The short week resulted in a strong start to 2018 for the US capital markets with the all major averages advancing and hitting new highs. The much anticipated milestones of 25,000 for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and 7,000 for the NASDAQ were achieved this last week. Gains were mostly attributable to general factors such as a strong close to Q4, economic strength, and an optimistic outlook, as opposed to specific events. The VIX ended in the low 9s, and consumer confidence remains high.
As most on this platform would know, cryptocurrencies had a strong week as well, with many altcoins really thriving, including some lesser known ones like Stellar and Tron. 2017 was a game changing year for the adoption of cryptocurrencies into mainstream discussion, and 2018 looks to be poised for big gains and more mass adoption.
Gold had a strong week, advancing nearly 1% to a strong price of $1,320 an ounce. This was primarily spurred on by a weakness in the US Dollar.
In political news, President Trump and Republicans are now talking about a new infrastructure spending plan, which would further bolster the economy, with the first proposal anticipated in mid-February. President Trump was particularly active on Twitter with more unusual tweets then normal including more nuclear war posturing, causing renewed discussions about his mental capacity to serve as President. Should this gain momentum, the uncertainty of the situation would likely cause severe market volatility.
Overall, I am cautiously optimistic about 2018, and remain fully invested.
Good luck,
Brian