Tuesday Watch

Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:

• Yuan Weakens as PBOC Cuts Reference Rate by Most in Six Weeks. The yuan weakened after the People’s Bank of China lowered its daily reference rate by 0.17 percent, the most in six weeks. The currency fell 0.08 percent to 6.5284 a dollar as of 9.36 a.m. in Shanghai, according to China Foreign Exchange Trade System prices. In Hong Kong’s offshore market the yuan dropped as much as 0.1 percent to 6.5347, the lowest in almost two weeks. The onshore spot rate can diverge from the central bank’s fixing by a maximum 2 percent.

• Brace for Yuan Horror Show. 

• Aussie's Rally Falters as 1 1/2-Year-Old Resistance Point Looms. The Australian dollar retreated after its biggest daily advance in more than two weeks took it close to a resistance level it hasn’t breached since 2014. The Aussie is within 1 percent of its 200-day moving average, which it last traded above in September 2014, as rallies in equities and commodities boosted demand for the nation’s assets. The currency on Monday joined a rally in higher-yielding, resource-linked peers led by Brazil’s real and South Africa’s rand, while the pound and euro were the worst-performing majors amid concerns Britain may vote in June to leave the European Union. The JPMorgan Chase & Co. gauge of global currency volatility has dropped in three of the past four sessions.

• Singapore Lawyers Warn of 1998-Like Pain as Debt Defaults Spread. Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP, Southeast Asia’s largest law firm, reckons the region’s rising bond defaults will inflict as much pain on creditors as the financial crises of 2008 and 1998. As distress spreads from shipping to mining and retail to construction industries, the law firm said in an interview that recovery rates will be similar to those seen in the global credit meltdown and Asian financial crisis. Secured creditors recover only less than 33 cents on the dollar from insolvencies in East and South Asia, compared with more than 80 cents in the U.S., according to World Bank studies. Rival law firm Hogan Lovells US LLP said in an interview that regional banks will likely boost sales of bad loans in coming months. 

• African Markets Catch Bear Fever. Hopes are fading that Africa’s bond and equity markets will draw more than the most adventurous. A toxic cocktail of plunging commodities prices, policy mismanagement and stubborn corruption have exposed investors like Mark Mobius for their excessive optimism. In 2012, when he declared that Africa “could be the emerging-market story of the next decade,” his Templeton Emerging Markets Group followed Neptune Investment Management Ltd. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. in setting up a fund dedicated to the continent.

• Treasuries Advance as China Yuan Shift Drives Demand for Safety. Treasuries rose for the first time in three days after China weakened its currency, reinforcing speculation the world’s second-largest is economy is slowing and boosting demand for safer assets. The yuan weakened as the People’s Bank of China lowered its daily reference rate for the currency Tuesday by the most in six weeks. The first indicators for China’s economy this month are signaling its slowdown hasn’t yet bottomed out. “If there’s something dramatic in the Chinese market, then normally people buy U.S. Treasuries,” said Toshifumi Sugimoto, chief investment officer at Capital Asset Management in Tokyo. “The Chinese economy is not doing well.” U.S. 10-year note yields fell two basis points to 1.73 percent as of 11:23 a.m. in Tokyo, according to Bloomberg Bond Trader prices.

• China's Stocks Fall From One-Month High as Financial Shares Drop. China’s stocks fell, led by financial and industrial companies, after the central bank weakened the yuan by the most in six weeks and the first indicators for the economy this month signaled the slowdown hasn’t bottomed. The Shanghai Composite Index slipped from a one-month high, losing 0.7 percent to 2,907.68 at 10:36 a.m. The benchmark gauge closed above its 30-day moving average for the first time this year on Monday after the nation’s securities regulator appointed a new chairman. Citic Securities Co. paced declines for brokerages, while China Communications Construction Co. slumped 2 percent.

• Global Stock Rally Falters as Yuan Weakens, Crude Oil Declines. A global equity rally stumbled as Asian gauges swung between gains and losses, while U.S. index futures dropped. Crude slumped, the yuan weakened and the yen climbed. Benchmark equity indexes in Japan, China and South Korea turned lower, while contracts on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slid 0.3 percent. Japan’s currency appreciated against all 16 major peers. The yuan declined after the People’s Bank of China lowered its daily reference rate by the most in six weeks. New York oil dropped after surging above $33 a barrel on Monday. The Topix index dropped 0.2 percent in Tokyo as of 11:06 a.m. Tokyo time. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index slid 0.3 percent, the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.5 percent and the Kospi index fell 0.3 percent in Seoul. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.3 percent.

