Bitcoin pulse, guides and news: 01/16/20

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Bitcoin: The Definitive Guide [2020]

https://emerging.technology/cc/bitcoin-guide/

Nazis are Using Bitcoin, US Govt Officials Warn (current BTC/USD price is $8,728.86)

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The latest Bitcoin news has been sourced from the CoinSalad.com Bitcoin Price and News Events page. CoinSalad is a web service that provides real-time Bitcoin market info, charts, data and tools. Follow us on Twitter @CoinSalad.

Can someone ELI5 on how binance perpetual contract works?

I've went through perpetual guide on bitmex but could not understand they do.

Here (https://www.binance.vision/economics/what-are-perpetual-futures-contracts), binance has a nice explanation of what perpetual futures contracts are. But I'm still confused, especially this part:

The funding rate is based on two components: the interest rate and the premium. On Binance futures market, the interest rate is fixed at 0.03%, and the premium varies according to the price difference between futures and spot markets. Binance takes no fees for funding rate transfers as they happen directly between users.

What is this interest rate? And it says the premium is the price diff between futures and spot markets. Is spot market the price of a coin(e.g. bitcoin) and futures price is the strike price of a contract?

How is the funding rate calculated? In Bitmex(https://www.bitmex.com/app/perpetualContractsGuide), it's calculated as

Interest Rate (I) = (Interest Quote Index - Interest Base Index) / Funding Interval Premium Index (P) = (Max(0, Impact Bid Price - Mark Price) - Max(0, Mark Price - Impact Ask Price)) / Spot Price + Fair Basis used in Mark Price Funding Rate (F) = Premium Index (P) + clamp(Interest Rate (I) - Premium Index (P), 0.05%, -0.05%)

Again, I don't understand all these terms...

Future Of Digital Currency

On 24 December 2013, RBI formally cautioned general society about the potential monetary, operational, lawful, client assurance and security-related dangers they are presenting themselves to by utilizing virtual monetary standards, for example, Bitcoins. In particular, it cautioned that exchanges were on a shared premise and there was no hidden support for the advanced money, or focal vault, nor any response, in the event of questions.

RBI observed Bitcoins and their utilization, about five years after the digital money was propelled and on the grounds that it was quick making progress through web-based social networking and Bitcoin trades. RBI's admonition had a prompt effect and the spread of Bitcoins backed off impressively. A few trades likewise shut down.

https://preview.redd.it/i484delnr9b41.jpg?width=291&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3185cabbcdd2db53d4adbf93cc4e5552d1ecc47f

However, in December 2014, RBI senator, Dr Raghuram Rajan, showed an adjustment in position. In a TV talk with, he said that computerized money was getting more secure and, after some time, could be an adequate type of exchange. By December 2015, there has been a further difference in heart at RBI, when its money related dependability report stated, "With its capability to battle forging, the 'blockchain' is probably going to achieve a significant change in the working of budgetary markets, security recognizable proof (land records for example) and installments framework." This has caused a ton of fervor among Bitcoin aficionados around the globe, since India's huge populace and record of brisk adjustment of innovation makes it a ripe ground for the expansion of this new cash.

Actually, Bitcoins and digital currency can develop with no reference to the controller. In any case, recollect that RBI's admonition in 2013 activated strikes on a Bitcoin trade. Anything that isn't officially directed in India faces the danger of badgering by examination offices and even a shut down, when controllers choose to observe it or decide to object.

[Daily Discussion] Friday, January 17, 2020

Thread topics include, but are not limited to:

General discussion related to the day's events
Technical analysis, trading ideas & strategies
Quick questions that do not warrant a separate post

Thread guidelines:

Be excellent to each other.
Do not make posts outside of the daily thread for the topics mentioned above.

Other ways to interact:

Get an invite to live chat on our Slack group
Set your flair to trade pretend money in the Flair Game
Weekly threads: Newbie Mondays and Fundamentals Fridays
Altcoins Discussion: Altcoin Discussion

[Altcoin Discussion] Friday, January 17, 2020

Thread topics include, but are not limited to:

Discussion related to recent events
Technical analysis, trading ideas & strategies
General questions about altcoins

Thread guidelines:

Be excellent to each other.
All regular rules for this subreddit apply, except for number 2. This, and only this, thread is exempt from the requirement that all discussion must relate to bitcoin trading.
This is for high quality discussion of altcoins. All shilling or obvious pumping/dumping behavior will result in an immediate one day ban. This is your only warning.
No discussion about specific ICOs. Established coins only.

