Europe

Having soared to fresh 13 year highs in a quiet overnight session on thin liquidity due to the US Thanksgiving holiday, which sent the USDJPY just shy of 114 and the Yuan to 6.96, the dollar pared back its weekly advance with modest profit taking after traders wondered if the rally has gotten "too stretched." European shares were fractionally higher, with Asian stocks and US equity futures rising and both the Dow Jones and the S&P set for new all time highs.

With financial markets poised to react to the pivotal Italian constitutional referendum on December 4, consensus suggests that a ‘yes’ vote to the reforms will be positive for asset prices and a ‘no’ represents a sell signal. According to leading Italian commentators, however, a ‘yes’ vote will not fix Italy’s problems and the issues at play are not just black and white, but instead are far more complex than people seem to understand.

Submitted by Guy Manno via Crush the Market

The Aussie apartment boom that has turned into an epic bubble with record, sky-high prices, is showing all the signs for the perfect storm which will ultimately pop. With the popping of the apartment boom, it will simultaneously bring down the Australian economy, as the apartment market is set to have a sizeable correction in 2017 and 2018.

A short Look At Australia's Real Estate Market

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has now jumped on the bandwagon, warning against the power of ‘fake news’ on social media. EU bureaucrats voted on a non-legislative resolution Wednesday that calls for a response to counter Russian propaganda threats, equating RT and Sputnik news agencies to Daesh (ISIS) propaganda outlets.

Submitted by Tom Luego via PlanetFreeWeil.com,

The EU Parliament has approved a Polish MP’s bill to counter Russian news sources’ “propaganda.”  Among those listed are RT and Sputnik news agency.  This is yet another example of push-back from Western elites over the loss of the U.S. presidency and potential thawing of Russian / European relations under a Trump administration.

The vote passed with less than a majority of the EU Parliament’s 691 members, thanks to 208 abstentions.  The bill garnered only 304 votes.