Guest
Post: Get Ready For The Next Great Stock Market Exodus
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/12/2013
In
the years 2006 and 2007, the underlying stability of the global economy and the
U.S. credit base in particular was experiencing intense scrutiny by alternative
economic analysts. A crash was coming, it was coming soon, and most of
our society was either too stupid to recognize the problem or too
frightened to accept the reality they knew was just over the horizon. Why
did 2008 creep up on so many people? Weren’t there plenty of economists out
there “preaching to the choir” at that time? Weren’t there plenty of signals?
Weren’t there plenty of practical conclusions being made about the future?
And yet, the world was left stunned. The truth is, human beings have a
nasty habit of ignoring the cold hard facts of the present in the hopes of
using apathy as a magical elixir for future prosperity. They want to believe that disaster is a mindset,
that it is a boogeyman under their bed that can be defeated through blind
optimism. Collapse, from a historical perspective, seems to occur when the
searchlights of the individual mind are dimmest, when the threat is the
greatest, and when we are most comfortable in our ignorance.
MarketWatch Cody Willard
Prepare
for a crash right now
Commentary: We're at a euphoric high in the market
so it's time to start selling.
"Bearmageddon"
And Moar Of The Same Policies That Haven't Worked
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/16/2013 - 12:36
QE and hopes/beliefs in its perpetual nature
continues to be the key market catalyst. Tracking estimates for Q2 GDP continue to
drop below 1%. This is setting up a scenario where GDP for the previous 3
quarters will likely average 1%. If we didn't think that job creation is going
to sustain its current pace of growth, we would say this market is
heading towards the “Bearmageddon Scenario”. QE3 has fallen short on
job creation and GDP growth. The only inflation it has managed to create is in
the prices of financial assets- and yet the consensus view of Central Bankers
and the market expectation is to do more of the same policies that have not
worked. This is Central Banker hubris, believing they can fine tune an
economy to specific inflation and unemployment levels only serves as a
distraction to markets.
Kate Middleton's dazzling
postdelivery look
The duchess appears stunningly fresh a day
after giving birth, emerging with a sly tribute to Diana.
Kate
Middleton Exits Hospital with Royal Baby, Stunning Dress, Impeccable Hair I don’t think she even had a baby … she
never looked pregnant … all that (contrived) drama about morning sickness …
someone’s shootin’ blanks in this pre-fabbed swiss cheese of a story!
The U.S. Government Will Borrow
Close To 4 Trillion Dollars This Year
When
you add maturing debt to the new debt that the federal government is
accumulating, the total is quite eye catching. You see, the truth is that
the U.S. government must not only borrow enough money to fund government
spending for this year, it must also "roll over" existing debt that
has reached maturity. Of course the government never actually pays any of
that debt off. Instead, it essentially takes out new debts to cover the
old ones. So the U.S. government is actually borrowing far more money
each year than most Americans realize. For fiscal year 2013, the U.S.
budget deficit will be about $845
billion, but on top of that the government will also have to
borrow about 3 trillion dollars to pay off old debt that is
maturing. Overall, the U.S. government will borrow close to 4 trillion dollars
this year, and that number will likely be even higher next year. That is
not going to cause a crisis as long as interest rates stay super low, but if
interest rates begin
to rise substantially, the game will change dramatically. (Read
More....)
40 Stats That Prove The U.S.
Economy Has Already Been Collapsing Over The Past Decade
The
"coming economic collapse" has already been happening. You see,
the truth is that the economic collapse is not a single event. It has
already started, it is happening right now, and it will accelerate during the
years ahead. The statistics in this article show very clearly
that the U.S. economy has fallen dramatically over the past ten years or
so. Unfortunately, there are lots of mockers out there that love to mock
the idea of an economic collapse even though one is happening right in front of
our eyes. They love to say stuff like this (and I am paraphrasing):
"An economic collapse is never going to happen. We can consume far
more wealth than we produce forever. We can pile up gigantic mountains of
debt forever. There is no way that the party is over. In fact, the
party is just getting started. Woo-hoo!" That sounds
absolutely ridiculous, but "economists" and "journalists"
actually write things that reflect these kinds of sentiments every single
day. They do not seem alarmed about the fact that our national debt is
nearly 17 times larger than it was 30 years ago. They do not seem alarmed
about the fact that the total amount of debt in our country is more than 28
times larger than it was 40 years ago. They do not seem alarmed about the
fact that our economic infrastructure is being absolutely gutted and we are
steadily becoming poorer as a nation. They just think that the magic
formula of print, borrow, spend and consume can go on indefinitely.
Unfortunately, the truth is that a massive economic disaster has already
started to unfold. We inherited the greatest economic machine in the
history of the world, but we totally wrecked it. We have been able to
live far, far beyond our means for the last couple of decades thanks to the
greatest debt bubble in the history of the planet, but now that debt bubble is
getting ready to burst. Anyone with half a brain should be able to see what
is coming. Just open your eyes and look at the facts. The following
are 40 stats that prove the U.S. economy has already been collapsing over the
past decade... (Read
More....)
The “McDonald’s Budget”:
Laughably Unrealistic But Also Deeply Tragic
Can
you support a family on $2,000 a month? Recently, McDonald's and Visa
teamed up to launch a website that is intended to help employees of McDonald's
manage their money. The aspect of the website that is getting a
tremendous amount of national attention is the "McDonald's Budget"
which is a sample monthly budget which is designed to help workers plan their
spending. You can see a copy of it for yourself right
here. This budget is laughably unrealistic, but it is also
deeply tragic, because there are tens of millions of American workers that are
actually trying to raise families on this kind of an income. (Read
More....)