If you're not sure what kind of discussion belongs in this thread, here are some example posts. News, TA, and sentiment analysis are great, too.

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Get an invite to live chat on our Slack group and check out the #altcoins channel
Daily Discussion for bitcoin only: Daily Discussion
Prior Altcoin Discussion: Altcoin Discussion

Le support de prix de Bitcoin

Début 2019, un cheval noir est entré dans la sphère de crypto-monnaie, avec la décentralisation et en aidant chacun à réaliser une vision écologique vraiment libre. VDS a enflammé la sphère morne avec ses fonctionnalités plus anonymes et plus privées. Lorsque VDS vient de sortir en février, Bitcoin a cessé de chuter en continu. Lorsque VDS a le premier marché à la hausse, BTC a augmenté de 68%. Est-ce une coïncidence ? Ou existe-il une relation plus intime entre VDS et BTC ?

Il commence par la relation entre les deux, VDS a créé un système d’échange de résonance. Les joueurs de Bitcoin peuvent effectuer directement les transactions décentralisées via des méthodes inter-chaînes. Après avoir converti les actifs de BTC en Vollar, d’autres options de la richesse sont disponibles. Les utilisateurs de Bitcoin peuvent retrouver la confidentialité des actifs de BTC par VDS. BTC peut être complètement séparée du contrôle des institutions centralisées, par les bourses décentralisées distribuées, et les transactions anonymes du commerce de résonance à l’épreuve de la connaissance de zéro. C’est un besoin urgent des joueurs de Bitcoin dans un environnement centralisé, ce qui signifie que VDS donne une sortie sécurisée libre. De plus, les joueurs de Bitcoin peuvent participer à plus de fonctions dans l’écosystème de VDS. Le système du commerce de résonance fournit un espace de profit suffisant aux joueurs de Bitcoin.

Vollar est dans un état de forte demande dans l’écosystème du processus de développement rapide. Vollar est nécessaire pour que la méthode du revenu de la création du nœud maître，et le développement de contrats intelligents ainsi que l’expansion du réseau de timbre et fiducie. Lorsqu’il y plus de demandes dans l’écologie, plus de BTC sera converti en Vollar par résonance. Dans ce processus, la baisse du niveau de résonance détermine directement l’augmentation du prix de résonance, qui sera le facteur dominant sur le marché, de sorte que Vollar a un taux de rendement des investissements plus élevé. Les constructeurs de l’écosystème peuvent choisir de desservir le réseau en construisant des nœuds maîtres super et avoir un revenu à valeur ajoutée à long terme dans ce processus.

Du point de vue de la conception et du système de résonance de VDS, il est étroitement lié au BTC. VDS fournit non seulement un canal de confidentialité sécurisé et libre pour les détenteurs de BTC, mais permet à BTC de jouer une plus grande valeur. Par conséquent, il est lié à apporter des effets positifs au marché de BTC dans le processus de développement. Les Bitcoins entrant dans l’écosystème de VDS arroseront l’écologie à plusieurs reprises en récompense de la stimulation du redéveloppement. Le mécanisme de distribution équitable est une condition préalable essentielle dans une perspective de développement à long terme.

La collecte de Bitcoin est de 4500BTC à naissance de VDS, de nombreux détenteurs de Bitcoin croient en la valeur et la faisabilité de résoudre le dilemme actuel de Bitcoin, sans parler de la participation des développeurs de Bitcoin qui ont extrait les Bitcoin au block 270è. Il semble que VDS ait eu une relation inséparable avec Bitcoin depuis sa naissance, ils ont un chevauchement de degré élevé en regardant la courbe des prix. Lorsque VDS a été mis en service, BTC a stoppé un marché d’ours pendant près d’un an. Début mai, l’augmentation d’un jour du VDS atteignait 55%, et le lendemain, le Bitcoin a connu une augmentation de 17%. Fin juin, le nombre quotidien de création de VID a atteignait 190000. Dans le même temps, BTC a atteint le point le plus élevé du prix de cette année.

