Week 8 in Brief
US-China Trade Truce: “China has suspended more punitive tariffs imposed on U.S. imports following a truce in its trade war with Washington that threatened global economic growth. Financial markets welcomed announcements by both sides of reductions in penalties on each other’s goods, though they have yet to resolve much of the conflict that erupted in 2018 over Beijing’s technology ambitions and trade surplus. Goods affected by the latest reduction include industrial components and medical and factory equipment.”
BITCOIN took a huge stumble Thursday as investors geared up for an uncertain weekend following days of wild volatility. BTC suffered its biggest drop since September as it fell off a cliff in a $1,000 sell-off, plummeting to $9,350. Almost every cryptocurrency felt the shockwave with huge tumbles across the board in a near repeat of last weekend’s collapse.
Gold Markets Break Out for The Week. “Gold markets have broken out above the crucial $1600 level during the week, as the central banks around the world continue to loosen monetary policy. At this point, the market is likely to see plenty of bullish pressure due to the fact that central banks are doing that, but of course the Chinese coronavirus continues to be a major issue. There is a lot of fear out there, and therefore if the market pulling back happens, that should offer plenty of value in a market that shows extraordinarily strong momentum.”
Black Swan Events Remind Stock Investors to Diversify from U.S. “A flight to safe havens, the plunge in U.S. long-bond yields and real interest rates sinking further into negative territory have led to a surge in the shares of Canadian gold miners, utility companies and real estate income trusts. These sectors make up about a fifth the nation’s key equity gauge, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. A wave of geopolitical events and the coronavirus epidemic that has killed more than 2,200 people and infected more than 76,000 has led Canada’s benchmark to outperform the S&P 500 so far this year – an event so unusual that it only happened twice in the last decade.”
Market underestimating coronavirus risk, Goldman: “Goldman Sachs sounded the alarm on Wednesday to clients about a possible correction in the stock market, noting investors are underestimating how big of a risk the coronavirus really is. “We believe the greater risk is that the impact of the coronavirus on earnings may well be underestimated in current stock prices, suggesting that the risks of a correction are high,” strategist Peter Oppenheimer wrote in a note.
Global Terror-Finance Watchdog to Sanction Iran: Blacklist would broaden U.S. effort to isolate Tehran financially and potentially further strain the Iranian economy which is already battered with sanctions.