Good morning.

Today is “Fed Day” … and … while the headline will be this afternoon’s announcement regarding a rate cut (expected to be 0.25%), focus will be on comments pertaining to what lies ahead … and every little utterance will be dissected as analysts try to find hidden meaning in the words.

But, on a day when stock indexes are moving in a positive direction (which can immediately change following the announcement) I’d rather focus on two things … cryptocurrencies and a lawsuit over a poll.

Many think the world has gone mad … and those who are financially savvy (or think they are financially savvy) … tend to agree.  A story today (below) refers to the newly minted “fartcoin” … another in the growing list of created coins with questionable backing … but this one does not have investors holding their noses.

Completely created to be funny, the price sat under one cent at the beginning of October and is now at $0.98.  In fact, it was priced much (much) lower at one point, and a story on Cryptorank claims a very early buyer paid $698 and sold some at $395,000!  Tulips grow all around us.  And the crazier thing (yes, there is something crazier) is the “market cap” of this “coin” is around $900 million which is greater than Office Depot, Ethan Allen and Guess … all of which actually sell products.

Oy vey!

One other story interests me tremendously this morning and … no … it is not intended to be political.

Donald Trump is suing Des Moines Register for their poll which claimed he would lose the state in the recent election … as boy, did they have it wrong (as he easily defeated Harris in Iowa).

But here is the problem. Can a pollster be sued if they read the tea leaves wrong? I hope not … as it could open a can of worms for which we are not prepared.

Jimmy the Greek was a famous “betting-line maker” for football games, and picked the Baltimore Colts to beat the Jets by a record 17-points in Super Bowl III.  Of course, the Jets famously won … and many a bettor (and betting parlor) got absolutely hammered. We also have analysts (many of whom have banking relationships with targeted companies) putting out “buy and sell” recommendations on stocks … setting target prices well above or below what actually ends up happening.

So we’ll see where this goes … for the ramifications could be far-reaching.

That about wraps it up today as I am heading somewhere to get exercise.

I am going out to play something called, “silent tennis.”

It’s very much like regular tennis …

… but without the racquet.

Have a great day,

Joseph G. Witthohn, CFA

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