CSCO

• Obama's Counsel Was Told of IRS Audit Findings Weeks Ago (WSJ)
• North Korea fires sixth missile in three days (Reuters)
• Enron No Lesson to Traders as EU Probes Oil-Price Manipulation (BBG)
• Don't cry for me, Eurozone: Thinking the Unthinkable - Quitting a Currency (WSJ)
• H-1B Models Strut Into U.S. as Programmers Pray for Help (BBG)
• Gold Bear Bets Reach Record as Soros Cuts Holdings (BBG)
• Yahoo has agreed to pay $1.1 billion for Tumblr (WSJ)
• JPMorgan Holders Led by Chairmen-CEOs to Vote on Dimon (BBG)
• Apple faces grilling over US tax rate (FT)
• Nissan to Sell First Joint Minicar to Expand in Japan Market (BBG)
• Fierce battle for corporate loans sparks US bank risk concerns (FT)
• Microsoft Updates Xbox as Apple to Facebook Gain in Games (BBG)

• As scandals mount, White House springs into damage control (Reuters)
• Glencore Xstrata chairman ousted in surprise coup (Reuters), former BP CEO Tony Hayward appointed as interim chairman (WSJ)
• JPMorgan Chase asks Bloomberg for data records (Telegraph)
• Platts Retains Energy Trader Confidence Amid Price-Fix Probe (BBG)
• Syrian Internet service comes back online (PCWorld)
• Japan Q1 growth hits 3.5% on Abe impact although fall in business investment clouds optimism for recovery (FT)
• Soros Joins Gold-Stake Cuts Before Bear Market Drop (BBG)
• Factory Ceiling Collapses in Cambodia (WSJ)
• Sony’s $100 Billion Lost Decade Supports Loeb Breakup (BBG)
• Snags await favourite for Federal Reserve job (FT)
• James Bond’s Pinewood Turned Down on $300 Million Plan (BBG)

• Hilsenrath: A Top Contender at the Fed Faces Test Over Easy Money (WSJ)
• Yen drops further as G7 avoids criticizing Japan (Reuters)
• Markets missed Flaherty’s clues on next Bank of Canada chief (G&M)
• Republicans turn screws over Tea Party tax probes (FT)
• Dual-track Libor replacement lined up (FT)
• Risks to China recovery seen as factory output underwhelms (Reuters)
• Barack Obama’s goal of universal healthcare could be set back significantly by Texas Governor Rick Perry (FT)
• Gold Bears Pull $20.8 Billion as BlackRock Says Buy (BBG)
• Mexico sets shelters as volcano shakes, spews ash (AP)
• Europe Eases Corporate Tax Dodge as Worker Burdens Rise (BBG)
• IPOs Set to Raise Most Cash Since Crisis (WSJ)
• Melting Ice Opens Fight Over Sea Routes for Arctic Debate (BBG)
• Top hedge funds bet on Greek banks (FT)
• Icahn Asks Investors to Make Big Bet on a Debt-Laden Dell (BBG)

It may be that a larger correction is in order given that some important global powers are struggling. Money printing by itself isn’t cure-all for what ails us.

Friday not much is happening beyond Cyprus tensions—how fun! 

Let’s see what happens.

When you get this close to a record it’s just a matter of time before it gets taken out generally. Why today? Well, China reversed course psychologically by now stating it would expand “deficit spending by 50%” after just Monday putting the clamps theoretically on their housing bubble. That provided a big lift to Asian and European shares. With the latter more ECB talk about defending the eurozone and euro was fed bulls. Global markets also feasted on Fed Vice-Chair (the woman who would be king?) Janet Yellen that QEternity is not gonna change.

• Must defend against Chinese colonial expansion and get the Nigerian oil: U. S. Boosts War Role in Africa (WSJ)
• BOJ nominee Kuroda sets out aggressive policy ideas (Reuters)
• China becomes world’s top oil importer (FT)
• Baby Cured of HIV for the First Time, Researchers Say (WSJ)
• Obama to nominate Walmart's Burwell as White House budget chief (Reuters)
• Wal-Mart Anxious to Combat Amazon’s Lead in Web Vendors (BBG)
• Nasdaq executing trades at a loss (FT)
• Spending cut debate casts pall over Obama's second-term agenda (Reuters)
• Russell Indexes to Reclassify Greece as Emerging Market (BBG)
• Bond Bears Collide With Swaps Showing Low Rates (BBG)
• Buffett Deputies Leaving Billionaire in the Dust Get More Funds (BBG)
• Brazil's leftist president fights to win back business (Reuters)
• U.S. Special Forces train Syrian Rebels in Jordan (Le Figaro)
• Carlos Slim Risks Losing World’s Richest Person Title as Troubles Mount (BBG)

• John Kerry just got happier: Berkshire Hathaway, 3G Buying Heinz for $72.50 a Share, or $28 Billion - ~20% premium to last price (CNBC)
• US Airways, AMR to Merge (WSJ) - can thousands of workers spell "synergies"?
• Draghi, Carney show ascent of "whatever it takes" central bankers (BBG) ... to preserve the Goldman way of life
• Euro zone economy falls deeper than expected into recession (Reuters)
• Soros has made $1 billion betting against the Japanese Yen (WSJ)
• Ex-Analyst at SAC Felt Pressured for Tips  (WSJ)
• Desalination Seen Booming at 15% a Year as World Water Dries Up (BBG)
• China's 'Wall' Hits Business (WSJ)
• Israel publishes some details as Australian spy mystery deepens (Reuters)
• Tata Motors Profit Falls 52% (WSJ)
• AB InBev Will Sell Corona Unit to Salvage Modelo Takeover (BBG)
• "Blade Runner" Pistorius charged with murdering girlfriend (Reuters)
• In Ohio and beyond, Obama sees model for manufacturing revival (Reuters)

Because humor is always the best and only cure to pervasive central planning that has made a mockery of traditional investing and capital allocation, and because nobody delivers unlimited sheer, unadulterated humor quite as well as one James J. Cramer when he is "recommending" stocks, here is the full text of Jim Cramer's "The Winners of the New World" speech delivered in February 2000. Because it really never is different this time.

• Boeing misses Q4 top line ($22.3 bn, Exp. $22.33 bn) beats EPS ($1.28, Exp. $1.18), guides lower: 2013 revenue $82-85 bn, Exp. 87.9 bn
• Hilsenrath discovers DV01: Fed Risks Losses From Bonds  (WSJ)
• Airlines had 787 battery issues before groundings (Reuters)
• Monte Paschi ignored warnings over risk, documents show (Reuters) as did Mario Draghi
• China averts local government defaults (FT)
• Economy Probably Slowed as U.S. Spending Gain Drained Stockpiles (Bloomberg)
• Bono Is No Match for Retail Slump Hitting Dublin’s Fifth Avenue (BBG)
• Catalonia requests €9bn from rescue fund (FT)
• US plans more skilled migrant visas (FT)
• Japan PM shrugs off global criticism over latest stimulus steps (Reuters)
• CIA nominee had detailed knowledge of "enhanced interrogation techniques" (Reuters)
• Cleanliness Meets Godliness as Russia Reeled Into Cyprus (BBG)
• Deutsche Bank Seen Missing Goldman-Led Gains on Cost Rise (BBG)

• U.S. Wants Criminal Charges for RBS (WSJ)
• Bernanke Seen Buying $1.14 Trillion in Assets in 2014 (BBG)
• Irish banks at mercy of international paymasters (Reuters)
• Do badly, and we will let you do even worse: Rehn Signals EU May Ease Spain Budget Goal in Austerity Retreat (BBG)
• Too Soon to Celebrate for Europe's Banks (WSJ)
• Army says political strife taking Egypt to brink (Reuters)
• Media Firms Probed on Data Release (WSJ) - No Criminal Charges Seen
• Japan’s Government Proposes First Spending Cut in 7 Years (BBG)
• Nazi Goebbels’ Step-Grandchildren Are Hidden Billionaires (BBG)
• Goldman seeks to reduce China exposure (FT)
• More than 70% of Chinese airports generate losses (People's Daily)

