Business

From "Blain’s Morning Porridge - May 17" by Bill Blain of Mint Partners

* * *

Talking to accounts yesterday I was struck by a sense of resignation: stocks seem determined to go stratospheric despite the fact many people think a correction/reset is coming. Bond spreads are at all time tights – and everyone seems to be chasing them down. Investors are frustrated they aren’t catching the returns, and its human nature to find reasons to talk these gains down.

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

For years we've written about the fact that Americans, young to old, are lousy savers (see "Retirement Crisis Looms As Average U.S. Household Has Saved $2,500 For Retirement"). Of course, they have to be because how else can a mature economy continue to grow unless every single person levers every asset they own to the maximum extent possible and then spends all of that money?  Anything less would mean that all of Janet Yellen's efforts have been a colossal waste.

While the dollar is treading water in aftermath of NYT's 'memo-gate' story...

Another safe-haven is heavily bid. Over one billion dollars notional just pushed through gold futures, lifting the barbarous relic to 2-week highs...

US Equity futures are fading...

Hour after hour, mainstream media proclaims the 'teflon' market as clear proof of America's economic strength as volatility keeps collapsing despite a surge in turmoil.

For years, market anxiety has risen and fallen with a strong correlation to "crisis" in the world. However, as the chart below illustrates, the last 2 months have seen a surge in "crisis" stories lead to soaring stocks and collapsing risk perceptions.

The negative correlation between "crisis" stories and the market's perceptions of risk is unprecedented.