Just last week, Americans were reassured (twice) that everything is awesome in the US labor market as ADP and BLS data showed jobs-jobs-jobs everywhere. However, along with wage stagnation (and a rising unemployment rate), there is a bigger problem, as Deutsche Bank warns, aside from soft earnings, hiring at America’s biggest companies is slowing down for the first time since 2010.
Submitted by Jason Leach via FusionPointCapital.com,
Via The Daily Bell
Republican attack on Fed casts doubt over global bank rules Trump-era co-operation uncertain as congressman criticises deals with ‘foreign lands’ … The future of cross-border co-operation on bank regulation in the Trump era has been thrown into doubt, with domestic pressure mounting on the US Federal Reserve and a senior member of the House of Representatives calling on the central bank not to negotiate new rules at “secretive” international bodies. -Financial Times
More than a dozen lawsuits and counting have been filed against President Donald Trump’s executive order that temporarily blocks visas from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen. As of last Friday, one such lawsuit heard by Federal District Judge James Robart, a Bush appointee, in Seattle effectively blocked the enforcement of the executive order nationwide (see here for details: "Judge Blocks Trump Travel Ban Nationwide; White House Vows To Challenge 'Outrageous Order'").
What a tumultuous year 2016 has been. Just around this time last year, we were looking back at 2015 and analyzing how 2016 would unfold. The August 24-25, 2015 “Flash Crash” was the talk of the day, where the S&P 500 faltered with an over 10% decline from its all-time highs. It was the first time in over 4 years that the noble index fell from grace so badly; and January and February 2016 brought more pain for the index.