Stocks Lower into Afternoon on Afghanistan Pullout Debacle, Rising China/Taiwan Tensions, Virus Mandate/Lockdown Worries, Commodity/Consumer Discretionary Sector Weakness

Broad Equity Market Tone:

• Advance/Decline Line: Substantially Lower
  

• Sector Performance: Almost Every Sector Declining
  

• Volume: Below Average

• Market Leading Stocks: Underperforming
  

Equity Investor Angst:

• Volatility(VIX) 18.9 +17.4%
• Bloomberg Global Risk On/Risk Off Index 2,530.0 -283.0 points

• Euro/Yen Carry Return Index 132.52 -.25%

• Emerging Markets Currency Volatility(VXY) 8.72 +.35%

• S&P 500 Implied Correlation 50.6 +3.5%

• ISE Sentiment Index 97.0  -16.0 points
  

• Total Put/Call .84 +8.1%

• NYSE Arms 1.08 -23.4%

Credit Investor Angst:

• North American Investment Grade CDS Index 49.9 +2.4%
  

• US Energy High-Yield OAS 451.27 +.83%

• European Financial Sector CDS Index 53.58 +.67%

• Italian/German 10Y Yld Spread 104.0 +1.0 basis point
  

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 83.53 +.22%
  

• Emerging Market CDS Index 162.93 +1.95%
  

• China Corp. High-Yield Bond USD ETF(KHYB) 38.41 unch.

• 2-Year Swap Spread 9.5 +.5 basis point

• TED Spread 7.5 -.5 basis point
  

• 3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis Swap -2.5 +.25 basis point
  
• MBS  5/10 Treasury Spread  77.5 +1.75 basis points
  
• IHS Markit CMBX BBB- 6 73.5 +.25 basis point
  

Economic Gauges:

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 59.57 -.27%
• 3-Month T-Bill Yield .06% unch.
  

• Yield Curve 104.0 -1.0 basis point
  

• China Iron Ore Spot 157.20 USD/Metric Tonne -2.53%

• Citi US Economic Surprise Index -31.8 +.8 point

• Citi Eurozone Economic Surprise Index 9.2 -1.5 points
  

• Citi Emerging Markets Economic Surprise Index 36.2 +.1 point

• 10-Year TIPS Spread 2.34 -2.0 basis points
• 100.0% chance of no change at Nov. 3rd meeting, 100.0% chance of no change at Dec. 15th meeting

US Covid-19:

• 287 new infections/100K people(last 7 days total) +8/100K people
• 54% of Jan. 7th, 2021 peak(highest daily avg. new infections) +2.0 percentage points
  

Overseas Futures:

• Nikkei 225 Futures: Indicating -59 open in Japan 
• China A50 Futures: Indicating -101 open in China

• DAX Futures: Indicating -45 open in Germany

Portfolio:

• Lower: On losses in my tech/consumer discretionary/industrial sector longs
  

• Disclosed Trades: Added to my (IWM)/(QQQ) hedges and to my emerging market shorts
  

• Market Exposure: Moved to 75% Net Long