Think you had a bad day...
Overnight saw market watchers celebrate the exuberant run in Japan's Nikkei 225 to its highest levels since 1996 (up 200% from its 2008/9 lows)...
So - some context - it has taken 21 years of "buy and hold" to breakeven... and the index still needs to rally 88% further to get back to even from its record highs in 1989.
Stocks (and gold) ramped higher in the last hour (on regurgitated headlines about Mnuchin preferring Powell for Fed head - which hit 2 weeks ago) but of course, something had to be done to ensure stocks looked good post-FOMC Minutes...
After the initial dip following FOMC Minutes, stocks turned around on the day...(Small Caps ended the day red - Here are the closes for Russell 2000 for the last 8 days - 1509, 1511, 1508, 1512, 1510, 1504, 1508, 1507)
But this was the headline of the day... The Fed's Williams warns that they "don't want there to be excesses in financial markets... " as VIX is slammed to ramp stocks for another new all-time-high...
USDJPY and Stocks were once again inseparable...
And, while hope remains in the mainstream, the market is rapidly pricing out tax reform...
The Retailer Rout continues...
While the yield curve collapses further, banks are bid ahead of the big earnings reports of the next 2 days...
Treasury yields fell once again...with a notable flattening...
The Dollar Index continued its post-Golden Week demise, extending losses on a dovish Fed statement (re: inflation) and on Mnuchin-Powell headlines...
Gold continues its post-Golden Week recovery, surging after Fed Minutes...
WTI bounced back above $50 today (and RBOB rallied) after OPEC jawboning and ahead of tonight's API data...