Morning Brew July 27 2021

Good Morning

Today is a US Holiday to celebrate the Birthday of George Washington, Donald Trump rattled some nerves just before the holiday, tweeting a statement attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte, he who saves his country does not violate any laws”

The coming week will be dominated by political news from a range of sources:

• Ukraine: Ther are indications European leaders may be excluded from peace talks for Ukraine while also stating the US expects Europe to take full responsibility. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Saudi Arabia to meet Russian officials
• In the US, uncertainty rises as Team Trumps measures take effect, so far most reports are anecdotal and not yet measured by data. The Administration asked the US Supreme Court to allow Donald Trump to fire Hampton Dellinger as the head of the Office of Special Counsel
• Germany is heading into the snap election as terror in Munich and Villach raise immigration as key topic in the election while economic growth seemns top be on the backfoot.
• In China, President Xi is hosting a symposium attended by business leaders including Jack Ma Ren Zhengfei, Wang Chuanfu and Wang Xingxing to battle the slowing economy
• Middle East: Marco Rubio and Benjamin Netanjahi expressed a joint commitment to limit Iran
• TSMC is looking to purchase a stake in Intel, a very political takeover.
• U.S. President Donald Trump warned BRICS they would face tariffs if they launch their own currency.

On Friday, Retail sales out of the US fell by 0.9% causing some worries, S&P 500 closed barely negative, -0.01%, the  Nasdaq gained +0.41% and the  Dow -0.37% For the week, the S&P 500 gained  1.47%, the NASDAQ  2.61%, and the  DOW ended the week  0.47% higher.

US-Yields fell to 4.47 and the USD Index fell to 106.79, with EURUSD ending the week at 1.0490, GBPUSD 1.2585 and USDJPY 152.33. Gold and Silver traded very interestingly on Friday, gold initially remained nearly stable while Silver gained up to 3%, then there was a massive selloff into he days end and after hitting a high at 33.39 it closed at 32.13. gold ended the week at 2886. Overnight a strong Japanese GDP caused the JPY to gain to 151.66.

• Monday: Japan GDP, EU Trade Balance
  Earnings UFPI, Transocean,
• Tuesday Australia Cash Rate, UK Labor data, Sweden, France and Canada CPI,
  Earnings Baidu, Toll Brothers, Unisys,
• Wednesday: Japan Trade, UK CPI,
  Earnings Etsy Wix Garmin, Vale,
• Thursday: China Loan Prime Rates, Denmark GDP, US Initial Jobless Claims, Philly Fed, EU Consumer Confidence, AU PMI,
  Earnings Alibaba, Wallmart, Rivian, Dropbox,
• Friday: Japan CPI, UK Retail Sales, international PMI, University of Michigan Sentiment
  Earnings Arbor