Germany

European and Asian stocks, S&P futures, bond yields, the dollar and commodity metals are rose, in some cases making new all time highs, lifted by the latest reemergence of the "Trump trades" as hopeful investors once again bet that the U.S. president's tax reform plans will boost economic growth and corporate profits, despite another warning from Goldman that the president's fiscal plan is about to be derailed.

Germany's former foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was elected as the country's next president on Sunday. Steinmeier, a Social Democrat who had served as foreign minister until last month, won 931 of the 1,239 valid votes by lawmakers of Germany's 16 federal states, becoming the 12th person to hold the largely ceremonial post in Germany's post-war era.

He will succeed current president Joachim Gauck, a 77-year-old former pastor and pro-democracy activist from east Germany, when he steps down on March 18.

Germany's new president Frank-Walter Steinmeier

One day after Greek 2Y bond yields tumbled following press reports that for the first time in the latest Greek mini-crisis, the IMF and Eurozone creditors finally agreed on a "common stance" regarding what the Greek fiscal surplus and debt profile would look like, despite talks between Greece and its creditors ending in Brussels with no breakthrough, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras on Saturday warned the IMF and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble to "stop playing with fire" in handling his country's debt.

In the wake of President Trump's comments that NATO is "obsolete", and European 'leaders' renewed calls for a European army, Angela Merkel has been forced to deny Germany is interested in acquiring nuclear weapons amid calls for it to lead a European "nuclear superpower."

Submitted by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

The game playing in Greece gets curiouser and curiouser.

German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble went on TV saying the only way Greece can get a haircut is if it leaves the Eurozone.

The IMF reiterated that Greece will not be able to make its payments.

Greece insists the IMF is wrong, yet it wants credit relief.