Human Interest

With CAT and MCD accounting for over 100 of the 250+ Dow points today, one would think that, as CNBC has repeatedly stated today, these two companies are posting "tremendous earnings growth."

And, in a way they are... a non-GAAP way. Because while CAT reported adjusted EPS of $1.28, up exactly 100% from a year ago  - almost as if it was goalseeked - something far less appetizing emerges when looking at CAT's actual, GAAP EPS, which happen to be exactly one quarter of the non-GAAP number, or $0.32, a 30% drop from a year ago.

Having selected several key excerpts from Donald Trump's lengthy AP interview earlier, we urge readers looking for fascinating yet surreal bedtime reading to give the full, nearly 8,000 word transcript a try, as it contains bizarro excerpts such as this:

AP: You did put out though, as a candidate, you put out a 100-day plan. Do you feel like you should be held accountable to that plan?

 

It appears even the most liberal of Democrats are turning on their own as the virtue-signalling vacillations grow ever more mind-bending.

After University of California at Berkeley officials decision to rescind an invitation for conservative author and commentator Ann Coulter to speak on campus, only to restore the invitation for a later date...

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HBO "Real Time" host Bill Maher exclaimed on his show Friday night that...

In a nightmare for New York commuters, two subway trains became stuck in a tunnel as power blackout caused delays and service disruptions on several lines during the Friday morning rush hour. According to CBS2, an E train got stuck about halfway through a tunnel at the Seventh Avenue and 53rd Street station. A D train was also stuck in the tunnel. Luckily, passengers from both trains were disembarked without incidents.

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CBS adds that as of this moment:

As RBC's head of cross asset strategy remarked yesterday, a key validation of whether the reflation trade may be coming back, was the market's response to today's 5-Year TIPS auction, which priced at 1pm.

So those looking for confirmation that the reflation trade has at least another life left in it, will be glad to know that today $16.0 billion 5-year TIPS auction this afternoon went especially well, in line with all of last year's TIPS auctions, and the cherry on top was a record buyside takedown suggesting that at least for now, bidders believe that reflationary forces remain.