NASDAQ

Thank to Boeing's 'recovery' - since there was no fire today - the Dow gained 20 points (of which 29 points were Boeing). The S&P managed new closing all-time highs on the lowest non-holiday volume day of the year. Bonds were well bid early in following the bad-is-better retail sales print (-7bps from early high yields). Commodities were leaking lower into the early macro data but as soon as it was confirmed that the US consumer is tapped out - gold, silver, copper, and WTI all started to surge higher. Homebuilders notably underperformed, Utilities significantly outperformed with the rest treading water. Early USD strength (on ripping JPY weakness) was removed rapidly following the 'yes, the US economy is dismal' confirming data and the slide continued all day - leaving the USD practically unchanged by the close. This is the 14th up-day in a row for the Nasdaq (longest streak since May 1990), the Russell is over 15% above its 200DMA (a multi-year record), and volume has cratered in the last 14 days.

Bonds and silver ended the day lower, gold and stocks unch, and WTI crude (and RBOB - back over $3.00) notably higher. While the Nasdaq, Russell, and Trannies are comfortably above the FOMC meeting levels (from 6/19), the Dow and S&P struggled to hold it into the close after the extreme swings that the FOMC minutes dragged through the markets. Maria B might say 'off the lows', others may say 'off the highs', but it seems the machines had it all under control as the S&P 500 closed at VWAP (amid the total lack of clarity that the minutes provided). Financials underperformed (but remain green from FOMC 6/19) along with energy - as Brent-WTI was crushed to below $2, historically average around $1.

Anyone who followed today's trading action with a very distinct sense of summer of 2008 deja vu dread, where soaring crude led to just one thing, soaring stocks, they are forgiven, because this is precisely how one can summarize today's action. In a day devoid of any news (except for the JOLTS survey of course, which confirmed the gaming of NFP payroll numbers), in which bonds did absolutely nothing, with the 10 Year trading in a very tight range just shy of 2.65%, it was all about low-volume levitating equities and the energy complex.

The U.S. economy weakened appreciably in the first quarter of 2013. But what if this weakness persists into the second quarter just completed, and worsens still in the second half of this year? Q1 GDP, as reported on June 26th, was revised lower to just 1.8%. And various indications suggest that Q2 could come in slightly lower still, at 1.6%. Might the U.S. economy be guiding to a long-term GDP of 1.5%? That’s the rate identified by such observers as Jeremy Grantham – the rate at which we combine aging demographics, lower fertility rates, high resource costs, and the burdensome legacy of debt. After a four-year reflationary rally in just about everything, and now with an emerging interest rate shock, the second half of 2013 appears to have more downside risk than upside. Have global stock markets started to discount this possibility?

Following Friday's ugliness in bond-land, today saw the Treasury market's best day in around 13 months as UST are starting to look a lot like JGBs in terms of volatility regime - which really won't help collateral. Gold and silver also had a positive day (both up around 1.1%) as the USD leaked 0.3% lower (led by a surging AUD that recovered a lot of Friday's gap-down losses). The Nasdaq underperformed on the day (as AAPL tumbled 3% from pre-open highs) but remains in the green (just) post-FOMC while the Dow, S&P, and Trannies are all holding red post-FOMC. Discretionary and Financials are now in the green post-FOMC as Builders continue their open-high-close-low regime (now down 7% from FOMC). WTI trod water around $103. Credit markets modestly outperformed on the day but remain significantly below pre-FOMC levels as stocks have almost regained it and VIX slid back to its lowest in 6 weeks (under 15%) though slipped higher from the open today.

Congress wanted to know what would happen if such a “glitch” ate a hole in the balance sheet of a Too Big to Fail bank? The answer: yet another round of tax-payer bailouts.

There was more. BATS, Facebook, and Knight were just the three most prominent computer glitches of the year. Outsiders were realizing what the insiders had known for years: The U.S. stock market was plagued with glitches that happened on a daily basis, and not just in stocks. Markets for commodities, bonds, and currencies all had their fair share of computer-driven mishaps. Increasingly, investors were wondering not only if the market was rigged, but whether it was completely broken. Indeed, the trade publication Traders Magazine called 2012 “The Year of the Glitch.”

The market remains confused. The better-than-expected headline jobs data prompted USD strength (Taper-on), gold/silver weakness (Taper-on), Homebuilder stocks drop (Taper-on), Bond yields surge (Taper-on), and credit market widening (Taper-on); but the good-old trusty US equity market was not having any of that. After dumping 25 points from its post-NFP highs, S&P 500 futures gapped and jerked up to VWAP, ran stops at the highs of the day, dropped back to VWAP, then surged into the close. The Dow ended up 150 points. Treasury yields rose the most in 2 years - an impressive 22bps. Despite a late surge, high-yield bonds had their worst day in 2 weeks. Gold and silver down 2.3% and 3.5% respectively and copper dumped 3.2% (not exactly the growth-exhibiting factor that everyone suggests is driving stocks up and bonds down). Meanwhile, WTI topped $103 for its highest close in 14 months.

