The Practical Islamic Finance Podcast

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September 13, 2024 Rakaan Kayali

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Now!
In this episode we will cover:

  •  PPI Numbers and Bitcoin Overview
  • Core PPI Data and Rate Cut Expectations
  • Fed's Dual Mandate: Inflation and Unemployment
  • Bitcoin's Price and Market Setup
  • Bitcoin Price Projections for Year-End
  • Golden Cross Indicators for Bitcoin
  • Micron Technology Stock Analysis
  • Q&A: Crypto Spot ETFs, Healthcare Stocks, and More 

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salam@practicalislamicfinance.com

ABOUT OUR PODCAST
Our podcast is about helping people ethically build wealth. We cover a broad range of topics including stock and crypto investing, product reviews, and general financial well-being.

DISCLAIMER
Anything you hear in this video is an opinion. It is not personalized financial advice. Make sure you do your due diligence before making any investment decisions.

As-salamu alaykum everybody. Today is Thursday, September 12th, and Bitcoin is at 57,600. We got the much anticipated PPI numbers this morning, and they were basically in line with expectations. We're going to go over that. We're going to go over some other data points related to Bitcoin and why I think right now we may be looking at a very attractive setup for Bitcoin. It does seem like the market just wants to move higher. So we'll talk about that today. And if you enjoy these lives, then do leave. I really appreciate that. So let's get started. As I mentioned today, we got the PPI, or producer price index numbers, and they were in line with expectations. Basically, we got the same numbers that we got yesterday. And this is important because it tells us, the producer prices tell us what consumer prices will be in the future, because a lot of times producers will pass on any price increases to consumers. But we got basically what we were expecting with exception to a core PPI being a little hotter than what was expected. So producer price index increased 0.2% in August. That really doesn't mean much to me. Month over month numbers doesn't really tell us much. So I don't like to focus on that. Instead, I like to focus on year over year numbers. Initial filings for unemployment benefits total 230,000 for the week. And it's September 7th, up 2,000 from the previous period and higher than the 225,000 estimate. So if we're looking at on a 12 month basis, which is what I like to look at. So on a 12 month basis, headline PPI rose 1.7%, excluding food and energy and trade, the annual rate was 3.3%. So core PPI, a little hotter than expected. PPI, so that's excluding food and energy. PPI itself was basically in line with expectation. And now if we look at the expectations for rate cuts for next week, they're basically unchanged from yesterday. So the 25 base point cut, that's the most likely. And we have 85% chance of that happening, at least as per the market, only 15% chance for a 50 base point cut. I think that's basically off the table right now. We're not going to see a 50 base point cut unless we get a news event that causes us to think otherwise. If we look at, so just to understand the picture that the Fed is facing right now. So if we look the dual mandate tracker, keep in mind the Fed's mandate, the dual mandate that it has is to keep unemployment down and prices stable. And it likes to target an inflation rate of around 2%. Right now what we have is inflation is coming down. That's that blue line of 2.6%. So it's coming down and it has come down substantially compared to the 9% plus that we witnessed 2021, 2022, when the hiking of interest rates started. And that's that black line, by the way. So we peaked out in terms of the Fed funds rate at where we are right now. We've been holding steady while inflation has been dropping. But the unemployment rate, that's that line in yellow, that's been headed upwards. We're now at 4.2%. We haven't seen a massive spike, but it's definitely heading upwards. And typically that's what happens is that it happens gradually and then you get a sudden spike. So if you look at previous periods, that's what happened. So for example, 2008, 2009, you got the gradual movement upwards and unemployment and then a spike. So this gives the Fed a reason not to be too comfortable in its approach here. And this is why the market is pricing in an 85% chance of a cut. You don't want to wait too long. And in fact, some would argue that the Fed is late. I actually think the Fed's movements have been quite rational. And I think that the data is telling you that a 25 base point cut is what is needed right now. A 50 base point cut may actually spook the markets. And so we may actually have a reversal in the market if 50 base points happens. But what's good about the numbers that came out today and yesterday is that they've generated a consensus in the market that a 25 base point cut is going to happen, which means that market participants, investors can check off that source of ambiguity, or that source of ambiguity is no longer in play, which is what is the Fed going to do. And it's no longer in play to the tune of an 85% chance that we go with a 25 base point cut. So I think we got what we needed from the inflation picture, which the worst thing would be a massively hotter than expected inflation number. We didn't get that. We got something that was in line with expectations, and we got clear direction, I think, for the Fed regarding next week's move. So if we look at Bitcoin's price, 57.6, we have been basically forming a pretty substantial base ever since hitting the all-time high back in March. We've been forming a pretty long base here for Bitcoin. We haven't really seen the massive pullback that we've seen in previous cycles, which I think is good. I think it has been supported by the new Bitcoin ETFs. And so the bigger the base, the bigger the break. That's typically what happens. And I think we're due for a break here in Bitcoin. I think it's going to happen before the end of the year, and that break is going to be glorious, inshallah. So I got a lot of questions about who is better for Bitcoin and our investments between the two candidates. I do think Trump is more crypto-friendly, his party is more crypto-friendly than the