Like the market in general, Bitcoin has notched a strong ending to 2023 after trading rangebound for most of the year. If today were the last day of 2023, the king of digital assets would have returned almost 150%, marking the best year since 2020, when it rose a phenomenal 305%. With slightly less than two weeks remaining in December, I figured now would be an ideal time to share my top five Bitcoin and digital asset predictions for 2024. As a reminder, these are my personal predictions and do not reflect those of U.S. Global Investors. 1. A Spot Bitcoin ETF Will Launch In The U.S., Sparking A Price Revaluation. There are no guarantees in life, but a U.S.-based spot Bitcoin ETF now appears to be imminent. Bloomberg Intelligence puts the odds of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Airline consolidation is not only relatively common but necessary for growth and competitiveness, and the recent announcement of Alaska Airlines’ planned acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines is a prime example of this trend. The move, valued at $1.9 billion, signifies more than just a business transaction. It represents a strategic positioning for future growth in a highly competitive, highly concentrated sector. Once the deal is completed, Alaska and Hawaiian will have a combined market share of approximately 8.2%, making it the fifth-largest U.S. airline — unless JetBlue Airways succeeds in getting regulatory

The life story of Charlie Munger, who passed away last week at age 99, serves as a shining example of the enduring American Dream, especially now at a time when many people doubt whether the promise of a better life is still intact. On the contrary, I believe that Munger’s journey, coupled with data from the updated Forbes 400 list, reaffirms that the American Dream still thrives. Charlie Munger’s life began in a modest Midwestern town, far from the glamor of Wall Street. His early years were marked by hardships, including a marriage that ended in divorce, a rarity at the time, which left him with little in the way of assets. But adversity was not done with him yet. Munger’s son Teddy fell victim to leukemia, and Charlie bore the financial strain of his son’s illness, paying for

The 2023 holiday season is officially upon us, and already, records are being shattered. Black Friday deal-hunters in the U.S. shelled out $9.8 billion online, a 7.5% over last year, according to Adobe Analytics. Consumers may have spent an additional $10 billion over the weekend and could spend a massive $12 billion on Cyber Monday, which would also be a new record, Adobe says.Indeed, this year appears to be one of contractions. I see a resilient consumer, with U.S. retail sales well above the five-year average, but I also see a looming sense of economic uncertainty. According to a recent Bankrate survey, around half of American adults say they’re worse off economically today than when President Joe Biden took office, with nearly 70% citing an increase in the cost of living.The

A little over a century ago, Captain John Alcock and Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown became the first people to make a nonstop, transatlantic flight. Beginning in Newfoundland and ending with a nonfatal crash landing on the west coast of Ireland, the trip took some 16 hours in a World War I bomber, at an average speed of 120 miles per hour. At the end of this month, if all goes according to plan, history will be made once again when a jet powered by 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) will cross the Atlantic Ocean for the first time ever. Virgin Atlantic, the British carrier founded by billionaire Richard Branson, received permission from the United Kingdom’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) last week to fly from London to N

The price of gold had its best October in nearly half a century, defying tough resistance from surging Treasury yields and a strong U.S. dollar. The yellow metal rallied an incredible 7.3% last month to close at $1,983 an ounce, its strongest October since 1978, when it jumped 11.7%. Gold, a non-interest-bearing asset, has historically floundered when bond yields were heading higher. An exception has been made this year, however, on a number of significant economic and geopolitical risks, including record-high national debt, rising credit card delinquencies, ongoing recession jitters (despite Jerome Powell’s insistence that a recession is

It’s not a matter of if, but when. I’m talking, of course, about the long-awaited approval of a U.S.-based spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). Analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence now estimate there’s a 90% chance that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will give the go-ahead to such an investment product by January 10, 2024. Many presenters at last week’s European Blockchain Convention (EBC) were even more optimistic, saying they believe a Bitcoin ETF will appear on the market by the end of this year. Mr. Market appears to agree. Responding to

Airlines were one of the hardest-hit industries at the start of the pandemic, with the five-member S&P 500 Passenger Airlines Index collapsing over 31% in 2020. This made the group the worst-performing S&P 500 industry for the year, outside of oil and gas.The selloff also created an exciting investment opportunity that many young and nontraditional investors, locked down at home and with record disposable income, took advantage of. According to data from Robinhood, the commission-free securities trading platform preferred by millennial and Gen Z investors, distressed airline stocks became one of the year’s breakout hits, with trading volumes hitting historic levels.I belie

Private property rights and freedom of speech are fundamental human rights, and yet — as many people in Canada, Europe and elsewhere are discovering — they are among the most fragile. If we fail to remain vigilant and take these rights for granted, we risk losing the privilege of owning our own property and expressing our own thoughts and opinions. So said conference-goers who were kind enough to chat with me following my presentation last week at Bitcoin Amsterdam, Europe’s largest Bitcoin event. I spoke about the differences between common law and civil law, using two island-nations — Singapore and Cuba — as case studies for both legal systems. A former British colony, Singapore embraced common law and free markets and therefore saw its GDP per capita surge from around $3,600 at the

Savvy investors are aware that geopolitical tensions and uncertainty can significantly influence the financial markets. That includes human migration — or, to be more specific, weaponized migration. Many of you, no doubt, watched Elon Musk’s livestream of the historic U.S.-Mexico border crisis last month on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. You may also be aware of the situation that’s unfolding in the Mediterranean, with thousands of refugees from Northern Africa overwhelming Italy, prompting much-needed immigration reform. Both cases have raised questions about who’s behind this global immigration surge. The tactic of using migrants as pawns is not new. Since at least the 1950s, bad actors have employed this s

