Submitted by Soeren Kern via The Gatestone Institute,
Asian stocks rose, led by Hong Kong, while European shares and U.S. equity-index futures are little changed. Euro, yen climb as the dollar posted an unexpected loss following some serious fireworks out of China, which intervened in funding market to crush offshore Yuan shorts.
Top news stories include Macy’s and Kohl’s cutting their outlook after weak holiday season, Deutsche Bank exploring lending money to PE firms buying distressed loans, Apple planning to invest $1b in SoftBank’s new technology fund.
China has launched it’s first direct freight rail service to London as part of its drive to develop trade and investment ties with Europe. The new weekly journey crosses seven countries before arriving in the UK, is half the price of air freight and quicker than sea taking about two weeks to cover the journey. RT reports: The ‘East Wind Train’ departed from the manufacturing hub of Yiwu in eastern China, and is carrying £4 million ($4.9 million) worth of socks, cloth, bags, and household goods.
BullionStar has recently started a new series of posts highlighting charts relating to some of the most important gold markets, gold exchanges and gold trends around the world. The posts include charts of the Chinese Gold Market, the flow of gold from West to East via the London and Swiss gold markets, and the holdings of gold-backed Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). This is the second post in the series. Please see the November 2016 chart post article for background about the charts chosen for this series.
A £5 million “ring of steel” is to be built around the city to protect London’s financial district and some of the Square Mile’s highest skyscrapers from terrorist attacks. Counter-terror specialists have put together plans for a secure cordon which would seal off key routes. Following advice from MI5 and counter-terrorism police, the Corporation of London is planning to install manned checkpoints, rising street bollards and crash-proof barricades.