America

In Treasury Secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin's written responses to Senate questions, he made it clear that the "strong dollar" policy may not always be his priority as he noted "an excessively strong dollar may be negative in the short-term."

“The strength of the dollar has historically been tied to the strength of the U.S. economy and the faith that investors have in doing business in America,” Mnuchin said in written responses to questions from U.S. senators obtained by Bloomberg News.

 

Submitted by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,

In September 1986, The Economist weekly newspaper published its first-ever “Big Mac Index”.

It was a light-hearted way for the paper to gauge whether foreign currencies are over- or under-valued by comparing the prices of Big Macs around the world.

In theory, the price of a Big Mac in Rio de Janeiro should be the same as a Big Mac in Cairo or Toronto.

In a much anticipated speech, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto warned that "Mexico is obliged to take steps to defend itself given the new vision in U.S.," reaffirming Mexico "as a nation open to the world on trade." The peso is leaking lower as he speaks, erasing post-inauguration gains.

Further headlines include:

As we previewed and was widely expected, President Trump has just signed 3 executive orders: one officially withdrawing the US from the Trans Pacific Partnership, a second one instituting a federal hiring freeze except for the military, and a 3rd executive order limiting abortion funding overseas.

Pres Trump signs 3 Exec Orders including federal hiring freeze "except for the military" and withdrawing US from Trans-Pacific Partnership. pic.twitter.com/XYxMFi8QDj

Having used words never before heard in a Presidential inauguration address:

bleed, carnage, depletion, disrepair, flush, Islamic, ripped, sad, rusted, sprawl, stealing, stolen, subsidized, tombstones, trapped, trillions, unstoppable...

President Trump has face criticism for his no-holds-barred speech - confirming his stance as an anti-establishment "America First" president. Trump advisor Carl Icahn told CNBC on the afternoon of the inauguration...