• Fed Pushes Into ‘Uncharted Territory’ With Record Assets (BBG)
• Next up in the currency wars: Korea - Samsung Drops on $2.8 Billion Won Profit-Cut Prediction (BBG)
• China Warns ‘Hot Money’ Inflows Possible on Easing From Abroad (Bloomberg)
• BOJ Shirakawa affirms easy policy pledge but warns of costs (Reuters)
• Merkel Takes a Swipe at Japan Over Yen (WSJ)
• Wages in way of Abe’s war on deflation (FT)
• Italian PM under fire over bank crisis (FT)
• Senior officials urge calm over islands dispute (China Daily)
• Spain tries to peel back business rules (FT)
• Rifts Over Cyprus Bailout Feed Broader Fears (WSJ)
• Soros Says the Euro Is Here to Stay as Currency War Looms (BBG)

• Obama's Gun Curbs Face a Slog in Congress (BBG)
• Euro Area Seen Stalling as Draghi’s Pessimism Shared (BBG)
• China Begins to Lose Edge as World's Factory Floor (WSJ)
• EU Car Sales Slump (WSJ)
• Fed Concerned About Overheated Markets Amid Record Bond-Buying (BBG)
• Australia Posts Worst Back-to-Back Job Growth Since ’97 (BBG)
• Abe Currency Policy Stokes Gaffe Risk as Amari Roils Yen (BBG)
• Japan Opposition Party Won’t Back BOJ Officials for Governor (BBG)
• Fed Reports Point to Subdued Economic Growth (WSJ)
• China Set to Exit Slowdown by Boosting Infrastructure (BBG)
• Greece not out of woods, must stick to reforms: finance minister (Reuters)
• Russian Rate Debate Flares Up as Cabinet Seeks Growth (BBG)

• Guess who doesn't believe in the "great rotation out of bonds and into stocks": Abe Aids Bernanke as Japan Seen Buying Foreign Debt (BBG)
• AIG Sues Federal Reserve Vehicle in Dispute Over Lawsuit Rights (WSJ)
• JPMorgan Said to Weigh Disclosing Whale Report Faulting Dimon (BBG)
• Ugly Choices Loom Over Debt Clash (WSJ)
• Credit Suisse to cut bonus pool by 20 percent (Reuters)
• Brazilian Bikini Waxes Make Crab Lice Endangered Species (BBG)
• EU redrafts plan for bank rescue funding (FT)
• JCPenney stock plunges after bad holiday (NY Post)
• Regulator Comments Buoy Shanghai Stocks (WSJ)
• Japan voters back PM Abe's efforts to spur growth, beat deflation (Reuters)
• Cameron averts row over Europe speech (FT)
• Swatch Buys Harry Winston Jewelry Brand for $1 Billion (BBG)

• Obama Signs Bill Enacting Budget Deal to Avert Most Tax Hikes (BBG)
• GOP Leaders Take Political Risk With Deal (WSJ)
• Basel Becomes Babel as Conflicting Rules Undermine Safety (BBG)
• Portugal Faces Divisions Over Austerity Measures (WSJ)
• The Fiscal Cliff Deal and the Damage Done (BBG)
• Cliff deal threatens second term agenda (FT)
• Deposits stable in euro zone periphery in November (Reuters)
• Fresh Budget Fights Brewing (WSJ)
• China Poised for 2013 Rebound as Debt Risks Rise for Xi (BBG)
• Who's Afraid of Italian Elections?  (WSJ)
• China services growth adds to economic revival hopes (Reuters)
• Asian Economies Show Signs of Strength (WSJ)
• Japan’s Aso Targets Myanmar Markets Amid China Rivalry (Bloomberg)

On December 26, 2012 at 11:02:59, the market suddenly exploded with activity (SPY dropped below 141.88 - a low set 12 days earlier on December 14). Approximately 3,800 March 2013 eMini futures contracts (S$P 500) were sold during that second. Nanex thought the sudden explosion in activity warranted a closer look. What they found was fascinating. It appears the entire market-wide move may have been carefully orchestrated. One thing for certain is that our regulators will never be able to see the big picture if their analysis tools (MIDAS) only looks at equity data. Analyzing price moves in futures and options is crucial to understanding market-wide moves in equities, and visa versa. The sad truth is that 'momentum ignition' events such as this occur all the time. See this page more details, including an animation that shows where and when these events have occurred since 2007.