USA Economy: Are we in a bubble? How founder of world’s largest hedge fund says 2021 stock market stacks up - by Mark DeCambre

The stock market is feeling awfully frothy to some investors lately, a fact that has helped to weigh on the market’s bullish sentiment in the past week or so, but a report by Ray Dalio implies that equities aren’t as bubblicious as one might think.

“In brief, the aggregate bubble gauge is around the 77th percentile today for the US stock market overall. In the bubble of 2000 and the bubble of 1929 this aggregate gauge had a 100th percentile read,” wrote Dalio in a blog post published on Monday on LinkedIn.

Read more at: Are we in a bubble? How founder of world’s largest hedge fund says 2021 stock market stacks up - MarketWatch

US Economy Poll: Americans Wary That Stock Market Bubble Will Burst

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 61% of American Adults are at least somewhat concerned that the stock market bubble will burst and push the economy back into recession with 23% who are Very Concerned. Twenty-five percent (25%) don't share that fear, but that includes only seven percent (7%) who are Not at All Concerned.

Read more at Americans Wary That Stock Market Bubble Will Burst - Rasmussen Reports®

USA - Economy - Poll:Americans Wary That Stock Market Bubble Will Burst

The stock market has recently hit record highs, but Americans are increasingly worried that the boom won’t last much longer.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 61% of American Adults are at least somewhat concerned that the stock market bubble will burst and push the economy back into recession with 23% who are Very Concerned. Twenty-five percent (25%) don't share that fear, but that includes only seven percent (7%) who are Not at All Concerned.

Read more at: Americans Wary That Stock Market Bubble Will Burst - Rasmussen Reports®

US Economy Is in Danger of Overheating and Exploding Into Financial Crisis - by Desmond Lachman

My long career as a macro-economist both at the IMF and on Wall Street has taught me that it is very well to make bold macro-economic calls as long as you do not specify a time period within which those calls will occur. However, there are occasions, such as today, when the overwhelming evidence suggests that a major economic event will occur within a relatively short time period. On those occasions it is very difficult to resist making a time-sensitive bold economic call.

So here goes. By this time next year, we will have had another 2008-2009 style global economic and financial market crisis. And we will do so despite Janet Yellen's recent reassurances that we would not have another such crisis within her lifetime.

There are two basic reasons to fear another full-blown global economic crisis soon: The first is that we have in place all the ingredients for such a crisis. The second is that due to major economic policy mistakes by both the Federal Reserve and the U.S. administration, the U.S. economy is in danger of soon overheating, which will bring inflation in its wake. That in turn is all too likely to lead to rising interest rates, which could very well be the trigger that bursts the all too many asset price bubbles around the world.

Read more: US Economy Is in Danger of Overheating and Exploding Into Financial Crisis | Economic Intelligence | US News

EU-Bitcoin Concerns:The Bitcoin Surge Sparks Bubble Warning by Top European Official - by Alexander Weber

The frenzy on virtual-currency markets has prompted the starkest warning yet from the European Union’s financial-services chief, who said that investors are at risk of losing everything.

EU Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis asked the heads of the EU’s three financial supervisors to update their warnings to consumers “as a matter of urgency” in light of recent market developments, acording to a letter seen by Bloomberg.

“The developments relating to bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in recent weeks require our heightened attention,” Dombrovskis wrote in the letter. “While I acknowledge the important opportunities offered by blockchain technology and its various applications, the current market developments around bitcoin constitute the signs of a pricing bubble, even if -- in terms of global volume -- it remains at the moment within a small share of the financial markets.”

Read more: Bitcoin Surge Sparks Bubble Warning by Top European Official - Bloomberg

Stock Markets: Bitcoin buyers should be prepared to lose all their money, top UK regulator warns

Bitcoin buyers have been issued a "serious warning" from one of Britain's leading financial regulators.

Andrew Bailey, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), told BBC's "Newsnight" on Thursday, "If you want to invest in bitcoin, be prepared to lose all your money."

Bailey said a lack of backing from governments and central banks for the world's most popular digital currency was evidence that putting money into bictoin was not a secure investment. He also said buying bitcoin was akin to gambling because it had the same level of risk.

Bitcoin's meteoric price rise has stunned critics and enthusiasts alike, leaving investors scrambling to understand the driving factors for the digital currency's runaway rally.

Bitcoin traded at $17,159 on Friday morning, according to CoinDesk's bitcoin price index. The digital currency has a market value of approximately $291 billion — the largest among the cryptocurrencies. A year ago, one bitcoin was worth around $780.

"If you look at what has happened this year, I would caution people … We know relatively little about what informs the price of bitcoin," Bailey told the BBC.

Soaring interest from institutional and retail investors has prompted global exchanges, such as the Cboe, to launch futures contracts.

Meantime, CME Group is poised to a launch bitcoin futures contract on Sunday and a German stock exchange operator is reportedly considering whether to follow suit.

The launch of bitcoin futures contracts represents a significant step in the legitimization of cryptocurrencies, according to some market participants. Futures are derivatives, or financial instruments, that obligate a trader to either buy or sell an asset at a specified time and at a specified price.

Bitcoin bulls have frequently referenced the cryptocurrency's scarcity value as a primary reason for its staying power. Somewhat like gold, bitcoin supply grows at glacial and ever-decreasing fixed rates with only 21 million bitcoins set to be in existence.

But while the trading of bitcoin futures on two of the world's largest exchanges is expected to provide a layer of official oversight that had not previously existed, several leading voices have expressed skepticism.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon called bitcoin a "fraud" that would eventually blow up, while billionaire investor Warren Buffett urged traders to "stay away from it," calling the rally a "mirage."

Read more: Bitcoin buyers should be prepared to lose all their money, top UK regulator warns