Postcards: All Hail "King Will Smith," First of His Name, Protector of the Ross Ice Shelf (And The Week Ahead)

It's Daylight Savings Time this weekend. Be sure to scream in the face of a cow. A breakdown on what's ahead in the financial markets for the coming week. And results from "Innovation 2024, Day One." ͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­ Forwarded this email? [Subscribe here]() for more You are a free subscriber to Postcards from the Florida Republic. To upgrade to paid and receive the daily Republic Risk Letter, [subscribe here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Postcards: All Hail "King Will Smith," First of His Name, Protector of the Ross Ice Shelf (And The Week Ahead)]( It's Daylight Savings Time this weekend. Be sure to scream in the face of a cow. A breakdown on what's ahead in the financial markets for the coming week. And results from "Innovation 2024, Day One." [Garrett {NAME}]( Mar 9   [READ IN APP](   --------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Fellow Expat: I’ve decided to see how far I can get this rumor to travel. My daughter has been watching The Kratt Brothers on PBS. It’s a smart show about two brothers traveling the world to showcase animals. Then, there’s a cartoon where they use the powers of that animal to solve a problem. Last night’s episode centered on Owls. Amelia was upset because she hadn’t seen any owls in Southwest Florida. They’re here, but they’re not flying around during the day. I told her we’d look into it or travel to see them next time we go to Chicago or Baltimore. “Well, owls live everywhere except for Antarctica,” she said. “Would you like to go live in Antarctica? We can live on a block of ice,” I said. “No one lives in Antartica. Penguins do. But scientists… scientists only work there. Do you know what else is there?” she asked. She was going to tell me that seals live there… but I cut her off. This was where I took the time to start the long gag. I said of all the people who could live in Antarctica: “Will Smith lives there. He’s the King of Antarctica.” My wife laughed and tried to make me stop… but that’s not how this works. You see, before last year’s Oscar debacle, where Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage, he went to Antarctica to the South Pole. He should have stayed there and established a monarchy instead of ruining his career at the Academy Awards (the dumbest form of pageantry on the planet). “Will Smith was the Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” I told Amelia. “Now he’s the King of Antarctica. His full title is ‘Will Smith, King of Antarctica, First of His Name, and Protector of the Ross Ice Shelf.’ You’re going to need to know all of these titles. They might be on a first-grade test or geography bee next year…” She didn’t know whether to believe me, but she had a little journalistic curiosity in her. The inquisition began. “Who’s Prince now?” she asked, lifting her hands. “Jayden,” I said quickly. (Smith’s son). “Princess?” she rebutted. “Willow.” I rushed. (Smith’s daughter). “Queen…” There was a pause. “I don’t want to tell you,” I said. (It’s [Jada Pinkett Smith]( “Why?” she asked. I huffed: “I don’t want to get [slapped at the Oscars this weekend]( She smiled. “You’re crazy, daddy.” Then she walked away. I’ll remind her again today. We owe it to Will Smith to visit on a diplomatic mission one day - just to see how he’s doing... Okay… enough of this insanity. Let’s get to the week ahead for the markets. [Upgrade to paid]( The Week Ahead It’s Daylights Savings Time this weekend. My wife and I were married on the Spring Forward evening, and I don’t think anyone ever forgave us. Imagine seeing your friends hungover and shoveling eggs into their faces one hour before their bodies adjusted. Some didn’t even know they’d lost an hour of sleep. Here, I set all the house clocks forward an hour to trick my daughter so that she goes to bed an hour earlier. I’m going to bed at 8 pm. This is such a terrible government plan. In the future, they should schedule the State of the Union for the hour that disappears each year. That would save us all the time and aggravation. Story of the Week Quad Witching arrives on Friday, and there will be ample focus on NVIDIA (NVDA) after shares plunged by 10% during intraday trading on Friday. The stock shed $100 from peak to trough, representing about a $250 billion loss. What comes next? Keep your eye on the stock’s 20-day moving average… which is still 13% lower than today’s prices. Talk about a frenzy. Monday, March 11, 2024 Event: Silicon Valley Bank’s One Year “Demise” Anniversary. Republic Speak: It’s been a year since Silicon Valley Bank imploded… and one year and three days since our Equity Strength Signal went negative and told us to get out of the way before this banking crisis happened. Recall that there wasn’t a mention of any banking crisis in the news (Check Google News) regarding a banking crisis. Nine days after the signal