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Bets on S&P 500 Demise Approach Record High With Volatility Jump

(Bloomberg) — The S&P 500 Index is already off more than 10% from a record, but traders are betting there’s more pain to come.Short interest as a percentage of shares outstanding on the $269 billion SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust — a rough indicator of bearish bets on U.S. stocks — surged to 7.4% this week, according to data from IHS Markit Ltd. That just about matches the highest level seen over the last five years. And with the value of short bets around $20 billion, the dollar amount wagering on the S&P 500’s demise is close to a record.Traders …read more […]

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U.S. Yields Hurtle Toward Zero With Thin Market Stunning Traders

(Bloomberg) — Treasury yields plummeted to record lows Friday as concern about the global economic and financial impact of the coronavirus spurred demand for havens, while questions swirled about liquidity in the world’s biggest debt market.U.S. securities rallied and long-bond rates notched their biggest intraday drop since 2009 as government debt around the world racked up further historic milestones Friday. At the short-end of the American yield curve traders amped up bets on further central bank easing this month. Other refuge assets also advanced, with the yen climbing and bund yields diving to unprecedented negative levels. A stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs …read more […]

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Stocks pare losses on Kudlow ‘targeted stimulus’ comments

As the coronavirus continues to take its toll on markets, rumors are circulating that the Trump administration may assist certain sectors hit particularly hard by the virus. Heritage Capital President and CIO Paul Schatz joins Yahoo Finance’s Zack Guzman, Kristin Myers, along with CapitalistBook.com author Nathan Latka, to discuss. …read more […]

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The Fed vs. Fundamentals

On Tuesday, the Fed announced an emergency 0.5% rate cut. It was a desperate move with a lot at stake.
The risk that we face is a potential drawdown (decrease in stock prices) of 50% or more. These events happen every 10 years or so, and they almost always coincide with the peak of debt bubbles.
And we’re very late in this credit cycle. We’ve piled up a truly incredible amount of debt.
A big drop in stock prices would send consumer spending plummeting. Companies would start having more trouble servicing their huge debt loads. And things could get gnarly for a while.
The …read more […]