America

• Geopolitics, Deutsche Bank drag global stocks lower (Reuters)
• Deutsche Bank Turnaround Plan Gets Mixed Reaction (BBG)
• Conservative Groups Jeopardize GOP Plan to Repeal Health Law (WSJ)
• Russian Hackers Seek Hush Money From Liberal U.S. Groups (BBG)
• Automakers Near a Victory on Rollback of Fuel Standards (NYT)
• Brought Down by Long Bust, Texas Oilmen Pray for Another Boom (WSJ)
• General Motors Waves Goodbye to Europe (BBG)
• PSA targets Opel turnaround as GM exits Europe (Reuters)

At the end of January, the Euro soared following an FT piece in which Trump's trade advisor and director of the White House National Trade Council, Peter Navarro, launched what was then seen as the first shot in the transatlantic trade wars, when he accused Germany of using a “grossly undervalued” euro to "exploit the US and its EU partners", comments which triggered alarms in Europe’s largest economy.

As if there was not enough dividing America right now - Left/Right, Male/Female/Other, Black/White, Muslin/Non-Muslim, or Gay/Straight/Other - AP finds in its latest poll that Americans can't even agree on what it means to be an American.

As Simon Black points out in his latest weekly intelligence commentary, it is now YOUR responsibility to enforce the government's laws.

What happened:

Are you an expert at identifying forged documents, and fake IDs? How about investigating immigration history?  If not, you may want to think twice before becoming a landlord, investing in real estate, or opening a homeless shelter.

According to Texas law, upheld by a Federal Appeals Court, you could be held legally liable for “harboring” an illegal immigrant. 

Submitted by Ben Garrison

George W. Bush rarely criticized his successor to the presidency, Obama. Unfortunately, Barack is not about to follow that precedent.