🪙 Bitcoin's big milestone

What’s going on here?

Bitcoin just hit its first-ever six-figure price point: $100,000. But, hey this is bitcoin – where the famously volatile crypto goes next is anyone’s guess.

What does this mean?

Some folks – the bitcoin bulls – suspect it’s going higher. They’re pointing to momentum: the OG cryptocurrency is up almost 50% in the past month. Plus, with a new crypto-friendly financial regulator in the US and with some newly minted ways to bet on the coin, they say people are likely to keep on buying in. The bitcoin bears, meanwhile, think that $100,000 price tag isn’t so much a milestone as a millstone. They know big, round numbers can create a mental barrier for traders and slam the brakes on a good rally. Other naysayers note that the formerly loyal “HODLers” have been selling off bitcoin and walking away with their profits, so demand might not outweigh supply for long.

Why should I care?

For you personally: Lots of ways to flip the ’coin.

You’ve got “spot” ETFs that track bitcoin’s price one-for-one and others based on bitcoin futures – and now, you’ve got options on those spot funds too. So there are more ways than ever to back the brainchild of the notoriously shadowy Satoshi Nakamoto. Though some stalwarts just prefer to buy bitcoin directly on a crypto exchange and keep it in a secure wallet – like the good ol’ days before it all went “mainstream”.

For your portfolio: Crypto to the core.

Yes, bitcoin is risky. But bought wisely and at sensible moments, it can add value to your portfolio. A dynamic asset-allocation model can tell you what to hold in your core portfolio – and when to hold it. The strategy uses relative price momentum signals to pick the strongest assets out there and absolute momentum signals to make sure you cut your losses short. And sure, you can do it all without crypto, but your returns might not be as sweet. Between 2017 and 2024, you’d have averaged just 7% yearly – or 13% with just a touch of bitcoin.

What’s going on here?

The UK’s FTSE 100 has just reshuffled the deck and is moving Games Workshop – maker of the popular tabletop fantasy game Warhammer – into its arsenal.

What does this mean?

The FTSE 100 showcases the UK’s top 100 publicly traded companies and is a good gauge of the country’s corporate success and economic health. There’s a change-up every quarter, where high performers get promoted and underperformers get the boot. This time, the firms making the grade are Warhammer-maker Games Workshop, and financial firms Alliance Witan and St. James’s Place. The firms making their exit, meanwhile, are homebuilder Vistry, and retailers B&M and Frasers.

Why should I care?

For markets: Some will win and some will lose.

When stocks join the FTSE 100, index tracking funds are forced to buy them. That boosts demand and, in turn, share prices. So savvy investors try to predict these moves and profit from the uptick. Of course, there’s a loser out there for every winner: companies leaving the index slump as funds offload them en masse. But for investors who get a jump on these changes, it’s a Warhammer-worthy game of opportunity and risk.

Zooming out: London’s uphill battle.

London’s stock market is in a bit of a pickle: 45 companies have said “cheerio” this year, having been bought up by a foreign firm. And big names like Flutter Entertainment and Just Eat Takeaway are opting to take UK listings elsewhere. The UK’s IPO scene doesn’t seem to be anyone’s cup of tea, either: just 11 firms went public this year, raising a measly $1 billion between them – 11% less than last year. So the writing’s on the, er, ticker: London could lose its grip as Europe’s financial powerhouse.