Business

US equity futures in the green ahead of critical Senate debate on US tax reform and a much anticipated testimony from Yellen replacement Jerome Powell for Fed’s current policy approach.  European stocks advance, led by oil and gas stocks after Shell fully restored its cash dividend and unveiled a bullish outlook. Asian shares slide despite the reappearance of the Chinese "National Team" which stabilized the SHCOMP selloff in the last hour. USD recovers gradually from overnight lows against G-10, pushing GBP/USD and EUR/USD to session lows, while oil and treasuries edged lower.

The Chinese authorities’ efforts to contain leverage and reduce risk across the nation’s financial system took another step forward overnight with the ban on approvals for mutual funds that plan to allocate more than 80% of their portfolios to Hong Kong stocks. This looks like a response to surging capital flows into the territory from the mainland and the equity market euphoria in Asia, which saw the Hang Seng index cross the 30,000 mark last Wednesday for the first time in 10 years.

The Dumbest Dumb Money Finally Gets Suckered In

Posted with permission and written by John Rubino, Dollar Collapse

Zero Hedge readers might have noted our increasingly bearish tone on all things Australian – economic that is, since the cricket team just whipped the English in the first test match in Brisbane. The focal point of our concern is the housing market and, earlier this month, we discussed how the world’s longest-running bull market – 55 years – in Australian house prices appears to have come to an end.

Hong Kong property was in Algebris Investments’ top tier of six most inflated bubbles from its longer list of the world’s fourteen biggest bubbles. The territory is ranked as the most expensive housing market in the world for the seventh successive year in 2017, with the medium home price selling for 18.1 times the median household income, according to Forbes. Last week, we discussed how the record price per square foot for a Hong Kong residence was smashed twice on the same day by the same buyer.