Day: March 6, 2020

Steve Bannon Hosts a Dinner of International Populist Leaders

Ms. Cat

Steve Bannon, an architect of Trump’s 2016 victory who became a senior White House aide, hosted the dinner Wednesday night for Nigel Farage, a key figure in the movement that led to Brexit; Jerome Riviere, a leader in France’s right-wing National Rally party and member of the European Parliament; Eduardo Bolsonaro, a son of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro; and Eduardo Verastegui, an actor and staunch Roman Catholic who’s considering a run for president of Mexico.

Raheem Kassam, a former editor at Breitbart News, of which Bannon was executive chairman, co-hosted the dinner at the Hay-Adams hotel. He said the purpose of the gathering was “to bring together the great economic nationalist voices from around the world, not just to celebrate the victories of recent years and honor Nigel Farage for the Brexit achievement, but also to look ahead for 2020 and beyond.”

— Read on archive.is/2W5ad

“The Cut Was Front Run”: Some Traders Suspect Fed-Rate Tip-off

Ms. Cat

Marc Cohodes, a well-known market short seller, tweeted Tuesday that “The Cut”—the Fed’s 50-basis-point rate cut— “was front run”—meaning that some people seemed to be trading with advanced knowledge that it was coming—“late Friday and all day yesterday.” A longtime CME trader wondered who might have known in advance about Powell’s surprise Friday afternoon statement when the market was down 1,000 points. “Who told Powell to make a positive spin today[?]” he wrote me. “Did Powell just come up with idea when market was down 1000 points?… If someone knew that late in the day [about] a positive announcement, that person or group would buy when others were selling…. If you KNEW that POWELL was going to announce something positive and you wanted him to tell the world late in the day, then wouldn’t you start buying earlier in the day? Of course.”
— Read on www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/03/some-traders-suspect-fed-rate-tip-off