Archive - Aug 24, 2015 - Story

The Fed-inspired "wedge" between stock market perception and 'reality' had never been wider before last week...

Losses have been cut in half after the opening collapse as a mysterious buyer in massive size lifts The Dow 600 points off its lows, cutting losses in half for now...

While well below financial crisis levels, the surge in credit risk across US financials is more than a little reminiscent of the early days of 2008 when trust and counterparty risk began to stir in the markets...

Based on S&P 500 close 1970.89 on Fri. and Level 1 circuit-breaker trigger of 7% drop, S&P 500 would need to drop to ~1833 to set it off, rules posted on NYSE website say.

The status quo must be maintained...

NYSE granting "triple width opening quote relief in all option classes for August 24, 2015", Invokes Rule 48

The last time this was invoked was in Jan 2015 (during the blizzard), in June 2012 (amid a dramatic drop in pre-open futures) and in Sept 2011 amid the chaotic 400-point swings in The Dow. Funny they do not use this "Rule" when futures indicate massive upside opens?

The fragility of this artificially manipulated financial system was exposed over the last couple of days of last week. It all ended with the S&P 500 falling -3.19% on Friday - its worst day since November 9th 2011.

The canary in the coal-mine is flashing redder than ever...

NASDAQ 100 SEPTEMBER FUTURES HIT CIRCUIT BREAKER, HALTED - RTRS

?? Intraday margin on futures has been disabled for the day at TD Ameritrade. ??

— Nicole Sherrod (@TDANSherrod) August 24, 2015

Are there any conditions now that are actually better than those of 2008? Or are conditions now less resilient, more fragile and more dependent on unprecedented central bank interventions?

Dow futures are now well below the 16,000 level - down a stunning 2500 points from the May highs. The Dow has given up all its gain since December 2013...