Democrats are. So a report came out today from Standard Chartered basically saying Bitcoin could hit $125,000 by year-end if Trump becomes president, $75K if Harris triumphs. I actually think their number for Harris's win scenario is actually a bit low. I think even if Harris were to win, we'll probably see a number higher than that. The Trump number seems about right. I've been telling you guys that I think Bitcoin will be above $100,000 when the year ends, which means that I think that there is a potential doubling in Bitcoin's price in the next three and a half months now. That is interesting. And by the way, Bitcoin, everyone has a different golden cross measurements. I've seen the traditional one is 50 and 200-day average, so the 50-day average and the 200-day average. So I saw a golden cross using a different 20 and 21-day simple moving average, exponential moving average, and they actually crossed recently. And so we are looking at a golden cross here. And if you look at previous periods, then this has been quite bullish for Bitcoin. So I can actually show you what I am talking about rather than just explaining it to you. A picture is worth a thousand words, as they say. If we look at the Bitcoin chart, and this is a two-month view. If history is to repeat, we see a golden cross here, 20-day simple moving average is in red, 21-day exponential moving average is in blue. Not a standard golden cross, but if you look at when this has happened previously, whether it was 2021 or 2017 or at the end of 2012, it's always been followed by a really strong move up in the price of Bitcoin. So you'll see a lot of charts like this every now and then, especially on X, where people are predicting a breakout. But I do think that we are due for a breakout. Liquidity levels globally support our thesis that we've repeated here many times on this channel. And the chart is our friend. Looking at one of the stocks, so moving away from Bitcoin, looking at one of the stocks that's on our watch list, that PIF. And it's always been intriguing to me, but not intriguing enough to pull the trigger as of late. It had a really solid quarterly report. And if you look at their financials, it's very solid. It's actually, I'm talking about Micron Technology. Since their last quarterly report where they beat estimates and actually had a really solid performance, they're down 40%. So 40% from their high this year. If you look at some of their financials, it actually looks quite good. If you look at their revenue, it's moving in the right direction, especially. This is a cyclical business, semiconductors, that is. Net income is moving in the right direction. Earnings per share is moving in the right direction. You have more than a year over year change. Their cash is healthy at 8.3 billion, and yet they're down 40%. And today, we got another bearish call from an analyst on Micron. So what's happening here? The argument is that, okay, there's an oversupply in memory chips right now, and that's going to affect its profitability. The issue with Micron and the reason why I haven't pulled the trigger on this stock, although it's getting increasingly attractive, the reason why I haven't pulled the trigger on this stock is that its margins are too low. And this kind of suggests, although their margins are moving in the right direction, and therefore, I'm not ruling out adding Micron at a certain price. That's really the holdup here. And the margins are a function of the business being ultimately a commodity business and not their product isn't differentiated enough to command higher margins. And my maturation as an investor has led me to the conclusion that it's way easier as an investor to focus your money, your investing dollars on businesses that have high margins. The fact of the matter is, in this world, you have businesses that are have a really easy time making money. And you have businesses that have a really hard time making money. And when you're allocating your investment dollars, you want to put them in businesses that have a really easy time making money. And that comes through in their margins. That being said, it does seem like Micron's margins are on the right track. So if you look at their gross margins, which is up top here, so as a percentage of revenue, you can see now, this is a cyclical business. So keep that in mind. But you can see as a percentage of revenue, for example, the third quarter 2023, you're looking at negative 16%. And then it jumps to 20%. When you're looking at Q2 2024, and then it jumps again to 28%. That's the gross margin. Now, when you take into account the operating expenses and everything else, taxes as a percentage of revenue, three quarters ago, negative 42%. Then it jumps to 8% then to 10%. So 10% really, as a net income, that's on the border here for me. If we get additional depreciation in the stock, ahead of earnings, which are September 25, this may be something the risk reward profile for this stock may be intriguing enough to add. So this is something that I'm going to keep a close eye on. And inshallah, we'll have updates for you. All right, now, let's look at our chat, see what people are saying. As-salamu alaykum, brother, please. XAI coin, halal or haram? I'm actually not familiar. Comment below, it says it's a gaming coin. So I'm not really against. So wait, is gaming as gambling? Of course, that would be haram. But gaming as just and I think this is what the brother is referring to gaming as just like video games. I think that's fine as so long as the theme of the video game is not something objectionable. But I'm not really familiar with the coin. Chocolate, nice to see you. As-salamu alaykum. Osman says, first time commenting online. Great to have you Osman, glad you could join us. Crypto spot ETFs are halal or not? Yeah, I think crypto spot ETFs are totally okay. If they're holding the actual crypto, not dealing with derivatives, that's really what you need to check out and verify. And we actually hold the BTC ETF in one of our portfolios, PIF portfolios. Sheikh Adnan, nice to see you. Any good healthcare stocks to buy right now? I'm actually thinking about diversifying our, like my goal is to diversify our dividend portfolio out of healthcare stocks, even though they've been doing quite well. They're a good hedge against slowdowns in the