"Who in here owns bitcoin?" Eric Wade asked the audience in Las Vegas last month...
Eric is our resident cryptocurrency expert here at Stansberry Research. We were in Vegas for our annual Stansberry Conference. The speaker list was top-notch. And it was a great turnout...
Hundreds of people came. (If you were able to make it, thank you so much for joining us!) The attendance wasn't surprising, though.
The shocking part was that more than 70% of the audience raised their hands in response to Eric's question...
As Eric continued, folks were snapping photos of his slides left and right. And as he and others spoke about crypto, it was obvious that attendees were easily the most excited about this area of the market.
Now, Eric knows cryptos, and he has a great track record. But I know what investment mania looks like...
To me, as a contrarian, this is a huge red flag. And while I'm no crypto expert, this hugely positive sentiment could mean a top is near.
Let me explain...
The bullishness didn't stop at the conference.
"Man, I bought Shiba Inu months ago and it's going crazy. It just keeps going up," my cab driver said on the way to the airport.
Shiba Inu is one of the latest meme cryptocurrencies. Much like the crypto Dogecoin (DOGE), it started as a joke... then grew into a total market value of more than $40 billion at its peak in October.
I was too tired to worry about our safety... But the driver was focusing more on crypto than driving to the airport. His eyes kept meeting mine in the rearview mirror...
"I mean, I own a stablecoin that's also paying me 10% interest," he said. "And a U.S. dollar is actually put aside to back the digital token."
Forget tiptoeing into the crypto market. This guy was all-in. And he left me with one final thought as we grabbed our bags at the airport... "Buy Shiba Inu!"
I can't make this stuff up – and it didn't stop there. Cryptocurrency chatter found me on the flight, too.
A young guy sat next to me on the plane. He said he had always been interested in stocks but hadn't had much success. He loved the crypto market, though.
Folks, this kind of extreme optimism scares me. It spreads like wildfire... But when it's already running rampant throughout the investing world, that means tough times are likely ahead.
Again, I'm not a crypto expert. I have no "secret insight" into the crypto world. So I'm not predicting where crypto will go next. But I've seen this kind of optimism before. And when everybody is already in the trade, it tends to be a big, fat warning sign.
I saw it in housing in 2006. Everyone I knew was quitting their jobs to flip houses. The money was too easy to pass up.
I saw it in 1999, too. Back then, my friends were getting rich (on paper) from stock options at tech companies. Everyone was flocking to tech to get rich quick.
In both cases, things turned out terribly. But the allure of easy money is too much for people. It'll make them do crazy things.
Today, that craziness is happening in the crypto market. I personally look for the opposite – what everyone hates. Those places are where you can make the biggest investment gains.
I'll say it one last time... I'm no crypto expert. But I know investing. Loved investments carry the most risk. And crypto couldn't be more loved than it is today.
Good investing,
Steve
Further Reading
When you're buying a digital asset, it's important to remember that cryptocurrency markets are chaotic. And as crypto adoption picks up, we could see more volatility in the near term. That's why you need to position your portfolio accordingly... Check out Eric Wade's view on the future of cryptos right here.
It seems like folks are making easy money in cryptocurrencies today. And with everyone excited about cryptos, you might be nervous about where this market is headed. One chart has some answers... Learn more here.
Sentiment can be a big indicator of where a commodity's price is headed. And current sentiment means one asset could tank in the coming months...
HIGHS AND LOWS
NEW HIGHS OF NOTE LAST WEEK
Apple (AAPL)... iconic tech giant
Microsoft (MSFT)... tech giant
Palo Alto Networks (PANW)... cybersecurity
W.R. Berkley (WRB)... insurance
Procter & Gamble (PG)... consumer goods
Home Depot (HD)... home improvement
SiteOne Landscape Supply (SITE)... landscaping
W.W. Grainger (GWW)... industrial supplies
Costco Wholesale (COST)... membership-only stores
NEW LOWS OF NOTE LAST WEEK
Alibaba (BABA)... Chinese e-commerce platform
PayPal (PYPL)... mobile payments
