United Kingdom

• Dollar rally pauses, Italian stocks underperform (Reuters)
• Retailers Vie for Black Friday Dollars (WSJ)
• Holiday Price War Intensifies as Wal-Mart, Target Pursue Amazon (BBG)
• U.S. Pushes Iran on New Measures to Fortify Nuclear Deal (WSJ)
• Brent and WTI see small gains as end of year approaches (Reuters)
• Turkey’s Erdogan threatens to let 3m refugees into Europe (FT)
• Meet the man who could lead Trump's immigration crackdown (The Hill)
• Austrian election tests support for European populism in Trump era (FT)

Donald Trump nearly sparked a diplomatic scandal earlier this week when he tweeted that Nigel Farage, the interim UKIP leader and the lead Brexit campaigner, would be great as Britain's ambassador to Washington, a suggestions which Theresa May's government quickly dismissed saying there was "no vacancy" as Kim Darroch is currently serving as ambassador to Washington, and leading to an outpouring of protests from the UK press accusing Trump of meddling in sovereign affairs.

In a quiet overnight session in which Japan was closed, European shares are mixed as financials and auto weigh, Asian stocks rise led by materials while S&P futures little changed against a backdrop of the continuing commodity rally with oil holding near $48 a barrel, up fractionally on the session. Against a basket of currencies, the dollar index was up slightly at 101.12, very close to a 14-year peak. The dollar also kept most of its recent hefty gains on the yen at 111.05 though it has met resistance around 111.35 in the last couple of sessions

Submitted by Michael Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

The EU fired a major global trade war tit-for-tat retaliation today against US banks and the UK in a single action.

Brussels will raise costs for foreign lenders while simultaneously taking a pot shot at London.

Please consider EU to Retaliate Against US Bank Capital Rules.

• Record highs for Wall Street quartet send other stocks higher (Reuters)
• Oil prices rise to highest this month on hopes of OPEC deal (Reuters)
• OPEC Likely to Reach Output Consensus, Delegate Says (WSJ)
• Trump’s Targets in First 100 Days: Trade, Regulation, Corruption (BBG)
• Trump Poised to Push Nafta Changes, Pressure Mexico on Trade (WSJ)
• China Touts Its Own Trade Pact as U.S.-Backed One Withers (WSJ)
• Trump to kill trade deal on day one (Reuters)
• Overtime Pay Rule to Go Into Effect, but May Not Last (WSJ)