Ce ne sont pas des coïncidences, mais la conclusion de teste répétés. VDS offre un espace de confidentialité plus sécurisé de BTC, et ouvre un nouveau chapitre pour les détenteurs de Bitcoin. Sous la résonance et une série de mécanismes, les acteurs du marché qui se chevauchent fortement sont ciblés. Il signifie que les jugements de marché des deux groups sur le marché sont presque les même. La conception de la liberté et de la décentralisation de VDS sont très cohérentes avec l’esprit du Bitcoin, ils se complètent sur le chemin de la décentralisation.

L’influence mutuelle entre VDS et Bitcoin pourrait être plus de simples mouvements de prix à l’avenir. Il n’y a pas de solution pour la lenteur de la vitesse de transaction de Bitcoin a conduit au problème de moins de scénarios d’application. Par conséquent, Bitcoin a été considéré comme « l’or numérique » et ne peut servir que réserve. Le développement de l’écosystème de VDS est plus enclin à la diversité des scénarios d’application, tels que la transaction anonyme, le chat secret, l’expansion du timbre et fiducie, le contrat intelligent etc. VDS planifie et intègre les réseaux sociaux interpersonnels, la finance libre, la connexion commerciale, le capital des consommateurs, l’exécution des applications et la liberté d’Internet pour former un écosystème de consensus décentralisé qui s’imbrique. La résonance connecte VDS et Bitcoin, donnant à Bitcoin plus d’espace d’application. Surtout que les transactions de Bitcoin deviennent de plus en plus transparentes et que le réseau anonyme de Bitcoin est devenu une pseudo-proposition. Bitcoin est compatible avec les transactions anonymes par le commerce de résonance, il est revenu à sa vision originale de la confidentialité anonyme. Bitcoin a une nouvelle direction de circulation et ne peut plus être utilisé uniquement comme un actif de stockage grâce à la combinaison de chaînes de commerçants et du système de timbre et fiducie. Lorsque VDS devient un lien entre le virtuel et la réalité, l’espace et le temps, le jour où l’écosystème de consensus décentralisé sera mis en place, Bitcoin réalisera la vision originale de la décentralisation et la liberté de confidentialité. Bitcoin guide la direction de VDS, et VDS étendra l’esprit du Bitcoin au monde entier.

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Which altcoins have outperformed Bitcoin over the last 12 months? (current BTC/USD price is $8,723.05)

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How could Bitcoin lose most of its value?

Hypothetically, what realistic (but non-apocalyptic like) events could lead to Bitcoin losing most of its current value?

Is Bitcoin Stuck in a Downtrend? (current BTC/USD price is $8,688.97)

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Weekly /r/Iowa Events Thread for the week of January 16, 2020

This thread is for any events going on in Iowa this week! What events will you be attending? What events do you want to attend? What events do you want to promote? Whats new around that state this week? Add a comment below. Anything from music to politics to a house party.

If you have any recurring events, specials, or other suggestions for this weekly thread, please send us a modmail or post it here and ping /u/annarchist - else it will likely be focused on shit Im interested in.

Please provide the following when posting new events: Time, Date, Location, Cost and some sort of description of the event.

New threads start every week, and will be stickied at the top of the subreddit. I am still working on the formatting, so if it sucks or you want changes, please provide feedback.

Here are some places to find things to do - if you see something that looks cool feel free to discuss it here because I'm sure some of us will miss it: Cityviews Calendar - Juice Calendar - Des Moines Register Event Page - Catch Des Moines Calendar - Travel Iowa Event Search

Outdoors: Trout Stocking Schedule | Iowa Biking Maps | Outdoors Things to Do | Hunting Regulations | Fishing Regulations Note -Annual Iowa hunting and fishing licenses expire on Jan. 10.

Music: Bands in Town - Des Moines | Bands in Town - Cedar Falls | Bands in Town - Iowa City | Nitefall on the River

Des Moines Reoccurring Events:
*Third Friday of Every Month is Mixology at the Science Center in Des Moines * Blues Jam Band every Tuesday at Carl's Place, $3 tallboys * Area515 1731 Grand Avenue, Des Moines - Electronics Club 2nd Wednesdays at 7pm - 3D Printing Club 3rd Mondays at 7pm - Ham Radio Night 4th Mondays at 7pm * Young Professionals Connection Calendar * Des Moines Bitcoin and Blockchain MeetUp at Gravitate in West Des Moines - 4th Thursday of the month - 7:00pm * D&D at Mistress Brewery in Ankeny Sundays 3:30pm-7:30pm.

