For much of the overnight session, the market's attention was focused on North Korea's amicable reaction to Trump's cancellation of the June 12 summit, generating a build up of risk-on sentiment. Then things started to go south...
"Twitter claims its tools are free from political bias, but has allegedly targeted predominantly Republicans as part of a “shadow banning” practice, which covertly limits those accounts’ visibility on the platform.
And while making 100-year loans to an insolvent country with a long history of default is especially insane, it’s important to realize there are a lot of “Argentinas” out there today...
"The loneliest idea out there is the belief that US bonds are due for a rally, but this rally (which will last for a quarter or two) will be a great opportunity to get short the bond market."
"Should BTP 10-year spreads head above 200bp, the spill-over effects onto other EMU sovereigns would likely intensify. The most vulnerable market in this scenario – based on historical patterns – would be Portugal."
Deutsche Bank, which issued a tacit profit warning today, confirmed its headcount would fall “well below” 90,000, from just over 97,000. while its equities sales and trading headcount would be slashed by about 25%.
"It was widely cautioned that the uncertainty around the outlook had increased since the March monetary policy meeting" and that "a more pronounced weakening of demand, notably related to external factors, could therefore not be ruled out."
"All the risk factors which had been pushed to the back are returning to the fore: uncertainty over U.S.-North Korea talk, U.S.-China trade tension, the Italian political situation as well as concerns about euro-zone growth."
The boost to the Turkish Lira from yesterday's emergency 3% hike in the late liquidity window rate by the Turkish Central Bank did not even last one full day, and on Thursday the violent collapse in the Turkish currency resumed.
Year over year usage numbers for April 2018 - the height of the scandal - were actually up 7%. And, to boot, the 583 million purged robot accounts made no difference to advertising audience reach...
"The systemic dangers are clear... The next panic will be unstoppable without extreme measures - including IMF money printing, and lockdowns of banks and money market funds."