A Nightmare Scenario
Most
people have no idea that the U.S. financial system is on the brink of utter
disaster. If interest rates continue to rise rapidly, the U.S. economy is
going to be facing an economic crisis far greater than the one that erupted
back in 2008. At this point, the economic paradigm that the Federal
Reserve has constructed only works if interest rates remain
super low. If they rise, everything falls apart. Much higher
interest rates would mean crippling interest payments on the national debt,
much higher borrowing costs for state and local governments, trillions of
dollars of losses for bond investors, another devastating real estate crash and
the possibility of a multi-trillion dollar derivatives meltdown.
Everything depends on interest rates staying low. Unfortunately for the
Fed, it only has a certain amount of control over long-term interest rates, and
that control appears to be slipping. The yield on 10 year U.S. Treasuries
has soared in recent weeks. So have mortgage rates. Fortunately,
rates have leveled off for the moment, but if they resume their upward march we
could be dealing with a nightmare scenario very, very quickly. (Read
More....)
Insolvent
Spain Forced To "Borrow" From Social Security Fund To Pay Pensions
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/22/2013 - 15:56
Spain's
slow-motion implosion into an insolvent singularity has been one of the most
amusing sideshows for over a year. The chief reason for this is the sheer
schizophrenic and absurdist polarity between the sad reality, visible to
everyone, and the unprecedented propaganda by the government desperate to paint
a rosy picture. While on one hand the economic data shows very clearly the
painfully obvious sad ending for this chapter of European integration, it
continues to be punctuated almost daily by such amusing confidence
games as Spain's Economy Minister de Guindos telling anyone who cares to listen
that the labor market is improving "beyond the seasonal pick up" and
that Q2 GDP would be close to zero (because 0% GDP is the new killing it).
That's the good news. The bad news is that as Reuters reports, and
contrary to fairy tales of unicorns and soaring 0% GDP, Spain's
government is so insolvent, it was just forced to
"borrow" from its social security reserve to fund pension payments.
About
Those "Strong Fundamentals"...
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/22/2013 - 15:36
Day
after day 'positive' anecdotal data points are latched on to by a
self-confirming media (and plethora of talking heads and asset-gatherers)
unable to see anything but their 'it's all good in the long-term' thesis. The
truth is, as Bloomberg's Rich Yamarone notes, there’s no way to assess last
week’s economic data as anything other than poor. Chinese GDP continued to
deteriorate, U.S. core retail sales and the index of leading economic indicators
for June were flat, industrial production was at the same level as in March,
and housing, the lone oasis of prosperity, slowed as new starts plunged nearly
10 percent from the previous month. Toss in the city of Detroit filing the
largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history and the tone of
America’s economic outlook took a decisive turn for the worse. Of
course, this is all good for stocks is our new (ab)normal reality of
single-factor Fed-liquidity-driven mass hypnosis.
Guest
Post: How Incremental Increases Can Lead To Systemic Collapse
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/22/2013 - 15:14
Healthcare insurance illustrates how incremental increases can
lead to systemic collapse.
Next
Steps For Detroit - Fix, Close, Or Sell
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/22/2013 - 14:41
The
Innovator’s Dilemma strikes again, this time with the news that the city of
Detroit has filed for bankruptcy protection. As a business term,
ConvergEx's Nick Colas reminds us that the “Dilemma” describes how
successful companies fall from grace because they ignore new competition with
disruptive technologies at the low end of their markets. In a world that
increasingly revolves around intellectual capital (a.k.a. people), government
at all levels needs to think about how they do not fall prey to the same error.
As for Detroit, any lasting solution likely needs far more government
intervention than is currently possible. And so to where Detroit goes
from here, we’ll borrow from another business paradigm that parses all
solutions to troubled operations into three buckets: "Fix, Close
or Sell." In summary, Detroit’s failures are certainly of its own
making. The way forward will need leadership that is unavailable locally.
When An
Algo Goes Berserk
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/22/2013 - 14:15
Those
trading microcap uranium supplier USEC Inc (USU) were treated to a rare
spectacle moments ago: one or a series of absolutely berserk algos took the
stock up from $8 to nearly $16 in a wondrous example of momentum ignition, where one algo was
telegraphing it knew something in a bid to get other algos to ramp the thinly
traded stock , and succeeded. This move followed Friday's comparable surge by
70% on even more "no news." A circuit breaker halt followed and then
the usual $1 bid/ask spreads as algo after algo was positioning to frontrun
other algos, but by then all hell had broken loose. Volume as of moments ago:
over 2 million on a stock that has ADV of under 100k. Management reiterated
what it said on Friday, namely that it had no comment: "In view of the
unusual market activity in the company’s stock, the New York Stock Exchange has
contacted the company in accordance with its usual practice. The
company stated that its policy is not to comment on unusual market activity"
ensuring that the newsfree lunacy would continue.
Barclays
Warns "End-Of-QE.. Would Make 2000 Bubble Look Like A Day At The
Beach"
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/22/2013 - 14:02
"It's
hard to make the case that [US stocks are up 17% on a 2.5% earnings rise] based
on fundamentals alone - it's money in motion," is how Barclays' CIO Hans Olsen describes
the unreality occurring in US asset markets currently. He noted in last week's
interview with CNBC that Bernanke's experimentation has created
asset-inflation "that would make the stock market bubble of 2000 look like
a day at the beach. It's really quite remarkable."
