European and Asian shares, the dollar and crude all rose before President-elect Donald Trump’s first press conference since July at 11am on Wednesday, while S&P futures are little changed. Surging raw-materials stocks sent Asian stocks higher. Oil rebounds from the lowest level in a month.
While much of America was preparing to listen to Obama speak one final time, the Chinese had far less lofty ambitions, and on Wednesday morning Beijing sent a group of Chinese warships led by China's sole aircraft carrier north through the Taiwan Strait, resulting in Taiwan scrambling jets and navy ships in the latest sign of heightened tensions between China and the self-ruled Taiwan.
Submitted by Benn Steil and Emma Smith via The Council on Foreign Relations,
While in the US, the economist profession has seen a devstating drop in reputation over the past few years as the accuracy of economists' predictions has drastically suffered under the "New Normal", at least they are allowed to opine on virtually every matter without fear of consequences. That, however, is not the case in China where a local professor has been fired after criticizing Chairman Mao Zedong on his 123rd birthday in a commentary he posted online that has enraged leftists.
Global stocks were fractionally lower in early European trading, closed Asia mixed, while S&P futures were unchanged, as the dollar fell for a second day on concerns ahead of Trump's press conference on Wednesday. Oil rebounded after its Monday plunge, while commodity metals like iron ore rose limit up in Chinese trading. Top overnight stories include Valeant announcing the sale of $2.1 billion in assets to pay down debt; VW managers warned to stay in Germany as U.S. charges near; Yahoo! plans to shrink board, get rid of Marissa Meyer and change its name after Verizon deal.