Stocks fell, but all other asset classes were mixed. The largest drops were in the European STOXX, down 6.5%, crude oil, down 6.3%, and Ethereum, off 6.1%. The best performers were coffee and palladium, up 2.4% and 1.7% respectively, followed by the CCi30 crypto index, which rose 1.5%.
National currencies were mixed, with the USD leading the table on a gain of 1.3%, and the Euro underperforming its peers, falling 2.0%. But the big action occured outside of the table, as the British Pound collapsed 3.4% while the Russian Ruble soared 6.8%. Bonds undeperformed cash, as short term notes rose 0.7% and long term treasuries were little changed.
The Ethereum merge turned out to be a "buy the rumor, sell the news" event, sending ETH 6.1% lower. Bitcoin also dipped by 1.1%, but the broader CCi30 index rose 1.5%.
Stocks were not a happy place to keep capital this week. The best performing market was in Japan, where the Nikkei average dipped 0.5%. The worst losses were in the European STOXX, down 6.5%. Gold stocks also took a beating, as the HUI fell 4.5%. The S&P 500 gave up 3.4%.
Commodities markets contained some of the best and worst of the week's price action. Coffee, up 2.4%, and palladium, up 1.7%, were the best performing assets in the table. Silver also moved higher, gaining 1.3%. But all was not rosy in the metals, as copper fell 2.9% and platinum slid 0.8%. The largest commodity losses were in crude oil, down 6.3% and cotton, down 5.5%.
Year over year, all currencies except the USD are lower, as are all cryptos and all stock markets. The brightest spots are all in the commodities, where coffee is up 23.2%, crude oil is up 14.4%, and palladium is up 13.8%.
Looking back farther, to 5 years ago, all national currencies and bonds are significantly lower, cryptos are massively higher (on the order of 300%), and stocks and commodities are mixed. US equities are up, 16.3% for the S&P 500, but outside the US, markets are much lower, led by the Euro STOXX, down 40.2%. Commodities are very mixed, with an 80.6% gain in palladium set against a 26.4% loss in platinum, and an 11.8% drop in silver. Crude oil is up 22.4% while copper is down 9.2%.
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