SPY

Volume was dismal - aside from a massive surge in S&P 500 e-mini volumes as the combo Bernanke bluff and ECB bond-band-rumor hit the tape and exploded stocks up from two-week lows. A late-day attempt to close the S&P green for the week failed and the Dow ended with its first down week in seven weeks - and largest loss in nine weeks - despite a magnificent centrally-planned triple-digit gain today (+100.1pts!) Stocks were 'aided' by new cycle highs in HYG as it saw its best performance in a month - amid massive fund inflows and heavy issuance (notably outperforming credit spreads in CDS land). The shift in HYG does look like some convergence trading with SPY though  - after a month of flat-lining. Gold (and even more so Silver) were the week's big performers (up 3.35% and 9.25% respectively) even as the USD only lost 1.1%. Treasuries ended the week better by 9 to 14bps (considerably different from stocks relative performance). The week was characterized simply as stocks bouncing between QE-off (Treasury strength) and QE-on (USD weakness and Gold strength) - on de minimus volumes.

• Australian minister says resources boom is over (Reuters)
• China dismisses reports of lost gold reserves (China Daily) - so China really did lose 80 tons of gold.
• Inconceivable: Former JPM CEO and Chairman William B Harrison Jr come out "In Defense Of Big Banks"
• Qantas Cancels 787 Order After Posting Annual Net Loss (Bloomberg)
• EU Official Says Crisis is Eroding Influence (WSJ)
• Greece Faces New Pressure on Cuts (WSJ)
• Philippines' black market is China's golden connection (Reuters)
• Hollande government responds to criticism (FT)
• LG Display Starts Touch Screens Output Before New IPhone (Bloomberg)
• Greek Crisis Evasion to Fore as Merkel Hosts Hollande in Berlin (Bloomberg)
• Stakes rise as US warned of double-dip (FT)
• Brazil’s Richest Woman Unmasked With $13 Billion Fortune (Bloomberg)

I just finished reading Octopus by Guy Lawson, and it's one of those that fit the "I Couldn't Put It Down" category, much like Den of Thieves, published in 1992. It is the tale of Sam Israel, whom you may remember in 2006 was on the lam from his failed hedge fund/Ponzi scheme. He faked his suicide, was captured, and is now hanging out for the next couple of decades (with none other than Bernie Madoff) in a state prison named, of all things, Valhalla.

Why Do They Need So Much Ammunition?

VIX is nothing more than the market's implied 'factor' that makes the supply-demand of options prices fit with model-based parameters. In simple terms it measures the market's expectations for volatility (up or down moves - not just down) going forward. Empirically it has a relationship with realized volatility - how much the market actually moved up or down relative to what VIX expected - and professionals will use various 'scalping' techniques to lock in day-to-day gains from the difference between the market's actual movement and what options prices expected. To wit: the current expectations of central bank action, just as it did in 11/2011 (global CB action) and 1/2012 (LTRO1), has caused a slow steady leak higher in stocks which crushes realized volatility - currently at record lows. This in turn drags implied vol lower as the 'scalpers' sell vol to capture the difference. With September 'events' around the corner, we suspect there are only a few more days before realized vol picks up and implicitly implied vol momentum scalpers are squeezed out again (and despite a low absolute VIX, the market IS pricing for a pick-up in risk).

Today was the lowest volume in S&P 500 e-mini futures (for a non-holiday trading day) in, well, bloody years (and NYSE volume was as dire as Monday's). Today's ES range, under 9 points, was the lowest in the last eight days of low ranges and in fact the eight-day range has only been this low a few times in the last few years and all but one of those marked a significant top. The S&P wavered around unch for most of the day with a US day-session-open ramp, post weak-data that signaled bad-is-good buying in Gold and stocks. Treasuries kept on leaking higher in yield, now up 12-16bps on the week as the USD meandered around unch on the week - with EUR weakness pulling it also back to unch on the week. VIX limped lower by 0.25 vols to 14.6 (after touching unch) but we do note that VVIX (the implied vol of VIX) has been diverging higher in the last two days but it's getting kinda crazy when we are looking at compound options for any signal. HY credit underperformed once again - with a quite ugly flush into the close (on heavy volume).

Q2 hedge fund reporting season has come and gone. Below is a summary of the key funds, and who held what at the end of June.

