Business

While the final revision to Q4 2015 GDP was so irrelevant it was released on a holiday when every US-based market is closed, even the futures, it is nonetheless notable that according to the BEA in the final quarter of 2015 US GDP grew 1.4%, up from the 1.0% previously reported, and higher than the 1.0% consensus estimate matching the highest Q4 GDP forecast. The final Q4 GDP print was still well below the 2.0% annualized GDP growth reported in Q3.

With all of Europe and the Americas closed for holiday, what little market action there was overnight came out of Asia, where China once again was engaged in its last hour "National Team" market manipulation, which saved the SHCOMP from a red close after the now traditional last hour buying spree, pushed the Shanghai Composite from red on the session an hour before close to near the highs of the day.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has agreed to deregulate Monsanto’s GMO corn, unleashing a new wave of toxic herbicides into the environment.  The genetically-modified MON87419 corn strain is resistant to dicamba- and glufosinate-based herbicides. RT.com reports: These resistances allow farmers to grow plants that aren’t destroyed by herbicides produced by the same companies that designed the genetically-modified crops themselves.

“Investors could be forgiven for heading for the hills given the tumultuous start to 2016,”  so writes Andrew Oxlade in The Telegraph today who advises investors to diversify into gold as an “insurance policy”:

One month ago, in its traditionally cheerful assessment of the US housing market, the NAR's Larry Yun snuck in an unexpected warning:

"Home prices ascending near or above double-digit appreciation aren't healthy – especially considering the fact that household income and wages are barely rising."

He did it again just a few days ago: