Images coming in from Texas are rolling in and some are saying that this is the worst natural disaster to hit the United States since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. To make matters worse, initial reports indicate that most of the victims do not have adequate insurance.
Many people are rushing to help in any way they can. Some people are actually saying not to trust the Red Cross stating that their response to the earthquake in Haiti was less than adequate given the donations.
One such organization is the Texas based Crypto Show who is collecting donations in Dash and Bitcoin and has reportedly collected more than $50,000 in digital assets and has already begun putting together care packages for the victims.
Of course, $50,000 is just a drop in the bucket for a city that is currently under water so every little bit helps.
Today's Highlights
- Hurricane Harvey
- USD Under Pressure
- Cryptos Gain Momentum
Market Overview
Texas is oil country. So naturally, the first thing on the minds of many investors is how the price of energy be impacted.
As it seems, so far 10 oil refineries have already been closed and the price of gasoline in the United States has gone up significantly.
The price of West Texas Crude Oil, on the other hand, seems to have been adversely affected as prices are slightly lower than what they were over the past week.
One thing that is also heavy on the minds of investors this morning is North Korea, who has just sent a missile that flew right over Hokkaido Japan.
As you can see on the map, this is a very long flight path and experts are saying that this is the most aggressive launch from the DPRK in almost a decade.
Donald Trump will be visiting Texas today but it would not be surprising to see a Kim Jong Un mention in his morning tweet storm.
Gold spiked up sharply on the news and the yen strengthened as Asian investors looked for safe havens.
USD Under Pressure
Whatever the reason, the US dollar is dropping like a stone.
This has been a common theme in the markets since the beginning of the year. As Trump and the Fed have both been less aggress than was previously anticipated – Trump with his tax cuts and the Fed with their rate hikes.
Over the last 24 hours the US Dollar Index fell below critical support of 92.50 points and many are treating this as a significant breakout.
In this short term chart we can see the price breaking below the red line....
... and if we zoom out we can see why this line is so significant as it has been seriously tested many times over the past few years.
Crypto G0
All's green in cryptoland today. The overall market cap of all crypto currencies, which has become a barometer of crypto success is now at its all time highest level of $161 Billion.
Here we can see the growth over the past month. A 'slow' but steady rise...
The word slow is only emphasized because this type of growth would only be considered slow in this particular asset class.
The growth has been well distributed too. If only a single currency was surging and responsible for all the growth it would be that much easier to reverse the trend. However, since there is gradual growth in many different coins it makes the move that much stronger.
Wishing you a very pleasant day ahead.
eToro, Senior Market Analyst
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