Bitcoin price targets 8-week highs as Ethereum reaches $1.8K
Optimism and expectations increase around crypto markets, but U.S. inflation data looms large this week.
Bitcoin (BTC) looked to target…
Optimism and expectations increase around crypto markets, but U.S. inflation data looms large this week.
Bitcoin (BTC) looked to target new August highs at the Aug. 8 Wall Street open as upcoming United States inflation data fueled sentiment.
$25,000 next major BTC resistance
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC/USD as it hit $24,246 on Bitstamp, its best since July 30.
The pair was within striking distance of its highest since mid-June at the time of writing, while traders and analysts scanned the charts for signs of resistance.
For on-chain monitoring resource Material Indicators, this came in the form of sellers at $25,000 and Bitcoin’s 100-day moving average (MA).
“Bear Market Rally is pumping ahead of this week's CPI report,” it wrote as part of its latest Twitter update.
An accompanying chart showed long signals still characterizing the daily chart, with the 100-day MA sitting at around $25,650.
Order book data from the largest global exchange Binance reinforced expectations of friction in that area, as sell liquidity was mounting around the $25,000 mark.
Running the show on risk assets was the Aug. 10 Consumer Price Index (CPI) print, with markets waiting to see if inflation in the U.S. had set a peak.
While this would notionally allow crypto some breathing space, commentators pointed out that the risk of a major stock market correction remained, with crypto still heavily correlated.
Moves by Larry Fink, CEO of the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock, exacerbated concerns that risk assets were simply in the midst of an extended bear market relief rally.
After last week's partnership with U.S. exchange Coinbase, Fink sold a tranche of more than 44,000 BlackRock shares this month, his first major sale since the months before the March 2020 COVID-19 crash. Concerns thus focused on whether Fink now knew something that the majority did not.
LARRY FINK CEO OF BLACKROCK WHICH IS THE WORLDS LARGEST ASSET MANAGER WITH OVER 10 TRILLION IN ASSETS SOLD ANOTHER 8% OF HIS OWN STOCK LAST WEEK. THIS IS HIS BIGGEST STOCK SALE AFTER COVID , HIS LAST BIGGEST STOCK SALE WAS RIGHT BEFORE THE COVID CRASH. $BLK pic.twitter.com/5aNwTjLzPM
— Gurgavin (@gurgavin) August 8, 2022
“I think the one thing that can push prices back down is the stock market having another major pullback,” trader and pundit Max Rager continued on the day.
“Outside, hard to see something putting as much selling pressure as we had with both the LUNA/3AC events.”
Rager argued that since the majority were expecting a trip to June’s lows or worse, this would no longer be what causes the market “max pain.”
Ethereum Merge could be “buy the rumor, sell the news”
Out of the top ten cryptocurrencies by market cap, it was not Bitcoin putting in the best daily or even weekly performance.
Related: Has US inflation peaked? 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week
Major tokens were headlined by Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL) and Polkadot (DOT), which delivered 24-hour returns of between 5% and 8.5%.
ETH/USD, amid ongoing speculation over the Merge and its consequences, reached $1,817 on Binance, marking its highest since June 9.
For on-chain analytics firm Glassnode, the good times could continue until the event itself, expected to be in September.
“There is little directional bias evident in Bitcoin derivatives markets. On the Ethereum side, however, traders are clearly holding a long bias, expressed heavily in options contracts centred in September,” it wrote about traders’ plans in the latest edition of its newsletter, “The Week On-Chain,” released on Aug. 8.
“Both futures and options market are in backwardation after September, suggesting traders are expecting the Merge to be a 'buy the rumor, sell the news' style event, and have positioned accordingly.”
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.
bitcoin ethereum crypto btc covid-19 cryptoInternational
United Airlines adds new flights to faraway destinations
The airline said that it has been working hard to "find hidden gem destinations."
Since countries started opening up after the pandemic in 2021 and 2022, airlines have been seeing demand soar not just for major global cities and popular routes but also for farther-away destinations.
Numerous reports, including a recent TripAdvisor survey of trending destinations, showed that there has been a rise in U.S. traveler interest in Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and Vietnam as well as growing tourism traction in off-the-beaten-path European countries such as Slovenia, Estonia and Montenegro.
