FANG Selloff Erases Early Market Gains

Hello traders everywhere. FANG shares are tumbling today as investors started selling the top-performing stocks of the year dramatically only to move into financials. This move is due to robust economic data and comments from Fed officials on future rate hikes.

Stocks had started the day higher on speculation the Senate would pass cuts to corporate taxes, with banks pacing gains on bets that industry will benefit most. Yellen's comments added to optimism that growth is poised to accelerate. The dollar erased an early gain, while 10-year Treasury yields rose.

MarketClub's Mid-day Market Report

Meanwhile, crude oil is falling for the fourth straight day on news that OPEC and Russia look set to prolong oil supply cuts until the end of 2018 this week while signaling that they may review the deal when they meet again in June if the market overheats.

Key levels to watch next week: Continue reading "FANG Selloff Erases Early Market Gains"

Bitcoin Rises As Oil Drops

Hello traders everywhere. Bitcoin's meteoric rise has continued through the long holiday weekend. When the markets closed on Wednesday Bitcoin had just surpassed 8K to hit an all-time high of $8,281.62. Much to my surprise this morning it had breached 9k to hit an all-time high of $9,725.26 in early hours trading.

Trading volumes rose to 5.4 billion yesterday, the highest level since Nov. 13 – adding credence to the rally's sustainability. Furthermore, Google search volumes for the term "bitcoin" have spiked again.

So, the technical chart looks more bullish than ever, with prices likely to soon test $10,000 levels – and perhaps beyond.

MarketClub's Mid-day Market Report

Crude Oil had dropped over 2% in early hours trading before backing of the low of the day and trading down a little over 1% on the day. The drop comes on the heels of a rise to the highest level in 2 years.

The recent weakness is due to U.S. drillers expanding operations while OPEC and Russia prepare to discuss longer supply curbs in a meeting later this week.

Key levels to watch next week: Continue reading "Bitcoin Rises As Oil Drops"

Stocks Dip On Tax Reform Concerns

Hello traders everywhere. Tax Reform has taken center stage this week as the House approved its version of the legislation. We now wait on the Senate who is still debating its own plan.

I feel like the market is uncertain about the tax bill's ability to move to the next stage of approval, thus letting some volatility enter the picture as indicated by the VIX and the recent market action over the past few days. The VIX hit it's highest level since August.

MarketClub's Mid-day Market Report

Elsewhere, bitcoin is hovering just under $8000. Crude oil jumped to $56 a barrel as Saudi Arabia, and OPEC moved to dispel doubts over Russia's readiness to extend output curbs. The Japanese yen gained the most in more than two months against the dollar and the emerging market shares headed for the highest close in six years.

Key levels to watch next week: Continue reading "Stocks Dip On Tax Reform Concerns"

Bitcoin Fights Back

Hello traders everywhere. Bitcoin (CME:BRTI) is staging a comeback today recovering more than $1,000 after losing almost a third of its value in less than five days as traders started buying back the volatile cryptocurrency.

The drop started mid-week last week with Bitcoin falling to a low of 5,645.66 on Sunday culminating a 5-day streak of losses. As trading opened today, Bitcoin rose as much as 14% before backing off the highs in afternoon trading.

MarketClub's Mid-day Market Report

Most traders believe that the fall had been driven by a decision on Wednesday to abandon a planned software upgrade that could have split the cryptocurrency in a so-called "fork." A move that had initially had a positive impact, sending it to a record high of $7,823.46 on the view that this marked a resolution of a long-term dispute.

But some were disappointed that "Segwit2x" fork had been abandoned. It would have increased the capacity of the "blocks" transactions are processed in, thereby reducing competition to get payments processed and lowering transaction fees.

Key levels to watch this week: Continue reading "Bitcoin Fights Back"

Stock Market Heading For Weekly Loss

Hello traders everywhere. The stock market is heading for its first weekly loss in six weeks after hitting all-time highs earlier in the week. The reason for the late week weakness, the tax plan that was released Thursday by the U.S. Senate.

Senate Republicans have unveiled a tax-cut plan that would delay lowering the corporate rate to 20% by a year to 2019 and provide small-business owners with a deduction rather than an exclusive business rate.

The Senate Republicans' version of the bill differs markedly on corporate, business and individual tax cuts from legislation detailed by their counterparts in the House of Representatives who want to enact the corporate tax reduction in 2018.

MarketClub's Mid-day Market Report

Meanwhile, crude oil is set to extend its longest stretch of weekly gains since October of 2016 with instability flooding the Middle East.

The arrests of Saudi Arabian royals and investors in an anti-corruption sweep compounded tensions between the world’s largest oil exporter and longtime rival Iran, heightening concerns about potential supply disruptions. Crude futures have risen 2.8% this week in New York, despite record high oil production from U.S. oil fields.

Key levels to watch next week: Continue reading "Stock Market Heading For Weekly Loss"