OR YOU CAN CHECK ANY TIME YOU LIKE, BUT YOU CAN NEVER LEAVE.
US stocks continued to plummet Monday, touching their lowest levels since October of '97. The Dow closed down 299.64 at 4.24. The Nasdaq dropped 54.99 to 1322.85. For the year the S&P 500 is down 22.41%. Banks, Energy, Materials and Transports underperformed. Defensives outperformed. Breadth was 3:1 negative and volume contracted to 7.65 billion. The VIX shot up 13.59% to 52.65.
Treasuries were higher at all maturities. The 2 year note gained 6/32 to yield 87.5bp. The 10 year note gained 1-08/32 to yield 2.864. The Long Bond gained 1-24/32 to yield 3.610. The TED spread is back above 1% at 103bp. Tomorrow we get Pending Home Sales and Vehicle Sales.
The dollar traded to a three-year high with the DXY gaining 106bp to 88.94. The euro closed NY at 1.2581, -69bp. Yen quoted 97.43 late NY, near unchanged. April WTI was smashed for 4.61, to 40.15. April gold lost 2.50 to 940.00 and continued lower by 13.00 on Globex. Agricultural commodities were weak and the CRB closed down a big 531bp to a fresh low.
Finally a term has emerged to quell those unsatisfied with calling the current malaise a recession, but, not ready to say we are in a depression. Witty as it sounds, it also implies the current phenomenon won't end any time soon. This hasn't escaped equity prices, which are literally in free-fall. The MSCI World Equity Index is down 14/15 days.
The news is persistently negative and there are few reasons to add risk. As Art Cashin said this afternoon, "Cross your fingers." Not the most encouraging investment advice.
