***It’s Get Irked’s 3-Year Anniversary!!!***

Summing Up The Week

Can you believe it’s been three years since I started Get Irked?! Time really does fly when you’re having fun! Three years ago on August 8, 2018, I decided to set up a website where I could give back to the investing community by sharing the strategies that have allowed me to beat the S&P 500 consistently for more than a decade.

155 Week in Review posts and 135 Investments in Play and Speculation in Play posts later, and I now have a thriving community which includes the Get Irked YouTube channel that just crossed over 100 subscribers – a key figure as I now get a custom URL.

Yes, indeed, www.youtube.com/GetIrked is now a thing!

Alright, enough back-patting. Let’s get on with the Week in Review! 🙂

Despite the Delta variant continuing to drag on the news, positive employment figures point to an economy that is, indeed, reopening. The result? The markets continued higher this week with the indexes once again setting new all-time highs.

Let’s look at the news that moved the markets this week…

Market News

Survey says: U.S. shoppers anxious about shopping

On Monday, survey results from First Insight showed U.S. shopers may start cutting back on spending due to the rise of the Delta variant and increased Covid cases, reported CNBC.

Given the importance of consumer spending on the U.S. economy, many economists fear this trend may slow the momentum many were expecting as a strong back-to-school shopping season.

“The tailwinds that retailers and restaurants have enjoyed recently may be short-lived,” said S&P Global Ratings Analyst Sarah Wyeth in a report to clients. “Labor shortages and supply-chain bottlenecks could dampen near-term performance or, worse, persist into the critical holiday shopping season.”

Consumer prices rise 5.4%, core inflation less than expected

On Wednesday, the Labor Department reported the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 5.4% in July year-over-year, in line with expectations (although the largest jump since August 2008), reported CNBC.

The CPI measures how prices rise in the main expenses facing American consumers, and a rise of 5.4% is not messing around, despite economists claiming the figure is in-line with expectations.

Chariman Jerome Powell of the Fed continues to claim inflation is transitory, “Inflation is running well above our 2% objective and has been for a few months, and is expected to run certainly above our objective for a few months before we believe it’ll move back down toward our objective,” he said. “The question of whether we’ve met that objective, formally, is really one for the committee to make.”

U.S. initial jobless claims fall to 375,000

On Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department reported new claims for jobless benefits totaled 375,00 last week, matching estimates and representing a decrease of 12,000, reported CNBC. The number of continuing jobless claims fell to 2.866 million for the last week of July, its lowest level since mid-March 2020.

Hopefully, jobless claims and unemployment rates will continue to drop as extended benefits fall off and Americans return to work, signifying a reopening of the economy which has been hampered by the Delta variant of Covid-19 in recent weeks.

Consumer sentiment falls to pandemic low, lowest since 2011

On Friday, the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index dropped to 70.2 in its first August reading, the lowest level since 2011, reported CNBC.

According to experts, a drop of this magnitude is incredibly rare. “Over the past half-century, the Sentiment Index has only recorded larger losses in six other surveys, all connected to sudden negative changes in the economy,” explained Richard Curtin, Chief Economist for Michigan’s Survey of Consumers, in a release. “Two of those larger month-over-month movers were April 2020 amid the pandemic and October 2008, during the financial crisis.”

The CSI indicates how confident consumers are in the economy and, thanks to the rise of the Delta variant, this recent survey shows their confidence has been shaken. “Consumers have correctly reasoned that the economy’s performance will be dimished over the next several months, but the extraordinary surge in negative economic assessments also reflects an emotional response, mainly from dashed hopes that the pandemic would end soon,” Curtin said. “In the months ahead, it is likely that consumers will again voice more reasonable expectations, and with control of the Delta variant, shift toward outright optimism.”

Next Week’s Gameplan

The market’s relentless climb higher seems inexhaustible thanks to the easy-money policies by the Fed. That being said, it’s important to remember that the S&P 500 doesn’t show everything going on under the surface.

While investors pile into the FANG stocks (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google, Apple, and Microsoft), much of the S&P 500 is rotating. For example, commodities including precious metals like gold and silver are deep in a bear market for the moment.

So, the gameplan remains the same as it has been over the past several weeks and months – keep an eye out for opportunities to add to positions and watch closely for opportunities to take profits in positions that have become oversold.

As always, thank you for reading and for all your support over these past three years! I’ll see you here once more next week! 🙂

This Week in Play

Stay tuned for this week’s episodes of my two portfolios Investments in Play and Speculation in Play coming online later this weekend! 

Crytpo Corner

Important Disclaimer

Get Irked contributors are not professional advisers. Discussions of positions should not be taken as recommendations to buy or sell. All investments carry risk and all readers must accept their own risks. Get Irked recommends anyone interested in investing or trading any asset class consult with a professional investment adviser to determine if an investment idea is suitable to them and their investment goals.

Bitcoin's Road to Nowhere - Get Irked

Click chart for enlarged version

Bitcoin Price (in USD)

%

Weekly Change

Bitcoin Price Action

Confounding the bears…

Bitcoin continued to baffle the bearish skeptics (including myself) this week, rocketing higher to break through the mystical $45,000 mark. The downward trend forming with lower-highs has given the Line That Shall Not Be Crossed (2021) a more reasonable, flatter angle than the severe decline it had weeks’ prior.

Given Bitcoin’s surprising upside action, I am no longer bearish nor am I bullish. As I typically try to be – I have no preferred direction, I simply have a plan for if Bitcoin goes up and if Bitcoin goes down.

