Russia

So far "Triple Threat Thursday" has been a dud. In the day with the greatest concentration of market-moving risk events so far in 2017, market action - at least for the time being - has been a whimper, with European stocks and US futures modestly higher ahead of the ECB’s rate decision and Comey's testimony (which has now been fully publicized, removing much of the risk), as the U.K. voting is underway. Asian stocks fell led by a decline in Japan as the yen first strengthened, only to tumble later in the session.

Ahead of tomorrow's much-anticipated testimony, former FBI Director James Comey has released his prepared remarks.

Comey make no accusations but he does outline how he had concerns with some of President Trump's behavior - although he makes it clear that Trump never ordered him to do anything - specifically the president's intent with requests for "loyalty" and repeated direct outreach to Comey. Speaking through Sessions, Comey asked that Trump's outreach stop as it made him "uncomfortable."

Authored by Peter Korzun via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

Authored by Ruthie Blum via The Gatestone Institute,

Authored by James Durso via OilPrice.com,

It’s the 101st anniversary of the Sykes–Picot Agreement and, in light of the non-stop Syrian Civil War, it’s time to ask, “How’s that working out for you?”