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Bitcoin Update BITGOING GOING GONE? Feb 11 2026

Soon to be Bit-Gone?

Bitcoin falling to bits?

In a favorite topic here on Money Matters, Bitcoin is once again in the news and not in a good way.

Bitcoin has had a rough start to 2026 falling from $88,731.00 down to its present hovering price of $60,000 something. It had hit $126,000 around October of 2025. Considering it started way back in October of 2009 at 0.00099, I must, as I have continued to, keep from laughing at the ridiculousness of the whole thing.

I mean anything that goes from ten thousandths of a penny to $126,000.00 in less than a decade and a half cannot, in my mind, be taken seriously no matter what anyone says.

I have called Bitcoin vapor before, and I will do it again in today’s musing. Apparently other notables are beginning to think the same thing, and some have thought it a long time ago.

A economic think tank, the Brookings institute, long ago in their January 20, 2021, said “It (Bitcoin) has no intrinsic value and is not backed by anything”.

More recently, on January 30, 2025, Nobel Laureate Eugene Fama predicted Bitcoin will become worthless.

Famed investor and co-partner of Berkshire Hathaway and the number two man for investing icon Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, had no love for Bitcoin and didn’t mince words. Labeling it "disgusting," "worthless," "rat poison," and "contrary to the interests of civilization", he thought it was a dangerous, speculative gambling tool rather than a productive asset and advocated for its banning altogether.

Just last week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that Washington has no authority and no intention to bail out Bitcoin investors. He added “any Bitcoin held by the U.S. government will come only from asset seizures, not taxpayer-funded purchases”.

There are many reasons I, and others, are more than a bit skeptical about the future of Bitcoin. Its lack of being price stable makes it unusable as a store of value. Anything even considered to be a currency or medium of exchange must not jump around like a Mexican jumping bean. Bitcoin has other problems like lack of intrinsic value, practical limitations (like needing electricity to use it), legality issues, environmental concerns (requires enormous power to create) and exposure to criminality.

It is no secret that a number of exchanges where people have bought Bitcoin have gone bankrupt, taking investors’ money with it. Some investors have had their bitcoin accounts hacked and losing a password to your bitcoin account leaves an investor with no options.

I find it a sad state of affairs that some investors have, for whatever reason, lost everything.

Even a repeated detractor and reader here that generated more than a few irate emails to my inbox and letters to the editor went suspiciously silent when the exchange he was using went belly up, taking most if not all his money with it.

And to those who believe Bitcoins anonymity and separation from central governments isolate their money from government intervention, think again.

Any government that feels their currency is threatened by Bitcoin can, and have, in more than a few cases, simply shut down the exchange access from the web or declare it illegal with fines and jail time.

Some will argue the price of Bitcoin can only go up due to the limited number of coins that can be created. Just because something is scarce doesn’t make it valuable or viable.

I am obviously not a fan of Bitcoin and will continue to argue against it, noting the inherent deficiencies this and other cyber coins have in their current form.

That said, there are many Bitcoin supporters running around and the arguments for its existence are many.

But when I hold it up against the time-tested economic truths of currencies, money, mediums of exchange and how markets function, I just don’t buy it.

And therefore, I won’t.

“Watching the markets so you don’t have to”

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(As mentioned please use the below disclaimer exactly) THANKS (Regulations)

This article expresses the opinion of Marc Cuniberti and is not meant as investment advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities, nor represents the opinion of any bank, investment firm or RIA, nor this media outlet, its staff, members or underwriters. Mr. Cuniberti holds a B.A. in Economics with honors, 1979, and California Insurance License #0L34249 His insurance agency is BAP INC. insurance services. Email: news@moneymanagementradio.com

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Update The Auto Loan Market is in trouble Feb 2 2026

What’s going on in the auto loan market?

In 2025, the delinquencies on automobile loans have hit record high levels. Subprime borrowers, as is usually the case with other loans as well, are the worst of the bunch. Subprime is classified as consumers that have credit scores below 670.

6.65% of subprime borrowers are at least 60 days past due. 3% of auto loans are seriously delinquent which is classified as past 90 days.

Repossessions hit 2.2 million cars, the highest since the Great Recession of 2008/09.

Seeing as the Federal Reserve, in conjunction with the auto manufacturers, reportedly help car dealers by giving them lower then market loan rates, the skyrocketing delinquencies is especially disturbing.

