Hi Everybody,
It looks like the Japanese have finally upped their volumes. According to coinhills.com, bitflyer – the company who will be responsible for bringing bitcoin to 260,000 stores in Japan – is now trading over 100,000 bitcoins a day and responsible for 10% of the total volume in the market.
The cryptocurrency market has seen another massive surge last night, adding $4 Billion in value over the past 24 hours.
Both Bitcoin and Ethereum are again trading at all time highs. Many traders in eToro now have their sights set firmly on BTC2K!!
–Mati
Today’s Highlights
- Massive Selloff in Brazil
- Iran Elections
- Two Weeks of Saftey
Please note: All data, figures & graphs are valid as of May 19th. All trading carries risk. Only risk capital you’re prepared to lose.
Market Overview
The safe haven sentiment in the markets is now apparent. Investors across the globe are now taking a good hard look at their respective portfolios as fear of political turmoil sets in.
The fireworks started yesterday morning in Brazil, the country can’t seem to shake mounting political scandals and yesterday it hit the markets in a big way.
Shares in the Ibovespa index dropped 10% at the market opening…
…and the Brazilian Real plunged 8.5% against the US Dollar.
Focus Today will be on the Middle East.
It’s election day in Iran. The incumbent Rouhani has only a slight edge over his rival. As Iranians go to the polls today the issue on the table is about East or West.
Rouhani wants to cozy up to Europe and America. His opponent is more of an Islamic idealist. As a former judge, he’s personally passed hundreds of death sentences and would likely not be a good friend of the Western World.
If the election is too close to call, they may be heading for a runoff between the two frontrunners.
Meanwhile, in the Middle East. Donald Trump is starting his tour of Saudi Arabia, Israel, Rome, and Belgium.
He will likely be the first President in US history to travel to the Middle East in order to avoid political turmoil.
The US markets managed to close in green yesterday after the Trump Dump on Wednesday. The big test will be what happens tonight before the weekend.
Will investors hold firm or get cold feet?… We’ll find out soon.
For the past two weeks, safe haven trading has been firmly in place.
We have gold going up…
along with the Japanese Yen…
and US treasury bonds rising sharply…
Have an awesome weekend!!
Best regards,
Mati Greenspan
Senior Market Analyst
