Asia

The global risk levitation continues, sending Asian stocks just shy of records, to the highest since November 2007 and Japan's Nikkei topped 22,750 - a level last seen in 1992 - while European shares and US equity futures were mixed, and the dollar rose across the board, gains accelerating through the European session with EURUSD sumping below 1.16 shortly German industrial output shrank more than forecast, eventually dropping to the lowest point since last month’s ECB meeting.

Authored by Giulio Meoti via The Gatestone Institute,

Authored by Bryan McBride via Mises Canada,

Is Korea just a smokescreen?

President Donald Trump’s 12-day Asia tour kicked off in Japan last night, where discussions between Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe were punctuated by the deadly mass shooting that claimed 26 lives in a small-town Texas church. But not before Trump could engage in some customary saber-rattling aimed at his favorite verbal sparring partner, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

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....