Business

Authored by Alex Gorka via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

Much has been said about the much vaunted trip of US President Donald Trump to Saudi Arabia where he was lavished with extravagant royal pomp. The $110 billion arms deal was signed and the plans to create an Arab NATO set the agenda. The visit – the president’s first foreign trip - was described as a major step to boost the US clout in the Middle East but the days when the region was Washington’s exclusive sphere of influence are gone.

We’ve previously showed you 31 Fascinating Facts About the Dollar’s Early History, which highlighted the history of U.S. currency before the 20th century. This was a very interesting period in which we looked at the money used by the first colonists, the extreme bust of the Continental currency, the era of privately-issued bank notes, and Congress’ emergency issuance of the fiat “greenback” during the Civil War.

And the hits just keep on coming for Elon Musk.

After a tax incentive for electric cars was slashed in Hong Kong, new registrations of Teslas vehicles dropped from 2,939 to zero...

Hong Kong, though relatively small, is a significant outpost of luxury car buyers and trend setters. Its government had long waived its vehicle registration tax for newly purchased electric automobiles, adding to the attractiveness of Tesla’s cars.

 

Via Global Macro Monitor,

Crude oil is the new widow maker.  It trades heavier than a wet dawg in a New York thunderstorm.    Rallies have no legs and its seems the only bid these days are the shorts with their family jewels caught in a vice grip.

Note the recent lower highs and lower lows and stiff  resistance at the 50 and 200-day moving averages.

Technology Rapidly Changing Oil Industry

Last week the Republican party was at arms after Axios reported that Steve Bannon was said to be pushing president Trump to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans. According to the website, Trump’s chief strategist was urging to raise the top tax rate on individuals, with Axios saying the former Breitbart CEO looking for the top rate to have “a 4 in front of it” (currently, the highest income-tax bracket in the US is 39.6% for individuals earning more than $414,000 a year).