Uncertainty over global oil supply chain amid a 'tanks on the street' and a coup in Egypt, no worries. Portugal increasingly prone to testing Draghi's OMT 'promise' as Cabinet collapses, don't sweat it. US growth implications terrible given trade balance and ISM services, all good. It appears to us like US equity market algos were not told that today is a half-day as they progressed with the BTFD ramp in the first half after some serious declines early on.

• Portuguese bond yields soar amid political turmoil (FT)
• Portugal Resignation Rocks European Markets (WSJ)
• Portugal, Greece risk reawakening euro zone beast (Reuters)
• Egypt’s military chiefs hold crisis meeting as Mursi snubs ultimatum (Al Arabiya)
• Egypt Crisis Deepens as Mursi Refuses to Step Down (BBG)
• Hidden microphone found in London embassy: Ecuador (AFP)
• Health Law Penalties Delayed (WSJ)
• Rise in mortgage rates cut into homebuyer demand last week (Reuters)
• Bolivia angered by search of president's plane, no sign of Snowden (Reuters)
• Olympus ex-chairman gets suspended sentence (FT)

A wicked web of deceit, with just a good measure of theft and forgery thrown in for old time’s sake! Most of the time when we read about history, the biggest this or the fastest that related to the stock exchange it’s (so we are told) so that we don’t make the same mistakes twice and then some bull gets spun about how we need to learn from our mistakes

Barry Ritholtz is convinced that once the current short-term bounce is over with, the recent cyclical bear market in gold will resume. The reality is of course that neither Mr. Ritholtz, nor anyone else actually knows the future. Therefore, he cannot know whether the bear market is or isn't over. However, judging from the remainder of his post, he actually seems to think that the secular bull market in gold is over. In our opinion there is no evidence for that, and we will explain below why we think that he and others in the  long term bear camp are wrong. Further below is the evidence marshaled by Mr. Ritholtz (actually, apart from the technical analysis he provides, it isn't really evidence at all – it reads like an unsupported opinion). Sure enough, gold has no yield, no conference calls, and no income statements (paraphrasing Jim Grant). That is actually the beauty of it. But that does not mean it 'has no fundamentals', nor does it means that it 'cannot be an investment'. We comment on his article (and its errors) further below.

With a 180 point high to low plunge during the day, the Dow underperformed the rest of the major US equity indices which ended practically unchanged on the day. The market appears to be replaying the same opening POMO/EU pump to afternoon dump mode - with today's late-day ramp attempt to scramble back to VWAP. Treasury yields also oscillated but closed +/-1bps. But elsewhere, markets were turmoiling. The USD is up 0.5% on the week with 1.5% drop in JPY today which entirely disconnected from US equities after Europe closed. Credit markets were the voice of reason and equities (once again) ripped and dipped back to their sanity. WTI crude surged up near $100 (+3% on the week) as the USD weighed on gold and silver which are -0.6% and 1.6% on the week. Another day, another failure for the S&P's 50DMA.

The volatility of recent weeks is but a mere small taste of the volatility in store for all markets in the coming months and years. The global debt crisis is likely to continue for the rest of the decade as politicians and central bankers have merely delayed the day of reckoning. They have ensured that when the day of reckoning comes it will be even more painful and costly then it would have been previously.

We appeared to go from good is good (but the underlying macro data this morning also provided some bad is good news) to good is bad by the close. The Discretionary sector almost reached back to unchanged from the FOMC statement but that appeared to be the short-term-top as it faded back by the close. Interestingly with bonds rallying notably from overnight high yields, bond-like stocks actually suffered today (great un-rotation?). Credit markets were entirely unimpressed by the early excitement in stocks and as we entered the last hour stocks began to sink and credit rally for the divergence. Gold and Silver diverged this afternoon with the yellow metal holding gains and coupling with WTI for a 1.5% gain on the day (and gold's best 2 days in over 4 years) while Silver slipped this afternoon to end -0.3%. The USD slow-leaked all day (-0.2%) amid AUD strength and modest JPY weakness (that provided some support for risk-assets early on). Volume was awful - around 30% below average. VIX fell on the day but rose notably more than stocks would imply into the close as hedgers grabbed on but stocks were sold as the Egyptian situation escalated.

Gold has gone down Friday to under $1, 200 an ounce and that means it’s reached its lowest point for the past three years. Worse than that: it’s been the worst quarterly performance for gold for 45 years!