Wells just reported that the all important for the US housing market Mortgage Applications pipeline tumbled by a whopping 23% in Q4 to just $23 billion, below the lows hit in 2013, and the lowest since the financial crisis.
World stocks hit a new all time high on Friday with U.S. equity futures rising for the 8th trading day out of 9 in 2018 and the Dow is just a little over 300 points away from 26,000. The euro surged to a three-year high as Germany was said to reach a "grand coalition" agreement, heaping more pressure on the dollar before inflation data.
"If they don't like it let them fire us... or arrest us," said Spyros Revithis, head of a public transport workers' union that staged 15 strikes in 2017. "This government is a Trojan Horse of neo-liberalism on labour rights."
Bitcoin and blockchain are likely to dominate discussions at Davos this month. But there will be a far deeper deliberation about the wider disruptive impact of technology on banks...
The most important takeaway of the net short VIX ETP position is that short VIX ETPs now have more vega to buy on a given vol spike than ever before - leaving the potential for an outsized increase in volatility should the SPX sell off sharply...
"the integrity of the CDS market - which is predicated on the expectation that companies seek to avoid payment default, not to accept illicit payments to default intentionally - will be irreparably damaged"
"One area I might be slightly worried about is financial market asset valuations, which I would characterize as elevated ... the Federal Reserve may have to press harder on the brakes at some point over the next few years. If that happens, the risk of a hard landing will increase."
Absent a recession, what truly ends happy days in credit? We think it requires an outbreak of hawkish and much less predictable central banks to end the great reach for yield. To our minds, four things could shatter the peace
Following unconfirmed reports last week of a partnership with Western Union, Ripple has announced a deal to work with MoneyGram. While Ripple barely moved on the news, MGI stock exploded higher...
U.S. futures are back in the green, while Asian and European stocks were mixed after worries about a U.S.-led trade war put world stocks at risk of their first two day loss of the year on Thursday, while bond markets bounced as China poured cold water on reports that it might stop buying U.S. debt.
"The public is being conditioned to view Powell as Trump's guy... This could not be further from the truth. ... Trump, and by extension all the conservatives that support him, are meant to take the blame when the 'everything' bubble vaporizes our financial structure..."
In those countries and corners of the financial system where the traditional services of money are inadequately supplied, Bitcoin (and cryptocurrencies more generally) may offer viable alternatives.
It was a relatively quiet session until a little after 5am ET when all early-morning market moves were superseded by aggressive cross-asset reaction - mostly in the form of selling of anything US-linked - to a Bloomberg report that China is reconsidering its UST holdings.
