Dollar Back To July Levels As Euro Crushed, Futures Support Taken Out

Who would have thought that the much anticipated European contagion would actually arrive. It was priced in right? Algos and correlation desks are flabbergasted that this is one situtation that the Fed apparently is helpless with. And if it does, it would only be dollar positive and stock market negative. Indeed, regarding the first, the dollar is now back to July 2009 levels. Regarding the second, ES takes out the 1085 support to the downside with much conviction. We have previously discussed where next technical support levels are (hint: lower).

Guest Post: A Technical Look At Treasuries - Room For Optimism

A unique look at bond behavior will serve to illustrate how risk is lowered in holding long Treasuries for the coming year.

Double Dip Harbinger? Initial Claims Deterioration At 480,000 On 455,000 Expectation

Initial claims just made a negative U-turn and posted their first weekly increase since the beneficial inflection point. After new home sales and NAHB, is the initial claims double dip next? This week's number of 480,000 was 25,000 worse than expected, and 8,000 thousand worse than last week's 472,000. The 4-week average rose to 11,750 to 468,750. According to the Labor Department this was a straightforward report with "nothing unusual" and no states estimated. Unadjusted claims rose 28,234 to 530,405. Continuing claims increased by 2,000 on a SA basis, to 4.6 million and by 62,784 NSA to 5.7 million. EUCs surged once again to 281,442 for a new total of 5,632,219. Extended benefits claims fell 39,129 to 222,833 as ever increasing numbers of people roll off extended benefit eligibility.

RANsquawk 4th February Morning Briefing - Stocks, Bonds, FX etc.

RANsquawk 4th February Morning Briefing - Stocks, Bonds, FX etc.

Google - There And Back Again... In Half The Time

A peculiar side-effect of the current low-volume rise market dynamic can be seen by the curious price (and volume) action in investing public darling Google. When the market was climbing in the low volume days since November, the stock grew from $531 to a peak of $626 in 42 days, on average volume of 2.02 million shares per day. Then, when the selling started, the volume picked up by more than 100%, with daily average volume of 4.7 million shares, while the decline in the stock to the onset price of $531 took less than half the time, or 19 days. Such are the vagaries of the VWAP unwind, as algorithms seek to reverse to a longer and longer mean. Google demonstrates very accurately what would happen to the stock market should there be a real, exogenous selling catalyst. Now consider that the S&P's VWAP since the March lows is around the 950 level. If the market is unable to sustain the most recent relief rally, and if this is coupled with geopolitical news or a default the PIIGS or some other unpredictable event, expect a very prompt but highly doable correction. If the market volume doubled and the time of decline was cut in half relative to the rise, consider what would happen if all mutual funds suddenly switched from a buying to a selling posture... And what this would mean for the final closing level on the S&P of that particular D-Day.

Bloomberg Joins The Direct Bidder Inquiry, Even As DB Identities And Rationales Continue To Evade

We have previously speculated extensively on the recent appearance of direct bidders as a key participant in Treasury auctions. What is known is that the direct take down during the last 2-3 months has at least doubled for most coupon auctions up to and including the 7 year. What is not known is/are the identities of the bidder(s). We have provided some observations on the topic previously (here and here) although our preliminary conclusions are based on circumstantial evidence at best. Additionally, we have highlighted that even as direct bidding take downs have increased, bid-to-cover ratios have reached near record highs, which in itself is also paradoxical and the only immediate explanation is that this is simply a confirmation of Say's law, as this phenomenon certainly does not fit the normal supply/demand pattern.

Our obsession with the direct bidder conundrum is easily explainable as this is a new and very critical presence in the treasury bidding process. The last thing primary dealers need is a source of volatility in the auction process, which could potentially have destabilizing consequences on this most critical cog in funding America's future record deficits. Today, Daniel Kruger at Bloomberg picks up on the topic and thrusts it front and center into the public spotlight, his analysis further confirming our concerns.

Daily Credit Summary: February 3 - Meme De Jour/Millennium: Sovereign Risk

Sovereign risk was once again front and center on the minds of investors today. Despite the EU's efforts to 'back' Greece's cost cutting plans, investors remain far less sanguine than Almunia. Greek bonds managed a small 7bps rally relative to Bunds (which widened 2bps) as CDS were around 9bps wider (compressing the basis a little more). Don't read too much into the small rally in bonds (the basis remains wide at 55-60bps and we suspect given the convergence today that some are putting the trade on).

Spreads were mixed in the US with IG unch, HVOL wider, ExHVOL weaker, and HY rallying. IG trades 1.5bps wide (cheap) to its 50d moving average, which is a Z-Score of 0.2s.d.. At 92.25bps, IG has closed tighter on 30 days in the last 282 trading days (JAN09). The last five days have seen IG flat to its 50d moving average.