Asia

Following the new all-time high in US equities, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index broke through its November 2007 peak to make an all-time high in Wednesday’s trading session. This was something we noted could happen yesterday in “SocGen: Asian Equities Are So Awesome, A China Minsky Moment Is ‘Manageable”. The dollar weakened slightly after outgoing Fed Chairman, Janet Yellen, cautioned against interest rates rising too quickly in one of her last Q&As at NYU on Tuesday evening.

Authored by T J Coles via Counterpunch.org,

The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) has published several reports over the last few years. They discuss geopolitics and related themes, one of which is the likelihood of nuclear war or accident, including what it means for long-term survival.

Two weeks ago, we discussed Algebris Investments’ analysis of the world’s biggest asset bubbles. Portfolio manager, Alberto Gallo, noted that “It’s not just about valuation, it’s about irrational behaviour” and used variety of measures to identify the latter including ”Sky is the limit”, “Bidding wars” and “The trend is your friend”. Gallo listed what in his opinion were the fourteen biggest bubbles across the globe which included Hong Kong property, obviously.

A new medical breakthrough in southern Russia could hold the key in solving America’s opioid epidemic.

Scientists at Volgograd Sate Medical University are launching clinical trials into a pain-killing drug which outperforms morphine, and does not cause addiction. This would be a big step in the right direction, as the crisis in the United States spirals out-of-control.

Late last night, Reuters published an "exclusive" report which was undoubtedly intended to be a "gotcha" hit piece on Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, courtesy of some disgruntled Obama/Clinton holdovers at the State Department.  The report from Reuters came after they got their hands on a confidential "dissent" memo, signed by " a dozen U.S. State Department officials" accusing Tillerson of violating the "Child Soldiers Prevention Act."  Here's a summary from Reuters: