S&P 500

Last week, as part of its must read 2018 Outlook piece, Bank of America's derivatives team pointed out two particularly notable things: the first was BofA's version of the (central-bank mediated) "feedback loop" diagram that keeps volatility record low and grinding even lower, as selling of vol has become a self-reinforcing dynamic, in which lower VIX begets more vol-selling by "yield-starved investors", leading to even lower VIX as the shock that can reset the feedback loop is no longer possible, and thus the strike price on the Fed's put can not be put to a market test, which also results

Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) has done very well over the past year, gaining over 30%. The gain is nearly 50% more than the S&P 500 during the same time period. Impressive gain and impressive relative strength compared to the S&P 500!

An important bull market test looks to be at hand for EEM this week, see chart below-

E-mini futures are modestly in the green this morning, though net of fair value the S&P index is poised for another record high open as the FOMC begins its last meeting for 2017 in which it is expected to raise rates by 25bps. European stocks gain while Asian equities slide led by weakness in Chinese airplane stocks.

Bitcoin futures are here...

Small Caps and Trannies were today's biggest losers as Nasdaq led...

The S&P 500 has not been this overbought since 1995...

With Goldman Sachs publishing at least one, and in most cases two or more weekly reports urging its clients to keep pouring capital into emerging market assets, whether equities, bonds or FX, it is no surprise that Emerging Markets remain the big winners in 2017, up 10% points more than developed this year.