Why anti-Bitcoin protests erupted this week in El Salvador
The S&P 500 pulled back from all-time highs on investor concerns about the U.S. economic recovery.
On Friday, the U.S. Labor Department reported an 8.3% increase in the producer price index in the month of August, its highest year-over-year growth dating back to at least 2010. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has consistently said elevated inflation levels are “transitory” as the economy reopens to full capacity, but investors are watching to see if the Fed is ultimately forced to begin tapering its monthly asset purchases sooner or more aggressively than anticipated.
On Tuesday, El Salvador became the first country to make Bitcoin legal tender. Bitcoin prices still dropped more than 10% on the week as violent anti-Bitcoin protests erupted in the streets of San Salvador.
Popular cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase disclosed on Tuesday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has notified the company that the regulator intends to sue Coinbase over its Coinbase Lend product. On Twitter, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong blasted the SEC for its “sketchy” behavior, but Coinbase shares traded lower by more than 5% on the week.
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On Thursday, Federal Reserve regional presidents Robert Kaplan and Eric Rosengren said they will sell all their individual stock holdings amid public backlash over new financial disclosures revealing Kaplan profited from several million-dollar trades while serving as Dallas Fed president in 2020. Federal Reserve monetary policy actions have a significant impact on the stock market, and critics argue Kaplan’s stakes in individual stocks, including Apple, Amazon and Delta Airlines, create a potential conflict of interest.
Growth affirmed
Shares of buy-now-pay-later provider Affirm traded higher by 14% last week after the company reported 71% revenue growth in its fiscal fourth quarter and issued strong guidance.
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Second-quarter earnings season will continue to wind down in the coming week with reports from Oracle on Monday, FuelCell Energy on Tuesday, JinkoSolar on Wednesday and Manchester United on Friday.
Since the beginning of July, analysts have raised their third-quarter earnings estimates for S&P 500 companies by an average of 3.8%, according to FactSet.
Economic numbers
This week, investors will get more key economic updates on Tuesday when the U.S. Labor Department releases its consumer price index reading for August and on Thursday when the Census Bureau releases its August U.S. retail sales report.
Benzinga is a financial news and data company headquartered in Detroit.
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Text source: MCC.EXCHANGE