Quad Cities Reoccuring events: * Every other Wednesday (July 25th): Eat the Streets (downtown Davenport) * relevant sub thread

Cedar Falls Reoccurring Events: * Every Tuesday night there are rides that leave at singlespeed in CF. 5:30 is the 22mph average ride. 6:00 is the 18mph average ride and women's ride. * Every Wednesday is the the CvC WOW ride that meets at 6 pm at 4th and Main St in CF. Several types of rides for all types of riders.

Council Bluffs Reoccurring Events: * Every Thursday night in council bluffs is the Taco Ride from CB to mineola Iowa

Central Iowa Bar Map - If you know who created this or want to download the XML and expand on it, please do so! If you create an updated one including your regions bar, Ill replace this one.

Note this is going to start likely central Iowa Centric as I am using that as the baseline the creation of this.

Tag/ping /u/AnnArchist if you post in here with like something added on a weekly basis. I also included the tag here so I remember to check this.

Iowa Discord Server

Bitcoin Price Analysis: Is This The End of The January 2020 Bull-Run, After Todays $300 Correction? (current BTC/USD price is $8,650.93)

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Bitcoin Price Analysis: Is This The End of The January 2020 Bull-Run, After Todays $300 Correction?

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Using captive portals for paid access to wifi: Should I roll my own?

I am creating an open source project so any "entrepreneur" can identify area with a lack of WIFI connectivity, and install a self contained Access Point portal accepting Bitcoin payment for other WIFI consumer to get access to internet. (The payment part being also self-contained without intermediary or third party services)

It will basically a "Box" bundling PC Engines apu4c4 running on OpenWRT and a Raspberry PI handling the payment portal. (Based on the BTCPayServer project,which is an open source payment processor that I maintain) The apu4c4 have a wifi module to create the AP, and a SIM Card module to get 4G connectivity.

I managed to get my apu4c4 flashed with OpenWRT. Now it seems I need to figure out how to install a captive portal. There seems to be lot's of choice.

But on those choices: 1. Nodogsplash doc is outdated 2. CoovaChili has almost no doc 3. WifiDog doc has lot's of broken links and images and hole in the docs

It seems to me all those projects are severely unmaintained. So I am now wondering if I should not create my own captive portal rather than trying to use those projects?

For those who used it, it seems that the captive portal, are using a RADIUS server for some of their function. What is the goal of a RADIUS server? I understood that the AP send accounting data to the RADIUS. But I does the RADIUS server is able to tell the AP to stop internet the connectivity for a specific MAC address if such MAC address did not paid?

No matter how much documentation and video I am reading on the subject, the relation between RADIUS, Captive Portals and what happen on OpenWRT are not clear.

So to summarize my questions:

Wifidog, CoovaChili, Nodogsplash or custom solution?
What is the relation between a captive portal software, open wrt and a RADIUS server?

Key HIPAA Requirements and Threats to Know About

Every organization, regardless of market sector or business size, must secure its data to minimize data leakage and other security incidents. The importance of data security in healthcare is compounded by the need to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This article describes data protection strategies and tactics healthcare organizations can use to comply with the key provisions of HIPAA, and explores the most common threats to data security in healthcare.

HIPAA data security and privacy rules

Background

Technical professionals in healthcare organizations are responsible for protecting healthcare information against security threats and security risks. Both external hackers and malicious insiders are constantly attempting to gain access to electronic protected health information (e-PHI), usually for financial gain from selling the information, identity theft or blackmail. Protected health information comprises all information that relates to a person’s past, present or future health or condition (mental or physical). This includes data about medical services rendered, payments for health care and health insurance benefits.

HIPAA was enacted in 1996 to force healthcare organizations to improve their data security. It includes multiple requirements that govern how healthcare organizations must work with healthcare information. For example, they must protect the privacy of personal health information by restricting the use or disclosure of that information without patient authorization.

HIPAA includes two key components: the Privacy Rule and the Security Rule.

Privacy Rule

The HIPAA Privacy Rule regulates who can have access to PHI and how it can be used and disclosed. The key requirements are as follows:

You must implement policies and procedures that restrict access to and use of protected health information based on employees’ roles. Protected health information should not be accessible to any employee who doesn’t need access, such as an office manager or a security
You must implement policies and procedures that limit use and disclosure of PHI to the minimum necessary. For example, if an insurance company needs a person’s name, Social Security number and details of their most recent medical procedure, the privacy rule requires you to not send the person’s entire medical records.
You must obtain a person’s authorization in writing use before disclosing their protected health information. For example, if you plan to send personal health information to a pharmaceutical company, you need to obtain the person’s authorization in writing first.

