The Practical Islamic Finance Podcast

A Done Deal 👏

Rakaan Kayali

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A Done Deal 👏

In this episode, we will cover:

  • Intro
  • Bitcoin Strategic Reserve: Confirmed or Not?
  • Trump’s Executive Orders on Crypto
  • Dogecoin ETF: High Probability?
  • Bitcoin Price Manipulation Insights
  • Real Estate Market Sentiment: 65-Year Lows
  • Smaller Cap Stocks for 2024
  • Wrap-Up & Market Overview 

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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.

assalamu alaikum everyone I hope you are doing well today is thursday january twenty third and it does appear that the strategic bitcoin reserve for bitcoin and maybe other cryptos is a done deal the s p notched a another record high today and uh bitcoin surprisingly you would expect that bitcoin would have responded a lot more positively to the news but no it was actually flat if you compare it to where it was one day ago but I do believe that this is just manipulation by market makers and exchanges who are trying to wipe out leveraged traders and so I think that this is kind of like a you know a beach ball being held underwater it's going to pop in a big way, probably in the near future, as will doge for a number of reasons. We'll talk about that in a second. One of those reasons being President Trump has made it no secret that he is a fan of lower interest rates, and he said that not only should the United States be lowering interest rates, but other countries as well the whole world should be lowering interest rates that is something that the market definitely likes and it could come at no better time or nor not a more urgent time for this to happen. So the conditions for buying houses are now the worst conditions that they've been in the last sixty five years. If you look at people who. You know what their sentiment is regarding the conditions of buying a home. the shares reporting good conditions versus the share reporting bad conditions has never been lower. So people are fed up with the higher interest rates and they're waiting for a meaningful decrease in interest rates in order for home buying to resume. Now, going back to Bitcoin, I do like to... sort of zoom out and not focus on the daily happenings daily announcements and see where we are in the cycle if you look at the mvr vz score our favorite metric for judging when we are at a local top versus the local bottom uh that is below three and you know previous cycle highs have corresponded with Z scores that are closer to seven, eight or nine. And so we're not nearly close enough to a Z score that would suggest a cycle high or even a local high for Bitcoin. So I do think there is a lot of reason to be bullish on Bitcoin. Senator Cynthia Lummis, who has been one of the biggest proponents of Bitcoin before many of her colleagues, has been appointed to chair the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Digital Assets. And she has mentioned that Congress needs to urgently pass bipartisan legislation establishing a comprehensive legal framework for digital assets. So that's crypto generally. And that strengthens the U.S. dollar with a strategic Bitcoin reserve. So expect additional catalysts for crypto generally for Bitcoin specifically. and uh cz the founder of binance thinks that this means the strategic bitcoin reserve is pretty much confirmed crypto and bitcoin are moving at a very fast rate now the probabilities for a national bitcoin reserve on calci have now moved up to sixty five percent if you'll recall on previous lives, I mentioned that I believed it was above fifty percent. Even when, you know, Kalshi was reporting below fifty percent probability, I thought that was understated. And indeed, the probabilities have adjusted to reflect, I think, more accurately the reality of the situation, which is that this seems very likely to happen. And I actually think a sixty three percent chance, which is what is showing at this very moment is perhaps understated. I think it's more than that. I understand that there's a caveat here on this poll, which is that not the National Bitcoin Reserve as a yes or no binary, but before January first, twenty twenty six. So there's an added wrinkle. You should take that into account when you're when you're interpreting this percentage. And no, I do not think that it has been priced in yet. And in fact, I think that it's more accurate to say a sixty three percent chance or just about has been priced in. But there's still a lot of room for upside here. President Trump signed a number of executive orders as it relates to crypto. He signed a executive order to create a national digital asset stockpile. So that could include just Bitcoin. It could include other cryptos as well. So, you know, maybe with Elon Musk having the ear of the president, that includes Dogecoin. That would certainly be very bullish for the largest meme coin. And the president also signed an executive order officially banning the creation of a central bank digital currency, which is great news. I think if you look at the most dictatorial, most authoritarian regimes globally, they are the most interested in having a central bank digital currency. It is a good sign when you see the president of the US distancing the country from such a currency, which is only going to be used to control the citizens of whichever country is unlucky enough to have one. Now, in terms of Dogecoin, Bitwise, the same company who we bought the Bitcoin ETF from, Bitwise has registered a Delaware entity for a potential Dogecoin ETF. So we're having additional applicants for Dogecoin ETFs. So I really think that this is a high probability event, which will be bullish for this token. A lot of people are going to be looking at Bitcoin, they're going to see it with six digits in its price and they're going to say, can I get a more aggressive crypto position in my portfolio with perhaps more potential upside? And they're going