The charts that matter: bond yields turn back up and a new bitcoin record

Bitcoin hit a new all-time high, while government bond yields turned back up. Here’s how that has affected the charts that matter most to the global economy.

Welcome back.

This week, we’re looking at the labour shortage. Workers are leaving their jobs at an astonishing rate, especially in the US – 4.3 million of them in August, that’s 2.9% of the workforce. Simon examines what’s behind the mass resignations, and what it all means for the economy.

Elsewhere, Matthew Partridge looks at investing in railways. They had a dismal pandemic as people stopped commuting yet, even though it may be unlikely that we’ll fall back into the same working patterns, it’s not all doom and gloom. Railways aren’t all about commuters – governments want more of us to take the train for long-distance journeys, and rail-freight – which accounts for much of rail companies’ revenues – has been largely unaffected by lockdowns. There are plenty of opportunities for investors, and Matthew picks some of the best in this week’s magazine. If you’re not already a subscriber, sign up here and get your first six issues free.

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Merryn is joined by Andrew Hunt in this week’s podcast. You may have seen his feature on fossil fuels in last week’s magazine. Andrew’s a “deep value” investor, finding companies in the unfashionable corners of the market where many institutional investors fear to tread. He’s got lots of ideas on what to buy – listen to the what he has to say here.

Here are the links for this week’s editions of Money Morning and other web articles you may have missed:

Now for the charts of the week.

The charts that matter

Gold attempted to regain lost ground, but can’t manage to get above $1,800 an ounce.

Gold price chart

(Image credit: Gold price chart)

The US dollar index (DXY – a measure of the strength of the dollar against a basket of the currencies of its major trading partners) fell further, though it bounced towards the end of the week.

US dollar index chart

(Image credit: US dollar index chart)

The Chinese yuan (or renminbi) strengthened further against the dollar (when the red line is rising, the dollar is strengthening while the yuan is weakening).

USD/CNY currency chart

(Image credit: USD/CNY currency chart)

The yield on the ten-year US government bond started climbing again after dipping last week.

US Treasury bond yield chart

(Image credit: US Treasury bond yield chart)

(Ten-year US Treasury yield: three months)

The yield on the Japanese ten-year bond tailed off after earlier gains.

Japanese government bond yield chart

(Image credit: Japanese government bond yield chart)

(Ten-year Japanese government bond yield: three months)

And the yield on the ten-year German Bund climbed tantalisingly close to positive territory, bubbling under at -0.09%.

German government bond yield chart

(Image credit: German government bond yield chart)

Copper dropped – could the supply squeeze be fading?

Copper price chart

(Image credit: Copper price chart)

The closely-related Aussie dollar mirrored copper’s movements.

AUD/USD currency chart

(Image credit: AUD/USD currency chart)

Bitcoin investors were cheering as the cryptocurrency surpassed its previous highs to hit over $67,000.

Bitcoin price chart

(Image credit: Bitcoin price chart)

US weekly initial jobless claims fell by 6,000 to 290,000. The four-week moving average fell by 15,250 to 319,750.

US initial weekly jobless claims chart

(Image credit: US initial weekly jobless claims chart)

The oil price continued to head higher.

Brent crude oil price chart

(Image credit: Brent crude oil price chart)

Amazon saw a strong rally.

Amazon share price chart

(Image credit: Amazon share price chart)

Tesla continued its seemingly unstoppable rise, hitting $894.

Tesla share price chart

(Image credit: Tesla share price chart)

Have a great weekend.

Ben

Ben Judge

Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin. 

As an early adopter of bitcoin, Ben bought when the price was under $200, but went on to spend it all on foolish fripperies.