S&P

When it comes to the stock market, there is no single greater observable divergence right now than that between GAAP and non-GAAP earnings. As the chart below shows, while on a non-GAAP basis earnings have been hurting in recent years, with the LTM EPS of the S&P has declined to 116.4, down from 118.1 as of December 31, 2014, the real surprise is in GAAP EPS, which are back down to 88, a level last seen in 2007 when the market was about 500 points lower.

We showed you the "bored" Chinese workers who traded commodity futures for excitement - Now, it's time to meet North America's oil day-traders... moms-and millenials.

The recent volatility in crude oil has gotten the attention of people who do not list trading as their day job, but are randomly attempting to day trade oil anyway the WSJ reports.

Take for example Erika Cajic, a 45-year old full-time parent who took a shot at trading oil via UWTI.

With Goldman suggesting VIX should be in the upper teens based on 'fundamentals' and event risks galore on the horizon (FOMC, Brexit, Spain elections, US elections, etc.) Geneva Swiss Bank suggests it is time to BTFVIX...

Last November, capital markets were discounting a rate hike five months later, based on Fed Funds futures. Same story today. Last November, the S&P 500 was trading near 2100. Same story today. Last November, VIX levels were around 14. Same story today. Last November, instead of waiting five months, the Fed hiked rates one month later; the S&P dropped by 10% over the next eight weeks... And as BofAML's Savita Subramanian warns, hiking during a profits recession usually hasn't ended well.

For many weeks in a row now we have been asking, mostly jokingly, how with everyone else (both retail and "smart money") selling, and with stock buybacks sharply lower in recent months, is the market higher. Specifically, who is buying?

This question is no longer a joke. After this week's 17th consecutive outflow by "smart money" funds (mostly on the back of surging hedge fund redemption), moments ago we got the latest Lipper fund flow data. It was, as BofA put it, "unambiguous risk-off weekly flows."