Weekly Update 15 Jan 2021

After weeks of near vertical ascension, cryptocurrencies finally paused and pulled back a bit. Bonds and most national currencies rose, while stocks and commodities were mixed. Coffee took the lead this week, rising 4.9%, while Bitcoin fell 8.6% and gold stocks retreated 4.7%.

The only national currency in the red was the Euro, off 0.1%. The Chinese Yuan rose 2.6%, and the US Dollar gained 1.3%. Short term notes followed USD cash, adding 1.3%. Long term bonds outperformed, rising 1.6%.

Bitcoin rose 123% from 11-Dec-2020 to 8-Jan-2021 (less than a month) to hit a new all-time high of 681.2 grams. This week BTC fell to 573.0 grams on Tuesday the 12th, then bounced back to finish the week at 622.8 grams, down 8.6%. Ether declined 3.0%, but many of the smaller cryptocurrencies gained ground; the index of the 30 largest cryptos (dominated by BTC and ETH) dropped just 0.9%. For instance, DASH and Monero (not in table) rose 30.5% and 15.8% respectively.

Among the equity markets, the Japanese Nikkei was the best performer, rising 2.6%. Gold stocks fell the most, dropping 4.7%. US markets saw mixed results, as the Dow Industrials added 0.4% but the S&P 500 fell 0.2%.

Coffee was the week's best performing commodity, and the week's best performer overall, rising 4.9%. Cotton also did well, adding 2.5%. Precious metals were mixed; silver dropped 4.0% and platinum fell 1.2%, while palladium gained 0.8%. Crude oil rose 0.9%.

Year over year, the story remains much the same as in preceding weeks. Crpytos shine the brightest, with Ether up 493.2% and Bitcoin up 252.2%. Silver earns an honorable mention, up 19.1%. Crude oil, down 24.2%, has fallen the most. US Dollar cash is the next worst place to be, down 15.8%.

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