A Partial Eclipse of Trust

“You can't trust water: Even a straight stick turns crooked in it.” ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ March 18, 2024  |  [Sign Up]( A Partial Eclipse of Trust “You can't trust water: Even a straight stick turns crooked in it.” – W. C. Fields [Special Reminder: In case you missed [our announcement]( The Essential Investor has merged with legacy contributors to Agora Financial. The new, larger, more inclusive project is called The Grey Swan Investment Fraternity. If you’re interested in the scope and benefits of our new endeavor, please see what prompted us to merge [here](. If you’ve been a member of The Essential Investor, keep an eye out for your new benefits.] Dear [Reader], April 8, 2024 – Today was the first day the local news cycle didn’t include some arcane detail of the Francis Scott Key bridge collapse. Rather, the total eclipse of the sun dominated. The only reason the eclipse is creating such a fuss is because 181 million people live under, or within 200 miles of, the path of totality. The swath of the moon’s shadow will cover terra patrium from Texas to Maine. [map] World Map of Central Solar Eclipses: 2021 through 2030 Total eclipses – when the moon's orbit and its distance to the sun match perfectly – actually happen every 18 months or so. But the earth is big. Most times, total eclipses are only visible from one of the poles or the middle of the ocean. And then — well, Americans could really care less. Still, it’s fun, right? Don’t let us slow your roll if you happen to be one of the occupant’s of a sold-out hotel in Eagle Pass, Texas; Terre Haute, Indiana; Burlington, Vermont, or Lac-Megantic, Quebec. We’re just naturally skeptical of public events that involve millions of people… even those that give you a chance to convene organically with the cosmos. Truth is, the totality of the eclipse kicked off a Richard Lewis moment of insecurity for us this weekend. Lewis, if you’re not aware, was a Jewish comedian who for years made a living off his intense bouts with personal demons and public neuroses. He was good friends with Larry David and had a starring role as David’s sidekick on the HBO comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm. Six weeks ago, on February 28, 2024, Lewis “passed away peacefully at home” at the age of 76 after suffering a heart attack. The final episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm aired last night after 11 years on the air. Personally, we have never watched an episode, but, well… apologies to Lewis for what follows. Our anxiety began on Saturday when we got a refund from Amazon that we did not request for the solar eclipse glasses we purchased. The email said “keep the glasses”... then, our money reappeared on our credit-card balance sheet. “Why?” we began to wonder. It appears Amazon is concerned counterfeit glasses are being sold on its site and it doesn't want to be responsible when you go blind looking at the sun’s penumbra. From a news report on NBC, we learned from a representative of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) that the properly approved glasses needed to have its logo on it. Although, she admitted that the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) or American Astronomical Society (AAS) logos would also suffice. What does the BBB have to do with solar glasses? Good question. CONTINUED BELOW... >>ADVERTISEMENT<< 2024 – The Real Election Year Surprise In 2016, the October Election Surprise was Hillary Clinton’s email scandal… In 2020, the October Election Surprise was the suppression of all the dirty material on Hunter Biden’s “forgotten” laptop… Now, in 2024, we’re forecasting an October Election Surprise that almost no one sees coming — and this time it’ll be way more devastating than anything you’ve seen before. [Click here to learn about 2024’s real October Election Surprise »]( It’s not at all what you think. CONTINUED... The answer appears to be “not much.” But then we’re already skeptical of the BBB from our own business experience. Some years ago, we discovered we had a B-rating from the bureau. So we contacted the company to find out how to improve our rating. It turns out our business was operating fine — we just had to pay the membership fee to get its A rating. It seemed like extortion to us so we decided not to pay it. You’d think the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) would have something to say about the BBB’s thuggery. Along this line of thinking, we started to get suspicious of any organization that could be referred to by its initials. What happened to the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), for example? We already had our suspicions even before the pandemic. Or the World Health Organization (WHO) for that matter? The Department of Justice (DOJ), some say, has been weaponized for political purposes. Was the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) doing legit work during the Russian election interference crisis? Didn’t the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) prove Saddam Hussein was secretly building Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMA) sending us into a decades-long war on terror? Where was the United Nations (UN) when all that was going down? The mind begins to reel. But, at least, we can rely on the markets for some sanity. Oh wait… The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) published