And now for the important paper stories for today:

Early Tuesday morning trading from Europe/Asia

1. Stocks mixed on major Asian bourses  / the  yen rises  to 118.81

1b Chinese yuan vs USA dollar/ yuan slightly weakens  to 6.2601
2 Nikkei down 18.28 or 0.10%

3. Europe stocks all down  // USA dollar index up to 94.35/

3b Japan 10 year yield huge rise to .38%/ (Japan buying 100% of bond issuance)/Japanese yen vs usa cross now at 118.69/everybody watching the huge support levels of 117.20 and that level acting as a catapult for the markets.

3c Nikkei now  above 17,000/

3e The USA/Yen rate still  below the 120 barrier this morning/
3fOil: WTI 49.50 Brent: 58.97 /all eyes are focusing on oil prices. This should cause major defaults as derivatives blow up.

3g/ Gold up /yen up;

3h/ Japan is to buy the equivalent of 108 billion usa dollars worth of bonds per MONTH or $1.3 trillion

Japan’s GDP equals 5 trillion usa/thus bond purchases of 26% of GDP

3i Japan to buy 100% of all new Japanese debt and by 2018 they will have 25% of all Japanese debt. Fifty percent of Japanese budget financed with debt (see Von Greyerz)

3j Oil constant this morning for  WTI  and Brent

3k   Greece’s list to the Troika not prepared at all by Greece/prepared by EU

3l  Greek 10 year bond yield :8.56% (down 50 basis points in yield)

3m Gold at $1209.50. dollars/ Silver: $16.60

3n USA vs Russian rouble:  ( Russian rouble  flat per rouble / dollar in value)  62.11!!!!!!.  Ukraine’s UAH:33.05  down 5 UAH from Tuesday night

3 0  oil  into the 49 dollar handle for WTI and 58 handle for Brent

3p  Troika happy with Greece’s reform list/they should be: they wrote it

3Q  SNB (Swiss National Bank) still intervening again driving down the SF/window dressing/Swiss rumours of intervention to keep the  soft peg at 1.05 Swiss Francs/euro and major support for the Euro.

3r  USA justice department investigating 10 major USA banks in the manipulation of gold and silver pricing

3s Negative German 5 year bond yield for first time.

3t  Humphrey Hawkins testimony by Janet Yellen tomorrow night

4. USA 10 yr treasury bond at 1.977% early this morning. Thirty year rate well below 3%  (2.58%!!!!)/yield curve flattens/foreshadowing recession
5. Details: Ransquawk, Bloomberg/Deutsche bank Jim Reid

(courtesy zero hedge)/your early morning trading from Asia and Europe)

Stocks In Holding Pattern Following Blow-Off Top, Oblivious Of Fed’s Warning Of “Stretched” Valuations

Following the first of two Janet Yellen testimonies to Congress, the market read between the lines of what the Fed Chairman said when she hinted that “the Fed needs confidence on recovery and inflation before beginning to raise rates” and realized that the case of a June rate hike is suddenly far less realistic than previously expected, as a result not only did we see another blowoff top in stocks to fresh all time highs, a move which sent the USD lower, has pushed the median EV/EBITDA multiple to the mid 11x (!) range and the forward PE to just shy of 18x ironically coming on a day when the Fed itself warned about “stretched” equity valuations, and led to brisk buying of global Treasurys across the board, pushing the 10 Year in the US back under 2%, and due to the global convergence trade (because if the Fed returns to QE, it will be forced to buy up Treasuries not just in the US but around the globe, since net issuance including CBs globally is now negative) and leading to today’s German 5 Year bond auction pricing at a negative yield for the first time ever.

Then again since the breadth of the “market” is now defined by just 5 stocks which are responsible for the parabolic move in the Nasdaq in the past two months, talking about a market is no longer meaningful, and any attempts to forecast what a central-bank dominated market will do are now more futile than ever. One thing that will surely impact stocks again, will be Yellen’s second day of testimony, this time before the Senate, where her prepared remarks will be the same, however where she is now expected to be forced with more aggressive questions than the generic fluff the members of the House lobbed at her yesterday, with the possible exception of Elizabeth Warren’s demands for a “Yes or No” answer on whether Citigroup runs Fed policy now by drafting swaps push out laws.