• `Liquid Freedom' Sails From Texas, Tilting Power in Global Oil. The sea stretched toward the horizon last New Year’s Eve as the Theo T, a red-and-white tug at her side, slipped quietly beneath the Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge in Texas. Few Americans knew she was sailing into history. Inside the Panamax oil tanker was a cargo that some on Capitol Hill had dubbed “Liquid American Freedom” -- the first U.S. crude bound for overseas markets after Congress lifted the 40-year export ban.

• BHP(BHP) Cuts Dividend for First Time in 15 Years on Profit Drop. BHP Billiton Ltd. made a larger-then-expected cut to its dividend, lowering the payout for the first time in 15 years, as the world’s biggest mining company seeks to protect its balance sheet and credit ratings amid a price collapse that saw first-half profits tumble 92 percent. Underlying profit fell to $412 million at its continuing operations in the six months to Dec. 31, from $4.9 billion a year earlier, Melbourne-based BHP said Tuesday in a statement. Its first-half dividend was cut to 16 cents from 62 cents a year earlier and the company said it will adopt a policy to provide payouts at a minimum of 50 percent of underlying attributable profit. The payout had been forecast to drop to 31 cents, according to Bloomberg data.BHP warned in the statement that weaker prices and higher volatility across commodities markets are likely to persist for longer than the company had expected, prompting it to also cut its capital spending forecast and shake up top management.

Wall Street Journal:

• GOP Cites Joe Biden Video in Clash Over Supreme Court Pick. Grassley says 1992 speech is justification for not acting in an election year.

• As Ted Cruz Stumbles, Marco Rubio Is on the Move. Florida senator unveils more endorsements in Republican presidential race while rival ousts aide accused of dirty trick.

• Donald Trump’s Tax Return Dodge. He shoots the messenger—us—for asking to see his ‘beautiful’ returns. Donald Trump didn’t become the favorite for the Republican presidential nominee without having political talent—not least his ability to unleash a torrent of verbiage that ducks a question. If he loses in the end, the guy should start up Trump Political School.

CNBC:

• No signs OPEC production cut is close at hand. (video) An OPEC production cut does not appear close at hand, but the cartel is seemingly eager to participate in an effort to bring up oil prices. OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem El-Badri told CNBC on Monday that oil producers are still "feeling the water" over a possible deal to freeze production, and it is "wait and see" as to whether it leads to any other type of deal. 

• Transportation rally may fizzle out: Traders. (video)

Zero Hedge:

• As Foreign Central Banks Quietly Park $250 Billion In Cash At The Fed, A Mystery Emerges. (graph)

• Raoul Pal Previews "The Big Reset": How The Kondratieff Winter Unwinds. (video)

• The Monetary Policy "Berlin Wall" Is Coming Down. (graph)

• The Follies & Fallacies Of Keynesian Economics.

• ISIS Goes Full-Wall Street, Rigs FX Rates To Generate Extra Profits.

• A "Nervous" NATO Fears Turkey, Russia May Soon Go To War.

• Valeant(VRX) Crashes To 3-Year Lows After-Hours On News May Restate Earnings. (graph)

• "Everything Changes At Zero" - Investors "Obligated" To Fight The Fed.

• Oil Market Shrugs At OPEC Jawboning.

• Freddie Mac, Bank Of America Launch Another 3% Down Mortgage Program.

• Stocks Surge To Unch For Feb As Crude Jumps & VIX Dumps. (graph)

Business Insider:

• Ted Cruz suddenly asked his top spokesman to resign for spreading 'false' Marco Rubio story.

• Over half of Americans think Apple(AAPL) should unlock the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone.

• Fitbit(FIT) is crashing. Fitbit shares dropped by as much as 15% in after-hours trading on Monday after the company reported quarterly results.

RTT News:

• UTX(UTX) Held Early Deal Talks With Honeywell(HON), But Didn't Proceed Further. Responding media reports, United Technologies Corp. confirmed Monday that it has previously engaged in preliminary, exploratory conversations about a range of potential collaborative options with Honeywell. But, United Technologies never explored these options further due to significant regulatory obstacles, customer concerns and valuation issues.

