Trump’s Geopolitical Threats and Wildfire in California
Andrew Sheves Good morning. Two headlines from the US today.
🇺🇸 **President-elect Trump held a very wide-ranging press conference Tuesday full of geopolitical threats and declarations **including:
Refusing to rule out using force to take control of the Panama Canal and Greenland
Continuing to suggest that Canada should join the US
Promising to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America
How much of this is posturing and how much is sincere remains unclear but it is a reminder of how much geopolitical uncertainty and turbulence will emanate from the incoming administration. [More - Axios]
Note - Despite the uncertainty over exactly what Trump will do with respect to foreign relations and trade, it’s clear that there will be a lot of turbulence over the next few months. Organziations should be considering what each of the major policy changes means for them and perparing accordingly.
As a reminder, there’s a sumary of all Trump’s day-one pledges here.
🔥 Dry conditions and strong winds have caused a wildfire west of Los Angeles to spread rapidly, with tens of thousands of residents forced to evacuate. [CalFire official site] [More - BBC]
Key Metrics
WTI is $72.44 (Down)
Low |—— < ————-| High
Wheat is $185.735 (Down)
Low |—— < ————-| High
EuroDollar is $1.03 (Down)
Low | < ——————-| High
YuanDollar is $0.14 (Unchanged)
Low |———- < > ———| High
Graphs are illustrative to show comparative price over last 180 days
Metrics via AlphaVantage updated Jan 07 2025 21:16 UTC
Europe Stability Ratings and News Summary
More Unstable
🇦🇱 Albania, 🇦🇹 Austria, 🇧🇾 Belarus, 🇧🇦 Bosnia And Herzegovina, 🇫🇷 France, 🇩🇪 Germany, 🇬🇷 Greece, 🇭🇺 Hungary, 🇮🇹 Italy, 🇲🇰 Macedonia, 🇲🇩 Moldova, 🇲🇪 Montenegro, 🇳🇱 Netherlands, 🇷🇺 Russia, 🇷🇸 Serbia, 🇸🇰 Slovakia, 🇪🇸 Spain, 🇸🇪 Sweden, 🇨🇭 Switzerland, 🇹🇷 Turkey, 🇺🇦 Ukraine
More Stable
No countries were more stable over this period
Unchanged
🇦🇩 Andorra, 🇧🇪 Belgium, 🇭🇷 Croatia, 🇨🇾 Cyprus, 🇨🇿 Czech Republic, 🇩🇰 Denmark, 🇪🇪 Estonia, 🇫🇮 Finland, 🇮🇸 Iceland, 🇮🇪 Ireland, 🇱🇻 Latvia, 🇱🇮 Liechtenstein, 🇱🇹 Lithuania, 🇱🇺 Luxembourg, 🇲🇹 Malta, 🇲🇨 Monaco, 🇳🇴 Norway, 🇵🇱 Poland, 🇵🇹 Portugal, 🇷🇴 Romania, 🇸🇲 San Marino, 🇸🇮 Slovenia, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
Europe News Summary
A notable advancement is the expansion of the EU’s Schengen zone, with Romania and Bulgaria officially joining, thereby eliminating border checks and enhancing economic and cultural integration across member states. This move is expected to bolster trade and tourism, benefiting countries like Switzerland, which has long been part of the Schengen area [[SOURCE - Japan Times]](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/01/02/world/politics/romania-bulgaria-eu-schengen/
Carpe tomorrow!