Critically, as many have noted, he notes "let the market start to price
things based on fundamentals again rather than money printing. The sooner we
get back to a market pricing, the more sustainable it becomes." What
is ironic is that Olsen is overweight stocks in spite of all this - but like
everyone else in the status quo - is hoping Bernanke keeps the house of
cards from collapsing. Olsen appears to be among the very few career
bankers willing to tell the truth - the fear being, of course (as we
showed here) that it would mean their "skills" are completely
meaningless.
The
New (Ab)normal: When 200 People Have More Wealth Than 3,500,000,000
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/21/2013 - 16:19
The
following brief video created by TheRules.org,
using data sourced
from this website, is the latest vivid demonstration of the most adverse (and
dangerous) side effect of nearly five years, and counting, of global monetary
intervention by central banks: a world in which the poor get poorer, the rich
get richer, and the middle class disappears. The video's punchline "The
richest 300 people on earth have as much wealth as the poorest 3 billion"
is not exactly correct: in truth the situation is even worse: the richest
200 people have about $2.7
trillion, which is more than the poorest 3.5 billion people, who have only $2.2
trillion combined.
Grantham
Quarterly Letter: "What The *&%! Just Happened?"
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/22/2013 - 13:41
"Today’s
markets have a vulnerability that has not existed through most of history. Today’s valuations only make sense in light
of low expected cash rates. Remove that expectation, and pretty much every
asset across the board is vulnerable to a fall in price, as the rising real
discount rate plays no favorites. There is no asset class you can hold
that would be expected to do well if the real discount rate rises from here. Under
normal circumstances, a rising real discount rate would probably come on the
back of rising inflation or stronger than expected growth, which are
diversifiable risks in a portfolio. But May’s shock to the
real discount rate came not because inflation was unexpectedly high or because
growth will be so strong as to lift earnings expectations for equities and
other owners of real assets, but because the Fed signaled that there was likely
to be an end to financial repression in the next few years. And because
financial repression has pushed up the prices of assets across the board and
around the world, there is unlikely to be a safe harbor from the fallout, other
than cash itself." - GMO
Guest
Post: About That "Incomes Are Rising" Claim...
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/16/2013 - 19:14
The mainstream media is claiming that
"The aggregate amount of money in paychecks is increasing about twice as
fast as GDP." Rising aggregate household income doesn't tell the
real story, which is: 1. Most of the income gains flow to the top 10%;
and 2. Thanks to rising taxes, healthcare and other costs, household net income
for the bottom 90% is declining. The mainstream media's parroting of aggregate
household income increases is used to suggest the economy is improving. But the
truth is the economy is only improving for a thin slice of households.
This Is Your
Economy On QE
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/16/2013 - 12:09
Presented
with little comment aside to say - Thanks for nothing Ben...
The
Fed Is The Problem, Not The Solution: The Complete Walk-Through
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/16/2013 - 20:35
"Perhaps
the success that central bankers had in preventing the collapse of the
financial system after the crisis secured them the public's trust to go further
into the deeper waters of quantitative easing. Could success at rescuing the
banks have also mislead some central bankers into thinking they had the Midas
touch? So a combination of public confidence, tinged with
central-banker hubris could explain the foray into quantitative easing.
Yet this too seems only a partial explanation. For few amongst the lay public
were happy that the bankers were rescued, and many on Main Street did
not understand why the financial system had to be saved when their own
employers were laying off workers or closing down." - Raghuram
Rajan
Share This Chart With Anyone That
Believes The U.S. Economy Is Not Going To Crash
Anyone
that thinks that the U.S. economy can keep going along like this is absolutely
crazy. We are in the terminal phase of an unprecedented debt spiral which
has allowed us to live far, far beyond our means for the last several
decades. Unfortunately, all debt spirals eventually end, and they usually
do so in a very disorderly manner. The chart that you are about to see is
one of my favorite economic charts. It compares the growth of U.S. GDP to
the growth of total debt in the United States. Yes, U.S. GDP has
certainly grown at a decent pace over the years, but our total debt has
absolutely exploded. 40 years ago, the total amount of debt in our system
(government debt + corporate debt + consumer debt, etc.) was about 2 trillion
dollars. Today it has grown to more than 56 trillion dollars.
Our debt has grown at a much, much faster rate than our economy has, and there
is no way in the world that we will be able to continue to do that for long.
Posted
below is the chart that I was talking about. The blue line is our total
debt, and the red line is our GDP. As you can see, this chart kind of
speaks for itself...
So
how did we get here?
Well,
of course the federal government has been the biggest offender. It would
be a tremendous understatement to say that the politicians in Washington D.C.
have been reckless. Since the year 2000, the size of the U.S. national
debt has grown by more than 11 trillion dollars.
Posted
below is a chart that demonstrates the dramatic growth of the national debt as
a percentage of GDP. In particular, our debt has absolutely exploded as a
percentage of GDP since the financial crisis of 2008...
Does
that look sustainable to you?
Of
course it isn't.
Right
now, the mainstream media is very excited that the federal budget deficit for
this year might be less than a trillion dollars, but they are really missing
the point. The debt of the U.S. government is still growing much, much
faster than the economy is, and the United States already has more government
debt per capita than Greece, Portugal, Italy,
Ireland or Spain.
What
we are doing to future generations is absolutely criminal. We are piling
up mountains of debt that will haunt them for the rest of their lives just so
that we can make the present a little bit more pleasant for ourselves.
As
I noted in another article, during Obama's first term the
federal government accumulated more debt than it did under the first 42 U.S
presidents combined. And now we are entering a time period when
demographic forces are going to put a tremendous amount of pressure on the
finances of the federal government.
