Europe

China has launched it’s first direct freight rail service to London as part of its drive to develop trade and investment ties with Europe. The new weekly journey crosses seven countries before arriving in the UK, is half the price of air freight and quicker than sea taking about two weeks to cover the journey. RT reports: The ‘East Wind Train’ departed from the manufacturing hub of Yiwu in eastern China, and is carrying £4 million ($4.9 million) worth of socks, cloth, bags, and household goods.

Donald Trump is preparing to appoint another Wall Street proxy to the top Wall Street regulation, supervision and enforcement post. 

According to the WSJ, Wall Street M&A and IPO lawyer, Jay Clayton, is Trump's leading candidate to become chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission and could be announced as the nominee as soon as Wednesday.

Following another day of upbeat economic data, with growing signs that inflation on both sides of the Atlantic is accelerating, investors rediscovered their faith in the Trumpflation rally, pushing global stocks and US equity futures higher, fuelling a second day of 2017 equity gains ahead of today's release of the Fed's December minutes.

Submitted by Daisy Luther via The Organic Prepper blog,

What lies ahead for the economy this year? Will the economy finally collapse as predicted by many or will the early positive signs in stock markets around the world continue and the global economy will flourish?

Having gotten virtually none of his "surprise" forecasts for 2016 right - among which that the S&P will decline (after it was supposed to rise by 15% in 2015 when it closed red for the year), the 10Y will not rise above 2.50%, Hillary Clinton will defeat Ted Cruz in the presidential election, Democrats will gain control of the Senate, Chinese growth drops below 5% as the country's banks "get in trouble", crude oil remains in the $30s, and global growth falls to 2% (he did correctly predict just one rate hike, and the continuation of the European refugee crisis), today