US Federal Reserve

Having noted earlier the 44%, or 11-year high, in short Treasury positions among all bond traders (according to the latest JPM client survey), and a record high 70% among JPM's "active" clients, we suggested that the most likely next move in the Treasury sector is a squeeze on even the faintest news that derails the recent hawkish narrative. And, predictably if aonly for now, this morning Treasuries have ground higher, with 10-year note futures matching Asia session highs, and the yield on the 10Y sliding to session lows of 2.33%.

What about the catalyst?

In mid-August, at the height of the North Korea geopolitical turbulence, and amid uncertainty about the Fed balance sheet unwind, fears of a government shutdown and the US debt ceiling, as well as the fate of Trump tax reform and Obamacare repeal, when the VIX soared following a series of missile launches by Kim Jong Un only to crash right back to near all time lows, we used an analysis from BofA's derivatives analyst Benjamin Bowler to show "How To Hedge A Near-Term Market Shock: Here Are The Best Trades"

Authored by Anthony Saunders via Snake Hole Lounge blog,

The Federal Reserve was created by an act of Congress in 1913 and a stroke of the pen by President Woodrow Wilson. And the purchasing power of US consumers has never been the same.

Enter Bitcoin, the worldwide cryptocurrency and digital payment system. Currently, one  Bitcoin equals $4,423.

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.

Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,

As the stock market hits all-time highs in its 2nd longest bull market run in history, the lift of asset prices has surely lifted the economic prosperity of all. Right?

Not really.

New reports from the Hamilton Project and The Federal Reserve show the real problems facing Americans today.