EUR

Commodities were mixed, while currencies, bonds and major stock indexes were higher this week. The biggest gains were in Bitcoin, which rose a whopping 18.1% to close at 38.3 grams. European stocks also soared, rising 8.2% in anticipation of a Macron victory in the French elections this weekend. The Euro was also the strongest government-issued currency, gaining 4.0%. Crude oil was down 3.4%, the largest drop for any asset class.

More on Weekly Update 5 May 2017

Currencies and commodities were mixed, while bonds and major stock indexes were higher this week. The biggest gains were in European stocks, which rose 6.5% on news that the first round of presidential elections in France have left open the option for France to stay in the EU. The Euro was also the strongest government issued currency, gaining 2.9%. Gold stocks were down 5.5%, the largest drop for any asset class.

More on Weekly Update 28 Apr 2017

Currencies and commodities were mixed, while bonds and major stock indexes were slightly higher this week. The largest drop was in crude oil, which fell 6.5%. The biggest gains were in Bitcoin, which rose 6.4%. Gold stocks were down 3.3% after being up 3.0% in the prior week.

More on Weekly Update 21 Apr 2017

Commodities were mixed, while national currencies, bonds, and major stock indexes were lower this week. The largest drop was in cotton, which fell 6.6%. The biggest gains were in Bitcoin, which rose 8.6% (on top of a 15.6% gain in the prior week) and gold stocks, which added 1.6%.

More on Weekly Update 7 Apr 2017

Commodities were mixed this week, while major stock indexes, bonds and government-issued currencies were higher. Bitcoin, volatile as always, gave back all of the prior week's gains, falling 11.7% to 28.9 grams (though as of Tuesday the 14th, it was again above parity with gold). The largest gains were in the Euro STOXX, which rose another 3.1% to 920 mg.

More on Weekly Update 10 Mar 2017

Stocks and government-issued currencies fell this week, while bonds and commodities were mixed. The largest gains were once again in Bitcoin, which rose 11.1% to 29.3 grams, now approaching parity with one ounce of gold. Gold stocks fell more than any other asset-class, dropping 4.7% to close at 5.1 grams.

More on Weekly Update 24 Feb 2017

Currencies were all lower this week, but bonds, stocks, and commodities were mixed. Copper was the best performing asset, rising 4.7%. The largest losses were in Bitcoin, which fell 3.5%, giving back almost half of the prior week's gains.

More on Weekly Update 10 Feb 2017

The first week of 2017 saw mixed results in every asset category, but currencies were mostly lower, while commodities were mostly higher. The week's biggest winner was palladium, which gained 8.6%. Gold stocks were also strong, rising 6.3%. Bitcoin displayed the most fireworks, shooting up to a new all-time high of 30.2 grams on Wednesday the 4th, then collapsing 21.5% to close the week down 8.1% at 23.7 grams. This drop was blamed by some on a Chinese central bank press release and by others on US speculators, but after almost doubling in the last year, a 22% pullback is hardly out of order, whatever the reason. In fact, Bitcoin could drop to the 18-20 gram level and still be above its rising trend line.

More on Weekly Update 6 Jan 2017

The last week of 2016 left most asset classes lower, with two glaring exceptions. The week's biggest winner was gold stocks, which gained 5.4%. Bitcoin also continued to rise, adding another 2.2%, and closing at 25.8 grams. Palladium and silver also rose, but just 0.9% and 0.7% respectively. All other asset classes were lower, led by the S&P 500 and Nikkei 225 indexes, which lost 3.5% apiece.

Look for more posts coming this week covering the 2016 year in review, and taking a closer look at the Dow Jones Industrial Average and its path to the 1,000 level in 1972 and its subsequent rise to near 20,000 today. In the meantime, I wish you the very best for 2017!

This was a good week for stocks, bonds and currencies, but mixed for commodities. The big winner was crude oil, which gained 13.6% this week on news that OPEC is planning production cuts (it remains to be seen how that will work out for them!) While crude oil was flying, coffee has been falling, down another 5.0% this week. Copper was also down slightly, off 0.8% after the prior week's monster 10.4% rise.

More on Weekly Update 2-Dec-2016