This was a pretty good week as long as you weren't in currencies or bonds. The biggest gains were in crude oil, which rose 8.5%, and palladium, which gained 4.9%. Long term bonds fell more than any other asset, dropping 2.7%. The Japanese Yen was in second place, declining 1.3%.
National currencies were mixed but mostly lower. The Canadian Dollar was the exception, rising 0.3%. The Yen fell 1.3%, and the US Dollar declined 1.1%. the Chinese Yuan is listed as unchanged because the Shanghai Gold Exchange was closed for a week of national holiday. Short term notes tracked USD cash, declining 1.1%, but long term bonds fell 2.7%, the largest loss in any asset in this table.
Cryptocurrencies rose strongly, with Ethereum (up 4.5%) leading the way. Bitcoin gained 3.6% and the broader index of the 30 largest cryptos added 3.4%. Some smaller cryptocurrencies outperformed the majors. For instance, Monero (not in table) rose 11.8%.
Stocks moved higher, led by the HUI gold stock index, which gained 3.7%. The Japanese Nikkei underperformed its peers, but still added 1.2%. The S&P 500 rose 2.8%.
Commodity price action was mostly bullish; only platinum closed lower for the week, down 0.9%. Crude oil rose sharply, gaining 8.5%, and palladium was also strong, rising 4.9%. Silver was a bit lackluster, adding 0.8%.
Looking back year over year, Ethereum and gold stocks remain the best performing assets, rising 57.5% and 25.0% respectively. Crude oil has the worst record, falling 39.5%. The US Dollar is in second place, giving up 21.6% of its value.
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