Election Day, stocks rally, dollar short-covering, cryptos down on Binance rescue of FTX

US stocks rallied as Americans head to the polls in what is expected to be an election that gives Republicans control of the House. ​ It might take longer than election night to get a final conclusion on the Senate. ​ The Senate is up for grabs as there are five races (Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada, and Arizona) that polls suggest are a toss-up. There is a chance that we won’t find out the Senate result for weeks if the Georgia seat requires a runoff election. ​ ​ ​

43 million Americans voted early and today’s turnout is expected to be strong as a plethora of issues are motivating Americans to cast their ballot. We might not get all the results tonight but it seems Republicans have a very good shot at gaining control of the House and that could be confirmed early tomorrow morning.

At the Save America rally in Vandalia, Ohio, former President Trump announced he will be making a “big announcement” on November 15^th. ​ It is widely expected that he will launch his 2024 presidential campaign. ​ A number of prominent Republicans do not support another Trump ticket, with many preferring Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. ​ It is a long time before Republicans have their candidate but regardless if it is Trump or Desantis, it seems they have a good chance in 2024. ​ ​

FX

The dollar got crushed today as a short-covering move accelerated as investors embraced risk appetite ahead of the midterm elections and Thursday’s pivotal inflation report. ​ ​ The dollar fell to a six-week low as Treasury yields declined. ​

Cryptos take a tumble

Cryptos are tumbling after a liquidity crunch for FTX led to their sale to a top competitor. ​ Today is a bad day in crypto. ​ Binance had to step in to save Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX crypto exchange. ​ SBF has been the white night during this crypto winter and a liquidity crunch for him has triggered a wave of uneasiness across the cryptoverse. ​ Binance will buy FTX.com, which is the non-US unit that generates the lion’s share of revenue. ​ Financial terms were not disclosed. ​

This is a major setback for many investors in cryptos who viewed SBF as a white knight and one of the leaders in the space that was supposed to thrive once we got beyond this crypto winter. ​ Many crypto companies will likely be vulnerable to further selling pressure here given the current macro backdrop but that probably won’t deter a lot of the institutional money that is still coming in or is locked into the space. ​

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