United States

Earlier this week, when we discussed Peter Navarro's jarring op-ed in the WSJ in which he alleged that the persistent US trade deficit "would put US national security in jeopardy", we said that "a better question than what is Navarro's purpose by writing it, is why he is writing it, and does his use of a public forum like the WSJ mean that there is friction between him and Trump camp, especially since in recent weeks it appears that a core pillar of Trump's trade policies, namely the border adjustability, appear to no long

Russia has said that US security services must provide a full response to WikiLeaks’ accusations regarding hacking by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday that US spy agencies must be held fully accountable following the recent revelations about the CIA’s hacking techniques, adding that if found to be true the acts of espionage by Washington represent “a great” danger to the world.

Authored by Arthur Berman via OilPrice.com,

WTI futures fell $2.86 from $53.14 to $50.28 per barrel, and Brent futures dropped $3.81 from $55.92 to $52.11 per barrel. WTI is trading below $49 and Brent below $52 per barrel at the time of writing.

The apparent cause was a larger-than-expected 8.2 million-barrel (mmb) addition to U.S. crude oil inventories.

Over-Reaction

Authored by Patrick Buchanan via Buchanan.org,

To back up Defense Secretary “Mad Dog” Mattis’ warning last month, that the U.S. “remains steadfast in its commitment” to its allies, President Donald Trump is sending B-1 and B-52 bombers to Korea.

Some 300,000 South Korean and 15,000 U.S. troops have begun their annual Foal Eagle joint war exercises that run through April.

With US crude inventories at record highs and production surging higher, the ongoing oil rig count rise in America (up 8 to 617 - 8th week in a row and highest since Sept 2015) signals more 'problems' ahead for a record level of speculative long positioning in black gold.

• *U.S. OIL RIG COUNT UP 8 TO 617 , BAKER HUGHES SAYS :BHI US
• *U.S. GAS RIG COUNT UP 5 TO 151 , BAKER HUGHES SAYS :BHI US