Studies show that as little as 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon a day can improve your blood sugar content by 24% and cholesterol levels by 18%. It can also make all the difference when baking a pie.
Many people don't know this but cinnamon is actually considered to be an extremely volatile spice. Meaning, that it is incredibly complex at the chemical level and can have different interactions when mixed with different ingredients.
Those of you familiar with my writing probably know where I'm going with this already.
Just as a dash of cinnamon can invigorate an otherwise boring recipe, a small percentage of cryptocurrencies can have a powerful effect on any investment portfolio.
This, by the way, is what Wall Street hedge funds are so excited about at the moment.
Beware: just as a small amount of spice can drastically improve things, too much can have a devastating impact on Grandma's favorite stew. Also, try eating a spoonful of cinnamon by itself and see what happens.
Today's Highlights
In the Swing of Things
Brexit Blow Out
Steady Bitcoin Hands
Please note: All data, figures and graphs are valid as of July 10th. All trading carries risk. Only risk capital you can afford to lose.
Traditional Markets
As we predicted in last week's webcast, the market's reaction to the tariff trade wars seems to be well behind us now.
Many indices have seen some significant gains since the beginning of the week.
So, it's just about the right time for a shakeup....
As we explained in a previous update (entitled: The Delicate Balance of Power) on February 1st 2017, it seems that Donald Trump's presidency may indeed have an impact far beyond his 4 or 8 years in office.
Once confirmed, judges on the US Supreme Court serve for life. Until now, the bench was evenly split with 4 liberals, 4 conservatives, and 1 swing vote.
That swing vote was Anthony Kennedy, who Brett Kavanaugh, a staunch conservative, will be replacing.
The article above indicates that now that the Supreme Court has a majority of conservative members, it might pave the way to change American policy on things like abortion and firearms.
However, one thing that stands out about Kavanaugh's reputation is that he has a tendency to uphold previous court decisions, even when they conflict with his personal views.
As an optimist, I have to say that this might be the best pick we could have hoped for.
Brexit Blow Out
It seems that the Pound was able to withstand the resignation of Brexit Secretary David Davis. Even at this late stage in the EU negotiations, as we indicated in yesterday's update, the markets seemed to be reacting more to the World Cup.
However, the resignation of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was more than the market could resist. In the three hours following the announcement, the GBP/USD fell 150 pips (purple circle) proving that the markets are not immune to Brexit after all.
In the grand scheme of things, it's not such a large movement and some of it has since recovered. Nonetheless, the reaction is pretty clear.
We'll need to watch the updates from Prime Minister May's team as well as Gareth Southgate's pretty closely going forward.
Crypto Update
The crypto market hasn't been doing so great over the last 24 hours as most of the top digital assets are seeing mild declines.
EOS and NEO have been hit the worse with double digit losses. Bitcoin on the other hand, has been acting more stable than the rest and only joined the trend in the last few hours.
Over the last few days, it seems the price of Bitcoin has mostly correlated with that of Gold. Here we can see gold in blue and bitcoin in purple.
This leaves me wondering if there might be any sort of connection between the recent decline in crypto assets and the sizable pullback on precious metals. Open to hearing any opinions on this.
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.