China, Europe Add Fuel to U.S. Sell-Off
"Deleveraging Everywhere." It doesn't get much more concise than and it is exactly how Stifel Nicolaus trader Dave Lutz begins his morning missive to clients today. For others, the sheer volume of things suddenly going wrong is almost fitting, given the 7-month rally that defiantly pushed stocks to all-time highs.
"No one knows how it will end but we do know this; it all comes at once," says Peter Kenny, chief market strategist at Knight Capital in the attached video, of roiled world markets, including the Dow Jones Industrials (^DJI) , which is suffering its third, 200-plus point down day in the past 4 sessions.
Not only is he - and every investor for that matter - contending with the fastest eroding bond market in most of our adult lifetimes, there's also the continued debasement of complicated Chinese markets, as well as the perennial perk-up of Eurozone bond yields, which have Geiger counter-like sensitivity to any signs of trouble.
Not only did China's benchmark Shanghai Index shed 5%, but every major equity market in Asia and Europe closed lower today, adding to the weight upon U.S. stocks, which were being lead lower by economically cyclical sectors such as Energy (XLE), Materials (XLB), Financials (XLF) and Industrials (XLI). More broadly, the emerging markets (EEM) continued their descent towards bear market territory, having plunged almost 20% now from a 52-week high hit at the start of the year. If not for the isolated gains of the dollar (^DX-Y), Treasury yields (^TNX) and volatility (^VIX) there would be no green at all on trader's screens.
And yet, in spite of all of the contagion and liquidation, a silver lining may emerge this week in the form of a parade of seven Fed governors who are on tap to make speeches in the next few days, and hammer home the reality that when Ben Bernanke says any reduction in stimulus from the markets will be "data dependent," he means it.
"This is what they get paid for. Fed speak. To make things more digestable for the markets," Kenny says, branding it a "very, very important week for the Fed."
Still, he's the first to acknowledge that the addict-like tantrum currently being thrown by the markets was not only expected, but is also arguably overdue. The surprise, really, is in the speed at which the global demise is happening, and whether the sell-off has come too far, too fast and might be poised for a bounce.
More from Breakout:
Don't Look at Bernanke, China Is Driving This Meltdown
Stocks Threatened by the Pace of Rising Interest Rates: Baruch
Bargains and Necessities Outclass Luxury in Retail Patch: Suttmeier
