In about eight hours from the time of this writing the moon will pass in front of the sun and cover it completely in a total solar eclipse.
The eclipse will be visible across the United States of America starting in the Washington State and making it's way towards Florida.
My family and I are lucky enough to be scheduled for a flight from Vancouver Canada to Los Angeles that, if my calculations are correct, should take us right through the path of totality.
Will try to snap some photos for you.
Today's Highlights
- Bye Bye Bannon
- Yellen & Draghi
- Game of Cryptos
Please note: All data, figures & graphs below are valid as of August 21st. All trading carries risk. Only risk capital you're prepared to lose.
Market Overview
The White House shake up continues as Donald Trump's top advisor Steve Bannon has left the scene. For those of you who are unfamiliar. Steve Bannon was the editor of an online tabloid that reeks of conspiracy theories and racism.
Bannon has been instrumental in helping Trump win the Presidency but on Friday it was revealed that he will be going back to his old job.
This was seen as a positive thing by the markets, which ended higher on Friday but not positive enough to bring them to weekly gains.
This morning, markets are brooding over the departure of the infamous investor Carl Ichan from Trump's billionaire dream team of advisers.
At this point, headlines about who is and who is not at Donald Trump's side are having a direct impact on the financial markets.
This week in Markets
As far as the economic calendar is concerned, the week should start off fairly uneventful but by the end there is a chance to pick up some real momentum.
On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday we should be getting news from the Jackson Hole Symposium. This annual event will be attended by many politicians and bankers including Janet Yellen and Mario Draghi.
Long term investors should pay close attention to these meetings as we are at somewhat of a crossroads in the world of monetary policy.
On the one hand we've seen a big push from many central banks to tighten up the money, to raise rates, and reduce the quantitative easing measures.
On the other hand, some countries may not be ready just quite yet to let go of these tools and doing so could potentially have dire consequences.
Game of Crypto
The world of crypto has been extremely eventful since Friday and the powers that be are nipping at each others heels.
The old king bitcoin remains on the Iron Throne for the time being but his dominance has decreased significantly in the past few days. Just a week ago BTC controlled almost 52% of the crypto market. Today it is down to 46%.
From the north, the bastard bitcoin cash that nobody seemed to have much hope for just last Thursday has been gaining ground in an astonishing way.
A strong victory on Friday led to further gains in price until it was discovered that miners of bitcoin cash would be receiving greater rewards than those who mine for the old bitcoin. The first house has defected just this morning as mining pool btc.com, who currently controls about 13% of the total bitcoin mining ability, has begun to support Bitcoin Cash.
Meanwhile in the South, ethereum has been growing in usefulness. The number of transactions on the network have consistently been reaching record breaking levels and the volumes seem to be increasing as well. Just this morning the price has bumped above $300 per coin and the momentum has carried it to it's highest level since June.
Keep your eyes open. The games are afoot.
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.