Business

With a 95% implied probability of a rate hike tomorrow, there is little doubt that Janet Yellen will raise rates, although as Goldman previewed two days, there are at least two open issues should make tomorrow's meeting somewhat interesting: First, will Fed officials alter their policy views in response to the increasingly different signals that both sides of the mandate are sending about the urgency of further tightening... and... Second, will the press conference provide some clarity on what the next tightening step following the June hike will be?

The retail apocalypse that has caused the closing of thousands of department stores in the US – not to mention the evaporation of tens of billions of dollars in market capitalization - is moving north: Sears Canada revealed Tuesday that it’s exploring a sale or a possible restructuring as it draws nearer to bankruptcy. In an admission that shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has ever shopped online, Sears Canada said it has “significant doubt” that it can continue to operate for much longer.

Authored by Steve St.Angelo via SRSroccoReport.com,

The Central banks bought a staggering $1.5 trillion in assets in the first five months of the year to keep the economy from imploding while at the same time, capping the gold price.  Yes, it’s true…. $300 billion a month of Central bank asset purchases pushes up STOCK, BOND and REAL ESTATE values while it depresses or caps the gold (or silver) price.

It has been a while since we heard from JPM's quant guru, Marko Kolanovic, who following the recent FANG crash and quant rotations and ahead of this Friday's massive S&P op-ex, has published his latest latter, covering everything from the aforementioned market moves, to the ongoing drastic changes in the market structure, to the prevailing low levels of volatility despite the sharp market selloff on May 17 (with no follow through), and finally concludes with his latest near-term market outlook.

Reminding us of what McKinsey reported over a year ago, namely that the world never deleveraged after the financial crisis, Citi's Hans Lorenzen released a fascinating presentation today discussing the "invincible" stock rally, and pointing out its Achilles heel, which happens to be the thing that made it possible in the first place: central banks.