With at least 58 dead (30 confirmed, 28 presumed), the Grenfell Tower fire in London is undoubtedly a disaster, but (riding high on his recent election gains) Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's solution for those made homeless by the fire seems to confirm his pro-Marxian perspective on life - government will seize the empty homes of rich people in Kensington to rehouse residents.
Today is quad-witching opex Friday, and according to JPM, some $1.3 trillion in S&P future will expire. Traditionally quad days are associated with a rise in volatility and a surge in volumes although in light of recent vol trends and overnight markets, today may be the most boring quad-witching in recent history: global stocks have again rebounded from yesterday's tech-driven losses as European shares rose 0.6%, wiping out the week's losses.
Despite Prime Minister Theresa May’s embarrassing performance earlier this month in a snap election that cost her Conservative party its parliamentary 'majority', more than 70% of Britons still believe the government should push ahead with Brexit – even after the election sparked exclamations from the left for a second referendum, according to the latest YouGov poll.
The pound sharply reversed overnight losses (the result of weaker than expected UK retail sales 0.90% Y/Y, exp. 1.7%) rising as much as 0.3% to 1.2794 after the BOE announced it kept rates at 0.25%, however the hawkish surprise was the 5-3 vote, far closer than the 7-1 expected, as two more MPC members , Saunders and McCafferty joined Forbes in calling for a rate hike on the back of rising inflation concerns.
Is it going to be another May 17, when US stocks tumbled as concerns of a Trump impeachment over obstruction of justice and impeachment surged ahead of Comey's tetimony?
Overnight, S&P500 futures accelerated their decline following yesterday's WaPo report that Special Counsel Mueller has launched a probe into potential obstruction of justice by Trump...