Indeed but then people found out they don't care about what's behind the ticker (i.e underlying value) as long as its price goes up. You can find the same behaviour on many stocks as well(i.e $AMC more recently).
It's just history(i.e [1] )not conspiracy theories. We are past that. Same thing about surveillance. It used to be "conspiracy theories" but wikileaks and Snowden showed us that the truth is even worse.
I believe Musk is starting to loose its shine unless gets another rabbit out the hat. The Tesla Bot may be a such attempt but it's a hard sell because it's not really something new(i.e Boston Dynamics have been trying it for decades)
> Stocks are different because there’s actually an underlying business beyond “waiting for the next guy”.
I agree but this doesn't change the fact that many people don't care about the underlying business and often the stock price and underlying business are disconnected. They just gamble whatever is "hot" or if they think they are smarter they trade the chart. In this way it's no different than crypo "investing". Both can make you rich or get you bankrupt, fast.
cryptocurrencies don't have to be ponzi schemes but most of them are because the crypto "investors" want to get into ponzi schemes.
They don't "believe" in shitcoin's "white paper" but they believe there are more ponzi buyers.
To be fair most retailers do the same with stocks so it's not that different. I don't even mention CFDs where the vast majority lose. Even "analysts" score various instruments based on "demand"/market sentiment not value.
>> The Fed decision wasn't important to energy costs anyway, though.
Of course it was. Rate hiking makes the dollar more expensive for anyone buying dollars(to pay for the oil). Were they dealing with gold they would not have this issue. Not to mention if the buyer is a gold producer.
>> Gold is valued in dollars. Oil is valued in dollars.
If a long term contract is signed it protects you from dollar's inflation/volatility as the contract used gold as currency. I think this is important as tomorrow Fed's decision is no longer that important for your energy costs.
The more important part is that if enough contracts are signed in gold(highly unlikely given U.S's oil exports) then the dollar is no longer relevant to the oil price.
I think this is to be expected(sooner or later) for small businesses dealing with "big tech".
You are just a small number in an ocean of "users" so suspending you is really no different than suspending your twitter account. Start taking some responsability folks! Let's stop feeding these walled gardens!