to look to something like Dogecoin, I think, as a potential solution. And so a lot of people who are holding Bitcoin perhaps in their brokerage accounts are will, I believe, sell some of that to buy Dogecoin and perhaps even new entrants who weren't really impressed with the upside potential of Bitcoin, considering how much or how expensive it has become maybe attracted to Dogecoin as an alternative. So I really think there's probably, if I had to assign a probability to it, there's probably a thirty to forty percent probability that Dogecoin reaches one dollar in the next twelve months. So that is really exciting. Obviously, not financial advice. Be sure to do your own due diligence before making any investment decisions. And again, here with Doge in the news, this time the Department of Government Efficiencies, what we're talking about. The US debt clock added a DOGE clock, which is basically the target amount of savings for the new department, the Department of Government Efficiency. So we can track their target for savings. It's not necessarily, as I understand it, what has already been saved. This is what they should be targeting in terms of how much to save. And Elon Musk actually commented on X on this doge clock and mentioned that this number should be probably a hundred times higher. So even though some people may look at it as a joke, but this is serious stuff and it's getting more and more official. So good to see. With that, let's go to questions. When do you think market will respond to Trump executive orders? I think the market is being manipulated right now. I think it's being held down artificially. think the price of bitcoin uh will go higher actually as we're speaking I mean I think I started this live with bitcoin at one oh three it's now closer to one oh four uh so I do think that uh bitcoin will go higher crypto will go higher if it doesn't uh gives you know investors more time to buy but the Fundamentals for Bitcoin for crypto generally objectively have improved after the recent legislation or executive orders that have been passed in the United States. And so that should reflect in the price. Liquidity levels globally are looking bullish, so they have sort of turned a corner. If we look at the dollar index, that's moving in the right direction, although, you know, very slowly. U.S. ten year treasury yields. Up today, less than one percent, but still far removed from their high. So we're still in the four point six range. We were in the four point eight range. If we can get another leg down on the yields here on Treasury, if we can get some movement there downwards, that will be very good for risk assets and may be the missing component that we need to get the next leg up there. Rania, nice to see you. Alaykum Salam. Yunus, nice to see you. Is Dogecoin still a buy at this current level? Yeah, I think so. I mean, if not financial advice, but I mean, it's very close to our buy price on our watch list. If you have, you know, a twelve to twenty four month horizon and, you know, obviously, depending on what your investment goals are, my goals are not necessarily your goals. So take that into consideration. Like I said, I do think that there's a thirty to forty percent chance that it reaches a dollar in the next twelve months. We'll see. Notice I said thirty to forty percent chance, so I'm not expecting this to happen, but I think it's not necessarily a remote possibility. awww I don't okay that's new first time I see you I see that uh smash the like button yes please do uh costumes thanks for reminding me what do you think of twilio I was actually looking at twilio before I went live I was checking its comfort status on practical islamic finance App.practicalistemicfinance.com link is in the description. Did show comfortable status there. So it's interesting. I'm actually looking more and more towards smaller and smaller caps, although, you know, not to say, I mean, it's seventeen billion, so it's not really a large cap. but far from it actually. But I am looking at smaller and smaller market caps. I do think that smaller market caps are gonna do very well this year. And so that's kind of where my focus have been, but Twilio did have some really stellar guidance today. It may not be a bad pick. What about baby dogs? I don't know anything about them. Be very careful about all these garbage meme coins that are coming out. Again, one of the things that I really like about Dogecoin is that it's proof of work. That's something that meme coins, you're just not seeing in the new meme coins. And I think it adds legitimacy to the token. And it was a fair launch. Yasin says, peace and love from Belgium. Well, right back at you. Thank you, Yasin. So. Yeah, I am going to reveal a new name, inshallah, for PIF members soon, inshallah. I was only able to buy it on... So Interactive Brokers has it, but I've just had so much problems with them. But you'll want something with either Interactive Brokers. If you're good with their platform, that's fine. Or you'll want something like... Charles Schwab has it. Fidelity has it. I checked those. So it is considered a penny stock, although I do think that it will eventually be listed on NASDAQ. But yeah, more to come on that. If you'd like to follow our picks, become a PIF member. Link to do so is in the description. How can we invest into gold? Just buy a gold ETF. One of the gold ETFs that I reviewed not too long ago is BAR, B-A-R, Boy Apple and Rakan, if you're looking for the spelling. BAR, I think that's a good option. Assalamu alaikum. What do you think about Tesla and NVIDIA on today's price? Depends on your time horizon. I like Tesla more than NVIDIA. I think Tesla is, especially yesterday, I mean, the announcement that they may actually be producing as much as six hundred Optimus robots per week by the end of the year. That being a possibility, I didn't really think that was a possibility. It seems that it is. I mean, I think that this, I mean, Tesla could be the