EQUOS — Morning Update — December 4th
The US jobless claims might have fallen for the first time in months, but investor enthusiasm only fell somewhat. Pfizer’s supply chain problems mean that the initial distribution of vaccines might be halved.
Price action was relatively solid, though. The S&P closed flat, at the previous record levels, and the Nasdaq rose to new highs (tech stocks are benefiting from a prolonged stay-at-home economy). Less solid is the dollar, continuing an abysmal descent; however, the weakness did give an opportunity for gold to climb back up slowly, now at $1,841.
In the crypto space, we’re also up. BTC, which had revisited the 18K’s, showed some resilience and inched itself back into the mid 19K’s, currently at $19,440. Not unlike an actor about to get on stage, BTC is torn between excitement and fear about making a go at the 20K mark, a level which, if breached, will be met with cheers, but, if not breached, will be met by disappointment.
Alts are showing a mixed picture. ETH is leading, up 3.5%, slightly above $615. ADA, XMR, and XTZ are in the green. LINK, LTC, XLM, and XRP are closing flat. DOT is actually closing a tad down.
The narrative I had on price action specifically remains the same as in previous briefings. While headlines are pouring in and are overwhelmingly positive for the space, I keep seeing activity from larger holders reducing withdrawals, which always suggests more selling or sideways action. I’m also very cognizant of the environment this rally is occurring in, more derivatives trading and therefore more leverage — which is supportive in good times, yet painful in hard ones.
I wasn’t lying about positive news coming in, though:
The S&P Dow Jones indices are set to launch cryptocurrency indexes in 2021. Regardless of what that becomes or how it affects trading, an organization like that making such a move is a massive show of goodwill towards the crypto space.
Raul Pal’s financial TV channel, Real Vision, invested about 10% of its cash holdings in BTC.
Valour, a Swiss provider of investment products, just launched the first free-fee Bitcoin ETP, naturally adding to the legitimacy and ease of investment for a broad base of investors.
Lastly, but definitely not least, Spotify might be accepting cryptocurrencies as payment. This might feel trivial, but a company with such a large user base is precisely the kind of step needed to bolster adoption.
