The overnight exuberance in crude oil futures markets has faded notably as the day has worn on. While news of supply cuts are unquestionably bullish (should one choose to believe it or not, remember the Saudis admission "we tend to cheat"), but the last few days have also seen a plethora of bearish-biased news that for now is being ignored.
The excitement is fading...
Non-OPEC oil-producing nations struck a deal in Vienna on Saturday to cut crude output by 600,000 barrels a day, joining a pact meant to reduce a global oversupply of crude, lift prices and lend support to economies hurt by a two-year market slump.
The pact, the first between the two sides in 15 years, comes two weeks after OPEC agreed to reduce its own production by 1.2 million barrels a day.
How stable are the world's democracies? While there is a certain level of complacency among the citizens of most developed countries in the security of their freedom, at least one Harvard historian sees some glaring warning signs. Citing a "freedom index" compiled by Freedom House, Harvard historian Yascha Mounk notes that after rising steadily from the mid-1970s through the early 2000s, the number of countries globally that are considered "free" have been on a steady decline ever since.
One might think that after 92 years, some wisdom may have leaked into the brain of Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe. But no. As the world's oldest head of state, he has overseen the demise from a post-colonial success to a pariah state wrecked by hyperinflation. However, having apparently learned no lesson from his prior experiences, The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has decided to print a new national currency for the first time since 2009.
As Simon Black pointed out a month ago, some people just don’t learn.
Today Credit Suisse released its latest annual global wealth report, which traditionally lays out what is perhaps the biggest reason for the recent "anti-establishment" revulsion: an unprecedented concentration of wealth among a handful of people, as shown in its infamous global wealth pyramid, an arrangement which as observed by the "shocking" political backlash of the past few months suggests that the lower 'levels' of the pyramid are increasingly unhappy about.