United Kingdom

By Bill Blain of Mint Partners

Politics - More Destabilizing Than You Think!

“With comedy we can search for the profound...”

Dark skies, torrential rain and thinking about putting the log-burner on.. Welcome to high-summer in England. Markets are thin and the crowds trying to clamber on the train were noticeably lighter this morning. (Actually, the sun was shining this morning as my train sat listlessly somewhere “Sarf” of Wimbledon..)

Unofficially, Libor died some time in 2012 when what until then was a giant "conspiracy theory" - namely that the world's most important reference index, setting the price for $350 trillion in loans, credit and derivative securities had been rigged for years - was confirmed. Officially, Libor died earlier today when the top U.K. regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority which regulates Libor, said the scandal-plagued index would be phased out and that work would begin for a transition to alternate, and still undetermined, benchmarks by the end of 2021.

Authored by Douglas Murray via The Gatestone Institute,

Why Surging UK Household Debt Will Cause The Next Crisis

S&P futures were fractionally higher (+0.1% to 2,476) with all eyes on the Fed's rate decision as investors await another earnings deluge from companies including Facebook, Coca-Cola and Boeing. Asian and European shares were also higher, prompted by momentum from the latest US record high; the Dollar rebound continued while oil rose above $48 as copper hit a two year high.