The “smart money” is flashing a signal that the US economy and ultimately the financial system, are in serious trouble.
CNBC and other media outlets like to focus on stocks because they tend to be more volatile and therefore more exciting. But BONDS are the “smart money” for the financial system.
The Bond market is larger, more liquid and involves more sophisticated investors than stocks. As such it usually picks up on major issues much earlier.
Authored by Charles Hugh-Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,
TINA's legacy is revealed in this chart of the Venezuelan Bolivar, which has plummeted from 10 to the US dollar to 5,800 to the USD in a few years of rampant money-emission.
Global stocks were mixed to start the week, with Asian stocks higher, European stocks initially advancing then fading gains, while S&P futures are little changed after the biggest weekly drop since April (which for those keeping record was -0.4%). European shares, the euro and the pound all stumbled on Monday as rumblings in Spain, Britain and Brussels reminded investors that the region still has plenty of political uncertainty left in the tank.
In the early days of the Trump administration, when the world was still worried - unnecessarily - that Trump would single out Europe, and especially Germany, as an unfair trading partner, slamming the Euro as too weak, Germany's fallback response was to say the currency is where it is due to the ECB's monetary policy, oh and that the Euro wasn't weak, but merely reflecting fundamentals.
Confirming weekend rumors of a dramatic management shakeup at Ford, late on Sunday Forbes reported that Ford would replace CEO Mark Fields with Jim Hackett, the former head of office-furniture maker Steelcase who joined the auto maker in 2016. Fields leaves after a 28-year career?at Ford, including a prominent tenure as the head of the company’s North American operation. He restructured the company’s core unit while working under Chief Executive Bill Ford in the middle of last decade and then continued the revamp when Alan Mulally took the helm in 2006.