Apple

Meet SuperFish - Lenovo's, the world's largest computer manufacturer, pre-installed, image recognizing tracking software that monitors everything you do, and breaches web security... all for the purpose of pushing more ads in your face. After its initial approach of being completely unapologetic and dismissal, Lenovo is now groveling for forgiveness. The company’s Chief Technology Officer now says, “We messed up badly here,” and “We made a mistake.”

Remember: any time Goldman tells you to do something, do what it does, not what it tells you (thank you Tom Stolper for teaching us that lesson) and as the case may be, Goldman's prop, pardon, flow (because those are illegal under Volcker wink wink) traders have some AAPL shares to sell to you, to wit: "We increase our 12-month target price to $145 from $130 previously which is based on a 16X (up from 15X reflecting our increased confidence in Apple’s outlook) multiple applied to our CY2015 EPS estimate of $9.03 ($8.64 previously)."

• Greece Should Not Give In to Germany’s Bullying (FP)
• Greece Can Pay Its Debts in Full, but It Won’t (WSJ)
• Early Friday humor: Euro Region Economy Strengthens Amid Wrangling on Greece  (BBG)
• Euro zone may need extra summit to clinch Greek deal (Reuters)
• Oil-Drop Pain Spreads to Saudi Arabia’s Energy Behemoth (WSJ)
• Yellen Confronts Economists’ Ignorance (BBG) - where does one even start with this one
• ECB Plans to Push Greek Banks to Shed State Debt If Talks Fail (BBG)

"Using Bitcoin is an effete act of rebellion, a weak signifier of resistance like wearing a hoodie or getting a tattoo that’s well covered by your work clothes. Bitcoin is fashion, more than a fad but less than lasting." Strong words. Let’s dig in.

But guess what? It's really, really, really different this time! In this one short post, there's more than enough indisputable evidence of a bubble than anyone can justifiably ignore.

• Greece requests euro zone loan extension, offers big concessions (Reuters)
• Germany Rejects Loan Request Saying Greece Must Meet Conditions (BBG)
• Did the Fed Just Enter the Currency Wars (BBG)
• French consumer prices fall for first time since 2009 (Reuters)
• Oil falls sharply after U.S. crude inventories rise (Reuters)
• High-Speed Firm Virtu Revives IPO Plans (WSJ)
• Fed Tiptoes Into Rate-Hike Debate (Hilsenrath)
• Rajoy’s Nemesis Is Back: Anti-Graft Editor Targets Vote (BBG)

The arrogant European Union has seriously overplayed its hand and now is no longer certain exactly who is the fool still seated at the table.

At the start of Q4 2014, Appaloosa's David Tepper made a series of statements - dismissing Bill Gross as irrelevant (nope - turmoil caused by PIMCO unwinds roiled credit markets), calling the end of the bond bull market (nope - yields went on make lower and lower lows), and finally proclaiming that stocks were inexpensive and multiples not high. So, one wonders, if stocks were inexpensive and multiples not high, why did Appaloosa dump 40% of its US equity exposure in that quarter (only to end the quarter with even more exuberance proclaiming that stocks could rise another 10% in 2015)? It appears that when David Tepper says "buy", he means "buy... from me."

• Markets From Stocks to Debt to Euro Show Little No Panic (BBG)
• Greek Euro Exit Risk Increases as EU Delivers Ultimatum (BBG)
• Oil rises to $62, near 2015 high as Mideast risks support (Reuters)
• Texas judge blocks Obama plan to protect undocumented immigrants (Reuters)
• Oil Train Derails and Ignites Forcing West Virginia Evacuations (BBG)
• Battle rages for town where Ukraine rebels reject ceasefire (BBG)
• Chinese Firms Tiptoe Back Into Europe’s Battered Financial Sector (WSJ)
• Putin’s Paradise Becomes Economic No-Go Zone Where Cash Is King (BBG)
• Emerging fund managers stuck in buy-and-hold as trading shrivels (Reuters)

MMT: Monetizing Muppet Trades. This one made good money!

With only 37% of the public believing that genetically-modified foods are 'safe', The Arctic apple - which resists browning when cut open or sliced - faces an uphill battle for 'success'. But as WSJ reports, the non-browing trait makes it particularly attractive for restaurants, grocery stores, airlines and other companies that offer pre-sliced fruit, and since The Agriculture Department on Friday approved it as the first genetically modified apple for sale in the U.S., the debate over the safety (and labelling) of modified foods reignites. While "getting the consumer to buy in to the product has to be the priority," notes Okanagan, environmentalists warn "there is no place in the U.S. or global market for genetically engineered apples."

Roger Bliss runs Roger Bliss and Associates Equities, LLC, which is supposedly an "investment club" and has had tremendous success day-trading Apple stock, achieving annual returns for his investors of between 100 to 300%. Bliss tells investors he has never had a trading day in which he has lost money in the past six years. Bliss claims to be managing in excess of$300 million of which approximately $260 million is his own equity in the fund. Bliss also claims there is no risk for investors as he indemnifies them against the loss of their principal. There is only one problem: it is all nothing but one non-stop, epic lie.

Bell Curves have become fatter and flatter. They may even be inverted. The term “bell curve” comes from the shape of the curve that depicts all occurrences distributed around the most-probable event. Data points in the ‘tails’ are now more frequent. Hyper-active central banks might be ensuring both a melt-up bubble and a market crash: larger ‘right-tail’ and ‘left-tail’ outcomes.

As reported earlier, today Obama will unleash his latest executive order, one which will set the stage for "information sharing and analysis organizations" (ISAOs) - or, in political jargon "hubs where companies share cyber threat data with each other and with the Department of Homeland Security."  In regular parlance, what Obama will do is merely codify the second coming of the Patriot Act. Click here to make it easier for the NSA watch you watch the president.