Bear Radar

Style Underperformer:

• Mid-Cap Value +.86%

Sector Underperformers:

• 1) Coal -1.68% 2) Gold & Silver -1.34% 3) Oil Service +.16%

Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume:

• CUDA, HELE, Z, PTC, MIK, VCLT, BIIB, ROG, CPG, DOV, COTY, ENV, BJRI, TREE, CMCM, DFRG, CNSI, SOHU, WBAI, VIIX, MDVN, SINA, NVRO and BIS

Stocks With Unusual Put Option Activity:

• 1) SMH 2) MCHP 3) Z 4) HPQ 5) BIIB
  

Stocks With Most Negative News Mentions:

• 1) RIG 2) Z 3) SHAK 4) RPTP 5) PBYI
  

Charts:

• ETFs Falling on Unusual Volume

• Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume

Bull Radar

Style Outperformer:

• Small-Cap Growth +1.31%

Sector Outperformers:

• 1) Airlines +2.92% 2) Drugs +2.11% 3) Steel +1.69%
  

Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:

• ZGNX, PHG, BUD, UN, TOT, SNY, WBA, HMSY and ALK

Stocks With Unusual Call Option Activity:

• 1) GRUB 2) HUN 3) ADSK 4) LGF 5) APOL
  

Stocks With Most Positive News Mentions:

• 1) LMT 2) AAL 3) FN 4) IPHI 5) LB
  

Charts:

• ETFs Rising on Unusual Volume 

• Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume

Morning Market Internals

NYSE Composite Index:

• Volume Running 3.7% Below 100-day average
• 10 Sectors Rising, 0 Sectors Declining
• 76.0% of Issues Advancing, 21.5% Declining
• 38 New 52-Week Highs, 35 New Lows
• 39.1% of Issues Above 200-day Moving Average
• Average 14-Day RSI 36.8
• Vix 18.14
• Total Put/Call .95
• TRIN/Arms .92

Friday Watch

Evening Headlines 

Bloomberg:   

• The Chinese Stock Meltdown That Makes the Greece Saga Look Trivial. The bear market by the numbers, below. The Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index has lost 28 percent since its peak on June 12, the worst selloff in two decades. About $3.9 trillion in market valuation has evaporated, more than the total annual output of Germany—the world’s fourth-largest economy—and 16 times Greece’s gross domestic product. As shares tumbled, companies rushed to apply for trading suspension. More than 1,400 companies stopped trading on mainland exchanges, locking sellers out of 50 percent of the market. The China Securities Regulatory Commission also banned major shareholders, corporate executives, and directors from selling stakes in listed companies for six months.  

• Already Weakening, China Economy Faces New Blow From Stocks. While the extent of damage to China’s growth has yet to emerge as policy makers battle to shore up the stock market, Chen’s story flashes a warning sign for an economy already burdened with a property-market slump and export slowdown. Two-thirds of economists surveyed by Bloomberg this week saw at least some hit to gross domestic product this quarter. “The impact on household wealth and future consumption growth can’t be ignored,” said Shen Jianguang, the chief Asia economist for Mizuho Securities Asia Ltd. in Hong Kong. “For those who were lured into the stock market earlier this year, the losses are already huge.” 

• China Trading Halts Slip After Rally With 47% Still Frozen. The number of companies with trading suspensions on mainland Chinese exchanges fell as the nation’s stock indexes rebounded. About 1,365 companies have halted trading, equivalent to 47 percent of total listings on Friday, down from 1,439 or 50 percent a day earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Current suspensions have locked up about $2.4 trillion worth of shares, or 36 percent of China’s market capitalization.

• China's Dream of World Class Stock Markets Suffers Intervention Blow. It’s hard for Alex Wolf to believe that the Chinese officials he met four months ago are the same ones running the world’s second-largest stock market today. When Wolf, an emerging market economist at Standard Life Investments, sat down with the nation’s securities regulators in Edinburgh in March, they had a clear message: China is enacting the free-market reforms needed to lure foreign investors and gain entry into MSCI Inc.’s global indexes. Now, after a week of unprecedented government intervention to prop up the stock market, it’s clear to Wolf that reform has taken a back seat to easing the pain from a rout that many analysts say was inevitable. He's among international investors at Aberdeen Asset Management and Clough Capital Partners who say market meddling threatens to further delay MSCI inclusion after the index provider decided to leave China’s domestic shares out of its equity gauges in June.

