Weekly Update 12 Aug 2022

Equities, cryptocurrencies, and most commodities moved higher; bonds declined, and national currencies were mixed. The largest drops were in long term bonds, down 1.8%, and the US Dollar, off 1.1%. The best performers were ethereum, up 11.8% and cotton, up 11.4%. Coffee was in third place, rising 7.1%.

The Japanese Yen was the strongest national currency, gaining 0.2%, joined by the Chinese Yuan, which was little changed for the week. The US Dollar was weakest, falling 1.1%, followed by the Euro, off 0.3%. Short term notes did a bit better than cash, declining 1.0%, but long term bonds fell much more, closing down 1.8%.

Cryptos had a good week, led by ethereum, up 11.8% as a successful test was completed, paving the way for "The Merge" (transition from proof of work to proof of stake) next month. Bitcoin added 3.7%, and the broader CCi30 rose 5.2%.

Stock markets all moved higher, led by gold stocks, up 3.5%, and the S&P 500, up 2.2%. The Nikkei 225 and the Euro STOXX underperformed, but still rose 1.5% apiece.

Although silver was little changed, all other commodities rose significantly. Cotton was the leader, rising 11.4%, followed by coffee, up 7.1%. Palladium gained 6.7%, rounding out the top three. Weakest were silver (unchanged) and platinum, up 1.8%.

Year over year, only crude oil (up 30.0%), cotton (up 19.6%) and coffee (up 18.4%) are in the green; all other assets in the table are lower. Cryptos took the largest losses, as the CCi30 index fell 54.8%, and bitcoin dropped 46.4%. Outside of crypto, the Euro STOXX (down 24.1%) and long term bonds (down 21.8%) saw the largest declines. Among national currencies, the USD held up relatively well, falling just 2.5%, compared to the JPY (down 19.5%) and the EUR (down 14.8%).