WEDNESDAY 2/25/15; China Flash PMI; Ireland 10-Year Yield Under 1%; CPB; DLTR LOW; TGT; TJX; New Home Sales; Fed Chair Yellen Testifies Before House Committee; SPX, INDU and RUT All-Time Highs; COMPQ 15-Year Record High; LB; CRM

In Asian trading, the NIKK finishes marginally lower. The SPASX200 gains +0.3% with the Aussie dollar at 0.7885. KOSPI gains +0.7% with Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor leading the parade higher. New Zealand’s benchmark index joins the global central banker-induced stock market party printing record highs.

China HSBC Flash manufacturing PMI is 














[Text is Redacted: Purchase February 2015-02 to Read the Complete Chronology]
























 bullish market sentiment continues non-stop. NYSE floor trader Gordon Charlop says a near term bottom appears to be in place and stocks are set to run higher. Charlop expects stocks to remain at these levels or higher. Markets participants remain generally complacent and unconcerned about a selloff occurring in stocks. Commenting on the stock market, Simply Money CEO Nathan Bach says, “I know bubbles and this is no bubble.”

Loomis Sayles strategist David Sowerby says insider selling is not a critical variable to gauge markets and he looks for higher highs in stocks going forward. From the opposite perspective, insider selling is at record highs and is usually a contrarian indicator that forecasts lower stock prices ahead; executives that are intimate with a company’s economic details are cashing out of their holdings gittin’ while the gittin’ is good.

Euro 1.1362. Dollar/yen 118.84. Pound 1.5526. WTIC oil 51.03. Brent oil 61.89. Natty 2.875. Gold 1204. Silver 16.515. Copper 2.66.

MS announces a $2.6 billion settlement with the DOJ which will help place litigation costs in the rear view mirror. MS trades flat on the news in the afterhours but the settlement may provide lift for the financials tomorrow. Typically, banks rise on settlement news since uncertainty is removed.

The debt-to-GDP ratios around the world are at alarming levels. Japan is at an astounding 400% debt-to-GDP ratio. Equally ridiculous is eight other countries with debt-to-GDP ratio’s above 300% including Ireland, Singapore, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, Greece, Spain and Denmark. All are in the European financial arena except for Japan and Singapore. This situation will likely not end well.

Approximately 100 Christians, including many women and children, are kidnapped by the ISIS Islamist radicals in Syria. The sick Islamist militants are threatening to murder the hostages including priests and the elderly. Fierce localized fighting continues across Syria. ISIS Islamist radicals continue to perform genocide against Christians and Jews in the new Holy War.