• Greece Seeks $59.2 Billion Bailout as Tsipras Bows to Demands. In an 11th-hour bid to stay in the euro, the government of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras offered to meet most of the demands made by creditors in exchange for a bailout of 53.5 billion euros ($59.2 billion). The proposal submitted to European institutions late Thursday almost mirrored the one from creditors on June 26, which was rejected by voters in a July 5 referendum. The package of spending cuts, pension savings and tax increases will face its first hurdle in the Greek Parliament on Friday. Though Tsipras ceded ground, he insists long-term debt to be made more manageable to allow Greece to recover from a crisis that has erased a quarter of its economy. In this, he has a growing support base that includes the U.S., European Union President Donald Tusk and the International Monetary Fund.

• Singapore New Office Leases Drop by Half as Companies Cut Costs. Singapore’s new office leases declined by more than half as tenants such as Barclays Plc gave up space, while companies including Google Inc. moved out of prime office districts to cut costs. The proportion of new leases dropped to 6 percent of all signed in the first six months from 15 percent a year earlier, according to the latest figures compiled by commercial-property broker Cushman & Wakefield Inc.

• Australian Mortgage Approvals Drop Most in Five Years in May. Australian home-loan approvals fell in May by the most in more than five years as the country’s banks tighten lending criteria. The number of mortgages approved for owners that occupy their home fell 6.1 percent in May from April, the largest drop since December 2009, according to government data released Friday. In New South Wales, which counts Sydney as its capital, such approvals fell 5.9%, the most since February 2012.

• Iran Talks Stall as Russia, West Spar Over Arms Restrictions. Talks on Iran’s nuclear program were deadlocked and set to miss another deadline as the Islamic Republic’s interlocutors argued over persistent differences, including lifting restrictions on arms sales. Senior officials involved in the negotiations said it was too late to reach a deal by Friday morning in Vienna, the last chance to qualify for a 30-day review in the U.S. Congress. An agreement after that would be subject to 60 days of scrutiny, pushing back the date when Iran could qualify for sanctions relief, its main objective.

• Chinese Stocks Head for Biggest Two-Day Rebound Since 2008. Chinese stocks rallied, sending the benchmark index toward its biggest two-day jump since 2008, as a flurry of government measures to stem an equity rout started to take effect. The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 5.2 percent to 3,900.20 at 10:14 a.m., adding to Thursday’s 5.8 percent surge, as health-care, industrial and consumer companies advanced. Only two stocks fell on the benchmark gauge with about 49 percent of companies on mainland exchanges still halted from trading on Friday, down slightly from the previous day.

• Asia Stocks Track Global Gains as Greece Proposal Spurs Optimism. Asian stocks rose, following gains in global equities, after Greece submitted a bailout proposal similar to that proposed by its creditors. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.1 percent to 140.85 as of 9:00 a.m. in Tokyo, trimming its decline this week to 3.8 percent, which would be the largest weekly drop since 2012.

• PC Shipments Fall 9.5% as Companies Limit Tech Spending. Worldwide personal-computer shipments fell 9.5 percent in the second quarter, hurt by restrained corporate technology spending and the strength of the U.S. dollar, market researcher Gartner Inc. said. Manufacturers shipped 68.4 million units, compared with 75.6 million a year earlier, the steepest quarterly decline since the third quarter of 2013. U.S. unit sales fell to 15.1 million, down 5.8 percent, with desktop PCs hit particularly hard, Gartner said Thursday in a report. Researcher IDC also said shipments slumped in the period. The second quarter’s decline, following a 5.2 percent drop in the prior period, underscores the persistent challenges for PC makers in an increasingly mobile world dominated by smartphones and tablets.

• Three Banks’ Too-Big-to-Fall Plans Hamper ETN Sales. At least three major U.S. banks trying to show they’re not too big to fail said they stopped issuing very short-term debt, halting growth in their exchange-traded note programs in a way that may put investors at risk of losses. Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. aren’t issuing new shares of their ETNs, which count as short-term debt because holders can typically redeem them on about a week’s notice, according to “living wills” submitted to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Federal Reserve last month, details of which were released Monday. Existing shares will continue to trade. 