The cash S&P 500 closed very modestly in the red - but tried its best into the end of the day-session to get green to make it seven-in-a-row. After-hours, amid heavier block size, S&P 500 e-mini futures (ES) pushed up to the overnight highs and tried to hold green but failed. NYSE volume plunged - almost unbelievably to be frank - to its lowest non-holiday-trading day volume in over a decade. Intraday ranges remain tiny and average trade size unremarkable as ES is still suffering from the post-Knight slashing in volume (down 45%!!). Are we witnessing Gross' death of equities?

It’s Not Terrorism When WE Do It ….

What's the point in commenting any more: when two discrete trades manage a nearly 1% cumulative roundtrip move in the entire market, all we can say is "good luck human" - the whale on the other side of "that" trade is far bigger than Bruno Iksil. And good luck when you need liquidity once the selling returns. The discount to the bid will be far, far more than the 5% it cost Knight to unwind its error book to Goldman.

Two volatility ETFs (VXX and UVXY) are having almost half of the trading volume in the world’s largest ETF (SPY). How come? On August 9, 2012, SPY had a trading range of 60bps. VXX offered 220bps, topped by UVXY with 440bps. Tiny moves in the equity market can be amplified by using volatility ETFs (not that I would endorse this). It’s leverage without leverage for the day trader.

A few things have been going on in the world of high yield credit recently. While the 'beta' to recent interest rate weakness is low (spread duration reduces any empirical sensitivity here), the relative weakness on high-yield bonds in the last few days has been quite notable for the oh-so-high-beta 'safety' of high-yield credit. And while technicals (flows) dominate, the illiquidity in the cash bond market remains dire for any size and the massive 530k block sale at VWAP last night makes us nervous.

For the last four days, HYG (the high-yield bond ETF) has seen a significant underperformance in the latter part of the day. As we noted yesterday, high yield bonds (and investment grade) are seeing the advance-decline line rolling over. Stocks stand notably expensive relative to high-yield credit once again and VIX smashed over 1 vol lower from its gap up open at 16.5% to end at near 5 month lows under 15.25% - its most discounted/complacent to realized vol in over six months. A weak 10Y auction spurred Treasuries to underperform - which helped pull S&P 500 e-mini futures (ES) risk higher (along with oil strength) but in general stocks and gold tracked one another loosely higher while the USD pushed conversely higher - ending the week so far unch. Cross-asset-class correlations drifted lower all day - with credit and carry FX listless while stocks/oil/Treasuries did their risk-thang (though oil tapered back to lows of the day by the close as Gold/Copper/Silver trod water. Three days of terrible volume, even worse average trade size, and the lowest range in five months suggests anyone serious has left the building and perhaps explains why stocks aren't following credit lower.

UPDATE: PCLN -12.5% AH (and DIS missed)

Admittedly slightly higher than yesterday's year-to-date lows in volume, today was not much better as S&P 500 e-mini futures (ES) pushed up over 1400, back to three month highs, on decent average trade size (following yesterday's low average trade size). Treasuries tracked stocks (higher in yield) but Gold and the USD disconnected (from stocks) into the US open and never really recovered. ES rolled off its highs late on and reverted perfectly to VWAP once again and rather coincidentally the 'correction' occurred just as ES priced in Gold hit the year's highs (which intriguingly is a critical cliff's edge level from a year ago). Oil's surge (and Treasury's weakness) were the main risk drivers which pushed CONTEXT to lead stocks higher as FX, credit, and PMs trod water largely. Interestingly, in ETF-land, our capital structure models were flashing red with HYG down notably and credit underperforming broadly, along with VIX (and VXX having an outside up-close day) not playing along with the rally. With VIX bouncing off 4-month lows, closing back over 16% (and up on the day), the pull to VWAP into the close on decent average trade size, the plunge in short-interest, and the underperformance broadly of credit markets (especially the ever-reliable-for-a-pump-job HYG); we'd be a little nervous up here (especially after Europe's sovereign and credit weakness today).

Exactly one year ago, the short-interest in SPY (the S&P 500 ETF) reached epic heights at over 536mm shares. At the same time, short-interest in QQQ (the Nasdaq ETF) also short-term peaked at over 116mm shares short. While QQQ has seen a gentle drift lower in general (somewhat reflective of trading volumes in the last few years), since July of last year SPY has seen a 62% drop in short-interest and QQQ 59%. QQQ short-interest is now its lowest since October 2000 and SPY short-interest its equal lowest since October 2007 and so ammunition for charging this market higher seems to be running out. This is even more highlighted by the 45% and 30% plunge in QQQ and SPY short-interest in the last six weeks alone.