“Incoming!”

Hi there! In Grenada, we pay homage to our ancestors with heartfelt thanks, food, and drinks. Over the weekend in River Sallee, St. Patrick’s, the spirit of Saraka was vibrant. Saraka, an African-rooted tradition, happens on the Friday after Easter as a thanksgiving after harvest. Villagers bring food like yard fowl, pork, bluggoe, dasheen, cornmeal, and whatever was leftover from each person’s harvest.

Women gather in a designated yard to cook and the food is laid out on banana leaves. Children eat first, using hands. One plate is offered to the ancestors. The event includes drumming, dancing, and moko jumbies, culminating in a nation dance with a fork, hoe, and cutlass, signifying the return to the land. Such traditions embody unity, giving, and pride, defining who we are as a people.

Let’s continue to honour those who came before us and keep their fire burning. 

Alright, let’s dig in!

U.S. Markets Recap

Last week, U.S. stocks rebounded sharply, erasing a chunk of April’s losses as tariff tensions cooled and hopes of renewed trade agreements lifted investor confidence. The S&P 500 wrapped up a four-day winning streak, buoyed by headlines hinting at a softer stance from Washington on tariffs and fresh optimism about deals with China, Japan, India, and South Korea. Abroad, European and Asian equities rallied, following the positive tone from trade negotiations.

Despite strong equity momentum, the economic backdrop remained cloudy. Gold and oil both retreated, while Treasuries rallied for a second week, pushing yields lower as investors positioned for potential rate cuts. And even with the dollar gaining some ground, crypto roared back led by Bitcoin and Ethereum as ETF inflows hit multi-week highs.

Equities:

Markets surged on optimism that the U.S.-China trade war may de-escalate, after President Trump suggested a breakthrough was possible and China signaled it may ease tariffs on semiconductors. Tech stocks were the week’s standout, fueled by Tesla’s autonomous vehicle updates and Alphabet’s blockbuster earnings report, which confirmed a $75 billion AI investment for the year.

Index Performance:

• Nasdaq: +6.73%. Outperformed, fueled by Tesla, Alphabet

• S&P 500: +4.59%. Strong gains mid-week, held above key technical levels

• Dow: +2.48%. Participated in the rally, though lagged tech-heavy peers

• Russell 2000: +4.09%. Logged a modest gain

Earnings optimism further boosted sentiment:

• Beats: Alphabet (GOOGL), General Electric (GE), Lockheed Martin (LMT), 3M (MMM)

• Mixed Reactions: Tesla (TSLA) – Missed estimates but rose on Robotaxi/affordable EV updates

• Lagging Outlook: Intel (INTC) – Outlook fell short

Fixed Income:

Treasuries advanced, posting their second straight weekly gain:

• 2-year yield: 4 bps lower

• 10-year yield: 6 bps lower

Fed officials struck a slightly dovish tone. Governor Waller warned that a weakening labour market could force action, and Cleveland Fed President Hammack said a June cut is possible with “clear and convincing data.”

Market-based odds for a June cut are now around 60%, and the bond rally is nearly wiping out April’s earlier losses. Demand held firm at this week’s $13B 20-year Treasury auction, suggesting buyers still see value in U.S. bonds, especially as trade rhetoric softens.

Commodities:

• Oil (WTI): Fell for the week despite OPEC+ production cuts. A potential U.S.-Iran uranium agreement and Ukraine peace progress pressured prices.

• Gold: Pulled back from near $3,500 highs as trade fears faded and investors rotated into riskier assets.

• Copper: Rose +2.13%, benefiting from renewed risk appetite and signs of industrial demand recovery.

Currencies:

The U.S. dollar bounced, logging its first weekly gain in April:

• EUR/USD: -0.24%

• GBP/USD: +0.15%

• USD/JPY: +1.06%

Sentiment shifted as investors rotated back to dollar-denominated assets, betting that the worst of the “sell America” narrative might be behind us, at least for now.

