presidential election

After previously announcing plans to withdraw at least $15 billion to fund 2017 budget deficits, the $860 billion Norwegian sovereign wealth fund announced last December that it would change it's portfolio allocations to try to make up for the withdrawals.  The change would eventually result in 75% of the fund's capital being allocated to global equities, up from the previous 60% allocation...you know, because equities never go down so more is always better.

• Trump Puts the Final Touches on His Speech (BBG)
• Trump to Make Case for Higher Military Spending, Lay Out Vision in Speech (WSJ)
• Trump on Hook to Clarify Policies With Speech to Congress (BBG)
• Traders Are Glued to These Stocks Ahead of Tonight’s Trump Speech (BBG)
• Trump Regulation Rollback May Threaten U.S. Firms' EU Access (Reuters)
• GOP Health Plan Suffers Blow With Rejection by Key Republican (BBG)
• White House Dismisses Calls for Russia-Ties Investigation (WSJ)

The Resurrection of Armageddon

Paul Craig Roberts

“The U.S. intelligence community’s extraordinary campaign of leaks claiming improper ties between President Trump’s team and Russia seeks to ensure a lucrative New Cold War by blocking detente.” — Gareth Porter

Via Simon Black of SovereignMan.com,

It’s my usual custom whenever I land at a major airport to stop by the rental car counters and inquire how much it costs to rent a vehicle.

For me this is a sort of informal, albeit imperfect, economic indicator.

High prices suggest strong demand from plenty of business travelers and tourists, which will likely have a positive economic impact.

Cheap prices, conversely, suggest that there’s something wrong.

Well, there’s definitely something wrong in Mexico.

Via Disobedient Media