Author: Timothy St. John

Timothy St John is a seasoned financial analyst and writer, catering to the dynamic landscapes of the US and European markets. Boasting over a decade of extensive freelance writing experience, he has made significant contributions to reputable platforms such as Yahoo!Finance, business.com: Expert Business Advice, Tips, and Resources - Business.com, and numerous others. Timothy's expertise lies in in-depth research and comprehensive coverage of stock and cryptocurrency movements, coupled with a keen understanding of the economic factors influencing currency dynamics. Timothy majored in English at East Tennessee State University, and you can find him on LinkedIn.

Stock Market Off to Bad Start This Week

Posted on October 21, 2024 by Timothy St. John

The top stock market indices closed high on Friday, and the expectation was that they would open high for Monday, but investors demonstrated mostly bearish sentiment as the market opened.

The Dow Jones has lost 340 points so far today- a drop of 0.79% from Friday. The S&P 500 is down 0.28% today too, even though both of these indices were positive for six straight weeks. The streak has ended, though, and only the Nasdaq Composite is positive right now, with a negligible gain of 0.05%.

The 10-year Treasury yield climbed, and the stock market is in decline ahead of major earnings reports this week. We could see a major rally later on this week thanks to incoming quarterly reports from Tesla (TLSA), Coca-Cola (KO), American Airlines (AAL), General Motors (GM) and others. This could be one of the most packed weeks for earnings reports so far, and it could mean a major turnaround for a somewhat subdued market.

Many of these reports are expected to be at least mildly positive, which could result in a bullish market very soon. Investors should pay close attention to the major reports that are coming out this week and consider investing in some of these stocks before they shoot up.

Market Factors to Know about

Later today, there will be talks from FOMC members, and these could shift the market, especially as anticipation and fear are high for the proposed interest rate cuts for next month.

Nvidia (NVDA) will likely continue to move the tech market and the Nasdaq Composite with its high earnings. The AI company hit an intraday record today. Apple (AAPL) could also end the day high if its current trend continues.

Oil prices were up by 2% today and have been heavily affected by the recent stimulus package that is being sent to Chinese citizens at the moment.

The latest news from the Middle East is that Israel has apologized for a missile strike that killed three Lebanese soldiers. Israeli officials say they are not battling Lebanon and were attempting to target a vehicle operated by Hezbollah forces. The area is still a tinder box that could continue to go off and hurt market performance.

These Three Changes Could Shake Up Crypto Next Year

Posted on October 21, 2024 by Timothy St. John

Although cryptocurrency has seen a lot of changes already this year, there could be even bigger ones coming in 2025. We have put together a list of the top three events that we anticipate to cause major change.

Some of these may happen in some capacity or another, and all three are quite likely. We anticipate that these will be the three biggest changes to crypto next year.

New Cryptocurrency Regulations

There has been a lot of talk this year about changing governmental policy when it comes to crypto and especially about updating the regulations that pertain to digital assets. In many ways, the world governments are still in the Dark Ages when it comes to how they treat cryptocurrency. Many governments seem to simply not know what to do with them, despite Bitcoin having been around since 2009.

As much as cryptocurrency has been in the election news and spoken about by politicians over the last few months, most of the industry experts believe that there will be some big changes once the US election is settled. So far, those changes look to be positive ones, but we will have to wait and see.

New ETFs

Possibly the biggest news in crypto this year was the release of spot ETFs. These allow investors to expose their portfolios to Bitcoin without a lot of the inherent risk that comes with crypto investments. We may see more ETFs coming in 2025, especially since the current selection has done quite well, garnering $30 billion in investor capital.

ETFs could be the crypto investment of the future, allowing for a wider range of investment options and legitimizing decentralized currency even among banking institutions. If there are more ETFs, we anticipate they will include options from some of the lesser known cryptocurrencies that are trying to get in on the wave of excitement.

Bitcoin Gaining Government Support

Could Bitcoin become an important part of the US government’s financial strategy moving forward. Donald Trump has talked about paying off national debt using Bitcoin, and while some of his ideas may be far fetched, there is a definite desire for his camp to use Bitcoin in new and compelling ways.

We could see Bitcoin used by the US government in 2025, which would make it more accessible and more widely accepted in the US and around the world. It is unlikely that the US will adopt Bitcoin as one of its national currencies, as El Salvador has done, but we do anticipate that the government will use it in new and unexpected ways. It may even put a lot of support behind Bitcoin mining to create a booming export business for the country.

New Bitcoin Price Prediction after Bitcoin Gains 5%

Posted on October 21, 2024 by Timothy St. John

Bitcoin (BTC) has shot up by 5% over the last week, hitting $67,929 (BTC/USD) for Monday. However, on Sunday, the coin nearly made it to $70K.

