Three delegations sat at the table in Abu Dhabi. Europe waited outside the room in which its own security order was being discussed, in words Moscow has used since 2008. Meanwhile Sweden keeps growing, euro area inflation hits 4% and Washington shields the chief executive of Nvidia. Who is actually negotiating on Europe's behalf, and who will pay the bill?
For two years, markets have priced the will of one man. From January, they must also price a Congress with the power to refuse him. Republicans lost big, the president kept his veto, and the bond market barely blinked. So who actually holds the power now, and why does Tuesday's vote leave Europe's bill where it was?
Two Nordic leaders rang the Kremlin to talk about peace and spent most of the call listening to medieval history. In Brazil, the state quietly stepped back from its own bond market, and German firms suddenly feel better while their customers feel worse. Which of the week's signals matters most for European real yields?
Beijing's most important meeting of the year is not about the economy. Paris wants Frankfurt to sweep the ice again. More oil is leaving the Gulf than before the war, yet crude is above $100. And the bond market is still treating a country with a $2tn deficit as the safe place to hide. What is everyone missing?
He wanted the Nobel Peace Prize. He got missiles on Riyadh, mutinous Republicans and a Russian diesel deal his own party calls a gift to the adversary. Meanwhile, China's trade data shows the AI boom roaring on, America's small businesses keep raising prices, and hackers have discovered the supermarket fridge. Who is really paying for this week's chaos?
Wall Street sets records while American homebuyers face the sharpest jump in mortgage rates in four years. Same week, same pool of savings, opposite outcomes. Paris braces for a budget it cannot pass, Magdeburg breaks a German taboo, and Moscow rattles its arsenal over Kaliningrad. Who is really paying for the AI boom – and when does the bill reach Europe?
Yields at multi-decade highs, a curve that refuses to invert, and households saving as if bracing for something. The inflation debate is looking in the wrong place.
Washington got almost everything it wanted in Greenland — so why did Donald Trump refuse to answer the one question that mattered? Two central banks raised rates this week, but only one board voted as one. And a single consumer app wiped value off banks, insurers and gym chains in a day. Where does the AI boom go from here?
Germany just did something no European country has managed before — while its politics move in the opposite direction. Japan's savings may be heading home, threatening the trade that has quietly financed America for a decade. Beijing recapitalises its banks mid-boom. And Washington finds fresh ways to alienate almost everyone.
Trump spent months courting Moscow's friendship. This week showed what Russia was doing instead. Bessent's bond tricks are losing their magic, Saxony-Anhalt braces for a landslide, and AI token prices just hit a record low - good news, or the first sign of something else?
