There's A Strange Color On People's Trading Screens Today...
It’s a little after 7:30 AM ET here in New York, and I am trying to figure out what this strange color on my screen is. Oh yes… red. SPUs (we are onto the June eMinis for those of you keeping score at home) are down 3.50 at this hour, and the Euro Stoxx is down 75 bps with Spain and Italy the biggest drags for any number of reasons. This is going to be one of those interesting weeks where market dynamics may trump anything else. Lots of talk is going around about how bullishly dealers are positioned in the indices for the big March expiration on Friday, and there will be a big push to make that all work. The big question is, what happens once that artifice goes away? I know… more artifice! Speaking of which, let’s see what our favorite politicans/central bankers (unlike some of my peers, I no longer differentiate between those two groups) are up to, and oh yes… we have some data to discuss. Some of it is troubling. Not that it matters.
The red shade is actually already a little lighter. S&P futures down just 2 at the moment. And Dow futures are flat.