Reuters:

• Occidental(OXY) CEO warns of looming issues from midstream debt. Oil and gas pipeline and processing companies that borrowed vast amounts to grow when crude oil prices were much higher and U.S. output was surging now face major issues over that leverage, the CEO of Occidental Petroleum Corp warned on Monday. During the plunge in crude oil prices, investors have punished exploration and production companies that had freely tapped capital markets for funds to drill new wells. Now, those same markets are penalizing pipeline companies formed as master limited partnerships (MLPs), which rely on growth to pay out rich dividends to investors in exchange for favorable tax treatment. "If you think debt is bad in the production business, the midstream has a lot more relatively," Stephen Chazen, Occidental's chief executive told the IHS CERAWeek conference in Houston on Monday.

Financial Times:

• Smart beta ‘could go horribly wrong’. Smart beta, one of the most popular investment strategies of the past 12 months, could go “horribly wrong” and leave investors nursing large-scale losses, according to one of the pioneers of the concept. 

• Rise in US shale oil output set to fill cutback by Opec. A senior Opec official on Monday highlighted the likelihood that a reduction in the oil cartel’s production would be filled by an increase in US shale oil output. The comments by Abdalla El-Badri, the Opec secretary-general, were echoed by the head of the rich countries’ energy watchdog, underlining the limits to any rally in the oil market.

Night Trading 

• Asian equity indices are -.25% to +.50% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 155.5 -6.0 basis points. 

• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 77.0 -1.5 basis points. 

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 68.91 -.01%. 

• S&P 500 futures -.32%. 

• NASDAQ 100 futures -.42%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate 

• (CTB)/.73

• (CBRL)/1.90

• (FDP)/.02

• (HD)/1.10

• (ICPT)/-3.07

• (LXK)/1.12

• (M)/1.87

• (ODP)/.11

• (SNH)/.47

• (TOL)/.40

• (TREX)/.22

• (WWW)/.28

• (CAR)/.18

• (CZR)/-.12

• (CBI)/1.11

• (CPRT)/.43

• (DWA)/.16

• (FSLR)/.77

• (JAZZ)/2.60

• (PZZA)/.58

• (WBMD)/.57 

Economic Releases 
9:00 am EST

• The S&P/CS 20 City MoM SA for December is estimated to rise +.85% versus a +.94% decline in November. 

10:00 am EST

• Consumer Confidence for February is estimated at 97.2 versus 98.1 in January.

• The Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index for February is estimated at 2.0 versus 2.0 in January. 

• Existing Home Sales for January are estimated to fall to 5.32M versus 5.46M in December. 

Upcoming Splits 

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Fed's Fischer speaking, Fed's Kashkari speaking, Eurozone GDP report, German IFO Data, US weekly retail sales reports, $26B 2Y T-Note auction, RBC Capital Healthcare Conference, Jefferies Media/Communications Conference, (JNPR) analyst update and the (JPM) investor day could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are slightly higher, boosted by industrial and consumer shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open mixed and to weaken into the afternoon, finishing modestly lower. The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the day.

Stocks Surging into Afternoon on Central Bank Hopes, Oil Bounce, Buyout Speculation, Commodity/Healthcare Sector Strength

Broad Equity Market Tone:

• Advance/Decline Line: Substantially Higher
  

• Sector Performance: Almost Every Sector Declining
  

• Volume: Below Average

• Market Leading Stocks: Performing In Line
  

Equity Investor Angst:

• Volatility(VIX) 19.10 -6.97%

• Euro/Yen Carry Return Index 130.14 -.60%

• Emerging Markets Currency Volatility(VXY) 12.29 -1.84%

• S&P 500 Implied Correlation 61.05 -1.94%

• ISE Sentiment Index 89.0 -19.09%

• Total Put/Call .95 -7.77%

• NYSE Arms .47 -74.29% 

Credit Investor Angst:

