Weekly Update 7 Sep 2018

This was a pretty lack-luster week. National currencies, bonds and commodities were mixed, while cryptocurrencies and most equities were sharply lower. The largest gains were in coffee, up just 0.9%. The largest losses were in Ethereum, which fell 23% this week, leaving it down 46% in the last month.

The US Dollar rose more than any other national currency, gaining 0.3%. The Canadian Dollar was weakest, falling 0.6%. Short term bonds rose 0.2%, while long term bonds fell 1.9%.

Bitcoin rose early in the week, closing at 192.3 grams on Tuesday, then fell to finish the week at 167.8 grams, off 7.8%. Ethereum also started the week on a rising note, but was hit hard on Wednesday and Friday, and ended the week down 23%.

The Dow Jones Industrials where the only stocks in the black this week, and then, only by 0.1%. Gold stocks took the worst beating, as the HUI fell 4.6% to close at 3.53 grams. Next weakest was the Euro STOXX 50, off 3.2%.

Silver dropped 2.9% this week, the largest of the commodity losses. Crude oil wasn't far behind, though, falling 2.6%. Coffee was the strongest commodity, gaining 0.9%. Platinum made a series of new all-time lows this week, closing at 20.117 grams per ounce on Wednesday, before rallying slightly to close the week at 20.132 grams, down 1.7%.