The images in the news yesterday of the formal certification of the US election result by US politicians were terrifying. Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol and thereby the seat of the US Congress, the US legislature. The situation quickly escalated. US President Trump, who is still in office, appealed to protesters to act peacefully. However, he did not clearly ask them to leave or criticise them. He still maintains that he did not lose the election. By contrast, his Vice President, Mike Pence, publically demanded that Trump supporters leave the Capitol peacefully. US President-elect Joe Biden has called on Trump to officially accept the election results. Police and security forces were able to secure the building. The session in Congress continued. There is obviously a (probably small) proportion of the population that will not stop at anything, including violent and armed protests. This is without doubt certainly not true…

The most recent inflation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics provides one piece of news above all: The ongoing ultra-loose monetary policy in the USA is still not leading to high price pressure, and the economic problems do not allow this to happen. In October, prices for goods and services remained unchanged on average compared to the previous month. Although food prices did rise and prices were also raised in individual service and goods categories, there was still no sign of a recovery. However, this was offset elsewhere. For example, gasoline became cheaper, and higher discounts were again granted for clothing and car insurance. The main reason for this is probably the fact that the economy is losing momentum again: As a result, the world market price for crude oil (WTI) in the fall was temporarily somewhat lower than in the summer, and companies were probably confronted with weaker…

  Bitcoin, the leading crypto currency, has recently dared to climb to price levels that have not been seen since the beginning of 2018, with nearly 16,000 USD. This level, which can be attributed solely to the back and forth in the U.S. presidential election and a potentially accompanying uncertainty about the political future of the world’s largest economy, is certainly not enough. On the one hand, there can be no talk of great uncertainty in view of appreciating emerging market currencies and rising share prices worldwide. On the other hand, the upward movement of the crypto currency has been continuing since the beginning of September. The main driver of the positive dynamics is the hope for a long-term increase in demand and growing general acceptance. The basis for this assessment with regard to institutional investors are reports on the asset managers Grayscale and Fidelity. The Bitcoin fund of the…