Archive - Dec 16, 2014

Always happy to look to the silver lining in markets, amid the total and utter carnage across global FX, commodity, and equity markets, there are a few markets benefiting from the scramble for a safe-haven. Gold (and Silver) prices, after dropping yesterday, has retraced all those losses and is up over $20 to $1215. Even more impressively, 10Y Treasury yields traded with a 2.00% handle (down 8-9bps today alone). Notably ultra-short-term US T-Bill yields have collapsed to zero with the Feb 2015s trading -0.5bps. Bunds are also bid (down 5bps) at fresh record-low yields of 56.6bps! While not a 'safe-haven" per se, JPY is aggressively bid also as leverage and risk unwinds carry trades and squeezes USDJPY lower (briefly touching 115.50).

Paging Waddell & Reed... Even for this early in the US session, liquidity in the most-liquid financial instrument in the world is - in the words of Nanex's Eric Hunsader, "abysmal."

• Ruble Sinks to 80 a Dollar Defying Surprise Russia Rate Increase (BBG)
• Oil slumps near $59 for first time since 2009 on oversupply (Reuters)
• Oil sinks, Russian moves fail to quell nerves (Reuters)
• Fed Seen Looking Past Low Inflation to Drop ‘Considerable Time (BBG)
• Students Among Dead as Pakistan Gunmen Kill 126 at Army School (BBG)
• Repsol to buy Talisman Energy for $13 billion (Reuters)
• Indonesia’s Rupiah Erases Decline After Central Bank Intervenes (BBG)
• Anti-Islam Rally Grows as Immigrant Backlash Hits Europe (BBG)
• Saudi Arabia is playing chicken with its oil (Reuters)