Why I’m Pouring $1,000 Into Bitcoin Right Now
Digital gold just hit its stride—and traditional finance hasn't caught up yet.
The Institutional Floodgates Are Opening
BlackRock's ETF approval triggered what Wall Street analysts missed: a fundamental shift in capital allocation. Pension funds and sovereign wealth funds now have their first legitimate on-ramp.
Halving Math Doesn't Lie
Bitcoin's supply gets cut in half every four years—next one's already priced in at 90% reduction from original issuance. Scarcity mechanics that would make any commodities trader weep.
Global Macro Tailwinds
While central banks dance with inflation targets, Bitcoin's fixed supply acts as natural hedge against currency debasement. The smart money's already positioning.
Traditional finance still thinks this is about 'risk-on' speculation—meanwhile the network processes more value than PayPal daily. Sometimes disruption looks exactly like what you've been dismissing for years.
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Sales and earnings growth
Costco's sales momentum continued. The company's same-store sales (comps) grew 6.4% in the fiscal fourth quarter that ended on Aug. 31. The figure excludes gasoline price changes and foreign-exchange translations.
Costco's value pricing on a broad range of goods and services always has appeal. But with consumers stressed by high prices, it's particularly attractive.
Fortunately, its pricing strategy doesn't come at the expense of profitability. Costco's operating income increased 9.8% to $3.3 billion.
Loyal customers
Costco didn't disclose membership and renewal numbers in its quarterly earnings release. However, it has a history of membership growth and high renewal rates.
In the third quarter, the company reported over a 90% renewal rate, in line with historical figures. And this comes amid a membership fee increase at the start of the year. Clearly, they didn't mind the increase and feel Costco membership still offers value. To management's credit, it waited seven years before implementing the hike, which I'm sure members appreciate and helps build loyalty.
Total paid members grew to 79.6 million in the third quarter, up 6.8% from a year ago. The figure also increased over the previous quarter, when it ended with 78.4 million paid members. Based on its historical trend, it wouldn't surprise me if the figure crossed 80 million.
Expansion opportunities
Costco has a simple concept of charging members to access its many goods and services at attractive unit prices. Management executes the plan very well, however. You can see that by looking at the aforementioned results.
Fortunately, Costco isn't a mature business. It still has expansion opportunities. The company has been adding 20 to 30 locations annually. It finished the year with 914 warehouses, up 24 from a year ago.
More than two-thirds of them are located in the United States. However, Costco also has over 100 in Canada, 42 in Mexico, and warehouses across the globe in places like Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, China, Spain, and France.
Sometimes, international expansion doesn't go well for a variety of reasons. However, the concept looks like it's doing very nicely outside of the United States. Comps at Costco's Canadian locations grew 8.3%, and they increased 7.2% at other international warehouses.
Unfortunately, Costco's shares don't sell at a cheap valuation. The stock has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 52. Although down from over 60 earlier this year, it's not a bargain compared to the overall market. Thea proxy for large-cap stocks, has a P/E ratio of 31.
However, with the company's consistent sales and earnings growth, including during various economic cycles, I believe it's worth paying a premium for Costco's shares.
