Equities are regaining some of yesterday’s losses in early trading. Gold, silver, and Bitcoin are all moving higher, while crude oil is mostly flat. The dollar and Treasuries are marking time, too.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is still getting a lot of press from his attempt to tamp down bond yields this week. But the doubling of government bond buybacks to $4 billion failed to impress the market for long, with much of the initial slide in yields being retraced. It did cause the dollar to drop, though, because it raises the specter of a Japan-style currency debasement process playing out.
Bitcoin (Green), Gold (Blue) – 1-Mo. % Change
Source: TradingView
As a result, cryptocurrencies and gold both benefited from the “Bessent Vs. the Bond Market” news. Bitcoin is now up 17.3% in the past month, while gold futures are up 15.7%. Crypto got an extra boost from a White House event where President Trump tried to move the ball forward on federal legislation. The proposed CLARITY Act is designed to streamline crypto regulation, but it has been stalled for months.
Walmart Inc. (WMT) was a big loser yesterday after the largest US retailer said same-store sales rose just 2.6% in the most recent quarter. Not only did that miss forecasts of 3.7%, but it was also the smallest increase since Q4 2020. CFO John David Rainey mentioned that higher fuel costs were impacting customer spending. Lower drug prices also suppressed sales. Walmart stock fell 9.1%.
Lastly, Samsung Electronics Co. became the latest semiconductor company to try to shore up sentiment with investor-friendly news. The South Korean company said it would dole out $80 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and stock buybacks, a move that follows similar news from SK Hynix Inc. (SKHY). Both stocks surged in the first half of the year, but have slid since then amid questions about the durability of the AI spending boom.