• Citigroup Sees Student-Loan Bonds on Course for Disruptions. Top-rated securities backed by U.S. government-guaranteed student loans face cuts to as low as junk that may further roil the market for the debt, according to Citigroup Inc. A review by rating companies that may lead to downgrades is unlikely to take into consideration that in some instances the securities have sponsors such as Navient Corp. that can accelerate repayments by buying out the underlying loans. The rating drops, which could also be avoided by amending the deals’ maturities, could rock the market, Citigroup’s Mary Kane and Eugene Belostotsky wrote Thursday.

• Apple Stock at Brink of Correction After Consecutive 2% Declines. Apple Inc. fell for a fifth day, posting its first consecutive 2 percent declines since 2013 and pushing shares to the brink of a 10 percent correction. The slide comes amid a rout in China’s market that is occurring two weeks before the company reports earnings. The iPhone maker’s stock decreased 2 percent to $120.07, bringing its five-day loss to 5.2 percent -- a drop that wiped out $38 billion of market value. Since reaching its all-time high of $133 on Feb. 23, the stock is down 9.7 percent, leaving it about 40 cents away from a correction.

Wall Street Journal: 

• New Greek Proposal Appears Closer to Creditor Demands. Plan would raise taxes, overhaul pensions, but may not be enough to unlock a new bailout. A new Greek proposal for economic policy overhauls and budget cuts appears to have moved closer to creditors’ demands on some of the most divisive issues, but there was no immediate word on whether it would be enough to unlock a new bailout package. The 13-page plan, submitted Thursday night to Greece’s eurozone creditors, the... 

• Large Swaths of Greek Economy Seize Up Amid Fears, Capital Controls. Greeks forgo clothing purchases, summer trips; importers struggle to get fresh shipments from abroad.

• Accusations Fly as Iran Nuclear Talks Stall. Tehran accuses U.S., Europeans of pulling back on commitments before congressional deadline.

• China’s President Faces Rare Backlash. Market turmoil in China invites doubts over Xi Jinping’s autocratic leadership style.

• Hillary’s Trump Card. The salesman will flame out, despite the best efforts of Democrats. The salesman will flame out, despite the best efforts of Democrats. We had vowed not to write about Donald Trump, but Democrats and the media are so eager to use the political apprentice to define conservatism that we can’t avoid it. He won’t win a GOP caucus or primary, but he is notable as a Democratic weapon against Republicans.

Fox News:

• FBI head: Several potential attacks thwarted ahead of July 4. (video) FBI Director James Comey said Thursday that the agency believes it stopped potential acts of violence in the month before the July 4 holiday. Comey said authorities suspect that some of the more than 10 people arrested during that time were planning to commit violence tied to the holiday. But he declined during a wide-ranging discussion with reporters to describe any of the potential plots that might have been thwarted or to identify specific individuals the FBI thought might carry out an attack.

• Barracuda Networks(CUDA) says fewer customers signed big storage contracts in 1st qtr; stock slumps. The cloud-based security and storage services provider said it didn't sign as many large and lengthy storage deals in the first quarter as it had in the previous quarter and said more customers chose virtual and cloud products. Barracuda Networks said it signed some more big storage contracts after the quarter ended. The company also said the strong dollar affected its results. Barracuda Networks Inc. stock declined $6.70, or 17.1 percent, to $32.42 in extended trading.

CNBC:

• Greece asks for $59B in aid, IMF says it needs more. International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard warned that Greece may require even more debt relief and funding than the 60 billion euros ($66 billion) the fund forecast only a few days ago.

• FDA Strengthens Heart Safety Warnings on Painkillers. The warning covers drugs called nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDS for short. They include ibuprofen, sold under brand names like Advil or Motrin; naproxen (Aleve), as well as prescription arthritis drugs known as COX-2 inhibitors, such as Celebrex. Tylenol, known generically as acetaminophen, is not an NSAID.

Zero Hedge: 

• New Greek Proposal Backtracks To Pre-Referendum Draft, Does Not Request Debt Haircut - Full Text.

• What Happens Next In Greece (In 2 Simple Charts). 

• Chinese Police Officially Launch Crackdown On Stock Sellers & Rumor Spreaders.

• 10 Very Strange Things That Have Happened In Just The Past Few Weeks.

• When The Going Gets Tough, The Feds Take Your Money. (graph)

• Even The Economist Is Now Mocking Central Planning. (pic)

• Chart Of The Day: Bulls Better Hope It's Different This Time. (graph)

• A Union Divided: "More Europe" Means "More Germany".

