After many blasts and sounds of gunfighting on the streets of Harare in Zimbabwe, it seems that the army finally has things under control.
The 93 year old dictator Robert Mugabe is under house arrest for trying to set up his wife, AKA 'Gucci Grace,' as the next leader. The military has seized control over the state media and is preparing for the first regime change in the countries modern history.
With the extremely volatile nature of cryptocurrencies, it's difficult to view Bitcoin as a safe haven asset. But if you happen to live in a currency-less country in the midst of a coup that has ATM withdrawals capped at $20 a day, the worlds global digital currency seems to provide the only stable alternative.
One bitcoin is now going for about $12,499 in Zimbabwe's markets. Anybody down for a road trip?
Today's Highlights
Asia Props Stocks
American Taxes
$8.2 Billion Day!
Please note: All data, figures & graphs are valid as of November 16th. All trading carries risk. Only risk capital you're prepared to lose.
Market Overview
The mild selling attitude that was observed on Wall Street has been completely reversed by Asian investors this morning. The Dow Jones fell 0.65 yesterday, which isn't much but it is the biggest decline since September. After a big pushback, the China 50 and Nikkei 225 are up more than 1.3% today.
This sudden surge in stocks comes as the currencies and commodities markets remain rather docile. There's plenty of news events on the calendar today that could change that though and of course, all eyes are on Washington DC and the NYSE.
Sneaky Politics
Donald Trump's Tax bill is expected to pass a vote in the House of Representatives today but it is very likely to fail in the Senate. Republicans took a bold move and tried to squeeze the "repeal of Obamacare" right into the tax cuts plan.
The new clause we will remove the fine for Americans who don't purchase health insurance, a move that would basically render Obamacare impotent and topple the insurance companies. Sneakily, it would also reduce the effect of the tax bill on the long-term US deficit enough to allow House Republicans to pass the bill without the Democrats' approval. Though this could be seen as progress, they've only brought themselves one step closer to a brick wall when the bill hits the Senate.
The promise of reduced corporate taxes has brought the stocks up quite significantly over the past few months and nobody really knows how well the prospect is currently priced into the markets. With the next Fed meeting a month away and earnings season almost over, this political drama is taking the center stage in American markets.
Crypto BattleGround
Over the past 24 hours, the value of all cryptocurrencies in circulation has risen by an outstanding $5 Billion and the entire market is now worth $220 Billion. Bitcoin itself has added $8.2 Billion to its market cap and now trading at $7,375 on eToro.
After the unification brought on by the cancellation of the Segwit2x hard fork and the quick rejection of the notion to replace BTC with BCH, the first and most popular digital currency is now asserting its dominance over the market.
However, the next $300 could prove very difficult ground to reclaim. There are generally less buyers when the market is near the top and it would require a breakout of the all time highs in order to generate new interest from new buyers.
The sugar rush on the 2x cancellation caused the price to spike as high as $7,872 (orange circle) so everything between the previous high (blue) and the all time high should be considered battleground territory.
Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. A lot of the info that I have comes directly from you, the readers. So please keep tagging me and sending in your thoughts.
eToro, Senior Market Analyst
Disclosure: 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.