Last year, commercial air passenger traffic saw a surge of over 30%, while revenue soared by 50% compared to 2021, with Europe and Asia ex-China showing remarkable gains. That’s according to IdeaWorks’ latest report on airline ancillary revenue in 2022, which shows that with an increase in traffic came a rise in sales for non-ticket services. Crowded airports and planes nudged passengers to pay more for comforts like extra legroom, preferred seating, early boarding, checked luggage, priority screening and more. Low-cost carriers (LLCs) took the lead, underscoring the resilience of the à la carte model and its growing acceptance among consumers. Below are the top 10 airlines, in descending order, based on ancillary revenues they collected

The Chinese yuan has lost nearly 6% of its value against the U.S. dollar this year, while Shanghai-listed stocks are off about 8% from their 2023 high, set back in May. There’s an ongoing property crisis, with shares of Evergrande Group — China’s second-largest property developer and the world’s most indebted — halting trading last Thursday after its founder and chairman was reportedly taken into police custody for unknown reasons. Against this backdrop, gold has emerged as a preferred investment alternative, acting as a hedge against financial volatility. Gold prices in China have soared as a result, hitting a historic relative high with a more than

Last week I was in beautiful Colorado Springs attending the 35th annual Denver Gold Forum, where sentiment for all things gold was cautiously optimistic. Many of the speakers and attendees were bullish on the physical metal, pointing to gold’s resilience in the face of a very strong U.S. dollar and multiyear-high yields. When the Federal Reserve begins to lower rates and the value of the greenback cools relative to other currencies, I believe it will really be dollar-denominated gold’s time to shine, as it is right now in many countries such as Argentina, Japan, China, South Africa and more. Investment in gold and gold mining stocks is another thing altogether. Total known holdings in physical gold ETFs currently stand at just under 89 million ounces, down from around 106 million ounc

As Brent crude edges closer to the symbolic threshold of $100 per barrel, nations and industries around the world are bracing for the impact. The surge to nearly $95 this week marks a 10-month high due to a bullish market pattern and supply cuts from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia (OPEC+), now extended until at least the end of the year. While this spike is fueling inflationary pressures globally, its impact will not be evenly distributed. Below I’ll examine which countries and regions are most vulnerable to these rising oil prices and what that could mean for the global economy. How OPEC’s Supply Cuts Could Usher In $100 Oil OPEC’s — and, notably, Saudi Arabia’s — continued reluctance to increase supply has constricted the oil market, and

In a significant turnaround for its aviation sector, Mexico’s air safety rating was upgraded from Category 2 back to Category 1 by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the agency announced last week. The reinstatement comes after a costly two-year downgrade that restricted Mexico’s airline growth and led to losses exceeding $1 billion for the industry. For investors watching the aviation space, this upgrade could be a game-changer, offering opportunities for both Mexican airlines and their U.S. joint venture partners. I believe the recent rise in oil prices, which has put pressure on airline stocks, has also created an attractive buying opportunity. The upgrade to Category 1 is a watershed moment for the Mexican airline industry. This status allows Mexican carriers to

It’s common knowledge that September has historically been a challenging month for stocks, regardless of the timeframe. Since 1928, the S&P 500 has closed down 52 times in September, more than in any other month, according to Yardeni Research. Looking at monthly returns over the past 30 years and five years, equities have had the worst performance during September, dipping 0.34% and 2.89% on average, respectively. Even though past performance doesn’t guarantee future results, investors should prepare for continued market volatility this month. At the same time, a close examination of economic indicators and market trends suggests that this September could tee up some strategic investment opportunities. The Recession Narrative Appears To Be Fading As optimism cautiously retur

Stocks are up 18.7% year-to-date, which is good news for portfolios and 401(k)s, but did you know that most of the heavy lifting has been done by a very small number of S&P 500 stocks? You may be surprised to learn that more than 80% of gains so far in 2023 are due to the performance of only 10 companies, starting with Apple. The iPhone maker, valued at just under $3 trillion, contributed a not insignificant 15.6% to the market’s moves. Apple was followed by a who’s who of mostly Silicon Valley and artificial intelligence (AI) companies. These include, in descending order, graphics card manufacturer NVIDIA (responsible for 15.4% of the gains), Microsoft

The BRICS nations are coming of age.At its annual summit in Johannesburg last week, the bloc of five emerging countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — announced plans to expand for the first time since 2010. On January 1, 2024, the BRICS will welcome six new members: Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).The expansion will further establish the group as a counterbalance to the G7’s global influence, catapulting BRICS’ share of global GDP to 36% as well as covering nearly half of the world’s population. With dozens more nations expressing interest in joining the bloc, the BRICS are clearly positioning themselves for a multipolar world, one that is not dominated by the U.S. and other members of the West.I expect th

Air travel is seeing an upswing, with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) forecasting 4.35 billion global passengers carried this year alone. This resurgence, however, presents an ironic twist. As air travel soars, so does the urgency to reduce emissions — not just in airlines but also airports. Two global powerhouses, the U.S. and European Union (EU), are navigating this challenge, but their compasses point in very different directions. Whereas the former is investing in new airport infrastructure and modernizing facilities to meet ambitious climate goals, the latter is choosing to combat emissions by restricting the number of flights. The U.S.: Reimagining Infrastructure The U.S. is staring at a daunting projection: a