• Rick Santelli Unleashed: It's Not The Economy, Stupid - "The Central Planners Are In Control". (video)

• Trouble A'brewing; This Time It Is Different. (graph)

• 3 Things: Correction, Interest Rates & Oil Prices. (graph)

• Bonds Thumped, Stocks Pump-n-Dump'd As Grexit Fear Tops China Cheer. (graph)

Business Insider: 

• Chinese hackers stole the personal information of about 7% of America from the US government.

• Ford is moving its compact car production out of the US.

• Hong Kong's stock market recovery may be a classic 'dead-cat bounce'.

• GOLDMAN: Here are the 9 most overpriced stocks in the market.

• Baltimore's next police chief faces a daunting murder surge and a demoralized police force.

Reuters: 

• U.S.-based stock funds attract biggest inflows of year - Lipper.

• China's companies at risk of stock-backed loan recalls. Chinese companies that borrowed money using shares as collateral may have to put up more assets or repay their debts, carrying the ripples from the stock market plunge into the wider economy. A near 30 percent collapse in share prices has started to endanger some businesses using such financing, and the country's banking regulator said on Thursday it would let financial institutions renegotiate lending terms in these circumstances.

Telegraph: 

• Greece news live: Desperate government agrees to tough austerity measures to stay in the eurozone. Greece's last ditch attempt for a deal are leaked and could be ratified by parliament as early as tomorrow after Brussels concedes need for debt relief.

Yonhap News:

• Hyundai, Kia see China sales plunge in June. Hyundai Motor Co. and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors Corp. saw their combined sales in China plunge in June amid intensifying competition and a lack of new models, industry data showed Friday. Hyundai Motor, South Korea's largest carmaker, sold around 60,000 cars in China last month, down 30.8 percent from a year earlier. Kia Motors saw its China sales in June drop 26.5 percent on-year to some 38,000 units, according to the data.

Financial News:

• BoCom Sees Little Room for China Rate Cut in 2H. There's little room for an interest rate cut in 2H as new loans my rise about 13% to about 10.5t yuan in 2015, citing Bank of Communications as saying. Financial News is a publication of China's central bank.

South China Morning Post:

• China's sweeping national security law sparks uncertainty for foreign firms. German envoy warns of legal uncertainty and hurdles to investment. The mainland's sweeping national security law and a series of related laws in the making have created legal uncertainty for foreign companies and new hurdles for their investment, said Michael Clauss, the German ambassador to China.

Evening Recommendations 

Mizuho:

• Rated (LNKD) Buy, target $240.

Night Trading

• Asian equity indices are +.25% to +1.25% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 112.0 -5.75 basis points.

• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 61.75 -2.75 basis points.

• S&P 500 futures +.99%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.94%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note

Company/Estimate

• None of note

Economic Releases

10:00 am EST

• Wholesale Inventories for May are estimated to rise +.3% versus a +.4% gain in April.

• Wholesale Sales for May are estimated to rise +.9% versus a +1.6% gain in April.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Fed's Yellen speaking, Fed's Rosengren speaking, Wasde Crop report, UK Trade Balance report and the (PBY) annual meeting could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by healthcare and financial shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly higher and to maintain gains into the afternoon. The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the day.

Stocks Higher into Final Hour on China Bounce, Greece Debt Deal Hopes, Short-Covering, Energy/Financial Sector Strength

Broad Equity Market Tone:

• Advance/Decline Line: Higher
  

• Sector Performance: Most Sectors Rising
  

• Volume: Slightly Below Average

• Market Leading Stocks: Performing In Line

Equity Investor Angst:

• Volatility(VIX) 19.0 -3.36%

• Euro/Yen Carry Return Index 139.60 -.04%

• Emerging Markets Currency Volatility(VXY) 9.18 -1.92%

• S&P 500 Implied Correlation 61.51 -.55%

• ISE Sentiment Index 88.0 +20.5%

• Total Put/Call 1.15 -20.14%

• NYSE Arms .66 -79.20% 

Credit Investor Angst:

• North American Investment Grade CDS Index 72.50 -1.0%

• America Energy Sector High-Yield CDS Index 1,268.0 -.76%

• European Financial Sector CDS Index 91.70 -6.99%

• Western Europe Sovereign Debt CDS Index 30.46 -7.35%

• Asia Pacific Sovereign Debt CDS Index 61.21 -5.02%

• Emerging Market CDS Index 310.72 -2.90%
  

• iBoxx Offshore RMB China Corporates High Yield Index 119.13 -.51%

• 2-Year Swap Spread 25.25 -.25 basis point

• TED Spread 27.25 -.25 basis point

• 3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis Swap -21.75 +.75 basis point

Economic Gauges:

• 3-Month T-Bill Yield .01% unch.

