When The Passive Bid Becomes A Passive Bomb

Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance

This week I laid out what the financial media won’t: the Jenga Tower economy is swaying, and it won’t take much to knock it over.

In my interview with Adam Taggart of Thoughtful Money, I explained why markets at record valuations aren’t about fundamentals anymore—they’re about flows, passive mechanics, and a generation of speculators who only know options.

The Jenga Tower Economy Is Starting To Topple

A handful of mega-caps hold up the tape, while the rest of the market rots. After decades of nonstop rescues, investors believe nothing bad can happen. They’re wrong.

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Jobs data now matters because when employment cracks, retirement and brokerage accounts get tapped for cash. Funds without liquidity turn into sellers, the passive machine flips, and suddenly valuations matter again.

Positive real rates are the time bomb in the plumbing, already showing up in rising delinquencies and weakening housing and CRE. Student loans just accelerate the slide. The tower is one block from collapse.

For those who wanted the short version, I also put out a two-minute macro endgame: growth is stalling, private equity marks are a joke, student loans are back, the passive bid is vulnerable, and the Fed will rescue with QE and YCC. That “rescue” will only widen the wealth gap and hollow out the middle class while financial media cheers nominal highs.

Economic Endgame Explained In 2 Minutes

Outside of markets, I revisited 9/11 with William Anderson of the Mises Institute, who reminded us it was a government failure answered with more government—wars, surveillance, ballooning debt, and a phony recovery.

The 9/11 Attacks Exposed Major Government Failure, But Americans Learned the Wrong Lessons

I also called out MSNBC’s disgraceful framing of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Whatever you think of his politics, Kirk built his career on dialogue over violence, and smearing him after his murder is the real division.

Charlie Kirk Was Not Divisive, But MSNBC Is

And I wrote about Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee murdered in Charlotte, whose death the legacy media chose to ignore. Their silence exposes, once again, the corruption and irrelevance of that entire machine.

Our Nation Failed Iryna

That’s where I net out: markets priced for perfection, an economy sliding toward reality, a political class doubling down on failure, and a media establishment that cannot tell the truth.

Thanks to my incredible subscribers, I also compiled a vibrant list of sectors in the market that could be undervalued amidst an extremely overvalued market. That list can be found in our chat here.

Here’s what else was on the blog recently:

• The Job Market Just Said “Game Over”

• Please Show Us The Trials

• Money Supply Flatlines As Employment Cools And Delinquencies Rise

• Ilhan Omar: Preaching Socialism, Practicing Capitalism

• 6 Dividend Payers I Like With Low PEs

• Gold Taps All Time Highs — How I’m Playing The Next Leg

• The Fed Bubble Meets The Bill Collector

• Gold To $6,000 Next Year: Peter Schiff Exclusive

• Here's A Tip: Fuck Off Begging For Tips!

• Every Industry Is An Airport Lounge Now

• Trusted Abroad, Blocked at Home: Why Americans Need a Passport for Proven Medicines

• Fragile Investors, Fragile Markets: QTR With Michelle Makori

• The Myth of Fed “Independence”

• The Unraveling Fiscal Illusion: Lyn Alden

• Zohran's Mamdani's Crime Carnival Arrives

If you missed my full interview this week or want the charts, they’re linked above. Thanks, as always, for reading, sharing, and supporting independent voices.

—QTR

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