Short Squeeze Subsides as Holiday Trading Begins
Friday’s Triple Witching Day, which had started with a premarket slump, turned into a big rally and short squeeze with major US indices gaining 1.0%-1.2%. Starting today, with many market participants away on holidays or in and out of the office for the next two weeks, trading has quietened down. US index futures are mixed […]
Bitcoin Hits a New High as Traders Digest Economic News
Bitcoin spiked up to a new all-time high overnight above $106,000 on the news that Bitcoin holder MicroStrategy is going to be added to the NASDAQ 100 Index. This means that equity capital flowing into NASDAQ-tracking funds may now circle into Bitcoin as well, potentially accelerating mainstream adoption. NASDAQ futures are up 0.5% on this […]
Earnings Beats Boost US Stocks
Bouncing back from US index declines of 0.5% to 0.7% yesterday, US index futures are up 0.1% to 0.9% this morning. European markets are quiet with the Dax, CAC and FTSE all holding steady. Asia Pacific markets fell to end the week with the Hang Seng dropping 2.1% and the Nikkei sliding 1.0%. The US […]
US Inflation and Bank of Canada Meeting In Focus Today
US index futures are trading up 0.1% to 0.4% following the release of a relatively benign US inflation report, as they try to shake off yesterday’s US index declines of 0.2% to 0.3%. Over in Europe, the Dax is flat and the FTSE is up 0.3%. US Consumer prices were in line with expectations, up […]
China in the Spotlight for Positive and Negative Interventions
Generally speaking markets really hate it when governments get too involved in the economy or investing whether it be tariffs, sanctions, capital gains or dividend taxes, antitrust actions or other things. Nvidia is down 2.2% in premarket trading, dragging NASDAQ futures down 0.2% after China announced over the weekend that it has started an investigation […]
Bitcoin Backs Off, Payrolls Beat Expectations
North American employment numbers came in stronger than expected. US Nonfarm Payrolls (227K vs street 200K, previous revised up to 26K from 12K), and Canada employment change (50.5K vs street 25K) both beat expectations. Wage inflation data, being Canada Average Hourly Wages (3.9% vs previous 4.9%), and US Average Hourly Earnings (4.00% vs street 3.9%) […]
Bitcoin Breaches $100,000
Markets, being dominated by humans can get drawn psychologically to large numbers. This year we have seen the S&P 500 blast through 5,000 and 6,000, the Dow Industrials rally through 40,000 and 45,000, the Nasdaq clear 20,000 and keep on going and Gold use $2,500 as a launch pad. Today the focus is on cryptocurrencies […]
Positive Earnings Propel Stocks Upward; ADP Payrolls Disappoint
US index futures are up 0.3% to 0.6% this morning but have been backsliding a bit as the morning has progressed. European action is mixed with the FTSE down 0.3% and the Dax up 0.6%. Commodities are mixed with Copper down 0.6% and US Crude Oil up 0.1%. Gold is down 0.3%, while Bitcoin is […]
Positive PMI and Disappointing Bank Earnings
Coming off of Monday’s mixed finish which saw the S&P 500 close at a new all-time high, the NASDAQ gain 1.0% and the Dow Industrials lose 0.3%, US index futures are pretty much flat this morning. European bourses are in the green today with the FTSE up 0.9% and the Dax up 0.2%. Currency trading […]
December Starts with the US Dollar in Rally Mode
Last week’s positive finish for US markets has carried through the weekend. Asia Pacific markets posted gains of 0.6% to 1.2% with Shanghai leading the way. In Europe this morning the Dax is up 1.1% while the FTSE is up 0.3%. US index futures are flat. The US Dollar is strong to start the week […]