• Yield Curve 172.0 +6.0 basis points

• China Import Iron Ore Spot $48.99/Metric Tonne +9.87%

• Citi US Economic Surprise Index -22.9 -2.2 points

• Citi Eurozone Economic Surprise Index -6.1 +.3 point

• Citi Emerging Markets Economic Surprise Index -17.50 +.5 point

• 10-Year TIPS Spread 1.86 +1.0 basis point

• # of Months to 1st Fed Rate Hike(Morgan Stanley) 7.87 +.38

Overseas Futures:

• Nikkei 225 Futures: Indicating -110 open in Japan 

• China A50 Futures: Indicating -474 open in China

• DAX Futures: Indicating -5 open in Germany

Portfolio: 

• Slightly Lower: On losses in my index hedges and emerging markets shorts

• Disclosed Trades: None

• Market Exposure: 25% Net Long

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:     

• How China's Market Meltdown Threatens Top Banker's Reform Agenda. Zhou finds himself caught in a stock market rescue that smacks of meddling, not free-market financial reform. A nearly four-week rout that wiped out $3.5 trillion in share market value has forced the central bank to extend funds to a broker lending facility and threatens to undermine support for his market liberalization agenda. “For better or worse this will strengthen the forces who want to slow governor Zhou’s march to a more open capital account,” said David Loevinger, former China specialist for the U.S. Department of the Treasury and now an analyst at fund manager TCW in Los Angeles. “Always worried about losing control, this could give Chinese leaders cold feet about moving to a more capital markets-centered financial sector.” 

• Chinese Markets a Classic Bubble Feeding Itself: Lawson. (video) 

• China Still in Bubble Territory Despite Drop: Foley. (video)

• Irrational Exuberance Triggers Chaos as China Watchdog Sidelined. It wasn’t exactly the same as U.S.-style “irrational exuberance,” but the run-up to China’s great crash of 2015 is leading to similar questions as to why the regulator didn’t do more. China Securities Regulatory Commission officials had tweaked rules for brokerages’ lending for stock purchases. And, similar to former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, CSRC Chairman Xiao Gang had warned investors against following the stampede into the market “blindly, like sheep.” It wasn’t enough. “Regulators could have been more aggressive in managing margin trading and collateral rules,” said Andrew Wood, a Singapore-based China analyst for BMI Research, a unit of Fitch Ratings. “It was already clear that the market was quite frothy by the beginning of this year.” Instead, the CSRC was left as a bystander as state-run media mostly talked up a market that the Chinese government is determined to use as a tool for wealth creation -- even if that means periods of excess followed by sharp corrections. “When the government policy has been to use a stock-market bubble to boost a household wealth effect, the CSRC could only do so much to regulate the stock market,” said Chen Zhiwu, a finance professor at Yale University, and a former adviser to China’s cabinet.

• This Doomsday Deadline for Greece Might Actually Count. (video) European leaders trudging wearily back to Brussels for another crunch summit on Greece this weekend can take solace in the fact it might just possibly be the last. Maybe. 

• Schaeuble Says Leeway for Greek Debt Reprofiling Is Very Small. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he’s less optimistic than his French counterpart, Michel Sapin, about the role reprofiling can play in restoring the sustainability of Greece’s debt. Speaking in Frankfurt at a conference organized by the Bundesbank, Germany’s central bank, Schaeuble said debt forgiveness among euro-region countries is banned by the European Union’s treaties. The reprofiling of Greece’s debt in 2012 went beyond what the International Monetary Fund was willing to accept then, he said.

