To The Moon.

The bubble to end all bubbles continues. Cryptocurrencies only have value if accepted as currencies. However, they cannot be used for the most important transaction in an economy, and cryptocurrency supply can only rise and never fall (making them a poor store of value). To date, using cryptocurrencies requires (effectively) a simultaneous asset sale and purchase of goods or services.

That’s a friendly reminder from UBS, out this morning amid the mania surrounding the launch of Bitcoin futures on the Cboe – “that’s one small step for Bitcoin, one giant leap for crypto-kind.”

Speaking of moon landings, Trump is gearing up to take on the final frontier:

“The directive I am signing today will refocus America’s space program on human exploration and discovery, It marks a first step in returning American astronauts to the Moon for the first time since 1972, for long-term exploration and use." – @POTUS Trump pic.twitter.com/tNNUz06vEb

— NASA (@NASA) December 11, 2017

And not a moment too soon. We’re going to need to find other habitable worlds in anticipation of the nuclear apocalypse he’ll invariably usher in if he somehow manages to stay in office.

Markets are kind of frozen in time ahead of central banks and as everyone waits on lawmakers to reconcile points of contention on the tax plan. Trump is going to make his final push for the bill on Wednesday. According to Deputy Press Sec. Lindsay Walters, he’ll explain to the American people “how tax reform will lead to a brighter future for them and their families.” And by “their families” he means his family.

Stocks were higher in the U.S. (record close for the Dow and the S&P again), with tech and energy leading the way while small-caps fell:

The S&P is the most overbought in 22 years:

Here’s Bitcoin futures on the day – there was a surge late based on God only knows what in the underlying:

Anything to do with Bitcoin was up today including, of course, Riot Blockchain (more on that here).  Here’s a sample, look up the tickers for a good laugh:

The dollar was little changed coming off a five-session win streak. Treasurys sold off amid a shitty 10-year auction, but losses were led by the front end ahead of the Fed which of course means more flattening. That after a fleeting couple of days of steepening last week:

Emerging market equities held up well and notably, the CBOE’s EM ETF volatility gauge fell the most in 3 months:

European shares were a nothing burger, although the FTSE did manage to climb as the pound looked jittery. One thing worth noting: the Vanguard FTSE Europe (that’s the biggest Europe ETF) saw $34.82 million in outflows in the week through Friday.  As Bloomberg notes, that’s the first outflow since the week ending March 10.

As noted earlier, the week started off on the right foot for Hong Kong and mainland shares, a relief in light of recent events. Here’s the two-day rebound in a few charts in case you missed it this morning:

Here’s hoping for more fireworks (but less actual bombs) tomorrow.