Winston Martin

21/05/2024

𝐆𝐌𝐄: 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐫𝐞-𝐑𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐆𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐅𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞

Shares have erased 75% of their peak valuation from last week, leaving retail traders scrambling and trying to figure out what happened.

GameStop stock GME has erased all gains from last week when shares rocketed more than 300%, going from $20 to $80. The frothy share price increase — initially set in motion by Roaring Kitty’s comeback — has staged a massive about face and the stock is back to where it was before the surge, wiping out 75% from last week’s peak valuation. What’s behind the rollercoaster ride and is that the end of the meme stock revival?

The video game retailer announced plans on Friday to sell as much as 45 million shares in an effort to capitalize on the powerful upside swing. Investors aren’t fans of that practice because it waters down existing shares. With this maneuver, GameStop shares are poised to be worth about 87% of their current value. Also, issuing 45 million shares will add 15% to all outstanding shares.

In another filing, GameStop said that it expects net sales for the current quarter to come in way below estimates — $872 million to $892 million vs. $1.045 billion expected and $1.237 billion in last year’s time span. Still, meme stocks rejiggered investors’ emotions (and portfolios), sparking hopes of a possible meme stock rally 2.0. Or at least had retail traders excited about their favorite picks.

17/05/2024

𝐃𝐓𝐂𝐂 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐏𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐔𝐒 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐅𝐢

The DTCC has partnered with Chainlink to conclude a pilot program involving several major banking firms in the United States.

14/05/2024

𝐔𝐒𝐃/𝐉𝐏𝐘: 𝐃𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐬 ¥𝟏𝟓𝟔.𝟎𝟎 𝐚𝐬 𝐉𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐧’𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐎𝐟𝐟. 𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠?

Yen has been caught in dollar’s grip once again, even as greenback shows signs of weakness across the forex board.

The USDJPY pair has been surging over the past few trading days in bids to recoup the majority of the losses following Japan’s intervention efforts in early May. To kick off Monday deals, a single dollar was buying nearly 156 yen with the dollar-yen rate hitting a session high of ¥155.90. It’s bad news for Japan and all greenback bears who have been shorting this volatile beast of a currency pair.

Japan waded into the forex space in the first week of May, selling as much as $60 billion to try and prop up the value of its currency. The plan worked initially but then dollar bulls saw there wasn’t nearly enough bite to the bark. Soon after, the narrative flipped and now more than half of the progress made by Japan’s officials has been erased. When’s the next intervention?

The defenders of the yen could decide to jump back in with another huge sell wall at any moment. But they’re fully aware that dollar bulls won’t give up so easily. That makes this next step a tricky one — too small an intervention could have little to no effect. But a position that’s too big could use up a lot of firepower and limit Japan’s resources to act again in the foreseeable future.

10/05/2024

𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐂𝐫𝐲𝐩𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐮𝐲 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟗 – 𝐀𝐫𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞, 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐢𝐧

With crypto choppy on Thursday, traders are parsing through their options in the altcoin market as they hunt for the best crypto to buy now.

07/05/2024

𝐒𝐏𝐗: 𝐒&𝐏 𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐚𝐲, 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲

Slowing job growth fueled stocks’ momentum across the board with all three major indexes finishing in the green for the week.

Futures contracts tied to the S&P 500 were pointing higher early Monday after the broad-based benchmark added 1.2% on Friday. The Wall Street favorite shot up 0.5% for the week on a strong lineup of earnings reports coupled with monthly data, which suggested that the US economy is cooling. The other two major averages — the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq Composite — also wrapped up the week in gains.

Apple shares AAPL jumped 6% and erased nearly all losses from this year. Investors cheered the iPhone maker’s not-that-bad revenue of $90.8 billion and the $110 billion share buyback plan. Further, US employers added 175,000 new workers to the labor market in April, below analysts’ forecasts of 238,000. The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9% in signs of an economic slowdown.

Optimism over the highly anticipated interest rate cuts is back in play. Fewer jobs created indicate that the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate campaign might be working. If favorable economic data keeps trickling in, the US central bank might pivot to a rate cut sooner rather than later. But if, for example, inflation data comes in higher than expected, rate cuts could get pushed further back.

03/05/2024

𝐁𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭-𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐘𝐞𝐭: 𝐁𝐢𝐭𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐱

Analysts at cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex predict the price of Bitcoin could consolidate for up to two months post-halving.

