United States

Recently we reported that Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe was under investigation by the FBI and prosecutors from the Justice Department's integrity unit regarding donations to McAuliffe's campaign during his time as a board member of the Clinton Global Initiative. Specifically, investigators were scrutinizing a $120,000 donation McAuliffe received from Wang Wenliang, a Chinese businessman, who was also a donor to the Clinton foundation, pledging $2 million.

Once again, a topic we have beaten to death over the past several years, namely that US consumers spending on discretionary items has collapsed for the simple reason simply because these same consumers are forced to spend much more on staples such as housing (or since nobody can afford houses anymore, on rent) and health insurance (thanks Obamacare), has made it into the sellside, in this case the latest Greed and Fear report by CLSA's Chris Wood.

At this point in the war against ISIS, which as we pointed out previously is in full retreat now that its supply of oil-based funding from Turkey has dried up, the only question is when some of the main strongholds of the Islamic State in the region fall, putting what's left of the terrorist organization in terminal disarray. Chief among ISIS' core cities are Raqqa and Deir el-Zour in Syria and Mosul, Baiji and the outskirts of Baghdad, including Falluja in Iraq.

First, a big picture view of the situation.

In his latest letter to investors, OakTree Capital's Howard Marks goes political (slamming Trump's tariffs and Bernie's minimum wage machinations), shedding some blinding light on the economic reality of America, the dismal failure (and increasing impotence) of central bankers, and the ongoing "tryanny of the majority" warning that if everyone wants to tax-the-rich, soon there will be no rich to tax.

For those who need a quick and easy recap of all the main events that took place in the oil and gas services sector, here it is courtesy of Credit Suisse's James Wicklung who present the various "things we've learned this week."

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