Markets were mostly higher this week, led by the commodities. Cotton and crude oil advanced the most, while Bitcoin showed the greatest weakness.
Bitcoin dropped 12% to close at 2.5 g. Trading volume is beginning to grow again, averaging almost 100 kg per day. Expect more volatility as volume increases.
The markets were mixed this week, with most asset classes lower. The biggest exception was gold stocks, which continued their advance for a second week.
Bitcoin gave back some of last week's gain, dropping 1.6% to close just below 2.9 g. Trading volume continued very light throughout the week, but picked up over the weekend. Although prices have been fairly stable for the last few weeks, you should expect more volatility as volume increases.
After last week's powerful rally in almost everything but gold stocks, most asset classes pulled back a little this week. The exceptions were Bitcoin, which rose again for the the third week in a row, and gold stocks, which regained part of last week's massive loss.
More on Market Update 24 May 2013: Gold Stocks and Bitcoins Buck Pullback Trend
This week most markets made gains, with the exception of gold stocks. Coffee and Bitcoin were especially strong.
Bitcoin rose 7.2% to close at 2.76 g. Trading volume has been declining for the last several weeks. It is encouraging that the seizure of Mt. Gox US bank accounts by the DHS did not spark a selloff. Still, expect continued volatility!
More on Market Update 17 May 2013: Gold Stocks Tumble, Bonds Bounce
All asset classes but Bitcoin, coffee, JPY, and mining stocks were higher this week.
Bitcoin ended a wild week down 38.7% at 1693 mg, after trading has high as 5,253 mg and as low as 1,099 mg. Friday had the largest volume ever traded for Bitcoin, over 964 kg. As I forecast last week, this kind of price action is to be expected in such a thin market as new buyers enter in quantity. Over the weekend, BTC has recovered to 2,051 mg. Keep in mind that BTC could fall to 500 mg or so and still be in an exponential uptrend! Expect further volatility.
More on Market Update 12 Apr 2013: Bitcoin, Gold Stocks "Crash"
All but three asset classes were lower this week, the gainers being Bitcoin, gold stocks, and long dated treasuries.
Bitcoin ended the week up 51.8% at 1,392 mg, after setting another record high every day this week. The latest round of panic buying seems to have been triggered by the partial bank account confiscation plan announced in Cyprus. The realization that their money is no longer safe in banks has spooked investors across Europe, but especially in Spain, where downloads of Bitcoin software have skyrocketed. Because Bitcoin has such a small market cap, currently about 15,800 kg, and trades less than 200 kg each day, it doesn't take much money moving in (or out) to swing the price, so we should expect continued volatility in the near future.
More on Market Update 22 Mar 2013: Europe scrambles for bitcoins
Most assets were lower this week, with the major exceptions being Bitcoin, the free market online currency, and Cotton.
Bitcoin ended the week up 8% at 917 mg, after recording another all-time high of 938 mg on Monday. Things got exciting the next day, as high transaction volumes caused two different versions of the Bitcoin mining software to update the distributed ledger (known as the "block chain") differently. This split, or "fork in the block chain", was deftly handled by the developer group, but it caused a dip in the price which has now been mostly erased. If you are interested in more technical details, you read about them here. This should serve as a reminder that Bitcoin is a young currency, and still vulnerable to failures of technical, social, or political origin. Keep position sizes small enough that you won't be badly hurt if one them turns out to be fatal, but keep in mind that there is still tremendous upside if this experiment in free market money succeeds.
It was another mixed week, with government currencies and long bonds lower, while stocks and commodities moved higher. Bitcoin, the free market online currency, ended the week up 26% at 849 mg, after recording another all-time high of 893 mg on Wednesday. If you have a time-horizon of a few years, don't let these prices scare you away… Bitcoin has plenty of upside, though it's volatility will be huge. My strategy is to keep position size small, but add a little every week.
In a week when most assets turned in excellent performances, bitcoin once again outshone all others. The only things that lost ground this week were mining stocks and silver.
Currencies were all higher, led by bitcoin, which added an astounding 24.6% to close at 520.7 mg, within spitting distance of its all-time high of 598 mg. In fact, in all of bitcoin's history, there are only 3 days on which it was traded at higher levels.
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Bitcoin continued to rocket upward this week, with long term treasuries a distant second place. Coffee and the Nikkei Index were the biggest losers.
Government issued currencies were mixed, with the Yen down 2.6% and the Euro down 0.5%, while the Canadian Dollar rose 0.5% and the US Dollar was unchanged. In contrast, the free market currency, Bitcoin, gained 8.2% to close at 418 mg. The BTC is up 62% in the last month.
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