Hi Everybody,
Out of all big flashy ICOs until now none have been as big as this next one. It’s a shame the Chinese won’t be joining us this time around.
If you’re not familiar with Kik, you should be. With more than 15 million active and loyal users, Kik is one of the hottest instant messaging apps in the world and they are about to introduce a new cryptocurrency to be used inside their app and out called Kin.
Kik is no stranger to in app payments. Their old “Kik Points” rewards program was simply going so well that they decided they will need something a bit more elaborate, something that only the Ethereum blockchain can provide.
For those of you looking to participate in this ICO, here is the link to register. Please note that the deadline for registration is just about 24 hours from the time of this writing.
@MatiGreenspan
eToro, Senior Market Analyst
Today’s Highlights
- Draghi Comes Clean
- Oh Canada Dollar Surge
- Irma on top of Harvey (Un standing by)
Please note: All data, figures & graphs are valid as of September 8th. All trading carries risk. Only risk capital you can afford to lose.
Market Overview
In a stunning turn of events, the traditional currency market has been far more exciting this week than the crypto one.
Mario Draghi’s speech yesterday was indeed eventful as he promised us that some critical decisions will be made at their next meeting in October.
Markets took this to mean that the ECB is indeed preparing to scale back their aggressive bond buying program, which currently injects €60 Billion per month into the European economy.
Draghi managed to inadvertently kick the Euro up during his speech to its highest level since 2014, right past the psychological resistance point of 1.2000 (dotted blue line).
The movement of the Euro is significant not only to the European Union but for the entire global currency market. Perspective seems to be shifting lately, especially when it comes to safety.
Most of the political risks and economic risks of the Eurozone seem to have dissipated in the last few months since the French Election. The new French President Emmanuel Macron is now talking about reshaping the entire union and indeed changing the way people think about it.
On the other hand, the US Dollar has been slipping and sliding nonstop. Traditionally, the Greenback is the beacon of safe haven assets but investors may be about to re-think this status.
During and since Draghi’s speech, the US Dollar Index took another massive leg downward reaching its lowest level in almost three years.
Loony Strength
One of the main benefactors of the Dollar weakness, besides the Euro, is the Canadian Dollar (Loony).
On Wednesday, the Bank of Canada surprised the world by increasing their interest rates from 0.75% to 1% even. Normally, the central banks give fair warning before such a hike. Though we’ve seen surprises in recent history, for example, the Swiss, Japan, and New Zealand, I don’t recall ever seeing one personally from Canada.
This surprise hike may be indicating a change in strategy by the BoC. It clearly shows that they want a stronger Loony and are willing to do what it takes to get it. As we mentioned in Tuesday’s update the Canadian Dollar is currently trading at a significant discount to its US counterpart even though historically their prices are usually closer to equal.
In that update, we posted a chart showing that the USDCAD is at a decision point. We’ll it looks like the BoC’s show of strength could help the chart make up its mind. The lower support line (yellow) is now officially broken.
What else?
A lot actually….
The Gulf of Mexico is getting battered by natural disasters. Just as the Damage from Hurricane Harvey has begun to be tallied, a massive 8.1 magnitude earthquake has just struck in Southern Mexico. On top of all this, Hurricane Irma is now on a direct course to strike Florida.
As if that’s not enough. It seems that Kim Jong Un might be preparing for another missile test over the weekend.
Wishing you a peaceful weekend ahead.
