Week of Oct 27 2017 Weekly Recap & The Week Ahead
“If you take emotion – would be, could be, should be – out of it, and look at what is, and quantify it, I think you have a big advantage over most human beings.” — John Henry
1. Bitcoin Tops $6,100, A New Record High — Bitcoin hit an all-time high of $6,147.07 last week, according to CoinDesk, recording gains of over 500% this year, more than any other tradable asset class. Some are attributing the latest rise to another upcoming split in bitcoin known as a “fork,” which will lead to the creation of a new cryptocurrency called bitcoin gold.
2. Venezuela Missed $586M Debt Payments — Venezuela has now missed $586M in payments tied to the debt of the government, state oil giant PDVSA and utility Electricidad de Caracas, just days before the first of two can’t-miss debt deadlines. “I don’t see how any person who’s involved in Venezuelan debt can be anything except concerned, except for those who have credit default swaps,” said Russ Dallen, managing partner at Caracas Capital Markets.
3. Arbitration Rule Win for Wall Street to Block New Regulations Allowing U.S. Consumers to Sue Their Banks — Vice President Mike Pence cast a tie-breaking Senate vote to block new regulations allowing U.S. consumers to sue their banks, handing a big victory to Wall Street and other big financial institutions. By defeating the rule, Republicans are dismantling a major effort of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the watchdog created by Congress in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com:
