Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,
If an ossified, self-serving status quo refuses to adapt, collapse is the only way forward.
When everything's going great, nobody questions the nation's core institutions: they must be doing a great job because everything's going great.
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.
With the December monthly TIC data due out this week, bond traders will be closely watching if the selling of US Treasuries by foreign accounts, and especially central banks, which as we have repeatedly shown for the past several months has hit record levels...
... will persist, with a focus on whether China's near record selling of US paper will persist.
However, this time the surprise may not be China, but its nemesis across the East China Sea, Japan.
North Korea said it successfully test-fired a new type of medium- to long-range ballistic missile that is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, the country's state-run media said Monday. The North Korean missile flew over 500 kilometers, landing in the sea and stirring up world leaders, with the US rushing to reassure its allies South Korea and Japan.
Bloomberg is out with a fictional piece this evening -- asserting that creditors are selling treasuries because of Trump.
(adjusts microphone)
WRONG!
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