Trump puts U.S. food, farm companies on edge over Mexico trade

Mexico is one of the top three markets for U.S. farm production.

Corn

While the Market trend is clearly up, the  Vix and Ratio look a bit scary.

Dow Theory is up-to-date

Ship owners should start planning for the 2020 sulphur cap, as time frame is closing rapidly says DNV GL

One the “hottest” debates in the shipping industry over the past couple of weeks has been the recent decision by the IMO, to enforce clean-fuels burning from all vessels from 2020 onwards. Can you detail us the future course of action towards the abolition of Heavy Fuel Oils?
The global 0.5% sulphur cap will be introduced in 2020, and up to 70,000 ships may be affected by the regulation according to IMO estimates.

Baltic Exchange Dry Index etc. is up to date

 QUICK OVERVIEW

• YoY in 2016 Japan's consumer prices dropped for the first time in four years  by 0.3 percent,  in a sign the country is still grappling with deflationary pressure despite the Bank of Japan (BOJ)'s numerous monetary easing measures 

• Trumps cancellation of the TPP means the rules for global commerce will increasingly be set by other nations -- not by the United States. More importantly, with the United States absent from RCEP, considerable trade will be diverted away from the US.

• The British economy grew at the fastest pace against any of its G7 peers in 2016, despite the second half of the year passing under the shadow of Brexit.  

• Spain's unemployment fell to 18.63%t at the end of 2016 as opposed to the 20.9% in 2015. 

• The DJIA on Wednesday closed above the psychological mark of 20,000 for the first time -- the other two major indices also finished at record highs, boosted by a batch of generally positive earnings reports. 

•  China's fiscal revenue grew 4.5 % YoY in 2016, to 15.96 trillion yuan (around 2.33 trillion U.S. dollars), according to preliminary figures released by the Ministry of Finance. 

• Trump has picked longtime Republican FCC Commissioner "and enemy" of net neutrality Ajit Pai to become FCC chairman. 

• The median home value in the U.S. is now $193,800, according to Zillow's December Real Estate Market Reports. Rents grew 1.5 percent annually to a $1,403 median monthly payment. 
•  U.S Existing-home sales ran at a seasonally-adjusted annual pace of 5.49 million, down 2.8% from Nov. 
• Supply is at 1.65 million homes available, the lowest inventory since 1999. 
• At the current sales pace there is 3.6 months’ worth of Inventory. 

• Trump signs executive order to approve the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines. 

• Israel approves plans for 2,500 new settlement homes in the West Bank 

• White House press secretary Sean Spicer. “The U.S. is going to make sure we protect our interests” in the South China Sea. 

• Japanese exports grew 5.4% in December. Fastest pace since Jul'15.

Baltic Exchange Dry Index etc. is up to date

QUICK OVERVIEW

• (MF) Only one-third of American adults have an IRA, and just 18% actively contribute to their account to save for retirement, according to a 2016 survey by financial-services organization TIAA.

• (Fortune) Fewer than 2% of Indians have credit cards. 

•  Société General projects a global sugar stock-to-use ratio of 19.6% in 2016/17 and 18.9% in 2017/18 

•   GMS, the world’s leading cash buyer of ships declared that the worst seem to be over for the ship recycling industry. 

•  The median home value in the U.S. is now $192,500, according to Zillow's November Real Estate Market Report, just 2 percent shy of 2007 peak. 

• Two major cities in central China have further tightened housing purchase restrictions in the latest bid to rein in rising house prices. 

• Trump/Putin agree: Let's revive the nuclear arms race… Trump and Putin fired the starting gun on a new nuclear arms race as they both vowed to launch a major expansion of their countries' arsenals. Dumbfounding nuclear experts with his “tweet” that the U.S. should "expand its nuclear capability," something no president has called for in decades…

•  Cesium-134, the so-called fingerprint of Fukushima, was measured in seawater samples from the west coast of the United States and a salmon sampled from Canada, researchers said. 

• (Reuters) Asia will post its biggest net refining capacity addition in three years in 2017, further boosting demand for crude in the world's biggest and fastest growing oil consuming region. 

•  Just when we think you’ve got it figured out...... by Peter Levine: The End of Cloud Computing..