Five Things World Business Will be Talking About Today

(Bloomberg) U.S. considers options for North Korea, oil’s back in a bull market, and Yellen to mull inflation conundrum. Here are some of the things people in markets are talking about today.

U.S. playbookIt’s not quite Paul Simon, but the U.S. says it has “four or five” options for resolving the North Korea standoff, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said, as tensions between the two nations continue to fester. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders confirmed that the U.S. had not actually declared war on Kim Jong Un’s regime after North Korea’s foreign minister said that President Donald Trump’s recent comments constituted such a declaration, rattling markets in the process. Elsewhere in Washington, it appears that the GOP’s attempts to repeal Obamacare are now dead after Senator Susan Collins became the third Republican Senator to oppose the measure.

Oil bull A barrel of West Texas Intermediate surged 3.1 percent to $52.22 on Monday, more than 20 percent above their most recent low, with Turkey’s threat to cut off oil pipes from the Kurdistan region the latest fillip for crude prices. Projections for stronger global demand coupled with a drop in investment have some predicting a supply squeeze next year. Trafigura Group said the age of persistently low oil prices is nearing its end.

Yellen speechYesterday, speeches from Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari and New York Fed President William Dudley put forward differing views on the Federal Reserve’s rate path, with Dudley saying the outlook is consistent with a hike in December, while Kashkari said he didn’t see the need to “tap the breaks.” This is a rift Chair Janet Yellen may try to heal when she gives a speech on “Inflation, Uncertainty, and Monetary Policy” at 11:50 a.m. Eastern Time today.

Markets slipU.S. markets closed lower yesterday, with the FANG cohort of megacaps leading declines. The 0.3 percent drop overnight in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index was also led by a fall in tech stocks, while Japan’s Topix index closed broadly unchanged. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index was 0.1 percent higher at 5:45 a.m., and S&P 500 futures were 0.1 percent lower. The 10-year Treasury yield was at 2.220 percent and gold was $1,306.72 an ounce.

Brexit talksEuropean Council President Donald Tusk is meeting British Prime Minister Theresa May in London today as the latest round of Brexit talks enter their second day in Brussels. Britain’s Brexit Secretary David Davis made clear that the U.K. will only pay the exit bill if it gets the deal it wants, a position that seems somewhat at odds with what was outlined in May’s speech in Florence last week. Once again, EU ministers are calling for more clarity.

What we’ve been readingThis is what’s caught our eye over the last 24 hours.

Odd Lots Podcast: Revisiting the strange story behind the Beanie Baby bubble.  Trump says Puerto Rico is in “ deep trouble.” China’s “unprecedented” anti-pollution drive to rattle metals. Austria’s 100-year bond may be the only one of its kind for now.  The rich are getting richer in the U.S. recovery. Big money managers have no escape from Mugabe’s madhouse market. Peak gold.