U.S. Economic Recap (April 20 - April 26, 2025)

Housing: Builders Step Up

• Existing home sales remained depressed in March amid affordability constraints.

• Builders like PulteGroup (PHM) are stepping in, offering below-market financing to attract buyers and help ease inventory shortages.

Flash PMI: Growth Slows

• April’s Composite PMI dropped to 51.2 (from 53.5 in March), its lowest in 16 months.

• Services sector weakened, hit by travel and export softness.

• Manufacturing inched back into expansion, but just barely.

Beige Book: Tariff Fatigue

• The Fed’s Beige Book flagged “tariffs” 107 times and used “uncertain” more than 80 times.

• Businesses cited investment delays, hiring freezes, and inflation concerns due to unpredictable trade policy.

Consumer Confidence Collapses

• University of Michigan’s final April reading dropped to 52.2, one of the lowest levels since the 1970s.

• Consumers now expect inflation to hit 6.5% over the next year—the highest since 1981.

• 60% of respondents blamed tariffs for worsening economic pressure.

Inflation Expectations from Businesses

• Atlanta Fed survey showed firms now expect 2.8% inflation over the next year.

• Sales and margins are deteriorating across business sizes, hinting at profit pressure before prices fully adjust.

Global Markets Recap (April 20 - April 26, 2025)

Europe:

• STOXX 600: Rose after Monday’s Easter closure

• Positive trade signals supported gains, along with strong earnings from:

  • Adidas, Sanofi, Saint-Gobain, Safran

• Disappointments: BNP Paribas and Nokia

• Flash PMI: Slipped to a 4-month low as services sector cooled

Asia:

• Region rebounded sharply from early April tariff jitters

• Japan led on Friday tech rally

• Mainland China: Ended flat to slightly higher

• Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan: Closed with gains

• Talks with Washington buoyed market tone

Crypto Recap (April 20 - April 26, 2025)

Crypto led risk assets higher, staging an impressive rally:

• Bitcoin (BTC): +12%, tipping $97,790

• Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, Dogecoin: All rose 10–15%

The rebound came as:

• Bitcoin ETFs posted $3.1B in inflows (second-largest ever)

• BTC correlation with Nasdaq strengthened, tracking tech optimism

• Technicals look promising: BTC nears Fibonacci resistance at $95,400

Major Regulatory Shift

The Federal Reserve officially withdrew two crypto supervisory letters, removing the requirement for banks to notify or receive approval before engaging in crypto activities.

• This move aligns with the Trump administration’s pro-crypto stance

• It follows a wave of deregulation, including:

  • Dismissal of several SEC lawsuits

  • Creation of a national Bitcoin reserve

  • Appointment of crypto-friendly SEC Chair Paul Atkins

Top crypto gainer last week: VIRTUAL, PENGU, LAYER, DEEP

Here are other key highlights from last week:

• Sui revealed virtual Mastercard with xMoney and xPortal.

• Mantra to burn $160M OM Tokens following 90% price crash.

• RTFKT’s CloneX avatars reappeared after issue blacks out NFTs

• Polygon started Aggregator Program.

This is another volatile week with big Earnings Releases!

U.S. Economic Releases so far this week:

• Home Prices (Feb): +0.1% MoM, +3.9% YoY

• JOLTS Job Openings (Mar): Fell to 7.192M – lowest since 2020

• Consumer Confidence (Apr): Dropped to 86.0 (vs. 93.9 prior)

• ADP Jobs (Apr): Only +62,000 added—lowest since Feb 2022

• Q1 GDP: 0.3% vs. expected +0.2%

  • GDP Price Index: +3.7% (inflation re-accelerating)

  • Core PCE: +2.6% YoY (in line)

• Pending Home Sales: Released Wednesday

• Employment Cost Index (Q1): +0.9% as expected

Upcoming U.S. Economic Releases:

• Thursday:

  • Jobless Claims

  • ISM Manufacturing PMI

• Friday:

  • Nonfarm Payrolls

  • Unemployment Rate

  • Average Hourly Earnings

No Fed speeches this week as Fed enters a blackout ahead of May 6-7 FOMC meeting.