There are potential civil and criminal penalties for not adhering to the HIPAA Privacy Rule. While some states have their own rules, HIPAA is a federal requirement that overrides conflicting rules at the state level. Covered entities under HIPAA include not only healthcare providers like hospitals and nursing homes, but also health plans (health insurance companies, HMOs, etc.) and healthcare clearing houses (entities that process health information they receive from other entities).

HIPAA Security Rule

The HIPAA Security Rule requires healthcare organizations to protect ePHI using appropriate administrative, physical and technical safeguards. Specifically, the Security Rule requires covered entities to do the following:

Ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of all e-PHI they create, receive, maintain or transmit. This rule requires you ensure data confidentiality, integrity and availability (CIA, or the “CIA triad”). Let’s look at the rule’s component individually:

Confidentiality. You can help ensure confidentiality by implementing security controls such as access control lists (ACLs) and encryption. Encryption provides higher security and confidentiality than ACLs. Other security controls or software are often layered on top of ACLs and encryption; these can include configuration management software, monitoring and alerting software, and auditing software.
Integrity. Data integrity means that the data hasn’t been altered. For instance, if a man-in-the-middle attack intercepts and alters data before sending it to its original destination, the data doesn’t have integrity. One way to ensure integrity is to use a digital signature or a hash. For data stored in databases, you need to ensure entity integrity, referential integrity and domain
Availability. Sometimes people forget that availability is a key element of data security. To ensure people can access the data they need, organizations can implement various solutions, such as replication from the primary data center to a secondary data Load balancers, redundant hardware and other strategies can also help ensure high availability.

Identify and protect against reasonably anticipated threats to the security or integrity of protected information. This rule requires some interpretation. Many organizations error on the side of caution and include as many threats as possible, going so far as to include their entire supply chain or restrict the use of mobile devices in certain areas of their facilities. This strict interpretation helps ensure they meet the security rule requirements. In any case, reasonable threats certainly include improper data modification, unauthorized data access and data These and other threats are discussed in more detail later this article.
Protect against reasonably anticipated impermissible uses or disclosures. This rule is also open to interpretation. Is it reasonable to anticipate that an employee might reveal protected health information to a patient’s friend? Might a doctor report some patient records or patient health details to the media if a celebrity is being treated? This rule might require you to consider such cases.
Ensure compliance by their workforce. This rule covers some of the administrative safeguards needed to adhere to the Security Rule. To ensure compliance, you need to educate your workforce. They should understand at a high level what HIPAA is and the role they play in compliance, as well as your organization’s security policies and procedures. Repeated training throughout the year is needed to ensure employees learn about new requirements or methods. Be sure to implement regular testing as well, and follow up with additional training for individuals who need it.

HIPAA Enforcement Rule

Beyond the Privacy Rule and Security Rule, you should also be familiar with the HIPAA Enforcement Rule, which concerns compliance, investigations and penalties.

HITECH Act

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act expands the scope of HIPAA. It promotes the use of electronic health records, increases liability for non-compliance, regulates breach notification, and requires certain business associates of HIPAA-covered organizations to comply with HIPAA.

Strategies for HIPAA Compliance

Clearly, HIPAA compliance is a complex undertaking and the risks for failure are high. There are multiple resources that can help you achieve and maintain a HIPAA-compliant IT environment.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) establishes national standards and offers free IT security resources, such as frameworks like the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. Their introductory guide can help your organization comply with the HIPAA Security Rule.

The Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to help organizations safeguard their sensitive data. Their Common Security Framework (CSF) is a framework that makes it easier for organizations to comply with HIPAA and other laws, and it offers good interoperability with other frameworks and standards. While HIPAA is not a certifiable standard, healthcare organizations can become HITRUST-certified.