It is promising to see the token climb so high on what is usually a slow day for the market when there is little to no new economic data to process. Bitcoin is full of potential right now, with many analysts calling for a record high to be achieved very soon.

For Monday, the coin’s progress does not look quite as promising. The price fell by 0.74% over the last 24 hours, but we do expect a reversal very soon. Bitcoin has hovered near $70K for much of the last week, and we can only assume that it is being held back by doubts about the next interest rate cut. If that cut does not come next month, Bitcoin may miss out on a powerful boost, but the coin could still climb to record high without that cut. It has plenty of momentum of its own.

We should get further clarification on the interest rate cut issue very soon, as several FOMC members are scheduled to speak today. These include Schmid, Daly, and Kashkari. If they can settle a date for the next cut, that could help Bitcoin and could spur investor confidence in the market.

Bitcoin Volatility and a Record High

When looking at Bitcoin’s recent performance, covering the last 30 days, it is obvious that the coin is very volatile. We have seen incredible lows and highs, with the lowest low occurring on October 10th when the coin dropped to $59,407. Bitcoin’s time in the trough did not last long at all, though, and it is encouraging for investors to see that its highest point in the last 30 days occurred just one day ago.

With that means for the coin and its future is that it is positioned to climb much higher. With a small boost, Bitcoin could easily set a new record by the end of this week.

If that happens, then there is potential for Bitcoin to move much higher by the end of 2024, perhaps as high as $80K before the new year rolls around. For that to happen, though, we would have to see positive economic indicators, so look out for news on employment, retail sales, and the US dollar, among other indicators.

Will the SEC’s Last Minute Tactic Work Against Ripple?

Posted on October 18, 2024 by Timothy St. John

The SEC v. Ripple court case has been going on for years now, but the SEC is not backing down from the fight or preparing to give in even this late in the game.

The US securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed what feels like a last-minute appeal in the case, asking that parts of a previous summary judgment be reversed. This would appeal a decision made by presiding Judge Analise Torres, who also made the earlier judgment.

In other words, they are asking the judge to repeal her own decision made back in 2023 where she ruled in favor (at least partly) of Ripple. The judgment there said that Ripple selling XRP to retail investors did not constitute a breach of US security law. These were sales that took place on digital exchange platforms.

There is no response yet from Judge Torres on that appeal, but we do expect one soon. There is good reason to close off this court case that has dragged on and cost both parties considerable money, but the SEC does not look to be letting go without a fight. The judge already ruled that Ripple would not have to pay the proposed $billion in fines that the SEC originally wanted. Instead, they would only have to pay $125 million in fines. If the judge permits the appeal, then the $2 billion in fines could be back on the table.

Repercussions for the Crypto Industry

The appeal has the effect of extending the length of the court case that did look like it would be wrapping up soon. It has the added effect of bringing down considerable criticism on the SEC from the crypto industry in general for taking action that may not be putting the concerns of US citizens first.

The appeal might not be allowed by Judge Torres, since the previous ruling found that Ripple’s transactions were not in violation of US securities law and did not constitute an investment contract.

If the appeal is permitted, though, then that could be disastrous for the cryptocurrency industry. It could mean that millions of transactions could be called in violation and could be suspect to fines, if the SEC intends to pursue those. This action also shows that the SEC is not backing down when it comes to this issue, despite the fact that the US does not have concrete laws in place defining cryptocurrency transactions. The case could also have the effect of forcing the US government’s hand in creating suitable laws, however.

XRP is still the #7 ranked crypto token and is down by 0.74% today to a price of $0.5465 (XRP/USD). The coin has gained just 1.22% over the last week during the recent crypto market bull run.

Has the Creator of Bitcoin Been Found?

Posted on October 18, 2024 by Timothy St. John

A new documentary claims that the real identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, has been found. This HBO film raises some interesting questions, but has it solved the case?

We know that the name Satoshi is a pseudonym and that the real identity of the Bitcoin creator has remained a carefully guarded secret. No one with any valid claim has come forward to reveal themselves as the real Satoshi. Some have come with false claims of being the hidden figure, but their claims have never been able to be substantiated.

Whoever Satoshi is, he is one of the richest men in the world. Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency ever made, and it was released in 2009. Satoshi worked on Bitcoin for the next two years and then stepped away, never to be heard from again. The new documentary, called Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery, makes a compelling case for the identity of Satoshi to be revealed as a matter of public interest.

The film, directed by Cullen Hoback, says that the real Satoshi has already been found- Bitcoin developer Peter Todd. But Todd denies it and says the idea is ludicrous. He said when he read the whitepaper for Bitcoin that he was upset he had not thought of coming up with it first.

Over the years, a number of people have come forward saying they are Satoshi, and others have been fingered as the Bitcoin creator. Even Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been named, but he denies that claim as well.

Why Does It Matter?

