Europe

After numerous warnings from Goldman strategist David Kostin that stocks are expensive, most recently over the weekend when he wrote that  "investors will soon capitulate on their expectation of upside to 2017 EPS forecasts as they face the reality that the accretive impact from tax reform will not occur until 2018" and that "revisions to consensus EPS forecasts during the past few months have been negative for both 2017 and 2018" moments ago Goldman officially downagred equities.

Turkey has threatened to flood Europe with millions of potential terrorists following an escalation in tensions between Turkish and European authorities.  Diplomatic relations between Turkey and the Netherlands have reached a new low, with Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus claiming that politicians in Europe live under a “facist, neo nazi influence.” This comes after the Dutch government banned Turkish ministers from campaigning in the country.

The White House has announced a major retreat from the U.N. after Trump ordered a massive 50 percent cut in U.S. funding for United Nations programs.  The White House is scheduled to release its 2018 budget on Thursday which is expected to include cuts of up to 37 percent for spending on the State Department, the USAID, and other foreign assistance programs, including the U.N. (which amounts to around $10 billion a year). The Trump administration has repeatedly vowed to distance the U.S. from participating in the “corrupt” United Nations, signalling that it may leave the U.N. altogether.

Overheard in the Oval Office when Yellen unleashes her rate hike into dismal economic growth expectations tomorrow...

Since the last fed rate hike, bonds are lower, banks are best...

Marine Le Pen blasted a French reporter on Tuesday, accusing the mainstream media in Europe of peddling “fake news.” The outspoken politician accused liberal media in France and across Europe of spreading globalist propaganda when asked by the reporter if she thought the internet was a bad place for audiences to get their information. The reporter told Le Pen that she thought the internet was riddled with fake news, ‘conspiracy theories’, and alternative news websites. This prompted Le Pen to blast the reporter for her hypocrisy.