10Jun2015 Market Close: DOW Closed Up 236, SP500 Closed Up +25, Investors Worried If This Reversal Can Continue

Oil Prices Rise on Inventory Data

U.S. oil prices rose to a new 2015 high Wednesday after U.S. data showed stronger-than-expected demand for crude oil and gasoline.

Merkel and Hollande to tell Tsipras to reach terms with creditors

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The leaders of Germany, France and the European Commission told Greece on Wednesday it must reach a deal with its creditors and stop seeking softer terms in a political fix to unlock desperately needed funds.

Bill Gross on CNBC says his ‘best idea’ is Mexican government debt

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Bill Gross of Janus Capital Group Inc said on CNBC Wednesday that his “best idea” is Mexican government debt securities.

U.S. Stocks Surge

U.S. stocks rose sharply Wednesday, putting the Dow on track for its biggest one-day gain in a month, as technology and financial stocks pulled ahead and investors embraced encouraging signals about Greece’s financing talks.

Wall St. Rallies After Days of Losses

The rally was broad: All 30 stocks in the Dow and all 10 industry groups in the S.&P. 500 index made gains.

Bank of Japan Comments Send Dollar Tumbling

Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda jolted markets with remarks that persuaded traders Tokyo wants currency stability restored after weeks of sharp yen declines.

Wall Street up on report Germany may consider Greece aid

(Reuters) – U.S. stocks were higher in afternoon trading on Wednesday after a Bloomberg report that Germany may be satisfied with Greece committing to at least one economic reform in return for aid.

Alibaba’s Ma sees $1 trillion in transactions in five years

(Reuters) – Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is aiming to more than double its transaction volumes to more than $1 trillion in five years, Executive Chairman Jack Ma told a conference in Chicago on Wednesday.

U.S. posts budget deficit of $82.4 billion in May

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States posted a budget deficit of $82.4 billion in May, a 37 percent drop from the same period last year, the U.S. Treasury Department said on Wednesday.

As Seen In Greece: “I Rushed To The Bank” And The Return Of ATM Lines?

Late last Friday, we reported what many had feared: the Greek population’s faith in its government’s negotiating skills evaporated last week amid a breakdown in talks with creditors, leading to what local sources dubbed a “massive” €700 million deposit outflow in one day (and over €3 billion for the week).

Now, courtesy of FT which confirmed just what we said, namely that “anxious Greeks [are] pulling money from banks amid fears of capital controls”, we get the visual confirmation of what happened and is still happening on the ground:

As FT goes on to note, Greeks are doing anything they can to store their euros outside the banking sector amid fears of capital controls. Here’s more:

Two weeks after Greece’s leftwing Syriza party won power at a general election in January, Panayotis Fotiades pulled his deposits from an Athens bank..

To protect his savings he bought a brand new Mercedes- …

Could This Be OPEC’s Long-Term Goal?

Submitted by Kurt Cobb via OilPrice.com,

Delayed gratification is said to be a sign of maturity. By that standard OPEC at age 55 demonstrated its maturity this week as it left oil production quotas for its members unchanged. It did so in the face of oil prices that are about 40 percent lower than they were at this time last year, delaying once again a return to the $100-per-barrel prices seen during the past four years.

Why OPEC members chose to leave their oil output unchanged is no mystery. The explicit purpose for keeping oil prices depressed is to close down U.S. oil production from deep shale deposits–production that soared when oil hovered around $100 a barrel, but which is largely uneconomic at current prices. That production was starting to threaten OPEC’s market share.

If OPEC were to cut its oil production now and drive prices back up, it would only lead to increased drilling in the United States and loss of market share. In fact, even as spot oil prices sank below $45 per barrel in the United States earlier in the year, investors continued pumping money into U.S. oil drilling. According to The Wall Street Journal U.S. oil companies sold almost $17 billion in new shares in the first quarter of 2015, more than they sold in any quarter last year when prices were much hig …

Citigroup’s FX deals might have made only $1 million but cost $2.5 billion

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Employee misconduct in foreign exchange trading that cost Citigroup Inc $2.5 billion in fines and penalties might have made only $1 million for the bank, an executive said on Wednesday.

U.S. services data suggest upward revision to first-quarter GDP

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. economy was probably not as weak as has been reported in the first quarter, with data on Wednesday showing slightly stronger consumer spending than previously estimated.

Another Short Squeeze Results In Strong 10 Year Auction, Highest Bid To Cover Of 2015

Just like yesterday, when the 3Y auction issued $24 billion in paper on substantially better terms than many feared, so today’s 10 year auction was even stronger, pricing at 2.461%, 1.3 bps through the When Issued of 2.474%, at a 2.461 Bid to Cover, far better than last month’s 2.2370 and the highest since December 2014.

The internal were less notable, with Indirects holdings 57.9%, Directs left with 12.1% and Dealers holding precisely 30%.

Why the strong auction? Same reason why yesterday’s 3Y was also strong. Same reason why every other auction coming on days when there is a substantial short overhang into the auction is strong: shorts were squeezed. As ICAP reported this morning, the repo rateon the OTR 10Y was -0.55% hinting that today’s auction would be pleasant to quite pleasant.

To those curious how tomorrow’s 30Y auction will do: look at the repo rate on 30Y paper in the morning. If very negative, expect 3 out of 3 impressive auctions for the week.

Germany Talks Back Latest Greek “Fix” Rumor, Futures Refuse To Drop

Surprise! Germany has begun to talk back their exuberant headlines over a Greek compromise. As Reuters reports, Germany will only accept a cash-for-reform deal between Greece and its international creditors that has the approval of all three lending instutions, a government spokesman said in response to reports that Berlin was considering easier terms, “all else is pure invention.”

As Reuters reports,

Germany will only accept a cash-for-reform deal between Greece and its international creditors that has the approval of all three lending instutions, a government spokesman said in response to reports that Berlin was considering easier terms.

Asked about a Bloomberg report that said Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government may be satisfied with Greece committing to at least on major economic reform sought by the creditors, the spokesman told Reuters: “Germany will only accept a proposal of the three institutions. All else is a pure invention.”

The spokesman said Merkel and French President Francois Hollande would meet Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras for an update on Greece’s debt negotiations later on Wednesday after a inner at an EU-Latin America summit in Brussels.

Merkel said earlier that her message would be that Greece must negotiate with the institutions representing the creditors.

Tsipras, who has rejected several of the creditors’ key conditions for a deal to unlock frozen aid, has been pressing for a “political agreement” among leaders to break an impasse in detailed negotiations.