Comments by US commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross
– US and China talks are continuing at various levels
– Looking to close loopholes to prevent Huawei from getting access to US technology
This just further cements the likely narrative that anything that may be discussed at the trade review will keep this facade up despite China not living up

But don’t expect much before Friday
The usual round of negotiations will start off with tomorrow’s dinner, before getting into more serious talks on Wednesday and Thursday. Both sides will wrap things up on Friday before we are likely to hear from Barnier and Frost once again via their respective pressers.

Some late-Friday news which speaks to US-China relations.
If you’ve been following along US-China relations continue to deteriorate, the latest being talks between the two countries on trade scheduled to take place this weekend were … ‚delayed‘:

Deficits are a major challenge to the dollar-based system
On August 15, 1971 — exactly 49 years ago — the gold-pegged Bretton Woods system collapsed.
After nations began to demand redeeming dollars for gold, President Richard Nixon shocked the world with the following after secret meetings at Camp David:

Forex news for North American trading on August 14, 2020
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In other markets:
– Spot gold is down $8.90 or 0.46% $1944.86
– Spot silver is down $1.02 or 3.73% $26.48
In the US debt market today, yields are ending the day mixed. The 30 year bond still has some digestive problems it seems after the bad auction yesterday. It is up by 1.8

13F filings from Berkshire Hathaway
Other swings in positions show increased stakes in:

Buffett bought a stake in miner Barrick Gold
Warren Buffett has famously disparaged gold but evidently he’s had a change of heart.
According to a Q2 13F filed today, The Oracle of Omaha added 20.9 million shares of Barrick Gold, which is the world’s second largest gold miner. He paid $563.5 million for the stake, which equates

Major indices close mixed
A quiet trading session for US stocks. The major indices close mixed. The NASDAQ closed lower for the 1st time in 3 sessions. The S&P index was unchanged. The Dow is up.  For the week, the major indices closed higher, but the NASDAQ was just barely higher.

Texas coronavirus cases
– cases rise by 7018 vs. 6755 yesterday
– deaths rise by 313 to a total of 9602
– hospitalizations fall by -247 to 6632

Forex news from the European trading session – 14 August 2020
Headlines:
Markets:
– GBP leads, NZD lags on the day
– European equities lower; E-minis down 0.2%