THURSDAY 1/5/17; Chinese Yuan Strengthens; Turkish Lira Record Low; WBA; STZ; MON; Challenger Job-Cut Report; ADP Employment Report; Bitcoin Crashes -16%; Mexican Peso Record Low Central Bank Intervenes; Portugal 10-Year Yield Blowing Out Above 4%; Dow 20K Fades; Bloodbath in Retail Stocks; PMI Services Index; ISM Non-Mfg Index; FTSE Prints Record Highs; COMPQ (Nasdaq Composite) Prints All-Time Closing High; RT

Australia’s ASX 200 is up +0.3% out of the gate to 5756 printing highs not seen since June 2015. The NIKK and Topix are trading flat. The KOSPI is down -0.2%. Euro 1.0522. Dollar/yen 116.81. Pound 1.2338. Aussie dollar 0.7292. Dollar/yuan 6.9342. USD 102.37.

[Text is redacted. Purchase the 2017-01 chronology to enjoy January's economic and market history including Dow 20K and SPX 2.3K.]

GPS pops +12% on strong sales. Other retailers such as M, KSS, SHLD, AEO, BKS and COST report lackluster sales. Online sales are the big winner in December. Amazon is king.