jobs numbers that exceeded expectations on Friday, encouraging the Dow, S&P and NASDAQ to closer to all-new highs… even though the preponderance of jobs were either seasonal or part-time! When the BLS publishes… traders listen. Can we trust the market when it’s clearly held aloft by just seven magnificent stocks — Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT) , Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Nvidia , Meta Platforms (META ), and Tesla (TSLA). What ever happened to the FAANGs? What if you include Earnings Before Interest Dividends and Taxes (EBIDTA)? And what about Trump's media company? Truth Social (Ticker symbol: DJT – his initials) had a net loss of $58.2 million on $4.1 million of revenue. “How much is that company worth?” asks Bloomberg’s Matt Levine as if getting a pop quiz. “If you answer: ‘well Meta Platforms Inc. trades at like 9.3 times revenues so maybe $40 million?’ you will fail.” This morning DJT trades for $35 bucks a share and has a market cap of $5.8 billion. Huh? Even a hardened skeptic would do well to get some hip waders for this sh$t show of a rabbit hole. The dollar itself, the currency we all use to keep score and plan, is based on the “full faith and credit” of the government of the United States of America (USA)… in other words, trust. Yet, the dollar index (DXY) is up nearly 3% year-to-date (YTD) despite the gross national debt (GND) blowing right past $34 trillion on December 29, 2023 — the last trading day before the New Year. Is it any wonder Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) are trying to develop a currency backed by gold to challenge the U.S. dollar (USD) world-reserve currency status? Price movements in dollar alternatives — Gold and Bitcoin — are corrupted by the Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), and are a scattered field of acronyms. The three top gold ETFs — SPDR Gold Share (GLD), SPDR Gold MiniShare (GLDM), iShares Gold Trust (IAU) — control the institutional market in gold. Even the new crypto ETFs –  Shares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB), Bitwise Bitcoin ETF Trust – make up nearly 90% of institutional interest in Bitcoin (BTC), which itself has a market cap of $1.4 trillion. Mmnph… Darn acronyms. It takes a lot of work to trust ‘em. So it goes, Addison Wiggin, The Wiggin Sessions P.S. A few minutes ago, we took a deep breath and went outside to stare at the sun with our questionably-certified glasses. At 3:21 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST) in Baltimore, the moon achieved partial totality (89%). The leftover sliver of sunlight was partially obstructed by clouds. P.P.S. “Interesting article,” writes regular correspondent Richard S. commenting on Kennedy Ignored which we published Friday. “These are all good arguments why RFK. Jr, won't be elected or accomplish what he wishes to do. “We haven't had a  president  since Jimmy Carter,who gave a shit about the American People. (just my opinion) So what if Kennedy falls on his face trying to get the American people back on their feet? At least, it would be an honest effort for a change. The other idiots Biden and Trump don't care about the American People, so really what do we have to lose?” As we remember writing during the 2015 primaries, the worst thing Donald Trump did to this country is to get us collectively involved in politics… and make “fake news” on CNN a household topic. Perhaps that’s the moment, too, when our mistrust of acronyms began to fester. (Pre-order[Empire of Debt: We Came, We Saw, We Borrowed]( now available at[Amazon]( and[Barnes & Noble]( or if you prefer one of these sites:[Bookshop.org]( or [Target]( Please send your comments, reactions, opprobrium and vitriol to: addison@greyswanfraternity.com The Daily Missive from The Wiggin Sessions is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We do not rent or share your email address. By submitting your email address, you consent to The Wiggn Sessions delivering daily email issues and advertisements. To end your The Daily Missive from The Wiggin Sessions e-mail subscription and associated external offers sent from The Daily Missive from The Wiggin Sessions, feel free to [click here.]( Please read our [Privacy Statement.]( For any further comments or concerns please email us at feedback@wigginsessions.com. If you are having trouble receiving your The Wiggin Sessions subscription, you can ensure its arrival in your mailbox by [whitelisting The Wiggin Sessions.]( © 2023 The Wiggin Sessions 1001 Cathedral Street, Baltimore MD 21201. Although our employees may answer your general customer service questions, they are not licensed under securities laws to address your particular investment situation. No communication by our employees to you should be deemed as personalized financial advice. We expressly forbid our writers from having a financial interest in any security they personally recommend to our readers. All of our employees and agents must wait 24 hours after online publication or 72 hours after the mailing of a printed-only publication prior to following an initial recommendation. Any investments recommended in this letter should be made only after consulting with your investment advisor and only after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company. Sent to: {EMAIL} [Unsubscribe]( Paradigm Press, LLC., 1001 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, United States