Business

The US oil rig count surged by 19 to 471 last week - the biggest weekly rise since July 2015 back to 9-month highs. This is the 22nd weekly rise in the last 24 weeks and is occurring as US crude production is beginning to rise once again.

• *U.S. OIL RIG COUNT UP 19 TO 471 , BAKER HUGHES SAYS :BHI US
• *U.S. GAS RIG COUNT UP 1 TO 116 , BAKER HUGHES SAYS :BHI US

Tracking lagged WTI prices still...

And US production is on the rise...

WTI prices slipped on the print...

It was just one year ago when the biggest worry for the market - which culminated with a near 10% S&P correction in in early 2016 - was the daily plunge in the Yuan driven by the surging dollar, which in turn prompted China to engage in an unprecedented reserve liquidation (in which it sold both government bonds and equities), leading to a daily selloff in risky assets on days when the Yuan was fixed lower.

By EconMatters

We delve into the recent 10-Day move in the US Dollar Index, and look at the major currency pairs in this video. The Oil and commodity related currencies may outperform against the US Dollar next week on optimism regarding an OPEC deal getting done. Expect a largely range bound market in an overall light holiday trading week.

For now, shareholders appear unphased by the fact that the cost of funding of the companies that they prize are soaring at an unprecedented speed. Nowhere is that more obviously disconnected than the congnitive dissonance between credit-sensitive small cap stocks and the plunge in high-yield corporate bonds. However, as we have begun to see today, rising yields are starting to weigh on stocks... but at what level does that "too much of a bad thing in bonds" slam stocks?

Submitted by John Mauldin via MauldinEconomics.com,

It’s quarterly report time for US stocks. If you just casually glance at the earnings news, you might think companies are having a great year. Many are beating expectations and reporting impressive revenues and profits.

The markets reward companies for meeting expectations (as we shall see below). But the reality is that the S&P 500 is on track for a sixth straight drop in year-over-year earnings.