Europe

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.

While Fed Funds futures imply a 100% probability that The Fed hikes rate by 25bps tomorrow, it appears questions over Trump's policy timeline combined with the collapse in GDP expectations has dragged expectations for another rate hike in June back to its lowest since the election...

As GDP growth expectations have plunged so April Fed Funds futures have tumbled - completely against the common sense that The Fed hikes into strength, not weakness...

But the lower chart shows the July futures not following the collapse and fading that disappointment.

Authored by Judith Bergmann via The Gatestone Institute,