With nearly a record 40 days of the S&P not having an intraday swing of 1% or more, traders - desperate for volatility - are fuming at a market that has apparently flatlined. They are not alone: as JPM's Adam Crisafulli writes in his overnight piece, "it was once again a night of nothing", and no matter what happens, "nothing is changing the equity narrative", which for now is to barely budy on any given day.
Here is the key excerpt from JPM's (appropriately boring) overnight note:
Market update – from the perspective of the SPX it was once again a night of nothing. None of the eco data, earnings, central bank headlines, or political reports are changing the US equity narrative. The S&P futures are thus (once again) flat. The lack of major events/news is making for a very slow and quiet tape and that will prob. continue for the foreseeable future (Yellen’s testimony 2/14-15 is the next major macro catalyst).
Washington skepticism is rising although for now the doubts are more around timing (i.e. the Trump/Ryan pro-growth agenda is still anticipated but maybe not until 2018) and not magnitude/efficacy (which is the real risk – it will take serious doubts around magnitude/efficacy to materially dent stocks).
Time to hit the snooze button again.