Over the next week the below assets are worth watching. These are our top picks for weekly trades.

Trading Opportunity #1 – FTSE 100 Index Steadily Rises

The FTSE 100 index recently closed at a record high. The UK all-share index is trading at 7424.96, up 9 points. The intraday high of 7444.62 was reached on Thursday, 16 March 2017. One of the strongest performers on the all-share index was RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland), which gained 1.4% after Natixis issued strong guidance. In a surprising development, the GBP/USD pair gained 0.21% to trade at 1.2385, while the GBP/EUR gained 0.4% to trade at 1.1521. Typically, the FTSE 100 index rises when the GBP falls, and vice versa. That the sterling rose towards 1.24 is significant – it marks the weakest level for the USD in 5 weeks. More important to UK traders is the fact that the FTSE 100 index is now at a record high.

Propelling the all-share UK index were banking stocks. And the reason why banking stocks are rising is the ECB. The European Central Bank (ECB) recently spoke of raising interest rates, and this supercharged bank stocks across Europe and the UK. Unfortunately, many gains in banking stocks were halted by a stronger GBP. The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) was upgraded by Natixis to a buy, with a price target of 289p, up 65p from its previous rating. In another surprising move, Barclays received an overweight rating from investment powerhouse Morgan Stanley. MS now believes that fixed income revenues can start to sustainably grow at Barclays. As a binary options trader, UK and European banking stocks are on the rise, and the FTSE 100 index will benefit accordingly.

Trading Opportunity #2 – GBP/USD Pair Bullish

The GBP/USD currency pair is trading at 1.2393, up 0.28% or $0.0035. Over the past 5 trading days, the pair has risen 1.86%, in spite of the Fed’s 25-basis point rate hike on Wednesday, 15 March 2017. Binary options currency traders have been going long on the GBP/USD pair, with call options to boot. The sterling has been a star performer lately, and dollar weakness is pervasive. It is surprising that the greenback plunged strongly after the FOMC decision on Wednesday last week. In fact, the fall was the worst by the dollar in quite some time. Investors and speculators were bullish about the strength of the US economy and expected that rate hikes would pay homage to a strong economy, but this wasn’t the case.

The highly anticipated Fed briefing made no mention of additional tightening after the single rate hike. Further, projections from the December update were not upgraded for the March 15 statement on the US economy. There is little in the form of hard data to bolster the USD now, and this is perceived as a reason for the declining greenback. Nonetheless, the central bank will likely increase rates by an additional 25-basis points, or 50 basis points, before 2017 is over. It would be significantly higher than the US G10 counterparts. One of the areas of the US economy that is a little murky is fiscal policy, but based on the G 20 meeting, it is clear that the US is paving the way for an America First policy where globalisation is slowly giving way to a modicum of protectionism. For now, the GBP is on the rise.

Trading Opportunity #3 – Wells Fargo & Company Trades 1.09% Lower at $58.67

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Wells Fargo, Tim Sloan went out batting for the bank when he met with CNBC on Friday, 17 March 2017. The bank’s biggest shareholder, Berkshire Hathaway (owned by Warren Buffett) is concerned that the bank is off-track, since the fake account scandal broke. At the time, Wells Fargo was headed by John Stumpf – the president and CEO. Recall that Wells Fargo & Company was involved in an aggressive sales campaign which prompted the opening of 2 million credit accounts and deposit accounts without clients’ consent. That scandal hit home hard with WFC stock, and sent it into freefall. As a binary options trader, it should be pointed out that Warren Buffett has not sold any of his stock in WFC since the scandal.

Presently, Berkhsire Hathaway has a 10% controlling interest in the bank worth an estimated $27.6 billion. If you’re looking for indications about which way the stock prices moving, watch what Buffett does. On a positive note, banking stocks like WFC, BAC, C and MS are on the cusp of a solid year of gains. The recent 25-basis point rate hike is precisely the type of rocket fuel that bank stocks need to rally. It should be noted that the Fed’s omission of additional rate hikes any time soon have some concerned. Meanwhile, Wells Fargo CEO, Tim Sloan is eager to work with the Trump administration and that’s the right thing to do given the economic reality. The bank stock currently has a B rating by TheStreet, with a 1-year high of $59.99 and a 1-year low of $43.55.

Trading Opportunity #4 – Where to Next for Crude Oil?

WTI crude oil (West Texas intermediate) is currently trading at $48.72 per barrel, up 0.06% or $0.03. The commodity has a 1-year low of $40.97 and a 1-year high of $56.92. This has been an interesting week for crude oil, given that the US dollar is trading at a 5-week low. Crude oil prices are strengthened by a weaker dollar. WTI crude oil and Brent crude oil are dollar-denominated assets, and when the USD depreciates – as it has done recently –, dollar-denominated commodities like gold and crude oil benefit. Just over a week ago, crude oil prices were 10% lower after it was revealed that OPEC is running an oversupply.

Nonetheless, crude oil was trading in a tight band as investors and analysts poured over the data from OPEC. US crude oil has found it difficult to rally towards the $53 + per barrel level, and remains in no man’s land around $49 per barrel. Analysts are of the opinion that the price of crude oil will remain depressed until inventory levels can be run down. Recall that OPEC’s production cuts have been made up by an uptick in production by WTI crude oil producers – evening out any reductions in overall supply. For now, it looks like WTI crude oil will remain trapped in the $48 – $50 band.