As with any mystery, people like some resolution. To be able to figure out the absolutely biggest mystery in cryptocurrency would be a big win for anyone, much less a documentary maker. The same filmmaker, Hoback, previously claimed to have uncovered the real identity of hacker Q from the activist hacking group Q Anon.

If the Bitcoin creator still has control of his original digital wallet, then he would own approximately $69 billion, making him one of the richest people in the world. In fact, it would place him among the top 25 wealthiest, and that would certainly make for quite a story. For now, there is no definitive proof that the founder of Bitcoin has been uncovered, and one of the most likely suspects, Peter Tood, categorically denies that it is him. The HBO documentary may claim to have discovered the true identity, but the evidence is not yet compelling enough to make a definitive case.

Bitcoin Could Pass $70K Soon

Posted on October 18, 2024 by Timothy St. John

On Thursday, Bitcoin (BTC) slowed down after a bullish run, but it has picked up speed again for Friday and is now up by 0.85% from the previous day. We may see a strong push from it before it slows again.

For Friday morning, Bitcoin has achieved a price point of $67,673 (BTC/USD), and it is now tantalizingly close to $70K. It could hit that important mark by Monday, but fears over the next interest rate cut could hold back Bitcoin as well.

If Bitcoin continues to push forward, it could break through to its highest point in seven months and overcome a downtrend that has continued for much of the year. BTC reached a record high in March, and it could be up for a repeat very soon.

Bitcoin has not been able to surpass that high ever since, staying rangebound for months, despite several attempts to push back up. Even with the Bitcoin halving and strong economic support, Bitcoin has struggled to even break $70K for much of the year, but that could be about to change. We saw the coin pass $68K very recently, and it looks like it is building up steam for another surge.

Factors to Watch

There are a few bits of economic data to be released later today. Building Permits and Housing Starts reports are coming later in the day. Both of these are expected to show a decline from the previous reports, though, which could slightly influence Bitcoin downward.

FOMC Member Waller is speaking later today and will likely talk on the topic of interest rate cuts and perhaps even inflation. Investors should watch for that speech to have an impact on Bitcoin’s movement as well.

A tentatively scheduled Federal Budget Balance meeting is scheduled as well, and we anticipate further comments from presidential nominees Trump and Harris on cryptocurrency in the near future. It looks like both candidates are strongly behind a sensibly regulated cryptocurrency market that allows free trade and innovation. If so, then we could have several years of healthy market activity.

What Happened to Trump’s Crypto Scheme after It Launched?

Posted on October 17, 2024 by Timothy St. John

Donald Trump has been talking up his cryptocurrency project recently called World Liberty Financial. It launched its proprietary token earlier this week and then the website promptly crashed.

It is not unusual for young cryptos to have some growing pains right out of the gate, but investors were likely expecting a little more from the much ballyhooed crypto project that was supposed to show just how serious Trump is about supporting decentralized finance.

The token sales were meant to earn hundreds of millions of dollars, but that is not happening either. The site received heavy traffic and was unable to handle all of the attempted sales, with the support team saying that they were not expecting that level of response.

The new tokens, called WLFI, or World Liberty Financial, sold to about 3,000 unique wallets before the site shut down. By Wednesday, the number of unique addresses buying tokens on the site escalated to 9,300, which is impressive for a new token.

These tokens are selling for just $0.015 and the goal of the venture is to raise $300 million. The sales have already reached $12.5 million by the time of this writing. Twenty billion tokens have been allocated to be sold, but only about 4% of those have exchanged hands so far.

Will This Project Achieve Its Goals?

There are some factors at work against this token and the project’s ability to do as much as Trump and his team are expecting it to. The biggest of those is that the token is tied to a controversial political figure. There will be a number of investors who will simply not take the plunge because of what Trump represents and how divisive he is as a public figure.

Another factor holding the token back is that many are worried it may not last very long. Trump has talked about this project as something he will use going forward once he is elected president, but what happens to the project if he loses the election? That is still up in the air, and those investors who have already bought up tokens could be left with a worthless digital currency in a few weeks.

Many are surprised that this venture has already launched when Trump has not won the election at this point. There is concern that the project will simply fade out quickly if he does not get elected, and the timing of the project may be capitalizing on his highly visible profile at the moment and promise of the coming election.

Why the Crypto Market May Be Ready to Go Bullish Again Soon

Posted on October 17, 2024 by Timothy St. John

Ethereum (ETH) is up by 9.3% over the last week but has not moved the last 24 hours as the crypto market freezes one day after shooting up quickly.

It looks like the pullback has already started, but the bull trend may not be over yet. Ethereum climbed to $2,679 (ETH/USD) before it fell and then stabilized. That was the highest ETH has moved in nearly a month, and the token has only dropped to $2,605 and not lost much of its recent gains.

