United States

As part of his just released 2017 outlook, JPM's Michael Cembalest, chairman of markets and investment strategy, notes that while "political upheavals and unorthodox central bank actions persist" he prdictes "more of the same in 2017: single digit returns on diversified investment portfolios as the global economic expansion bumps along for another year." Of course, the alternative is a recession call, which considering the current expansion will be the third longest in US history by the time Trump is inaugurated in less than three weeks, is probably not too farfetched.

With 2016 still fresh in most investors' minds, and questions about 2017 pressing, here is a summary, courtesy of Goldman's Allison Nathan, of where Goldman believes we closed out 2016, what is in store in the coming year, and ultimately, "what keeps Goldman up at night" about 2017.

2016, and a peek at 2017

The United States has warned North Korea against carrying out “provocative actions,” after Pyongyang said it was putting the final touches to a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of reaching the US soil The Pentagon issued a statement on Sunday warning North Korea that it would face serious consequences if it makes good on its most recent threat of testing an intercontinental ballistic missile. Press TV reports: The warning came only hours after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced the regime’s plans to test the new ICBM.

Submitted by Howard Kunstler via Kunstler.com,

“There is no other endeavor in which men and women of enormous intellectual power have shown total disregard for higher-order reasoning than monetary policy.

-David Collum

American Notes

Having drawn the ire of the mainstream press for his extensive use of Twitter in announcing major developments and policy shifts, President-elect Donald Trump will not end the "onslaught" of posts on Twitter that fed his unconventional campaign, even after taking on the formalized duties of the Oval Office later this month, as Bloomberg notes following an announcement by incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer who said he expects Trump "will boldly use" Twitter to make major policy announcements.