"How I Made $1 Million On Bitcoin… And Lost It All Again"

ntil 2016, I ran an advertising agency in London. At our peak, we were highly successful; I had a team of 35 people, a £3m turnover and a Covent Garden office. When the agency folded, I decided to invest in bitcoin.

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, a type of electronic cash that allows people to spend or trade via a peer-to-peer network without the involvement of banks or other intermediaries. It is a cheap, efficient way of transferring funds or holding value, which can be converted back into sterling at any time. I had used it before to buy treatment online for my mother after she was diagnosed with cancer. I had also dabbled with investing in it in 2013, and made and lost some money: bitcoin is prone to sudden fluctuations in value. But the market seemed to have moved on, and I decided it could be a good way to make some profit on my savings.

At first I deposited £5,000; at the time, January 2017, bitcoins were about $600, so I bought seven or eight and spent the rest on other cryptocurrencies. But over the next few weeks I became hooked and ploughed in a large chunk of money – £23,000 in all. I remember telling people, “I really think the value of bitcoin could rise to $2,000 this year.” I could never have predicted it would peak at 10 times that. By the middle of spring 2017, my investment had risen to about $300,000, and by the summer it was at half a million. Media interest in bitcoin was growing and friends kept asking how they could get into it, so I started a Facebook group, then a website and finally a podcast devoted to the subject. As excitement built, more and more people got involved, forming the conditions for a bubble; but many of us were too caught up in the hype to exercise caution.

At the end of 2017, bitcoin had reached almost $20,000 and my portfolio had ballooned to about $1.2m. That is when I got a little out of control. I have always been an entrepreneur, and since I was a kid I had dreamed of buying my local football club, Bedford Town, becoming chairman and getting them into the league. I thought the project might cost £5m, so that was the figure I decided to aim for. I estimated I could get there within six months.

By this time I was travelling the world doing interviews for my podcast, taking friends out to expensive restaurants and buying extravagant gifts for my family. I am not the kind of person who puts everything away for the future, and though I donated £6,000 to my local hospital, much of my spending was quite frivolous. It might have been more sensible to buy a couple of houses, but I became overambitious. This felt like my one shot at achieving that childhood dream.

At the end of January 2018 the bubble burst and bitcoin’s value suddenly fell. There had been a few drops during 2017 but it had bounced back, so I was not too worried. But over the rest of the year, I watched it sink lower and lower, along with the other cryptocurrencies I had invested in, all the time thinking, “Well, there’s no point selling now…” That was my attitude throughout last year, as bitcoin’s value continued to fall. Pretty much everything I had built up was wiped out.

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another HODL and never learning a lesson. Just shave him, take the hat off, and it's ten years ago with biotech stocks.

Don't be this guy.

zerohedge has this up as well

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/11/experience-i-lost-1m-on-bitcoin

>>4779553

almost looks like one of these

>>4779570

>>4779603

ha ah so funny…why did you even respond.

"Contacts Are Less Optimistic": Fed's Beige Book Confirms Economy Is Slowing

Ever since April, the otherwise drab and colorless Fed Beige Book, was notable for one specific trend: a rising frequency of the word "tariff" (and its variations) with every subsequent report, confirming that in addition to the usual concerns businesses voiced to the regional Fed such as labor and prices, one of the growing worries amid local companies was the impact of trade war on future business. And, as we noted back in November , with the Trump-Xi summit fast approaching, the Beige Book confirmed that with no less than 51 mentions of the word "tariff", most companies were on edge over future trade prospects.

March Beige Book instances of word "tariff": 0

April Beige Book instances of word "tariff": 36

May Beige Book instances of word "tariff": 22

July Beige Book instances of word "tariff": 31

September Beige Book instances of word "tariff": 41

October Beige Book instances of word "tariff": 51

However, last month when the December Beige Book was released there was one notable development: we saw the first decline in mentions of "tariffs" since May, with the word tariff used only 39 times, a steep drop from October's 51.

Fast forward to today when in the latest, just released January Beige Book we find that this trend has accelerated even more as there was just 20 mentions of "tariffs", a stop drop from both December's 39, and October's record 51.