The Bullish Case

Bulls believe that the bottom is now in with strong support at $30K and nothing but blue-sky breakouts ahead. The bears’ continued inability to dissuade the bull rally has reinforced the bulls’ resolve with many predicting highs well into 6-digit figures by the end of this year.

The Bearish Case

Bears point out that the significant amount of resistance at these levels with key breakout points at $50K, $52K, $55K, $58K, $60K and so on. Bears believe the bull rally from these past few weeks simply represents a short squeeze and that Bitcoin can still break down to $20K and below.

Bitcoin Gameplan

*Trade Closed: +9.49% gain in one week*

Bitcoin continued to perform well last weekend, and I used stop-loss limit orders to take some profits on Saturday when the crypto pulled back.

Over the course of the weekend, Bitcoin definitively started losing some momentum trying to crack through the $45,000 mark, so I closed out the trade Saturday evening using stop-loss limit orders and locked in a +9.49% in just over six days with an average buying price of $39,080.39 and an average selling price of $42,789.12.

The trade added +0.915% to my banked crypto stash; not bad for a week’s “work.”

*New Trade* Right back into the fire…

Current Allocation: 0.402% (-0.132% from opening buy)
Current Per-Coin Price: $43,547.15 (-1.340% from opening buy)
Current Profit/Loss Status: +6.454% (*New Trade*)

I decided not to waste any time after closing my last trade, using a pullback to the 150 Simple Moving Average on the 15-minute timeframe to open a very small position at $44,138.70 after fees. 

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I continue to side with the bears who believe we’ll see Bitcoin crash through $30,000, however, I continue to have a plan for both directions so building a new position – even at these levels – seems to be the prudent thing to do in case Bitcoin makes a run at its all-time highs.

When Bitcoin broke $46,000 on Monday, I used a stop-loss limit order to take some profits on its pullback with a sell order filling at $45,470.17. The order lowered my per-coin cost -0.402% from $44,138.70 to $43,961.14 and reduced my allocation -0.052% from 0.534% to 0.482%.

On Wednesday, I used an additional stop-loss limit order to take profits at $46,329.79, lowering my per-coin cost -0.942% from $43,961.14 to $43,547.15 and reducing my allocation -0.080% from 0.482% to 0.402%.

Bitcoin Buying Targets

Using Moving Averages and supporting trend-lines as guides, here is my plan for my next ten (10) buying quantities and prices:

0.131% @ $43,418
0.132% @ $43,183
0.132% @ $40,160
0.132% @ $38,888
0.132% @ $38,090
0.132% @ $36,117
0.263% @ $33,923
0.263% @ $32,022
0.395% @ $30,990
0.526% @ $29,010

No price target is unrealistic in the cryptocurrency space – Bullish or Bearish.

While traditional stock market investors and traders may think the price targets in the cryptocurrency space are outlandish due to the incredible spread (sometimes a drop of near -90% or a gain of up to +1000% or more), Bitcoin has demonstrated that, more than any speculative asset, its price is capable of doing anything.

Here are some of Bitcoin’s price movements over the past couple of years:

  • In 2017, Bitcoin rose +2,707% from its January low of $734.64 to make an all-time high of $19,891.99 in December.
  • Then, Bitcoin crashed nearly -85% from its high to a December 2018 low of $3128.89.
    In the first half of 2019, Bitcoin rallied +343% to $13,868.44.
  • From June 2019, Bitcoin crashed -54% to a low of $6430.00 in December 2019.
  • From December 2019’s low, Bitcoin rallied +64% to $10,522.51 in February 2020.
  • In March 2020, Bitcoin crashed nearly -63% to a low of $3858.00, mostly in 24 hours.
  • Then, Bitcoin rallied +988% to a new all-time high of $41,986.37 in January 2021.
  • Later in January, Bitcoin dropped -32% to a low of $28,732.00.
  • In February 2021, Bitcoin rallied +103% to a new all-time high of $58,367.00.
  • Later in February, Bitcoin dropped -26% to a low of $43,016.00.
  • In March 2021, Bitcoin rallied +44% to a new all-time high of $61,788.45.
  • Later in March, Bitcoin dropped -19% to a low of $50,305.00.
  • In April 2021, Bitcoin rallied +29% to a new all-time high of $64,896.75.
  • In June 2021, Bitcoin crashed -56% to a low of $28,800.00.

Where will Bitcoin go from here? Truly, anything is possible…

What if Bitcoin’s headed to zero?

The only reason I speculate in the cryptocurrency space is I truly believe Bitcoin isn’t headed to zero.

I am prepared for that possibility, however, by knowing I could potentially lose all of the capital I’ve allocated to this speculative investment. Professional advisers recommend speculating with no more than 5% of an investor’s overall assets. Personally, I’ve allocated less than that to speculating in crypto.

I feel that anyone who doesn’t fully believe in the long-term viability of cryptocurrency would be better served not speculating in the space.

On a good day, this asset class isn’t suitable for those with weak stomachs. On volatile days, the sector can induce nausea in the most iron-willed speculator. If a speculator isn’t confident in the space, the moves will cause mistakes to be made.

DISCLAIMER: Anyone considering speculating in the crypto sector should only do so with funds they are prepared to lose completely. All interested individuals should consult a professional financial adviser to see if speculation is right for them. No Get Irked contributor is a financial professional of any kind.

 

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If you or someone you know are having thoughts of suicide or self-harm, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by visiting www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org or calling 1-800-273-TALK.

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