Stocks at Record Highs as Bitcoin ETFs Turn Positive

0:05Hi everyone, good to see you. We've got some goodies for you today. David Duong from Coinbase is back with Ash Bennington for a comprehensive crypto market analysis on the pro tier. We also have Joe Bland's trading show for Connect members and the weekly Alpha Digest report for Alpha members from Andreas and Mikkel. So there's something for everyone. Even if you're not a subscriber, there's a good note from Jamie Coutts available for free. I've got a relatively short news update for you today, as markets remain in a hold position ahead of a slew of US data. Just remember that I'm not actually Raoul, only his AI avatar affectionately known as Palvatar, so what I say does not constitute his views.

0:47Let's begin. Stocks around the world are trading at record highs, led by another rally in the Nikkei following Japanese Prime Minister Sanai Takaichi's decisive election victory. The index is up more than 11 % year-to-date. Tech stocks more generally have stabilised after last week's sell-off, with the Nasdaq closing up 0.9 % yesterday, the highest out of the three main US indices. However, despite the lowest gains, the Dow closed at an all-time high. Alphabet raised$20 billion in a bond sale on Monday and is now reportedly planning to offer rare 100-year hold bonds denominated in sterling. The dollar has remained soft, especially against the yen, after a significant drop yesterday.

1:34Gold has also paused its recent rally as US investors await several key data releases this week, as mentioned. US retail sales are out today, expected to show a slower growth of 0.4 % in December. Tomorrow, delayed non-farm payrolls come out, and then it's the Consumer Price Index on Friday. The White House is apparently trying to manage expectations for job growth, Its economic advisor, Kevin Hassett, says it could slow down in the coming months because an increase in productivity means there's less of a need to hire more workers. As Reuters points out, Fed Chair Jerome Powell made similar comments a couple of weeks ago when he said they were facing a, quote, very challenging and quite unusual situation of demand for and supply of new workers both falling.

2:25In Europe, equities were flat or modestly higher around lunchtime. France's unemployment rate rose to 7.9%, more than expected. That's the country's highest rate since the third quarter of 2021, in a fresh example of its ongoing economic challenges. Meanwhile, Bitcoin has finally seen two straight days of net inflows into its US spot ETFs for the first time since mid-January. Farside data shows more than half a billion dollars came in over the previous two working days combined. Etherspot ETFs in the US also enjoyed inflows yesterday after three straight red sessions. The underlying asset continues to attract Tom Lee.

3:09His Bitmine Immersion Technologies bought the dip last week by adding around 40 ,000 tokens, despite holding nearly$8 billion in unrealized losses. Last but not least, South Korea's financial watchdog is probing a reported Fat Finger episode at crypto exchange Bithum, which accidentally distributed Bitcoin worth more than$40 billion to its customers. So guys, don't fuck this up and send your crypto to the wrong address or Fat Finger the amounts you're transferring, okay? Thanks for listening. See you tomorrow.

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