The vise tightens

The pressure is building. With the US 10-year Treasury yield at its highest since 2007, rising rates are no longer a hypothesis. They’re the new reality of this year-end.

Runaway inflation, the Fed hiking rates, the prospect of a shutdown. There’s no shortage of reasons to feel gloomy, but this explosive cocktail could also force Donald Trump to negotiate with Iran and finally seal a way out of the crisis.

The first cracks are showing in the housing market, with the 30-year fixed rate now above the symbolic 7% threshold. In the middle of an election campaign, complaints from American voters are a bad look.

For the man in the White House, the urgency is total. And even if the public posturing stays as rigid as ever, the talks have clearly picked up steam over the past few days. So a piece of good news from the front can’t be ruled out.