Archives for July 2017

July 2017 - Money Morning - Only the News You Can Profit From

The Bitcoin Hard Fork: What to Expect Aug. 1 and Beyond

The Aug. 1 Bitcoin hard fork is sowing much confusion among users of the digital currency. The hard fork means that two distinct versions of Bitcoin will exist side by side.

One of the side effects of this Bitcoin hard fork is that people who own any Bitcoin before the split will receive that exact amount in the newly created "Bitcoin Cash" tokens after the split.

Here's how all of this will work - and what to do now if you own any bitcoins...

World Stock Markets Mixed; Geopolitics In Focus

Global stock markets were mixed overnight. U.S. stock indexes are pointed toward firmer openings when the New York day session begins.

Gold prices are slightly lower in pre-U.S.-session trading after scoring a six-week high overnight. The gold bulls still have good upside near-term technical momentum, amid a steep price uptrend in place on the daily bar chart.

The weekend news that North Korea launched another ballistic test missile, which experts say could now reach well into the U.S. mainland, is not having a major impact on world markets.

Why the Market's "Most Powerful Index" Is Dead Right Now

As Capital Wave Strategist Shah Gilani says, the big indexes are hitting "serial record highs" in a market where there are now fewer stocks than there are indexes that track them – some 4,000 stocks against more than 5,000 indexes.

Of course the "Big Three," the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and the Nasdaq, with their unprecedented strength, are the ones everyone's watching right now.

There's one important index, however, that's continually scraping record lows. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index – the VIX. The VIX measures volatility in short-term S&P 500 options but has come to be thought of by regular investors as a powerful broad-market "fear index."

It seems the market has no "fear" right now, as it braves new heights with essentially zero volatility. And that's got some investors concerned that any sensibility has gone right out the window, replaced by classic "irrational exuberance."

So FOX Business' Gerri Wilder turned to the guy that helped develop the VIX (that would be Shah, of course) to see whether the record lows on the once-roaring "fear gauge" are cause for concern.

He told us what's really happening and, more importantly, how to make a little extra money on this unusual situation...