Disappointed.

When it comes to America’s relationship with the rest of the world, things got off to a solid start on Tuesday, when China announced they’d be slashing tariffs on cars.

The rational among you will probably see that as a step in the right direction, but if you’re Steve Bannon, you think it’s indicative of Steve Mnuchin selling out America.

Fortunately, no one listens to Steve Bannon anymore, because you know, “crazy” and “he openly backed Roy Moore” and “he tried to destroy the GOP” and “he wears his racism ‘like a badge of honor‘” and other such things.

But when it comes to foreign relations, things went juuuust a wee bit off the rails later on, when Trump used an Oval Office presser with Moon Jae-in to talk about Obama’s “spies” and also to suggest that the Kim meeting might not happen after all. This instant classic snapshot from the meeting says it all:

hmm

Despite Trump’s best efforts to deliver enough senseless “covfefe” to lay claim to the “quote of the day” title, he lost it to Schumer:

The wishy-washy comments on North Korea appeared to dent stocks late in the U.S. session. Trump is “disappointed”:

  • TRUMP SAYS `DISAPPOINTED’ BY CHANGE IN ATTITUDE FROM KIM

Here he is saying things “may not work out”:

That, in turn, “disappointed” stocks. You can see when things stopped “working out”:

ES

The dollar was lower, although it trimmed losses during the U.S. session:

DXY

Notable:

The ruble was up for a second day, rising in tandem with crude (which was up again early before paring gains).

USDRUB

According to VTB Capital, if USD/RUB “confidently” falls below 61.50, it could trigger stop- losses and drive an additional recovery in the currency, “especially in light of looming tax payments”.

You’ll recall the correlation between RUB and oil broke down completely earlier this year as the overhang from U.S. sanctions outweighed the boon from rising oil prices.

CrudeConnection2

Here’s a 2-day of crude which is of course still hovering near its highest levels since 2014 amid ongoing geopolitical angst:

Brent

Meanwhile, the bond market seems to care more about the rise of populism in Italy than it does about the ongoing tension between Washington and Moscow:

RussiaVsItaly

Speaking of Italy, Italian bonds mercifully caught a bid following a truly harrowing session on Monday. 10Y yields were down the most in a least a week:

Italy10Y

BTP-bund spread snapped back tighter by 10bps after blowing out 39bps over the past two days, which Bloomberg reminds you was “the most since the hung parliament in 2013 (when comedian Beppe Grillo’s anti-establishment Five Star came third)”:

BTPBund

But there was no respite for the lira, which fell to yet another record low amid ongoing jitters about soon-to-be Sultan (and also soon-to-be central bank governor) Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan. People have given up on this:

USDTRY

“A continued absence of aggressive steps to combat current toxic mix of negative domestic developments (e.g. political interference, surge in CPI, sharp deterioration in inflation expectations) may accelerate the lira’s plunge,” SocGen’s Phoenix Kalen writes, in a new note.

Disaster:

TurkeyRatesVFX

Finally, for your moment of zen, here is Sarah Huckabee Sanders trying to explain whether, in light of today’s comments, it was “premature” to make commemorative coins for the Trump-Kim meeting:

 

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2 thoughts on “Disappointed.

  1. Make no mistake pulling out of TPP was a Huge bad decision. Negotiator my ass. Predictable yes. Negotiator my ass.

    Can we fire our numismaticians in the communications office that have nothing better to do than create a coin for a summit that even Billy O knew was not going to happen, and refrain from pointing out that they are ex military. Thank you.

  2. Thank you for using the scare quotes on the word spies. I’ve been yelling at the damn TV all day. What the fuck is wrong with the MSM? Don’t they understand trump is trying to get them to say the word spies so that his base of brainwashed morons can parrot it, “even CNN says Obama spied on the trump campaign”.

    On a happier note, how much is a coin with 2 clowns on it worth? Thinking of investing.

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