The stock market should have already<br>crashed. Every indicator is flashing<br>red. Consumers are drowning in debt. The<br>economy is cracking. Yet, the market is<br>still rising. And I'm going to show you<br>exactly why. Because once you understand<br>what's quietly propping this market up,<br>you'll see why the crash hasn't happened<br>yet and why that delay is the most<br>dangerous part. I'm Seth. I've worked in<br>fintech and banking for decades. And<br>even with a finance degree and an MBA, I<br>used to look at the markets and think<br>none of this makes sense. Headlines<br>screamed recession. Inflation was out of<br>control. But the market kept drifting<br>upward. Then I discovered something, and<br>this is the part almost nobody talks<br>about. Markets don't crash when things<br>look bad. They crash when the forces<br>holding everything together finally<br>break. And once you understand those<br>forces, everything happening today<br>suddenly becomes predictable.<br>So, let's break this down. First, the<br>relevant indicators point to a market<br>correction. The indicators say the stock<br>market should have crashed by now. Are<br>the indicators wrong or is the market<br>legendary investor Warren Buffett is<br>sitting on cash because one of his<br>favorite market valuation guidelines,<br>one that most people don't [music] know,<br>is telling him to. Buffett looks at the<br>market capitalization of all public<br>companies divided by the US gross<br>domestic product. The market cap of all<br>US public companies is $66 trillion. The<br>US GDP is about $30 trillion. Divide 66<br>by 30 and you get 220%.<br>But the really scary part, anything over<br>100% is considered overvalued. To put<br>this in perspective, before the dot<br>crash in 1999, the ratio was 115%.<br>Not 200, not 150, 115%. and the market<br>crashed by over 60%. That alone would<br>make one think the market should be<br>crashing.<br>And here's the part no one's talking<br>about. Do PE ratios even matter anymore?<br>Apparently not. And it's just not how<br>high they are. It's something else that<br>is even scarier. Historically, S&P 500<br>companies have PE ratios around 15 to<br>16. Today, it's 25 to 28, already high.<br>But that's not the real problem. The<br>real problem is the companies driving<br>the S&P 500. And here's where it gets<br>unsettling.<br>Nvidia's PE ratio is 53 to 55. A normal<br>stable mega cap company would be 20 to<br>25. Granted, tech companies generally<br>run a little higher than normal, but not<br>200% plus. Amazon's PE ratio is 35 to 37<br>and Microsoft's is 35 to 40. And the one<br>that will really shock you, Tesla's PE<br>ratio is 286.<br>This means investors are paying $30,<br>$40, or $50 for each dollar in earnings.<br>Would you pay $50 for a $1 candy bar?<br>Seems crazy, but people still buy. And<br>here's something that should make people<br>nervous.<br>Before the dot crash in 1999, SNP 500 PE<br>ratios were running 29 to 32, roughly<br>the same as they are today. All these<br>signs indicate a market crash is<br>overdue. yet it hasn't occurred.<br>Next, the hidden forces holding the<br>market up. Even though all the<br>indicators have been flashing red, high<br>inflation, rising consumer debt, slowing<br>job market, layoffs, corporate earnings<br>slowing down, elevated PE ratios, and a<br>grossly overvalued market. The market<br>still hasn't collapsed. Why? And here's<br>the part that most people miss. It's<br>because two major forces are working to<br>hold it up.<br>Force number one, the government keeps<br>stimulating demand quietly. Officially,<br>stimulus checks ended years ago. But<br>look closer.<br>The government is still injecting money<br>into the system in ways the average<br>person never sees. Expanded credit<br>programs, quietly increased government<br>spending, and corporate support<br>mechanisms like corporate tax cuts and<br>what some people call corporate welfare.