United States

When it comes to inflation in the US, there are generally two schools of thought:one is that inflation is woefully - and purposefully for political means - mismeasured, and that the real inflation is orders of magnitude higher than what the BLS, with its endless array of hedonic adjustments, reports. We discussed this view in May when we presented a presentation by Devonshire Research, which showed that "contrarian" CPI is closer to 8%, not the "post-modern" accepted rate of roughly 3%.

With the traditional post-payrolls market lull setting in, and most trading desks taking a week or two off, it will be a relatively quiet week with attention turning to inflation data with releases in the US, China, Norway & Switzerland, a key factor as central banks consider if/when to tighten in the near future. The US print will gain most attention: a strong number will validate the Fed's balance sheet unwind intentions and a potential December rate hike.

• Futures slightly higher after Dow's record run (Reuters)
• Tillerson says U.S., Russia can settle differences (Reuters)
• Hot-Stock Rally Tests the Patience of Value Investors (WSJ)
• ‘Good Conservative’ Grassley Ramps Up His Panel’s Trump-Russia Probe (BBG)
• Brands Strike Back: Seven Strategies to Loosen Amazon’s Grip (WSJ)
• Oil slides from nine-week highs as market looks to OPEC (Reuters)
• BlackRock, Vanguard Say Bond Market's Got This Trade All Wrong (BBG)
• Bond Bears Balk at 'Trade of Decade' (BBG)

For all the hope that this weekend's UN breakthrough, in which the Security Council voted unanimously 15-0 to impose $1 billion in sanctions on North Korea exports, that saw both China and Russia side with the US, would lead to a resolution of the North Korean crisis, it appears that the rogue regime refuses to even contemplate a negotiation or a cooling of tensions and on Monday, North Korea threatened to use nuclear weapons against the U.S. if provoked militarily and said it would “under no circumstances” negotiate on its nuclear and missile weapons programs.

Authored by Pepe Escobar via InformationClearingHouse.info,

The Empire of Whiners simply can't get enough when it comes to huff, puff and pout as the Empire of Sanctions.

With an Orwellian 99% majority that would delight the Kim dynasty in North Korea, the "representative democracy" Capitol Hill has bulldozed its latest House/Senate sanctions package, aimed mostly at Russia, but also targeting Iran and North Korea.