Earnings: 

This is a massive earnings week, headlined by four members of the Magnificent Seven:

• Apple (AAPL)

• Amazon (AMZN)

• Microsoft (MSFT)

• Meta (META)

Other names to watch are outlined in red in the chart below.

Medium-to-High Impact Global Economic Events This Week:

Trading Tip:
“Bearish Sector Seasonalities start in May!”

Week 4/20/25 - 4/26/25 Recap

Special Tools and Strategies - CoinStats

Back in Issue #66, we looked at Zerion, a handy app for tracking your crypto investments. This week, I want to spotlight a powerful addition to your crypto toolbox called CoinStats.

What is CoinStats?

CoinStats is a comprehensive cryptocurrency portfolio tracker and DeFi wallet manager that brings every exchange, wallet, and asset you own into one unified dashboard. Think of it as your personal command center for all things crypto.

Founded to simplify the chaos of fragmented crypto investing, CoinStats lets you:

• Track 300+ wallets and exchanges

• Connect with 1,000+ DeFi protocols

• Monitor 20,000+ coins and tokens

• Analyze your portfolio P&L across days, weeks, or months

• Get real-time alerts on price, volume, or market cap shifts

• Research projects with live news, charts, and social feeds

• See your net worth, holdings, and returns in one screen

How CoinStats Supports New & Seasoned Investors

1. Portfolio Aggregation

• Sync wallets and exchanges like Binance, Coinbase, MetaMask, and Trust Wallet automatically; no manual input required.

• See every crypto you own and its value in your local currency in real-time.

• Track both centralized and decentralized crypto holdings (CeFi & DeFi).

2. P&L Analytics

• Want to see how your crypto holdings performed last week? This morning? Since you bought them?

• CoinStats gives you clear profit/loss snapshots that is ideal for monitoring income potential for different scenarios.

3. Research & Discovery

• Use advanced filters to identify new tokens or research existing coins.

• Access team updates, whitepapers, social media feeds (Twitter, Reddit), and up-to-date news all in one view.

• This helps protect you from hype-driven decisions and gives you the tools to make educated long-term plays.

4. Coin Tracking & Alerts

• Track over 7,000 coins live.

• Tag your high-interest tokens as “Favourites” for quick monitoring.

• Set alerts for price movements, volume spikes, or market cap changes to never miss a key entry or exit point.

5. Multi-Portfolio Setup

• Create different portfolios (e.g., “Long-Term Retirement”, “Swing Trades”, or “Altcoin Bets”).

• Share portfolios with your accountability circle or your advisor—ideal if you’re building a legacy or getting help planning your exit strategy.

6. DeFi Tracking

• Track yield farming, staking, and liquidity pool activity across 10+ blockchains.

• If you’re exploring DeFi as a way to earn passive income in retirement, CoinStats simplifies the learning curve.

7. News Aggregation

• CoinStats pulls from 40+ top crypto news sources, so you stay informed on regulation, upgrades, token unlocks, and macro trends.

• Plus, Safari Reader View makes it easier to digest content without distractions.

8. Weekly App Updates

• CoinStats developers push frequent updates, ensuring the app remains fresh, intuitive, and responsive to new trends in crypto and DeFi.

What to Watch Out For

No platform is perfect. Here are some cautions:

• Privacy & API security – Syncing wallets means giving CoinStats read-only access. Use hardware wallets for large holdings and turn off exchange permissions when not in use.

• Free vs. Premium – Some features, like deeper analytics and unlimited connections, are behind a paywall.

• Learning curve – If you’re brand new to crypto, some DeFi features may feel advanced. Stick with what you understand and expand gradually.

  

  From CoinStats Website

Disclaimer: This newsletter is strictly educational. The information this report provides does not constitute investment, financial, trading, or any other advice. You should not treat any of the report’s content as such. Please be careful and do your research.