Europe

Literally no one knows the true 'value' of equity research, not even the investment banks that are selling it.  Up until now, equity research has been treated as a 'freebie' given away to institutional clients in return for trading commissions but that is all about to change thanks to the European Union’s MiFID II regulations, which require asset managers to separate trading commissions from investment-research payments.

Authored by Douglas Murray via The Gatestone Institute,

Authored by Christoph Gisiger via Finanz und Wirtschaft,

Blackstone’s market maven Byron Wien warns that stocks are in danger of suffering a setback. But he also explains why investors should keep their calm and weather the impending storm.

A Ray of Hope

Paul Craig Roberts

America has been a discouraging landscape ever since the neoconservatives took over US foreign policy during the Clinton regime and started the two decades of war crimes that define 21st century America and ever since US corporations betrayed the US work force by moving American jobs to Asia.

The outlook became darker when the Obama regime resurrected the Russian Threat and elevated the prospect of military conflict between the nuclear powers.

Following yesterday's almost unanimous House vote to pass new sanctions against Russia, on Wednesday Moscow threatened to retaliate, saying that - as expected - the action has made it all but impossible to achieve the Trump  administration’s goal of improved relations, and vowed to retaliate to the latest sanctions which Russia views as senseless and destructive according to its deputy foreign minister said.