Europe

The hedge fund industry is finding itself in increasingly dire straits as persistently weak returns and the advent of low-cost investing have forced more and more funds to shut down. So, it's unsurprising that, amid this steadily worsening backdrop, more traders are heading for the exits. But where are the heading? Increasingly, more traders are moving back from where they came - i.e. the big banks, which expect to see a boost in trading revenue as President Donald Trump has vowed to dial back postcrisis regulations that forced banks to wind down their prop desks.

Authored by Robert Huebscher via AdvisorPerspectives.com,

Robert L. Rodriguez was the former portfolio manager of the small/mid-cap absolute-value strategy (including FPA Capital Fund, Inc.) and the absolute-fixed-income strategy (including FPA New Income, Inc.) and a former managing partner at FPA, a Los Angeles-based asset manager. He retired at the end of 2016, following more than 33 years of service.

 

• Rhetorical question of the day: Twisted Geniuses or Bumbling Ex-Academics? (WSJ)
• Markets Steady on Quarter’s Last Day (WSJ)
• Their fortunes enmeshed, Trump and Putin to hold first meeting next week (Reuters)
• Oil Is Set for Longest Rally of 2017 (BBG)
• Brightening economy sets euro up for strongest quarter since debt crisis (Reuters)
• Eurozone Inflation Falls Again in Setback for ECB (WSJ)
• Trump’s Travel Ban Takes Effect, Setting Strict Entry Limits (WSJ)
• China says HK joint declaration no longer has meaning (Reuters)

S&P futures rebounded shortly after the stronger than expected European CPI print, rising 0.3% to 2,426, as markets try to forget all about yesterday's brief 50% VIX surge and tech rout, which trimmed the seventh consecutive quarterly gain for the S&P 500 Index to 2.4%. Europe shares rose 0.4%, led by tech stocks, after a drop in Asian markets, as oil and the dollar gained.

Authored by Aaron David Miler and Richard Sokolsky via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

Pursuing an ambitious mission against all three adversaries in Syria is dangerous, imprudent and unnecessary