The markets and it seems the headlines have taken a powder for the day. Greece has had few mentions, although the finance committee in their Parliament has passed the debt swap proposal. Funny, it seems they get bills passed quickly while our Congress cannot pass a budget for over two years! Thankfully no one has noticed our debt situation here in the States! Shhh, do not tell anyone. Europe closed mostly in the red. Spain, Italy and the German DAX were down nearly 1%. The Euro FinMins will meet on March 2nd, and the Greeks have proposed to complete their bond swap around March 12th. Beware the Ides of March. It was interesting to see the JP Morgan Client Survey, the bulls have gotten less bullish, and the shorts have doubled down. It would be hard to fathom it going any other way. The Greeks on tenterhooks. The Iranians rattling cages globally. Yada Yada. We noted the transports yesterday sitting on their 50 day moving average, and they never confirmed the thrust of the move in the Industrial’s, which we also noted a few weeks ago. No news maybe good news as the market waits for direction. Tomorrow’s calendar gets a touch heavier. German IFO data. Italian Consumer Confidence. In the US we get Initial/Continuing Claims, House Price Index and KC Fed Manufacturing. Hopefully one or all of the above can inspire some traction on the volume front. Come to think of it, we have not heard from any of the ratings agencies for some time. Or maybe just maybe a Republican candidate can inspire some confidence in what the future holds. HMMM. It is good to dream big. Have a wonderful afternoon.

No lawsuits as of yet. I guess that is the good news. The Greek’s are looking for 66% approval on the PSI with private creditors. It looks likely that the markets will be looking for a much higher approval rating than that. It probably does not matter; those who do not toe the line will be labeled vigilantes’ by the powers that be. The French have thrown around the word several times already today, and it looks like it will remain in the lexicon for the near future. It has been rumored the next LTRO, the ECB ‘s liquidity enhancing tool could be their last one as the central bank would like to go wings in at some point after the past few months of priming the pump. Europe closed flat as the trap doors in this one seem to be too numerous to look past. An EU summit has been scheduled for March 2nd. Who will be next in need of a further bailout or haircut at that time? Oil is currently trading at 9 month highs. Blame what you wish. Geopolitical fears. Reflating the economies of the world by the respective central banks, or last but not least old fashioned demand. Imagine if markets were allowed to operate on the old supply/demand you learned about in Economics 101. AHH, remember it fondly. Busy economic calendar on tap for tomorrow. French and Italian CPI. German and Euro Zone PMI. US data will be made up of MBA Mortgage applications, ICSC Chain Store data, Redbook and Existing Home Sales along with revisions. Enjoy the rest of your day!

The Greeks must feel like an old weeble wooble right now. Just when they get off the mat it seems a new problem arises. It looked like a deal would be consummated by Monday, early this AM. The headlines have been flowing so fast that it is hard to keep track. The IMF said yesterday they would not support the bailout without ‘debt sustainability’. Today, they say they are cutting their contribution from 33% to 10%. Huh? Will the German populace ante up more to fill in the balance? This relationship has been souring as of late, as the Germans want a say over the funds. Airing dirty laundry in the press cannot be good as you try to hammer out a deal of this size. Especially since the Greek populace is starting to feel like a puppet state. The ECB has swapped bonds in away that could have private creditors in a subjugated position. When do the lawsuits start? Will the structure of the bailout and bond swap trigger a ‘kreditversichungen’; the CDS’s which were underwritten on these bonds? So as you can see this is anything but a done deal. There was one article I saw this AM which stated the Greek’s should use this tranche to start preparing for the return of the Drachma. Will the European Union as we know it exist in present form on Tuesday when US traders head back to their desks? There are many more question marks in this mid day update then periods. Market seems to be getting weary of the questioning. As a reminder the bond market closes early ahead of the three day weekend, and we have option expiration here on the floor on the bell. Markets may see added volatility heading into the close. Have a wonderful three day weekend.

