Yeah, this happened...
And so did this...
So this...
April was a volatile month in markets - bonds, bullion, and stocks higher; crude, copper, and base commodities all tumbled
- US Equities up for 5th of last 6 months (highest monthly close ever)
- S&P Tech Sector up 5 months in a row - longest streak since Aug 2014 (record monthly close)
- S&P Energy Sector down 4th month in a row (lowest monthly close since July)
- Treasury Yields fell for the 3rd of the last 4 months (lowest monthly close in yields since October)
- WTI fell for 2nd month in a row (lowest monthly close since August)
- Copper down for 3rd month in a row - longest losing streak since Oct 2015 (lowest monthly close since December)
- Dollar Index fell for 3rd of last 4 months (lowest monthly close sine October)
- GBPUSD has risen for 6 of the last 7 weeks (and April was GBP's best month since April 2015)
- Gold was up for the 4th month in a row - longest winning streak since Aug 2012 (highest monthly close since October)
Bonds, Bullion, and Stocks all rose around 1.25% on the month, but Banks were down in April (and March) for the worst 2-month drop since Feb 2016.
Tech led the month, Energy lagged...
Dollar Index fell for the 2nd month in a row (3rd of 4) erasing most of the gains post-Trump
* * *
It was a tough week for 'soft' data and reality-checks - who do you trust to forecast reality?
But stocks were all higher (apart from Trannies)...The best week of the year for The Dow!!! But it ended on a weak note...
Small Caps were hit hard today as "Most Shorted" stocks' squeeze seemed to end...
Utes were the only sector red on the week, Healthcare and Tech led (with Financials solid post-Macron)...
Breadth has remained weak in this entire recent surge...
Volume has been abysmal the last two days (lowest of the year)
VIX was crushed this week - by the most since the post-Trump-election - but dsid bounce back a little today...
Finally today was all about the Nasdaq... except all that hope faded fast as it clung to unch. Small Caps and Trannies were hit hard...
The Good (AMZN), The Bad (MSFT), and The Ugly (INTC) in Nasdaq-land today...
Notably, bank stocks have slumped since Trump unveiled his tax plan this week...
And pretty clear picture of the safe haven buying after Trump tax plan...
Big week for EUR (France elections) and JPY was sold...
The Dollar Index scrambled back to unchanged from the Macron-drop but ended the week lower...
EURUSD surged on the heels of the Le Pen loss to the highest since Trump's election...
Cable has risen for 6 of the last 7 weeks (and April was GBP's best month since April 2015)
Treasury yields ended the week higher but below the kneejerk opening yields from Sunday night after the French election relief...
30Y Yields tested 3.00% fives times this week and rallied back each time (30Y ended down 1.5bps today after being up 4bps after GDP... oddly)
Gold (and Silver) suffered it's worst week in the last 7 but copper rallied most in 6 weeks...