2017/06/13 Commentary: The Sessions Session
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Commentary: Tuesday, June 13, 2017
The Sessions Session
The US equities seem to be enjoying the gradual progression of a development on some of the contentious claims on Trump administration possible involvement in potential collusion with Russia (or at least Russia-affiliated individuals) during the 2016 US general election. While some of its opponents on the Left will point to what they felt Attorney General (AG) Jeff Sessions was not willing to say during Senate Intelligence Committee testimony today, it is what he said that was most striking. Especially in the context of some key questions also left conveniently unanswered in ex-FBI Director Comey’s testimony in front of the same panel last Thursday, Sessions did something that Left-wing opposition Senators are not used to seeing: he hit back hard on contentious questions citing vague innuendos. As noted in the opening graphic label, you can see this for yourself in the associated video.
Especially note Sessions’ fiery response to Senator Wyden’s leading question from 01:30 onward. Shortly after that Sessions is pressed on why he cannot answer all concerns that even regard his private conversations with the President. You will need to access the full testimony for his extended response that there are matters Cabinet officers can withhold from Congress pending the decision by the President on whether they can be released.
Some Democratic Senators repeatedly objected to this. Ahhh, how quickly they forget. Regarding often obfuscatory testimony of Obama AG Eric Holder, the Dems had no problem on many matters of Justice Department withholding of information. Yet this just gets back to the exploration in our January 14th Commentary: America’s Kool-Aid Crisis post on the intractably partisan nature of US politics at this time.
Yet as Sessions’ testimony was supposed to bring bombshell answers to the questions left unanswered in Comey’s testimony, it mostly had the opposite effect. It is dawning on some still moderate Democrats “there is no there there” on the entire alleged Trump campaign collusion with Russians last year, which equities seem to like.
Authorized Subscribers click ‘Read more…’ (below) to access balance of the discussion. Non-subscribers click the top menu Subscription Echelons & Fees tab to review your options. As this is a ‘macro’ assessment, Market Observations remain the same as Friday morning’s update (lower section) of Wednesday evening’s Commentary: Self-Inflicted Wounds are Back post, and there is no Extended Trend Assessment in this post.
2017/06/16 Commentary: FOMC: All Options Open
2017/06/16 Commentary: FOMC: All Options Open
© 2017 ROHR International, Inc. All International rights reserved.
Extended Trend Assessments reserved for Gold and Platinum Subscribers
Commentary: Friday, June 16, 2017
FOMC: All Options Open
One only needs to review the first few pages of the BoE Monetary Policy Summary and minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting for reconfirmation of the unique inflation pressures in the UK. While at the last full BoE Inflation Report press conference on May 11th Governor Carney indicated a preference to favor employment over inflation mitigation, today’s 5-3 vote to hold the Bank Rate steady at 0.25% was closer than many had expected in spite of recent higher-than-expected UK inflation. That is another indication of major central bank accommodation withdrawal even as the European Central Bank and Bank of Japan are expected to remain very accommodative.
Yet the Fed’s situation is much different in dealing with still stubbornly weak inflation (like the Euro-zone and Japan) in spite of ostensible (the operative term) improvement in the US and other countries employment picture. (More on that below.) As Chair Yellen once again emphasized in her press conference as well, the Fed remains confident that current sluggish growth is transitory. The FOMC Statement kind of summed it all up, with very little change from the previous indications. Those who are inclined can also review Janet Yellen’s full hour long press conference as well as the revised projections.
The other factor returning after positive influence of AG Sessions’ testimony is President Trump aggressively tweeting once again. Temporarily unsettling for equities at times.
Authorized Subscribers click ‘Read more…’ (below) to access balance of the discussion. Non-subscribers click the top menu Subscription Echelons & Fees tab to review options. As this is a ‘macro’ assessment, Market Observations remain the same as last Friday morning’s update (lower section) of last Wednesday’s Commentary: Self-Inflicted Wounds are Back post, and there is no Extended Trend Assessment in this post.
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