So, to keep it easy, here is what has already happened: European equities reside in negative territory across the board albeit modestly so, with things pretty light in Europe so far this morning. On a sector specific basis, energy names lead the way lower in a continuation of yesterday’s move despite oil prices holding their own this morning. Price action nonetheless has been more defined across fixed income products with core paper continuing to rally in the wake of comments from Fed Chair Yellen whose remarks were perceived as more dovish than markets were expecting, leading to markets now pricing in a 66% probability of a FFR hike in Oct. From a UK perspective, Gilts have been outperforming in early trade as UK paper plays catch up with US and GE paper which rallied after the UK close yesterday.

Asian equity markets initially traded mostly higher after taking the lead from another record Wall Street close for the DJIA and S&P 500. However, Nikkei 225 (-0.1%) was unable to hold on to its earlier advance after fluctuating between losses and gains, amid a strengthening JPY. Shanghai Comp (-1%) and Hang Seng (-0.1%) traded lower after a mixed Chinese February HSBC Flash Mfg. PMI which rose to a 4-month high (50.1 vs. Exp. 49.5 (Prev. 49.7), although export orders fell by the most since Jun’13. JGBs gained 29 ticks, lifted by spill-over buying in USTs yesterday’s and the BoJ buying a total of JPY 1.18trl worth of government debt from the market.

Despite the upside for Gilts, GBP actually outperforms in the FX market this morning as policy divergence takes precedence given the dovish outcome of Yellen’s speech compared to more hawkish commentary from the BoE of late. More specifically, BoE’s Forbes yesterday said that gradual increases in interest rates should support the economy in the UK adding that low inflation present at the moment will fade quickly while BoE’s Weale said that the BoE may have to lift rates before the time frame which markets are currently expecting. Elsewhere, given the move lower in US yields, USD has continued to trail its major counterparts, much to the benefit of EUR with EUR/USD making a technical break above yesterday’s highs while EUR/GBP manages to remain resilient to the broad-based GBP strength. Finally, CAD has managed to hold onto its gains against the Greenback in the wake of those less dovish than expected comments from BoC’s Poloz, which has resulted in markets scaling back their expectations for action by the central bank next week.

In the commodity complex, both spot gold and silver remain in the green with the weaker USD aiding prices. Elsewhere, Copper saw a mild decline overnight, while iron ore prices were also weaker as the largest buyer China saw a subdued return to the market following the week-long Lunar New Year holiday. Despite the reprieve for precious metals markets, the energy complex has failed to capitalise from the move following last night’s API inventory report showed a smaller than previous build in stockpiles (W/W +8900k vs. Prev. +14300k) but a build nonetheless.

In summary: European shares fall with autos and banks underperforming and utilities, travel & leisure outperforming. The Swiss and Italian markets are the worst-performing larger bourses, Germany’s is the best. The euro is stronger against the dollar. Japanese 10yr bond yields fall; German yields decline Germany seels 5 years debt at a negative yield for the first time ever.  Commodities decline, with WTI crude, copper underperforming and silver outperforming. U.S. mortgage applications, new home sales, mortgage delinquencies, mortgage foreclosures,  due later.

Taking a look at the day’s calendar, it’s quiet in the Euro-area this morning with just French consumer confidence for France due. Draghi speaking this afternoon in European parliament however will most likely attract attention. Over in the US we’ve got new home sales data to look forward whilst Yellen is also due to speak again, this time to the House Financial Services Committee. Historically the second day’s testimony is a repeat affair with less likelihood of market moving themes given the prior day’s discussion.

Market Wrap:

• S&P 500 futures down 0.1% to 2111.4
• Stoxx 600 down 0.2% to 386.5; Eurostoxx 50 -0.2%, FTSE 100 -0.3%, CAC 40 -0.2%, DAX -0%, IBEX -0.3%, FTSEMIB -0.5%, SMI -0.6%
• US 10Yr yield down 2bps to 1.96%
• German 10Yr yield down 3bps to 0.34%
• Gold spot up 0.6% to $1207.6/oz
• MSCI Asia Pacific up 0.6% to 146.3
• Nikkei 225 down 0.1%, Hang Seng up 0.1%, Kospi up 0.7%, Shanghai Composite down 0.6%, ASX up 0.3%, Sensex up 0%
• Euro up 0.23% to $1.1366
• Dollar Index down 0.28% to 94.23
• Italian 10Yr yield down 1bps to 1.45%
• Spanish 10Yr yield down 0bps to 1.38%
• French 10Yr yield down 3bps to 0.62%
• S&P GSCI Index down 0.1% to 409.6
• Brent Futures up 0.1% to $58.7/bbl, WTI Futures down 0.4% to $49.1/bbl
• LME 3m Copper down 0.4% to $5760/MT
• LME 3m Nickel up 0.3% to $14400/MT
• Wheat futures up 0.1% to 504.5 USd/bu

