United States

US veterans are signing up in droves to join DAPL protests at Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota. The temporary campsite of the Dakota Access Pipeline protesters is set to close by Dec 5. The newly formed group “Veterans Stand for Standing Rock” are calling on veterans to nonviolently stand up to militarized law enforcement at the site. Since its initial call to action, the veterans’ movement has grown exponentially. Anti Media reports: Last week, the Facebook event, which was launched by Army veteran Wesley Clark Jr.

The Daily Bell Abolish Corporations  

Almost exactly ten years after the last housing bubble burst, unleashing a dramatic crash in US real estate prices - something Ben Bernanke had said in the mid-2000's would be unprecedented - today Case Shiller reported that as of September, its Index covering all nine U.S. census divisions, surpassed the peak set in July 2006 as the housing boom topped out, and in doing so the average home price has now climbed back above the record reached more than a decade ago, bringing to a close the worst period for the housing market since the Great Depression.

In a choice that confirms Trump's intentions to dismantle Obamacare, Reuters reports that President-elect Donald Trump will shortly announce he has chosen vociferous Obamacare critic Tom Price (R. Ga), an orthopedic surgeon from Georgia, as his Health and Human Services secretary to help him overhaul the U.S. healthcare system.

Chairman of the House Budget Committee Tom Price

European stocks were little changed and oil fell as investors assessed declining prospects for an OPEC deal and risks from Italy’s referendum. Asian stocks declined, while S&P futures pointed to a fractionally higher open, erasing 3 points from yesterday's drop.

Trader attention today - and tomorrow - will be focused on oil which retreated back under $47 as OPEC members failed to bridge differences on production cuts, while a rally in metals ran out of steam. The rand plunged after President Jacob Zuma survived a leadership threat.