto the page. I think of it kind of like a glorified frat house… that is to say, those Ol’ Boys are outdated and punctiliously patriarchal. That being said, they did what they did and signed what they signed – The Constitution of the United States of America! – in hopes of defining a future to look forward to. Steady ground to build high monuments and the City Upon A Hill. The beauty of the document… the Constitution itself… allows us to disagree. Do we want freedom to do and say as we please, or don’t we? Elon Musk’s acquisition…. $44B dollars on a tech company, Twitter. [Why did he buy them out?]( For “free speech!” [While Rome Burns… Stream Netflix!]( Tech stocks have been getting hammered for four weeks straight. I’m fairly confident Reynolds is known for his comedic roles, not for his value investing approach to the stock market. Good one, Ryan… We had a lengthy discussion this morning with our friend Sean Ring from the Rude Awakening. U.S. GDP looks like a train wreck. It’s down almost 8% annualized in the first quarter of 2022 from what we saw in the fourth quarter of 2021. The numbers are always confusing and can be twisted like the legs of a Yoga instructor… but even then they don’t always make you feel better. One shiny bright light behind all the data? Government spending as a % of GDP is down almost 39%, again annualized… meaning the economy is actually returning to numbers that reflect reality, not just inflated b.s. trying to approximate what life would have been like if the government hadn’t shut the economy down during the pandemic in the first place. Perhaps, [we need the adults to come back in the room]( as Byron King suggested a few weeks ago… [Click here to learn more]( Catch our full interview with [Jimmy Soni, right here](. By his own admission it took him 5 years to write The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley. [The book]( came out at a fortuitous time. What makes Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and the other billionaires behind PayPal different from private citizens like you and me. We invite you to click on the interview above and hear what Jimmy Soni learned from the interviews he conducted for The Founders. Follow your bliss, [Addison Wiggin] Addison Wiggin Founder, The Wiggin Sessions P.S. For kicks, here’s a photo from my son in New York City: [Click here to learn more] Henry’s comment: “It’s kitschy, but commodifying your dissent in gold? Not too shabby.” Next week, we’ll be discussing more adult ways to commodify your dissent in gold with our friend [Matt Piepenberg from Matterhorn Asset Management]( [link to Matt’s bio on Matterhorn Asset website]. Gold week! We hope you’ll join us. The Easiest Way to Add Fine Art to Your Portfolio You can purchase shares in great masterpieces from artists like Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Andy Warhol and more, when you join an exclusive community of art investors with Masterworks. Click [here]( for details. Ed. note: Got something to say? Send your feedback to The Wiggin Sessions, [here.](mailto:WigginSessions@5minforecast.com) Follow the Wiggin Sessions on Social Media! [Facebook Group]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [YouTube]( [LinkedIn]( [The Financial Reserve]The Wiggin Sessions is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We do not rent or share your email address. 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