European Markets Edge Lower

EU Markets Open Lower

Gold and Bitcoin Continue to Rally

Boeing Shares Continue To Edge Higher

Mon, August 21: In Today’s Markets…

1. European Markets Open Lower As Faith In Trump Agenda Wavers

European markets started the week lower on Monday morning as investors remained unimpressed with President Donald Trump’s ability to impose his ambitious economic agenda. On Friday Trump fired his controversial policy strategist, Steve Bannon. The event was immediately followed by the resignation of his special advisor on regulation, Carl Icahn. It should be noted that there are numerous reports claiming that Icahn left the administration ahead of the publication of a scandal detailing an alleged conflict of interests and some potentially illegal actions. Investors are also concerned over any flare-up in geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and North Korea as U.S. troops and South Korean forces conduct a joint military exercise on Monday.*

2. Geopolitical Jitters Cause Investors To Turn To Gold and Bitcoin

Gold and bitcoin are currently the two major “safe haven” assets that have moved to recent highs over the last couple of weeks. Major markets edged lower this week on rumours that Goldman Sachs president Gary Cohn was resigning. Even though these rumours were proven to be false, EU and US markets were unable to recover losses. Also, on Friday, Steve Bannon was fired by President Trump, which was seen as positive for the U.S market when the news was announced, but the market wound up falling back in a downtrend over an upcoming S.Korean and U.S. joint military exercise. This sequence of events shows that the market is cautious and that the overall sentiment is changing from bullish to bearish causing the demand for safer assets such as gold and bitcoin to rise.**

3. Boeing Shares Continue To Edge Higher

Boeing’s share have surged over increased aircraft orders and a stronger cash flow. Boeing’s (BA) share prices have had a stellar year in 2017 amid increased demand. Indicatively, Boeing shares added about 0.3% last week and pushed Boeing’s year-to-date share price gain to 51.45%, solidifying Boeing’s hold as the best performing stock among the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average index. Boeing’s success may be attributed to a heavy investment in automation and a significant reduction of costs.***

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