China

China bears like Kyle Bass claimed victory last year after bets that the Chinese yuan would weaken paid off handsomely – particularly if they were supercharged by leverage. Hopefully, for their sake, yuan decided to lock in those gains early this year. Because since January, China’s currency has whipsawed higher, reversing most of its 2016 depreciation as the US dollar has endured a period of broad weakness, and Chinese policy makers have turned their attention to managing the currency’s valuation against a basket of currencies.

In yet another attempt at de-escalation by the US, moments ago as president Trump was leaving the White House, he responded to a reporter question on whether there will be military action in North Korea, saying that "it's not his first choice", but adding that "we'll see what happens."

Earlier we showed the shocking satellite images showing numerous landslides aound the mountain that is North Korea's nuclear test site, and it appears Chinese officials are also keeping a very close eye on the region, instigating "emergency monitoring" for radiation leaks as the former chairman of the China Nuclear Society warns of the potential for a massive environmental disaster.

Authored by Irina Slav via OilPrice.com,

An open military conflict in Northern Asia would disrupt more than a third of global seaborne crude oil trade, Wood Mackenzie warned last week amid yet another escalation between North Korea, its neighbors, and the U.S.

Yesterday morning, with the US closed for holiday but with S&P futures trading modestly lower on the latest set of North Korean geopolitical fears, we asked "is this time different", referencing last week's similar setup, when futures gapped lower on Monday after the Kim regime shot a missile over Japan, only to surge into the end of the week.