In the latest turn of increasingly more bizarre events leading up the death of North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un's half brother, who as revealed late last week had been poisoned with the deadly VX nerve agent, the arrested Indonesian woman who is one of the suspects in the killing said she was paid $90 to apply a baby oil-like liquid to his face in what she believed was a "prank."
The near-record string of 10 consecutive Dow Industrials record highs, a streak not seen since early 1987, may be about to end if futures, which are currently trading -0.3% lower, fail to stage a rebound.
Over the weekend, following reports that China has banned all North Korean coal imports - in the aftermath of last week's North Korean ballistic missile launch- which marked a troubling escalation in relations between the two formerly "amicable" nations, we discussed how China was tipping its hand that not only was Kim Jong-Un potentially losing a "very big ally", but that it could also lead to "jeopady" for his regime, and a potential political coup in the generally unstable dictatorship.
By EconMatters
We discuss in this video why Technical Analysis is completely useless right now at these elevated levels in the Financial Markets. It literally all comes down to one thing, who is the big seller that chickens out first.
What started off in familiar fashion, with Asian stocks rising, and Europe hitting multi-month highs and US futures in record territory has stumbled in recent minutes following a continued rush for safety in short-dated German Bunds (the 2Y is now trading at -0.92%) and ongoing selling in the USDJPY, which has pushed Stoxx 600 back to unchanged, and S&P futures to modestly red for the session.
The exact catalyst is unclear although traders are citing continued French political risks, as the recent OAT selloff continued this morning on Le Pen fears.