• Tsipras Stuck Between a German Rock and a Greek Left Hard Place. (video) Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is faced with the ultimate dilemma: accept German-advocated austerity measures opposed by hardliners in his own party or take his country out of the euro. While Sunday’s referendum delivered a strong rebuke from Greek voters to the austerity demands, it also put pressure on Tsipras to strike a deal after many people cast their vote as a desire to stay in the euro on better terms. For some hardline members of his Coalition of the Radical Left or Syriza party, however, the vote was a firm sign of rejection of euro membership at all costs. “Tsipras will probably face significant party unrest from the left bloc, which is already calling for him to insist on the path indicated in their view by the ‘no’ vote in the referendum,” Nomura analysts including Lefteris Farmakis and Nick Matthews wrote in a note to clients Wednesday.

• Italian Bonds Reveal Speculation on Greek Deal Creditors Doubt. Take a look at government bonds and you’d be hard pressed to detect the pessimism Europe’s leaders are expressing about the chances of a deal that can save Greece’s place in the euro zone. Investors are cutting the yield premium they demand to hold the bonds of Europe’s more-indebted nations instead of benchmark German securities amid speculation a deal can be reached. Greece must deliver a detailed economic package to creditors on Thursday to win a new funding deal. Chancellor Angela Merkel is willing to let Greece go if Germany doesn’t consider its plans credible, said two officials familiar with her strategy. “Markets appear more optimistic than most of the Greek creditors themselves,” Benjamin Schroeder, a Frankfurt-based interest-rate strategist at Commerzbank AG, wrote in a note to clients. The yield spread between 10-year Italian and German bonds tightened 11 basis points, or 0.11 percentage point, to 144 basis points as of 4:32 p.m. London time. The difference widened to as much as 199 basis points on June 29, the first trading day after Greece called a referendum on austerity. In 2011, the spread reached 575 basis points. The spread between Spanish 10-year debt and German bunds narrowed 12 basis points to 143 basis points on Thursday.

• IMF Cuts World Growth Outlook. (video) The IMF cut its forecast for global growth this year, citing a weaker first quarter in the U.S. and warning that financial-market turbulence from China to Greece clouds the outlook. The world economy will grow 3.3 percent in 2015, less than the 3.5 percent pace projected in April and slower than the 3.4 percent expansion last year, the International Monetary Fund said in revisions to its World Economic Outlook released Thursday in Washington. The fund left its forecast for growth next year unchanged at 3.8 percent.

• Sweet Spot in Emerging Currencies Eludes Morgan Stanley in Rout. From the crisis in Greece to the biggest selloff in Chinese stocks in two decades, emerging-market currencies can’t catch a break. An index of developing-nation exchange rates has fallen more than 5 percent since mid-May to within 0.9 percent of a record set in March. The losses look set to continue, with strategists surveyed by Bloomberg predicting that all but six of the 24 leading emerging-market currencies will weaken through the middle of next year. While the declines have helped cut the trade deficits of countries such as Turkey and South Africa, they’re stoking inflation from Brazil to Russia, which could weigh on growth. That’s redoubling the pressure on currencies already undermined by the prospect of higher interest rates in the U.S., which is luring away investment, and plunging prices for oil and metals. “Emerging-market currencies are under heavy selling pressure again these days, facing a perfect storm of slowing growth in China, the Greece turmoil, the anticipation of Fed rate-hike fears and commodities dropping,” said Bernd Berg, a strategist at Societe Generale SA in London. “Growth momentum in emerging markets is just continuing to collapse.”

• Market Turbulence Worries BRICS as Volatility Stalks Oil, China. The BRICS group of developing nations, meeting in Russia to bolster ties, said they’re disturbed by the turbulence that’s roiled global markets from energy to stocks. “We’re concerned about instability in the markets, the high level of volatility in the prices of energy and raw materials, and the accumulation of sovereign debt of a number of major countries,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said in the city of Ufa, 800 miles east of Moscow. “All these structural imbalances directly affect growth.” The summit of leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa also discussed creating their own credit-ratings company and nurture direct investments between each other. Finance officials from the five nations earlier finalized a $100 billion reserves pool to ease liquidity issues during market stress and are forming a development bank.  

• European Stocks Advance as Greece Concern Fades, China Rebounds. European stocks rose as investors shrugged off concern about Greece’s debt crisis and Chinese shares rebounded. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 2.2 percent to 381.06 at the close of trading, after flirting with a correction during the past two days.

• Iron Ore Ending Drop No Cause for Joy as More Losses Seen. (video) Iron ore snapped a 10-day slump that culminated in the biggest one-day drop in at least six years as a selloff in Chinese equities paused and most industrial metals prices climbed, easing selling pressure. Ore with 62 percent content delivered to Qingdao rose 9.9 percent, the most since at least 2009, to $48.99 a dry metric ton on Thursday. It plunged 10 percent to $44.59 a day earlier, the lowest in data going back to May 2009, according to data from Metal Bulletin Ltd. Compared with annual benchmarks that iron ore was traded through until the past several years, that would be the lowest since 2005, according to Clarkson Plc. 

• The Cost of Insuring Against a Commodities Crash Is Rocketing. More fallout from Chinese stocks. China's stock slump has played havoc with the commodities market as traders fret that the economy driving global demand for raw materials is about to tank. The Bloomberg Commodity Index, which includes 22 commodities, everything from live cattle to natural gas, traded near a 13-year low this week as industrial metals and oil tumbled. Nickel plunged 9 percent in a single day. Here's what prices have done over the past five days:

• Not Even a Greek Exit Will Stop the Fed From Raising Rates. Most economists surveyed by Bloomberg see no Greek-related delay in the Fed's plans.  The Greek crisis is no big deal as far as the U.S. economy and the Federal Reserve are concerned. That's the conclusion of a majority of economists polled by Bloomberg this month. They said the crisis won’t hurt the U.S. economy nor deter the Fed from raising interest rates later this year. 

CNBC: 

• These 3 triggers could cause 50% crash: Economist. (video)

Dow Jones:

• Ford(F) to Move Small Car Production Outside U.S. Ford now builds Focus, C-MAX, EVs at plant in Wayne, Michigan.

ZeroHedge: 

• Greek "Compromise" Proposal Leaked, And There May Be A Problem. The problem emerges upon a closer read of the proposal, which is clearly not nearly "capitulatory" enough.

• Nigel Farage Destroys EU Group-Think: "There's A New Berlin Wall... And It's Called The Euro". (video)

• Why China Has No Choice But To Arrest The Sellers. (graph)

• NYSE Issues Official Explanation Why Its Was Offline For Nearly 4 Hours, Blames Software Upgrade.

• Schaeuble Proposes A Trade: US Takes Greece, Germany Takes Puerto Rico.

• Why Janet Is Lost: Her Favorite Charts Show 'JOLTing' Disconnects. (graph)

• Five Years Of Glorious IMF "Hockey Stick" Comedy. (graph)

• "Greece Is No One's Hostage": Leftist Energy Minister Lays Out €2 Billion Russian Gas Project.

• Fed's "Modest Proposal" To Boost US Growth: Issue More Debt.

• There's A Spike In New Lows Around The World's Stock Markets. (graph)

• Draghi Voices "Unprecedented Doubt" Greek Solution Will Be Found: Complete Greek Overnight Summary.

• Initial Jobless Claims Spike To Highest Since Feb, Near Crucial 300k Level. (graph)

• China's "Sweet & Sour" Plunge Protection Lessons From 1987. (graph)

Business Insider:

• 'China is in the midst of a triple bubble'.

• This league table of Greek debt explains why Merkel will show Greece no mercy.

• The Iranian nuclear talks are heading into sudden-death overtime — and the US 'can't wait forever'.

• Oil prices have fallen again, and a 'negative feedback loop' will push them even lower.

Reuters:

• China stems stocks rout, but market faces lengthy hangover. (video) China's malfunctioning stock markets remained semi-frozen, with the shares of around 1,500 listed companies worth around $2.8 trillion - roughly half the market - suspended, and many of those still trading propped up by state-directed buying. "The authorities are capable of slowing the selling and extending market support," said Mark Konyn, chief executive officer at Cathay Conning Asset Management Ltd in Hong Kong. "However, this high level of intervention comes at a significant cost. Such intervention locks up ownership of shares, reduces liquidity and creates an overhang that could plague the market for years."

Telegraph: 

• Greece news live: Germans in rift with the rest of Europe over debt relief as Greek reforms ready 'within hours'. Markets rise on hopes of a deal as Brussels concedes to Greek debt relief after White House pressures creditor to allow for debt sustainability.

• The price the Greeks are willing to pay to stay in the euro. Alexis Tsipras has stopped talking of "red lines", but could now be forced to sign up to a much harsher deal in return for debt relief. 

• Greece and Spain face 'make or break' moment as workers stare into jobs abyss.