Bulletin Headline Summary from Bloomberg and RanSquawk

• European equities trade in a relatively tentative manner while fixed income products continue to climb following Fed Yellen’s testimony yesterday
• USD weakness has helped lift its major counterparts, notably GBP which has been provided a further boost by policy divergence plays
• Looking ahead, today sees the release of US new home sales, DoE inventories and comments from Fed’s Yellen and ECB President Draghi. Note Yellen’s testimony today will likely be a reiteration of yesterday’s
• Treasuries gain, 10Y yield below 2% in extension of rally spurred by Yellen comment that Fed needs confidence on recovery and inflation before beginning to raise rates; auctions continue with $13b 2Y FRN, $35b 5Y; WI 1.465% vs. 1.288% in Jan.
• Germany sold 5Y notes at a negative yield for the first time, Irish 10Y yields fell below 1% and rates on Italian and Spanish debt touched all time lows before ECB begins QE next week
• While the Greek government was praised for coming up with a workable package of measures including maintaining state-asset sales and collecting more tax, the EC, ECB and IMF all warned that action speaks louder than words
• HSBC/Markit’s preliminary China PMI was at 50.1 in Feb., exceeding the median estimate of 49.5 in a Bloomberg survey and up from January’s 49.7
• China is preparing measures to counter a housing market slump and will roll them out if the economy needs support, people with knowledge of the matter said
• RBS will outline plans Thursday to reduce the number of countries in which it operates by two-thirds to 13, a person with knowledge of the matter said
• Ukraine said fighting in its easternmost regions has subsided, though a “full truce” still hasn’t taken effect
• Obama yesterday vetoed the Keystone XL pipeline bill because it interfered with a review being led by the State Department, though he hasn’t decided whether to approve a permit for the pipeline, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday
• Chicago mayor Rahm Emmanuel was forced into a runoff election in a clear sign of discord in the third-largest city, where $20b in unfunded pension liabilities threaten insolvency and citizens are plagued by persistent violence
• Sovereign 10Y yields lower. Asian stocks mixed, European stocks decline; U.S. equity-index futures fall. Crude and gold higher, copper declines

DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight recap

It took a lot of skill for Mrs Yellen to ensure that both the hawks and doves in the market could claim victory after her testimony yesterday. We think it was slightly dovish due to her inflation comments but others we respect think it more hawkish. Indeed the hawks would point towards the upbeat tone surrounding the labour market as well as the overall more positive economic outlook in the US. In addition the text around forward guidance would be of most interest to the hawks. Specifically Yellen commented that should economic conditions improve as anticipated, the Fed will consider an increase in the target rate on a meeting by meeting basis but would beforehand alter the forward guidance provided to markets. Yellen went on to say that ‘it is important to emphasize that a modification of the forward guidance should not be read as indicating that the Committee will necessarily increase the target range in a couple of meetings. Instead the modification should be understood as reflecting the Committee’s judgment that conditions have improved to the point where it will soon be the case that a change in the target range could be warranted at any meeting’. So the hawks would point towards there being sufficient evidence and a case to be made that we could see the ‘patience’ language dropped and possibly as soon as the March meeting, which in turn means June is in play.

On the other hand, the doves would argue that Yellen’s comments were more aimed at gaining the necessary flexibility to react rather than being tied to any particular time frame. Clearly a large part of the focus will be on the data and the doves would argue that on the whole macro prints generally have been unsupportive for a rate move. The lack of wage growth is clearly a concern and one which is holding back labour market data on balance. Also Yellen’s comments that ‘before raising rates, we will want to feel confident that the recovery will continue and that inflation is moving up over time’ puts some emphasis on the need to see clarity of the recovery in inflation prior to a hike. So it all might rest on inflation and interestingly tomorrow sees a strong possibility that we might see a negative headline YoY CPI print. Given Yellen also said they’re looking at all measures of inflation then maybe we need to see this start to recover over the months ahead before the FOMC pull the trigger.

