America

In our initial take on the Washington Post's story about the "secret" CIA assessment that Russia helped Trump win the election (since contested by the FBI), we said that this may amount to nothing short of a "soft coup" attempt by leaders in the US Intel community and the Obama administration, and warned to expect of a push by prominent democrats to pressure the electoral college to "take into consideration" these findings next Monday, on December 19, when the formal vote for president is set to take place.

This is how we summarized the newly-formed narrative:

Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

In a democracy, trust must be earned. It cannot be imposed.

In its panicky rush to demonize the independent media via baseless accusations of "fake news," the mainstream press has sunk to spewing "fake news" of its own.

Here's The Washington Post's criminally false "fake news" article in case you missed it: Russian propaganda effort helped spread ‘fake news’ during election, experts say.

With the Dow Jones just a handful of gamma imbalance rips away from 20,000, the CIO of One River Asset Management, Eric Peters, shares some critical perspective on the market's recent euphoric surge, going so far as to brand what is going on as America's "Massive Policy Error", the biggest in the past 50 years. 

His thoughs are presented below, framed in his typical "anecdotal" way.

Anecdote

 

This morning Trump has confirmed his intention to nominate retired Marine General John Kelly to head the Department of Homeland Security, a pick that had been rumored for days.  In a statement, Trump highlighted Kelly's experience in defending the homeland from threats of terrorism and said that he was the right person to "spearhead the urgent mission of stopping illegal immigration and securing our borders."

• Crude Soars as Output Deal Weighs on Bonds; China Shares Tumble (BBG)
• 10-Year Treasury Yield Above 2.5% for First Time in Two Years (WSJ)
• The New Reality of TV: All Trump, All the Time (NYT)
• Fed May Struggle to Signal What Comes After December (WSJ)
• China warns Trump against ignoring its Taiwan interests (Reuters)
• China’s Stocks, Bonds, Yuan Slump in Unison on Liquidity Concern (BBG)
• Sovereign funds pulled cash from world markets for third year running (Reuters)
• Trump Adds To Criticism Of Companies (WSJ)