Markets are well off their highs as risk rally has lost some steam. Europe closed mixed with Italy and Spain closing down and the UK, Germany and France closing on the plus side. France and Belgium have both allowed their short selling bans on financial companies to expire, while the rest of Europe looks to still be in place for the next week or two. Could it have been a premature sign that market regulators felt that all was clear? UniCredit the large Italian lender opened up down 4% after S&P slashed ratings on Friday after the European markets had already closed. Crude spiked this AM, as the Israelis quickly claimed the Iranians were behind the attacks on Israeli embassies in India and Georgia. The saber rattling continues unabated between these two, and it seems patience may be wearing thin on the side of the Israelis. We have also heard chatter that the Greek PSI may be higher than the originally planned 70% which could cause some type of default in the eyes of the rating agencies. As stated yesterday, the Greeks and their travails will not seem to go away. The Obama Administration has released its budget proposal. Tax Increases, cuts in spending, yada yada yada. Try getting one passed as we have not been able to do so in the Senate for over 1,000 days. As an aside the Democrats still control the upper chamber. On a positive front Apple has passed the $500 mark and there was much jubilation! Have a wonderful afternoon.

Europe closed down between 1 and 1 ½ percent on the reopening of the Greek debate. We await the Greek Parliament meeting to see if the struggling nation can come up with more cuts, even though it is already bleeding like a sieve. The rumors of the Greek police looking to arrest members of the EU and IMF do not help matters. Several Greek ministers have resigned in haste which may complicate matters even more. Turning to another troubled nation, North Korea there have been rumors running rampant that new Supreme Leader Kim-Jong Un has been killed. This is all unsubstantiated and merely rumor at this point. Thankfully Iran has willfully taken itself off the front pages for a few days; otherwise this market would look like a duck in a foie gras factory! Here in the US we had one data point, the University of Michigan consumer confidence number. It came out worse than expected but seemed to get very little fan fare as the market had its hands full with the trials and tribulations globally. There were several interesting data points which I have noticed today. The NYSE reported that short interest has shrunk by nearly 6% month over month. Insiders are selling stock at a clip not seen since July 2011. If you recall this was right before the market went into massive gyrations of volatility. On the corporate earnings front, 63% of companies are beating expectations. Impressive but less so when compared to previous quarters. Will the market be able to hold a bid if headlines start overshadowing corporate reports? Markets are forward looking instruments; hopefully it has had a recent eye exam! Have a wonderful weekend!

DOW TAKING OUT MAY 2011 HIGHS CURRENTLY…THE TRANSPORTS ARE NOT CONFIRMING THE MOVE…OLD DOW THEORISTS TAKE NOTE…

Markets have flat lined once again. The prospect of a Greek break through has not had much of a positive effect. Maybe Mr. Market is realizing the pitfalls that remain are ENOURMOUS. The Greek Deputy Labor Minister quit in protest over the severity of the new austerity. We have been getting assurances that the PSI is falling in line as well. The market is still ultra long the dollar which could mean a lack of belief that this is anything but over. The Germans will meet on Friday in order to discuss whether the new austerity package is severe enough. Heavy stuff. The possibilities of blow ups are great. The Greeks are scheduled to hold elections in April, and every one of the contributors to the bail out are looking for assurances that the austerity pledges will be met. What could go wrong here? How long until another government building is stormed by the Greek citizenry? We have also heard rumors that Vodaphone is removing cash from European operations daily as the possibility of a liquidity crisis is still seen as great. The ECB left rates as is, probably to hold some fire power back if need be. The Bank Of England did in fact increase their QE budget, by some $50 billion dollars. So, although it looks like we may have taken a few steps forward, the possibility of road blocks remain. The lone US data point, Wholesale Inventories came in better than expected. The re-stocking of inventories should give some positive boost to GDP. Expect the sell-side to start adjusting their projections. Oil has retaken $100 dollars a barrel. Who says quantitative easing was not working?? A heavy slate of data points is forthcoming in the next 24 hours. China Trade Balance, German CPI, and University of Michigan Confidence are all on tap. The Chairman will also be discussing the state of the housing market in here in the US. Have a wonderful afternoon.