Russia's upper house has voted in favor of giving Putin authority to deploy Russian forces abroad. The head of Russia's upper house says:
- we expect these forces to carry out peacekeeping tasks.
Meanwhile NATO's Secretary-General Stoltenberg is addressing NATO – Ukraine commission and says:
- We have over 100 jets on high alert
- We will continue to provide Ukraine with strong political support
- We will continue to do whatever is necessary to shield the alliance from aggression
- We urge Russia to choose the path of diplomacy
- This is the most dangerous moment in security in a generation
- Russia continues to plan for full-scale attack on Ukraine
- We continue to see ongoing provocations in Donbass
- At the same time it's never too late to not attack
Closer and closer we get to an invasion and a response. Both sides line up with their respective stories. Russia tells the story of supporting Russian separatists and the aggression of the NATO/US. Meanwhile, NATO is saying we are not doing anything but stand ready to act with aggression if there is Russian aggression.
There is no easy answer when the stories are so different.
- Gold is starting to react and is back above $1900.
- US yields have seen a modest dip at the longer end but still remains nearer highs. The short end (2 year) remains higher on the day.
- Stocks are lower with the major indices moving back toward intraday lows.
In the forex,:
- EURUSD is making a new session lows
- USDJPY is also moving lower and back below its 100 hour moving average at 115.037 and below 115.00
- The GBPUSD has moved higher as EURGBP moves lower. The EURGBP is back below its 100 hour moving average at 0.8344
.