Copper

Despite miraculous efforts to find the right fulcrum security to pressure stocks into the green for the day, equities end the day notably in the red after cracking (once again on heavy volume and large average trade size) into the close. Reverting as usual back to VWAP, the market was typically manic today with two significant QE-on pushes (Treasury yields lower as Stocks/Gold rallied with USD weakness) after the better-than-expected 30Y auction ended badly for stocks as it reverted rapidly back down to bond's reality into the close. Once again very close to record low yields in Treasuries - with 30Y yield down over 10bps on the week. Initial bids under Silver (which reverted up to perfectly sync with Copper on the week) and then WTI (over $86, post further sanctions) provided some correlated excitement for stocks but it was clear once again that the low volume liftathon was an exit opportunity for bigger players with financials and tech notably underperforming. Average volume and average trade size on the day in aggregate but the European close rally monkey just ran out of steam as 'size' stepped in to move ES down to its 50DMA and the Dow near its 200DMA to ends it sixth down day in a row.

Can’t keep count of EGB all-time lows anymore: let’s simplify by saying that the whole non-Peripherals EGB universe up to 5 YRS has traded new all-time lows today. Under pressure… 

Normal. 7bps instaswings in 10Y Treasury yields and 10 point S&P 500 e-mini futures (ES) dips and rips makes perfect sense. In a desperate bid to get back to VWAP and to hold off a fifth day of red closes in the cash S&P 500 (most in two months), equities were ramped up into the green in the last few minutes of the day only to be sold into hard (on heavier volume and larger average trade size) ending the day down 0.02 points at 1341.45. Quite a day as the 10Y auction and FOMC minutes made for a tempest in a teapot close to close (but cardiac arrests for many intraday). HYG (the high-yield bond ETF) was outperforming most of the day and provided the 'target' for the ramp at the end of the day as VXX dumped (thanks to a more-than 1 vol snap lower in VIX - sell that short-dated vol!!!) and TLT was stable. Oil's surge (inventories) accelerated as the USD leaked lower after its post-FOMC spike and Gold/Silver/Copper all pushed higher also. We can only assume that the post-FOMC drop of around 10pts in the S&P 500 was what many investors believe is enough to prompt swift action by the Fed to NEW QE - though between Oil's move and Treasury yields rising post the the auction (and more post FOMC), broad risk assets actually signal a slightly higher ES - though we suspect the utter collapse in cross-asset-class correlations is the signal that coordinated QE hopes are indeed fading and that the algos late-day reaction (rip) to Treasuries will be recalibrated to new reality soon enough. Cash S&P 500 ended up bouncing off its 50DMA and while ES ended the day +1.25pts, VIX dropped a much higher beta 0.75vols to close just below 18% - wth Treasury yields up 1-2bps by the close.

Continuous Spain running ahead , dragging Italy. Micro movements in equities and FX in total pip for tick sync.

Anticipating another leg-down in commodities (and mining stocks) before sufficient stress emerges in markets to force a decisive policy response - which will create an attractive buying opportunity - UBS joins our ranks of the anti-reflexive NEW QE front-running 'small-crowd'. Laying out five clear signals that keep them cautious: Equity valuations remain well above the October 2011 lows; Positioning is short in base metals and less long in oil and gold – improving this contrarian signal; China’s policy stance is not sufficiently stimulative to trigger restocking, and we see structural declines in commodity intensity there; and, Europe and emerging markets are in the early stages of destocking, with no stocking due in the US; UBS believes that investors will buy gold and gold equities early this cycle - correctly suggesting that it is right to move just ahead of the broader investor community, and buy gold and gold equities now. Clearly, buying gold early into a downturn carries greater risks and will be volatile – consequently, they advise investors wishing to go long gold and gold equities to hold a short or underweight copper and copper equity position against it. Interestingly within industrial commodities, they also like being long oil and short copper on a 3-year view.

A lack of transparency, a lack of enforcement of law and a compliant media which failed to ask the hard questions and do basic investigative journalism led to the price fixing continuing and the manipulation continuing unchecked on such a wide scale for so long - until it was exposed recently. Similarly, the gold market has the appearance of a market that is a victim of “financial repression”. Given the degree of risk in the world – it is arguable that gold prices should have surged in recent months and should be at much higher levels today. The gold market has all the hallmarks of Libor manipulation but as usual all evidence is ignored until official sources acknowlege the truth. However, like LIBOR the gold manipulation 'conspiracy theory' is likely to soon become conspiracy fact.  It will then – belatedly - become accepted wisdom among 'experts.'  Experts who had never acknowledged it, failed to research and comment on it or had simply dismissed it as a “goldbug accusation.”  Financial repression means that most markets are manipulated today - especially bond and foreign exchange markets.

After surging away from risk-assets into Friday's close (only to revert yesterday) and once again surging into yesterday's close, broad derisking among most risk-assets finally saw US equities catching-down to that reality in the short-term today - as they broke the EU-Summit/Spain-Bailout/Greek-Election shoulder and ended comfortably below the 50DMA. Short-end Treasury yields made new record lows as belly to long-end all fell notably close to those record lows (with 10Y back under 1.50% and 30Y under 2.60%). The USD rallied back from a 0.3% loss on the week to a 0.1% gain - thanks mostly to EUR's new 2Y low at 1.2235 intraday and AUD weakness (as JPY remains better on the week - more carry unwinds). Commodities plunged - far exceeding the USD-implied moves - with WTI down over 3% from yesterday's highs and Gold and Silver in sync down around 1% on the week. Staples and Utilities were the only sectors holding green today (marginally) as Industrials, Materials, and Energy (all the high beta QE-sensitive sectors) took a dive. It seems the message that no NEW QE without a market plunge is getting through and the reality of a global slowdown looms large. Credit outperformed (though was very quiet flow-wise) but HYG underperformed  - cracking into the close - as it just seems like the most yield-chasing 'technicals-driven' market there is currently. Slightly below average volume and above average trade size offers little insight here but a pop back above 19% in VIX (and a 2-month flat in term structure), a rise in implied correlation, a rise in systemic cross-asset class correlation, and the leaking negatives of broad risk assets suggest there is more to come here (especially given the BUBA's comments this morning and a lack of real progress in Europe). The ubiquitous late-day ramp saw aggressive trade size and volume (with a delta bias to selling) as it remained far below VWAP.

