Author: admin

The US government is unlikely to start accumulating Bitcoin for its strategic reserve until other nations make the first move, says crypto entrepreneur Mike Alfred.Alfred said in a podcast published on Tuesday that the US government will start putting Bitcoin (BTC) into its reserve created earlier this year “when there is enough pressure externally.” “Once the US government recognizes that others are taking action before them, that’ll probably catalyze additional action in the future,” he said, adding that the timeline for the US government’s action is up in the air. Mike Alfred speaking on the Coin Stories podcast released on Tuesday.…

The S&P 500 Index ($SPX) (SPY) on Monday fell by -0.92%, the Dow Jones Industrials Index ($DOWI) (DIA) fell by -1.18%, and the Nasdaq 100 Index ($IUXX) (QQQ) fell by -0.83%.  December E-mini S&P futures (ESZ25) fell -0.83%, and December E-mini Nasdaq futures (NQZ25) fell -0.69%.US stock indexes fell on Monday ahead of key news later this week, including a raft of delayed US economic reports and Nvidia’s earnings on Wednesday.  Stocks had some underlying support from a +3% jump in Alphabet after Berkshire Hathaway disclosed a $4.9 billion stake in the company.  Join 200K+ Subscribers: Find out why the midday Barchart Brief newsletter…

VanEck has launched the US’s third exchange-traded fund (ETF) featuring Solana staking, as more altcoin-tied funds are set to enter the market soon.The VanEck Solana ETF (VSOL) launched on Monday, joining similar funds from Bitwise and Grayscale that debuted late in October and have jointly seen over $380 million in inflows.Like Bitwise and Grayscale’s ETFs, VSOL offers staking yields, where Solana (SOL) is locked up on the blockchain to earn rewards. It has also waived its 0.3% fee until Feb. 17 or until it reaches $1 billion in assets in a bid to compete.Asset managers have been flooding the market…

Amazon.com Inc. is returning to the U.S. investment-grade bond market for the first time in nearly three years, seeking to raise about $12 billion through a multi-part offering, according to multiple reports. The company is issuing bonds across as many as six tranches, with the longest— a 40-year note—initially marketed at roughly 115 basis points over Treasuries, Bloomberg reported.  Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, including continued expansion of Amazon’s data center footprint, logistics infrastructure, and rapidly growing artificial intelligence investments.  The deal is being led by Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley, and arrives during a historic surge in debt issuance from major technology…

December ICE NY cocoa (CCZ25) on Friday closed down -200 (-3.64%), and December ICE London cocoa #7 (CAZ25) closed down -37 (-0.90%).Cocoa prices extended this week’s sell-off on Friday and posted 1.75-year lows on the nearest-futures chart.   Expectations of possible tariff cuts are weighing on cocoa prices after US Treasury Secretary Bessent said Wednesday that there would be “substantial announcements over the next couple of days” on tariffs on crops not grown in the US, including cocoa.   Don’t Miss a Day: From crude oil to coffee, sign up free for Barchart’s best-in-class commodity analysis.  Since posting 6-week highs…

Harvard University boosted its investment in BlackRock’s Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) by over 250% in the third quarter after the Ivy League school first bought into the fund earlier this year.Harvard Management Company, the business that manages the university’s $57 billion endowment fund, reported in a regulatory filing on Friday that it held over 6.8 million shares in the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) worth $442.8 million as of Sept. 30.The university disclosed in August that it had a position IBIT for the first time, holding around 1.9 million shares then worth $116.6 million.“Super rare” for a university to buy…

Key Takeaways More than 41,000 BTC and 228,000 ETH options expired on Friday. Analysts from Greeks.Live warned against leveraged trading. The platform confirmed that the crypto market has “entered a bear market.” Crypto markets slumped on Friday as a wave of expiring derivatives and rising volatility deepened concerns over what analysts are describing as Bitcoin’s “worst fourth quarter on record.” As BTC fell to its lowest levels since May, analysts claim data from the last three months show confidently that the industry has “entered a bear market.” Options Contracts Expire Data from the options analytics platform Greeks.Live showed that 41,000…

The wheat complex is falling back into losses on Friday. CBT soft red wheat futures are down 9 to 11 cents as the market trades on Friday. KC HRW futures are 10 to 12 cents in the red at midday. MPLS spring wheat futures are down 5 to 7 cents so far on Friday. USDA showed US ending stocks for 2025/26 another 57 mbu higher to 901 mbu, That mainly came as production was increased by 58 mbu to 1.985 bbu as we found in the Small Grains Summary on September 30.  The demand side of the balance sheet was left…

Steak ‘n Shake, a fast food restaurant company in the United States that accepts Bitcoin (BTC), announced on Saturday that it is expanding into El Salvador.“We were honored to be in Bitcoin Country,” the company said in an X post following Steak ‘n Shake’s participation in the country’s Bitcoin Histórico event on Wednesday and Thursday. Steak ‘n Shake started accepting BTC for payment at its stores in May, and the company’s chief operations officer, Dan Edwards, told Cointelegraph that the goal is to have BTC accepted at all of the company’s locations worldwide. Source: Steak ‘n ShakeThe company attributed a…

HSMPI – 5 Minute Chart – 141125 Chinese Economic Indicators Send Mixed Signals The larger-than-expected YoY drop in house prices coincided with falling unemployment but weakening retail sales, challenging Beijing’s 5% GDP growth target. Unemployment unexpectedly fell from 5.2% in September to 5.1% in October. A stabilization in the labor market could boost consumer sentiment, potentially reviving domestic demand. While the unemployment rate fell, private sector PMIs pointed to job cuts, highlighting uneven labor market conditions. Meanwhile, retail sales increased 2.9% YoY in October, down from 3% in September. Crucially, retail sales have trended sharply lower since May’s 6.4% YoY…