Hope you are all doing well. The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ finished a volatile week with slight declines slipping from record levels set the previous week. The Dow was the worst performer this week down 1% on the week. The largest rock from Mars on Earth is going up for auction this week in NYC. I have broken down this week’s update using some of the strangest things ever auctioned.
Justin Timberlake’s half-eaten French toast ($1,025)
Like Timberlake’s leftovers some notable trading partners left U.S. trade deal offers at the negotiating table. A handful of these countries were slapped with a fresh round of tariff threats. The market viewed the Trump administration step up in rhetoric as a further delay in its initial plans to impose higher tariffs on dozens of trading partners. Therefore the market reacted somewhat positively. My feeling is that the countries the administration threatened this week will likely end up with tariffs being imposed on August 1 as these are the countries that have not taken the President’s threats seriously. I don’t expect nations like Canada and Brazil to actually come back to the table with an offer the administration will accept before August. While I am pleasantly surprised the market has continued to hold its elevated level I am expecting a 5 to 10 percent pullback in the coming weeks.
The jockstrap worn by Russell Crowe for the movie Gladiator ($8,540)
While many metals and cryptocurrencies have surged to new highs, none of these alternative assets can hold Bitcoin’s jockstrap. The price climbed above $118,000 per coin for the first time on Friday. That was another weekly gain of around 9%. There is nothing fundamentally that supports the current valuation of Bitcoin. If you are fortunate enough to have invested in it, you should consider selling at least 5% of your position at this level and taking some profit.
Violin from the Titanic ($1,700,000)
Bonds have been the Titanic of the investment world for the past several years. Could the Federal reserve soon be tossing fixed income markets a life raft? The release of minutes from the latest U.S. Federal Reserve meeting lifted expectations for interest-rate cuts this year. Bond prices move opposite interest rates so if interest rates start to come down we could see a rally in the bond market, however I still think longer duration bonds should still be avoided at this point.
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