2017 was an exciting year, especially in the cryptocurrency markets, where Bitcoin rose about 12x, Ethereum rose about 82x, and other smaller coins and tokens rose even more. Commodities were very active, with palladium surging 38% while coffee fell 19%. Bonds and most currencies were lower, while major stock indexes were higher.
Digital tokens and commodities were again mixed, while other asset classes were mostly higher. Bitcoin made the largest gains, rising 50.8% for the week to close at 399.3 grams. Cotton ended in second place, up 2.6%. The largest losses were in coffee, which fell 3.5% for the week, while gold stocks dropped 2.8% and platinum fell 2.6% to close at 22.2 grams per ounce, a new all-time low.
More on Weekly Update 8 Dec 2017: Bitcoin Ignites Second Stage
Currencies, bonds and major stock indexes were higher, commodities were mixed, and digital tokens stabilized this week. The largest losses were in coffee and silver, down 2.9% and 2.0% respectively. The biggest gains were in Ethereum, up 4.0%, and crude oil, which rose 3.7%.
Currencies and commodities were mixed, while bonds, and stocks, and digital tokens were all lower this week. In a major reversal, the largest losses were in digital tokens, as Ethereum fell 23.4% and Bitcoin dropped 14.5%. The biggest gains were in silver and cotton, which added 2.1% and 1.8% respectively.
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Almost all asset classes were higher this week, with the exceptions of crude oil and platinum, which dropped 0.5% and 0.2% respectively. The largest gains were in digital tokens, as Ethereum rose 11.3% and Bitcoin gained 6.8%. Copper was also strong, adding 4.0% for the week.
Bonds, stocks, and currencies were lower, but digital tokens and commodities were mixed. Bitcoin rose 12.2% while Ethereum dropped 5.2%. Coffee was the weakest asset class, falling 9.4%.
The Canadian Dollar and Chinese Yuan were the best performing national currencies, off by 0.1% and 0.2% respectively. The Euro fell the most, dropping 1.1%. Bonds were lower, with the 20+ year TLT off 0.6%, the 1-3 year SHY losing 0.8% and USD cash (notes of zero maturity) dropping 0.7%.
I want to apologize for the rash of junk emails sent out last week, and thank you for your kindness and patience. Server problems aside, this was a good week for most asset classes, with only gold stocks moving significantly lower (the HUI was off 1.8%). The strongest gains were in the cryptocurrencies, as Ethereum rose 14.5% and Bitcoin gained 3.4%, following a week of volatility caused by concern over the Bitcoin hard fork that occurred on August 1st. Bonds, major stock indexes, and commodities were all higher.
Digital tokens rebounded this week, as Bitcoin rose 18.9%. Stocks and currencies were mostly lower, while bonds and commodities were mixed. Outside of digital tokens, the biggest gains were in silver, which rose 4.0%; the largest losses were in crude oil, which fell 3.1%, reversing much of the prior week's gains.
Filed under Bitcoin, Bonds, Commodities, Dow Jones Industrials, EUR, Euro, Platinum, Silver, Stocks, US Dollar by
National currencies and bonds were higher, commodities were lower, and stocks and digital tokens (cryptocurrencies) were mixed. The biggest gains and losses were both in digital tokens, as Bitcoin fell 9.8% to finish the week at 62.6 grams (about 2 troy ounces) while Ethereum rose 33.4% to close at 9.2 grams. In equities, the US markets rose, while Europe and Asia fell. Gold stocks also resumed their downward trend, falling 4.3%, the second largest drop after Bitcoin.
Filed under Bitcoin, Bonds, Commodities, Cotton, Counter-party Risk, Dow Jones Industrials, EUR, Euro, Platinum, Silver, Stocks, US Dollar by
Most currencies, equities and commodities were higher this week, with crude oil, down 3.2%, being the biggest exception. The largest gains were once again in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which rose 13.0% to close at 69.4 grams. The largest losses were in crude oil, but cotton, the Chinese Yuan, European stocks, and long term bonds were also lower. Gold stocks rebounded, gaining 3.2% and reversing the trend of recent weeks.
