Ben Baris

Larry Summers and Nassim Taleb Go Mano a Mano Held every May at Las Vegas’s opulent Bellagio hotel and casino, the SALT Conference draws some of the biggest names in alternative investments, including Steven Cohen, John Paulson and, this year, David Tepper. The four-day gathering, hosted by $10.5 billion, New York–based fund-of-hedge-funds firm SkyBridge Capital, attracted other celebrities too.

Q: How big a blow to the TPP is the withdrawal of the U.S.? A: It's the world's biggest economy, and certainly that would have added oomph to the TPP. But if you're far-sighted you realize consumer markets are growing fastest here in Asia. Over five or 10 years many of these Asian markets are going to be much bigger.

With France’s election now over, the market’s attention should shift to South Korea, which is voting today for a new president. While this should end political uncertainty for the Asian exporter, the result could change how South Korea deals with Pyongyang — potentially putting the country at odds with the U.S. — and alter how it intends to reform its industrial conglomerates, the so-called chaebols.