Summing Up The Week

Markets were whipsawed this week as geopolitical shockwaves collided with fresh inflation data, sending investors scrambling to reassess risk. The turmoil began over the weekend when President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on NATO allies deploying troops to Greenland, sparking a selloff in Bitcoin and a surge in traditional safe havens before stocks logged their worst day in months on Tuesday.

Sentiment reversed mid‑week after Trump ruled out using force to acquire Greenland and signaled progress on a negotiated framework with NATO, lifting equities sharply. By Thursday, attention shifted back to the economy as a delayed PCE report showed inflation running at 2.8% in November — hotter than the Federal Reserve would prefer but paired with resilient consumer spending, reinforcing expectations that policymakers will hold rates steady at next week’s meeting.

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

Market News

Trump announces tariffs on Allies for opposing control of Greenland

The market-moving news kicked off days before the week even started when, on Saturday, President Donald Trump announce that any NATO country who has sent contingents of troops to Greenland amid the White House’s attempts to purchase the island will be charged a 10% tariff beginning February 1, reported ABC News. Trump went on to announce that the tariff would be increased to 25% on all goods until the U.S. is able to buy Greenland.

Trump argues that Greenland is a key strategic location to defend against potential attacks from China and Russia, and that the Kingdom of Denmark – which currently oversees Greenland – doesn’t have the resources necessary to provide adequate defense.

“This is a very dangerous situation for the Safety, Security, and Survival of our Planet. These Countries, who are playing this very dangerous game, have put a level of risk in play that is not tenable or sustainable,” Trump posted on TruthSocial. “Only the United States of America, under PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP, can play in this game, and very successfully, at that!”

While the stock and equity markets weren’t open at the time of the news announcement, Bitcoin – which remains directly correlated to risk assets – sold off when the futures market opened on Sunday while gold and silver – viewed as “safe havens” – rallied to new all-time highs on the back of the news.

Markets recoiled on Tuesday with both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq finishing the day down more than -2%, their worst day since October 2025.

Trump rules out using force in taking Greenland

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump said he would not use force to take Greenland but called for “immediate negotiations” with Denmark at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, reported CNBC. While the idea of the United States invading sovereign territory may have seemed unthinkable to some, the stock market rallied significantly on the news with both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq up more than 1%, indicating that many participants had discounted a non-zero chance that the U.S. might invade.

Trump made it very clear that he did not plan to use force in taking Greenland. “I won’t do that,” Trump said during the lengthy speech in Davos, Switzerland. “Now everyone’s saying, ‘Oh, good.’ People thought I would use force. I don’t have to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force.”

Later on Wednesday, Trump announced that he had worked out a “framework of a deal” with NATO which would give the U.S. access to Greenland’s strategic resource reserves as well as help prevent China and Russia from gaining access to the landmass, lending even more credence to Trump not needing to use force against to take on Greenland.

Delayed PCE shows inflation increased to 2.8% in November

On Thursday, the delayed Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index showed inflation in November came in at 2.8%, in line with the Dow Jones estimates but higher than what the Federal Reserve wanted, reported CNBC.

On the bright side, the report showed consumer spending remains strong and is causing the U.S. economy to grow. “The consumer continues to drive the U.S economy, with today’s data pointing to another strong gain in spending. This resilience comes in spite of last year’s slowdown in the labor market, and still elevated inflation, both of which have weighed on real incomes,” said James McCann, Senior Economist for Investment Strategy at Edward Jones. “Today’s data should reassure the Fed that the economy remains on a solid footing, despite a cooler labor market.”

As a result of the report, many expect the Federal Reserve leave the interest rates as-is when they meet next week.

Next Week’s Gameplan

Next week promises to be a busy one as we return to a full week of trading in the midst of earnings season. In terms of data, we’ll receive the consumer confidence numbers on Tuesday followed by the key Federal Reserve interest-rate decision on Wednesday. On Friday, we get the delayed Produce Price Index (PPI) for December which should lend even more insights into how inflation is (or isn’t) affecting companies’ production.

In my own holdings, I will be closely following the following companies’ which report earnings next week:

• Tuesday: Boeing (BA), Logitech (LOGI) and Union Pacific (UNP) report earning Before Market Open (BMO).
• Wednesday: IBM (IBM), Meta Platforms / Facebook (META), Microsoft (MSFT), Tesla (TSLA), and Waste Management (WMO) report After Market Close (AMC).
• Thursday: Caterpillar (CAT) and Dow Chemical (DOW) report BMO. Apple (AAPL) reports AMC.
• Friday: Chevron (CVX) and SoFi Technologies (SOFI) report BMO.

Once again, there will be plenty to talk about when you meet me back here 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 took what had been very constructive Bullish price action from prior weeks and completely destroyed it following President Donald Trump’s announcement of aggressive tariffs to occupy Greenland. Even after Trump TACO’ed (Trump Always Chickens Out) on the threats and announced a framework of a deal with NATO, Bitcoin failed to recover.

I keep reading Bitcoiners who are baffled that gold and silver continue to rally while Bitcoin sells off. The reason is really quite simple – Bitcoin is not a “safe haven” asset, it is not “digital gold,” and it is not a “store of value.” At least, it isn’t yet. We all know Bitcoin was designed to provide a “real money” alternative to the U.S. dollar, but the crypto remains correlated to technology and growth stocks. No amount of complaining will change that.

Maybe one day Bitcoin will become true “digital gold” and trade in line with the precious markets, but, until that day comes, anyone interested in trading or investing in Bitcoin must acknowledge its true correlation – it rises and falls with risk-on assets.

Bitcoin didn’t even come close to making a new weekly high which leaves $97,963,62 as very critical resistance. The crypto then totally collapsed through last week’s low at $90,003.46 as well as the support at $89.2K below it before finding a bottom at $87,156.00 on Wednesday.

The Bullish Case

Bulls are struggling to come up with a Bullish narrative – every time Bitcoin looks like its making constructive progress, not only does it destroy its new highs, it breaks through past successful support levels. This is clearly not Bullish no matter how much the permabulls want it to be. One step forward and two steps backward is not bullish.

The Bearish Case

Bears maintain the upper-hand and point out that not only has Bitcoin not even come close to testing the 200-Day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) represented in black on the chart, Bitcoin has failed to break out against the resistance presented by the 100-Day EMA and has been unable to even turn the weaker 50-Day EMA or 21-Day EMA from resistance into support. Until Bitcoin can start demonstrating strength at those key levels, it’s highly possible Bitcoin could head lower from here.

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.