Syz the moment

-> Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has agreed to step down from his role at the world's largest crypto exchange as part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice. -> He also plans to plead guilty to violating criminal U.S. anti-money-laundering requirements that would potentially allow the exchange to keep operating, people familiar with the matter have told the Wall Street Journal. -> Zhao will appear in federal court in Seattle on Tuesday to enter his guilty plea, the sources told the news outlet. Binance, the international crypto exchange that Zhao founded and owns, will plead guilty and pay $4.3 billion in fines and settlements with authorities. It's amazing how US markets keep pricing cuts. When the Minutes reiterate, yet again, that while the Fed are cautious they still have a tightening bias. Source: Decrypt

1. All Fed Members agree to “proceed carefully” 2. Fed sees rates “remaining restrictive for some time” 3. Fed sees upside risks to inflation 4. Fed sees downside risks to growth 5. Meeting by meeting approach to resume It's amazing how US markets keep pricing cuts. When the Minutes reiterate, yet again, that while the Fed are cautious they still have a tightening bias.

However, it warns of "significant" China slowdown, guidance matches whisper range; stock is down 1% after-hours... The blowout earnings were certainly good news... but the warning about declining China sales and the guidance which only tagged the top end of the whisper guidance, that was not quite as exciting, and as a result, the stock initially dumped as much as $30 after hours, before recovering most of its losses, but has since resumed drifting 1% lower, setting up the stock for its first post-earnings drop since the advent of ChatGPT almost exactly one year ago. Source: App Economy Insights

Drug prices in the U.S. are notoriously high for many important medications, including insulin. When comparing the cost of insulin by country, we see that the difference is not even close. This chart shows the average cost of insulin across OECD countries, based on a 2021 publication by RAND Corporation.

Sales actually fell 4.1% MoM (far worse than expected and down for the 20th time in the last 23 months) with September's 2.0% MoM decline revised even lower to -2.2% MoM. That decline left existing home sales down 14.6% YoY... Fewer US existing homes are selling today than at any point since 2010. The 3.79 million annual rate is even below the lowest level of sales during the 2020 covid shutdowns (4.01 million). The chart below by Francois Trahan puts things in greater perspective and shows that when adjusting for population, this is one of the worse housing profiles we have seen in decades. On this "per household" basis October existing home sales data was worse than the lowest reading seen at the depths of the GFC. Source: François Trahan

Source: Charlie Bilello

Source: Steno Research

Mag 7: +105% S&P 500: +19% Source: TME