"it feels exactly like 1999" - Paul Tudor Jones i occasionally hear macro traders comparing the current bubble to 1999 because of the AI mania and stretched valuations, but this is quite a lazy thing to say in my opinion and should be taken with a grain of salt- in 1999, markets were driven by private sector exuberance at a time with minimal fiscal drag - the US govt was actually running a budget surplus. ie net saver (imagine that). today the markets are entirely influenced by massive fiscal spending and debt monetization as the us is obviously drowning in debt. sanae takaichi would never have won in japan in 1999. in 1999, fed was raising rates, balance sheet was small, and there was no QE. in 2025, rates are declining, the balance sheet is massive, and we have more acronyms than we can count. with TGA refilled, we are about to embark on a global liquidity binge across the world (refer to sanae above). in 1999, US tech bubble didnt have systemic global trade feedback loops; China was not even in WTO then. today, the same stimulus that inflates US assets also reshape supply chains everywhere else. ie the US equity market is the global economy. in 1999, after the crash the dollar remained in a bull market for several years, actually acting as a bit of a headwind for gold price appreciation itself. in 2025, not only is the dollar on a continued weakening path, gold is literally on a tear with every sovereign actor playing the board. but perhaps most importantly, in 1999 there was no bitcoin, social media, nor smart phones. in 2025, everyone around the world has an escape valve in their pocket. so no. to me it doesn't "feel exactly like 1999" at all. it feels like the opportunity of a lifetime for those who are prepared.