Business

Remember 'The Santa Claus Rally' that Bob Pisani said "we should expect" - well The Dow is now down over 1200 points from the highs just before the end of the year and extending those losses as Reuters reports, PBOC advisors are said to call for steeper yuan depreciation, pressuring the government to depreciate by 10-15%.

Dow collapse...

As all major US equity indices are in free-fall since the start of December...

Submitted by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,

China Matters

Over the past few days I have repeatedly heard the following statement:

“China isn’t that important as it is only 7% of the U.S. economy.”

While that may be a true statement in relation to the economy, it is a far different matter when it comes to the financial markets.

With WTI trading with a $32 handle, collapsing below December 2008's $32.40 lows briefly overnight, OPEC's broad basket price for crude has also reached a worrisome milestone. Amid Saudi price cuts to Europe, the basket price was set at $29.71 today - the first print below $30 since April 2004.

WTI broke 2008 lows overnight... and then ran stops to overnight highs...

and following the inclusion of Indonesia's crude oil price, OPEC's basket price is back below $30...

For the first time since April 2004...

Submitted by Jim Quinn via The Burning Platform blog,

Chinese stocks have retraced 50% of their overnight losses following the lifting of the circuit-breaker rule. China FTSE-A50 Futures trading on SIMEX are up over 250 points, trading at the highs of the day but for some context, the index is still down 14% from post-Christmas highs.

What happens when China opens? What would you do with a stock market trading at 64x P/E and as fragile as it has been proved to be?