United Kingdom

• Global stocks struggle as ECB and OPEC meetings loom (Reuters)
• Iran Resists Saudi Gesture for Unity as OPEC Fractures Reappear (BBG)
• Clinton to blast Trump on North Korea, NATO in foreign policy speech (Reuters)
• Hillary Clinton Shifts to California as Race Tightens There (WSJ)
• Puerto Rico’s U.S. Rescue Won’t Come Soon Enough to Halt Default (BBG)
• U.S. to Curb Payday Lenders (WSJ)
• BOJ’s Sato Is Pessimistic on Economy, Central Bank’s Strategy (BBG)
• PIMCO sees 'significant' chance of Brexit vote in UK (Reuters)

There are just two drivers setting the pace for today's risk mood: the OPEC meeting in Vienna which started a few hours ago, and the ECB's announcement as well as Mario Draghi's press statement due out just one hour from now. Both are expected to not reveal any major surprises, with OPEC almost certainly unable to implement a production freeze while the ECB is expected to remain on hold and provide some more details on its corporate bond buying program, although there is some modest risk of upside surprise in either case.

Submitted by Michael Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

British citizens seeking yet another reason to vote Brexit, have one in spades.

The roots of this reason go back to last year when European Commission president Jean Claude Juncker hatched a 3-year plan to leverage €20 billion in seed capital to produce a €300 billion gain in Eurozone investment.

Submitted by Tim Price via SovereignMan.com,

JW: “..Someone like Neil Woodford, star investor, who set up his own fund; he says the fundamentals of the economy will be unmoved [by Brexit] either way..

 

RA: “Well I’m afraid that every, every serious economic forecaster would not agree with that..”

 

JW: “Are you saying he’s not serious?”

 

RA: “Not for economic forecasts, clearly.”

 

Following the latest set of global economic news, most notably a mediocre set of Chinese Official and Caixin PMIs, coupled with a mix of lackluster European manufacturing reports and an abysmal Japanese PMI, European, Asian stocks and U.S. stock index futures have continued yesterday's losses. Oil slips for 4th day, heading for the longest run of declines since April, as OPEC ministers gather in Vienna ahead of a meeting on Thursday to discuss production policy.