Odd Lots: Jim Chanos on the Nuttiness of 'Bitcoin Treasury Companies'
For awhile there was just MicroStrategy (which has since been renamed as Strategy.) It started buying Bitcoin, and then raised money to buy more Bitcoin, and the stock has done phenomenally well, despite the company not doing much else beside holding Bitcoin. But now it has spawned numerous copycats all doing the same thing. But the question is why? Why are people willing to buy shares of a company that owns Bitcoin, rather than just buying Bitcoin outright (which anyone can easily do now that there's an ETF)? On this episode of the podcast, recorded live in New York City, we speak with famed short-seller Jim Chanos about this phenomenon. We also talk about NYC real estate in the age of Zohran Mamdani, the latest at Tesla, private equity, and whether AI can replace people who understand accounting.
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CNN
32 minutes ago
- CNN
Republicans introduce last-minute industry ‘killer' tax on solar and wind in spending bill
Source: CNN Business groups and clean-energy developers are apoplectic over a last-minute provision tucked into President Donald Trump's spending bill that will tax the solar and wind industry, making it much harder to get new, cheap electricity onto the grid. Senate Republicans revealed an entirely new tax for renewable energy this weekend, in the latest version of a bill that could be passed as early as Monday afternoon. The bill already stripped tax incentives for renewables by 2027 and gave developers stringent requirements to claim them. The new tax would come at the worst possible time for the American power grid, experts and trade groups say, as demand for more electricity spikes due to new data centers for artificial intelligence coming online. 'This new tax is just a killer to the wind and solar industry,' said Ed Mills, a Washington policy analyst at Raymond James. 'You went from taking away a positive for the industry to implementing a negative.' The tax could change, as the Senate embarks on a marathon day of amendment votes on Monday. As it's currently written, the Senate bill will threaten to upend a huge amount of power that was set to come online in the next decade. Wind, solar and long-term storage batteries make up the vast majority of new electricity added to the grid over the past three years. It also encompasses about 85% of what's currently in the development pipeline, according to Ben King, an analyst at the non-partisan think tank Rhodium Group. Keeping Biden-era tax credits for wind and solar would have led to between 400 and 1,100 gigawatts of new, clean power being added to the grid by 2035, Rhodium modeling shows. In comparison, the capacity of the largest fossil fuel power plant in the country is close to 4 gigawatts. 'Increasing the price of this stuff that's actually getting built right now — and just making it harder to build — results in higher prices,' King told CNN. 'And (there's) a greater amount of concern whether the grid can respond.' That hole in energy capacity these taxes will create will be filled by new natural gas power plants and leaving aging coal plants online longer, and both solutions are more expensive than building wind and solar. Those costs will all but assuredly be passed on to the people who pay electric bills. The new obstacles for clean energy come as the AI boom is already consuming vast amounts of energy. By 2030, data centers that power AI are projected to consume a whopping 612 terawatt-hours of energy per year – equivalent to what Canada consumes annually, according to research from Accenture. The new tax, along with killing the tax credits, could raise taxes on utility-scale solar projects by 18%, according to Princeton University professor Jesse Jenkins. Jenkins wrote on X that raising taxes on America's 'most important new sources of electricity supply' is 'utter insanity.' Responding to a post about the new taxes on wind and solar, billionaire Elon Musk warned over the weekend the 'latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!' Pointing to the cost of the legislation, Musk added in a separate post that polls suggest the legislation will be 'political suicide for the Republican Party.' Even the US Chamber of Commerce, which is broadly supportive of the legislation, came out against the new renewable energy levies. 'Taxing energy production is never good policy, whether oil & gas or, in this case, renewables,' US Chamber of Commerce executive vice president Neil Bradley said in a post on X. 'Electricity demand is set to see enormous growth & this tax will increase prices. It should be removed.' The weekend changes to the bill were blasted by renewables trade groups, who had been pushing lawmakers for a more generous tax credit phaseout timeline for wind and solar projects. 'It is astounding that the Senate would intentionally raise prices on consumers rather than encouraging economic growth and addressing the affordability crisis facing American households,' American Clean Power Association CEO Jason Grumet said in a statement. Solar Energy Industries Association president Abigail Ross Hopper called the tax an 'unprecedented and punitive measure that would raise costs for American consumers' and a 'blanket penalty on solar,' in a statement. The renewable energy tax is part of a broader effort to wean critical US industry off components from China. 