Oil soars on news that there will be a production cut, then sours after the announcement of a production freeze. Waiting on the “left-hook” devaluation from China after they pledged to keep the Yuan strong.

Draghi promises the world that more stimulus is on tap and Japan continues to believe that negative rates are the answer to their economic woes. Meanwhile, there is some chatter that the Presidential candidates are the reason that markets have been in a downward spiral. More on this and other important topics.

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Good is bad, Bad is good – Japan markets finished last week down 14.5% after the Yen rallies to 111/USD. GDP drops 1.4% YoY and that was enough to drop the Yen back to 114/USD and markets rally 5%.

Japan GDP Chart

U.S Markets finished lower for the week, even with the Friday surge of 2%. This week starts off on a different note as central bankers are jawboning the markets. ECB’s Draghi once again stating that he may add stimulus in March and Japan’s Kuroda talking up the benefits of negative deposit rates.

The 2-Speed economy – Manufacturing related continues to suffer:February Empire Manufacturing -16.6 vs -9.9 consensus; January -19.4

Meanwhile…. China is out with commentary that the RMB (YUAN) should not weaken from here. Yuan had one of its best rallies (strengthen) on record after markets re-opened from the New year holiday. Waiting for the left-hook devaluation… (Skeptical?)

Yuan Fizzle Chart

China loves the movies…. China’s retail sales over the Spring Festival holiday rose 11.2 percent from the same vacation period a year earlier, with cinemas posting sharp increases in box-office sales, the country’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement Saturday.

** More info and an Update… Announcing the DHUnplugged Closest to the Pin Contest –

The first CTP will start in March…  Listeners will be  completing against John and Andrew **

 

The ECB Council voted today to scrap the €500 note. They say that they are doing this to counter black market and nefarious uses for higher denomination bills. The reality is that taking it out of the system will effectively reduce the cash in circulation by upwards of 30%. (Will this help gold, metals and alternatives like Bitcoin?) *** Larry Summers floating the idea of scrapping the $100 bill.

Oil… Check out inventories: (note – Saudi Arabia and Russia met and implemented a FREEZE rather than production cuts)

Crude Inventory Chart

Chatter that current Pres candidates are the reason that markets are acting poorly. Now on the front cover of Barrons this week…

Barron’s Cover

Here we go… Apple (AAPL) planing massive bond sale. 30-year bond may yield 2.