Succinctly summarizing the positive and negative news, data, and market events of the week...
Positives
- Spanish spreads ignore reality, continue to compress [10]
- March new home sales beat expectations (average prices plunge [11])
- Apple to 'return' billions to shareholders [12] (and continue to avoid paying taxes)
- UK avoided a triple dip recession (for now)
- Gold begins to retrace [13] its ugly plunge
- BTFD! Central banks admit they're purchasing stocks [14] – quite bullish for those trading on momentum & pretending it's fundamentals
- Initial Jobless Claims beats expectations
- Oil surges [15] most in five months
- EuroStoxx 600 surging [16] (your textbook 'all news is good news' market hypothesis)
- SBUX hits Q2 estimates, (lowers Q3 guidance)
- UMich Consumer Sentiment beats expectations (but dropped and languishes at the same level as a year ago [17])
Negatives
- Chinese & German PMI's disappoint [18]
- US Mint halts sales of gold bullion, as surging demand depletes inventory [19] (negative for those who pretend paper gold is the same as physical)
- The tweet [20] heard 'round the world -- See one tweet make market liquidity completely disappear [21]
- US business cycle index plunges most in 22 months [22], equities ignore
- There's a slideshow for that: CNBC viewership surges plunges to eight year lows [23]
- Unpossible: Countries ramp up fx reserve diversification [24] (away from the USD)
- March durable goods numbers are hideous [25], equities love it
- Europe’s bank lending plummets [26]
- Bundesbank rejects OMT (potentially ruining Draghi’s ESM party [27])
- The ‘fringe’ would like to know: What's happening with JP Morgan's gold [28]?
- Syrian chemical weapons – ‘incursion’ imminent? [29]
- Spain worst unemployment ever [30], slashes growth forecast and will miss deficit target [31]
- US GDP misses expectations [32]
Additional
- YTD Hedge Fund performance update [33]
- A visual history of asset bubbles [34]
- Corzine finally named in lawsuit regarding firm's collapse [35]
- 220 years of treasury yields [36]
- Surprise: Congress is trying to exempt themselves from Obamacare [37]
- Do not panic: CBOE goes offline for a while [38]
(h/t @ZH_Crown)