Cryptocurrencies moved to new highs for the YTD, national currencies and bonds slid lower, and stocks and commodities were mixed. Bitcoin topped the winner's list, rising 12.9%. Crude oil and gold stocks also rose strongly, gaining 5.8% each. The largest losses were in cotton, which plummeted 10.3%.
All national currencies were lower, with the US Dollar falling the most, closing down 3.3%. The Canadian Dollar fell least, giving up 2.2%. US Treasury bonds were also down, as the short term SHY declined 3.1% and the long term TLT fell 3.3%.
Cryptocurrencies soared again the week, as Bitcoin surged 12.9% to a new high for 2019 of 225.8 grams, then continued to rise over the weekend. Ethereum rose 8.0%, the week's second largest gain. The announcement of Facebook's Libra coin was seen as a major factor for these gains, as it promises to bring crypto into mainstream usage, but does not compete with Bitcoin and Ethereum for privacy and operational capability, and has little appeal as an investment, being tied in value to basket of national currencies.
Gold stocks rose strongly, gaining 5.8%, but all major stock indexes were lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Euro STOXX fell 2.1% each. The S&P 500 was off 1.2%.
Crude oil gained 5.8%, and tied with gold stocks for third place overall. Cotton swooned 10.3%, closing at 13.6 mg/lb. Cotton is now down 33.4% from one year ago, a record exceeded only by Ethereum, which in spite of its recent gains, is still down 49.8% over the last 12 months. Platinum fell 3.6% to a new all-time low of 17.9 grams. Silver dropped 1.6% and palladium gained 0.3%.
Click for PDF version
