Ripple Rebounds After Rout As S&P Gains ‘Guarantee’ 2018 Up-Year For Stocks

It’s official – 2018 is a lock for stock investors.

Thanks to today’s gains, the S&P 500 is up 2.5% – doubling the gains in gold – as bonds are suffering so far…which means, as Ryan Detrick notes, “since 1950, when the first 5 days are up over 2%, the S&P 500 is higher for the year 15 out of 15 times with an average return of +18.6%. “

Unless, of course, this time is different.

On the day, The Dow managed to scramble back to unchanged then stick there before closing lower… Trannies (blue) were best, Nasdaq continued higher with more record highs…

This is the first day of the year so far that we did not gap higher at the open.

But while stocks remain notable, it was the chaos in cryptocurrencies that caught many eyes. Ripple crashed over 30% on the day, before ramping back…

One apparent reason for the sudden plunge: an adjustment from a popular website on its digital-currency price quotes. A website called coinmarketcap.com on Monday removed data from some South Korean exchanges from its price quotes for a range of virtual currencies including bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple’s XRP. The move followed a South Korean government crackdown on cryptocurrencies.

And while everyone sees cryptos as being in a bubble, we couldn’t help but note the crisis in ‘camera on a stick’ as it crashed 30%, ripped back on rumors, then dumped on denials… and is now down 95% from its post-IPO highs (now that sounds like a burst bubble)…

Additionally, SeaGate soared after rumors it was working with Ripple…

Treasuries were unchanged today – literally – after a small dip in yields early ramped back to unch (Tokyo on holiday again)… (the entire curve is around 7-8bps higher on the year)