The
Baby Boomers have started to retire, and they are going to want to start
collecting on all of the financial promises that we have made to them.
As
I have written about previously, the number of Americans
on Medicare is projected to grow from a little bit more than 50 million today
to 73.2 million in 2025.
The
number of Americans collecting Social Security benefits is projected to grow
from about 56 million today to 91 million in 2035.
Where
are we going to get the money to pay for all of that?
Boston
University economist Laurence Kotlikoff has calculated that the U.S. government
is facing unfunded liabilities of 222 trillion dollars in the
years ahead.
There
is no simply no way that the U.S. government is going to be able to meet those
obligations without wildly printing up money.
And
of course the federal government is not the only one with massive debt
problems. We just saw the city of Detroit go bankrupt,
and there are lots of other communities all over the nation that could soon
follow.
Posted
below is a chart that shows the growth of state and local government debt over
the years. In particular, please take note that the total amount of state
and local government debt has grown from about 1.2 trillion dollars in the year
2000 to about 3 trillion dollars today...
But
the chart posted above does not even take into account the massive unfunded
pension obligations that state and local governments are facing.
According to the Detroit Free Press, state governments
are facing unfunded pension obligations of nearly a trillion and a half
dollars...
From Baltimore to Los Angeles, and many
points in between, municipalities are increasingly confronted with how to pay
for these massive promises. The Pew Center for the States, in Washington,
estimated states’ public pension plans across the U.S. were underfunded by a
whopping $1.4 trillion in 2010.
And
many large cities are dealing with similar situations. Detroit was the
first to go down, but could Chicago or Los Angeles eventually be forced
to declare bankruptcy too?...
Chicago recently saw its credit rating
downgraded because of a $19-billion unfunded pension liability that the ratings
service Moody’s puts closer to $36 billion. And Los Angeles could be facing a
liability of more than $30 billion, by some estimates.
According
to a report that was released earlier this year, the largest U.S. cities are
facing hundreds of billions of
dollars in unfunded pension liabilities at this point...
Early this year, the Pew Center released a
survey showing that 61 of the nation’s largest cities — limiting the survey to
the largest city in each state and all other cities with more than 500,000
people — had a gap of more than $217 billion in unfunded pension and health
care liabilities. While cities had long promised health care, life insurance
and other benefits to retirees, “few ... started saving to cover the long-term
costs,” the report said.
So
where will all of that money come from?
That
is a good question, and nobody has an easy answer at this point.
Meanwhile,
U.S. consumers have been racking up staggering amounts of debt over the past
several decades. Just consider the following numbers...
-Total
home mortgage debt in the United States is now about 5 times larger than it
was just 20 years ago.
-Car
loans just keep getting longer and longer, and approximately 70 percent of all car purchases in the
United States now involve an auto loan.
-The
total amount of student loan debt in America recently surpassed the one trillion dollar mark.
-One
study discovered that approximately 41 percent
of all working age Americans either have medical bill problems or are currently
paying off medical debt, and according to a report published in The American
Journal of Medicine medical bills are a major factor in more than 60 percent of the
personal bankruptcies in the United States.
-Consumer
debt in the United States has risen by a whopping 1700% since 1971, and 46% of all Americans carry a
credit card balance from month to month.
Sadly,
most people don't realize how damaging credit card debt can be. If you
just carry an "average balance" on your credit cards each month, and
those credit cards have just an "average" interest rate, you could
end up paying millions of dollars to the
credit card companies by the end of your life...
Let’s say you are an average American
household, and you carry an average balance of $15,956 in credit card debt.
Also, as an average American household,
let’s assume you pay an average current rate of 12.83%.
Finally, let’s assume you carry this average
balance for 40 years, between ages 25 and 65. How much did your credit
card company make off of you and your extreme averageness?
Answer: $2,629,618.64
Incredibly,
a large percentage of the population does not seem to understand these
things. An astounding 43 percent of all American families
spend more than they earn each year.
Are
you starting to understand why approximately half
of all Americans die broke?
We
are a nation that is completely and addicted to debt.
If
you do not believe that it will ever catch up with us you are being delusional.
We
have piled up the biggest mountain of debt in the history of the planet, and a
day of reckoning is fast approaching.
The Tip Of The Iceberg Of The
Coming Retirement Crisis That Will Shake America To The Core
The
pension nightmare that is at the heart of the horrific financial crisis in Detroit is just the
tip of the iceberg of the coming retirement crisis that will shake America to
the core. Right now, more than 10,000 Baby Boomers are hitting the age of
65 every single day, and this will continue to happen every single day until
the year 2030. As a society, we have made trillions of dollars of
financial promises to these Baby Boomers, and there is no way that we are going
to be able to keep those promises. The money simply is not there.
Yes, I suppose that we could eventually see a "super devaluation" of
the U.S. dollar and keep our promises to the Baby Boomers using currency that
is not worth much more than Monopoly money, but as it stands right now we
simply do not have the resources to do what we said that we were going to
do. The number of senior citizens in the United States is projected to
more than double by the middle of the century, and it would have been nearly
impossible to support them all even if we weren't in the midst of a long-term economic decline.
Tens of millions of Americans that are eagerly looking forward to retirement
are going to be in for a very rude awakening in the years ahead. There is
going to be a lot of heartache and a lot of broken promises. (Read
More....)
6 Apocalyptic Technologies That
Most People Have Not Even Heard About Yet
Are
you ready for the future? We live at a time when technology is advancing
at an exponential pace. Today, scientists are rapidly developing bizarre
new technologies that most science fiction writers never even would have dreamed
of a couple decades ago. For example, would you be willing to get rid of
your bank card and start paying for things with only your face? Would you
be willing to allow a technology company to put one large computer chip or
thousands of really, really small ones (“neural dust”) into your brain?