Hmmm… Should we be impressed?

Copper is sometimes referred to as "Dr. Copper," because the metal is used in so many industrial applications and is essential for many different sectors of the economy, from infrastructure to housing to consumer electronics. That usually makes its price action a good indicator of the state of the global economy. Between China's stockpiles, slowing demand, and output of copper products expected to slow; and Europe's market 'expected to be dead' for the rest of the year, Casey Research's Louis James is bearish economically near-term and bearish on Dr. Copper - preferring instead to build a shopping list of good contrarian picks for when the economic situation doesn't look so dire.

Not much going. Markets treading water in sync. Going RN, simply on lower levels. The calm before the Storm?

Minor data week, which will leave market action subject to jitters and rumours, technicals and charts. Tricky auctions of the week will be the one for EUR 8bn Italian bills on Thu and Italian 3 YRS to close the week on a Friday 13th (amount still open; were EUR 3bn 3s and 1.5bn 7 and 8 –year bonds last month). One will bear in mind that the holiday season, which slowly but surely starts to kick in, will further diminish what’s left of liquidity, exacerbating any given move.

So where does this leave us, knowing that despite all the exuberant highs and depressed lows, we had ended the previous week pretty much in unchanged matter?

Well, after a 10-day period that had not one but 2 bail-outs announced, a EU summit that initially seemed to good to be true, results-wise, and then ended up just being that, and a triplet of Central Bank cuts cum QE supportive measures, things don’t look much better…

Central Banks came, stood and delivered… just not much more, although the (nightly) POBC cut (1 YRS by 31 to 6% and deposits by 25bp to 3%) had not really been foreseen. Second Chinese cut in as many month, the last one having been on 07 Jun (as well just ahead of the ECB meeting, then by 25 basis points to 3.25% and 6.31%). The Chinese move was good for a small uptick, rapidly squashed by the European serving.

ECB quarter cut and BoE GBP 50bn additional QE to GBP 375bn both already in the valuation ramp-out of late.

Hmmm… Non-event.

Then came the ECB press conference…

With the US closed, the afternoon simply dragged on with a light ROff feeling as the Periphery drifted slowly wider, France on stand-still and the Core squeezed tighter. Credit weaker with Financials giving back yesterday’s gains and more. Sudden change of mind in equities, paring morning losses loss ahead of tomorrow in very low volume.

Nothing strong, nor concrete, nor very firm, but Core EZ unease with the ESM discussions of last week, as seen by the South, is just seeping through. Opposition parties, Central Bankers, junior government partners, constitutional issues in the Northern part all seem via titbits and comments ready to sand in some of the discussions or to delay the processes. Give it another 2 weeks and everyone will have gone on holiday (despite the ECOFIN claiming to remain on stand-by).

Closing in unconvinced ROff mode and treading water ahead of tomorrow’s Spanish auction, ECB / BOE meetings and US claims numbers. EUR ticking down to low 25s Yet another not especially inspirational day to write about. Libor-gate turning into mudslinging contest, with possible further fall-outs on the industry.

Negative interest rates continue to penalise pensioners and savers in European countries and this will lead to further diversification into gold. Financial markets are already starting to wonder about the solidity of last week's summit measures to tackle the euro zone crisis and soon they may question whether even looser monetary policies will help prevent recessions and sovereign defaults. With Independence Day today (Happy July 4th to all our American followers, clients and friends), the ECB decision tomorrow and NFP on Friday, trading should be quite today but as we know illiquid markets can lead to outsized market moves. We tend to try and avoid predictions in GoldCore as the future is largely unknowable and there are so many variables that drive market action that it is nigh impossible to predict the future price of any asset class. However, our opinion has long been that over the long term all fiat currencies will depreciate and devalue against the finite currency that is gold. For this reason we have long held that gold would reach its inflation adjusted high of $2,400/oz and silver its inflation adjusted high at $140/oz and the equivalent in euros, pounds and other fiat currencies. Gold at just over $1,600/oz today remains 33% below its record nominal high in 1980. Silver at just over $28/oz today remains 80% below its record nominal high in 1980. However, we have tended to focus on the important diversification, store of value and safe haven benefits of owning physical gold (and silver) bullion.

Closing in unconvinced ROn mode. European equities taking their final lead from US peers. Peripherals pushing just the last basis points tighter. Note that these curves are finally steepening through renewed short end strength with both 2-3 YRS area down 20bp on the day. On the other hand, Core EGBs have not been driven into the wall, as one could have expected in full ROn modus. German 2 / 5 / 10s about unchanged from Friday.

Tug of war between wary optimists and tired pessimists? Glass half full or empty? Dusty diamonds, anyone?

Not a highly inspirational day to write about. Reduced volatility and very range-bound. Lack of real news flow. Action more in the financial people press, as it stands. And in EUR New Issues, as borrowers have come to learn that windows of opportunity, when seeing one, should be used. Knowing, too, that new issues will grind to an end probably as of the end of next week. Hence, EUR 7.5bn senior bank debt served in 2 days. Ce qui est pris n’est plus à prendre…