Biggest threats to the security of healthcare data

The healthcare industry faces many of the same threats to data security as other sectors. The primary difference is that for healthcare organizations, healthcare data is usually the ultimate target, rather than trade secrets or financial records. Here are the top threats and potential security incidents:

Data breach. In general, when someone accesses information without authorization, it is a data breach, whether the person is an insider with malicious intent, a hacker or just an overly curious employee. However, the following cases of PHI disclosure are not considered data breaches under HIPAA:

A person accidentally accesses or uses PHI “in good faith and within the scope of authority” and does not further disclose the PHI in a manner not permitted by the Privacy Rule.
An authorized person accidentally discloses PHI with another authorized person at the same organization and does not further disclose the PHI in a manner that is not compliant with the Privacy Rule.
An authorized person disclosed data to someone improperly but believes in good faith that they will not be able to retain the data.

When organizations discover a data breach, they must provide breach notification as specified by the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule.

Data exfiltration. Data exfiltration is the copying of information to an unauthorized location. Most cases of data exfiltration involve copying data to an unauthorized location outside of the organization. Other common terms for this are data leakage and data exfiltration. The data breach notification rule applies to data exfiltration as well as data breach.
Ransomware attacks. Ransomware is a type of malicious software that denies you access to a computer or data on that computer by encrypting the data. To get your data back, you must either pay a ransom or restore from backup. Ransom payments are often arranged through untraceable digital currencies, such as Bitcoin. According to Coveware research, healthcare ranked third among industries targeted by ransomware attacks in 2019. This situation is unlikely to change for the better, because attackers understand that the urgency of restoring data required for medical treatment means they are more likely to get paid. However, paying the ransom does not guarantee you’ll actually get a decryption key; therefore, the best strategy for ensuring you can recover from ransomware attacks is having offline backups.

Other cyber threats. A variety of other cyber threats put healthcare organizations at risk. While many attacks aim to steal electronic healthcare data, others strive to take devices, systems or services Healthcare organizations are top targets for all sorts of cyber attacks, since, as noted above, lack of availability of crucial systems or data can lead not just to fines and reputation damage but poor healthcare outcomes and even loss of life. Adoption of new technologies expands the attack surface; in particular, cloud security is an increasingly important concern for the healthcare sector.

Conclusion

Some healthcare organizations rely on internal IT teams to handle most of their technical needs, while others count on service providers or product vendors to implement or support their security management initiatives. No matter which strategy you choose, to properly protect PHI and comply with HIPAA, you need to make sure that both you and all of your business associates are taking the required measures to minimize the risk of health information being improperly disclosed, stolen or encrypted.

Original Article - Data Security in Healthcare: Key HIPAA Requirements and Threats to Know About

Related:

Why You Should Hold at Least 30% Gold in Your Portfolio

Dennis Gartman, the former editor and publisher of The Gartman Letter, recommends investors hold at least 30% gold in their portfolio. He made these comments in an interview with a panel of investors by a leading gold news outlet, Kitco News. The particular question was how they would invest $100,000 in the coming decade.

Gartman described his approach as follows:

“For the next decade I’d hold 30% in gold of some form; I’d hold 30% in various closed-end bond funds that pay dividends monthly (there are dozens of them!); I’d hold 30% in commodity-related businesses; and the final 10%, I’d hold in Emerging market ETFs.”

The US economy is closing the decade on a pretty firm footing. The S&P market index is experiencing its longest bull run in history, being up 184% since 2010. However, the global economy is awash with uncertainty that caused some hiccups in 2019.

Interestingly, gold is attracting keen interest, even with a rallying stock market. Prices may be lower than record highs in 2011, but holding gold is still extremely lucrative. The precious metal looks to end the decade with a gain of 34%.

Such a paradigm is not conventional in the modern history of stocks and asset investments. To have a big year in both stocks and defensive safe-haven assets is quite unusual. Both cautious and aggressive investors can claim victory from how the year has panned out. However, hedge funds bore the brunt of this extraordinary market as many bullish strategies got clobbered from the upheaval.

This dynamic points at a market with more temperamental liquidity than previously thought. Bank of America has released an insightful analysis titled, “The World’s Most Liquid Stock Market Is Now as illiquid as it was in the 2008 Crisis.”

2020 Gold Outlook

Gartman has left his position at the famed Gartman Letter after 30 years. His experience gives him a unique perspective on this market. He sees gold as a vital part of portfolio diversification in the coming year. A significant trend will be the return to commodity markets as inflationary pressures return. The expansionary policies and low-interest regimes of most prominent central banks are a massive reason for this.

