The Final Squeeze

Past Performance is Not Indicative of Future Results.
We’ve all read it. That phrase, repeated endlessly in fine print, is the supposed shield that protects investors from the harsh realities of speculation. It’s a reminder that markets do not move in straight lines, that risk is inherent, and that tomorrow is never guaranteed. But in truth, this is not a warning. It’s a seduction.
This mantra lulls us into a false sense of security, cloaking markets in the veneer of rationality and inevitability. It draws us in, promising that while the past may not predict the future, the machine of the market will always churn forward—evolving, innovating, and, most importantly, rewarding. But what happens when that machine turns inward, when it consumes itself? When the economy stops innovating and becomes nothing more than an engine of extraction?
This is not a hypothetical question. It’s happening now.
This is the moment we find ourselves in, a market that no longer rewards knowledge, innovation, or value, but instead has become a mechanism to extract every last dollar, no matter the cost.
Past performance is not indicative of future results.
This is the supposed basis of our financial and investment system. The truth that protects investors from themselves.
But it’s also the fallacy that draws every dollar in.
The Market Was Never About You
It’s an uncomfortable truth, but one worth saying: the market was never built to serve the many. From its earliest days, it existed as a game. A place where those with more knowledge, more capital, and more power could take from those without.
For centuries, this system was obscured by growth. The spoils of the game—factories, industries, jobs—were visible. Progress was tangible. And so, even as wealth concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, the system retained legitimacy. The illusion held because the benefits, however unevenly distributed, were real.
But as this system matured, it reached a tipping point. The age of building gave way to the age of taking. The market, once a stage for innovation, transformed into a predatory machine. It was no longer about creating value for the future; it was about extracting every ounce of value from the present.
Today, the system doesn’t reward visionaries who create. It rewards those who take—those who extract from workers, from consumers, from the environment, and even from the system itself.
This Moment: The Last Squeeze
The recent market turbulence isn’t a random event. It’s not a temporary blip, nor is it the natural cycle of ups and downs that we've been conditioned to accept. It’s something deeper, something structural. It’s the system collapsing under the weight of its own contradictions.
This is the last squeeze. The final act of a market that has abandoned all pretence of serving a broader good. This is what happens when the shareholder becomes the sole beneficiary, when the machine’s purpose is no longer growth, but liquidation.
- Corporations, once engines of innovation, now direct their profits not toward R&D or wages but toward stock buybacks and dividends.
- Industries, from tech to energy, no longer invest in the future. They focus on extracting value until nothing remains.
- Venture capital, the supposed driver of progress, now funds startups not for their potential to change the world, but for their ability to secure a profitable exit.
This moment isn’t just about market volatility; it’s about the endgame of a system that can no longer sustain itself.
For Those Who See It
If you’re paying attention, you know this isn’t how it was supposed to work. You know that this isn’t just a correction or a temporary shift. This is the culmination of a system that, for generations, has been designed to take.
The game has always favoured those who understand its rules. But now, even those who once profited from the system are beginning to recognize its limits. The pool of resources—the labour, the innovation, the trust—is running dry. The market cannot take more because there is nothing left to give.
For those who see this, the question is simple: What comes next?
What Happens After the Illusion?
Markets were never perfect, but they once served a purpose. They funded ideas. They built industries. They created futures. But the markets of today are different. They are designed not to build, but to transfer wealth—to move it from the bottom to the top, from the future to the present.
This is why the illusion is collapsing. And for those who see it, the end of this system isn’t something to mourn. It’s an opportunity.
The collapse of this market illusion will clear the way for something new. But that “something” will depend on who acts—and who waits.
Right now the Nazis are acting. And it’s working, because everyone is waiting for the world to go back to the fantasy they thought it was. It’s not going back.
This, whatever we make it, is forward.
Will we repeat the mistakes of the past, rebuilding systems that reward extraction over creation? Or will we seize this moment to imagine something better?
Those who understand this moment know the choice isn’t theoretical. It’s already being made, in boardrooms and policy meetings, in protests and innovations.
The market’s collapse isn’t the end. It’s the beginning of something else. What that "something" becomes depends on who’s willing to see the illusion for what it is—and act.
This Is Your Time
The market is unraveling. The illusion is breaking. And if you’ve been waiting for a moment to decide your place in the future, this is it.
Will you be part of what’s next? Will you build when others retreat? Will you see this for what it is—not a crisis, but a clearing?
The final squeeze is here. What you do now will define what comes after.
Your markets are about as free as your democracy. It’s a taker’s game.
Want to do something about it?
This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
This is what I’m working on. Tell me what you think, I enjoy the conversation! Subscribe and follow the work in real time.
Thanks!
B
This isn’t a correction; it’s the collapse of a system that was never meant to last.
What comes next?
PS -