Adrift …

It was another day adrift in post-holiday purgatory for U.S. equity markets (everything flat), but there were some notable moves in bonds.

As Bloomberg notes, “month-end duration extensions and quarter-end rebalancing flows are moving into focus and appear supportive of long-end Treasuries, especially with the end of the trading week shortened by a SIFMA recommended early close on Friday.” 

Yields were sharply lower at the long end on Wednesday:

5s30s was flatter and collapsed below 55bp, with the only consolation at this point being that it’s still above the lows hit earlier this month:

So much for the steepener head fake that was the talk of bond land last week.

Meanwhile, the dollar is sitting near its lowest levels in a month:

Record high for the FTSE:

The rest of Europe was mixed, but it’s worth noting that this is on pace to be the best year for the Stoxx 600 in four, even as it’s lagged other global benchmarks:

Copper rose to a near four-year high on news that Jiangxi has been instructed to cut its output (China is doing the whole pollution push song and dance).

Bitcoin was … well … it was Bitcoin, diving $2,000 in 12 hours:

Here’s some “perspective” (whatever that means in the crypto context):

But who needs Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies when you can have reefer madness?

Finally, which one of you f**kers is long palladium? Because you’re buying the drinks tonight…