United Kingdom

Goldman has truly outdone itself with this one: in addition to purchasing the former Danish PM, and by implication, the current PM and his former fin-min protege, and assuring the DONG scandal quietly goes away, Goldman just hired the former head of NATO: from 2009 to 2014 Anders Fogh Rasmussen served as  the 12th Secretary General of NATO.

The Fed would have needed to hike rates by 800 bps in the wake of the dot-com collapse in order to prevent the housing bubble. That would have purged the system and gradually, the FOMC could have eased by around 300 bps over the next four years. That policy course would have prevented the speculative bubble that brought capital markets the world over to their knees in 2008. And why didn’t the Fed do this? Because "such a large increase in interest rates would have depressed output more than the Great Recession did." In other words, thanks to Alan Greenspan, the US economy cannot function under a normalized monetary policy regime.

Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders recently raised the ire of both progressives and libertarians with his remarks concerning immigration. In just a few sentences, Sanders manages to demonstrate a hodgepodge of nativist, nationalist, protectionist, and socialist sentiments. But for anyone wondering why he wandered off the progressive narrative on immigration, it’s because protectionist labor unions pay him better than, say, La Raza.

The United Kingdom has gone batshit crazy. There’s simply no other way to put it...

How hard do you work compared to the rest of the world?

Whether China is busy championing trade deals outside of the US dollar, buying up some of the world’s biggest companies, taking over foreign housing markets, or building massive networks of nuclear or wind power grids, it is clear that the country is a world power to be reckoned with. To be considered a true force, China also needs to be able to back up its economic and political might with a top notch military. Today’s infographic compares the armed forces of China with the United States.

This weekend's events in Europe have clarified who is really running the show across the 'union'. Hans-Werner Sinn, Chairman of the Ifo Institute for Economic Research, vehemnt euroskeptic, and head of the so-called 'five wise men' advising the German government and specifically Angela Merkel, confirmed his call from 2012 for a "temporary grexit from the euro." The right wing economist previously explained "Greece and Portugal have to become 30-40% less expensive to be competitive again. This is being attempted through excessive austerity measures within the euro zone, but it won't work. It will drive these countries to the brink of civil war before it succeeds. Temporary exits would very quickly stabilize these countries, create new jobs and free the population from the yoke of the euro." Anyone positioning for more centrist union-supporting rhetoric, hope is no longer a strategy as the hardest conservatives are now in charge.

A shocking and uncharacteristic display of common sense

• Greece and China expose limits of 'whatever it takes' (Reuters)
• China no longer has a market: China Stock Sellers Frozen Out of 71% of Market (BBG)
• China’s Market Rescue Makes Matters Worse as Prices Lose Meaning (BBG)
• China Stocks Plunge as State Support Fails to Revive Confidence (BBG)
• China Market Rout Spreads From Stocks to Price of Pig Food (BBG)
• China’s State-Owned Firms Ordered Not to Cut Share Holdings (BBG)
• Greece Requests Three-Year Bailout in First Step Toward Meeting Creditors’ Demand (WSJ)
• Greece Faces Euro Exit Unless Demands Accepted by Sunday (BBG)

"Though its existence was secret until last year, JTRIG quickly developed a distinctive profile in the public understanding, after documents from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed that the unit had engaged in “dirty tricks” like deploying sexual “honey traps” designed to discredit targets, launching denial-of-service attacks to shut down Internet chat rooms, pushing veiled propaganda onto social networks and generally warping discourse online."

It appears the sovereign peoples of Europe would not go gently into a Federal States of Europe night. Investors need to prepare for the inevitable political solution: referendums across Europe on the constitution of the Federal States of Europe needed to sustain the Euro. Events this weekend will trigger the search for the democratic legitimacy for the single currency and the centralised constitution it requires... or the demise of the unelected 'king Juncker' and 'queen Lagarde' of the Federal States of Europe.

Just a week ago, we noted the hard-working US government was drawing up plans for "knife regulations." Well, in The UK it appears to have already begun...

Presented with little comment aside to ask if someone is off-script?

NOONAN: THE CRISIS HAS COMMENCED
SCHAEUBLE SAYS `HELLISH DIFFICULT TASK' ON GREECE
NOONAN: I HAVE SYMPATHY FOR THE GREEK PEOPLE

But always remember, "Greece doesn't matter," which as Mohamed El-Erian explains, is somewhat true, since European leaders have two other existential issues to contend with also...

• Greek PM sticks to hard line as contagion hits euro zone bonds (Reuters)
• Greek Deadlock Has Leader Hoping for Miracle to Avoid Default (BBG)
• Greek Showdown Puts Merkel's Teflon Legacy at Risk (BBG)
• Greek standoff saps Europe, dollar swings ahead of Fed (Reuters)
• Allianz Increased Holdings of Greek Debt as Its Largest Investor (BBG)
• French Bonds Infected as Greek Crisis Swells Euro-Region Spreads (BBG)
• Statoil to cut 1,500 more jobs as savings drive intensifies (FT)
• UnitedHealth, Anthem Seek to Buy Smaller Rivals (WSJ)
• Five Million Reasons Why China Could Go to War (BBG)

• Tsipras Hardens Greek Stance After Collapse of Talks (BBG)
• Obama Fights to Save Trade Bill (WSJ)
• German Stock Market Pain Seen Just Beginning Should Greece Exit (BBG)
• Russia to boost forces in western flank if U.S. stations arms in east Europe (Reuters)
• Lab Nears Settlement Over Pricey Medicare Drug Tests (WSJ)
• China's $358 Billion in Margin Loans Points to Next Bear Market (BBG)
• Draghi Faces EU Court Ruling on 2012 Bond Plan as Greece Teeters (BBG)
• Sex, lies and debt potentially exposed by U.S. data hack (Reuters)