There are two areas I want to cover in today’s commentary. First, the normal “What's happening in the market.” Second, I came across a very concise and informative infographic that explains (and shows) what blockchain is, how it works and why it is getting so much buzz in the news. Blockchain is the underlying technology which makes Bitcoin transactions possible. I won’t get into Bitcoin today as the real story behind Bitcoin is the blockchain technology. Today’s commentary will be brief so you can spend a few minutes on the Reuter’s article described above. So, now, on with the show.
Most of the stock market continues to push higher. This is in spite of the rate hike last week and impending trade wars this week. Of course, today the markets are down as of this writing. Is this the beginning of the next rip downward? Hold your horses. While anything is possible, the technical data is yet to show the markets are all that nervous. In fact, this may simply be a short-term over-bought situation – especially for the S&P500.
Provided the 2750 area on the S&P500 holds as support, this pull-back is pretty ‘normal’ for a market to experience. The rhetoric about trade wars is, for now, just that – rhetoric. Thus far the Trump Administration has done a fairly solid job of generating inflammatory headlines that end up far less horrible than folks initially project.
The tricky part of this thing is the underlying economic fundamentals remain strong, but the possibility of waging a trade war with the #2 economy in the world (China) is enough to put a shred of doubt in folks’ minds. So far, the conditions that precipitate a more significant bear market event don’t seem to be present.
Click here to see the brief tutorial on blockchain technology.
Kind regards,