So all in all a fairly balanced tone from Yellen, with a case to be made that it neither favours the hawks nor the doves and instead leaves the Fed in a position of flexibility with no particular bias either way as of right now. If you think inflation is going to pick up soon then maybe you can read it hawkishly. If you think low inflation is here for a while longer then you’re a dove! In terms of the market reaction, the S&P 500 recorded a fresh record high after closing +0.28% whilst the Dow added +0.51% to also mark a fresh record high. There were sharper moves in Treasuries however as yields rallied across the board. Indeed 3y (-6.5bps), 5y (-8.5bps), 10y (-7.7bps) and 30y (-6.5bps) yields all closed tighter. In fact 10y yields actually widened 4bps immediately following the speech, before then rallying into the close and perhaps supporting those on the dovish side. Given the shift down in the yield curve, the moves suggested a more dovish speech than expected. There were similar moves in the Dollar as the DXY bounced as much as +0.4% intraday before paring those gains to finish down 0.1%.

Meanwhile, turning over to the latest in the Greek saga, yesterday we learned that the Eurozone had approved the latest reform proposals from the Greek government. Whilst a step in the right direction, as we’ve previously mentioned the key will be the actual substance behind the proposals for which the current government has an end-April deadline to act by. In the mean time, yesterday we also heard echoes of caution from various European officials yesterday with the IMF’s Lagarde in particular saying that the list is ‘not very specific’ and didn’t portray ‘clear assurances’. A statement issued by the Eurogroup meanwhile said that ‘we call on the Greek authorities to further develop and broaden the list of reform measures’.

We’ve already heard of some potential tension in SYRIZA itself so it’ll be interesting to see how things progress as Tsipras and Varoufakis start talks internally, but clearly there is still much for Greece to do. It’s also not entirely clear how Greece will fund itself through the month of March with suggestions that they will run out of cash shortly after the end of this month (Bloomberg). This could in effect force Greece to agree on things much earlier than the end-April deadline or we could see an increase in the T-Bill issuance cap. Some near term attention will now also turn to Greek banks where Bloomberg reported that the ECB would be unlikely to wait until at least its next policy meeting on March 5th before making a decision on restoring the collateral waiver and allowing Greek banks direct funding.

Equity markets in Europe firmed with the approval news though. Having traded relatively subdued for most of the morning, the bulk of the gains came shortly following the headlines with the Stoxx 600 (+0.56%), DAX (+0.67%) and CAC (+0.50%) all finishing higher. The Stoxx 600 in fact closed higher for the 6th consecutive day and extended its 7y highs. The index is now +13% through 2015 already whilst the DAX and CAC have similar year-to-date returns. On the other hand and despite reaching record highs, the S&P 500 is +2.8% through 2015 so far. Elsewhere, Greek equities (+9.8%) were a notable outperformer yesterday with banks (+17%) leading the way. 3y and 10y yields for Greece meanwhile rallied 221bps and 55bps on the better sentiment. Peripheral 10y yields meanwhile were 2-4bps tighter and the Euro closed relatively unchanged at $1.134 – although in reality bounced around with Greek headlines and Yellen’s comments.

Away from Greece and Yellen yesterday, it was actually a fairly busy day data wise. In Europe Germany reported no change to their final Q4 GDP reading of +1.6% yoy. Our European colleagues have however raised their growth target for Germany in 2015 to 2.0% from 1.4% previously. They note that the upgraded forecast reflects the stronger carry over effect from the Q4 reading. The team has also raised their Q1 2015 forecast to +0.5% qoq from +0.3% qoq previously. Elsewhere the final January CPI print for the Euro-area was confirmed at -0.6% for the headline and +0.6% for the core. French manufacturing confidence (99 vs. 99 expected) meanwhile was in line with consensus however business confidence (94 vs. 95) was a touch below expectations. Over in the US, the S&P/Case Shiller home price index came in higher than consensus (+4.46% vs. 4.30% expected) whilst the services PMI bounced 2.8pts to 57.0 (vs. 54.5 expected) for February. Elsewhere, the consumer confidence print for February disappointed, falling 7.4pts to 96.8 and backing up recent falls in other confidence indicators. Finally there was also softness in manufacturing with the Richmond Fed manufacturing index for February falling 6pts to 0 – the lowest reading since March last year.

