Quote of the Day (Katie Martin, on Bitcoin and the ‘Tech Wreck’)

“The shock to bitcoin is brutal for those who have placed their life savings in this thing. But the warning signs were there all along, and those who bought it anyway can reasonably be expected to have done so with their eyes open. Theirs is a pool of capital that has been placed in this unproductive belief system for too long. In this more sober market environment after the ‘tech wreck,’ now is the time for that money to do something more useful in the financial system.”— Market trend columnist Katie Martin, “The Long View: Bitcoin Blues and ‘Tech Wreck’ Signal a Fundamental Reset,” The Financial Times, Feb. 7-8, 2026

The image accompanying this post, of a bitcoin logo with digital enhancements, was taken on June 2, 2025, by Dmar198.

Quote of the Day (Caroline Crenshaw, on the SEC and Markets That ‘Start to Look Like Casinos’)

“It has been unsettling to see how precipitously one Commission [the current U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission] is willing to undo the work of the Commission that came before it—all without a single notice-and-comment rulemaking to date.  I’m concerned that the fundamental precepts upon which our markets have been built—tenets that have, by and large, kept our markets safe for both issuers and investors alike—are being eroded.  I fear that the very core of our intricate market structure is under attack.  And instead of safeguarding our markets for investors to fund their retirements in safe and sustainable ways, we are moving in a direction where markets start to look like casinos.  The problem with casinos, of course, is that in the long run the house always wins.”—American attorney and current SEC member Caroline Crenshaw, “Speech by Commissioner Crenshaw on Investor Protection and Market Transparency,” Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, speech delivered Dec. 13, 2025

The image of Caroline Crenshaw that accompanies this post, taken Nov. 9, 2020, comes from the SEC.

Quote of the Day (Jason Zweig, on the Charade of One-Year Market Forecasts)

“How inaccurate are one-year market forecasts? They're like a person looking in an unlit cavern at midnight for a black cat that isn't there….Over the past 20 years, according to Joachim Klement, an investment strategist at Panmure Liberum in London, the correlation between the forecasts and the market's actual returns was minimal for the [stock] analysts and zero for the [market] strategists.”—American financial journalist and “The Intelligent Investor” columnist Jason Zweig, “How To See Through Wall Street’s Annual Charade,” The Wall Street Journal, Jan. 11-12, 2025

Quote of the Day (Robert Benchley, on Dogs, Boys and Stocks)

“[A] dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times before lying down—very important traits in times like these. In fact, just as soon as a dog comes along who, in addition to these qualities, also knows when to buy and sell stocks, he can be moved right up to the boy's bedroom and the boy can sleep in the dog house.”— Robert Benchley, "Your Boy and His Dog," in Chips Off the Old Benchley (1949)