United States

"Triple Threat Thursday" is now a distant memory, with both the ECB and Comey testimony "non-events" for the market, although the UK general election was a shocker in which contrary to expectations, Theresa May lost her majority in Parliament, sending sterling tumbling overnight and prompting even more confusion about the UK's political fate and the future of Brexit. That however did not spook risk assets, and on Friday morning, European stocks gained with Asian stocks little changed, while S&P500 futures were set for new all time highs. Just like after Brexit, it was U.K.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Yemen, Libya's eastern-based government and the Maldives cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, creating a new crisis in the Arab world. U.S. President Donald Trump quickly waded into the row, lambasting Qatar in a series of tweets. Joining the Gulf states in labeling Qatar a funder of extremism, Trump tweeted that his visit to Saudi Arabia "was already paying off" and that Monday's developments could mark the "beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism."

Authored by Bonner & Co.'s Bill Bonner, annotated by Acting-Man's Pater Tenebrarum,

“Russiagate”

First, there is a dust-up in the Washington, D.C., area. “Russiagate,” it is called. As near as we can make out, some people think the Trump team had or has illegal or inappropriate contacts with the Russian government.

It’s all very obvious, if one looks closely…  Putin has inundated the brains of US voters with his evil Putin rays from his redoubt in Moscow, causing them to make the wrong choice.

Authored by Kevin Muir via The Macro Tourist blog,

By Chris at www.CapitalistExploits.at

Menopause, I'm told, is horrible.

Men don't know too much about it, and thankfully I've not been exposed to it... yet. One minute you're hand in hand on the beach with your sweet adoring wife and the next she's a sobbing wreck who wants to stab you in the thigh with a pair of knitting needles.

This is probably just how Qatar feels right now.