Dow Jones Cashed in Today

[Dr Sardonicus]

Asian stocks took another beating. European stocks rose.

US stock futures are up over 5% before the NYSE opens. Happy Friday the Thirteenth!

[ewmayer]

As Everything Bubble Implodes, Frazzled Fed Rolls Out Fastest Mega-Money Printer Ever, up to $4.5 Trillion in Four Weeks | Wolf Street

Thursday early afternoon, during the chaos when the S&P 500 was down nearly 9%, what would turn into the worst single-day stock market sell-off since the 1987 crash, the Fed rolled out its fastest mega money-printer yet, after its smaller money-printers malfunctioned. It’s not going to be a long-drawn-out QE – though there is a component that is just that – but it’s going to be trillions of dollars, essentially all at once, front-loaded, starting today, though today fizzled already.

This is the Fed’s latest effort to bail out Wall Street, the cherished asset holders that are so essential to the Fed’s “wealth effect,” all repo market participants, the banks, and the Treasury market that suddenly has gone haywire. Lots of things have gone haywire as the Everything Bubble unwinds messily.

$4.5T would pay off a whole lot of debt, rent, mortgage payments and other expenses - such as medical bills for those hospitalized due to catching the bug - for the common folk who are going to be suffering as result of the economic shutting-down caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. @Fed: Where's our bailout, assholes?

[Dr Sardonicus]

03/09/20 close 23,851.02 -2,013.76 (-7.79%)

03/10/20 close 25,018.16 +1,167.14 (+4.89%)

03/11/20 close 23,553.22 -1,464.94 (-5.86%)

03/12/20 close 21,200.62 -2,352.60 (-9.99%)

03/13/20 close 23,185.62 +1,985.00 (+9.36%)

[ewmayer]

So Monday will likely be another 10%-ish move, the only question is as to the sign! Among notable individual movers, Bitcoin had an interesting week...

[Dr Sardonicus]

Originally Posted by ewmayer

So Monday will likely be another 10%-ish move, the only question is as to the sign! Among notable individual movers, Bitcoin had an interesting week...

The prospects for today's trading on the NYSE: What was that instrumental hit single by the Surfaris?

[kladner]

Originally Posted by Dr Sardonicus

The prospects for today's trading on the NYSE: What was that instrumental hit single by the Surfaris?

Even better!

[ewmayer]

Factbox: Latest on the spread of coronavirus around the world | Reuters: That has info on latest case counts, national-emergency measures around the world, etc. I will focus on the

ECONOMIC FALLOUT

- With panic buying on Main Street and fear-driven sell-offs on Wall Street, the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates to near zero on Sunday in another emergency move to help shore up the U.S. economy amid the rapidly escalating coronavirus pandemic.

- Stock markets and the dollar were roiled on Monday after the Federal Reserve slashed interest rates in an emergency move and its major peers offered cheap U.S. dollars to break a logjam in global lending markets.

- The United States’ biggest banks will stop buying back their own shares, and will instead use that capital to lend to individuals and businesses affected by the coronavirus, an industry trade group said on Sunday.

- European Union finance ministers plan to agree on Monday on a coordinated economic response to the coronavirus pandemic, with the European Commission forecasting the effects of the virus could push the EU into a recession.

- Manufacturing in Britain weakened sharply in early 2020 even before concerns about the coronavirus crisis escalated, adding urgency to the need for a trade deal with the European Union.

- South Korea’s finance ministry on Monday pledged to take swift and stern stabilization measures to prevent herd-like behavior in currency market, and to supply liquidity if needed as the economy comes under pressure due to the coronavirus outbreak.

- With one of Wall Street’s wildest weeks in recent memory now in the history books, investors braced for more uncertainty and big market swings ahead.

- New home prices in China stalled for the first time in nearly five years in February, according to Reuters calculations.

- More major retailers said on Sunday they would shut stores in the United States to limit the spread of the coronavirus, including Nike (NKE.N), Under Armour (UAA.N), and Lululemon Athletica (LULU.O).

- Saudi Aramco said it plans to cut capital spending in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, and also posted a plunge in profit for last year, missing forecasts in its first earnings announcement as a listed company.

- Most major Middle Eastern stock markets closed lower on Sunday amid fears of economic fallout from coronavirus precautions, with Egypt falling the most and Saudi Aramco slipping after it missed profit forecasts.

- Airlines called on the British government to help ensure their survival during the coronavirus crisis on Sunday after the U.S. extended restrictions on European travelers to include Britain.

- Britain’s food retailers appealed to shoppers to stop panic buying, saying purchasing more than they need would mean others will be left without.

Now, recall late last week I mentioned the US Fed's emergency liquidity facilities, offering up to $500 Bln per day to the big industrial-strength Wall Street speculator institutions. The key words there are "up to" - said facilities are "repos", short for repurchase-agreements, in which the Fed offers to exchange cash for eligible collateral for some fixed period. Eligible collateral currently means US Treasuries - the ides is that, say, a big Wall Street I-bank sells a wad of USTs to the Fed, gets cash which it uses to buy! buy! buy! those now-on-sale stocks. Would you want to be taking that kind of risk, given the level of panic-in-the-streets around the world and the fact that this was one of the biggest asset-price bubbles in history, what Wolf Richter has dubbed the "Everything Bubble"? Sensibly, even the greedheads on Wall Street are wary of such catching-a-falling-knife bets: Wolf details the Fed's latest panic moves and the lack of interest in the new repos -- I believe the term of art is "pushing on a string".

More broadly, here Wolf's latest article today on the economic impacts.

And here's a headline - spotted on Yahoo Finance - to add to your collection of Deathless Quotes:

Coronavirus is causing a lot of 'anxiety' in the stock market: NYSE chief -- Any more profound wisdoms you'd care to share, there, NYSE Chiefie?

Speaking of terms of art, I believe the technical term for what's happening in the Wall Street casinos today is "shitting the bed". I hope those of your who may have still been equities-heavy as of last week used the Friday late-day miracle manipulation rally to lighten your holdings.

[Dr Sardonicus]

03/09/20 close 23,851.02 -2,013.76 (-7.79%)

03/10/20 close 25,018.16 +1,167.14 (+4.89%)

03/11/20 close 23,553.22 -1,464.94 (-5.86%)

03/12/20 close 21,200.62 -2,352.60 (-9.99%)

03/13/20 close 23,185.62 +1,985.00 (+9.36%)

03/16/20 close 20,188.52 -2,997.10 (-12.93%)

[kladner]

@Fed: Where's our bailout, assholes?

As with 2008, if the bailouts had gone to homeowners facing foreclosure, they would have kept their homes, and the banks would still get the money. That's where it all goes in the end. Take just one of the trillions and hand it out to the non-mill/billionaires. Then watch the economy perk up. Maybe use another TN to fix the interstates and municipal sewer and water infrastructure.

[Uncwilly]

Originally Posted by Uncwilly

Here is a view of the % day to day change in the Dow for the last ~6 months

Updated:

[xilman]

Originally Posted by Uncwilly

Updated:

Looking ever more like a seismograph trace of a fairly big event.