Summing Up The Week

Stock market participants shook off the United States’ invasion of Venezuela, surprising many pundits who anticipated a selloff as the result of increased military conflict. Instead, stocks rallied to kick off the first full trading week of 2026, shrugging off any negative news as risk assets (and safe havens like gold and silver) continued to move higher.

On Friday, a mixed jobs report – which many felt brought more good than bad – added confidence that the Federal Reserve would continue to cut rates when it meets later in January.

Let’s take a deeper dive into the news that moved markets this week…

Market News

U.S. attacks Venezuela, captures Maduro and his wife

Early Saturday morning, President Donald Trump announced on TruthSocial that the United States had launched a “large scale strike” on Venezuela, capturing President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were removed from the country, reported CNBC. The announcement came after months of preparations with the U.S. military advising planes avoid Venezuelan airspace and a great deal of saber-rattling from the Trump administration.

In a post on X, U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said the husband and wife had been indicted in the Southern District of New York for charges including: “Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy; Cocaine Importation Conspiracy; Possession of Machine Guns and Destructive Devices; and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States.” Bondi went on to say, “They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.”

While this attack was expected, I was intrigued to see how the markets would react on Monday despite much of this being known in advance. Military conflict often brings volatility, but perhaps this one wouldn’t have such an effect given how much was telegraphed. Additionally, Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto market – which trades 24/7 – showed no reaction to the news.

On Monday, the markets did not disappoint. Whereas, in the past, any kind of military escalation was considered bearish, almost all sectors ended up rallying on the news as investors piled into risk assets like there was no tomorrow. Many pundits were confused by the price action, however some energy experts argued that the markets were seeing through the invasion to see lower gasoline prices for the American consumer and better profits for American oil companies in the future.

U.S. jobs rose 50K in December, less than expected

On Friday, the December payrolls report showed the economy added 50,000 jobs in the month, far less than the estimate of 73,000, however the unemployment rate dipped to 4.4% versus the forecast of 4.5%, reported CNBC. The mixed report ended up sending stocks higher at the market open on Friday.

Many pundits looked at the economy maintaining its mixed outlook as positive overall. “The jobs report is a mixed bag, with both positive and negative aspects,” said Art Hogan, Chief Market Strategist at B. Riley Wealth. “We continue to see an environment where companies are slow to hire and slow to fire. The overarching takeaway in today’s report is that there is more good news than bad in the first on-time jobs report in three months.”

Next Week’s Gameplan

Not only does next week see the return of Earnings Season, we’re also going to get an absolute slew of datapoints from all over the economy. On Tuesday, we get the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for December – the first not including the government shutdown – which should provide some insights into how inflation is treating the American consumer.

On Wednesday, we will see the Producer Price Index (PPI), which is similar to CPI except it provides insights into how inflation is affecting businesses who produce the products consumers buy. We’ll also receive auto and existing home sales on Wednesday, both of which provide a view into the strength of consumer spending.

Next week officially kicks off earnings season with JP Morgan (JPM) reporting on Tuesday before the market open and Morgan Stanley (MS) reporting on Thursday before the market opens. Both of these key banks will give us a lot of data about the health of the consumer, business, and even the markets as both play significant parts in bringing Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) to market.

So, join me back here as we go over all the news that moved the markets next Friday, friends!

Check out Get Irked Premium on Substack!

After providing FREE content since 2018, the time constraints of producing Investments in Play, Speculation in Play, the Pandemic Portfolio, and Stock Shopping List have become too much to continue doing for free.

On Substack, you can subscribe for FREE to have the Week in Review and Crypto Corner, now separate newsletters, sent to your email inbox at no cost. The portfolio updates and Stock Shopping List are now part of a premium subscription plan.

I hope you will join me on Substack as I continue on this exciting journey!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ONGOING SUPPORT!

Crytpo Corner

Bitcoin Price Action

Bitcoin rallied along with the rest of risk assets over the past week, breaking out above the past few weekly highs in a constructive show of Bullish momentum before being defeated by the next point of resistance.

While Bitcoin did manage to create a new weekly high at $94,825.27 – a slightly-higher high above the previous resistance at $94,640.66 – the crypto was swiftly rejected and sent back lower after the breakout.

