US: White House Press Conference Underway Shortly
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is shortly due to brief reporters from the White House. LIVESTREAM
- At 16:30 ET 21:30 BST, President Donald Trump will participate in a White House ‘swearing-in’ ceremony for Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Paul Atkins, who formally assumed the seat yesterday.
- Trump said in a message on Truth Social after speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this afternoon: "The call went very well—We are on the same side of every issue," noting that the pair discussed "numerous subjects including Trade, Iran, etc."
- The Jerusalem Post reports that Trump is expected to meet with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani during his Washington visit today. Al Thani is scheduled to meet with VP JD Vance and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss Gaza ceasefire negotiations and Iran.
- Trump appears to be backing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, for now, amid another escalation in the controversy over his use of non-secure messaging services. NPR reported yesterday that the White House is looking to replace him. The White House rejected that report.
- NOTUS reports that some sources “are expecting more details about Hegseth’s conduct in the past month to come out this week.”
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CANADA PM CARNEY TO MEET GOVERNOR GENERAL AT NOON
- CANADA PM CARNEY TO MEET GOVERNOR GENERAL AT NOON
- CARNEY EXPECTED TO SEEK ELECTION
US TSYS: Available "Extraordinary Measures" Pick Up Slightly From Lows
Treasury has $163B of "extraordinary measures" remaining for authorities to use to fend off hitting the debt limit as of March 19, per the latest release of Treasury data. That's up from $86B on Mar 17 and a low of $34B on Feb 24.
- That's a little under half of the $377B in measures available to Treasury, with most of the amount remaining ($143B) coming from the so-called "G Fund".
- This headroom is in addition to $416B in cash left in the TGA, at last count.
- We haven't seen any changes recently to "x-dates" by when Treasury will run out of cash until the debt limit is lifted.
- Consensus still centers around late July/early August, but much will depend on April's major mid-month tax take. Treasury wrote to Congress last week that they would be able to provide an update on the x-date in the first half of May, after the conclusion of tax season.
USDCAD TECHS: Short-Term Outlook Remains Bullish
- RES 4: 1.4793 High Feb 3 and key resistance
- RES 3: 1.4700 Round number resistance
- RES 2: 1.4641 76.4% retracement of the Feb 3 - 14 bear leg
- RES 1: 1.4452/4543 High Mar 13 / 4 and a bull trigger
- PRICE: 1.4345 @ 16:27 GMT Mar 21
- SUP 1: 1.4242 Low Mar 6 and a key near-term support
- SUP 2: 1.4151/4107 Low Feb 14 / 50.0% of Sep 25 - Feb 3 bull run
- SUP 3: 1.4011 Low Dec 5 ‘24
- SUP 4: 1.3944 61.8% retracement of the Sep 25 ‘24 - Feb 3 bull cycle
USDCAD is trading closer to its recent lows. The bull cycle that started Feb 14 remains intact and moving average studies remain in a bull-mode position, highlighting a dominant uptrend. Note that the latest pullback has exposed a near-term key support at 1.4242, the Mar 6 low. Clearance of this level would undermine the bull theme and instead highlight potential for a test of 1.4151, the Feb 14 low and a bear trigger. The bull trigger is 1.4543, the Mar 4 high.
