Business

Who could have seen that coming? Ahead of potentially the most important data point of the year - now that The Fed lost its China excuse overnight - NYSE Arca reports a 'glitch'

• *NYSE ARCA CITES TECHNICAL ISSUE ON TRADING SYMBOLS SUSPENDED
• *NYSE ARCA TICKERS AFFECTED: AMZN, AZO, GOOG, GOOGL, ISRG, MKL

We are sure it will all be fixed by the time the market opens and the ramping algos have taken back control.

Source: NYSE

Interestingly, futures markets are falling after this 'break'...

• Saudi Arabia Will Only Freeze Oil Production If Iran Joins (BBG)
• Japanese gloom ensures slow start to quarter for world stocks (Reuters)
• Saudi Arabia Plans $2 Trillion Megafund for Post-Oil Era (BBG)
• Prices Sag in Warning to ECB Even as Manufacturing Picks Up (BBG)
• China factories scent hint of spring, Europe still chilly (Reuters)
• Theranos Devices Often Failed Accuracy Requirements (WSJ)
• Macau Casino Sales Drop More Than Estimates After Festival (BBG)

Stocks are rolling over.

As we wrote about earlier this week, the S&P 500 was pushing for a final “kiss” of the broken bearish rising wedge pattern:

The next move should see us drop sharply.

Big picture stocks have effectively gone nowhere since QE 3 ended in November 2014. Yes it’s been a volatile ride, but all things considered stocks have largely traded sideways for 16 months.

Meanwhile, beneath this veneer of stability, the global economy has fallen off a cliff.

Last year (2015) marked the worst year for global trade since the Great Crisis.

ISIS ‘Department of Artifacts’ documents reveal trade of looted Syrian cultural treasures via well-established oil and weapon smuggling routes with Turkey. An RT Documentary crew investigating illicit oil smuggling by ISIS via Turkey have come across new documents shedding light on Islamic State’s lucrative trade in looted antiquities. Russia Today reports: There is no official accounting that would illustrate the true scale of looting being undertaken in Syria, a land once rich with cultural treasures.

For Japan, the post "Shanghai Summit" world is turning ugly, fast, because as a result of the sliding dollar, a key demand of China which has been delighted by the recent dovish words and actions of Janet Yellen, both Japan's and Europe's stock markets have been sacrificed at the whims of their suddenly soaring currencies. Which is why when Japanese stocks tumbled the most in 7 weeks, sinking 3.5%, to a one month low of 16,164 (after the Yen continued strengthening and the Tankan confidence index plunged to a 3 year low) it was anything but an April fool's joke to both local traders.