These are some of the technologies that are coming. Our world is changing
at an absolutely mind blowing rate, and to be honest none of us really knows
what our world is going to look like a decade from now. Remember, ten
years ago Facebook did not exist and five years ago the iPad did not
exist. Our planet is fundamentally being transformed, and our scientists
are rapidly turning the “impossible” into the possible. The following are
6 apocalyptic technologies that most people have not even heard about yet…
#1 Facial Recognition Software That Replaces Bank Cards
Will
people soon pay for things by having their faces scanned at the checkout
counter? That may sound absurd, but according to (Read More....)
25 Facts About The Fall Of
Detroit That Will Leave You Shaking Your Head
It
is so sad to watch one of America's greatest cities die a horrible death.
Once upon a time, the city of Detroit was a teeming metropolis of 1.8 million
people and it had the highest per capita income in the United States. Now
it is a rotting, decaying hellhole of about 700,000 people that the rest of the
world makes jokes about. On Thursday, we learned that the decision had been
made for the city of Detroit to formally file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy.
It was going to be the largest municipal bankruptcy in the history of the
United States by far, but on Friday it was stopped at least temporarily by an
Ingham County judge. She ruled that Detroit's bankruptcy filing violates the Michigan Constitution
because it would result in reduced pension payments for retired workers.
She also stated that Detroit's bankruptcy filing was "also not honoring the (United
States) president, who took (Detroit’s auto companies) out of bankruptcy",
and she ordered that a copy of her judgment be sent to Barack Obama. How
"honoring the president" has anything to do with the bankruptcy of
Detroit is a bit of a mystery, but what that judge has done is ensured that
there will be months of legal wrangling ahead over Detroit's money woes.
It will be very interesting to see how all of this plays out. But one
thing is for sure - the city of Detroit is flat broke. One of the
greatest cities in the history of the world is just a shell of its former
self. The following are 25 facts about the fall of Detroit that will
leave you shaking your head... (Read
More....)
Jim
Rogers: "Beware The Man On The White Horse..."
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/16/2013 - 17:08
As
far back as ancient times, whenever civilizations fell into great crisis, people
in desperation have almost invariably turned to a single individual who
promised them better times. Of course, history is full of examples of
men who did not give up power willingly once the crisis passed. As an
example, the 1920s economic crisis in the Weimar Republic had a huge impact
in the rise of Adolf Hitler’s National Socialism. In the 1920s,
there was one bankrupt country. And the consequences still define the world we
live in. But Jim Rogers sees another "man on a white horse"
that scares him even more today...
Submitted
by Simon Black via Sovereign
Man blog,
As
far back as ancient times, whenever civilizations fell into great crisis, people
in desperation have almost invariably turned to a single individual who
promised them better times.
Both
the Greeks and Romans often conveyed dictatorial powers to someone in whom they
entrusted people’s security and livelihood. Typically this was a
battle-hardened general who could lead a city’s defenses and beat off an
invading horde.
Of
course, history is full of examples of men who did not give up power
willingly once the crisis passed.
The
ancient historian Herodotus lists as many as fifty ‘tyrants’ in his writings, a
word that has its origins in ancient Greek despotic rulers.
For
thousands of years, ambitious men have always taken advantage of crisis, social
turmoil, and economic downturns to solidify their positions and take control…
often creating even more destruction in their wake.
As
an example, the 1920s economic crisis in the Weimar Republic had a huge
impact in the rise of Adolf Hitler’s National Socialism.
One
of Hitler’s key tenets was to abrogate the Treaty of Versailles, and in
particular section 231 – the ‘war guilt’ clause that stuck Germany with
debilitating war reparation payments.
His
message resonated with millions of Germans who had seen their entire lives
turned upside down by economic stagnation and one of the worst episodes of
hyperinflation in history.
The rest is, as they say, history.
I’ve
been thinking about these stories quite a bit during my current travels across
Europe’s most bankrupt nations.
One
thing is painfully obvious– the situation on the ground is worse than ever.
The
unemployment rate in Portugal hit a record high of 18% in May. The rate eased
slightly by late June to 17.6%… but only because (you guessed it) the
government simply stopped counting people.
Or,
more appropriately, so many people vanished.
Here in Portugal, the latest craze is leaving. The country is
experiencing a massive brain drain as people pack their bags and get out of
dodge.
They
know the labor market isn’t going to improve. Plus, wages here have fallen so
much, people are looking abroad to places like Angola’s booming oil economy,
Brazil, and Macau, all Portuguese-speaking former colonies.
This
trend will likely increase as the latest government figures show that the
recession here is actually accelerating.
The
Portuguese economy contracted at a 4% annualized rate in the first quarter,
worse than last year’s 3.2% contraction.
All
of this comes at a time when the central government has collapsed. Based on the
terms of their 78 billion euro bailout agreement, it’s EU bureaucrats in
Brussels and Frankfurt that are calling the shots now.
(To
put this figure in context, it would be akin to an $8 trillion ‘bailout’ in the
US…)
These conditions are eerily similar to the Weimar Republic
during the rise of National Socialism.
The
country is bankrupt, the government has collapsed, the economy is in ruins, the
debt burden is suffocating, and they’re controlled by foreigners. People are
starting to call out for someone to deliver them from this chaos.
To
be clear, I’m not suggesting that some new Hitler is lurking in the shadows
about to take over a European nation-state (though there are some disturbing
trends, especially in Greece).
