France

With the Trumpflation euphoria easing back slightly overnight, leading to a modest paring in the USD index and US Treasury yields, Asian and European stocks rose, while US equity futures rebounded to just shy of new all time highs, as crude jumped on renewed optimism that OPEC will agree to cut output; Italian equities underperformed ahead of the Italian referendum; metals rebounded from last week’s losses as yields dropped and the dollar halted its longest winning streak versus the euro.

This summer, I told you that J.D. Vance was the man to listen to if you wanted to understand what was happening in contemporary American politics. Now, please hear me when I say that Ryszard Legutko is another critically important voice for our time.

Update: It's official - not only is Sarkozy out, but he is backing Francois Fillon, in a setback for the alleged - if only according to the ever more embarrassing industry of pollsters - frontrunner for the presidency, Alain Juppe, and another big win for Marine Le Pen.

French ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy admits defeat in conservative presidential primary and endorses centrist Fillon https://t.co/QRPaJzRsRz

— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) November 20, 2016

The pollsters have done it again. Just four days after the Independent reported that pollsters said  Marine Le Pen has "next to no chance" of winning the French presidency...

Pollsters say Marine Le Pen has next to no chance of winning the French presidency https://t.co/b6pi8zjmdY

— The Independent (@Independent) November 16, 2016

Submitted by Yves Manou via The Gatestone Institute,