Wow, it's been a volatile week (decade, to be exact). After laughing my head off because of my long position during the 5 US$ to 15 US$ spike, then panicking (but, thankfully, not panic selling) during the ensuing bloodshed, I've still made off with a 100% increase in a matter of months (take that, Pirate investors). So, what happened this week? Well, something certainly did happen, and I'll recap the points that are most important to me below.
Prices: During the rally, the price momentarily rose above that of last year before returning to below that of last year during the correction
1.
Volume: Volume in USD for 2012-08-17 was the highest of record for Mt. Gox's USD market. With more exchange decentralization now, this is even more of an accomplishment. 2011-06-08 held the previous record, and retains second for this benchmark. 2012-08-19 achieved 5
th place for that benchmark. Volume in
BTC was also stunning, with 2012-08-19 winning a 3
rd place finish. The January rally still makes up the bulk of those records, however.
Mt. Gox USD Volume in CurrencySource: http://bitcoincharts.com| Date | Volume (USD) |
| 2012-08-17 | 2930580.33 |
| 2011-06-08 | 2858820.38 |
| 2011-06-12 | 2451134.56 |
| 2011-06-10 | 2274786.40 |
| 2012-08-19 | 2170411.03 |
Mt. Gox USD VolumeSource: http://bitcoincharts.com| Date | Volume (BTC) |
| 2011-11-14 | 382186.83 |
| 2012-02-14 | 297572.02 |
| 2012-08-19 | 238860.32 |
| 2012-02-08 | 237943.12 |
| 2012-01-18 | 226680.97 |
Volatility: Although the event brought volatility, the event was not as volatile as some others. The decade beginning 2012-08-13 brought six days with above average volatility, three days with average volatility, and one day with below average volatility
2.
Conclusion: What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Although I declared a bubble previously, I now retract that declaration. Luckily, only a correction seems to have occurred. But only time (or the manipulator) will tell.
Footnotes:
1 Based on open prices exactly 365 days apart, i.e. one day less than a year prior
2 Based on three equiprobable categories over two years of data.