But
it’s important to understand that there are serious, often historical
consequences when major developed nations go bankrupt.
In the 1920s, there was one bankrupt country. And the
consequences still define the world we live in.
Today
there are at least half a dozen insolvent nations, including some of the
largest economies in the world– Japan, Spain, Greece, Portugal, the US, etc.
And
while major economic decline can take years or even decades to unfold, history
shows that the consequences affect almost everyone… especially when people look
to a man on a white horse to save them from their desperation.
Here’s
what Jim Rogers had to say about the Man on the White Horse at
our event in Santiago, Chile:
10 Ways That The Iron Grip Of The
Big Brother Prison Grid Is Tightening On All Of Our Lives
Do
you ever feel trapped in an invisible control grid that is slowly but surely
closing in all around you? Do you ever feel like virtually everything
that you do is being watched, tracked, monitored and recorded? If so,
unfortunately it is not just your imagination. Our society is rapidly
being transformed into a Big Brother prison grid by a government that is
seemingly obsessed with knowing everything that we do. They want a record
of all of our phone calls, all of our Internet activity and all of our
financial transactions. They even want our DNA. They put chips in
our passports, they are starting to scan the eyes of our children in our
schools, and they have declared our border areas to be “Constitution-free
zones” where they can do just about anything to us that they want. The
Bill of Rights has already been eroded so badly that many would argue that it
is already dead. The assault against our most basic freedoms and
liberties never seems to end. The following are 10 ways that the iron
grip of the Big Brother prison grid is tightening on all of our lives… (Read
More.....)
Human-Animal Hybrids: Sick And
Twisted Chimeras Are Being Created In Labs All Over The Planet
Did
you know that scientists all over the globe are creating extremely bizarre
human-animal chimeras? Over the past decade, there have been some
absolutely stunning advances in the field of genetic modification. Today,
it is literally possible for college students to create new lifeforms in their basements.
Unfortunately, laws have not kept pace with these advancements, and in many
countries there are very few limits on what scientists are allowed to do.
As you will read about below, extremely creepy human-animal hybrids are now
being created in laboratories all over the planet. And this is just the
stuff that is publicly admitted. Can you imagine what kind of sick and
twisted experiments are taking place in the dark corners of secret labs that
nobody knows about? And what happens if these creatures get out into the
wild and starting mating? At that point, it would be nearly impossible to
“put the genie back into the bottle”. Scientists seem very eager to test
the limits of what is possible, but what they are unleashing may have
consequences that none of us ever dreamed possible.
Just
the other day, we learned (Read
More....)
Worldwide Unemployment Crisis:
There Are 93 Million Unemployed Workers In G20 Nations
Did
you know that the total number of unemployed workers in G20 counties is now up
to 93 million and that it is increasing with each passing day? You see, the
truth is that the United States is not the only one dealing with a systemic
unemployment crisis. This is literally happening all over the
planet. So what is causing this crisis? Is there any hope that it
will be turned around? Well, unfortunately there are several long-term
trends that have been developing for decades that have played a major role in
bringing us to this point. First of all, the giant corporations that now
totally dominate the global economy have figured out that they can make a lot
more money by replacing expensive workers that live in major industrialized
nations with workers that live in nations where it is legal to pay slave labor
wages. So it isn't really a huge mystery why there is such a huge problem
with unemployment in the western world. If you were running a giant
corporation, why would you want to hire workers that will cost you 10 to 20
times as much as other workers? A worker is a worker, and over the past
decade we have seen a massive movement of jobs to countries where labor is
cheaper. In addition, large corporations are also trying to completely
eliminate as many jobs as they can by using technology. If a corporation
can get a computer or a machine or a robot to do a task more cheaply than a
human worker can do it, then why would that corporation want to continue to
rely on human labor? And of course we have seen an overall weakening of
the economies of the western world in recent years as well. This has been
particularly true in
the United States. As these long-term trends intensify, the
worldwide unemployment crisis is going to get even worse. (Read
More....)
Everything Is Fine, But…
Everything
is going to be just great. Haven't you heard? The stock market is
at an all-time high, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says that inflation is incredibly low, and the
official unemployment rate has been steadily declining since early in Barack
Obama's first term. Of course I am being facetious, but this is the kind
of talk about the economy that you will hear if you tune in to the mainstream
media. They would have us believe that those running things know exactly
what they are doing and that very bright days are ahead for America. And
it would be wonderful if that was actually true. Unfortunately, as I made exceedingly clear yesterday, the U.S.
economy has already been in continual decline for the past decade. Any
honest person that looks at those numbers has to admit that our economy is not
even close to where it used to be. But could it be possible that we are
making a comeback? Could it be possible that Obama and Bernanke really do
know what they are doing and that their decisions have put us on the path to
prosperity? Could it be possible that everything is going to be just
fine? (Read
More....)
16 Conspiracy Theories That
Turned Out To Be True
Are
you a conspiracy theorist? If not, perhaps you should be. Yes,
there have certainly been a lot of “conspiracy theories” over the years that
have turned out not to be accurate. However, the truth is that a large
number of very prominent conspiracy theories have turned out to actually be
true. So the next time that you run into some “tin foil hat wearing
lunatics”, you might want to actually listen to what they have to say.
