[expat_panama]

	Markets		Yesterday		Futures (2 hrs. before the bell)
	metals		Hanging on w/ gold $1,198.75 & silver $16.00		+0.25%
	stocks		...(from here)  ...stock market opened strong and closed stronger...   ...Stocks finished at their session highs. Volume was lower...   ...major indexes closed up more than 2%		+0.26%

--on that 'volume was lower' bit, remember that what they mean is 'lower than yesterday' which happened to be astronomical.  Bottom line is volume was above average.  Morning news:

• The Year the Sun Set on the BRIC Economies - Jeremy Warner, Telegraph
• Oil rallies above $60, heads for fourth weekly decline on glut
• Putin says Russia is 'not in a crisis' but here's why you should be worried
• US stocks within striking distance of records after monster rally
• Maybe Business Cycles Don't Exist - Noah Smith, Bloomberg View
• How Investors Can Profit from the Economic Cycles - Stanley Riggs, RCM

--and threads:

• The West Should Not Let Russia Fall Apart
• An Economic Indicator That Predicted The Last 7 Recessions Predicts No Recession Any Time Soon
• A Downhill Run for the Dollar in 2015
• Oil drop sends major central banks in different directions (h/t Lurkina.n.Learnin)

[Wyatt's Torch]

WTI $54.95

S&P 2066.6 +03%
DJIA 17780 +0.3%

[Wyatt's Torch]

Chart for future reference when people around here start talking about "Weimar style hyperinflation" coming from the Fed (SMDH):

[Wyatt's Torch]

For future reference:

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

North Sea oil industry ‘close to collapse’

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3239017/posts