Europe

The Trump Presidency continues to be a boon for stock investors with Trump’s tweeting having become a kind of administrative PPT that ignites a new rally any time stocks are in danger of breaking down.

However, the reality is that Trump can only tweet the markets into rallying for so long. Trump is inheriting an eight years of the most profligate Fed monetary policy in history: a balance sheet expansion of $3.5 trillion, and seven years of ZIRP, which permitted the US to double its debt load.

As the “information war” heats up between east and west, Russia’s Foreign Ministry wades in the battle by planning a fact-checking service of its own to debunk “fake news.” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova says that a fact-checking service will soon be launched that will collect and debunk any factually inaccurate international news stories that are put out by the “dishonest” western media. Her comments mirroring those of President Trump’s sentiments on “dishonest” U.S. media.

Two weeks ago, German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble confirmed Donald Trump's charge that the Euro is far "too low" for Germany, but said he is unable to do anything about it and instead blamed Mario Draghi. “The euro exchange rate is, strictly speaking, too low for the German economy’s competitive position,” he told Tagesspiegel on February 5. “When ECB chief Mario Draghi embarked on the expansive monetary policy, I told him he would drive up Germany’s export surplus . . . I promised then not to publicly criticise this [policy] course.

One day after John McCain made a questionable diplomatic outburst when as part of a US diplomatic tour meant to reassure Europe, and NATO, of Trump's support, the Senator told participants at a Security Conference in Munich that the Trump administration is in "disarray", on Saturday morning Vice President Mike Pence did his best to return to conventional foreign policy after he vowed that the United States will "hold Russia accountable." In an address to the Munich Security Conference, Pence assured European allies that the U.S.

It's one thing for Democrats or members of the "establishment" to bash Trump in public, however when members of his own party lash out, it may be time to get concerned, even if the person responsible happens to be a know critic of the president.