trading recap

Overall: “It’s important to not overreact,” said Yellen, experiencing the second out of body experience of her 70yrs. Floating above the podium, Janet heard herself below, “Balance sheet reduction could start relatively soon.” My heavens she thought, what’s happening, what am I saying? Why am I saying it? But below her the press conference proceeded normally, naturally, unaffected by her presence. Wall Street Journal

Overall: “We’ve had austerity rammed down our throats, it’s brought about inequality, it’s brought about the type of society that nobody wants – a low pay, race to the bottom society,” announced Mcluskey, leader of Unite, Britain’s largest trade union. “Jeremy Corbyn came along and offered an alternative.” And the Brits ate it up. Particularly youngsters, our future. 63% of 18-34 year-olds voted Labour, 27% Con

Overall: “We Europeans must really take our destiny in our own hands,” announced Europe’s leader. “The times in which we can fully count on others are somewhat over, as I have experienced in the past few days. We have to fight for our future,” continued Angela Merkel, shaken by America’s weakening commitment to NATO and distain for multilateralism. “To all scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and responsible citizen

Week-in-Review (expressed in YoY terms): Mon: IS terror attack kills 22 in UK, Portugal deficit less than 3% limit (only France, Spain and Greece exceed 3% threshold compared to 24 countries 6yrs ago), Fed’s Kaplan targeting 2 more hikes in 2017, S&P +0.5%; Tue: Japan PMI -0.7 to 52.0 (6mth low), rumors the ANC is discussing options to remove Zuma, German business confidence all-time high, French composite PMI 6y

Overall: “You have to keep it going, OK?” said Trump to the most handsome man he’d ever seen. “Never, ever, say that,” he continued, blowing a kiss to the man in the mirror. “That kind of sentence gets you into real trouble.” Brazil’s Temer uttered those exact words, now he’s headed toward impeachment. “But it’s not what you actually say that matters, it’s the context,” The Donald reminded himself. “I bragged about g

Overall: “Comey better hope there are no “tapes” of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press,” tweeted Trump. Media went mental. Breitbart bananas. Sycophants sucked up. Impeachment odds leapt to 3-1. And the Nasdaq 100 closed Friday +0.3%, at a record high. That’s despite this week’s 20% plunge in SNAP. But that’s nothing new. Back when we faced France’s Far-Right first-round, North Korea’s nuclear wa

Overall: “This is more work than in my previous life,” admitted President Trump to Reuters, “I thought it would be easier.” And cleansed by confession, the Donald drifted off. “What a 100-days,” he thought. So many, many thoughts. Big ones, huge. “And I’ve accomplished the impossible,” mused our mogul. You see, never had a candidate lost the popular vote by 2.9mm and won. Never had a candidate carried a lower favorab

Overall: “A country must make strategic choices,” explained Xi Jinping, praising aluminum factory workers for upgrading production to aerospace standards. “And China’s choice is to boost manufacturing,” continued the mighty Mandarin, ascending the value chain. “We’re going to use American steel, we’re going to use American labor,” tweeted Trump, descending the chain, on collision course with Xi. Today’s most importan

Week-in-Review (expressed in YoY terms): Mon: US deploys warships to Korean waters, China to offer Trump better fin services access and beef/grain imports, Kuroda “will maintain QQE until core CPI exceeds 2%,” Russia “have discussed oil output cut extension,” France forecasts Q1 GDP +0.3% (full-year +1.3%), Melenchon overtakes Fillon in French presidential polls with 18% vs 17% (Le Pen and Macron tied at 24%), Yellen