Related: 'No more flying for you': Travel agency sounds alarm over risk of 'carbon passports'
As a result, airlines have been looking at their networks to include more faraway destinations as well as smaller cities that are growing increasingly popular with tourists and may not be served by their competitors.
United brings back more routes, says it is committed to 'finding hidden gems'
This week, United Airlines (UAL) announced that it will be launching a new route from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Morocco's Marrakesh. While it is only the country's fourth-largest city, Marrakesh is a particularly popular place for tourists to seek out the sights and experiences that many associate with the country — colorful souks, gardens with ornate architecture and mosques from the Moorish period.
More Travel:
- A new travel term is taking over the internet (and reaching airlines and hotels)
- The 10 best airline stocks to buy now
- Airlines see a new kind of traveler at the front of the plane
"We have consistently been ahead of the curve in finding hidden gem destinations for our customers to explore and remain committed to providing the most unique slate of travel options for their adventures abroad," United's SVP of Global Network Planning Patrick Quayle, said in a press statement.
The new route will launch on Oct. 24 and take place three times a week on a Boeing 767-300ER (BA) plane that is equipped with 46 Polaris business class and 22 Premium Plus seats. The plane choice was a way to reach a luxury customer customer looking to start their holiday in Marrakesh in the plane.
Along with the new Morocco route, United is also launching a flight between Houston (IAH) and Colombia's Medellín on Oct. 27 as well as a route between Tokyo and Cebu in the Philippines on July 31 — the latter is known as a "fifth freedom" flight in which the airline flies to the larger hub from the mainland U.S. and then goes on to smaller Asian city popular with tourists after some travelers get off (and others get on) in Tokyo.
United's network expansion includes new 'fifth freedom' flight
In the fall of 2023, United became the first U.S. airline to fly to the Philippines with a new Manila-San Francisco flight. It has expanded its service to Asia from different U.S. cities earlier last year. Cebu has been on its radar amid growing tourist interest in the region known for marine parks, rainforests and Spanish-style architecture.
With the summer coming up, United also announced that it plans to run its current flights to Hong Kong, Seoul, and Portugal's Porto more frequently at different points of the week and reach four weekly flights between Los Angeles and Shanghai by August 29.
"This is your normal, exciting network planning team back in action," Quayle told travel website The Points Guy of the airline's plans for the new routes.
stocks pandemic south korea japan hong kong europeanInternational
Walmart launches clever answer to Target’s new membership program
The retail superstore is adding a new feature to its Walmart+ plan — and customers will be happy.
It's just been a few days since Target (TGT) launched its new Target Circle 360 paid membership plan.
The plan offers free and fast shipping on many products to customers, initially for $49 a year and then $99 after the initial promotional signup period. It promises to be a success, since many Target customers are loyal to the brand and will go out of their way to shop at one instead of at its two larger peers, Walmart and Amazon.
Related: Walmart makes a major price cut that will delight customers
And stop us if this sounds familiar: Target will rely on its more than 2,000 stores to act as fulfillment hubs.
This model is a proven winner; Walmart also uses its more than 4,600 stores as fulfillment and shipping locations to get orders to customers as soon as possible.
Sometimes, this means shipping goods from the nearest warehouse. But if a desired product is in-store and closer to a customer, it reduces miles on the road and delivery time. It's a kind of logistical magic that makes any efficiency lover's (or retail nerd's) heart go pitter patter.
Walmart rolls out answer to Target's new membership tier
Walmart has certainly had more time than Target to develop and work out the kinks in Walmart+. It first launched the paid membership in 2020 during the height of the pandemic, when many shoppers sheltered at home but still required many staples they might ordinarily pick up at a Walmart, like cleaning supplies, personal-care products, pantry goods and, of course, toilet paper.
It also undercut Amazon (AMZN) Prime, which costs customers $139 a year for free and fast shipping (plus several other benefits including access to its streaming service, Amazon Prime Video).
Walmart+ costs $98 a year, which also gets you free and speedy delivery, plus access to a Paramount+ streaming subscription, fuel savings, and more.
If that's not enough to tempt you, however, Walmart+ just added a new benefit to its membership program, ostensibly to compete directly with something Target now has: ultrafast delivery.
