Dow 30

Via Dana Lyons' Tumblr,

One of the few indices yet to break out, the NYSE Composite is threatening its all-time highs.

With the Dow Jones flirting around 20,000 for the better part of the past two weeks, one prominent commentator remained skeptical: Dennis Gartman was "marginally net short." Well, no more.

Asian stocks rose, led by Hong Kong, while European shares and U.S. equity-index futures are little changed. Euro, yen climb as the dollar posted an unexpected loss following some serious fireworks out of China, which intervened in funding market to crush offshore Yuan shorts.

Top news stories include Macy’s and Kohl’s cutting their outlook after weak holiday season, Deutsche Bank exploring lending money to PE firms buying distressed loans, Apple planning to invest $1b in SoftBank’s new technology fund.

It appears "Occupy Wall Street" is a thing again, and this time it's Donald Trump's fault.

Anyone who was wondering if the general population has noticed the abnormal concentration of Wall Streeters in general, and Goldman Sachs alumni in particular, in the Trump administration got their answer on Wednesday afternoon, when screaming protesters, chanting "Drain that Swamp", swarmed the lobby of Goldman Sachs' New York headquarters in opposition to the firm’s growing influence in Donald Trump’s administration.

Despite a more hawkish-than-expected Fed minutes, investors appeared to be reducing exposure to the USD (modestly as EURUSD briefly tagged above 1.05 and buying bonds across the curve (with the belly outperforming) to start. However, that quickly reversed and left stocks mixed with banks just green post-Minutes, and the USD limping higher.

The initial reaction to the hawkish Fed minutes was the ubiquitous VIX slam which sparked algo buying panic running stops above the opening Dow highs...