Let’s cover three topics on this sun-isn’t-even-up morning.
Crude Scheming Fails
As I hope you know, last weekend the lovely people constituting OPEC – – which are basically a conglomeration of nations that would have NOTHING to offer the world were it not for the fact that, by sheer accident, a bunch of dinosaurs died beneath their ground hundreds of millions of years ago – – got together in their market-manipulating cartel and declared that, once again, they would SUPPRESS the natural energy supply in a shameless attempt to maximize their profits. As the arrow indicates, it worked great.
![](https://slopeofhope.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/crudega-640x370.png)
As the price action that follows also indicates, it worked for about one second. After the opening rip, the price has been selling off steadily, until such time as it is now well below the level when the godless, bone-saw-loving maniacs from Saudi Arabia tried to fuck the world over as they always do.
My fervent wish, of course, is that this massive right triangle fails, and the lunatic terrorists of OPEC start cheating on one another (since they’re all amoral devils anyway) and pound the price into oblivion. My view is that the price of oil is wising up to the fact that global economic collapses is on the way, and no matter what the asshole pictured in the chart above does, the price discovery will, sooner or later, express itself. My XOP puts are my bet on it.
![](https://slopeofhope.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/crudetri-640x318.png)
Coinbase Collapses
Perhaps you are not acquainted with this Lex Luthor character:
That’s Brian Armstrong, who founded Coinbase (symbol COIN). That’s the same COIN that another bald freak, Jim Cramer, strongly recommended at $475. It is collapsing this morning, and it is worth about 10% of what $5 million/year Cramer told retail dupes to buy it atl
![](https://slopeofhope.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/coinfall-640x558.png)
Don’t worry about Brian, though. He’s fine.
![](https://slopeofhope.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/dump-640x312.png)
Co-Opting Steve
One, there’s just one more thing. And it’s the phrase “one more thing.”
See, back when Steve Jobs was actually creating great products, he would use that phrase on occasion to announce some big news that everyone in the audience pretty much new was coming, but he made it magical by leaving it until the very end. The iPhone introduction in 2007 was the most famous example of this.
Well, when I was watching the entire two hour commercial from Apple WWDC yesterday, Tim Cook was mincing around the stage when he co-opted this exact same phrase.
I almost threw up all over my not-made-from-Apple monitor. As with Steve, Mr. Cook left this phrase for the final portion of their product puff piece in order to proudly announce an entirely new realm of their industry – – “Spatial Computing” – – which they’re hoping to God actually becomes a thing.
Look, when Steve said the phrase, it was exciting, wry, and charming. When Tim Cook blatantly steals it, it comes off as overly precious, pandering, and puerile.
Look, Tim, when it comes to your presentations, some cultural icons are easier for us to swallow.
![](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Apple-Tim-Cook-rainbow.jpg?w=1024)