Archive - Mar 31, 2014

• US, Russia talks fail to end Ukraine deadlock (AP)
• Russian forces 'gradually withdrawing' from Ukraine border (AFP)
• Turkish PM Erdogan tells enemies they will pay price after poll (Reuters)
• And Goldman arrives: Credit markets open to Argentina for first time in years (Reuters)
• Regulators Twice Failed to Open GM Probes (WSJ)
• Bad loan writedowns soar at China banks (FT)
• Investors Breathe Life Into European Banks' Bad Loans (WSJ)
• Euro zone inflation drops to lowest since 2009 (Reuters)
• Yellowstone National Park rattled by largest earthquake in 34 years (Reuters)

After ramping in overnight trading, following the spike in Japanese stocks following another batch of disappointing economic data out of the land of the rising sun and setting Abenomics which sent the USDJPY, and its derivative Nikkei225 surging, US equity futures have pared some of the gains in what now appears a daily phenomenon. Keep in mind, the pattern over the past 6 consecutive days has been to ramp stocks into the US open, followed by a determined fade all the way into the close, led by "growthy" stocks and what appears to be an ongoing unwind of a hedge fund basket by one or more entities. Could the entire market be pushed lower because one fund is unwinding (or liquidiating)? Normally we would say no, but with liquidity as non-existant as it is right now, nothing would surprise us any more.