In its last meeting of the year, the US Federal Reserve confirmed that it would not raise interest rates soon. President Trump relies on economic growth as his signature achievement heading into a reelection year. Even though the FED is an independent agency, Trump’s relentless attacks on chair Jay Powell have had some effect in the recent past. Trump is never hesitant to go on Twitter to remind everyone that the S&P 500 has broken its record highs at least 135 times since his election.

Therefore, the expansionist policies that facilitate cheap money flowing into the economy will likely hold through 2020. As for the stock market’s bull run, Gartman takes the cautious position that a bull run ends when it does. Accurately forecasting the next downturn is not a walk in the park. This new decade may continue the optimism that the last has finished with.

On the other hand, trade tensions still cast a cloud over next year’s forecast. Trade talks between the US and China are still in progress. Interestingly, investors were not as impressed with the Phase 1 agreement of the US-China trade deal as many expected. Gold prices held up as investors await news of the second phase of the trade deal.

These uncertainty triggers will play a significant role in shaping 2020 economic performance. Brexit and EU growth stagnation are other significant factors to watch for. The market is operating as though these events are in the past, but their ripple effects can still rock stock markets in 2020.

Consumer Price Inflation

The US has a historic economy, yet is on the cusp of rerunning a trillion-dollar deficit. You have to go back to 2009 and a few years after to find such a period of spending. Former FED chair Alan Greenspan contends that this phenomenon will eventually lead to an exponential inflation rise. Speaking to CNBC, Greenspan stated that he is worried about US consumer price inflation.

There is a lot of merit to such a sentiment. After all, the easy monetary policies and a reaccelerating economy set the stage for higher commodity prices. However, it is not easy to forecast a tipping point for inflation in the short-term. The markets don’t seem to be as worried about the ballooning deficit as hawkish analysts are. It remains to be seen whether the low unemployment and positive outcome of trade deals will stem this tide in 2020.

The Current Status of Gold

Even though the stock market has had a historic bull run, gold has had a strong rally of its own. This run is reminiscent of the 2011 cycle when gold prices looked to cross the watershed $2,000 mark before dissipating. Incredibly, this period is not a global recession like the last time gold prices were this high. Gold is traditionally a defensive asset. Its strong performance in a great year for stocks shows that there is more to the story than meets the eye.

The low-interest era means that a lot of money will be flowing in the economy. Naturally, such a glut lowers the value of fiat, indicating that stable assets like gold and Bitcoin are more attractive as a store of value.

Gold has risen past the $1,500 mark in recent days of trading. This latest rise is consistent with 2019 patterns, which have seen gold spot prices rise over 15%. Remarkably, this solid price is occurring at a time of historic stock runs.

The end of the current bull run is challenging to predict. However, in the event of such misfortune, gold is the right investment to absorb shock in your portfolio. Gold prices are not affected negatively by slides in the stock market. Additionally, scarcity and consistency place gold at a higher value than other real assets.

Investors Adding Gold to Their Portfolios

A recent Kitco News report shows that big speculators have rebuilt bullish positions in gold futures. The analysis relies on data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) from the most recent reporting week.

CFTC data capture activity, namely short and long positions on gold. In the most recent data, net long positions of fund managers rose to 201721 from 183648. The figures captured trends up to December 17. Long positions are contracts guaranteeing the purchase of gold at a specific price in the future. Such an increase is indicative of positive sentiment about gold prices rising in the coming weeks of trading.

Much of the bullish sentiment around gold is because of the FED’s confirmation that it would not raise rates soon. The FED’s dovish sentiment despite the already strong economy was enough to channel wind into gold’s sails. Accordingly, investors are hedging against inflation in the near future.

Traders have multiple ways to add gold to their holdings. Other than holding bullion, they can invest in gold-backed ETFs. With the option of tokenized gold trading in the market, investors can hold bullion without the inconvenience of storage or security.

Moreover, there is always the possibility that stocks can tumble from their record highs. In such a scenario, gold is the perfect safe-haven. Gold is the most stable of all assets, and the tailwind from such an event would be massive.

In summary, holding about 30% gold in your portfolio is not only a safe strategy but also one that can have a tremendous upside. With a robust gold market to close out 2019, the next decade looks set to begin with a prolonged gold bull run. The likes of Ray Dalio certainly understand this dynamic. Gold is no longer an old-school doomsday asset but rather a core part of the modern financial world. Its ceiling could be very high.

[uncensored-r/BitcoinMarkets] [Daily Discussion] Thursday, January 16, 2020

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