19Jul2016 Market Close: Wall Street Wandered In The Green All Session And Ended The Same, WTI Crude Sliding Lower And The US Dollar Resting At New Highs

Wall St. edges down amid mixed earnings after market’s record highs

(Reuters) – The S&P 500 pulled back from record highs on Tuesday, while the Dow industrials held slim gains as investors digested a mixed bag of earnings reports as well as lowered expectations for global economic growth.

Goldman details cost savings plan after ‘challenging’ quarter

(Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc reported a higher second-quarter profit on Tuesday, as it benefited from a sharp decline in expenses and more activity in some parts of the fixed-income markets, but most of its businesses came under pressure.

Three U.S. states sue Volkswagen, say execs covered up diesel cheating

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senior executives at Volkswagen AG including its former chief executive covered up evidence that the German automaker had cheated on U.S. diesel emissions tests for years, three U.S. states charged on Tuesday in civil lawsuits against the company.

SoftBank bid for ARM catches some hedge funds off guard

LONDON (Reuters) – A Dallas hedge fund was among investors betting on a fall in the price of ARM Holdings when SoftBank Group’s surprise $32 billion bid sent shares in the British chip designer surging nearly 50 percent.

Monsanto rejects Bayer’s sweetened offer, open to talks

(Reuters) – U.S. seed company Monsanto Co turned down a sweetened $64 billion acquisition offer from Bayer AG , but said it was open to further talks with the German healthcare and chemicals group as well as other parties.

U.S. housing starts rise in June; momentum slowing

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. housing starts rose more than expected in June as construction activity increased broadly, but downward revisions to the prior months’ data pointed to a sector treading water in the second quarter.

Lockheed Martin raises forecast as quarterly sales beat

(Reuters) – Lockheed Martin Corp , the Pentagon’s No. 1 weapons supplier, reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue and lifted its 2016 revenue and profit forecasts for the second time, buoyed by increased deliveries of its F-35 fighter jets.

Johnson & Johnson raises 2016 forecast, shares touch record high

(Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday raised its full-year 2016 sales and earnings forecasts and reported quarterly results that beat estimates, helped by strength in its prescription drugs business.

EU truckmakers fined $3.2 billion over price collusion

BRUSSELS/PARIS – EU regulators imposed a record fine of 2.9 billion euros ($3.2 billion) against Europe’s biggest truckmakers on Tuesday for colluding over 14 years to fix prices and delay adoption of cleaner engine emissions technology.

So What Did The ECB Buy? “In Short, Almost Everything”

Yesterday for the first time, the various central banks of the Eurosystem disclosed which bonds the ECB had bought under its CSPP program. Specifically, we broke down the purchases of the Bundesbank, which revealed some of the most prominent public company debt issuers in Europe. However, we were curious to get a more detailed look at what Mario Draghi’s trading desk was spending their time BWICing all day. For that we went to the undisputed master when it comes to tracking what the ECB does in the bond realm (because the ECB is not buying equities just yet), BofA’s Barnaby Martin.

Here is the big picture as revealed in his report today titled “CSPP: Buying Frenzy” – “in just over a month of the Corporate Sector Purchase Programme, the ECB have bought 458 bonds, with virtually no stone left unturned.With the monthly run-rate of buying hovering around the 8.5bn mark, our conclusion for CSPP is, bluntly, that it is too big, too powerful and ultimately too bullish for spreads.”

But the best part was Martin’s answer to the key question: “So what did they buy?” His answer: “In short, almost everything.”

But we don’t think this should be particularly surprising – the weekly CSPP buying numbers continue to suggest a monthly run rate for corporate purchases of between 8bn- 9bn (with the buying pace picking up over the last week). Yet, we think this is too big an amount for a market devoid of supply and thus we continue to believe that CSPP is a very bullish technical for non-financial spreads.

What caught our attention on the ECB’s shopping list?

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