What Happened to the Fear?


It's here.....tonight - Wednesday, October 22nd - here at the NYSE - I will be participating in the 4th Annual 'Shave for a Cure' - an annual benefit to help find a cure for pediatric cancers. So far - the group has collectively raised nearly $100k for tonight's event. There is still time to help out. Please consider supporting me in this effort: Shave4acure.org - click on 'sponsor a shavee' - scroll down and click on my picture to help support me in the quest to help find a cure for a variety of childhood cancers. Thank you in advance for helping me help so many children.


So - What a day yesterday! Mkts around the world rallied - seemingly forgetting all of the angst created last week by the many 'What If' scenarios that could have happened - What if -

- Mario Draghi & the ECB did nothing - causing the Eurozone recession to turn into depression?

- the German economy continued to weaken?
- Greece imploded?

- China slows?

- earnings disappoint?

- Ebola spreads around the world faster than Twitter can tell us?

- Democrats retain control of the Senate in the Mid-Term Elections?

- Elected officials actually considered fiscal reforms, new Tax policy or legislation that actually helped and encouraged real job growth?

- The Dollar kept rising?

- Oil continues to fall in price?

- Treasuries broke 2% ? (Oh they did.....)

And the list goes on....but what does it all mean? Apparently nothing - everything seems to be coming up roses! Look - last week - they were just about to throw everything including the kitchen sink out the window....The VIX shot higher - Ebola was the topic du jour - deflation, recession, monetary policy all added to discussion...it was a 'herd like' move lower - broken technical levels causing computers to spit out more sell orders - large asset managers and some savvy HF taking advantage of the move.....strategically lining up to scoop up the bargains created by headlines...

Analysts/strategists calling for the 'end of life as we knew it' and the kicker? Dennis Gartman - turned BEARISH and went into his 'SELL EVERYTHING' mode right at the bottom! I mean you can't make this up? Who would believe it?

3rd Qtr earnings so far have been strong - with a few noted exceptions - but no one is really surprised - as the most recent disappointments - IBM, KO, MCD are all multi-nationals - earning a fair amount of money overseas - so the strong dollar, the weakening European story etc - playing out just as expected - so when they disappoint - they get punished - maybe they should have taken the lead from Ford and pre-announced or at least warned of possible disappointment.....Others in the technology, financial and transportation (thanks to lower oil prices) space have taken up the slack - reporting solid earnings season and solid forward guidance - providing overall leadership for the mkts.

As I said last week - October is a notorious month for corrections...and this year apparently is no different. After the global rout last week - stocks found a bottom and have since shot higher - in a V like recovery.....Now this is a bit concerning - as it has not churned and worked its way out - but rather had a boom-er-rang reaction.

Yesterday Europe and the US mkts all had powerful upward moves - with the FTSE, Dax, Stoxx and S&P500 up between 1.7% and 2.3%. The Nasdaq helped by strong Apple results jumped nearly 2.5%, while the Dow Jones TRANSPORTS surged by more than 3%. Strong moves helped by speculation that the FED will change plans if US growth really starts to slow - lending support to the idea that stocks will surge higher and that the Christmas rally is alive and well. Any thought of a bigger correction now seems to have been pushed to the back burner until the new year when rates will surely begin to rise.....

The Europeans woke up on Monday and celebrated as news that the European Central bank came to the party buying short-dated notes from two French banks and some Spanish securities. On Tuesday the ECB is reported to have bought more debt issued by Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo. Well - better late than never - right? This action is effectively debt monetization (or US style quantitative easing) just what the doctor ordered. Global investors have patiently waited for this event to happen - maybe just maybe the fear from last week - lit a fire under someone's backside and caused them to 'roll out the barrel' Now that the ECB QE program has begun, we can assume that this will surely help the tone and sentiment for global financial mkts effectively putting a floor under the mkts.

This morning US futures are off by 2 pts....nothing really considering the move yesterday..... More earnings today will hopefully help this rally to remain alive and well. So far - about 80% of the companies that have reported earnings have beaten the estimates and 60% of those have actually grown top line revenues. Profits are running at a 5.9% clip - well ahead of the 4.1% estimate.

Look for results from BA, T, DOW, GD, USB, XRX, RJF to name just a few.

Eco data today includes: Mortgage Apps - and they show an increase of 11.6% - a very strong number. CPI is due out at 8:30.

Overnight - Asian mkts surging higher - across the board.....Japan +2.5%, Hong Kong +1.3%, ASX +1.1% - China the only exception at -0.6%. It's all about the ECB story..

In Europe - mkts there are waffling after the surge yesterday.....There is some concern over the upcoming bank stress tests with the results set to be announced this weekend. Rumor has it that some 11 banks across 6 of the EZ countries will fail.......but it is just that rumor or speculation.....the final answer to be announced on Sunday. FTSE +0.1%, CAC 40 +0.18%, DAX +0.28%, EUROSTOXX flat, Spain +0.07% and Italy +0.45%. 

Cavatelli, Sweet Sausage in a Garlic Butter Sage Sauce

This is a simple yet elegant dish....For this you need:

Sweet Italian sausage, Butter, Sage, Garlic, Cavatelli and plenty of fresh grated Parmegiana Cheese...

Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil -
Light the grill - and cook the sausage - careful not to burn. Remove and let sit for 3 mins or so and then cut into bite size pieces - set aside.

Begin by making the butter sage sauce,
In a large sauté pan - melt the butter - on med heat....once it starts to bubble -add in some sliced garlic and sauté for 2 or 3 mins.

Now add the chopped sage and let the flavors blend and the butter takes on a slightly nutty brown color. Season with a little pepper.

Toss the pasta into the boiling water and cook for about 8 mins or until aldente. Now - strain and add to the sauté pan and mix well to coat the pasta with he butter sage sauce. Add in the sliced sausage - heat thru - add a handful of cheese and toss. Serve immediately with more cheese on the table.

Buon Appetito

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