Europe

By Nigel Farage, originally posted in The Telegraph

The Dutch referendum shows how the internet is taking back power from our Europhile elites

Today's Dutch referendum on the EU's expansionist agreement with Ukraine really is the people's referendum.

GeenPeil, a project stemming from the popular Dutch blog GeenStijl, collected some 420,000 signed, verified, signatures triggering this referendum. It is an extraordinary achievement that highlights how western democracy is evolving.

Almost exactly one month ago, on March 10,Mario Draghi unveiled his quadruple bazooka, which among other features, included the first ever monetization of corporate bonds (this has unleashed such an unprecedented scramble for European bonds that there are virtually none left in the open market leading to massive illiquidity and forcing yield chasers to sell CDS instead of buying bonds, thus laying the ground work for the next AIG debacle).

By Dana Lyons of My401kPro.com

In terms of global reach, the post-February equity rally has been a fairly broad advance. Some markets, most notably the U.S., have resumed their former relative strength while other regions, like emerging markets and Latin America, have seen strong mean-reversion bounces from very oversold levels, One region conspicuously lagging during this rally, however, has been Europe.

• Cruz, Sanders score decisive victories in Wisconsin (Reuters)
• Clinton Can’t Get to New York Fast Enough After New Sanders Win (BBG)
• Trump, Clinton Have Single-Digit Leads in Pennsylvania (BBG)
• Panama law firm says data hack was external, files complaint (Reuters)
• ‘Panama Papers’ Puts Spotlight on Boom in Offshore Services (WSJ)
• Barclays partners with Goldman-backed bitcoin payments app (FT)
• China Inc. Scraps $7 Billion of Bond Offerings as Defaults Rise (BBG)
• Activists Reap Olive Garden Bounty (WSJ)

Unlike yesterday's overnight session, which saw some substantial carry FX volatility and tumbling European yields in the aftermath of the TSY's anti-inversion decree, leading to a return of fears that the next leg down in markets is upon us, the overnight session has been far calmer, assisted in no small part by the latest China Caixin Services PMI, which rose from 51.2 to 52.2 (even if the employment index dropped to a three year low, suggesting China's labor problems are only just starting).