turned negative, it was the only story on television. This week, former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is trying to save New York Community Bank. Just in case you need a reminder of that guy’s terrible run at the Treasury Department, here is him and his wife posing with a bunch of money… There’s something awful about this picture that I can’t quite describe. The leather gloves also offer the persona an extra layer of cartoonish villainy. [One Twitter commenter wrote]( “Beautiful photo of Louise Linton with the love of her life and also Steven Mnuchin.” Tuesday, March 12, 2024 Event: Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) earnings. Consumer Price Index. Republic Speak: I heavily considered ADM for our Model Portfolio starting in March. But I balked because I’m still waiting on the conclusion of its financial investigation. This stock fell 25% a few months ago, despite an impact of 8% on its earnings, at best - but most likely in the 2% to 3% range. This stock will be quite volatile after earnings. It’s an excellent company, and call volume ahead of earnings is bullish. This is a tough week for the markets. You have the backside reaction of the jobs report on Monday and then a big CPI report on Tuesday. If Core CPI didn’t come down in February, the hope of a rate cut by June evaporates. Plus, we’re already in very frothy territory of Extreme Greed. We’ve seen about $84 billion flow into equity funds over the last six weeks. There has to be a cool-off period at some point. Bank of America Wednesday, March 13, 2024 Event: A Full U.S. House of Representatives vote on forcing ByteDance to divest TikTok. If they don’t divest, America could ban TikTok. Republic Speak: Social media lost to the Sewing Machine [in the innovation tournament for 2024]( for a reason. And of all the terrible social media outlets, TikTok takes the crown. This thing exploits the human attention span, easily influences the hallways of the human mind, and is full of useless yammerings that offer little value to society. And yet, you had people calling Congress, threatening suicide if the app is banned. That alone should be a signal of something very wrong with this app. Thursday, March 14, 2024 Event: Blink Charging (BLNK) earnings Republic Speak: How is the Dirigisme and Decarbonization going? We should look to a stock like Blink, which relies almost entirely on government grants and taxpayer money. The stock is flat this year… but down 61% in a year - despite billions and billions of dollars subsidizing these businesses. It’s insane that this continues. Friday, March 15, 2024 Event: Quad Witching (the simultaneous expiration of four different sets of futures and options on the same day. This happens once a quarter. Consumer Sentiment traditionally comes out on the same Friday when Quad Witching happens. Republic Speak: The December Quad Witching event only contributed to the year-end rally that has taken us into this overbought and greedy territory. It’s hard to project what will come, but this could involve the formation of a reset heading into the Fed meeting the following week. It’s been a few days since the most insane State of the Union Address ever… and now we’re waiting to hear how worried American consumers are about the price of “CHIPS!” and Snickers bars. Why the administration is drawing attention to the inflation and reduction in product packaging during his presidency is insane. But so, too, were the arguments for price controls during the speech. Toddlers run us. Innovation Tournament Results As always, we aren’t posting the entire article in emails - they are long and chaotic. [You can access the first-round results right here.]( As we advance, we will add our insights. Just read Postcards, and check back to the site for updates. [Upgrade to paid]( Remember… this is a rigged tournament. Stay positive, Garrett {NAME} Secretary of Defense Disclaimer Nothing in this email should be considered personalized financial advice. While we may answer your general customer questions, we are not licensed under securities laws to guide your investment situation. Do not consider any communication between you and Florida Republic employees as financial advice. Under company rules, editors and writers cannot recommend their positions. The communication in this letter is for information and educational purposes unless otherwise strictly worded as a recommendation. Model portfolios are tracked to showcase a variety of academic, fundamental, and technical tools, and insight is provided to help readers gain knowledge and experience. Readers should not trade if they cannot handle a loss and should not trade more than they can afford to lose. There are large amounts of risk in the equity markets. Consider consulting with a professional before making decisions with your money.   [Like]( [Comment]( [Restack](   © 2024 Garrett {NAME} 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104 [Unsubscribe]() [Get the app]( writing]()