S&P 500

US equity futures are unchanged, trading near record highs after digesting a spate of earnings results on Thursday. The dollar pared its weekly loss as the yen and pound slid, while gold headed for its longest slump in three months. European equities fell and markets in Asia were mixed, while markets in China, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam were closed Friday for the start of Lunar New Year. Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore had shortened sessions.

Submitted by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,

Another View On The Inflation Argument

There is little evidence that current levels of inflation are stable. As I wrote in “Inflation: The Good & The Bad”, outside of just two areas, rent and health care, there remains a broader deflationary trend currently.

Importantly, as I noted, there are two types of inflation:

The S&P 500 has breached 2,300 - Goldman Sachs' 2017 year-end target - despite a spike in VIX to almost 11.00...

And is now giving some back...

With global stock markets basking in the afterglow of Dow crossing 20,000 for the first time, on Thursday they propelled higher in sympathy with the US, as Asia and Europe are trading solidly in the green, as is the dollar which rebounded strongly off a 5 week low. Copper touched the highest price since November after reports of lower production. Global government bonds extended declines as France’s 10-year yield breached 1% for the first time in more than a year. Gold declined.