They may actually know some things that you do not. In fact, one recent study found that “conspiracy theorists”
are actually more sane than the general population. So the next time you
are tempted to dismiss someone as a “conspiracy theorist”, just remember that
the one that is crazy might actually be you. The following are 16 popular
conspiracy theories that turned out to be true…
1. “They Put Cancer Viruses Into Our Vaccines”
When
I first heard about this I did not believe it. And of course not all
vaccines contain cancer viruses. But tens of millions of Americans did
receive vaccines with cancer viruses in them, and now we have learned that even
the CDC When I first heard
about this I did not believe it. And of course not all vaccines contain
cancer viruses. But tens of millions of Americans did receive vaccines
with cancer viruses in them, and now we have learned that even the CDC has admitted that this is true…
2. “ATM Machines Will Someday Use Facial Recognition Technology”
3. “The U.S. Government And Monsanto Are Teaming Up Against Opponents Of
Genetically-Modified Food”
5. “Scientists All Over The World Are Creating Extremely Bizarre
Human-Animal Hybrids”
And here are some other ways that scientists are combining humans and
animals…
6. “Obama Is Making Government Employees Spy On One Another”
8. “Someday Texas Is Going To Run Out Of Water”
Texas will always have plenty of water, right?
According to CNBC, the water crisis in some areas of
Texas is rapidly reaching a breaking point…
9. “The IRS Is Specifically Targeting Conservatives”
10. “Fluoride Is Harmful For Your Teeth”
11. “Using A Cell Phone Can Cause Cancer”
12. “Prescription Drugs Kill Large Numbers Of Americans”
13. “The Elite Want To Dramatically Reduce The Global Population”
14. “Innocent People Are Murdered, Skinned And Dismembered During Satanic
Rituals”
15. “The NSA Is Spying On Our Phone Calls, Internet Searches And Financial
Transactions”
16. “The Federal Reserve Is A Perpetual Debt Machine That Is Designed To
Create Inflation”
GReeTiNGS FRoM DeTRoiT... Posted by: williambanzai7 Post date: 07/22/2013 - There is more to this Ponzi than meets the eye...
WB7
Detroit
may be a canary in the public finance coal mine, but there was no shortage of
warning signals.
Meredith
Whitney has been hounded by MSM schadenfreudeurs since she aired her ominous
but accurate opinion on 60 minutes almost three years ago. The latest round of
Whitney bashing occurred two weeks ago. My isn't it hilarious and newsworthy
that half of her clients have left and she is down to one full time employee.
Gee
wiz, maybe they are stupid clients who listen to the MSM.
Never
mind that the oracle Warren Buffoon publicly jumped off the municipal bond
bandwagon late last summer. Isn't he the same guy that owns a rating agency?
Never mind that PhD geniuses employed by the Fed have warned of the hidden
risks in municipal finance. Nevermind Harrisburg, Stockton, Jefferson County,
Mammouth Lakes and San Bernadino. Those are all aberations so we are told. And
Detroit is an idosyncratic financial phenomena. And Miami is an unfortunate
example of bath salt finance.
Look
at this chart.
Do
you think this is an aberration or an idiosyncracy?
This
chart has this moron's fingerprint's all over it.
I'm
no expert in municipal finance, but I know a Ponzi when I see one. And I know
what happens after this moron and his ilk have been around.
And
just like the subprime sewer, you can bet there is more to this Ponzi than
meets the eye.
Now
didn't you always believe the Easter Island statues were simply heads?
Apparently
they are not. And apparently this is nothing new and has been known for over
two hundred years.
But
if you do an image search of Easter Island, how many pictures like this will
you find?
Which
just goes to show...
The Coming National DNA Database
A
national DNA database is coming. Barack Obama has already said that
he wants one. A major Supreme Court decision last
month paved the way for one. The DNA of those that commit
“serious crimes” is already being routinely collected all over the
nation. Some states (such as New Jersey) are now passing laws that will
require DNA collection from those charged with committing “low level
crimes”. And a law that was passed under George W. Bush allows the
federal government to screen the DNA of all newborn babies in the United
States. So how long will it be before we are all required to give DNA
samples to the authorities? How long will it be before DNA collection is
routinely done when we take a trip to the DMV? This may sound like science
fiction to some people, but “security experts” and law enforcement personnel
all over the country are now pushing for a national DNA database to be
established. Unfortunately, there is nothing really standing in the way
of that. The Supreme (Read
More....)
Congressman
Asks Obama For "Immediate Support" With Detroit Bankruptcy
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/18/2013 - 20:12
Four
years ago he bailed out the city's automotive industry, and a whole lot of
union votes. Moments ago, Obama was just called in again, this time to bail out
the entire city. "Representative Chaka Fattah (D-PA), a leader of the
Congressional Urban Caucus, sent a letter to President Obama today calling on
the Administration to lend a helping hand to Detroit, Michigan
following the news that the city has filed for bankruptcy." So will the
president play favorites? Or will the municipal bailout begin where the private
sector bailout ended? And since bailouts tend to be contagious, if and when
Obama does "lend a helping hand" to Detroit, paid for by all US
taxpayers, which city, or rather cities, will demand the same treatment? And
how long until other people's money finally runs out?
Are Stocks
Cheap?
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/18/2013 - 19:56
With
the S&P 500 joining the rest of the maddening herd at new all-time highs, we
are still told day after day that stocks are cheap. This seems somewhat odd in
the face of an ugly reality that sees GDP and earnings expectations being
ratcheted down day after day also. We decided to look at the facts. The
current 12-month trailing P/E ratio (as reported earnings) is 18.3x; the
12-month trailing P/E ratio at the time of the 2007 peak in S&P 500
earnings was 17.7x - so stocks are in fact more expensive now than at the prior
peak. Furthermore, S&P 500 operating earnings have peaked in the
$24-25 per share range since 2007, but have never exceeded $26 per share. The
secret to the 'cheapness' is in the alchemy of the future...the hockey-stick...
