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It appears - for now - that the machines are losing control. Amid the chaos of the last few days in US equities, Johnny 5 and his ilk have been quote-stuffing in desperation at the highest rate in history... but it's not working!!

Despite recent stock market carnage, the reaction by the VIX has been a relative yawner. All we really care about are the cold, hard numbers. And if history is any guide, investors, who have demonstrated a rather complacent reaction to the decline so far, may very well get a wake up call before this slump has run its course.

"The new Portuguese administration is not the first government to resort to asset confiscation and populist expediency. Venezuela and Argentina also belong to this club. The important distinction is that Portugal is a eurozone member state, and its systemically important banks are regulated by the ECB."

The tragic irony of all this is that Hillary Clinton led the charge for a war in Libya based on a claim of a potential massacre in Benghazi. The massacre in Benghazi never occurred (and was likely overblown), but real ethnic cleansing and massacres did occur when the US and NATO empowered the Libyan rebels to overthrow Gaddafi and use their weapons beyond the war zone. Today, Libya is a failed state infested with the Islamic State and other Islamic terrorist groups thanks to Clinton and friends. Quite a liberation.

Credit Schmedit...

With Erdogan calling (loudly) for lower rates and 5 of 7 MPC seats opening up between April and November, some fear Turkey may eschew policy normalization leading directly to what Morgan Stanley calls "a vicious cycle" of a depreciating currency, rising inflation, and lower real policy rates.

Since 2011, when the E/P ratio for those with less than a high school diploma bottomed, that metric has regained almost two-thirds of its recessionary losses (orange line in chart). But the E/P ratio for high school or college graduates – i.e., eight out of nine American adults – has not recovered any of its recessionary losses, and has barely budged in four years (purple line). This data underscores how the jobs recovery has been spearheaded by cheap labor, with job gains going disproportionately to the least educated — and lowest-paid — workers.

JPMorgan's 2016 Outlook for the S&P 500 Index favored a continuation of a broad and volatile range into the first half of the year, below 2,100 and above 1,820-1,870 longer-term range support. While the unexpected early-January weakness has not violated the Oct 2014 and Aug 2015 lows and other support parameters near that area, the nature of the current decline raises some concern for what has been a constructive longer-term view.

Yesterday's 10 Year auction was, despite the concurrent pricing of the world's biggest bond deal in the face of AB InBev's $45 billion issue, a blockbuster, with demand off the charts in every possible way. However, today's just concluded sale of $13 billion in 30 Year paper left quite bit to be desired.

• Advanced training in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or other related fields
• Extensive programming experience with strong object oriented design skills and fluency in C, C++, or Java
• Expertise with algorithms and data structures
• Demonstrated ability to communicate complex ideas in a clear, concise fashion
• Ability to thrive in a complex, fast-paced, and highly technical environment

Europe has voluntarily begun the process of giving up its liberal and hard-fought-for freedoms. Free speech no longer exists, only -- straight out of totalitarian ideologies -- "responsible" free speech: "free" only if it does not "offend" anyone. The desire of many Europeans and other self-declared devotees of "human rights" to cover up, downplay or explain away what is happening in Europe, in fact represents the opposite of respect for others and equality before the law.

Norway is in trouble. As we have detailed previously (here, here, here, and here), the world's largest sovereign wealth fund has begun liquidating assets (after its largest quarterly loss) as the nation faces recessionary fears (key data deterioration as oil stays lower for longer) with expectations building (despite denials by the central bank) that ZIRP (or even NIRP) is coming. Why? Simple - as the following real-time map shows - every one of Norway's oil fields are currently underwater!

Was today, the 2016 equivalent of Bullard's infamous October 2014 "QE4" market sticksave? We don't know, but we do know that there is an uncanny resemblance between the market's action before Bullard's October 2014 "QE4" comment... and the market over the past few weeks. But the real question is what happens next, and if October 2014 is any indication then we are in for a massive "rip your face off" rally.