Hi Everyone,
The new President of the United States has done a lot of things to upset a lot of people but this time he’s gone too far.
According to a public statement from White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, the Trump administration is considering to crack down on the use of recreational Marijuana, even in the eight states where it is currently legalized.
This comes in stark contrast to Trump’s policy on issues like Abortion and Transgender Bathrooms, where he has advocated that each state should be able to dictate its own policy.
We’re not going to go into all the ways that legalization is great for the economy and how tax revenues in states like Colorado are currently funding and improving public education.
No, I just want to make a simple point. If you make it illegal again, you’re simply forcing people to stop growing it, but they’ll keep smoking it. So where do you think it’s going to come from, Mr. “Drugs flowing across the border?”
Let’s hope that this is just another case of the Trump administration testing the water on a policy before taking any action and that this ridiculous statement will disappear in a puff of smoke.
Thanks,
Mati
Today’s Highlights
- Trumponomics Revealed
- Another Scottish Referendum
- Snap Snap Snap
Please note: All data figures & graphs are valid as of February 27th. All trading carries risk. Only risk capital you’re prepared to lose.
Market Overview
The markets are showing very clear signs of fear at the start of this trading week. At the moment, everybody is bracing themselves for Trump’s visit to congress tomorrow. DJ Trump is a leader who really likes to control his environment and rarely speaks in places that he doesn’t have full control. We can see this by the fact that he has banned news agencies like CNN, the BBC, and the Guardian from attending a press briefing on Friday, and by the fact that he will not be attending the annual White House Correspondents Dinner where the President is usually the guest of honor.
It will be very interesting and more than a little frightening to see how he’ll hold up in a place like the US Congress. Many expect that we will get some further insight into how the budget will be handled and how Trump sees the future of the US economy, but as with everything Trump, we really never know what he’s going to do or say.
The need for safety in the market is very clear and evidenced by Gold and Silver, which are holding tightly to their gains from last week. The US Stock markets managed to etch out very tiny gains on Friday, with the Dow Jones posting it’s 11th straight all-time high, something that hasn’t happened in about 70 years. However, the rest of the markets are not sharing the US’s enthusiasm.
Markets in Europe and Asia are firmly down.
Meanwhile in the UK
The British Pound is falling again this morning, but only lightly, after it has become clear that Theresa May may back a second Scottish referendum after the Brexit is complete.
Here we can see the GBPUSD this morning. The white circle is the weekend gap. So we can tell that it was already falling before this news broke, but it was pushed down further.
Overall, the Pound has been pretty stable as we can see by zooming out a bit…
However, a drop below 1.2350 could prove fatal.
The news of the next possible referendum has dropped the pair to it’s lows. All eyes are now on the House of Lords to see if they pass May’s Brexit Bill cleanly or if they want to put any preconditions that would hurt the UKs ability to negotiate.
I wanted to say Good Going to @Goodgoing, who has been trading the range on the GBPUSD very well in the past few weeks and showing some amazing stats over the last year. Keep up the great work!!
Snapity Snap
Snap’s IPO is coming to eToro!!
As you may have already heard, the company behind the massive selfie service Snapchat is offering their shares to the general public, possibly this week.
This is set to be the biggest tech IPO since Alibaba and analysts expect it to fetch around $3 Billion at public auction. Not bad for a company with more than 300 Million active users and about 9,000 pictures uploaded every second.
Here in eToro, we’re very excited to be able to offer SNAP to our clients and the discussion page is live already: https://www.etoro.com/markets/snap
Of course, there’s no chart just yet since there is no price history but the blue Trade button is live and working so feel free to get your advanced order in already.
Please note that as in any IPO things can get a bit hectic. The first shares are generally reserved for the underwriters of the stock and partner financial institutions. Only once those commitments are satisfied will it be available for retail investors. This process can take anywhere from an hour to more than a day.
All orders will be executed only once we are able to receive the liquidity.
Let’s have an awesome week!!
This content is for information and educational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice or an investment recommendation.
Past performance is not an indication of future results. All trading carries risk. Only risk capital you’re prepared to lose.
Best regards,
Mati Greenspan
eToro Senior Market Analyst
