Market Commentary — October 18, 2021

Stocks built on previous week’s gains helped by strong corporate earnings and positive economic news. There was evidence that supply pressures and inflation might be peaking as September Core CPI (ex food and energy) came in at 4%, inline with estimates.

There were also signs that the economic impact from the delta variant of COVID 19 was waning. Jobless claims fell to a 293k pandemic-era low, retail sales jumped 0.7% in September vs. estimates for a decline, and U.S. travel border restrictions were eased on lower cases.

Global oil prices continued their climb to the highest level in over three years, pushed higher in part by expectations that utilities could switch to oil from natural gas due to supply shortages in Europe.

Supply chain issues continued to grab headlines with warnings from retailers struggling to fill shelves ahead of the holidays, with Apple scaling back its expectations for iPhone sales due to chip shortages. The White House announced measures intended to relieve port congestion.

The SEC approval of a futures-based Bitcoin ETF is the lead headline in ETF land. The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, which will give exposure to bitcoin futures contracts but not the spot market, is expected to begin trading on Tuesday under the ticker “BITO”.

The SEC also accepted the registration request for Valkyrie’s Bitcoin Strategy ETF for listing on the NASDAQ, as application deadlines from Invesco, VanEck, and Valkyrie are quickly approaching. Bitcoin prices surged on the approval news and rallied above $60k over the weekend.

Keep checking your Coinbase account and have a great week!

Jane Edmondson
CEO and Co-Founder

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EQM Indexes LLC is a woman-owned firm dedicated to creating and supporting innovative indexes that track growth industries and emerging investment themes. Co-founded by Jane Edmondson, a former Institutional Portfolio Manager with more than 25 years in the investment industry.

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