Current loan rates, barring any special programs for consumers with high credit scores, range from 9% for new cars to over 14% for used ones. The average monthly payment is $750.00. Close to 20% of borrowers now have payments exceeding $1,000.00.

The U.S. consumers hold an eye-popping 1.66 trillion in auto debt.

Car insurance rates are not helping, up 19% year over year and the cost to repair a car has jumped more than 33% since 2020.

Auto loans used to be one of the safest loans for lenders to issue back in 2010. In 2025, they are the second riskiest, right behind the student loan market.

What we pay for automobiles, the interest on the loans to buy them and insurance to protect them, all continue to increase as the cost to insurers and car companies rise. The increasing defaults also add to the cost of the interest we pay on auto loans.

Add to that the startling rise in automobile loan fraud initiated by a variety of schemes by thieves and scammers which, as we all know, are becoming more and more prevalent. Scams run the gamut from new forms of money washing, prepayment schemes, partial payment schemes, planned repossession scams along with insurance fraud, auto theft, parts theft and the a laundry list of other schemes that are too lengthy to include here. All of these add to the cost of the companies that sell, service and lend on automobiles which adds to the cost of what consumers pay for all of it.

As a result, the cost of buying, owning, operating, maintaining and financing a car nowadays is continually rising at a startling rate, which is making an already serious problem even worse.

Even with the expected rate cuts from the Federal Reserve, if they do occur, will only reduce borrowing costs minimally. With all the other rising costs in the other areas of car ownership, I doubt things will get better anytime soon.

My suggestion is as always: Buy an older model car with the lowest miles you can find. Insurance rates can be lower with an older car, yet with lower miles, the car will likely last a lot longer and should prolong the time frame before it needs repairs. You might also avoid the single source higher pricing of patented parts making aftermarket parts more available and probably cheaper. As a general rule, older cars are also less complicated than newer ones and probably have a fewer number of those damn onboard computers that cost and an arm and a leg when they go bonkers.

And above all, don’t buy new. You immediately lose thousands of dollars, if not tens of thousands, as soon as you drive the car off the lot. Buy a one year older car if you must have a “new” type of car and let the first buyer take the hit. And if you prefer buying a one year old car in lieu of an older car, buy it from one of the car manufacture’s official dealerships. That way you can still get the original warranty and the official dealership cars usually have a good pre-check and are often called something like “Certified Used Car”.

That’s my two cents and I hope you save more than that.

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Volcano Watching Info Update Jan 30 2026

Volcano Watching Not as hard as you might think

A CHEAP 8^TH WONDER

I kept seeing videos about the erupting volcano in Hawaii from Mount Kilauea on the big island.

Seeing as its kind of a rare event in the global scope of things, I decided to visit and had high hopes I would be able to view an erupting event.

I thought it would be a cluster of crowds and lines complete with humongous expenses to get and stay close enough to see it but, to my surprise, it was way less than I thought.

The flight to the closest airport is the Kailua-Kona International Airport and they fly direct from Sacramento. The Kona flight used to stop in Oahu, but the direct flights have existed for some time. It’s a 5.5-hour flight and the round-trip costs around $300-400. We had an uneventful flight on a Boeing Max 8 aircraft so that was a relief. (Don’t get me started on Boeing as I have covered that before in a few articles and, needless to say, I would rather fly on an Airbus).

But having arrived dry and in one piece, we rented a car and headed out. We stayed at a friend’s house for the first three days. Having erupted the day before we left (☹), the mountain unfortunately stayed quiet during our entire 11-day trip.

I booked the Volcano House 3 months earlier and to my surprise, there were plenty of rooms available back then and I selected a “crater view” for a few dollars more. Compared to the resorts on the Kona coast which started north of $500 a night with luxury resorts pushing $1,000/nite, the $399/nite Volcano House price was what I thought a bargain. The Volcano House is right at the rim of the crater and a mile or two from the active vents. You can walk out of your room and see the crater and when we got there all we saw was steam coming from two vents from afar.

A 5-minute drive around the right side of the rim road brought you to an easy to park viewpoint which had but a few onlookers and offered a decent better view than the hotel.

Journey left from the Volcano House and in about 15 minutes you came to another viewpoint where you had to walk about a mile from where you parked, which got you closer with an even better view.

We stayed two nights and the hotel only got crowded during the day as daytime visitors and tour buses stopped in. Even though the eruptions come every few weeks, the crowds were surprisingly light and maneuvering around was easy.