<br>It's stimulus wearing a disguise because<br>they don't want you to see it. Take<br>government spending. The government<br>collects about $5 trillion every year in<br>tax revenue and spends about $7<br>trillion. Much of that $7 trillion finds<br>its way to companies and then to<br>employees. Consumers then buy things,<br>elevating corporate profits. So, massive<br>government spending is propping up our<br>economy. And what many people don't<br>realize is that when the government<br>boosts demand, even indirectly, stocks<br>stay inflated longer. But with $38<br>trillion in debt and annual interest<br>costs of more than $1 trillion, how long<br>do you think the government can keep<br>spending like this before we have a<br>reckoning? Likely not much longer. And<br>here's the crazy part. This isn't even<br>the main force.<br>Force number two, dollar devaluation and<br>inflation. If you've been following the<br>news, you know the current<br>administration wants to see a weaker<br>dollar so our exports are cheaper.<br>That's no secret. But other less obvious<br>factors are at work decreasing the<br>demand for dollars. Here are two most<br>people don't recognize. First, some<br>countries, notably the bricks led by<br>China, want to see international<br>transactions settled in currencies other<br>than dollars. And it's happening at an<br>accelerating rate that decreases demand<br>for the dollar. Next, US treasuries are<br>not seen as the flight to safety,<br>risk-free assets they once were. That<br>also decreases demand for the dollar.<br>When demand for the dollar decreases,<br>the value of the dollar also decreases.<br>Couple that with the current<br>administration's desire to make our<br>exports more affordable and downward<br>pressure on the dollar is twofold. And<br>it gets worse.<br>We all know inflation has been stubborn<br>and a weaker dollar enhances that. And<br>when the government floods the system<br>with dollars, inflation and dollar<br>devaluation accelerate. Why? Because you<br>have more dollars chasing the same goods<br>and services, which causes prices to<br>rise. And anytime the supply of anything<br>increases, the value or price of that<br>thing generally goes down. That's what<br>is happening with the dollar right now.<br>So, every dollar you have is silently<br>bleeding value, even if your bank<br>account balance hasn't changed. But<br>you're probably asking yourself, how is<br>this propping up the stock market? Let<br>me break it down. One, government<br>spending is supporting consumer spending<br>and contributing to inflation. Two, the<br>dollar is decreasing in value. The net<br>result is that companies raise prices.<br>When prices rise, corporate earnings<br>rise, not because they've become more<br>innovative or productive, but simply<br>because the dollar doesn't buy as much<br>anymore. This is why companies can<br>report record earnings even when fewer<br>people are buying their products. It's<br>not growth. It's inflation disguised as<br>growth. But earnings still go up. And<br>here's the kicker. Wall Street knows<br>this. This can lead to higher corporate<br>valuations, which is what some big<br>investors may be betting on. And here is<br>something else very few people<br>understand. If you borrow money to buy<br>assets like stocks, and inflation rises,<br>two things happen. Your debt becomes<br>cheaper because you pay it back with<br>less valuable dollars. Your asset values<br>increase because the replacement cost or<br>revenue potential, your ability to raise<br>prices increases. And here's what most<br>people will never hear on the news.<br>Inflation works in the favor of people<br>who buy assets with debt. And money is<br>still historically cheap and likely to<br>get cheaper. Again, big investors such<br>as hedge funds and other institutional<br>investors are hiding in plain sight,<br>borrowing large sums of money to buy<br>stocks. If inflation stays high or<br>increases, they win big. These two<br>forces are working together to prop up<br>the market and keep the large investors<br>in the game. And this leads to one of<br>the things the government, the banks,<br>and even the wealthy don't want you to<br>know. The top 10% own almost 90% of all<br>stocks, 90%. So, as inflation and dollar<br>devaluation take hold, the rich get<br>richer, while the bottom 90% see their<br>cost of living rise and their dollar not<br>stretching as far, bending until they<br>break. But here's the part most people<br>aren't thinking about. These forces<br>propping up the market won't last<br>forever. They delay the crash, not<br>prevent it. Third, why this crash is<br>taking longer than expected to arrive?