Kudlow Spikes Spoos Above 3,000, Says “December Tariffs” Could Be Taken If China Talks Go Well

With Trump eager to put last week’s turbulence in the readview mirror and start off the new week on a high note, he dispatched his best headline generator, economic advisor Larry Kudlow to Fox Business, to boost risk sentiment with a few strategically phrased quotes meant to bolster US-China trade talk optimism which as we noted earlier helped push risk sentiment higher overnight, and which is all the headline scanning algos were looking for:

• WHITE HOUSE ADVISER KUDLOW SAYS IF PHASE ONE CHINA TRADE TALKS GO WELL, DECEMBER TARIFFS COULD BE TAKEN OFF
• KUDLOW SAYS THINGS LOOK PRETTY GOOD AS U.S., CHINA TRADE TALKS CONTINUE KUDLOW SAYS THINGS LOOK PRETTY GOOD AS U.S., CHINA TRADE TALKS CONTINUE

Kudlow’s comments were all it took to spark a buying frenzy from the all too predictable algos, which quickly pushed the S&P above 3,000.

And so, with all due respect to William Cowan and his lengthy conspiracy theory article in Vantiy Fair, this is all it takes to send futures surging, and no, one doesn’t have to be an inside trader to expect that Trump (and Kudlow) will be doing this each and every day just to preserve the illusion that all is well.