Just days after the conclusion of Russia's largest military exercise ever (which US military chiefs believe broke 'observer rules') and NATO's massive war games, Pravda reports a recent Russian Defense Ministry report says that Russia is preparing for the possibility of a military conflict with NATO countries.
It's deja vu all over again.
In a repeat of yesterday's session, where US equities and the dollar levitated in a one-way trade, Tuesday's muted session - where in addition to closed China and South Korean markets, Germany's Dax is also shut for holiday - has seen early dollar and European equity strength, while the S&P is set for new record highs amid higher E-minis and a VIX that is again lower after 5 consecutive days of declines.
Is it QE or is it earnings?
Authored by Christoph Gisiger and Mark Dittli via Finanz Und Wirtschaft,
Howard Marks, Co-Chairman of the US investment firm Oaktree Capital warns that valuations in the financial markets are uncomfortably high and that investors are acting too complacent.
Last Friday, when looking at the historic, record lows in September volatility and the daily highs in US and global equity markets, BofA's chief investment strategist Michael Hartnett said that the "best reason to be bearish in Q4 is there is no reason to be bearish."