Politics

Over the weekend, following reports that China has banned all North Korean coal imports - in the aftermath of last week's North Korean ballistic missile launch- which marked a troubling escalation in relations between the two formerly "amicable" nations, we discussed how China was tipping its hand that not only was Kim Jong-Un potentially losing a "very big ally", but that it could also lead to "jeopady" for his regime, and a potential political coup in the generally unstable dictatorship.

While bookmakers' odds are unchanged for a Le Pen victory, French bond yields have tumbled to one-month lows as the prospect of a centrist alliance in the country’s presidential election eased market anxiety that far-right candidate Marine Le Pen will win.

Today at 10:30am, president Trump will summon some of America’s most prominent corporate executives to the White House Thursday, in a roundtable brainstorming session whose purpose is to come up with policy ideas meant to facilitate trade and taxes, boost job creation and generally jump-start the US economy.

Following his first interview since being confirmed yesterday with the WSJ, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke to CNBC's Becky Quick and repeated some of the key points he made yesterday, among which his hope to get tax reform done by the August Congress recess, however he again confirmed that there are too many moving pieces at this point saying it is "too early to give details" of the Trump tax plan.

Submitted by Saxo Bank's Martin O'Rourke via TradingFloor.com,