presidential election

• 'Trump trades' on boost to economic growth come back with a bang (Reuters)
• Trump's national security adviser Flynn trying to survive crisis (Reuters)
• White House Is Sifting Options on Immigration Ban (WSJ)
• North Korean Nuclear Ambitions to Be Defining Issue for Trump (BBG)
• Netanyahu opposes Palestinian state, Israeli minister says ahead of U.S. visit (Reuters)
• Speed Limits on Trump’s Infrastructure Drive: Federal Laws, Rare Species and Nimbys (WSJ)
• Germany’s New Trump-Critic President Sees Stormy U.S. Ties Ahead (BBG)

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.

Top White House aide and policy adviser, Stephen Miller, sidestepped repeated chances during Sunday news shows to publicly defend embattled National Security Adviser Michael Flynn following reports that he engaged in conversations with Russian diplomat(s) about U.S. sanctions before Trump’s inauguration. The uncertainty came as Trump was dealing with North Korea’s apparent first missile launch of the year and his presidency, along with visits this week from the leaders of Israel and Canada.

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.

Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith via PeakProsperity.com,

In the modern era, the phrase Class War is rooted in the socialist/Marxist concept that the conflict between labor (the working class) and capital (owners of capital) is not just inevitable - it’s the fulcrum of history.  In this view, this Class War is the inevitable result of the asymmetry between the elite who own/control the capital and the much larger class of people whose livelihood is earned solely by their labor.