Quotes of the Day: Beware the "Self-fulfilling Mechanisms"

Just began digging into the latest Bank for International Settlements Quarterly Review (always a must read, but only if you're, like me, a total geek), released yesterday, and can't help but quote from the opening few paragraphs, as they so echo what you've been reading herein the past months:

Morning Note: Untutored Traders Are Not To Be Chastened, Well... Not Just Yet...

Better than expected data out of China inspired a rally in Asia that saw all but 3 of the 16 markets we track closing higher overnight. Europe, riding a sentiment survey that bested all economists' expectations, is following suit so far this morning; 15 of the 19 bourses we follow in the green. And not to be left out this morning are the U.S. equity markets: Dow up 133 points (0.48%), S&P 500 up 0.87%, Nasdaq up 1.51%, Russell 2000 up 0.47%.

Morning Note: A "Fascinating", And Telling, Development, and more....

Optimistic vaccine headlines and a bit of merger mania saw Asian equities rally overnight (12 of the 16 markets we track closed in the green) and has Europe, on balance, in rally mode as well this morning (12 of the 19 bourses we track up on the session thus far). U.S. equities are bouncing back from two weeks of decline rather nicely: Dow up 319 points (1.30%), S&P 500 up 1.52%, Nasdaq up 2.06%, Russell 2000 up 1.27%.

Macro Update: Blushing Socialists -- And -- The Dollar Bears Close Watching!

Macro conditions, as indicated by this week's scoring of our PWA Macro Index, continue, after last week's hiccup, to show net improvement. Although, not nearly to the point that would have us comfortably allocating assets in a manner reflecting strong odds that the next sustainable expansion is underway. 

Morning Note: Tough Times Yield Good Things, If.....

Asian equities traded mostly higher overnight, with 12 of the 16 markets we track closing in the green. Europe's limping a bit into the U.S. session this morning, with 9 of the 19 bourses we track trading lower. U.S. stocks are (save for small caps) once again catching an early bid: Dow up 190 points (0.69%), S&P 500 up 0.51%, Nasdaq up 0.16%, Russell 2000 down -0.45%.

The VIX (SP500 implied volatility) is down -7.67%. VXN (Nasdaq vol) is down -4.38%. Now, don't be fooled by those steep declines in the pricing of volatility, 27.48 and 36.35 respectively are very precarious levels for stocks broadly.

Chart of the Day

Well, that dollar/stock market nastiness I keep harping on is playing itself out in today's session as well:

This Week's Message: Bad News Be Good News

It's just a few minutes before the open on this smokey (I live in California) Thursday morning, and despite weekly jobless claims coming in higher than expected, and the U.S. dollar taking a sound beating this morning, U.S. equity futures just turned from notably red to nicely green. Hmm...