Business

It has been nearly six years since Zero Hedge proudly began collaborating with Nanex and Eric Hunsader (recall first from June 2010: "How HFT Quote Stuffing Caused The Market Crash Of May 6, And Threatens To Destroy The Entire Market At Any Moment") who has been one of the most vocal critics of everything this website has also stood against: rigged, manipulated markets, and corrupt and captured regulators and government officials.

After attempting a valeant, pardon the poor pun, Leap Day surge to close green for the month, a bout of late day selling resulted in the S&P500 closing just red for the month following a dramatically turbulent January, a continuation of the disappointing post Fed hike price action; indeed as noted earlier for global equities, February was the 4th consecutive month in which stocks declined and in many cases continued their presence in bear market territory.

Gold Rose Another 10% In February – Best Month Since January 2012

Gold bullion rose 10.1% in February adding to the 7% gains seen in January. This means that gold is the best performing asset this year, up 17% so far in 2016. Silver is the next best performing asset with an 8% gain year to date, followed by US Treasuries (30 Year Bond) which have gained 7.8% so far in 2016.

Don’t look now, but Barclays just joined the chorus of European banks reporting horrific results.

Shares plunged by double-digits on Tuesday after the bank said it swung to a £1.9 billion pre-tax loss in Q4 and moved to cut the dividend and shed its African subsidiary.

• Trump, Clinton poised for big wins on Super Tuesday (Reuters)
• U.S. Index Futures Signal Equities to Rebound After Monthly Drop (BBG)
• Barclays Plummets as Bank Slashes Dividend in Plan to Shrink (BBG)
• Glencore Tumbles to Loss, Promises Accelerated Debt Reduction (WSJ)
• The Angry Americans: Trump, Sanders and the Aftershocks of 2008 (BBG)
• Euro sinks as weak data piles pressure on European Central Bank (Reuters)
• China's PMI Reports Show Slowdown Deepening as Services Slip (BBG)