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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.

Authored by David Stockman via The Daily Reckoning,

Just call it Peak Crazy and move on. There is absolutely no reason for the stock markets to be at current levels, let alone melting-up day after day. The fact that this is happening is a measure of how impaired capital markets have become as a result of massive central bank intrusion.

The robo-machines and day traders keep buying the dips because that has “worked” for the last 100 months. There is nothing more to it than residual momentum.

In light of today's euphoric market reaction, which has seen the VIX plunge by over 3 vols, or 20% lower, to just over 12 and sent both the Nasdaq and S&P higher by 1% on relief that there were no mushroom clouds of the weekend, the jury is out whether last week's sharp risk off, short-vol mauling will persist or be just another BTFD opportunity. But while last week's tension may already be forgotten, some disturbing trends persist.

For all the recent concerns about an "imminent" nuclear war with North Korea (not happening, according to the head of the CIA), which prompted a stunned reaction from Morgan Stanley which earlier today observed the "70% rise in the VIX index over three days, 2% drop in global equities, and more than a few holidays disrupted", leading it to conclude "Well, That Escalated Quickly", the market continues to ignore the real risk: the upcoming central bank balance sheet taper which will have a dire and drastic impact on markets according to Citi's global head of credit product strategy, Matt King