In terms of the trading this morning in Asia, bourses are largely following the US lead and trading firmer as we type. The Kospi (+0.69%), ASX (+0.30%) and Hang Seng (+0.36%) in particular are all trading stronger. Meanwhile equity markets in China – having reopened after a break for the New Year holiday- are softer despite a better than expected manufacturing PMI reading (50.1 vs. 49.5 expected). The Shanghai composite is -0.12% as we got to print.

Taking a look at the day’s calendar, it’s quiet in the Euro-area this morning with just French consumer confidence for France due. Draghi speaking this afternoon in European parliament however will most likely attract attention. Over in the US this afternoon, we’ve got new home sales data to look forward whilst Yellen is also due to speak again, this time to the House Financial Services Committee. Historically the second day’s testimony is a repeat affair with less likelihood of market moving themes given the prior day’s discussion.

China’s sluggish PMI suggests that domestic activity is slowing down coupled with a very uncertain export demand:

(courtesy zero hedge)

About The Authorship Of The Infamous “Greek Reforms” Memo

Following the earlier report that the Greek reforms memo contained something very unexpected in the “Author” field of its metadata properties, namely that it wasn’t the name of the Greek finance minister, but a European Commission (ECFIN) bureaucrat Declan Costello…

… there has been a flurry of outrage from all sides, all quite understandable, because if indeed it wasn’t the Greeks who created the memo then it merely confirms that Greece not only has no stated sovereignty, but it isn’t even permitted to draft its own memos.

What the apologists of this phenomenon claim is that the “Author” of the pdf document is not the creator of the Doc file but the person who received the Doc file and converted it to pdf. A perfectly reasonable explanation, and one that would make sense: after all Yanis Varoufakis may have simply sent to the European Commission his final word document, which was then converted to a pdf for broad distribution.

There is only one problem with this explanation: it is wrong.

The reason it is wrong is because the metadata of pdf files follows the creator of the original doc file, not the creator of the pdf file.

Quick example: say “Tyler Durden”, the default creator of word files on a computer, were to draft a blank memo…

Then naturally, the doc file would show in its properties the creator was, logically, “Tyler Durden”

Let’s change the default to a random user, say “European Commission Bureaucrat”

Then draft a brief memo “signed” by a Greek finance minister…

… then save it, and proceed to convert it to a pdf.

What the pdf will show, regardless if the default user “Tyler Durden”, or anyone else for that matter,converts the doc file into a pdf, is that the author is the specific user who created the doc file, in this case “European Commission Bureaucrat” and not the default pdf owner/author. This is because the pdf creation metadata follow the creator of the original underlying file, not the creator of the pdf: there is no break in the chain of authoriship/ownership just because someone else took one’s doc and made it into a pdf.

In other words, the generic “explanation” by those who wish to make it seem that it may well have been Varoufakis who drafted the doc file but it was simply some European Commission bureaucrat who converted it, falls apart.

To be sure, it is distinctly possible that someone hard-changed the actual “authorship” metadata after the fact, but that would make matters even worse.

Of course, it is impossible to know if the doc file was created in Brussels as a blank then sent to Vaourfakis to fill out and convert to pdf, but that would also be a very problematic explanation. There are also many other explanations which may validly ascribe ownership of some/all of the created content to the Greek FinMin, and creation of the doc file to the Troika, which we leave to readers to pursue.

Perhaps what is most amazing about this who situation, is how few so-called “journalists” were unaware of any of the above, but were quick to dismiss the entire fiasco simply by saying the ECFIN guy converted the pdf and that’s why he was the “author.”

In conclusion, that there is a very simple resolution to all of this: Declan Costello, who is named as the author of the “Greek” memo, should state publicly whether or not he drafted, saved and made into a pdf the doc file with the Greek reforms, or if his name appears in the metadata purely by accident. Considering the amount of consternation that this issue appears to have generated, it would certainly bring the topic to a prompt closure.

And after all, isn’t the whole point of “reporting” is to get to the bottom line, especially when the implications are substantial as in this case, and not to dismiss anything, however strange it may be, as merely too strange to investigate because it “just doesn’t make sense.” Unless, of course, one has prior advertising arrangements with HSBC, or the European Commission, or perhaps some of its countless financial backers. In which case we, too, are perfectly happy to let this whole topic go especially if there is no public interest in it whatsoever.

