HFT not taking time off
HFT Algos are not closing out positions for the Year end. They don’t have anything to close out, and so continues the business as usual. Latest from Nanex;
On December 16, 2011, at 11:09:51.500 and again at 11:33:46.190, quotes from ISE flooded OPRA for approximately 50 to 100ms. During these events, there were no quotes from any of the other 9 reporting exchanges.
We’d also like to point out an anomaly in quote rates from the ISE exchange that appears whenever the total OPRA quote rate exceedes about 3 million quotes/sec. When OPRA quotes surge to a peak, the quote rate from ISE will suddenly back off and stay low until the total quote rate declines, where upon it will suddenly surge, often sending total OPRA traffic to new highs.
Risk On as Santa approaches
Is Santa finally arriving, as people prepare for the window dressing procedure? Despite all the bearish news, market is showing signs of a possible momo rally going into the final trading days of 2011. Liquidity is very poor, so pushing this higher shouldn’t be a problem. With markets staying resilient to the news out of Europe, we wouldn’t be surprised people have shorted into this, and are waiting for the sell off.
Just don’t wait too long, as this could pop higher.
Chart Update
Another boring pre Christmas day. People waiting for the Santa rally are disappointed. As we wrote yesterday, “markets will be trading in a consolidation”. Forget both Santa rallies, or major sell offs for the time being. Market is still “stuck” in a range, at least for the short term. Until we break out, and form a new trend, sit tight and trade accordingly, if you trade at all.
Short term levels below.
Congress Job Approval hits new lows
As Americans feel increasingly disillusioned with the role of the government, and the congress, let’s review the latest from Gallup. The trend is very clear, and Congress job approval is hitting new ath lows. Something is boiling…
A new record-low 11% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, the lowest single rating in Gallup’s history of asking this question since 1974. This earns Congress a 17% yearly average for 2011, the lowest annual congressional approval rating in Gallup history.
This discord in Washington caps off a year in which Congress fought bitterly before reaching a last-minute agreement to lift the debt ceiling, instructing a bipartisan supercommittee to cut more than $1 trillion from federal spending by the end of November. That objective was not reached, and the supercommittee ultimately announced that it could not reach an agreement, and disbanded.
El Erian on 2012
El Erian discusses important subjects for 2012. From the Eurozone mess, the US debt, North Korea to China. Bloomberg video below.
News That Matters
Ft.com
Japan is discussing with China possible purchases of Chinese government bonds, Bloomberg reports. Japanese finance minister Jun Azumi said “I think it’s mutually beneficial” for the two countries to be investing in one another’s debt, http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2011/12/20/806931/japan-in-talks-on-buying-chinese-government-bonds/
Investors have dumped Bank of America, driving its share price to a near three-year low of $4.99 and raising fresh worries over the state of the second-largest US bank by assets, reports the FT. The bank’s shares are trading at about 38 per cent of tangible book value, http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2011/12/20/806781/bank-of-america-stock-closes-below-5/
RBS and Blackstone are set to complete a deal in which the bank will hand over control of £1.4bn of distressed property loans to the US private equity group, reports the FT, citing people involved. The move to offload the loans into a Blackstone-managed fund was likely to be completed Monday night. http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2011/12/20/806721/rbs-offloads-1-4bn-in-property-loans-to-blackstone/
Wall Street is closing near its low for the day amid what has been cautious trading after reports of further divisions over eurozone rescue funds and geopolitical tension in the wake of Kim Jong-il’s death,http://ftalphaville.ft.com/thecut/2011/12/19/806691/north-korea-worries-keep-rally-in-check/
The Rich get Richer, and when they get Poorer, they get Bailed Out
Occupy Wall Street, the 1%, Arab Spring, M15 in Spain. All signs of frustration in the society. Inequality, where the rich get richer, while the poor get poorer. Whatever one thinks of inequality, it has been around for a long time, and will probably continue to do so. While growing stronger, it risks taking down a society or two. Some calculus on the inequality aspects of our society. By World Complex;
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