Bitcoin (BTC) has enjoyed a better performance over the past few days. Like Ethereum and the rest of the crypto market, Bitcoin has slowed almost to a crawl after shooting up for several days. That token climbed to a high of $68,197 (BTC/USD) before dropping down to its current price of $67,059. Over the last seven days, Bitcoin has gained nearly 11%.

We are seeing similar trajectories across the crypto market, and much of the recent gains have been attributed to excitement about political support from Donald Trump and Kamala Harris late in the election cycle.

Where Is the Crypto Market Headed?

Crypto tokens are all elevated right now but not climbing. There is some price correction after several days of upward movement. Does this mean the end of the bullish trend? We do not believe so.

A lot of the momentum for the crypto market will come from Bitcoin, and as that token moves, so too with the rest of the marketplace. It looks like Bitcoin is only slowing down and could pick up steam again very soon, perhaps later on today.

A number of US economic reports are scheduled for Thursday afternoon, including the Retail Sales, Unemployment Claims, Business Inventories, and more. These should have a definite impact on the crypto market as well as the stock market, and if they show positive movement, we could see Bitcoin catch its second wind and pull the crypto market much higher.

Good reports there could be enough to propel Bitcoin to a record high before the end of this month.

Crypto Price Spike- What Caused It and Where Is It Going?

Posted on October 16, 2024 by Timothy St. John

Crypto prices shot up at the start of the week following new remarks by Vice President Kamala Harris and the launch of Donald Trump’s crypto token.

The two events have heated up the crypto market, causing prices to spike, with Bitcoin (BTC) already gaining 11% over the last week and Ethereum (ETH) increasing by 8.37%.

Other crypto coins have likewise benefited from the recent events, with Solana (SOL) gaining 9.7% in the same period and BNB (BNB) up by 4.63%. The crypto market is up overall with a 0.83% gain over the last 24 hours.

One of the biggest winners in all of this is Dogecoin (DOGE), which climbed 16.46% in seven days and about 10% in the last 24 hours.

What to Expect from This Bull Trend

The bulls have the market in hand right now, but for how long? Will it be days or hours before the market pulls back and settles down? When the bull trend ends, how far will the market have advanced?

There will definitely be some push by the Bitcoin whales to push that particular coin until it hits a new record high. The coin did that once already this year and is well positioned to do it again. We expect that if the upward trend does slow down or even pull back that it will not last very long before Bitcoin at least surges higher once more, and perhaps a few of the other coins as well.

Harris said in recent statements that she wants to ensure the benefit of investors as well as digital asset owners when it comes to how the regulations are designed. That is good news for investors who were worried that if there is a Democrat president in the office for another four years it would mean excessive regulations for cryptocurrency and outdated ideas about who digital assets should be controlled.

Trump has likewise put his support behind cryptocurrency and keeping regulations very light, even going so far as to commit to establishing a government Bitcoin fund.

If new regulations are put in place, it is very possible that they will benefit investors and crypto business both, and that could make crypto more sustainable, less risky, and more legitimate in the eyes of financiers.

Big Gains for Bitcoin Today. How High Will It Go?

Posted on October 16, 2024 by Timothy St. John

Bitcoin (BTC) is up today and for the week as it climbs higher than most analysts expected and comes close to a new record high. Are we seeing a major bull trend emerge here?

This week’s progress has shocked investors and analysts alike as Bitcoin has managed to gain nearly 10% over the last seven days and 3.40% in the last 24 hours. Now, Bitcoin is up to $67,922 (BTC/USD), just a short distance forma new record high.

Investors should know that the last time Bitcoin managed to climb up to the $67K level was back in July of this year. We are seeing a three month high that could go even higher. Bitcoin remains bullish for Wednesday morning, and the expectation now is that it could hit that record high of $73,750 sooner than anticipated. At the moment, Bitcoin is just 8% away from that mark- less than the distance it has moved in the last week. In other words, if Bitcoin maintains its current momentum, it will set a new record high by this time next week.

Will Bitcoin Pull Back?

The question a lot of investors are asking right now is whether Bitcoin will slow down anytime soon. They want to know how much longer the bull run can go on for so that they pull out in time.

For the past week, Bitcoin has been almost constantly bullish with little slowdown. It has performed well, which makes us expect a pullback very soon, perhaps as soon as later on today. When any crypto coin does so well so quickly, it usually has to stop and pull back a little after a while. We believe that will happen here too, but there is no reason to think that Bitcoin cannot continue on from that small dip and climb even higher.

For months, analysts have been expecting Bitcoin to do something like this and skyrocket past its support level. We could finally be seeing the Bitcoin halving pay off and yield rewards. The coin is also benefiting from further talks about interest rate cuts. The last cut helped the coin gain some upward momentum, and we expect the same from future cuts.