Asia

With the Fed decision just one day away, followed the very next day by the increasingly more irrational BOJ, stocks had no desire to make significant moves and overnight's boring session was the result, as European stocks and U.S. index futures rose modestly but mostly hugged the flatline while Asian declined 0.2% for a third day as raw-material shares declined and Tokyo equities slumped before central bank meetings in the U.S. and Japan this week. China’s stocks rose the most in almost two weeks, up 0.6% but failed to rise above 3000 on the Shanghai Composite, in thin trading.

Submitted by Andrew Zeitlin of Moneyball Economics

Semiconductors Tell the Real Story of Global GDP

The industrial slowdown predicted by semiconductors is coming true.

Russia has ordered an acceleration of troop movements in the Eastern Military District following reports that a global catastrophe is on its way.  Around 25,000 troops have been deployed since the 19 April, 2016, in a “drill framework” designed not to arouse fears in the general population. Troops have been told to be on full alert for a possible mega-earthquake any day now, should the Pactific Plate begin to fracture.

After meandering steadily higher for the past week, and completely ignoring the negative newsflow out of the Doha meeting, today oil took an unexpected leg lower to 4-day lows, leaving many stumped: what caused this drop?

The answer, according to Citi, is the realization Saudi Arabia is actually making good on its threat to boost production (recall that just one day ahead of Doha, Saudi deputy crown prince bin Salman said he could add a million barrels immediately) something we noted a month ago in "Why Saudi Arabia Has No Intention To End The Oil Glut."

From the supporters of Donald Trump to the street protesters of southern Europe, voters around the world are mad as hell. Inequality, immigration, and the establishment's perceived indifference are firing up electorates in a way that's rarely been seen before. As the following charts from Bloomberg show, the forces shaping the disruption of global politics have been building for years and aren't about to diminish...

The world's middle classes are getting poorer