Business

As last week ended, VIX was crushed back near record lows to ensure the S&P 500 closed above 2500 and to prove all is well in the world - despite quakes, storms, floods, nukes, and worst of all... Fed balance sheet unwind plans.

And VIX speculators have never been more short (implicitly levered long stocks)...

So why, given all this exuberance and complacency, is uncertainty around VIX's future trajectory at relative record highs?

Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

When the price of oil rises to the point of pain, just remember the handy-dandy discount mechanism: a much stronger US dollar.

North Korean war-talk has extended early gains for Brent Crude (driven by anxiety over the post-Kurd-referendum fallout), pushing prices to their highest since July 2015.

To the highest since July 2015...

Authored by Andres Arrieta via The Electronic Frontier Foundation,

With the new Safari 11 update, Apple takes an important step to protect your privacy, specifically how your browsing habits are tracked and shared with parties other than the sites you visit.

Beyond the plethora of central bank speakers, market focus will concentrate on Eurozone inflation and US data releases, including durable goods, home sales, and the personal income and spending report on Friday. We also get China PMIs, Japanese CPI and industrial production, the RBNZ meeting and Brexit negotiations (4th). Additionally, there will be monetary policy meetings in Mexico, Colombia, Czech Republic, Thailand and Egypt.