Tonight is Game 7 of the American League Championship Series (ALCS). After being up two games to none in Toronto and the odds vastly favoring the Mariners to win the series, the Blue Jays have come back to tie the series up at three games apiece. All I can say is the Mariner bats better come alive, as the Blue Jays are likely to score a few runs no matter what.
That being said, I think the World Series is going to be tough for the eventual winner of this series as the Dodgers’ $350 million payroll will be tough to beat. But that’s why they play the games!
Getting into more financial topics, we’ll start with the Crypto carnage that happened on October 10th with more than $19 billion wiped out during the “meltdown” after Trump mentioned 100% additional tariffs on Chinese imports. Below is the chart of Bitcoin with the circle representing the immediate aftermath of those comments on the largest crypto market.
The same happened to the equity markets as well, with the markets giving up around $2 trillion. But like many events in the market, this has so far proven to just be the proverbial ‘noise,’ with markets bouncing back quickly, rewarding those who had a steady hand.
In a narrower segment of the market, and one that may not have caught your attention, the regional bank index was down more than 6% on word that a couple banks were exposed to bad loans. These loans were from two auto-related companies, First Brands and Tricolor. Zions Bank and Western Alliance were two of the hardest hit banks in that index. Here’s a look at the regional bank chart below. Much of that has been recovered over the last couple days.
For those that remember, I have been on that train regarding higher auto prices, longer loan terms, higher interest rates and more delinquencies. Does that mean the world of finance will fall apart? Not necessarily, but it’s worth looking at and being aware. In fact, according to VantageScore, auto loan delinquencies (more than 60+ days delinquent) are up more than 50% since 2010.
Lastly, speaking of autos, what will happen to electric vehicles now that the $7,500 tax credit has gone away? My guess is that it can’t be a good thing for the prices of those autos.
Until next week, Go M’s!
That’s it for this week. Please let us know if you have any questions or comments about this or any other topic. We will be happy to have a conversation, especially if it’s about the Mariners (assuming they win tonight, that is)!