Submitted by John Rubino via DollarCollapse.com,
The dollar is tanking lately - apart from today's biggest jump in 2 months. From a high of around 100 in December, the dollar index — which measures USD against a basket of foreign currencies — is down about 8%, and the decline is steepening. In counterintuitive currency war terms, that means the US is winning the latest battle.
There is one group of investors who will be closely watching Tesla's results due out tomorrow: the shorts. The reason is that with the stock trading near record highs following a dramatic rebound from the February lows when it plunged to $150, only to rebound back to $250, short sellers have stubbornly refused to step away, and as the chart below shows, short interest remains just shy of record high.
Notable weakness in oil prices amid growth/demand concerns today, following Genscape's (+821k) Cushing's big build report yesterday, and expectations for continued builds in overall crude and Cushing levels set up trades ahead of API's report with oil below $44 heading in. An overall crude inventory rise of 1.3mm barrels (almost double the 750k expectation) was not enough to trump a smaller than expected Cushing build of just 382k barrels (1.3m exp) which seemed to please the machines which ripped WTI back above $44 instantly.
For those anxiously Buying in May...
The machines giveth (in low volume meltup) and the data (Global PMI plunged to cycle lows following China's update overnight, not helped by EU's downgraded growth and inflation outlook) taketh away..
As we noted yesterday, the ECB cannot and will not be able to generate GDP growth or inflation.
The EU is simply too leveraged. You cannot have an entire region sporting a Debt to GDP of over 90%... with banks leveraged at 26 to 1 using sovereign debt as collateral on their derivatives trades, and “fix it” using NIRP or QE.
This is like trying to hold up a 400 lb. weight… and then having someone offer you a floor lamp as additional support. The effect, at best, is largely psychological.
Cue today…