United States

It's set to be a busy week with a a jam-packed agenda for central bank watchers, with speeches due from Janet Yellen, Mario Draghi, Mark Carney, Haruhiko Kuroda and more. Economic data may also drive momentum in financial markets, with closely watched reports due on inflation, employment, manufacturing and housing from China to the U.S. We also have GDP, durable goods and consumer confidence in US, industrial production in Japan and confidence indexes in EA

Key highlights:

• Italian Bank Deal Raises Questions About Eurozone Rules (WSJ)
• UK PM May strikes $1.3 billion deal to get Northern Irish DUP support for her government (Reuters)
• Nestle Targeted by Dan Loeb in Activist’s Biggest-Ever Bet (BBG)
• Nestle 'committed' to strategy as activist investor moves in (Reuters)
• Troubled Air-Bag Maker Takata Files for Bankruptcy (WSJ)
• Merkel’s Election Opponent Slams Her for Being Too Nice to Trump (BBG)
• Berlusconi Stages Comeback to Frontline Politics (BBG)

S&P futures point to a higher open following gains in Asian markets supported by stronger commodities but mostly European bourses, which are sharply higher following the €17 billion bailout of the two Veneto banks in Italy, the biggest taxpayer funded bank rescue in modern Italian history, as well as Dan Loeb's activist campaign of the world's biggest food company, Nestle which sent the stock up 5%, and finally Germany's Ifo business climate index which hit new all time highs.

Authored by Wayne Madsen via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

Academics and economists have repeatedly underestimated the impact that immigration and automation would have on the labor market. As data on productivity gains and labor-force participation clearly show, the notion that innovation ultimately creates jobs by allowing workers to focus on higher-level problems is an illusion. If it were true, then why aren’t we already seeing more of the 20 million prime-age men who have inexplicably dropped out of the labor force welcomed back in?