<br>Let's address the biggest question. If<br>all the signs are bad, why hasn't the<br>crash already happened? This is where<br>most people misunderstand how markets<br>actually work. Crashes don't happen when<br>conditions get bad. Crashes happen when<br>confidence breaks. Think of confidence<br>like an overloaded bridge. It doesn't<br>collapse when the first crack appears.<br>It collapses when the final bolt snaps.<br>Right now, confidence is being held<br>together by three threads, and all three<br>are starting to fray. The first thread,<br>consumers are still spending money they<br>don't have. [music] The US economy is<br>consumer-based with consumer spending<br>making up roughly 70% of GDP. But<br>personal savings are near record lows,<br>and credit card balances are at record<br>highs. People are spending money they<br>don't have, and that's not sustainable.<br>And when consumers finally stop<br>spending, earnings fall and markets<br>follow.<br>The second thread, the labor market has<br>persevered but is showing cracks. The no<br>hire, no fire labor market is going<br>away. Hiring has slowed significantly<br>and layoffs are increasing. It's not a<br>strong labor market. It's a lagging<br>labor market which always happens right<br>before downturns. Less people employed<br>means less consumer spending. And this<br>next part should seriously concern every<br>investor.<br>The third thread, rate cuts won't save<br>us this time. In previous cycles, lower<br>rates gave markets a cushion. But<br>today's economy is running on high debt,<br>high costs, and squeezed consumers.<br>Lower rates won't magically fix that.<br>And this brings us to the most important<br>part, the cycle of false confidence that<br>always appears right before the real<br>crash.<br>Finally, what happens right before every<br>major crash and why it's already<br>happening.<br>Here's the uncomfortable truth. Crashes<br>don't appear out of nowhere. They're<br>always preceded by the same sequence.<br>And here's the part that will shock you.<br>All three phases are already happening<br>right now.<br>Phase one,<br>markets stay high for longer than anyone<br>thinks is rational. We're in that phase<br>right now. People are frustrated because<br>the market feels disconnected from<br>reality. That's exactly what happens<br>before every major downturn.<br>Phase two, investors become numb to bad<br>news. It's called crash fatigue. People<br>hear bad headline after bad headline and<br>eventually stop caring. The public hears<br>inflation, corporate layoffs, earnings<br>warnings, and thinks whatever. This is<br>classic pre-crash behavior. [music] Bad<br>news stops moving markets right before<br>the moment it matters.<br>Phase three, a confidence-breaking event<br>hits. It's not always dramatic.<br>Sometimes it's small. A bankruptcy, a<br>credit event, a major company missing<br>earnings. That single event triggers a<br>chain reaction. Confidence collapses.<br>Selling accelerates and the crash<br>everyone expected months ago finally<br>shows up and confidence may already be<br>breaking.<br>The University of Michigan consumer<br>sentiment index preliminary reading for<br>November was [music] 50.3, a significant<br>decline to nearrecord lows and below<br>economist forecasts. And the reason the<br>crash feels sudden when it does occur is<br>because people mistake delay for safety.<br>But delay actually sets up something<br>worse. The longer a collapse is delayed,<br>the faster it happens when it arrives.<br>And here's the part they really don't<br>want you to know. The market hasn't<br>crashed yet. Not because the economy is<br>strong, but because of temporary forces<br>propping it up. And when those forces<br>weaken, the market won't gradually<br>decline. It will snap back to reality.<br>The crash isn't cancelled. It's cued.<br>And the longer it's delayed, the bigger<br>it becomes. This isn't about predicting<br>doom. It's about understanding the cycle<br>so you can protect yourself, stay<br>rational, and make smarter decisions<br>when others panic. Let's build on your<br>momentum. I've got another great video<br>called Do This Every Day and It's<br>Impossible to Stay Poor. It's on the<br>screen, so click it and I'll see you<br>there. If this breakdown helped you gain<br>clarity from the chaos, subscribe and<br>like. 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