Hippo Works

@Frank_Giustra Very well written and clear, Frank. I also appreciate your mentioning the climate crisis at the top - most in finance seem to ignore it when it’s arguably the mother of all issues this century.

My latest-“What most investors miss is how central banks and governments react to what will surely be a downturn in the economy caused by the oil price shocks. Witness the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis:gold sold off during the initial panic phase” frankgiustra.com/posts/the-pric…

Trump in 2008: Anyone who invades the Middle East under false pretenses should be impeached. Let’s make sure it goes viral here.

Peter Thiel literally wrote that freedom and democracy are not 'compatible' and that regulating Big Tech is the work of the 'anti-Christ'. Stop treating this as metaphor. When billionaires tell you they want to end democracy, take them seriously.

@qthomp This all makes sense to me, Quinn, thank you. I bought some $WEAT before the war and think this next week I may buy more on a pull back. Curious if you think that’s the best etf or do you have another you prefer for wheat?

@michaeljburry what say you @NasdaqExchange ?

Must read - this is free and not me. @georgenoble/note/c-226667679?r=4repfn&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">substack.com/@georgenoble/n… This is the most SHAMELESS structural manipulation of a major index I've ever seen. SpaceX is preparing what could be the largest IPO in history. Target valuation: $1.75 trillion. That would make it the sixth-largest company in America on day one. And Nasdaq wants the listing so badly they're literally CHANGING how the Nasdaq-100 works. In February, Nasdaq published a "consultation" proposing sweeping changes to how companies enter the index. The timing is pure coincidence, of course. Just like it's pure coincidence that SpaceX has reportedly made fast index inclusion a CONDITION of listing on Nasdaq. Here's what they're proposing: A new "Fast Entry" rule would let any newly listed company whose market cap ranks in the top 40 of current Nasdaq-100 members get added to the index after just 15 trading days. No seasoning period. No liquidity requirements. Completely exempt from the standards every other company had to meet. Currently, new public companies typically wait up to a year before they're eligible for major index inclusion. That waiting period exists for a reason. It lets the market establish real price discovery. It protects passive investors from being forced into untested, illiquid stocks. And Nasdaq wants to throw all of that out. For ONE listing. But the Fast Entry rule isn't even the worst part... The real scandal is the 5x float multiplier. Right now, the S&P 500 uses a free-float adjusted methodology. If only 5% of a company's shares are available for public trading, the index weights you at 5% of total market cap. That's common sense. You weight a company based on what investors can actually buy. Nasdaq's current methodology already uses total market cap rather than free-float for weighting. But for very low-float stocks, they at least had a 10% minimum float threshold. Under the new proposal, that threshold DISAPPEARS entirely. Instead, any stock with less than 20% free float gets weighted at FIVE TIMES its actual float percentage, capped at 100%. Do the math on SpaceX: If SpaceX IPOs at $1.75 trillion and floats 5% of its shares, there would be roughly $87.5 billion worth of stock available for public trading. Under Nasdaq's proposed 5x multiplier, the index would weight SpaceX at 25% of its total market cap. That means passive funds would be forced to buy as if SpaceX were a $437.5 billion company. But only $87.5 billion of stock actually exists in the market. You are forcing hundreds of billions in passive buying into a $87.5 billion float. QQQ alone manages nearly $400 billion. The total Nasdaq-100 ecosystem represents over $1.4 trillion in exposure across ETFs, mutual funds, structured notes, and derivatives. Every single passive vehicle tracking this index would be REQUIRED to buy SpaceX at whatever price the market dictates. On Day 15. With zero price discovery. Zero track record as a public company. And a float so thin you could read through it. So what this actually does is it creates a structural wealth transfer mechanism. The passive bid from index funds pushes the stock price higher. That higher price benefits exactly one group of people: the insiders and early investors who own the other 95% of the shares. And when lock-up periods expire 90 to 180 days later? Those insiders sell into the artificially inflated passive bid. Your 401(k) is the exit liquidity. This is the fundamental corruption of indexing. Indexing used to be brilliant. Low cost. Efficient. You were free-riding on the price discovery done by active managers. The index reflected the market. Now the index IS the market. Trillions of dollars flow blindly into whatever the index tells them to buy. And the people who control the index methodology are changing the rules to serve the interests of a single IPO candidate. The S&P 500 requires companies to have at least…

@adammocklerr No, the responsibility lies solely with Trump who could have said no to bibi and backed that no up with us power.

🚨 We just learned the TRUTH...

1.5 million is huge

EVEN IF YOU START A NUCLEAR WAR, WE WILL CRAWL OUT OF THE ASHES AS SEVEN-LEGGED MUTANTS DEMANDING THE RELEASE OF THE EPSTEIN FILES.

@gailcweiner I don’t think there’s a time limit

A really sad and embarrassing day to be employed at OpenAI.

Fuck this. I just cancelled my Chat GPT subscription and am now subscribing to Claude.

Sam Altman is such an incredible backstabber, liar and traitor. While your competitor is taking a heroic and principled stand, you swoop in to make your deal. Imagine working for this guy - is there a greater shame? This should lead to a mass exodus from OpenAI.

@AnthropicAI Thank you!!

A statement from Anthropic CEO, Dario Amodei, on our discussions with the Department of War. anthropic.com/news/statement…

PLEASE RESHARE THIS! Trump’s DOJ was caught scrubbing Epstein Files of Trump’s name. This should be the biggest story of the year. Don’t let it die!

This is the most important thing happening in the world right now. The administration wants killer drones + mass surveillance of Americans. Anthropic refuses to build it. While most tech companies fall in line, they are prepared to pay the price for their principles.

The Department of Justice has illegally “withheld some Epstein files related to allegations that President Trump sexually abused a minor." The biggest coverup in presidential history just got worse. Release the files. npr.org/2026/02/24/nx-…

John Oliver did a brutal exposé of how Elon Musk destroyed Twitter and turned X into a cesspool of right-wing misinformation. Oliver hasn't posted in over a year: "I will be going back there tomorrow to post a link to this piece before going silent again." Worth a watch.

Trump is in the Epstein files 38,000 times. He flew on Epstein’s private jet — and lied about it. He wrote to Epstein about their “wonderful secret.” QAnon thought Trump was going to take down the secret pedophile ring — but he's right in the middle of it.

💜

Apparently @elonmusk hates this Banksy. Would be awful if we kept sharing it...