economy. But yeah, my focus is outside of healthcare because I think we have ample exposure to it right now. Osman says, IBIT is uncomfortable. Could you please explain why? I'll have to check that out. I don't think IBIT is uncomfortable. Now some BTC ETFs are their parent company, and this is something that became clear to us when we invested our community. I made the mistake of investing in a BTC ETF that was associated with BlackRock, and BlackRock has pretty strong ties with Israel. So I ended up divesting from that and then investing in a different ETF. And it's important to look at the parent companies of the ETFs that we hold or are considering and making sure that those parent companies, we're okay with them, we're comfortable with them. Is there any platform that allows us to sell our crypto coins to buy stocks directly? Interesting. I think some brokerages, even M1 has crypto trading, but there's no, you have to sell your crypto and then I think move your money into a different account to buy the stocks. They're not all in the same account. Taskeen, Jazakallah khair for these lives. Wayakum, Jazakallah khair for coming. This live would be nothing without the viewers. So thank you all for coming. Thank you all for those who always leave. I really appreciate it. What happens to crypto if the U.S. dollar collapses? It could be bullish for cryptos denominated in U.S. dollars. And the entire thesis for something like Bitcoin is that the U.S. dollar may collapse and you want a better hedge against inflation. And Bitcoin provides that. How the heck is game betting legal now? Just how much does the U.S. depend on unethical money making methods to stay afloat? Yeah, honestly, it's pretty sad to see to be honest. First of all, alhamdulillah for Islam that prohibits gambling altogether. I can just imagine how hard it is for someone who has a gambling addiction to watch sports now, because you can't watch a game without being inundated with gambling ads all the time. And so if someone had an addiction to that, they can't watch sports anymore. So yeah, what they're doing is really unethical, preying on people, oftentimes that are vulnerable, that are desperate. I don't know of anyone who became rich betting on sports. I know rich people who bet on sports, but I don't know anyone who became rich betting on sports. They may become rich selling their picks, but not actually betting. Yeah, it's a really sad situation what's happened here in the United States. And I would say in the West generally, they've lost any sense of moral, having a moral compass. And basically, whatever makes money is what ends up prevailing. It's the same with I was asked yesterday about bloom. I was looking at bloom and it was maybe this is not what they're asking. Maybe it's like a crypto or something. But bloom, the stock, this is a cannabis stock. We don't invest in cannabis. This should be very clear. We don't invest in things that make you impact your mental clarity. And so this is something now, obviously, I'm not talking about medicinal uses that are prescribed by a legit doctor. But for entertainment, as Muslims, we don't do that. So that should be very clear. By the way, if you're non-Muslim and you're watching, welcome. I don't know if we have any, but I don't want to make people seem like they're not welcome at all. Everyone's welcome. If it provides you value, I'm glad you're here. And I hope you enjoy it. Let's see here. Assalamu alaikum. I've been a PIF member less than two months. Knew nothing about Bitdeer, invested and I paid for my PIF membership already. Oh, great. That's awesome to hear. I think Bitdeer is going to go up massively. It's one of my strongest conviction shares or stocks. So inshallah. I'm glad to hear that. Thank you for sharing it. Become a PIF member, by the way, if you're not a PIF member yet, our community becomes more valuable, the more people are in it and are active. So yeah, we'd love to have you. Also recently that the majority of those involved in game betting are the poor and lower class. Yeah, of course they are, because it turns out that poor and lower class people, like the way you become poor is by not having self-control. And if you stay poor into adulthood, I'm not talking about people who are, who, you know, exceptions, people go through tough times, people who are in areas where they don't have a fair shot. I'm not talking about that, but I'm talking about, if you're in the United States and have relatively decent parents, or you have a roof over your head, you're able to find food. And the way you stay poor your entire life is by not having any self-control, not being disciplined. And betting preys on that, betting preys on your lack of ability to control your impulses and your desire to have easy money, to earn easy money. And I should say that it preys on people who are desperate. So people who are behind on bills, have a lot of debt, have a lot of acute need to make money quickly. That's who does sports betting. And yeah, I'm not surprised that the lower class, Bitty or Iron Mara, my BTC players, I got into hymns today. Sports gambling, honestly, would make any game fun to watch. If you're okay with losing money, if that's fun to you, because a lot of times that's exactly what happens. I don't think losing money is fun at all. But yeah, I don't think the fun compensates for the deep regret after you've lost a sizable chunk of cash. So a lot of longer comments. I won't keep you guys here too long. Nice to see you, Ali. I think you're a new face here. Marcel asks, is dropshipping haram? We have a video on dropshipping. Check it out to find my opinion on that. Hey guys, leave a like if you haven't already. Inshallah, you have a great rest of your day. Become a PIF member. And the title of the live is now, because I do think we have a great setup right now. And I do think that the coast is clear to start buying. Not financial advice, but this is what I am going to do. I'm communicating to you my thoughts and what I'll be doing, inshallah. So inshallah, I will start getting more aggressive with my buying after having held off on doing any serious buying for a while. You can look out for that. PIF members will obviously be notified move for move of my trades. So with that, take care of yourself. As-salamu alaykum and peace be upon you all.