Business

Following this week's ongoing demise of the US manufacturing sector, tumbling to its weakest since October 2012, Markit US Services PMI collapsed into contraction at 49.8, massively below expectations of 53.5. This is the weakest level for the last pillar standing in the US recovery since the government shutdown in 2013, and as Markit even admits, "slumping business confidence and an increased downturn in order book backlogs suggest there’s worse to come."

In November 2007, PE firm Terra Firma Chairman Guy Hands warned of a looming crash, after forecasting "bankers will go back to their baskets like dogs," he was sent dog biscuits by friendly bankers.

Staff members at Kensington Palace, the residence of Prince William and Kate Middleton, have threatened to go on strike over proposals that would cut their annual salaries The palace staff fear that changes to the working hours of employees who work in publicly-accessible parts of the building, could result in an annual loss of up to £3,000 ($4,207), potentially placing their earnings below the living wage.

Over the weekend, we presented what according to Bank of America was perhaps the last remaining bullish catalyst for a big market move higher when Bank of America's Michael Hartnett said that "we remain sellers into strength in coming weeks/months of risk assets at least until a coordinated and aggressive global policy response (e.g. Shanghai Accord) begins to reverse the deterioration in global profit expectations and credit conditions."

Three weeks into January things were looking rather grim.

Plunging crude, jitters about the ongoing (and increasingly unpredictable) yuan devaluation, and spillovers to global risk assets stemming from an ill-fated attempt by Chinese regulators to implement a stock market circuit breaker got US equities off to one of their worst Januarys in history.