'The Trump administration and Congressional Republicans really dislike wind and solar, but apparently they hate China even more,' said Mills, the Raymond James analyst. 'We're trying to get China out of our supply chains.' However, the tax and restrictions will make the US far less competitive with China on AI and clean energy manufacturing, said Robbie Orvis, Energy Innovation's senior director of modeling and analysis Energy Innovation. 'This is just a gift to China; they must just be salivating over what's in this bill,' Orvis said. 'They would be very happy to have US energy costs go up so they can take on more of those data centers that might otherwise be located here.' While being tough on China has bipartisan appeal, many clean energy projects are major employers in purple and red districts. For instance, Texas is not just the leading state for oil and natural gas production, it's also No. 1 for wind-powered electricity generation. 'Republicans have long supported an all-of-the-above energy policy. With this tax provision, the all-of-the-above policy has an asterisk where wind and solar are no longer included,' Mills said. Still, Mills added it's not entirely clear the wind and solar taxes will survive the political sausage-making process. 'Does this ever get implemented? Does it get softened? Does it get repealed? All of those are in the realm of possibility,' he said. Kevin Hassett, director of the White House's National Economic Council, told CNBC on Monday that the Trump administration remains focused using 'all-of-the-above approaches to get energy production to go through the roof.' 'That means using coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear and, to the extent it passes a market test; these other solar and wind type things can be part of the picture too,' Hassett said. For context, solar, wind and batteries are far cheaper than fossil fuels and nuclear power, because they have no fuel costs and currently cost less to build. Hassett disagreed with the characterization that lawmakers are not just taking away tax breaks for clean energy, they are also penalizing the industry with new taxes. 'I don't think that's the way to think about it. In the end, solar is going to be in people's grids,' Hassett said. Even without the new tax, the Republican spending bill will cause household energy bills to rise over the next decade, CNN previously reported. When combined with the electric vehicle consumer tax credit likely being cut, annual electricity and transportation costs in every state in the continental United States will be higher than they would have if the tax credits stayed intact, analysis from think tank Energy Innovation found. Red states including Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas could see up to 18% higher energy costs by 2035 if Trump's bill passes, compared with a scenario where the bill didn't pass. See Full Web Article
Yahoo
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HOOD Unveils Micro Futures for BTC, SOL, XRP: Riding on Crypto Demand?
Robinhood Markets HOOD is expanding its crypto footprint with the launch of micro futures for Bitcoin (BTC), Solana (SOL) and XRP. Designed for retail traders, these smaller contracts lower the barrier to entry, requiring less capital and offering flexible exposure to volatile digital allowing directional bets and hedging with minimal margin, Robinhood is positioning itself as a user-friendly gateway to crypto derivatives. The move follows growing demand and builds on its recent acquisition of Bitstamp and pending buyout of WonderFi, strengthening its crypto 25.9 million funded accounts, Robinhood is well-positioned to capitalize on the rising interest in altcoin trading. In May, the company's crypto notional volume soared 36% month over month and 65% year over year to $11.7 latest move builds on HOOD's broader push into futures trading, which began in October 2024, with traditional assets like crude oil and the S&P 500. The platform's entry into digital asset derivatives accelerated earlier this year through a strategic partnership with CME Group CME, granting Robinhood users mobile-first access to some of the most liquid futures products Group's May launch of XRP futures attracted more than $500 million in monthly notional volume, underscoring rising institutional appetite for crypto derivatives. Meanwhile, CME Group's existing Solana futures had already laid a solid foundation for expanding into altcoin-based micro futures open up access to a broader investor base, Robinhood is likely to see increased transaction volumes, supporting its broader push into cryptocurrencies while making futures trading more mainstream. HOOD's Crypto Revenue Quarterly Trend Image Source: Robinhood Markets, Inc. Robinhood isn't alone in chasing the growing demand for crypto exposure. Charles Schwab SCHW is also making strategic moves to enter the digital asset space. In May, CEO Rick Wurster told Reuters that regulatory signals appear increasingly supportive, paving the way for larger financial institutions to scale their crypto April, Schwab announced plans to roll out spot cryptocurrency trading within the next year. Schwab already offers access to spot Bitcoin ETFs, which began trading in 2024, signaling its intent to build a more comprehensive crypto trading platform for its clients. Investors are bullish on HOOD stock, which has surged 122.8% this year. In comparison, the industry has rallied 16.4%. YTD Price Performance Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Given the impressive price performance, HOOD shares are currently trading at a massive premium to the industry. The company has a 12-month trailing price-to-book (P/B) of 9.24X compared with the industry average of 2.19X. P/B TTM Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Moreover, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Robinhood's 2025 and 2026 earnings implies year-over-year growth of 12.8% and 21.3%, respectively. In the past month, earnings estimates for 2025 and 2026 have been revised marginally upward. Earnings Estimates Image Source: Zacks Investment Research HOOD currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report CME Group Inc. (CME) : Free Stock Analysis Report The Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW) : Free Stock Analysis Report Robinhood Markets, Inc. (HOOD) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
Yahoo
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Bitcoin needs to clear this key technical resistance level to open the door to a 25% rally, strategist says
Bitcoin topping a key resistance level of $114,000 would open a door to a bigger rally, a strategist said on Monday. If it clears that hurdle, bitcoin could go on to rally as high as $143,000. The token has several tailwinds that could boost its performance, strategist Ed Campbell said. Bitcoin jumping above a key technical threshold would open a path to a much larger rally ahead, according to a market strategist. In a note to clients last week, Ed Campbell of Rosenberg Research said the next big resistance level for crypto is $114,000. Bitcoin hovered around $107,800 on Monday afternoon. Should the token rise another 6% to clear the $114,000 mark, it could spark a fresh rally of as much as 25% to $143,000. "While momentum may fade later this summer, a breakout now (or soon) would reinforce the bullish macro setup and could extend Bitcoin's leadership well into the second half of the year," Campbell wrote. The note pointed to a handful of bullish catalysts the firm believes will act as tailwinds to bitcoin's price going forward. Bitcoin's price has historically rallied after a halving event, when the rewards for bitcoin miners are slashed in half. The idea is to make it harder for new bitcoins to be mined and making the token more scarce. The last bitcoin halving was in April 2024 with the next one expected in 2028. Investors are more concerned about storing their wealth in dollar assets like US government bonds than they were in the past, making bitcoin an attractive alternative to some investors. The US Dollar Index, which weighs the greenback against a basket of foreign currencies and reflects the level of demand for the dollar, is down 10.5% for the year. "Bitcoin is increasingly used to preserve wealth and ensure mobility," Campbell and Rosenberg said, pointing to spikes in on-chain activity during recent crises. Bitcoin's adoption by institutions has boosted its credibility and attracted more funds to the crypto, another major catalyst for bitcoin's price. Spot bitcoin ETFs, which were first launched in 2024, are now taking in more than $45 billion in cumulative monthly flows, Rosenberg Research's analysis found. Markets are also anticipating several rate cuts by the end of the year. Lower interest rates are generally bullish for risk assets, including crypto. Markets broadly have rallied on the prospects that the Fed could soon loosen monetary policy, with stocks making new highs in the last week amid more dovish talk from central bankers. Markets see the first rate cut coming in September, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. The regulatory environment is growing more friendly to crypto assets since President Donald Trump, who branded himself as the "crypto president" on the campaign trail, returned to the White House. The note points to several pro-crypto officials Trump has appointed during his term, as well as actions that support bitcoin's price, like banning a US central bank digital currency and the creation of a strategic bitcoin reserve. The recent passage of the Genius Act in Congress aimed at creating a framework for stablecoins was the latest bullish policy development. "The removal of regulatory overhang could unlock significant capital and reinforce Bitcoin's positioning as a strategic reserve asset," Campbell said. Bitcoin is up 15% this year, beating the S&P 500's 5% year-to-date gain. Read the original article on Business Insider
