Europe

After last week's payrolls report, the year is starting to wind down for economic events and capital markets, but not before one last hurrah for central banks: indeed, it is a very busy week dominated by central bank meetings for the FOMC, ECB, BOE, SNB and Norges Bank. We will also observe the controversial Alabama Senate elections and the EU Council summit on the state of Brexit negotiations. Data-wise, the most important economic update will be Wednesday's US CPI print, as well as industrial production releases in a number of countries including the US and China.

U.S. equity index futures pointed to early gains and fresh record highs, following Asian markets higher, as European shares were mixed and oil was little changed, although it is unclear if anyone noticed with bitcoin stealing the spotlight, after futures of the cryptocurrency began trading on Cboe Global Markets.

Authored by Drieu Godefridi via The Gatestone Institute,

• Last month alone in Brussels, there were three separate outbreaks of rioting and looting on a major scale.

MODERN JUGGERNAUTS LIKE APPLE DON’T EVEN COME CLOSE

The Chart of the Week is a weekly Visual Capitalist feature on Fridays.

Courtesy of: Visual Capitalist

Before speculative bubbles could form around Dotcom companies (late-1990s) or housing prices (mid-2000s), Visual Capitalist's Jeff Desjardins notes that some of the first financial bubbles formed from the prospect of trading with faraway lands.

Looking back, it’s pretty easy to see why.

Authored by Daisy Luther via The Organic Prepper blog,

Everywhere, it seems like officials are actively preparing for the possibility of nuclear war.

Tensions are high in practically every corner of the world but somehow, despite the proliferation of imminent threats, many people are still blithely unaware of the hell that could be unleashed.