United States

As the shock from the initial revelation of leaked Mossack Fonseca files fades away, one recurring question has emerged: why were there no American clients of the firm named (at least not yet)? After all, leaders in Iceland, Russia, Ukraine, Brazil, Australia and many other nations are already facing questions about their use of the Panamanian law firm, and yet nothing about the US?

The United States is pure and good and incorruptible. pic.twitter.com/Xo9LEuCavF

Sarah Leah Whitson of Human Rights Watch was talking about the war on Yemen last week, and said this:

Morgan Stanley's Adam Parker double, quasi-metamorphosis from bear to full fledged bull (as of about two years ago), and then back to outright skeptic (as of a month ago), has been a sight to behold, or perhaps text to read. Two months ago he admitted that "Our Advice Has Been Horrendous", blaming "Bizarro World", and then one month ago he sink deeper into cognitive dissonance when he advised "When You Think Of Something, Do The Opposite."

• Ties between Germany and Russia enter new chill (Reuters)
• Tax authorities begin probes into some people named in Panama Papers leak (Reuters)
• SEC investigates ex-JPMorgan debt traders (FT)
• Who Will Win Wisconsin? Here Are Six Credible Predictions (BBG)
• Victim in Wall St. Scheme Was a Classmate of Its Accused Architect (NYT)
• Makers took big price increases on widely used U.S. drugs (Reuters)
• Fed’s New Bank Critic Keeps Heat On (WSJ)
• Biggest Ever Saudi Overhaul Targets $100 Billion of Revenue (BBG)

In a quiet start to the week following last week's surprisingly strong rebound which followed a stronger than expected jobs report (perhaps to demonstrate that good news is once again good news), Japan stocks continued to sink as the USDJPY dropped to fresh lows, while commodities declined for a fifth day as the supply glut from crude to copper weighed on prices, dragging down commodity currencies. European equities rose, rebounding from a one-month low.