Category Archives: Bitcoin

Bitcoin Review

In the coming days, we will issue a price projection for Bitcoin based on the work of Edson Gould that we have not used in the past.  Before we submit this future price projection, we need to offer a brief review of our prior work on Bitcoin using the work of Edson Gould and Charles H. Dow.

Below are the highlights of our work on the topic of Bitcoin and the price of Bitcoin at the time the commentary was made:

  • April 10, 2013 at $165.00 (note: using Mt. Gox Index)
    • “The current parabolic increase in Bitcoin has a conservative downside target of $89.45 and an extreme downside target of $76.05.”
    • actual low at $66.34 on July 5, 2013

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    • “It seems that Bitcoin has experienced a temporary peak in the price.” “Our conservative downside target for Bitcoin, based on the peak closing price of $785.50 is $384.83.  The extreme downside target is $261.83.  The worst case scenario is for Bitcoin to fall as low as $152.83 as indicated by the red line on the chart.”
    • actual low at $177.28 on January 14, 2015.
    • “…the next conservative upside target is $1,154.49 if the most recent peak of $785.50 is exceeded.”
    • actual peak at $1,237.96 on December 4, 2013.

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  • December 22, 2017 at $13,857.14
    • “We believe that there is going to be limited upside in the near term.”
    • “We think that the conservative downside target will be achieved before a new high is seen.”
    • “this run-up in bitcoin (+10,828%) is only slightly exceeding that of the 2011-2013 increase of +9,771%, as seen in the chart below.”
    • “In all prior booms, the subsequent bust AVERAGED –70%.”
    • “conservative downside target at $6,884.31.”

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  • April 27, 2018 at $8,978.33
    • “As of April 27, 2018, Bitcoin is priced at $9,278.22 and has achieved our target of $9,148.23 as outlined in Dow Theory.”
    • “At this stage in the game, Bitcoin is in a no-man’s land.”
    • “While there are always three directions that the price could go (up, down, or sideways for a long time) this juncture is strictly to be played for the extreme of going back to the $11,479.73 or $6,914.26 level.”
    • “…if Bitcoin exceeds $11,479.73 it would be a huge reversal of the declining trend and could be consider the confirmation of a new bull market with the minimum upside target of $20,000.  Under the circumstances described, Bitcoin could achieve a $37,000-$52,000 level before a meaningful downside is experienced.”

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We have never believed in Bitcoin.  What we have done is track the price.  Based on the work of Charles H. Dow, price informs us enough to not have faith in Bitcoin or any other assets/commodity but on the collective knowledge of the most informed participants, large and small.  Dow and F.A. Hayek’s views are summarized in the following quotes:

On February 25, 1902, Dow said:

"The one sure thing in speculation is that values determine prices in the long run. Manipulation is effective temporarily, but the investor establishes price in the end.  The object of all speculation is to foresee coming changes in values. Whoever knows that the value of a stock has run ahead of price and is likely to be sustained can buy that stock with confidence that as its value is recognized by investors, the price will rise (Dow, Charles H. Review and Outlook.  Wall Street Journal. February 25, 1902.)."

This aligns with F.A. Hayek’s 1945 claim that:

“…the shipper who earns his living from using otherwise empty or half-filled journeys of tramp-steamers, or the estate agent whose whole knowledge is almost exclusively one of temporary opportunities, or the arbitrageur who gains from local differences of commodity prices, are all performing eminently useful functions based on special knowledge of circumstances of the fleeting moment not known to others.”

Our price projection for Bitcoin will be available to subscribers only.

Notes:

  • F. A. Hayek, “The Use Of Knowledge In Society” American Economic Review, XXXV, No. 4; September, 1945, pp. 519–30.

Bitcoin Price Momentum

Below is a chart of the Bitcoin ($BTC) from 2019 to 2022, reflecting Price Momentum data. Continue reading

Bitcoin Review: January 2022

Some observations on the price activity of Bitcoin: Continue reading

Bitcoin Review: October 2021

Some observations on the price activity of Bitcoin: Continue reading

Bitcoin Cycles: 2010-2022

The following are the established Bitcoin cycles since 2010 which are instrumental in our forecasting of the market price for Bitcoin going forward.

Up Cycles

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Down Cycles

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Cycle charts Continue reading

Bitcoin: May 2021

Review

In our April 27, 2018 posting, we said:

“Bitcoin could achieve a $37,000-$52,000 level before a meaningful downside is experienced.”

In our January 7, 2021 posting, we said:

“As of January 7, 2021, Bitcoin has achieved a price of $39,000.  It is at times like these that Bitcoin speculators should consider preserving as least some of their gains.  Below are the upside and downside targets.”

Downside Targets

Below are the downside targets based on the work of Edson Gould: Continue reading

Bitcoin Saturation Point is Here

Recently the price of Bitcoin has increased to a market cap above one trillion dollars. This had generated tremendous excitement both for, and against, the continued increase in the crypto currency.