• North American Investment Grade CDS Index 114.29 -2.96%

• America Energy Sector High-Yield CDS Index 2,350.0 +3.19%

• European Financial Sector CDS Index 115.96 -4.36%

• Western Europe Sovereign Debt CDS Index 32.77 +.34%

• Asia Pacific Sovereign Debt CDS Index 77.05 -1.90%

• Emerging Market CDS Index 365.04 -3.28%
  

• iBoxx Offshore RMB China Corporate High Yield Index 123.38 +.08%

• 2-Year Swap Spread 5.50 -.5 basis point
  

• TED Spread 32.75 -.25 basis point

• 3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis Swap -23.75 -1.0 basis point
  

Economic Gauges:

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 68.89 +.58%
• 3-Month T-Bill Yield .30% +1.0 basis point

• Yield Curve 100.0 -1.0 basis point
  

• China Import Iron Ore Spot $51.52/Metric Tonne +6.18%

• Citi US Economic Surprise Index -33.70 +3.3 points

• Citi Eurozone Economic Surprise Index -51.70 -19.4 points

• Citi Emerging Markets Economic Surprise Index -8.30 -1.3 points

• 10-Year TIPS Spread 1.31% +5.0 basis points
• 13.5% chance of Fed rate hike at April 27 meeting, 25.6% chance at June 15 meeting

Overseas Futures:

• Nikkei 225 Futures: Indicating +79 open in Japan 
• China A50 Futures: Indicating +78 open in China

• DAX Futures: Indicating -10 open in Germany

Portfolio: 

