Asia

President Trump is up bright and early in Asia this morning and just unleashed two rather pointed tweets in the direction of Saudi Arabia.

Having commented during the day on the success of America's missile-defense system in the attack on Riyadh that was intercepted, President Trump had been quiet on the 'civil war' going on among the elites... until now:

I have great confidence in King Salman and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, they know exactly what they are doing....

The first stage of Donald Trump’s five-nation tour of Asia began well with the President playing golf with Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, describing their relationship as “really extraordinary”.

As European markets closed this morning, all bids disappeared from USDJPY and the pair dropped back below 114.00. In its mirror-like manner, gold reflected this tumble and surged above its 100-day moving average over $1280.

As USDJPY rolled over so Bitcoin hit an airppocket at the european close...

Remeber, Japan is currently the most active market for Bitcoin, so one wonders if this is some pre-saging of a general crackdown - despite all signals pointing the other way in Japan.

Having legged higher at the opens of Asia, Europe, and US markets, WTI is extending gains overnight on middle-east tensions...

Brent is trading above $62 amid anti-corruption drive led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which may consolidate his control in OPEC’s largest oil producer, and WTI has pushed above $57 as producers such as Nigeria, Saudi Arabia signal they support a potential extension of OPEC output cuts.

Following the horrific murder of dozens of worshippers in Texas yesterday, demands for gun control were prevalent, but President Trump, speaking at a press conference in Tokyo, said the mass shooting was not "a guns situation," pointing out that the problem was the killer's "mental health."

“I think that mental health is your problem here,” Trump said during a news conference in Tokyo, Japan in response to a question about the massacre in Sutherland Springs, Texas.