May 17,2021: Break in Bitcoin & VIX vs HY CDs

One of the most fascinating parts of the weekend was the action in cryptocurrency said to be, once again, the fault of Elon Musks’ tweets.  Bitcoin was at $63,000 one month ago, and hit $43,000 yesterday in the furious selling stampede, around a tweet.Musk-bitcoin-946x2048I only bring it up to highlight the very speculative and volatile nature of it all.  Also, it makes you wonder, if you were an international criminal who extorted a ransom when it was $60,000+, and then by the time you were ready to buy international criminal things it was at $43,000, would you be mad or sad?

Thus far, as we saw the equity VIX go higher last week (people paying more for protection), the cost of insuring high yield debt via credit default swaps did not move …CDS-VIX-HY-SR-May-17-2021-1024x655
*Strategas Research, Technical Strategy Report, May 17, 2021,