Archive - Jun 26, 2015 - Story

This is it, warns one water advocate, "it really does (make critical) the fact that we have to start changing." Lake Mead water levels have sunk to their lowest levels on record (below the levels when the dam was built) at 1075 feet. This is a major problem, as USA Today reports, since Las Vegas water authority's current "straws" glean water from 1,050 feet and 1,000 feet - leaving the first straw just 25 feet away from pulling in air. With the drought only set to get worse as the summer begins, the water wars are just beginning as Lower-basin states are still taking more than the river system can sustain.

Presenting: Bank of America's chart showing who the undisputed victor in that age-old war between Wall Street and Main Street, truly is.

Looking at electricity consumption, adjusted or otherwise, things are definitely looking very sluggish in the US economy right now.

Today will almost certainly be the busiest trading day of the year, as the Russell indexes go through their annual rebalancing/reconstitution. But, as ConvergEx's Nick Colas notes, Friday’s close will be the end of a trade that began almost 2 months ago, as traders began handicapping which equities would be included for the first time or swapped between various Russell indices. Since the beginning of May, for example, the stocks that will be added to the Russell 2000 are up 11%, and those being deleted from the same index are down 2% over the same time period.  In short, for one day – and this is the day - every U.S. equity market participant, no matter what their investment mandate, needs to think like a trader.  Throw in a little Greek drama going into the weekend, and it could be quite a day...

"If you are a sizeable bank that wants to do more business in China you don't want to make parts of the Chinese government angry"...

"Investors have experienced many mood swings, some institutionalized irrationality, as well as treacherous trading conditions in the first six months of 2015. The wacky has become the norm."

It is impossible to wean an economy that relies on debt and leverage for its "growth" of excessive debt and leverage.

US equity market indices are re-plunging to the day's lows - having given up all their post-FOMC post-Greece-is-Rescued gains. S&P 500 is testing its 100DMA. Coincidentally, as the plunge began:

S&P DOW JONES INDICES SAYS EXPERIENCING INTERMITTENT ISSUES DUE TO OBSERVED DELAYS WITH CME DISTRIBUTION

And this is happening before the Russell Rebalance volumefest hits.

After 28 consecutive weeks rig counts declines in America - despite crude production levels hitting new cycle record highs - Baker Hughes reports Total Rig Count increased 2 to 859 this week. The oil rig count dropped 3 to 628. Crude's price reaction is negligible.

Following yesterday's historic 6:3 Supreme Court decision enshrining the tax known as Obamacare, there was little surprise moments ago when in one of its last remaining decisions in re: Obergefell v. Hodges, the most liberal Supreme Court since 1960 just declared gay marriage legal nationwide. The decision, supported by all the women on the SCOTUS, came down in a 5:4 vote with Ginsburg, Sotomayor, Kagan, Breyer and Kenedy voting for, while Roberts, Scalia, Thomas and Alito dissented.

While we expained in great detail exactly what "good" the previous bailouts for Greece did for the Greek people, we thought the following gif was easier for many to digest...

The Supreme Court ruled yesterday (June 25) in favor of the Obama Administration's current implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), denying claims from challengers that health insurance subsidies were improperly paid for enrollees in states that did not operate their own health insurance exchanges. Goldman explains what it means... (spoiler alert: more healthcare consumption - which translated means higher healthcare costs).

"Black Friday. China shares dive 7.4%... How much further will it fall after this massacre?"

"It's a do-or-die moment for all investors... If retail investors become skittish now, panic selling will continue next week."