As Al Gore's battle against the ever elusive ManBearPig rages on, forecasters with the national weather service are warning residents of the Northwestern United States to brace for severe record low temperatures of up to 35 degrees below average and extremely heavy snowfall.
This article by David Haggith was published first on The Great Recession Blog:
As reported in Frontrunning, President-elect Donald Trump will nominate Iowa Governor Terry Branstad as the next U.S. ambassador to China, choosing a longstanding friend of Beijing after rattling the world's second-largest economy by speaking to Taiwan's president. Earlier in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang called Branstad an "old friend" of China when asked about a report on the appointment, although he added Beijing would work with any U.S. ambassador.
Crude prices are lower this morning following API's huge reported build at Cushing (biggest since 2008) and fears over OPEC deal realities. With expectations for a crude draw (on lower imports), DOE confirmed a bigger than expected overall draw but also Cushing saw a 3.78mm barrel build - the biggest since Jan 2009. Both Distillates and Gasoline (most since Jan) also saw bigger than expected builds as US production dropped very modestly.
API
Continuing in the tradition of making a selection of calls aimed at provoking conversation on what might surprise or shock the investment returns in the year ahead this year's predictions cover a range of scenarios, including a Chinese growth rebound, an Italian bank rally, Brexit giving way to Bremain and the EU's willingness to change in the face of populist backlash, among others.