One month ago, we noticed the latest "shoe to drop" in the global credit rout, when as a result of soaring downgrades to energy companies' credit ratings, the Collateralized Loan Obligations (CLO) market went into a state of frozen animation, leading to a standstill in new CLO issuance.
The biggest movers on FOMC days are the Dollar Index, Investment-grade credit, Homebuilders and Real Estate, according to Goldman Sachs' options strategists.
Despite Goldman Sachs "short gold" recommendation - which came within pennies of being stopped out last week - traders, investors, and safe-haven seekers continue to push into the precious metals.
Last week it was all about the ECB, which disappointed on hopes of further rate cuts (leading to the Thursday selloff) but delivered on the delayed realization that the ECB is now greenlighting a tsunami in buybacks (leading to the Friday market surge). This week it is once again all about central banks, only this time instead of stimulus, the risk is to the downside, with the BOJ expected to do nothing at all after the January NIRP fiasco, while the "data dependent" Fed will - if anything - hint at further hawkishness now that the S&P is back over 2,000.