Dow 30

It was two years ago, in June of 2015, when just as the Shanghai Composite was flirting with 5,000 and when literally the local banana stand guy was trading stocks, that the Chinese stock bubble burst, unleashing an unprecedented selling spree, a 40% drop in just two months, and Beijing's nationalization of the stock market, courtesy of the domestic plunge protection team, the China Securities Regulatory Commission also known as the "National Team".

Well that was a week...

Having staked his reputation one week ago that the "bull market has come to an end", the jury is still out on Dennis Gartman's latest forecast, although one thing is becoming clear - the period of record low volatility has come to an abrupt end and the question is whether it now reverts (much) higher, or resumes its drift lower on more vol-selling and expectations that central banks will keep it all under control.  And while we wait and see which way risk inflects, in his latest overnight note, the "world-renowned commodity guru" is out with an even more bombastic prognostication: "

The global risk-off mood accelerated overnight on Trump "stability concerns", coupled with fallout from the Spain terrorist attack and lingering North Korea tensions, even if the VIX is off its latest highs, trading just above 15. Investors fled into German and U.S. Treasury bonds and bought gold for the third day in a row, as the appeal of such top-notch assets grew further due to a deadly attack that killed at least 13 people in Barcelona.

The S&P 500 has not seen a drawdown of more than 3% since the election last November. As PensionPartners' Charlie Bilello notes, this is the second longest run in history...

The Dow has hit 31 all-time highs in 2017 and has done so with no more than a 3% pullback.

Additionally, Bilello notes this is the fourth longest streak in US history without a 5% drop...

It’s been more than a year since the S&P 500 has suffered a 5% pullback...