Scaramucci will no longer be doing the fandango

Easy come  / easy go as far as White House personnel, with the quick ouster of Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci after just 10 days.  The market seems to have gotten accustomed to the constant change, as stocks and bonds really haven’t reacted to the White House shuffle, nor to rising international tensions, with renewed rebukes of Venezuela and North Korea today.  The trade of the day award goes to the guy who bet on whether “The Mooch” will be out in August or earlier on PredictIt.  See the chart below and the link to the trade here.  As you can see, that trade surged from $0.15 to $1.00 today!

Key economic data released today was highlighted by the Chicago Purchasing Managers release, which was positive at a reading of 58.9, albeit below forecast of 60.0. See Purchasing Manager Index chart below from Bloomberg.  Pending Home Sales for June were also published today, and showed strength at +1.5% month-over-month vs. a 1.0% increase expected. Finally the Dallas Fed Manufacturing index for July came out above expectations at 16.8 (vs 13.0 expected and 15.0 in the prior month).

Treasurys across the curve were largely unchanged today, with the yield on the 10-year note remaining at 2.29%.  US stocks were mixed on low volume once again, with the Dow up a fraction, but hitting another all-time high, while the S&P and NASDAQ both traded fractionally lower.  The US dollar fell again against most major currencies, as the Euro was up 1% to its highest level vs. dollar since late 2014/early 2015.  WTI oil prices moved higher, crossing back over $50 for the first time since May to $50.20.