Europe

In the latest tragic news from the world of finance, earlier today Zurich Insurance, the largest Swiss insurer which employs 55,000 people and provides general insurance and life insurance products in more than 170 countries, reported that Martin Senn, the company's former chief executive officer who stepped down in a December reshuffle, has committed suicide. He was 59.

Senn had been a long-time employee of the insurer, serving as its chief executive for six years before stepping down in December. 

The groundwork is being laid for everybody in Europe to be given new tax ID numbers, in preparation for moving to electronic money. Under plans by Brussels every working person in the EU is to be given a personal European Taxpayer Identification Number. The move, which has been dubbed “yet another signpost to Superstate”, follows the decision by the EU Parliament’s economic affairs committee to rubber stamp a plan by Commissioners to create a “common corporate consolidated tax base”.

When the main economic event this week hits this Friday at 8:30 am EDT, when the BLS releases the May payrolls report, Wall Street consensus wil be expecting a 160,000 print, a number which will have a big impact on market expectations for a Fed rate hike at the June or July FOMC meeting. However, consensus may be disappointed for one reason: the Verizon strike could chop off as much as 35,000 workers from the headline payrolls print.

With the US closed for Memorial Day and UK markets offline due to a bank holiday, overnight volumes have been weaker than normal on little newsflow. The main story remains the stronger USD following Yellen's hawkish Friday speech, which not only led to the lowest Yuan fixing since February 2011...

... but pushed the USDJPY almost as high as 111.50 overnight before paring gains, however it was enough to send the Nikkei 1.4% higher.

Submitted by Erico Matias Tavares via Sinclair & Co.,

Americans will be celebrating Memorial Day this weekend, to honor those who fought and died for the values they have traditionally cherished the most as a nation: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.