Jim Cramer

There's always 'hope' but nothing ever changes...

This is your Federal Reserve on drugs...

For 5 years the correlation between the expansion of the Federal Reserve's balance sheet and the growth of the S&P 500 has risen dramatically. Since QE3 was unveiled, the correlation is converging on 1 which of course is just happy coincidence and nothing to do with the free and easy flow of liquidity that month after month of Fed largesse has created. The problem is we now know that the hurdles to a Fed un-Taper are very high and so we can extrapolate the end-point for the Fed's balance sheet and where stocks would trade at that point. The S&P 500's recent exuberance has priced in the total expansion of the Fed's balance sheet to the end of the taper, so how much more upside is there?

"It's a record!" No not the S&P 500 - the total and utter lack of fear in the marketplace... Adding up Bearish AAII professionals, those who believe a Correction is coming, and the VIX; we have never (ever) been more complacent about stocks. Seems like the Fed's communications policy (about complacency being a concern) is not working...

While stocks make higher highs and investors shrug at recent housing data weakness (because, well it must be the weather, right?), it appears there is one rather important factor that every one missing... Unless houses are now being made of stock certificates, Lumber prices have fallen for the last 21 days and stand at 10-month lows... suggesting real demand for the most basic building material in America is non-existent.

Monetary policy is diverging in the two largest economies, a trend that is set to shape funding markets for years to come. Before long, these divergent fortunes are bound to lead to large differences in policy. One might expect that movements in financial markets would reflect these expectations. However, so far, by and large, they have not. To my mind, investors should prepare for more volatility this year. A tightening in US monetary policy always causes fallout. This time will be no different. In fact, it may be worse, since the tightening starts from extremely expansionary territory.

In the immortal words of Cher - "Do you believe in life after QE; I can feel something inside me say, "I really don't think you're strong enough, Now."

One supremely smart CNBC talking head summed it all up, "today's negative GDP number was excellent news," and sure enough, thanks to someone's multi-billion-dollar bid at the all-time-highs mid-afternoon, we went to the moon, Alice. Trannies are on target for their best month since October (+5.7%). The dash-for-trash has a new life as "most shorted" have now risen 6 days in a row - the biggest squeeze in over 3 months. This all happened as bonds rallied (though yields rose modestly on the day), VIX rose, USDJPY would not play along and aside from the spike in volume, on a total lack of liquidity. Gold and silver were monkey-hammered early on but limped back off their lows as WTI crude rallied from the GDP print on. The S&P 500 is now only 30 points short of Goldman Sachs June 2015 target.

Wednesday is not Tuesday (except for Trannies). Some early weakness in stocks was bid mindlessly back to its highs even as 10Y bond yields kept tumbling to 11-month lows and oil and copper rolled over. VIX ended the day higher (again) ignoring the exuberance in the light volume equity market. 10Y yields dropped to 2.43% - its best day in 5 months (breaking last October's key support). The yield curve flattened dramatically with 2s30s at its tightest in a year. The USD was bid (led by GBP weakness) buy JPY's volatility is what ran the stock show today. Gold and silver fell further as did WTI crude (back under $103). The S&P 500 is now around 60 points rich to 10Y bond yields (and the world is still short bonds); credit spreads are well off their tights and VIX isn't falling; breadth is weakening and so is volume... but apart from that... BTFATH. A late-day selling frenzy took the shine off the CNBC headlines with stocks closing red.

Despite the constant clamor of money-on-the-sidelines (which Cliff Asness has summarily dismissed as being idiotic) and strength in US equity markets being 'the most unloved rally of all time', the following two charts suggest people are anything but unimpressed by it. Citi's Panic/Euphoria sentiment model has hovered in the clearly "euphoric" levels for a month and now the AAII Bull/Bear split is back near exuberant highs. Of course, as we noted yesterday, the real strength behind stocks is the incessant non-economic irrational and indiscriminate mystery buyer - corporate buybacks - that are creating their own mal-investment signaling exuberance in the always efficient stock 'markets'.

The 2 words "collapsing" and "unsustainable" do not conjure images of confidence-inspiring animal spirits or all-time highs in stocks... and yet European earnings expectations have utterly collapsed from their exuberant early year levels and the gap between earnings growth in the US and revenues tumbling is entirely unsustainable. But then - none of this 'fundamental' malarkey matters: we've got the Fed 'put' and the Draghi 'promise'.

Inevitability...

Just a matter of time...

It began with JPY technicals and peripheral European weakness then US Retail earnings started it, Plosser extended it (rate hike sooner), then Dudley slammed it (terminal rate lower than normal)... Turbo Tuesday became Terrible Tuesday - only saved by the apparent BTFWWIII effort after Russia test-fired ICBMs. This was still the worst Tuesday for the Dow in 7 months. Despite the best effort of someone to lift VIX amid the turmoil and rescue stocks, things ended red and ugly for the Russell. USDJPY clung keenly to its 200DMA around 101.25 but stocks were manacled to bond yields on the day. Stocks crumbled back to credit markets un-exuberance from yesterday. Gold and silver recovered from an early slamdown to close higher as the USD trod water... and volume was above average.

USDJPY has broken below its 200-day moving-average at 101.25 and is trading back to almost 6-month lows this morning ahead of this evening's BoJ meeting (which is largely expected now not to provide the additional QQE that everyone hoped for earlier in the exuberant year). The Nikkei is tumbling right along side it... as are US equities... and US Treasury bond yields...