Archive - Oct 9, 2014 - Story

Even Bob Pisani knows by now that the European Close seems to create a trend-reversal moment intraday that few machines (and even fewer humans) are willing to fight. Whether this is remnants of short-term cycles found due to POMO or just a drop in liquidity is unclear; but what is clear, it happens, and all too regularly... except today. After a notably weak start to the day, the machines were just getting revved up for the 1130ET reversal to kick in and lift the market back to VWAP when a curious thing happened... "someone" canceled-and-replaced orders for 666 contracts 26 times in the 1130ET to 1200ET period... and selling accelerated lower, no reversal, to close at the lows on heavy volume.

President Obama: "Chance of Ebola outbreak in US 'extremely low'"

CDC Director Frieden: "I've been working in public health for 30 years... The only thing like this has been AIDS. And we have to work now so that this is not the world's next AIDS."

SOUTHCOM Commander: "The nightmare scenario, I think, is right around the corner."

“I was bribed by billionaires, I was bribed by the Americans to report…not exactly the truth.” - Udo Ulfkotte, former editor of one of Germany’s main daily publications, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

This happened on a US Airways Flight 850 from Philadelphia to Punta Cana - October 8th 2014.

Foxconn workers are striking again - this time in Chongqing. But you have to look at the map to see why this is an event of extraordinary significance. In a word, these strikes mean that the rice paddies of China have been nearly drained of cheap, docile labor.

As American stock markets become CYNK'd with ever shorter horizons and ever greater aspirations of 'getting rich quick', we thought it fascinating that none other than E*Trade - that bastion of once day-trading prowess and now investing-for-retirement Type-E expertise - has been busted by the SEC for failing in their gatekeeper roles and improperly engaged in unregistered sales of microcap stocks on behalf of their customers. Remember, as the baby explains, "making a big investment is as easy as a single-click..." and so it was that E*Trade sold billions of penny stock shares for customers during a four-year period while ignoring red flags.

In terms of purchasing power, China now has the largest economy on the entire planet, but that is not the only area where China has surpassed the United States. China also accounts for more total global trade than the U.S. does, China consumes more energy than the U.S. does, and China now manufactures more goods than the U.S. does. In other words, the era of American economic dominance is rapidly ending.

Facing up to the pressures of responsibility as a member of the European Union - having been told their treaty-busting budget plan was unacceptable - it seems France is resorting to the worst case scenario - cut spending! As Bloomberg reports, the glory days of France’s welfare model may be behind it, as France, which hasn't had a balanced budget since 1974, admits "for 40 years we have lived beyond our means," but French PM Valls is "convinced [France] can make up for lost time." His plan - streamlining unemployment benefits, cutting bonuses for newborns, and pegging family allowances to household income (all of which amount to a de facto re-writing of France’s welfare rules), are being spun positively: "It's not the end of a generous system,” government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said yesterday. "It's the end of spending that wasn't useful - and that's in order to preserve a system that is a costly one." We wonder how much those 'slightly used' guillotines are going for on eBay now?

Earlier today, in addition to insult and injury, what everyone - and especially GTAT's shareholders - got was nothing short of a slap in the face, when the company argued it could not reveal why it filed for bankruptcy and asked a court to keep crucial documents sealed, something even Reuters dubbed a highly unusual move that may keep investors in the dark about its unexpected, and very spectacular implosion. 

The Bank of Korea - South Korea’s central bank - released data that says South Korean domestic deposits have reached 16.19 billion Chinese renminbi in July this year, which is a 55-fold increase from the same period last year when renminbi deposits accounted for only 290 million. The signs are clearly all there. Everyone realizes that the present system is on its way out and are taking appropriate measures. The Russians, the Germans, the French, the Brits, the Canadians, the Koreans…

Given our previous comments that "air traffic is the driver," it is perhaps not surprising that the Obama administration announced Wednesday that airline passengers arriving from the three West African countries experiencing an unprecedented Ebola outbreak will now be screened for potential exposure to the deadly disease when they arrive at five major U.S. airports. The screening will include having their temperatures taken. As AP's Alicia Caldwell explains, here are five things you need to know about the screenings...

While he still holds many stocks, Billionaire investor Carl Icahn joins the ranks of many of his billionaire market-watchers and is "hedging with S&P Puts," because he is "concerned about the whole economy." As he explains in this brief clip, "you can't keep an economy up just from The Fed," and with The Fed withdrawing from its money-printing largesse, Icahn concludes, a big correction "is definitely coming, it's just a matter of when."

Holding the line of America's political leaders with regard the risk of an Ebola outbreak in the US, NY Mayor Bill de Blasio explained today "there is no cause for alarm." However, in his next breath, as Bloomberg reports, he announced that America's most-populous US city is increasing vigilance against the Ebola virus by involving every agency that interacts with the public. De Blasio called the meeting after the death yesterday in Dallas of Thomas Eric Duncan, "to make sure that if anyone does present themselves with symptoms, we have a clear protocol on how to handle the situation." Meanwhile, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie told reporters today in Trenton, "we're not ready at airports yet but we will be."