United States

Following their first ever, 2+ hour meeting which was originally supposed to last only 30-40 minutes, the question on everyone's mind was what did the two discuss.

So, in addition to the previously discussed ceasefire agreement in Southwest Syria unexpectedly announced by the two nations, speaking at the beginning of his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Vladimir Putin said that during his first meeting with US President Donald Trump, the two discussed Syria, Ukraine, counterterrorism, and drumroll, the "fight against cyber crime."

After falling for the first time this year last week, Baker Hughes reports US oil rig count rose once again (as perhaps Cindy impacted drilling last week) for the 23rd week in the last 24.

• *U.S. TOTAL RIG COUNT UP 12 TO 952 , BAKER HUGHES SAYS :BHI US
• *U.S. OIL RIG COUNT UP 7 TO 763 , BAKER HUGHES SAYS :BHI US
• *U.S. GAS RIG COUNT UP 5 TO 189 , BAKER HUGHES SAYS :BHI US

Update: The meeting seemed more cordial than many had hoped for:

#BREAKING: @realDonaldTrump speaks with President Putin pic.twitter.com/tr0hV1XQO1

— WSVN 7 News (@wsvn) July 7, 2017

Putin’s Assessment of Trump at the G-20 Will Determine Our Future

Paul Craig Roberts

The backdrops to the Putin/Trump meeting are the aspirations of Israel and the neoconservatives. It is these aspirations that drive US foreign policy.

S&P futures are little changed following yesterday's rout even as Asian and European markets continued selling; the pound slid on poor factory data, the yen tumbled after the BOJ intervened to stabilize the JGB bond market, precious metals flash crashed early in the session, while the selloff in oil accelerated despite yesterday's massive inventory draw, although at least yesterday's sharp bond tantrum has stabilized.