- Italy back under intense focus; bank shares slide; emergency meetings scheduled (sound familiar?)
- New record highs in CHF, Gold; Treasury yields tumble
- S&P 500 ends 2.6% lower; now lower for 2011
- US Senate passes debt-ceiling plan 76-24
- US personal income rises 0.1%, spending falls 0.2%, first spending decline in nearly 2 years
- Fitch: US debt deal commensurate with AAA rating
- Italy blames Euro zone crisis, US for market pressures on Italian debt
- US 10-yr note yield falls 14 bp to 2.615%
- Gold ends at record $1656
Insane volatility, including a nearly 150 pip bounce in EUR/USD at mid-morning in the US. Sovereign buying was rumored from the 1.4150s on up helping trigger stops above 1.4210, 1.4250 and reaching 1.4283 before relenting. 1.4176 was the afternoon low as hot money flowed from Europe into the US yet again…
USD/JPY lost much of its overnight gains, ending at 77.10 as low-yielding safe havens continue to attract flows.
CHF surged to records against USD, EUR and GBP today (to name a few). No price high enough to dissuade those looking for return of principal rather than return on principal.
AUD and CAD end much lower as global growth fears spread amid US weakness and heavy profit taking in emerging markets, which are seeing their own slowdowns. Sovereign debt fears are icing on a very jittery cake. AUD ends below 1.08, USD/CAD near 0.96.
Sean will be checking in a bit late this morning, so I will will open up comments so you can keep one another informed.
