FRIDAY 1/16/15; Currency Brokers Face Insolvency; Record Low Global Bond Yields Continue; GS; PNC; STI; CPI (Consumer Price Index); Industrial Production; Consumer Sentiment

Asian indexes are off to a tentative start after the softness in US trading. The SPASX200  is down -0.3% in early trading with the Aussie dollar at 0.8205. The NIKK begins the session down -1.7%. The KOSPI begins trading losing -1.1% as the US weakness cascades to Asia. Dollar/yen 116.45. Euro 1.1612. The Switzerland currency shock continues to rattle global markets.

US futures are weak





































[Text is Redacted: Purchase January 2015-01 to Read the Complete Chronology]

Moody’s rating agency downgrades Russia’s credit rating to Ba3 from Ba2 and may downgrade to junk depending on how the economy proceeds this year. Moody’s warns that the flailing Russian economy will negatively impact the US economy.

The job losses are adding up in the oil and gas patch. SLB announced 9K layoffs last evening. HAL and SU each have axed 1K jobs. RDS/A cuts 300 employees and APA drop kicks another 250 people across the parking lot. Other companies such as BP, EOG and EEP are tossing workers overboard as well. The state of Texas alone is expected to shed 140K jobs due to the drop in oil prices. Steel companies are hit due to less need for pipe. These are high-paying jobs that disappear and the energy companies had driven the gain in the US employment numbers over the last couple years.