Archive - Oct 9, 2014

Initial claims fell a modest 1000 this week to 287k, beating expectations (for the 4th week in a row) of 294k hovering near the lows of the cycle. The less noisy 4-week moving-average has dropped to its lowest level since Feb 2006 and continuing claims drops to its lowest since April 2006. This is as good as it gets... (especially in light of the tumble in hiring seen in JOLTS) - simply put, there can be no firings, because there is no hiring.

Yesterday's 'biggest surge in 3 years' ramp in stocks (following the release of September's FOMC meeting minutes) was, perhaps surprisingly, not unprecedented. When the Septemeber FOMC statement was released we saw the same kneejerk 'buy it all' reaction with a dramatic divergence between stocks and bond yields... so what happens next?

Here we go again. Exactly two months after the deadly shooting of Michael Brown by a local police officer in Ferguson, MO, it is time for part two. Overnight, in nearly the same spot as the Brown shooting, a white off-duty policeman shot and killed a black teenager in St Louis, officers said, triggering a night of protests just miles from the site of another police shooting of another black youth in the suburb of Ferguson. Reuters has the details: police said the 18-year-old was armed and fired three shots while he was being chased by the officer, and they had recovered a gun at the scene.  The youth was killed almost two months to the day since sometimes violent protests erupted in Ferguson after a white police officer shot dead unarmed black 18-year-old Michael Brown.  Said otherwise, cops say Myer was armed but witnesses say he was only holding a sandwich when he was tased, fell over & then was shot at 17 times of which "only" three hit.

• Five U.S. airports to screen for fever (Reuters)
• Danger, central banks trading with each other: Bipolar U.S. Stocks See Biggest Mood Swing in Three Years  (BBG)
• Draghi Policies Blunted in Berlin as German Protests Grow (BBG)
• White policeman kills black teen in St Louis, triggering fresh protests (Reuters)
• Au Revoir to France’s Welfare Model as Socialists Cut Spending (BBG)
• Here comes Roberto Cavalski (Reuters)
• There are 49 U.S. venture-capital-backed companies with a valuation of $1 billion or more—the highest number on record (WSJ)
• Pressure mounts on Hong Kong leader over payout amid crisis (Reuters)

• IRELAND SELLS 10-YEAR BONDS AT RECORD-LOW YIELD OF 1.63%
• GERMAN 10-YEAR BUNDS RISE; YIELD FALLS 2 BASIS POINTS TO 0.88%
• DUTCH 10-YEAR GOVERNMENT BOND YIELD DROPS TO RECORD-LOW 1.021%
• PORTUGUESE 10-YEAR BOND YIELD DROPS TO RECORD-LOW 2.942%
• FRENCH 10-YEAR GOVERNMENT BOND YIELDS DROP TO RECORD-LOW 1.214%
• U.S. 10-YEAR NOTE YIELD DROPS TO 2.296%, LOWEST SINCE JUNE 2013
• SPANISH 10-YEAR BOND YIELD DROPS TO RECORD-LOW 2.038%
• FINNISH 10-YEAR YIELD DROPS TO 1% FOR FIRST TIME ON RECORD