The Bullish Case

Bulls point to this new breakout as a sign that buyers are coming into the market and that the low of this cycle is most certainly in. Some Bulls are going as far as saying they expect to see a new all-time high before the end of January based on the past week’s tepid price action (yes, I’m letting my own opinion slip in here – with Bitcoin not even close to testing any of the significant moving averages, the past week’s price action isn’t quite as Bullish as some of the Bulls are implying).

The Bearish Case

Bears make the legitimate argument that failed recovery rallies are incredibly common in Bear Markets. In fact, some of the most violent up-days occur when the overall market trend is down. An asset will pop significantly, roll over, and crash through past lows.

In Bitcoin’s case, the 100-Day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) is trading around $96.5K and the 200-Day EMA is currently around $100,000. Until and unless Bitcoin is able to test and break through those key resistance levels, any other rally is simply sellers taking a breather before they resume to dump crypto.

Bears argue that Bitcoin is headed lower and I have no reason to disagree. Will Bitcoin break through its current cycle low at $80.5K? No one knows for sure, but until the Bulls show significant appetite to send Bitcoin higher, there’s no reason to believe the crypto is out of its long downtrend at this time.

Bitcoin Trade Update

Premium subscribers to Get Irked get access to all the moves I’ve made in my Bitcoin trade over the past week as well as my next thirty (30) … yes, 30 … buys in Bitcoin including price levels, quantities, and a full layout of my ongoing long-term trade in the world’s biggest crypto.

If you aren’t already, subscribe to my Substack today!

Not Your Keys, Not Your Crypto…

In light of brokerage failures in 2022, I no longer keep any of my crypto on an exchange and I only keep enough USD on the exchanges I use to execute my next few buys. I use multiple cold wallets from the brands Ledger and Trezor to hold my crypto (click the links to access the direct sites, and I receive no affiliate benefits from these links).

Additionally, I have now divided my allocated USD between two different exchanges – Gemini and Coinbase – in case one (or both) becomes insolvent. Disclaimer: We both receive a bonus if you use my Gemini referral link to open an account.

I do not trust anyone in the space, even with Coinbase (COIN) being publicly traded (and one of my own Investments in Play positions).

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 (possible moves include drops of -90% or more and gains of +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.
• In December, Bitcoin crashed -54% to a low of $6430.00 in December 2019.
• In February 2020, Bitcoin rallied +64% to $10,522.51.
• In March , 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 2021, Bitcoin dropped -32% to a low of $28,732.00.
• In February, 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 April , Bitcoin rallied +51% to a new all-time high of $64,896.75.
• In June , Bitcoin crashed -56% to a low of $28,800.00.
• In November, Bitcoin rallied +140% to a new all-time high of $69,000.00.
• In November 2022, Bitcoin crashed -78% to a low of $15,460.00.
• In April 2023, Bitcoin rallied +101% to a high of $31,050.00.
• In June, Bitcoin dropped -20% to a low of $24,750.00
• In July, Bitcoin rallied +29% to a high of $31,862.21.
• In September, Bitcoin dropped -22% to a low of $24,900.00.
• In January 2024, Bitcoin rallied +97% to a high of $49,102.29.
• Later in January, Bitcoin dropped -22% to a low of $38,501.00.
• In March, Bitcoin rallied +92% to a new all-time high of $73,835.57.
• In August, Bitcoin dropped -33% to a low of $49,050.01.
• In January 2025, Bitcoin rallied +150% to a new all-time high of $109,358.01.
• In April, Bitcoin dropped -32% to a low of $74,420.69.
• In May, Bitcoin rallied +51% to a new all-time high of $112,000.00.
• In June, Bitcoin dropped -12% to a low of $98,247.01.
• In July, Bitcoin rallied +25% to a new all-time high of $123,231.07.
• In September, Bitcoin dropped -14% to a low of $107,250.00.
• In October, Bitcoin rallied +18% to a new all-time high of $126,296.00.
• In November, Bitcoin dropped -36% to a low of $80,524.65.

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

What if Bitcoin’s headed to zero?

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.