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Debt-Heavy Economy May Be Too Jittery About Rates (NYT)

This consumer spending has been the main pillar of the economy [...] But it has exacted a cost, too. Since 1999, household debt has risen from 70 percent, to nearly 83 percent of the gross domestic product, the total value of the goods and services produced in the nation.

The proportion of household income that went toward servicing that debt hit 13.3 percent in the third quarter, only slightly under the record high of 13.6 percent reached in late 2001. Family finances are being stretched.

JAN 14 setup at/near completion.

Uncanny structural and cyclic symmetry for a move of such magnitude. Ideal location for price exhaustion.

Position for a long vol trade.

China to inject $45bn to bail out 2 state banks
The “big four” banks are carrying bad loans of 20 per cent of assets, according to official figures, but independent estimates say the ratio of nonperforming loans is about double that.