number one in terms of market cap, the most valuable asset in the world in the next ten years. So, I like Tesla. Do you think Trump coin will do well in the long run? No, I think this is a clear pump and dump scheme. So, I wouldn't touch it. Sven, nice to see you. It's been a while. Yeah. I mentioned my stance on Trump's coin yesterday. I think that it's a pump and dump scheme. To the extent that you think any project is a pump and dump scheme, it's uncomfortable from a halal perspective to invest in, at least from my understanding. And I wouldn't partake. Even if you're able to escape unscathed, you're setting other people up for financial loss. So I wouldn't touch it. with a barge pole, as they say. It is difficult to find halal stocks in smaller cap. How to find it? Actually, it's easier to find halal stocks that are smaller cap than it is larger cap stocks because Smaller cap companies tend to be focused on one thing, whereas larger cap companies deal with a whole array of things that require evaluation. Yeah, of course. My Israel ties criteria holds even after the ceasefire. Yeah, of course. Also, you know, I don't... I don't think we should forget what happened just because there is a ceasefire. It doesn't mean the crimes were not committed. So that being said, I honestly don't know. You'll be surprised, but I think, you know, Israel is, I mean, the cycle that these types of blips in history take, I think it has reached, you know, peak and is starting to move downwards. Casper, I don't know. I remember, you know, hearing about it a while ago. I wasn't that motivated. you happy with solana news yeah I mean solana seems to be eating the entire crypto market everything is happening on solana so yeah solana it seems to be you know running away with the lead here all the other like suey or whatever if you look at you know how much dollars are being assigned per transaction solana is cheaper than them so AMD is a good company. I think that they'll turn things around. But it's not a high conviction play for me. Yeah, if you're not a PIF member, see my picks in small caps. Yeah, see them. Oklo did well today. Yeah, Oklo, I mean, it's like feast or famine with the stock and with all like these, it's been feast at least lately. But all these modular nuclear reactor stocks, but I just think, you know, we're still years away from profitability here. So that seems kind of early, but the market is, I guess it's fine waiting. And there's a lot of positive announcements that are coming out. There's a lot of funding that's going in the way of data centers. And we know that the bottleneck there relates to energy. And so a lot of investment is pouring in that area. It's just, you know, from a business perspective, this is at least two, three, four years away from profitability. So. I don't know what happens when market excitement dies down. Maybe there's a big pullback. Maybe there isn't. Maybe it just maintains and investors are patient until the business starts actually producing cash flow. But for me, just investing in a company that's still years away from positive cash flow is a tough sell for me. Am I bullish on XRP? I mean, listen, I got XRP wrong already. So, I mean, if you're just judging by the price action, to me, XRP just, there's just too much dilution there and not enough guardrails around dilution for me to feel comfortable, you know, putting money behind it. Yeah. Hey Yasin, congrats on being in Antalya. What a beautiful place to live. I hope you take advantage and yeah, have a good night. First Solar, check the compliance of First Solar. Maybe we'll talk about it later. But first, solar is a good company. It's pulled back. I mean, a lot of these solar companies have pulled back a lot. It's interesting to see the nuclear companies skyrocketing and solar companies falling, even though solar, I think, is going to play a much bigger role in our energy future than nuclear is. um how important is bank of japan interest rate hike I mean its greatest importance is in is in how it impacts the uh the carry trade that happens so we'll see Abdullah says, by the way, I've never faced an issue with IBKR with regards to depositing money. That's interesting, Abdullah. So it's good to hear another take on that in case I wasn't being fair to them. But my personal experience has not been good. But thanks for sharing your experience as well. But you're depositing small amounts. Yeah, I mean, I wasn't depositing too much. a few thousand dollars. It wasn't anything to write home about, but they still managed to make me wait a crazy amount of time. Anyways, thank you all for coming. Do leave a like. Hey, a hundred and twenty, a hundred and thirty people on the live. That's amazing. Thank you all for coming. Leave a like. We should definitely get this live to more than a hundred likes then, so long as all of you are here. Become a PIF member if you aren't already. Things are looking very good for markets. I have to say, I mean, we have backdrop of, you know, policymakers asking for or at least exhibiting a readiness to lower interest rates. We have a new administration that's definitely in favor of that. We have an economy that seems to be chugging along nicely. We have a lot of secular trends that will enhance productivity like AI. And so the market is looking really good and liquidity is moving in the right direction. Now's the time to get involved with investing if you haven't started already. Hopefully you have. And the rich are getting richer for a reason. And that is because the rich invest their money. And the only way to keep up with prices and actually build wealth is to invest. That's the only thing that is beating the rate of inflation. And that's why we're seeing all assets basically in everything bubble happen. I'm not sure how long that's going to persist, but it's happening right now. I think it's important to take advantage of it. Until next time, make sure to take care of yourself. Assalamualaikum and peace be upon you all.