For those hoping that Bitcoin will increase in price, achieving a market capitalization of $1 trillion is a testament to the future viability of crypto currencies.  Meanwhile, for those in disbelief of the value of cryptocurrencies, the $1 trillion level highlights the extreme that the bubble has managed to attain.

Because we only follow the price, we were struck by a point made by Charlie Munger of Berkshire Hathaway in 2018:

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The question has arisen, “When will ‘they’ create more Bitcoin?”  As, Charlie Munger has said, if you have the incentive, new coins will emerge.  In our view, that creation of more Bitcoins has already taken place in the form of the thousands of “alt coins” that are free-riding on the concept but have zero value.  Some of the alt coins, ranked in the range from 451-500 (by market cap), have a combined market capitalization of over $2 billion dollars.  Does anyone believe that the coin ranked 499th will amount to anything down the road?  We don’t.

When we run down the numbers for the total value of all the coins with market caps ranked from 3-1,000, which excludes Bitcoin and Ethereum, the total market cap is approximately $484 billion dollars.

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As with all new innovations in their early stage, there will be hundreds of competitors lining up to become number one.  However, as the cycle for cryptocurrency evolves from the start up phase to the growth stage (can you believe it, we’re only in the start up phase), there will be many “currencies” that will die along the way.

There is a stock market investing theory that says that if you buy and sell only the two leading stocks in a specific industry you will be able make a considerable amount of money.  The thinking behind this theory is that the industry will generally do as well or bad as the leaders.  Therefore, by using the two leading stocks to confirm a rising or declining trend, you will have the stocks that will thrive in the good time and not die off in the bad times.  Almost all the other participants will be gone or become absorbed in the process.

As with most mature industries, there are 5-6 companies that have a meaningful impact on the direction of the business.  We don’t have a clue about the other 3-4 crypto currencies that will emerge as the leaders.  However, for now, the top two in terms of market capitalization, Bitcoin and Ethereum, are the contenders to be around if central banks don’t take over the concept.

The potential $400 billion (and growing) waiting to be destroyed by willing participants, who either hope the ride will continue or are unaware of the probabilities, will suffer greatly from this creative destruction. The Bitcoin saturation point is here, however, it isn’t in Bitcoin and Ethereum, instead, it is the alt coins.

See Also:

Bitcoin Cycles: 2010-2021

The following are the established Bitcoin cycles since 2010 which are instrumental in our forecasting of the market price for Bitcoin going forward.

Up Cycles

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Down Cycles

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Cycle charts and Future Targets Continue reading

GameStop (GME) – Are we really going to the moon 🚀🚀🚀🌑 ?

The rise, fall, and rise of GameStop (GME) is difficult to ignore. We find it extremely entertaining but also educational. As a result of this, we started looking at reversion to the mean which has produced some amazing charts.

Before we jump to GameStop $GME, we want to show you the same model applied to Bitcoin (BTC-USD). We have plotted out the chart of Bitcoin with the 200 simple moving average (SMA), and a 1x standard deviation band. The spiked in Bitcoin only managed to reach +300% above 200 SMA. This was the rise of Bitcoin to 20,000.

With this context, let's look at GameStop. As of the January 28, 2021 close, the stock was +2,670% above its 200 SMA.

While we are not experts in options trading, the pricing for these derivative is absolutely puzzling. On the day that GameStop is up +70%, the March 19, 2021 $10 Put rose +46%. This is an option to sell GameStop at $10, -97% from today's price, within 49 days. There were more than 4,000 contracts traded before 10am today.

This is truly remarkable and we are observing this on the sideline.

Bitcoin: January 2021

Review

In our April 27, 2018 posting, we said:

“Bitcoin could achieve a $37,000-$52,000 level before a meaningful downside is experienced.”

As of January 7, 2021, Bitcoin has achieved a price of $39,000.  It is at times like these that Bitcoin speculators should consider preserving as least some of their gains.  Below are the upside and downside targets. Continue reading

2020 Year to Date Index Returns

Below is a chart of Index returns as published by Business Insider

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2020 Year to Date Investment Returns

Below is a chart of investment returns for various instruments as published by Business Insider.  This includes the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th ranked low yield stocks of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

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2020 Year to Date Investment Returns

Below is a chart of investment returns for various instruments as published by Business Insider.  This includes the top three low yield stocks of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

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2020 YTD Investment Returns

Below is a chart of investment returns for various instruments as published by Business Insider.  This includes our own high P/E Dogs of the Toronto Stock Exchange 60.

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2020 YTD Investment Returns

Below is a chart of investment returns for various instruments as published by ZeroHedge.com.  This list differs in that it includes the change in Bitcoin and our own Dogs of the Toronto Stock Exchange 60 (TSX 60).

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