Donald Trump. NAFTA was once again criticized yesterday, since the American President believes that the trade pact "was a disaster for our country". He placed the blame on Canada, which set tariffs that are too high for his taste. He also said that he was not in a hurry to renegotiate the agreement. For once, the topic of an eventual exit from NAFTA was avoided.

U.S. statistics. The flood of economic statistics published yesterday were mixed. The Philly Fed index, a mirror of economic activity in the northeast of the country, has fallen to its lowest level since November 2016, well below expectations (11.9 against 21.9 expected). On the other hand, housings starts rebounded slightly, while weekly unemployment stats remain promising.

 

Turkish lira crisis. Turkey has taken the expression 'what does not kill us makes us stronger' literally. The finance minister ruled out any help from the IMF, believing that his country would emerge "even stronger" from the crisis. On the US side, the stance hasn’t softened, on the contrary: if the American pastor is not released, new sanctions will be taken against Ankara. The Turkish Trade Minister is already planning a reply. This is far from over!

Hong Kong is suffering. The country has just spent $2 billion to slow the fall of its national currency (Hong Kong dollar) against the US dollar. Since the fall of the Turkish lira, all emerging currencies have depreciated against an ever stronger dollar. Hong Kong now has "only" $12 billion in reserves, a 10-year low.