30/04/2024

𝐒𝐏𝐗: 𝐒&𝐏 𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝐃𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝟎.𝟓% 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐆𝐃𝐏 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐑𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐧

Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet both beat earnings and revenue expectations but stocks broadly fell on slowing growth.

The S&P 500 index drifted lower on Thursday after news out of the US signaled slowing growth and cast a shadow over investor optimism. Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded at a 1.6% annual rate in the first quarter, sliding below the 2.4% growth projected by analysts. What’s more, the print suggested that inflation may be catching up to the economy once again after a cooldown period.

It was another reason for investors to dial down their high expectations over interest rate cuts this year. On the one hand, slowing growth is an indication of a cooling economy. But when price pressures underlie that downward trend, prospects for rate cuts diminish. The Federal Reserve’s favorite inflation gauge - PCE - is on deck for release later today.

Earnings season, meanwhile, is picking up with reports from Big Tech flooding the space. On Thursday after the closing bell, Microsoft MSFT and Google parent Alphabet GOOGL delivered robust figures. Both tech heavyweights beat on profits and revenue estimates with Microsoft pulling in nearly $62 billion in revenue. Alphabet is on track to enter the elite $2 trillion club today after shares jumped 12% in off-hours trading.

26/04/2024

𝐄𝐎𝐒 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝟏𝟒.𝟑𝟖% 𝐈𝐧 𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐭

EOS Falls 14.38% In Rout

23/04/2024

𝐄𝐔𝐑/𝐔𝐒𝐃: 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐍𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝟔-𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡 𝐋𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐄𝐲𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐬

Dollar has dominated the forex scene this year, chipping a 3% chunk of the euro’s valuation since start of January.

Key Points:

Traders target euro-dollar parity.
Euro gravitates near 6-month low.
Euro-dollar parity last seen in 2022.

The EURUSD pair was floating near its 6-month low around $1.0650 on Monday as forex speculators were busy building out their short positions. According to a report from Bank of America BAC, traders have juiced up options that will generate a windfall if the European currency hit parity with the dollar. In other words, big money’s on the line if the EURUSD knocked out $1.00 or below.

Behind that speculative move is the expectation that the European Central Bank will begin cutting interest rates before the Federal Reserve. The US dollar has proved unshakeable in recent months as the American economy has churned out report after report indicating strong growth despite stubborn inflation. And with that, Bank of America says that traders are projecting a 10% chance of the euro dropping to $1.00 in the next six months.

The mighty greenback has already yanked out 3.5% of the euro’s valuation this year. About 600 pips, or 6%, are needed for parity to be achieved. Last time markets witnessed such an event was less than two years ago. In September 2022, the euro-dollar pair hit $0.9535 — a low unseen for over two decades.

19/04/2024

𝐁𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲: 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 $𝟓𝟗𝐤 𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐝 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐧-𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡

Bitcoin price today: tests $59k amid Iran-Israel escalation, halving watch

16/04/2024

𝐔𝐒𝐃/𝐉𝐏𝐘: 𝐃𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐏𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 ¥𝟏𝟓𝟒.𝟎𝟎 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐉𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐘𝐞𝐧

In today’s episode of forex deals: Japan intervention is on everyone’s minds as the yen slipped deeper in losses.

Key Points:

Dollar pushes toward ¥154.00.
No sign of intervention from Japan.
Yen goes back to 1990 valuation.

The US dollar woke up and chose violence again, pummeling the Japanese yen to a fresh 34-year low. As if last week’s multi-year high in the USD/JPY pair of ¥153.38 wasn’t enough, the greenback continued its run early Monday morning, reaching a new top of ¥153.97. And with that, Japan officials are yet to lash out and say “you came to the wrong neighborhood.”

Japanese Finance minister Shunichi Suzuki said last week officials were monitoring the yen’s moves and were ready to shield it if speculation ever got too much. Previously, analysts were projecting an intervention anywhere above the ¥150.00 threshold. But, if there’s any action from Japan, it wouldn’t communicate it beforehand.

Now with the pair chasing ¥154.00, officials may decide to step in at any moment and shore up the yen by buying tons of it, while selling US dollars. The yen has been in a consistent downfall this year, erasing nearly 10% of its value since the first trading day of 2024. The last time the yen was that cheap was in the summer of 1990.

12/04/2024

𝐁𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲: 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞

Bitcoin price today: halving event looms large