Different Week, Same Joke.

Another week and the same joke continues to apply: this was the worst week for the Trump administration since last week.

Of course that depends on your definition of “worst” – in David Dennison’s fantasy world, staff turnover at the White House is a good thing and confusing the holy shit out of global allies and enemies alike counts as “strategy” (“strategery“), so if that’s the world you live in, then I guess in your mind this week “got the best reviews” (as Trump would put it).

Back in a place called reality, Trump:

1. fired America’s top diplomat on Twitter,
2. ratcheted up the adversarial trade rhetoric,
3. plunged deeper into a legal dispute with a porn star,
4. made plans to fire his national security adviser,
5. made up a conversation with the Canadian Prime Minister,
6. got subpoenaed by the special counsel investigating his campaign for treason, obstruction of justice and money laundering,
7. unveiled plans to create a team of intergalactic marines called “Space Force.”

But hey, at least consumer sentiment is surging thanks to the free Ding Dongs and Ho Hos!

Stocks were basically unchanged on Friday (small gains). It wasn’t a great week:

The dollar – which is the subject of vociferous debate as it’s being pulled in different directions by a policy divergence narrative and rising yields on the one hand and deficit woes and trade jitters on the other – logged its fourth straight week of gains.

But you should note that as discussed early Friday, the yen is the X-factor here.

USDCAD highest since late last June:

10Y yields on the week (we’re not going to go back over the story with the curve here because goddammit we’ve already talked about it today so if you’re interested, just go read more here):

A rather dramatic midday move higher on Friday helped crude post a weekly gain. This is some manic shit right here:

You can probably chalk this up to competing headlines about surging U.S. production and OPEC cuts and geopolitical turmoil and a confusing EIA report, but if you just kind of pan out a little bit you get this:

European shares closed out the week on a marginally positive note. On the week:

Really “solid” week for “a store of value”:

Finally, for your moment of zen, here’s Sarah Huckabee Sanders to Hucka-splain what exactly is going on at the White House:

Sarah Sanders on potential White House shakeups in coming days:

"The chief of staff actually spoke to a number of staff this morning, reassuring that there were personnel changes…no immediate personnel changes and people shouldn't be concerned." pic.twitter.com/Rs0GxC9gK2

— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 16, 2018