This week saw a trend reversal, with almost every asset class rising in value; the lone exception was palladium, which fell 3.9%. The week's biggest winner was once again Bitcoin, which gained 4.4%. Copper and coffee were also strong, rising 3.8% each.
The last two weeks have seen a steady downtrend in government-issued currencies, bonds, and major stock indexes, along with violent swings in Bitcoin and mixed gains and losses in commodities. This week's biggest winner was Bitcoin, which gained 7.0%, mostly offsetting the prior week's 8.9% drop. Coffee was also strong, rising 1.7% on top of the prior week's 3.2% gain. The week's largest losses were in copper, which gave up 3.2% against the prior week's 4.3% gain.
Filed under Bitcoin, Bonds, Coffee, Commodities, Dow Jones Industrials, Platinum, S&P 500, Silver, Stocks, US Dollar by 
I have been hearing a lot about the Dow Jones flirting with the 20,000 level this week. In fact, on Friday it hit 19,999.63 during the day, but fell back to close at 19,963.80. I'm pretty confident we will eventually see this benchmark reached and surpassed, as we have seen many others in the past: 1,000 in 1972, 5,000 in 1995, 10,000 in 1999, 15,000 in 2013, and so on.
Let's take a look at these historic milestones, measure them in Dollars and in gold, and see what we can learn about where we've been, where we are, and where we might be going.
Filed under Dow Jones Industrials, US Dollar by
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.
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!
Filed under Bitcoin, Bonds, Commodities, Dow Jones Industrials, EUR, Euro, S&P 500, Silver, Stocks, US Dollar by
The week before Christmas was quiet for stocks, bonds, and most currencies, with few assets outside the commodities changing more than 1%. Bitcoin outpaced all other assets, gaining a whopping 17.5% for the week and closing at 25.2 grams. Palladium doubled down on the prior week's drop, losing another 4.9%, clinching the "weakest asset class" title. Gold stocks performed better than any of the major stock indexes, gaining 2.3%, still a distant second place behind Bitcoin.
This was a good week for stocks, but mixed for bonds and commodities. The big winner was the Euro STOXX, which gained 6.3% this week on news that the European Central Bank will be extending its low interest rate policy and expanding its quantitative easing programs. US stocks also rallied on the news. Coffee dropped again this week, falling a further 3.6%, the largest loss of any asset class.
For more on currencies, stock markets, bonds and commodities, and for a look back at results for the last year, check out the whole article!
Filed under Bitcoin, Bonds, Commodities, Dow Jones Industrials, Interest Rates, Platinum, S&P 500, Silver, Stocks, US Dollar by
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.
A generally positive week for all asset types, with only coffee, down 2.3%, gold stocks, down 1.6%, and the JPY, off 0.5%, showing losses. The big winner was copper, which after catching it's breath last week, continued to skyrocket, gaining 10.4% this week. The major stock indexes were all higher, led by the Dow Jones Industrials, which gained 3.5% to close at 501.6 grams. Financial headlines have been filled with stories about this recent series of "highest ever" dollar prices for the Dow… but readers of Priced in Gold know that the Dow has yet to equal it's 2015 high of 523.5 grams, or it's 2007 high of 652.6 grams. And to really get into all-time high territory, the Dow will have eclipse its August 1999 high of 1393.2 grams – 2.8 times higher than today's price. Could that happen? Maybe some day, but probably not soon, and probably not without seeing considerably lower prices first.
Filed under Bitcoin, Bonds, Coffee, Commodities, Dow Jones Industrials, nz dollars, S&P 500, Silver, Stocks, US Dollar by
Things stabilized a bit this week, with mixed results for most asset classes as investors sorted through the debris of the coming political sea-change in the US. The largest swings were in commodities, with silver the week's biggest loser, down 9.3%, and cotton and crude oil the week's biggest winners, up 7.9% and 7.5% respectively.
Filed under Banking, Bitcoin, Bonds, Commodities, Counter-party Risk, Platinum, S&P 500, Silver, Stocks, US Dollar by