Target Circle 360 particularly attracts customers with free same-day delivery for select orders over $35 and as little as one-hour delivery on select items. Target executes this through its Shipt subsidiary.
We've seen this lightning-fast delivery speed only in snippets from Amazon, the king of delivery efficiency. Who better to take on Target, though, than Walmart, which is using a similar store-as-fulfillment-center model?
"Walmart is stepping up to save our customers even more time with our latest delivery offering: Express On-Demand Early Morning Delivery," Walmart said in a statement, just a day after Target Circle 360 launched. "Starting at 6 a.m., earlier than ever before, customers can enjoy the convenience of On-Demand delivery."
Walmart (WMT) clearly sees consumers' desire for near-instant delivery, which obviously saves time and trips to the store. Rather than waiting a day for your order to show up, it might be on your doorstep when you wake up.
Consumers also tend to spend more money when they shop online, and they remain stickier as paying annual members. So, to a growing number of retail giants, almost instant gratification like this seems like something worth striving for.
Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024
stocks pandemic mexicoUncategorized
Comments on February Employment Report
The headline jobs number in the February employment report was above expectations; however, December and January payrolls were revised down by 167,000 combined. The participation rate was unchanged, the employment population ratio decreased, and the …
Prime (25 to 54 Years Old) Participation
Since the overall participation rate is impacted by both cyclical (recession) and demographic (aging population, younger people staying in school) reasons, here is the employment-population ratio for the key working age group: 25 to 54 years old.
The 25 to 54 years old participation rate increased in February to 83.5% from 83.3% in January, and the 25 to 54 employment population ratio increased to 80.7% from 80.6% the previous month.
Average Hourly Wages
The graph shows the nominal year-over-year change in "Average Hourly Earnings" for all private employees from the Current Employment Statistics (CES).
Wage growth has trended down after peaking at 5.9% YoY in March 2022 and was at 4.3% YoY in February.
Part Time for Economic Reasons
From the BLS report:
"The number of people employed part time for economic reasons, at 4.4 million, changed little in February. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs."The number of persons working part time for economic reasons decreased in February to 4.36 million from 4.42 million in February. This is slightly above pre-pandemic levels.
These workers are included in the alternate measure of labor underutilization (U-6) that increased to 7.3% from 7.2% in the previous month. This is down from the record high in April 2020 of 23.0% and up from the lowest level on record (seasonally adjusted) in December 2022 (6.5%). (This series started in 1994). This measure is above the 7.0% level in February 2020 (pre-pandemic).
Unemployed over 26 Weeks
This graph shows the number of workers unemployed for 27 weeks or more.
According to the BLS, there are 1.203 million workers who have been unemployed for more than 26 weeks and still want a job, down from 1.277 million the previous month.
This is close to pre-pandemic levels.
Job Streak
Headline Jobs, Top 10 Streaks | ||
---|---|---|
Year Ended | Streak, Months | |
1 | 2019 | 100 |
2 | 1990 | 48 |
3 | 2007 | 46 |
4 | 1979 | 45 |
5 | 20241 | 38 |
6 tie | 1943 | 33 |
6 tie | 1986 | 33 |
6 tie | 2000 | 33 |
9 | 1967 | 29 |
10 | 1995 | 25 |
1Currrent Streak |
Summary:
The headline monthly jobs number was above consensus expectations; however, December and January payrolls were revised down by 167,000 combined. The participation rate was unchanged, the employment population ratio decreased, and the unemployment rate was increased to 3.9%. Another solid report.
-
Uncategorized2 weeks ago
All Of The Elements Are In Place For An Economic Crisis Of Staggering Proportions
-
Uncategorized1 month ago
Cathie Wood sells a major tech stock (again)
-
Uncategorized3 weeks ago
California Counties Could Be Forced To Pay $300 Million To Cover COVID-Era Program
-
Uncategorized2 weeks ago
Apparel Retailer Express Moving Toward Bankruptcy
-
Uncategorized3 weeks ago
Industrial Production Decreased 0.1% in January
-
International1 month ago
War Delirium
-
Uncategorized3 weeks ago
RFK Jr: The Wuhan Cover-Up & The Rise Of The Biowarfare-Industrial Complex
-
Uncategorized3 weeks ago
GOP Efforts To Shore Up Election Security In Swing States Face Challenges