Retail sales came in at 0.3%, lighter than expected and lower than last month’s 0.5%. Combined with soaring CPI and PPI, the stagflation assessment is gathering momentum. Futures are off modestly on the news and ahead of the market holiday.

continued for members…The big picture for equities remains unchanged.

VIX has finally seen its 10/20 cross – though just barely. Too early to say whether it will hold, especially given the holiday weekend. And, it could be postponed with a strong enough drop today.Currencies  are little changed other than the EURUSD settling lower again after the announcement of very dovish “tightening” by the ECB. GC and SI continue to threaten (unconvincingly) higher… …while BTC is still backtesting.CL and RB are off modestly on no particular news. In fact, it appears that Russia will launch its next offensive on Eastern/Southern Ukraine very soon. Remember, tomorrow is a market holiday. I will be traveling all next week, so posts will be on the light side and occasionally late.

Have a great Easter weekend everyone.