And while superficially this may be taken as a good sign, another, perhaps more ominous trend has emerged.

But first, a quick glimpse at what else today's Beige Book revealed: a casual glance of the summary page revealed few surprises. Indeed, according to the Federeal Reserve, most regions reported growth at an overall modest to moderate pace even as the still-strong U.S. economy showed signs of slowing in recent weeks amid declining optimism.

“Outlooks generally remained positive, but many districts reported that contacts had become less optimistic in response to increased financial market volatility, rising short-term interest rates, falling energy prices, and elevated trade and political uncertainty,” the report said in its summary of overall economic activity.

Additionally, and confirming the Fed's recent dovish reversal, the Beige Book which is based on anecdotal information collected by the 12 regional Fed banks from late-November through Jan. 7, showed manufacturing and energy expanded at a slower pace in most districts, while non-financial services cooled in a few districts.

As Bloomberg notes, today's report comes amid tension between the mostly positive outlook for the US among central bankers and many economists, and more pessimistic views expressed in recent weeks by investors. U.S. stocks had their worst December since the Great Depression, a view which is increasingly accepted by the Fed where even the biggest Hawk, Esther George recently admitted that it may be time to halt rate hikes for now.

In a potentially troubling development for markets - and those keeping tabs on wage inflation - the Fed pointed to continued strong jobs gains and robust consumer spending, suggesting more wage inflation may be imminent even as financial markets have been shaken by slowing global growth, a tightening of financial conditions caused by interest-rate hikes, trade disputes and the partial U.S. government shutdown.

The Beige Book offered something for both camps. “All districts noted that labor markets were tight and that firms were struggling to find workers at any skill level,” the report said adding that wages gained throughout the country and across skill levels, with most districts reporting moderate pay increases, the report said. A majority of districts reported “modest to moderate” increased in overall prices. At the same time, some districts reported that growth had slowed, while New York said “economic activity leveled off” and Kansas City reported activity as “flat.”

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"less optimistic". Kind of like the term 'right-sizing or down-climbing'.

Just say what you mean!

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-01-16/contacts-are-less-optimistic-feds-beige-book-confirms-economy-slowing

Lehman, WorldCom And Now PG&E: The "Failing Angels" Are Back

One week ago when we wrote that with PG&E facing a threat of an imminent bankruptcy (which we now know will soon be realized), the most bizarre development in this latest corporate fiasco was that until the first week of January, both S&P and Moody's had rated the California utility with over $30 billion in debt as investment grade even as its bonds and stocks were cratering ahead of what investors deemed to be an imminent Chapter 11 filing.

And while we have extensively discussed the multi-trillion threat posed by "falling angel" companies, or those corporations rated BBB - the lowest investment grade equivalent rating - as they slide into junk territory, the recent events surrounding PG&E highlight an even greater blind spot in the corporate bond arsenal: that of the failing angel.

As Bank of America's Hans Mikkelsen wrote in a recent research note, Investment Grade defaults – defined as defaults within one year of being rated IG – are "rare and unpredictable" (even if in the case of PG&E, its downfall was quite obvious to many) as globally in more than half of years historically there were no HG defaults at all.

As such, Monday's preannouncement by The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PCG) that it intends to file Chapter 11 by January 29th…

. is a singular event and if the company follows through, it will become the third largest IG default since 1999, behind Lehman and Worldcom, with $17.5bn of index eligible debt.

The chart below lists all US index defaults since 1999 that occurred within one year of being included in ICE BofAML benchmark US high grade index. The three largest defaults in terms of index notional were Lehman ($34.9bn), WorldCom ($22.9bn) and CIT Group ($12.4bn).

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PG&E has an insurance policy to protect itself. I wonder who holds it. Would be nervous about now if I was also the other side of all the CDS out there too. Someone has to make the holder's whole.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-01-16/lehman-worldcom-and-now-pge-failing-angels-are-back

>>4780171

>>4780282

still get show money if RBG is next

kek!