Shock and disgust! It's the only way to describe it.
Five of Canada's largest banks have been pressuring their representatives to screw over their customers.
This reminds us a lot of the Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) scandal we saw a few months back and there seems to be some sort of sick trend in the banking world.
Makes me glad to work in Fintech where ideas are fresh and leaders know that adding value to clients is what will ultimately drive their vision forward.
Today's Highlights
The Fed Dots
ETHEREUMania
BoE coming up
Please note: All data, figures and graphs are valid as of March 16th. All trading carries risk. Only risk capital you can afford to lose.
Market Overview
Looks like the markets got everything they wanted and more yesterday. A quarter point rate hike from the Fed and a sweeping victory against populism in the Netherlands.
Stock markets around the world are rejoicing and all major indices are currently in green.
The Fed has not made any major changes to their previous assessment and would like to hike rates twice more this year.
Here we can see their long-term projection in the fun filled Fed dot plots. Each dot represents one Fed member and where he thinks rates will be in the future.
The US dollar actually had an adverse effect on the Fed announcement. Instead of rising with the higher interest rates, it fell as traders who have been buying the rumor over the past two weeks have now sold the news.
Gold and silver have spiked up on the weaker dollar and timid crude oil got some confidence on the back of reduced inventories in the United States.
Wow Ethereum Wow
Cryptocurrency Ethereum is making massive moves and causing tidal waves. Both here in the office and on the eToro social trading network it's all anybody can talk about.
For those of you who are not familiar, Ethereum is currently the hottest digital coin in the tech community. It's a lot like Bitcoin, but allows for the execution of smart contracts that know where, when, and how to send money based on predefined parameters. In laymen's terms think "programmable money."
eToro added Ether as a CFD for our clients to trade on the price fluctuations in January. On February 14th, the price broke above $12 per coin for the first time ever and has not looked back since. This morning the price has reached an astonishing $43 a coin. That's more than 350% gain in a month!
There are several things driving the market at the moment. First, is the proposed Hyperledger project, which includes more than 100 of the world's top financial institutions, is now considering using the Ethereum blockchain to create a global monetary settlement system.
Second, is talk in the Ethereum community of upgrading to a new system called Casper, that is faster and stronger than the current format.
The incredible moves we're seeing here are reminiscent of the price of Bitcoin in May of 2013 when it moved from $3 to $126 inside a week. We all know what happened after that.
People are seeing the potential in this new blockchain and embracing it. They remember what happened to Bitcoin and many are seeing this as an opportunity to get in on the ground floor.
There are three people in the eToro network who are cryptocurrency activists. The are...
@Bigfish: Bitcoin Banker
@JayNemesis: Video Game Developer
@YoniAssia: CEO and Founder of eToro
They all posted comments saying that though this is an extremely high risk and high volatile market that on the long term we'll be seeing a much higher price.
Coming Up Next
The Bank of Japan has made no changes to their interest rates causing the USD/JPY to briefly visit 113. The Swiss National Bank event is happening at this very moment while I'm writing to you.
At 12:00 GMT we'll get the Bank of England's Monetary interest rate decision and Monetary Policy Statement. No changes are expected but the pound sterling will likely see increased volatility as the market digests the BoE's projections.
30 minutes later we'll get some key data from the United States, which could move the markets and tomorrow will kick off the G20 meetings that will last into the weekend.
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.