Finally, for anyone who is involved in the creation, drafting, and production of mission-critical documents, whose metadata can have huge downstream consequences, the best solution is to simply read the brief manual on Redaction of Confidential Information in Electronic Documents which nobody ever does at least not before they hint save, print or send…

end

Two important points here:

1. Greece will run out of money in March and Germany will not allow any more funding until they show the willingness to stop the tax evasion.

2. The German Bundestag has 60 members that will not vote on Friday for the extension.  They claim that in July, (correctly) that Greece will need another 20 billion euros.

Greece may be completely insolvent in March as it runs out of cash.

Expect  a disharmonious GREXIT and that should cause considerable harm to the EU.

(courtesy zero hedge)

Schauble: “Germans Doubt Greek Promises”, No More Money For Athens Until All Commitments Met

After the new Greek government fought valiantly a la David vs Goliath for several weeks, only to cave in the last minute and admit that the best it can do is continue the much hated policies of the predecessor Samaras government by extending the Greek bailout program, it now has a bigger problem: assuring its European “partners” that, having flipflopped, it is as trustworthy as the Samaras government. And none other than the German FinMin Wolfgang Schaeuble made that point early on Wednesday when in a radio interview with SWR2 radio, he said that it had not been an easy decision for euro zone finance ministers to extend the Greek rescue plan by four months and “much doubt remained about how credible Athens’ latest reform commitments really were.”

Reuters quotes Schauble who said that: “It wasn’t easy an easy decision for us but neither was it easy for the Greek government because (they) had told the people something completely different in the campaign and afterwards.”

“The question now is whether one can believe the Greek government’s assurances or not. There’s a lot of doubt in Germany, that has to be understood,” said Schaeuble who despite his misgivings, he has urged German lawmakers to approve the Greek extension in a vote in parliament expected on Friday.

The finance minister made one thing very clear: No payments will be made to Athens unless Greek govt meets its commitments in full.

In other words, Greece may have bought itself a 4 month bailout extension on paper, but in practice unless it succeeds in boosting its tax collections in the coming days, its state coffers – already on the verge of being completely empty – will run out of cash, and Greece will then really have no choice but to declare full insolvency. The only question is how much longer will the Troika continue its “pass-thru” funding operations, where it gives Greece aid so that Greece can pay interest and maturities on Troika debt?

Something tells us that if the government runs out of all cash to pay government workers, it is all over anyway.

And then there is the issue of whether the proposed Greek bailout extension will even pass a Bundestag vote:according to Rheinische Post, up to 60 government members will vote against the Greek bailout on Friday when the vote on the extension is due, following reports that Greece now expects a third bailout in the summer amounting to at least €20 billion.

Full Schauble interview below.

The NIKKEI: Wednesday morning : down 18.28 or 0.56%

Trading from Europe and Asia:
1. Europe stocks all in the red

2/ Asian bourses mixed    … Chinese bourses: Hang Sang in the green ,Shanghai in the red,  Australia in the green: /Nikkei (Japan) red/India’s Sensex in the green/

Gold very early morning trading: $1209.50

silver:$16.60

Early Wednesday morning USA 10 year bond yield: 1.97% !!!  down 2  in basis points from Tuesday night/

USA dollar index early Wednesday morning: 94.35  down 14 cents from Tuesday’s close.

This ends the early morning numbers, Wednesday morning

And now for your closing numbers for Wednesday:

Closing Portuguese 10 year bond yield: 2.02% down 12 in basis points from Tuesday

Closing Japanese 10 year bond yield: .34% !!! down 4 in basis points from Tuesday

Your closing Spanish 10 year government bond,  Wednesday down 3 in basis points in yield from Tuesday night.

Spanish 10 year bond yield: 1.39% !!!!!!

Your Wednesday closing Italian 10 year bond yield: 1.46% down 4 in basis points from Tuesday:

trading 7 basis points higher than Spain.

