Business

The Texas recession is only in its early innings, but we were pleasantly surprised to learn, courtesy of a reader, that it may not be as severe as some expect thanks to good samaritans such Houston-based Gramercy Cleaners on Richmond avenue whose compassion with the imploding energy sector is manifesting itself in service discounts.

When the shale crisis spills over to the banking sector, will we see New York cleaners likewise discounting services to laid off investment bankers? Somehow we doubt it.

Via Scotiabank's Guy Haselmann,

Markets need to retreat from dependency on central bank stimulus which they falsely believe provides the magical elixir that fixes all economic and financial market woes.

At some point during the past few years, central bank stimulus has gone from a net benefit to a source of financial market ailments.  Investors who have rightly arrived at this conclusion have shifted from dip buyers in risk assets to sellers of up-ticks (see January 6th note ‘Down Side Up’).

Submitted by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,

Of the last several weeks, I have suggested that markets are oversold and that a bounce was likely. However, such a reflexive bounce should be used to sell into as it is now becoming clearer the markets have changed their trend from positive to negative. As I discussed earlier this week:

There's always hope...

Summing the week up perfectly...

Something gotta stick... pic.twitter.com/19pzRhdaGw

Submitted by Sandro Rosa and Mark Dittli via Finanz und Wirtschaft,

According to macro strategist Felix Zulauf, founder and president of Zulauf Asset Management and Vicenda Asset Management in Zug, the almost seven-year-old bull market is over. China is to the current cycle what the US housing market was for the Global Financial Crisis in 2008. It will take years to correct the excesses that were built up in China.

Mr. Zulauf, the markets had a terrible start into the new year. Is the almost seven-year old equity bull market over?