Market Outlook - The CPI report is considered a binary event, with risks skewed to the upside for the equity market, especially with upcoming hyperscaler earnings, Fed meeting, and US-China meeting [2][3] - Unless CPI comes in really hot, investors might want to position more bullishly into those events next week [3] Gold as a Hedge - After the selloff, gold is considered a great entry point, driven by fiat currency devaluation [4] - The industry uses a measure of M2 money supply divided by the gold price to gauge the currency cycle [5] - The industry identifies a currency devaluation cycle that started in 2022, coinciding with the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the hiking cycle [6] - Regression analysis identifies budget balance, fiscal deficits, debt to GDP, and inflation as drivers of the currency cycle, all expected to remain negative [7] - Historically, the S&P 500 underperforms gold during devaluation, making gold a good hedge against S&P 500 and devaluation [8]