Futures drifted gently higher overnight but started to stall into the open and then a wave of selling hit until the European close. That BTFD bounce lasted until 1430ET (margin-call time?) when The Dow and S&P briefly got back to even, and then stocks faded aggressively into the close

The Nasdaq closed below its 50DMA...

...for the first time since early March...

Italian authorities appeared to chicken out and watered-down their bank windfall tax plans, which sent Italian bank stocks surging (but still down on the week)...

But US banks didn't bounce, ending lower again (Regionals)...

VVIX remains stressed ahead of tomorrow's CPI (although we saw a fade in VIX)...

Bonds were mixed on the day with 5Y and shorter higher in yields and anything beyond 5Y lower (30Y -4bps, 2Y +4bps)...

Strong 10Y auction dragged its yield back to 4.00%...

The dollar was flat on the day, holding around the pre-payrolls level...

The Ruble's recent collapse accelerated today and prompted the Bank of Russia to halt FX purchases until the end of 2023 (to prop up the Ruble)...

Gold dropped to its lowest close since March, heading back towards $1900 and $1893 support...