Asia

As stocks do things they have never done before (in terms of gains and complacency), despite the "inexplicable" collapse in the yield curve (and slump in earnigs expectations), some, like former fund manager Richard Breslow, are growing frustrated with the farce.

2017 is on track to be the first 'perfect year' with 12 consecutive monthly total return gains for the S&P 500

But the yield curve is collapsing?

And so have earnings expectations...

Yesterday we joked that with the US House of Representatives set to vote for the GOP tax bill on Tuesday, markets would "price in" the same tax legislation they have been pricing in every day for the past year, all over again...

Get ready for US markets to price in tax reform all over again in just a few short hours

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) December 19, 2017

Here we go again...

One of the traditional push backs against attempts to predict "black swan" events is that they are by default unpredictable, rendering the entire exercise moot. However, for the second year in a row, Nomura's Bilal Hafeez has found a loophole, or rather loop-animal: the grey swan.

President Trump is expected to release the new National Security Strategy for the United States this afternoon. We discussed the potential drivers behing his reportedly aggressive stance yesterday, but the bigger questions remain...

Will it rein in some of the global adventurism of the Bush and Obama presidencies?

 

Will it correct the gaping disconnect between what the White House says about places like North Korea and what the Secretary of State says?