• Higher: On gains in my biotech/medical/tech/retail sector longs

• Disclosed Trades: None

• Market Exposure: 50% Net Long

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Europe’s Economy Strains as Global Slowdown Takes its Toll. (video) The euro area is showing signs of strain from the global slowdown. Weaker growth and deeper price cuts by companies, as captured in a monthly report by Markit Economics published Monday, will raise concerns about the health of the economy. They may also increase pressure on European Central Bank policy makers to add to stimulus at their next meeting in March. Markit said that its composite Purchasing Managers Index for the euro zone fell to 52.7, the lowest in more than a year, from 53.6. “Not only did the survey indicate the weakest pace of economic growth for just over a year, but deflationary forces intensified,” said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit in London. The data “greatly increase the odds of more aggressive stimulus from the ECB.”
• German Economy Takes a Blow From Weakening Global Demand. The German economy took a hit this month from weak global demand, with a manufacturing gauge dropping to a 15-month low. Markit Economics said its factory Purchasing Managers Index fell to 50.2, barely above the key 50 level, from 52.3 in January. A services gauge improved slightly, but a composite measure declined to the lowest since July. “The German economy appears to be in the midst of a slowdown,” said Oliver Kolodseike, an economist at Markit. Manufacturing is “near stagnation,” he said. While Germany weathered global headwinds through 2015, maintaining its pace of expansion in the fourth quarter, business confidence has weakened recently. China’s slowdown is weighing on exports while the equity selloff this year threatens a fragile recovery in the euro area, the country’s largest trading partner.
• Earliest Chinese Data Signal Slowdown Hasn't Bottomed Out Yet. The first indicators for China’s economy this month signal its slowdown hasn’t bottomed out yet, highlighting the case for continued stimulus as the nation prepares to host finance chiefs and central bankers from the Group of 20 later this week. Private gauges of manufacturing and services fell to new lows, a reading of business confidence slipped, and interest in small and medium sized businesses deteriorated, the readings show. If confirmed in official data for February that starts to roll out from March 1, such weakness would suggest a slowdown in the nation’s old growth drivers may be deepening.
• One Sign Australia's Housing Market Is Due for a 2008 Moment. (video) That's not a housing bubble, this is a housing bubble. Insane. That's how Jonathan Tepper, chief executive officer at research firm Variant Perception, described Australia's housing sector in a word, painting the picture of a market that's strikingly similar to that of the U.S. prior to the financial crisis. A local 60 Minutes segment that aired on Sunday titled "Home Groans" chronicled some of the eye-popping events in the nation's real estate market, with amateurs owning (and under water on) multiple homes with no tenants, interest-only loans increasing in prominence, price-to-income ratios at elevated levels, and home auctions attended by the community and captured for the small screen.
• HSBC Feels Asia Slowdown in Loan Drop, Delayed Hiring Plans. (video) Eight months after HSBC Holdings Plc unveiled a $100 billion bet on Asia, crashing commodity prices and a slowing Chinese economy are checking Stuart Gulliver’s ambitions. The chief executive officer oversaw his first pretax loss as profit from Asia fell 14 percent to $2.82 billion in the fourth quarter and loans in that region dropped to the lowest in almost two years. The bank also disclosed that its hiring practices in Asia Pacific, like those of other lenders, are being probed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The results mark a setback to Gulliver’s efforts to bolster profitability and reverse a share slump by betting on the Chinese economy. Slower growth in the world’s second-largest economy may hamper the strategy, unveiled in June, to redeploy $100 billion of risk-weighted assets in Asia, and the bank said on Monday it will add staff for a China venture at a slower pace. “We will redeploy a little slower, we will hire a little bit slower,” Gulliver, 56, said on a call with journalists Monday. “We’re certainly not going to compromise our credit standards” for more loan growth, he said, adding that the change in pace doesn’t mean the bank will alter its strategy.
• Sovereign Wealth Funds May Sell $404 Billion of Equities. Sovereign wealth funds may withdraw $404.3 billion from global stock markets this year if crude prices stay between $30 to $40 per barrel as oil-rich nations seek to shore up their finances, according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute. The value of listed equities held by the world’s largest wealth funds will probably drop to $2.64 trillion this year, from about $3.04 trillion at the end of 2015, the Las Vegas-based SWFI said in an e-mailed report sent Monday. Withdrawals are set to approximately double from last year, when sovereign funds sold about $213.4 billion of equities, it said. "The era of petrodollar-filled wheelbarrows being dumped into giant vats seems to be numbered," according to the Institute. "Commodity wealth funds have to be concerned about the state of their country’s finances, since many were created to either be stabilization funds, intergenerational savings vehicles or a combination thereof."
• Miners Surge Sends Europe Stocks to 3-Week High; FTSE 100 Gains. (video) Commodity producers jumped to their highest levels since the start of December, pushing European stocks to a three-week peak. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 1.7 percent, with Glencore Plc, BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group up more than 8 percent. In the U.K., where the debate over whether to leave or stay in the European Union is in full steam, the FTSE 100 Index climbed 1.5 percent. In addition to the rebound in miners, the gauge is benefiting from a tumble in the pound after the mayor of London said he’ll campaign for an exit.
• Oil Glut Will Persist Into 2017 as IEA Sees Prices Capped. The global oil glut will persist into 2017, limiting any chance of a price rebound in the short term as the surplus takes even longer to clear than previously estimated, according to the International Energy Agency. While U.S. shale oil production will retreat this year and next as the price slump hits drilling, its subsequent recovery will ensure America remains the biggest source of new supply to 2021. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will expand its market share slightly this decade, with Iran, newly released from international sanctions, displacing Iraq as the organization’s biggest contributor to supply growth. “Only in 2017 will we finally see oil supply and demand aligned but the enormous stocks being accumulated will act as a dampener on the pace of recovery in oil prices,” the Paris-based adviser to 29 countries said in its medium-term report Monday. “It is hard to see oil prices recovering significantly in the short term from the low levels prevailing.”
• Goldman Sachs(GS) Says 40% of Lending to Oil and Gas Firms Is Junk. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said about 40 percent of its loans and lending commitments to oil and gas companies are to junk-rated firms. The figure, which counts both loans made and future promises to lend, accounted for $4.2 billion of a total $10.6 billion as of the end of December, the New York-based bank said Monday in its annual regulatory filing. Goldman Sachs has $1.5 billion in loans to energy companies rated below investment grade and $2.7 billion in unfunded commitments. The total exposure jumps $1.9 billion counting derivatives and other receivables, which were "primarily" to investment-grade firms, Goldman Sachs said.
• CIBC, Scotiabank Worst Hit in Severe Oil Slump, Moody's Says. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Bank of Nova Scotia would be the nation’s hardest hit lenders if the oil slump became sharply worse, while Toronto-Dominion Bank would best be able weather a deterioration, Moody’s Investors Service said. A prolonged decline “in oil prices will increase the financial stress on oil producers and the drillers and service companies that support them, as well as on consumers in oil-producing provinces," the New York-based ratings company said in a report released Monday. “The Canadian banks’ losses in related corporate and consumer portfolios will increase, and their capital markets income is likely to decline."
• Oil Freeze: Locking In High Supplies, Low Prices. (video)
• IMF’s Lagarde Says Oil May Stay Low for Longer Than Expected. Crude prices will probably stay low for longer than expected, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said, urging Gulf Arab oil-producing countries to cut spending and boost revenue through new taxes. A value-added tax that’s the same across the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council should be adopted, Lagarde said in a speech in Abu Dhabi. The measure along with corporate income and property taxes would help raise government income, she said. “Not only have oil prices fallen by around two-thirds from their most recent peak, but supply- and demand-side factors suggest that they are likely to stay low for an extended period,” Lagarde said. That makes it necessary for oil producers to lower reliance on crude for government income, she said.
• Google(GOOG) Ad Business Under Scrutiny as EU Said to Revive Probe. The European Union is reviving a probe into Google’s advertising practices with an inquiry that adds to active EU antitrust investigations into the company’s mobile operating system and shopping search services. The EU has been quizzing companies involved in online advertising in recent weeks about Google’s behavior, according to three people with knowledge of the investigation who asked not to be named because the process is confidential. Officials are seeking data that may be used to build a so-called statement of objections listing areas where they suspect Google breaches antitrust rules, they said.
• Credit Fears Mount on Poor Performances. (video)
• The U.S. States Where Recession Is Already a Reality. Dale Oxley doesn’t need to hear about rising odds of a U.S. recession to dread the future. For the West Virginia homebuilder, the downturn has already arrived. “Everyone is going to have to tighten their belts,” said Oxley, the 48-year-old owner of a Charleston-area construction company. “The next couple of years are going to be difficult.” As economists size up the chances of the first nationwide slump since 2009, pockets of the country are already contracting. Four states -- Alaska, North Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming -- are in a recession, and three others are at risk of prolonged declines, according to indexes of state economic performance tracked by Moody’s Analytics. The regions suffering the most are in the flop stage of the energy industry’s boom-to-bust cycle, and manufacturing-dependent areas hurt by a rising dollar are at risk of receding. Whether the weak links break the entire U.S. economy will hinge largely on a group that’s benefited from the energy price collapse: American consumers.

