In the 1820s, post-Napoleonic UK cut gilt coupons. Investors, denied real yield, chased returns in speculative ventures, funding dubious projects. Gilt demand collapsed, causing banking instability; the Bank of England injected liquidity. Today's parallel: US yield repression fuels risk-taking, lower-quality credit, Fed monetization. Gundlach warns a Treasury coupon cut could repeat this: yield-seeking bubble, credit deterioration, contraction. Lesson: cheat on debt, get a bubble, then a bust.
The Minsky clean-up is not unique to today or the US. A similar dynamic occurred in the UK in 1825 after post-war debt led to changes in gilt coupons. Today’s SPAC boom echoes past speculative excesses. As always, the cycle turns when credit tightens. Cutting gilt coupons has two key effects: it shifts relative yields and disrupts credit markets.
AST SpaceMobile aims to deliver space-based cellular broadband directly to standard smartphones via large BlueBird satellites and proprietary software. It partners with major telecoms, using their spectrum in a B2B model. However, high CapEx, short satellite lifespan, and strong buyer power pressure margins. Competition from SpaceX, Amazon, and Apple threatens its moat. Despite a compelling vision, its valuation appears overly optimistic given risks and capital intensity.
Private credit and banking rules increasingly distort risk signals. Mark-to-model (ASC 820) enables wide valuation discretion. New delinquency rules erase long-term stress after 12 months, improving NPLs mechanically while weakening analysis and delaying warning signals (NIM impact). CDS lacks coverage in private credit. LIBOR’s narrative is contested, yet SOFR replaces a forward-looking rate with a backward-looking one, removing embedded market expectations and degrading visibility of risk.
Molten salt systems retrofit coal plants into thermal batteries: excess wind/solar heats salt, stored energy later drives turbines. Fuel is eliminated, costs shift to capex, and long-duration storage (days–weeks) becomes cheap. This “Carnot battery” model undercuts gas by absorbing surplus and serving peaks, turning coal assets into dispatchable, fuel-free power hubs.
ECB critics misread inflation: echoing Henry Thornton, supply shocks (like energy or bad harvests) create temporary imbalances, not monetary excess. Raising rates won’t fix supply and can worsen it by choking credit and slowing adjustment (e.g. renewables). The right response is real-side adjustment, not tightening, especially with cartelized energy prices.
Rising geopolitical tensions may weaken dollar recycling as Gulf states deepen ties with Beijing, keeping base rates higher. This comes as private credit—now a key absorber of capital—shows growing stress. Higher funding costs, redemption limits, and valuation gaps in BDCs signal the credit cycle is turning. With inflows slowing and capital absorption weakening, the system is entering a late-cycle phase where credit expansion stalls and pricing begins shifting from models to market reality.
Honda’s dividend yield is nearing 5%, prompting interest as the author observes markets and begins a position in JD Industrials. A video of Honda’s C-1 solid-state battery line highlights a focus on continuous manufacturing and roll-to-roll processes to reduce costs and dry-room requirements. As EV strategies shift toward cheaper vehicles, Honda may deploy solid-state batteries first in motorcycles—where it has strong market share—before scaling to cars.
Remember how oil interests lobbied against nuclear during the 1970s embargo, and now push against solar and wind? Oil lost electricity; now natural gas faces the same threat. Nuclear acts as a decoy—baseload, expensive, and not flexible. Wind, solar, and EVs disrupt variable demand and transport. Energy transitions repeat: oil → electricity, gas → electricity, oil → transport. RINSE / REPEAT.