Via Global Macro Monitor,
Before hitting the hay we need to call a big B.S. on the bastard ‘bots from Rip (Off) City. They screwed us again yesterday (June 14) in crude oil futures.
First, before we get into the trade, a little background.
We have posted about our experiences of being ripped off by these “so-called” trading ‘bots, who prey and stalk the markets, looking to pick-off traders through blatant market manipulation. Flash crash, my arse.
Post election the investment community was strong on the belief that the new administration was going to get the economy to grow and that inflation will pick up. Below looks at the Growth/Inflation indicator ratio, which is created by using TIP/TLT rati
CLICK ON CHART TO ENLARGE
Republican finally cracked. After months of extremely partisan divergence in the UMich confidence data, the loss in confidence for self-identified Republicans fell notably more than for Democrats (who were already significantly lower). Both current and future expectations tumbled to their lowest since Nov 2016.
As UMich explains...
While this break corresponds with James Comey's testimony, only a few consumers spontaneously referred to him or his testimony when asked to explain their views.
For confirmation that the market is now in its "blow off top" phase, contrary to claims that the market keeps "climbing a wall of worry" and that the "money on the sidelines" refuses to enter, look no further than the latest BofA "flow show" in which Michael Hartnett reports that capital markets just saw their biggest week of equity inflows since the US election ($24.6bn), another chunky inflow to bonds ($9.0bn), which combines to "the second largest week of inflows to Wall Street ever (largest was $35.5bn in Dec'2014)."
The world of finance is full of silly and arbitrary definitions.
For instance, a stock market correction is when stocks drop 10%, and a Bear Market is when stocks drop 20%.
Why 10% and 20%? And why a “correction” vs. a “Bear Market?” Who decided on those numbers and those terms and why? Is there even any fundamental analysis backing them up?
Let’s take this line of thinking deeper…
Why are some investors labeled “bulls” and others “bears” based on their assessment of the markets/ risk management?