Zero Hedge:

• A Panicked China Orders Media To Stick To "Positive Reporting" Or Risk "The Stability Of The Country".
• Safes Sell Out In Japan, 1,000 Franc Note Demand Soars As NIRP Triggers Cash Hoarding.
• Valeant(VRX) 'Dead-Cat-Bounce' Dies On Double-Downgrade, Chanos Concerns. (graph)
• Are Central Banks Setting Each Other Up?
• Has The German Manufacturing Juggernaut "Lost Its Mojo?" (graph)
• The Cost Of Democratic Socialism (In 1 Stunning Chart). (graph)
• Why Bonds Aren't Buying This Bounce, And Why Guggenheim Expects The 10-Year Yield To Drop Below 1%. (graph)
• The Mood In Silicon Valley Is Like The "Moment After The Titanic Hit An Iceberg". (graph)
• Citi Asks "When Does A Recession Become A Depression?" (graph)
• "We've Reached The Limit": Denmark Central Bank Chief Says Monetary Policy Is Exhausted. (graph)
• PMI Plunges - The Last Time US Manufacturing Was This Weak, Bernanke Hinted At QE3. (graph)
• WTI Surges Above $33 Despite IEA 'Glutter'-For-Longer Warnings. (graph)
• Cable Crashes To 7 Year Lows As Brexit Battle Begins. (graph)

recode:

• Amazon(AMZN) Raises Free Shipping Minimum for Most Orders to $49 as Regular Customers Foot the Bill for Prime Members.

Bear Radar

Style Underperformer:

• Large-Cap Growth +1.0%

Sector Underperformers:

• 1) I-Banks -.3% 2) Foods -.3% 3) Computer Servies +.6%

Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume:

• LL, IPXL, DF, AWI, SYY, SF, CCC, ELLI, RYAAY, ROCK, CWT, JACK, HSBC, GLPG, PRGO, KONA, WTW, VRX, SEDG, USLV, SNDK, K, IOSP, AERI and LFUS

Stocks With Unusual Put Option Activity:

• 1) ZTS 2) SMH 3) USB 4) EWW 5) UNP

Stocks With Most Negative News Mentions:

• 1) LL 2) CCC 3) EXPE 4) RIG 5) TRIP

Charts:

• ETFs Falling on Unusual Volume
• Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume