TUESDAY 9/22/15; European Stocks Selloff Ending in a Bloodbath; Volkswagen Crashes; Brazil Real Tags 4.0; AZO; KMX; CAG; CCL; DRI; GIS; US Stocks Selloff; Commodities Collapse Creating Global Deflation Worries; 2-Year Note Auction

Asian indexes begin trading higher. Japan markets remain closed on holiday. The SPASX200 is up +0.9% and KOSPI gains +0.1% in the early going. Aussie energy stocks rally higher on the buoyant oil prices. Korean carmakers are motoring over +2% higher; perhaps Kia Motors and Hyundai Motor will benefit from Volkswagen’s troubles.

At 9:51 AM Tokyo (8:51 PM Monday evening in the States; 8:51 AM Shanghai and Hong Kong), US futures are a touch negative. S&P -2. Dow -15. Nasdaq -6.

Euro 1.1194. Dollar/yen 120.41. Pound 1.5513. USD 95.89. WTIC oil 46.31. Brent oil 48.53. Natty 2.57. Gold 1133. Silver 15.19. Copper 2.387.

US Treasury yields are; 2-year 0.71%, 5-year 1.49%, 10-year 2.20%, 30-year 3.02%. The 2-10 spread is 149 bips. German bund 0.684%.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) cuts its 






















[Text is Redacted: Purchase September 2015-09 to Read the Complete Chronology]

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton opposes the Keystone XL Pipeline project after months of sitting on the fence. The project would create thousands of jobs in the Midwest but since most of the folks in the heartland vote republican, Clinton, like President Obama, refuse to approve the project. By opposing the Keystone pipeline, democratic politicians gain favor with environmentalists.

In addition, the president is friends with Warren Buffett that owns the railroads that make money from the unit trains hauling oil in tanker cars. Even though transporting oil by pipeline is safer and has less environmental impact than shipping by rail, the president opposes the pipeline since shipping oil by rail enriches his friend Buffett. Note that politicians only care about themselves and their own career and routinely throw the middle class and poor under the bus.

In the evening, Fed’s Lockhart repeats remarks from yesterday stating the case for a rate hike before the end of this year. Lockhart looks for the US economy to improve into year end although he is concerned about China’s economy.