Another good week for everything but resources, but an exceptional week for Bitcoin, which closed Friday on a new all-time high of 601 mg, up 15.4%. The old high, set back on 9-Jun-2011 at 598.3, was achieved suddenly – tripling from 200 to almost 600 in just 8 days and 188 kg of trading. This time around, it took 100 days and 1349 kg of trades to move from the 200 to the 600 level. It will be fascinating to see whether we continue higher from here, or pull back and spend some time consolidating first.  Either way, some bitcoins should be part of your speculative portfolio. Although the possibility of Bitcoin going bust is very real, the upside potential is huge. If Bitcoin is still around in 5  years, I'd be very surprised if 1 BTC wouldn't buy more than 1 oz of gold.

More on Market Update 22 Feb 2013: Bitcoin hits new high

Bitcoin, which has been rising strongly for the last month, kicked in the afterburners this week, gaining 23.8% to close at 386.3 mg. This blew through the resistance I expected at about 350 mg, and leaves the way clear for a retest of the all-time high of 598.3 mg set in June of 2011. Nonetheless, a pullback to support at 350 or even 300 before moving higher should not come as a surprise.

More on Market Update 1 Feb 2013 – Bonds down, Bitcoin up up up!

I have received several questions lately along the lines of, "What do these charts mean?", and "How do I interpret this chart?". This post is an attempt to answer these questions.

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For the first time in quite a while, every asset class was lower this week.

The least weak asset was the long term treasury bond fund (TLT) which declined only 0.1%. The US election result, the impending "fiscal cliff", and massive tax hikes coming in only a few weeks, combined to drive the animal spirits into a frenzied flight to safety, with gold just barely edging out T-Bonds as the market's choicest safe haven. From a technical perspective, TLT is worth watching in the near future. This week it broke above its 200 day moving average on massive volume, and has stayed above for several days. If this support level holds, it could signal a return to its previous trading channel, with significant upside potential.

More on Market Update 9 Nov 2012 – Food is cheap!

This was a good week for most investments, with all the currencies and bonds higher, all equities except gold stocks higher, and commodities mixed.

Bitcoin was the strongest currency, gaining 4.5% for the week, but this represents a recovery of less than half of last week's loss.  The Japanese Yen was the best performing government currency, rising 1.9%, closely followed by the USD and EUR.  Even the Canadian Dollar, the weakest of the bunch, rose 1.2%.

More on Market Update 2 Nov 2012 – Bitcoin recovers, Coffee makes new low

All of the government currencies were strong again this week, led by the EUR, which rose 3.4%. Bitcoin (BTC) declined slightly, giving up 0.7% for the week to finish at 210.6 mg.

More on Market Update 19 Oct 2012 – Cotton, Nikkei up, Silver down

Another great email this week:

I often hear that Warren Buffet thinks gold is a lousy "investment" when compared to stocks.  What I've never seen is a long-term comparison of gold versus BRK-A or other well-known "successful" funds.
Any chance of seeing a chart of BRK-A in gold? 

I've been keeping that chart for years, but haven't updated it lately.  You can check it anytime at stockcharts.com with the symbol "BRK/A:$GOLD".  Basically, Berkshire did great until 1999, and has been lousy from then until about a year ago, falling 85% and giving up all of it's gains back to 1995.  The last 12 months have been pretty good, but if you bought BRK-A anytime between 1996 and 2011, you are still underwater.

 

Here is a chart of BRK-A in ounces of gold:

 

 

Cheers,

 

 

Sir Charles

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I recently received the following email:

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All of the government currencies were strong this week, with the CAD up 1.5%, JPY up 1.4%, and even the battered EUR showing a 0.5% gain. Bitcoin (BTC) however, took a beating, dropping 11% early in the week, but recovering some ground to finish the week down 4.6%. Remember my comments from last week: the BTC is a highly volatile young currency. Expect to see it mentioned often as one of the biggest winners or losers!

More on Market Update 12 Oct 2012 – BTC, TLT and Coffee

Currencies were weak this week, with the EUR treading water up 0.1%, while the USD and CAD fell 0.4% and 0.6% respectively.  The weakest of the bunch was the JPY, down 1.5%.  This week I am starting to include coverage of Bitcoin (BTC). As you can see from the chart below, bitcoin has had a meteoric rise over during the last two years since its introduction, though this has been punctuated by sharp declines. This volatility is caused by the currency's youth: it is being adopted by thousands of new users each week, and this rising demand is pushing its value up. But any time there is a rumor of a theft or concern about a government crackdown, the value can tumble sharply.  This week, BTC is the only currency to show much strength, and over the last month, and the last year, it outshines all other investment categories.  Worth keeping an eye on!  Learn more at bitcoin.org.

More on Market Update 5 Oct 2012 – Bitcoin, Coffee and Crude