Europe

Following last week's Sohn Conference, where the overarching theme was one of prevailing bearishness topped by Stanley Druckenmiller's near-apocalyptic forecast that only gold will be left standing after all confidence evaporates in the "magic people" known as central bankers,  yesterday some 1,800 hedge fund industry executives gathered in Las Vegas at the SkyBridge Alternatives Conference or SALT, where the prevalent concern about the future of the world continued, driven primarily by worries about China.

If yesterday's selloff had a specific catalyst, namely some of the worst consumer retail earnings seen in years, it merely undid the Tuesday rally which levitated global risk with no fundamental driver, aside for a 200 pip spike in the USDJPY.  Some central bankers may even say it was a "magical" levitation.

With the recent rally showing increasing signs of exhaustion and the market topping, traders have begun to wonder if the S&P500 will suffer the same fate in the coming months as it did in August 2015, and - more apropos - in December, when the S&P failed to make a new high before starting a more significant correction leg into January.

Submitted by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.com,

Ever since he officially took office on May 9, London's first Muslim mayor Sadiq Khan wasted no time in criticizing and attacking Donald Trump's proposed Muslim ban. Several days ago, the presumptive candidate told the New York Times that he was happy to see Mr Khan elected, saying it could be "very, very good." However, the pleasantry was not returned, and instead Khan said Trump's "ignorant" view of Islam could make both Britain and the US less safe, which ironically implies more potential terrorist attacks by Muslims in both the US and the UK.