Macro guru Raoul Pal sheds light on the "Banana Zone," a concept tied to his "Everything Code" framework, which aims to explain the cyclical nature of global liquidity and its impact on asset prices, particularly in the tech and crypto sectors.
What Happened: Pal points out that the global liquidity cycle, which has exhibited clear cyclicality since 2008, drives the macro summer and fall seasons. He attributes this perfect macrocycle to the world’s reset of interest payments to zero and debt maturity to 3-4 years in 2008.
Pal's "Everything Code"
The Everything Code suggests that the business cycle repeats as liquidity rises to debase currency and service debt rollovers, preventing a potentially catastrophic debt spiral. This debasement lowers the denominator (fiat currency), causing asset prices to rise optically.
Growth assets, such as tech and crypto, perform best during these periods due to their secular trends based on adoption. Pal compares the adoption rate of crypto to that of the internet, suggesting that the crypto market cap could grow from $2.5 trillion to $100 trillion over time.
![Benzinga Future of Digital Assets conference](https://editorial-assets.benzinga.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/29155259/905735A6-57D3-4874-9AA1-75D037842DB3-2.gif)
Also Read: Arthur Hayes: ‘Major Economies To Print Even More Money’ In The Next 24 Months
Crypto's "Banana Zone"
Pal notes that while tech experiences its mini-Banana Zone during macro summer and fall, the effect is more pronounced in crypto due to its outperformance relative to tech.
The transition to macro summer is relatively forecastable, thanks to the repeating cycle outlined in the Everything Code, and its ushers in liquidity growth, which tends to create the Banana Zone.
While Pal acknowledges that the odds of significant changes to this pattern are low, he cautions that nothing plays out perfectly, and the structure or nature of the final leg of the fall remains uncertain. He advises investors to expect surprises along the way, such as sharp corrections or long sideways markets.
Everything Code x Banana Zone
Despite these uncertainties, Pal believes that the Everything Code provides the best framework for understanding the market dynamics at play. He suggests that with the right time horizon, portfolio management, and patience, investors can navigate the Banana Zone and beyond with a low probability of messing it up.
The Macro Guru suggests traders take partial profits in the current cycle and reminds his followers not to "mid-curve it," as "numbers go up over time."
What’s Next: The influence of Bitcoin as an institutional asset class is expected to be thoroughly explored at Benzinga’s upcoming Future of Digital Assets event on Nov. 19.
This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Image: Shutterstock
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Comments
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.