Is the US Government Behind the Fake News Media Attacks on President-elect Trump?
Paul Craig Roberts
Eric Zuesse has brought to our attention that US intelligence officials have placed a story in Buzzfeed, “a Democratic party mouthpiece,” that the Russian government used fake news to get Donald Trump elected president. http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2016/12/63755.html
According to Buzzfeed:
A furious Iran threatened to retaliate early Friday against a U.S. Senate vote to extend the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) for 10 years, saying it violated last year's deal with six major powers that curbed its nuclear program. The ISA was first adopted in 1996 to punish investments in Iran's energy industry and deter its alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons; it was due to expire on Dec. 31. Lawmakers said the extension would make it easier for sanctions to be reimposed if Iran violated the nuclear settlement. The extension was passed unanimously on Thursday.
Earlier this morning we reported that Trump's attorneys had filed an objection to Jill Stein's recount petition with the election commission of Michigan. Per the Michigan Secretary of State, those objections have just been rejected and a recount has now been cleared to begin early next week barring any new legal actions over the weekend.
Bd of State Canvassers mtg has adjourned. Members did not adopt an objection to the recount or a motion to conduct the recount by machine.
On the heels of Jeff Gundlach's "there's going to be a buyer's remorse period" warnings yesterday, the other 'bond king' has raised similar fears that the Trump rally is overdone (as are the prospects for growth behind it). Putting aside the book-talking as their bond portfolios suffer, Gross echoes Gundlach's "Trump's not the wizard of oz" comments, noting that the next president faces serious structural headwinds and warns investors "should move to cash," as any fiscal stimulus gains will be temporary at best.
Did Jeff Gundlach do it again? Shortly after the DoubleLine manager told Reuters yesterday afternoon that the Trump rally is ending, that "stocks have peaked" and that it is "too late to buy the Trump trade", US stocks tumbled to session lows, and have continued to drop overnight, with S&P futures down 0.3%, alongside sliding Asian and European markets; oil and the dollar are also down with the only asset class catching a bid are 10Y TSYs, whose yields are lower at 2.43% after reaching an 18 month high of 2.492% overnight ahead of today's nonfarm payrolls report.