IMPORTANT CURRENCY CLOSES FOR TODAY

Closing currency crosses for Wednesday night/USA dollar index/USA 10 yr bond:

Euro/USA: 1.1359  up .0020

USA/Japan: 118.83 down .034

Great Britain/USA: 1.5528 up .0072

USA/Canada: 1.2428 down .0068

The euro rose a bit quite  this afternoon but it was up on the day by 20 basis points finishing the day just below the 1.14 level to 1.1359. The yen was constant in the afternoon, and it was up by closing to the tune of 4 basis points and closing just below the 119 cross at 118.83. The British pound gained a lot of ground during the afternoon session and was up on  the day closing at 1.5528. The Canadian dollar was up again today as oil price was up.  It closed at 1.2428 to the USA dollar

As explained above, the short dollar carry trade is being unwound, the yen carry trade , the Nikkei/gold carry trade, and finally the long dollar/short Swiss franc carry trade are all being unwound and these reversals are  causing massive derivative losses. And as such these massive derivative losses is the powder keg that will destroy the entire financial system. The losses on the oil front will no doubt produce many dead bodies. The last asset still rising are the stock exchanges.

Your closing 10 yr USA bond yield: 1.96 down 3 in basis points from Tuesday (reacting to bad economic indicators)

Your closing USA dollar index: 94.22 down 27 cents on the day.

European and Dow Jones stock index closes:

England FTSE  down 14.25 points or 0.21%

Paris CAC  down 4.22 or 0.09%

German Dax up 4.53 or 0.04%

Spain’s Ibex down  15.00 or .14%

Italian FTSE-MIB down 212.51 or 0.90%

The Dow: up 15.38 or 0.08%

Nasdaq; down .98 or 0.02%

OIL: WTI 50.77 !!!!!!!

Brent: 61.63!!!!

Closing USA/Russian rouble cross: 61.18 up almost 1 3/4   roubles per dollar on the day.

closing UKrainian UAH:  (hryvnia) 28.15 UAH to the dollar.  However real rate is around 39 UAH per dollar.

Since November the currency has lost more than half its value.

end

And now for your more important USA economic stories for today:

Your New York trading for today:

Falling AAPL Ends Nasdaq Anti-Gravity Streak

When your best AAPL pump just isn’t good enough…

Here is the only chart that matters… AAPL’s ~3% drop today may not be the AAPLocalypse for your average high beta muppetry stock, but for a nation of day traders – this is the 2nd biggest non-earnings day drop in 6 months for AAPL.. and yes it’s only dropped to Friday levels but its really all relative…

The tumble in AAPL (and the broad market) appeared to occur as Crude oil accelerated nonsenically into the NYMEX close – breaking the high correlation between the two assets…

Despite a late day panic buying scramble to get Nasdaq green, it ended its streak today…

From the start of Yellen’s testimony yesterday, stocks are  higher – thanks to the meltup in the last few mins…

and bonds are 10-12bps lower

The US Dollar limped lower today (modestly lower on the week) led by CAD and GBP strength)… down 0.5% from the start of Yellen’s testimony

Silver gained notably on the day, gold less so alonmg with copper but crude’s idiotic meltup mimics the same runs we have seen in other commodities this week\

Yeah it was deja vu all over again in the oil patch… huge builds, record production, Saudi commenbts discounted early and record inventories… BUY BUY BUY…

Charts: Bloomberg

Bonus Chart: Consider…

This Is Why Hewlett-Packard Is Firing 58,000

he biggest scandal in today’s release of Hewlett Packard Q1 earnings was not that, just as the Nasdaq is knocking on 5000’s door, it reported revenues of $26.8 billion missing consensus expectations of $27.3 billion, while beating non-GAAP EPS by 1 cent to $0.92 (up from $0.90 a year ago) entirely due to a massive reduction in outstanding stock and some truly gargantuan non-GAAP addbacks (GAAP EPS declined from $0.74 a year ago to $0.73) pushing the stock down 7% after hours.

The biggest scandal was the company announced that having cut 44,000 workers so far, it will cut 58,000 jobs by the end of 2015. From Bloomberg:

• HP SAYS HAS CUT 44,000 JOBS TO DATE
• HP SAYS EXPECTS TO CUT 58,000 JOBS BY END OF FISCAL 2015

Incidentally, just 10 years ago Hewlett Packardemployed a total of 58,000 people in the entire US.

So why is the company axing 58 thousand workers? Simple: so it can cut enough costs on top and continue to fund its now exponential surge in stock buybacks,which in the just concluded quarter was a record $1.6 billion, an increase of 178% from a year ago, and 66% more than the company spent on CapEx,in the process making its shareholders even richer while its management team get massive equity-linked bonuses.

Rinse. Repeat.