THURSDAY 6/26/14; New York Regulators Sue Barclays; ACN; LEN; Warsh Says Fed is "Reverse Robin Hood"; GPRO; NKE

Asia trades higher despite the weak US growth number; the shocking -2.9% Final Q1 GDP. Dollar/yen 101.93 flat all night long. The NIKK gains +0.3%. TM is up +0.8% after debuting a fuel cell electric car that will be available for sale within the year. The SSEC and KOSPI are both up +0.7%. The big winners are the HSI up +1.5% and the SPASX200 up +1.2%. Aussie dollar remains above 0.94 at 0.9407. Miners and steel makers trade higher.

ISIS extremists take control of the Basad airbase in Iraq and the Ajeel oil region. The death count is 57 from the Syrian attacks on western Iraq over the last few days with 120 injured. The cross border conflicts are growing in the Middle East and should create concern around the globe. Syria is bombing western Iraq, ISIS radicals are creating a caliphate (region of strict Sharia law) across Syria and Iraq. Kurdistan wants to split from Iraq. Iran is flying drones in Iraq. Al-Qaeda is in Syria passing on bomb-making technology to ISIS and other radicals. Pakistan is selling nuclear technology to North Korea. The Middle East is descending into tribal and sectarian regions and the maps will likely be redrawn in coming years.

At the same time, the Middle East makes for strange bedfellows. The Sunni ISIS extremists are an enemy of the US in Iraq but in Syria, ISIS is aligned in the same direction as the US in opposition against Syria’s leader Asaad. The Middle East is a Hellish labyrinth of chaos, violence, horror, death, pain and misery. US intelligence agencies warned the Whitehouse and Congress about the ISIS extremist’s months ago and a window of opportunity was in place to snuff the group out at its core, but the president and Congress did not act. Oddly, the Whitehouse is saying they were surprised by how fast ISIS overtook Iraq. WTIC crude oil remains sticky at 106-107 and Brent is 114.

Secretary Kerry says it is critical for Russia to start disarming within hours. The West likely wants Russia to prove they are not supplying weapons to the pro-Russian separatists in East Ukraine. Kerry says the US and the West are preparing further sanctions but do not want to operate in a sanctions mode indefinitely. The key to peace is Russia pulling troops away from the Ukraine eastern border but Putin shows no intention of standing down.

Today is a bad day for British banks. 



[Text is Redacted: Purchase June 2014-06 to Read the Complete Chronology]

At 10:50 AM, the GPRO IPO begins trading at 28.65 well above the 24 starting price a +22% bounce. Within minutes, GPRO is above 30 and near +30% higher. The traders are giddy and the media is in frenzy over a miniature camera you stick on a helmet. GoPro is pumping their web site that receives uploaded action videos from sports enthusiasts and is also trying to attract the middle-class couch potato market to use GoPro for family movies. They see the writing on the wall and are looking for more revenue streams. Placing sports enthusiasts aside, how many people are going to buy a $400 camera with another few hundred required for accessories when your cell phone or digital camera is good enough? How about when the economy softens further and money is tight with discretionary spending dropping? Nonetheless, the Fed wine is flowing like water and traders are tripping over each other to buy GPRO which tags a 33 handle.

The Alibaba IPO selects the NYSE as the listing exchange and will trade under the symbol BABA. ‘Baba’ rhymes with the Chinese word ‘prosperity’ and also equates to the lucky number 8. Alibaba targets 8/8/14 for the first day of trading again using 8’s for superstitious good luck but may not meet the deadline. The exchanges sell their souls for these high profile listings. Look at the Nasdaq kneeling and kissing Facebook’s shoes to the point of CEO Bob Greifeld donning a tee shirt, as FB CEO Zuckerburg demanded, at the remote opening from Facebook headquarters that went down in flames; a shameful IPO debut debacle. So it is the NYSE’s turn to sell its soul to the Alibaba genie. The 8/8/14 debut date for BABA is likely cast in concrete. They will make it happen.

Equities march higher all day long after the low prints after the opening bell. Financials remain weak. XLF -0.4%. C pukes -1.2%. Banks that run dark pools, such as BCS, CS, DB and UBS are bludgeoned from -2.4% to -7.4% lower. Energy is positive. XLE +0.1%. LEN is down -0.5% and the homebuilders do not feel the love today. XHB -0.3%.  The 10-year note yield drops under 2.53% then briefly prints a 2.51% handle. Traders are buying Treasuries. The 2-10 spread drops to 205 basis points representing a flattening yield curve.

The day ends with the SPX down 2 points, -0.1%, to 1957, bouncing off the 20-day MA at 1944 intraday. Equities produce a strong recovery off the initial lows. The Dow loses 21 points, -0.1%, to 16846, sitting at its 20-day MA support. The COMPQ recovers from its deficit today to finish flat. The RUT drops -0.2%. The computers control the trade today as evidenced by the relatively uniform move lower by the major indexes. The 10-year yield drops to 2.52%. The Fed and other central banker money is sloshing around daily and used to buy both stocks and bonds pumping all asset classes higher.

After the bell, NKE earnings beat with a +12% rise in orders. Nike is running to the bank as folks trip over each other, in their overpriced and oversized shoes, to buy another pair. The check mark logo is interchangeable with the dollar sign. NKE jumps +3% in AH trading.