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Former Goldman Sachs banker Steven Mnuchin has been confirmed as Donald Trump’s pick for Treasury Secretary. Mnuchin, a 53-year-old former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker turned Hollywood financier…..who was also a one time Soros employee who has no government experience, confirmed he had been tapped to serve as the President-elects Treasury Secretary. Is this a signal that Trump’s administration will be pro–Wall Street?…what happened about draining the swamp? The appointment of Mnuchin certainly signifies yet another shift from the President-elect’s major campaign promises.

President Putin To Grant PCR Russian Passport

Putin is keeping my ridicule of the Washington Post alive, but apparently the Kremlim is prepared to issue me a passport. As the current vice chairman of the Federal Reserve is an Israeli citizen and the former chairman of the Israeli central bank, I suppose I can have a second passport. Will have to look into this.

https://sputniknews.com/politics/201611301048019573-roberts-passport-wash-post/

https://sputniknews.com/russia/201611301048014895-citizenship-kremlin-us-secretary/

The US Dollar index is soaring, up most in a week as OPEC events and the London Fix ripple through FX markets. Yen, Euro, and Aussie Dollar are all plunging...

FX chaos into the EU close...

EURUSD breaks below 1.06 and USDJPY blows thru 114...

And the Aussie Dollar is collapsing after last night's terrible housing data...

Following the news that Steve Mnuchin would be US Trasury Secretary, Wall Street analysts offered mixed predictions on which policies Donald Trump’s choice for Treasury secretary may pursue, as they have little to go on other than Mnuchin’s background with Goldman, buying/selling the former Indy Mac.

Submitted by Michael Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

Rudy Havenstein Tweeted an interesting chart earlier today on real negative interest rates.

I recreated the chart below and also share a chart from Doug Short on real median incomes to help put this financial repression by the Fed in proper perspective.

Decade of Negative Real Interest Rates

The above chart was created by taking the short-term treasury bill rate and subtracting the year-over-year rate of inflation as measured by the CPI.