Keep in mind, the Volcano House is the only lodging on the crater and is 30 something miles from Hilo and a good 2.5-hour drive from the Kona side. The little town of Volcano is less than a mile from the Volcano House and somewhat unknown. Or at least it was to me and I have been up there twice before this visit. The town of Volcano was virtually empty and had a few restaurants and even some lodging. We had a lovely breakfast there and thought next time perhaps we would hang out there if we were really determined to wait for an actual eruption, which of course is unpredictable.

What we learned from talking to our friends in Kona and visitors at the volcano was that volcano watching was much like witnessing a rocket blast off on Cape Canaveral. Its hit or miss and case in point, although a stunning place to visit, all we saw was steam. We were told by park employees and our friends who did travel up when it was erupting that because the location is pretty far in, the crowds stay light until an eruption begins. Then some make the trip to see it and the lucky ones that just happen to be there, but for the most part, it’s not like you think.

We left to continue our trip and to our chagrin, after we left the vents started glowing red. Two days later lava started pouring out and soon the illustrious fountains are expected to begin again.

When they do, the lines might get a little longer and forget getting a room up there then as they do sell out weeks in advance but it ain’t Disneyland.

Being an 8^th wonder of the world and something, I am told, is one of the most incredible things to see on this great planet, it’s not as difficult as you may think to witness. But you have to have either a little bit of luck, or just a lot of persistence and time to wait it out.

“Watching the markets so you don’t have to”

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(As mentioned please use the disclaimer below exactly) THANKS (Regulations)

Update ON FIRE INSURANCE IN WILDFIRE AREAS JAN 11 2026

WE CAN HELP

NEW RATES AND COMPANIES

READ ARTICLE BELOW

Nevada County, and indeed more than a few counties in California escaped from a significant wildfire event in 2025. Not to say we were totally fire free, but a 10,000-structure destruction we didn’t see. 131,000 acres of mostly uninhabited land were destroyed in the Gifford Fire in San Luis Obispo County, destroying only a handful of structures but that was good news compared to what we have seen in the past.

That said, fire insurance rates continue to climb, with our insurance office still getting calls from irate homeowners complaining about higher rates upon renewal.

There is some good news in the insurance arena. Where a year back or so it was difficult to get a lot of competitive quotes on the liability policies, known as a Difference in Conditions Policy (DIC) which piggyback on the California Fair Plan’s (CFP). CFP fire policies are limited in the things they cover, hence the need for the DIC companion policies.

Some insurance companies, albeit only a handful, are back to writing, or are still writing HO3 policies, and that number seems to be picking up a bit.

HO3 policies are the plans that most of us used to have that cover all perils without having to use the CFP.

The complaint about CFP was that premiums were high and adding in the DIC policy to get complete coverage only added to the expense.

Also having two policies opened up the possibility that there would be some grey areas between the two and an argument about what company covered what might ensue. In my opinion, there is really only one area of overlap that might be contended by either CFP or the DIC policy and that area is if a tree or similar object hits your house. Since the DIC covers falling objects and CFP covers windblown damage, I saw more than one example of this arguable offense. A tree came down in my yard and hit something, and when I called my DIC company, they told me to go to CFP as they thought the wind caused the tree to fall. CFP, being no dummies, looked up the wind history of that day and there was no such wind. I went back to my DIC company and they capitulated and paid the claim. Not so with a friend of mine who went through the same exercise, except when he called the DIC company the second time to give them CFP’s wind history, the DIC company claimed, “Act of God” and denied the claim.

Goes to show not all is cut and dry when it comes to insurance and obviously some companies are better than others.

In any case, having one policy eliminates that possibility of conflict and the one type of policy that covers all common perils is the HO3 policy.

Getting an HO3 may help solve the potential conflict between having two policies but may not necessarily mean it will be cheaper.

Indeed, I have seen more than once an HO3 premium higher than having both a DIC and a CFP.

It’s a case-by-case situation for sure, but at least I am seeing a bit of movement by a handful of companies wandering into the HO3 markets once again. Even some of the companies that have mass cancelled policies seem to make an exception here or there. You just never know.

In conclusion, I think some insurance agents might buzz me and complain to me that you all started shopping again because of today’s musing and that just adds to the workload of all of us in the business. But hey, now you know the rest of the story, and if that allows but even of few you to save a few bucks, I don’t see the harm in it.

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(As mentioned please use the below disclaimer exactly) THANKS (Regulations)

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Marc Cuniberti (530)272-2298 Cell (530) 559-1214 Bay Area Process, Inc. encompasses all business related communications and all communique should be regarded as coming from the corporation of Bay Area Process Inc. Pumps, parts, systems. Open 24 hours, 365 days/ week. (800) 326 4039 FAX (530) 272 2753 MEMBER- KVMR FM RADIO 89.5/105.1 FM and on affiliated stations nationwide on PRX and Audioport Money Matters Economic Commentary and News Publications. This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the `system` manager. This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited. California Insurance #0L34249. Insurance customers. Please read: No warranty is made as to the adequacy of any insurance quoted coverages or otherwise. Coverage acceptance is left up to the customer to determine if limits are sufficient.

Happy New Year January 2 2026

168+ Thousand 2026 Year Royalty-Free Images, Stock Photos ...

The Year that Was and Wasn't

2025 was no slouch year when it came to economic news and events.

As expected, the Trump administration did more than a few things to stir the pot when it came to jerking around regulations, mandates, laws and the conduits for such things.

I won’t get into specifics, as the subject is an inflammatory one, but it is safe to say he is making things harder for some industries and easier for others.

The general stock market set more than a few new highs in 2025 while other parts of it languished. The artificial intelligence trade (AI) went nuclear for most of the year and then fell on at least part of its face in the last few months of the year.

Gold and silver prices went up by a lot, while the vapor coins (Bitcoin and the like) retreated into the swamplands. The government hates it when gold and silver rise too much. So much like these did in the in response, and similar to what they did in the 1980s, government minions (CME) raised the margin amounts on these two metals more than once in 2025. Raising margin rates makes it more expensive for investor’s that borrow money to buy such things such as the monster traders, fund managers and some mom and pop investors.

Hey, when you don’t like the price of something, change the rules if you make the rules, and they do both.

Inflation didn’t go away and as usual however, Washington bureaucrats claimed it was getting better. How often have we heard that?

Meanwhile, some popular eating establishments closed more than a few stores in response to slower sales and/or rising costs. Either one or both of those eat into profits and the best defense is to fire some people and shutter the doors they use to go to work thru. Starbucks, Wendy’s, Denny’s, Jack in the Box, Hardee’s, Papa John’s, and Outback Steak House are some of the notables pulling in their horns.

Car loan defaults are setting records again as well as other types of consumer debt. Student loans remain at the top of the default list. In 2026, student loan forgiveness could be taxable if enough congressmen and women extend the program that waives the IRS tax free ruling that exists now.

No doubt the protests signs will come out in force as the vote to tax the amount forgiven gets closer to the voting floor.

The electric vehicle (EV) mandates that look to rid the world of Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) may be under pressure. Hertz unloaded a potful of its EV cars and Ford Motor took a 19.5 billion charge off on its attempt into the fray of the EV car.

Having received billions in free money back in 2009 through the Advanced Technology Manufacturing Loan Program (ATVM) to “make more fuel efficient vehicles”, along with some other automakers, the charge off, at least in my mind, was prepaid for by us taxpayers.

Turns out government mandating what consumers can and cannot buy doesn’t go too well if the technology to make such changes can’t replace the thing that is being mandated out.

Sean Ring, of the Daily Reckoning, smartly observed Apple didn’t have to mandate out the old mobile phone to get consumers to buy their “Smart” phones just as TV streaming services didn’t have to get government help mandating out DVDs so people would buy their services.

Government mandates don’t work well when the public or the technology isn’t ready for the proposed change. The same might be said of solar power and those huge wind monstrosities turning like giant propellers on landscapes everywhere.

Simply put, people just consume too much energy to replace the ICE. That isn’t opinion. It’s just how the math works out. Someday I imagine the ICE will go the way of the DODO bird, but for now, many argue it just ain’t so. But it IS the direction we need to GO!.

And finally, Iconic investor Warren Buffett stepped down from managing his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, after doing so for over half a century, increasing its value up some +5,5000,000%.

Nice job Warren. Too bad I haven’t owned it the whole time. I would imagine most of you can unfortunately say the same thing.

Too many other notable events occurred in 2025 to list them all here, but it’s safe to say a lot can happen in a years’ time. No doubt a plethora of new changes will occur in 2026 and I, for one, can’t wait to see what they are.

“Watching the markets so you don’t have to”

(end)

(As mentioned please use the below disclaimer exactly) THANKS (Regulations)

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