S&P forecasts quarterly EPS will increase 28% to over $33 per share by 4Q14
(which means we are currently trading at 14.3x forecast 2014 as reported
earnings) despite EBITDA having rolled over and growing at its slowest
rate in over three years.
Eric
Sprott Asks "Do Western Central Banks Have Any Gold Left?"
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/18/2013 - 19:25
Recent dramatic declines in gold prices and
strong redemptions from physical ETFs (such as the GLD) have been interpreted
by the financial press as indicating the end of the gold bull market.
Conversely, our analysis of the supply and demand dynamics underlying the gold
market does not support this interpretation. As we
have shown in previous articles, the past decade has seen a large
discrepancy between the available gold supply and sales. Many recent
events suggest that the Central Banks are getting close to the end of their supplies
and that the physical market for gold is becoming increasingly tight. The
recent sell-off was all orchestrated to increase supply and tame demand. We
believe that central planners are now running out of options to suppress the
gold price. After taking a pause, the secular gold bull market is set to
continue.
12 Things That Will Happen Next In
Detroit's Bankruptcy
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/18/2013 - 18:45
Here’s what happens next...
Detroit
Mayor Bing Reacts To Bankruptcy - Press Conference Live Webcast
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/18/2013 - 18:25
Watch
the first official press conference following the largest US muni bankruptcy in
history.
BLS
Leaks Employment Data
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/18/2013 - 17:49
HISTORIC:
DETROIT GOES BANKRUPT...
Filing
Paints Bleak Picture of Motor City...
Pension
Funds Sue to Block...
City
official demands federal taxpayer bailout...
FLASHBACK:
Obama 2012: 'We refused to let Detroit go bankrupt'...
Former
Romney spokesman blasts...
36 Municipal Bankruptcy Filings Since Jan '10...
Bernanke
says he is 'not qualified' to offer refinancing advice...
Jesse
Jackson: Florida an 'Apartheid State'...
Calls For Boycott...
CNN's
ratings nosedive following Zimmerman trial...
Charles Barkley: 'I Agree With Verdict'...
'A lot of black people are racist too'...
"I Refused To Let Detroit Go
Bankrupt" - Barack Obama, October 2012
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/18/2013 - 17:10
Just
nine short months after proclaiming
victory on his plan to save Detroit by throwing taxpayer money at the
'problem' of over-levered, over-unioned, and under-demanded auto manufacturers,
it seems the ball is back in President Obama's court once again. He "refused
to throw in the towel and do nothing. We refused to let Detroit go bankrupt.
We bet on American workers and American ingenuity, and three years later, that
bet is paying off in a big way." Of course, what the rest of the
unsuspecting US citizenry is likely unaware of yet is that once again the
municipal workers' pension plans (that face 90% losses) will be bailed-out
via the Pension Benefits Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) - A US Government (ponzi)
Agency. But of course, that's for the good of the whole nation...
When
60 Years Of Lies Clash With Reality: Michigan Governor Snyder Authorizes
Detroit's Bankruptcy
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/18/2013 - 17:31
"Both
before and after the appointment of an emergency manager, many talented
individuals have put enormous energy into attempting to avoid this outcome.
I knew from the outset that it would be difficult to
reverse 60 years of decline in which promises were made that did not reflect
the reality of the ability to deliver on those promises. I very
much hoped those efforts would succeed without resorting to bankruptcy. Unfortunately,
they have not. We must face the fact that the City cannot and is not
paying its debts as they become due, and is insolvent..... I know we
share a concern for the public employees who gave years of service to the City
and now fear for their financial future in retirement, and I am confident
that all of the City's creditors will be treated fairly in this process.
"
Richard
D. Snyder Governor, State of Michigan
Detroit
Files: Full Chapter 9 Petition
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/18/2013 - 16:44
And
this is how Obama creates jobs. Bankruptcy lawyer jobs that is.
America
In A Nutshell: S&P Hits All Time High As Detroit Files For Bankruptcy
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/18/2013 - 16:31
Detroit
Files Chapter 9 Bankruptcy As Moody's Raises US Outlook
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/18/2013 - 16:16
Change
you can believe in with Detroit filing Chapter 9. But, really, adjusted for
AFS, one-time items and a stock buyback which was pending but never fully
effected, it is only a Chapter 11 and thus bullish.
Wait,
wait, we know: it's the weather's fault. Also, soaring gas prices mean much
more weather is coming.
Stocks Surge To New Highs - Best
Run In 32 Months
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/18/2013 - 16:15
The S&P 500 is up 8.5% from the 6/24 lows - the best 17-day
run since Oct 2011
when the world's central banks launched their unprecedented 'save-the-markets'
co-ordinated easing/printfest (as an aside, the S&P fell 140pts (or 12%) in
the next 2 weeks). Trannies were on top today (+1.6%) while Nasdaq took the rear
(-0.25%); homebuilders are down 2% on the week and 3% post-FOMC while Utilities
and Financials are running 2% higher on the week. Aways from exuberant
equities, bonds cracked 8bps higher in yield off their pre-Bernanke low
yield levels (with the long-end notably underperforming on the week);
the USD jumped back up to unchanged on the week (as JPY dumped - aiding
risk-assets); and silver and gold diverged with the former holding the week's
lows as gold limped higher. The real story of the day is oil prices which
screamed above $108 - highest in 14 months - crushing the Brent-WTI spread. Hedgers
were active (though clearly not sellers) as VIX notably underperformed stocks
(as did credit indices).
Google,
Microsoft Miss Top And Bottom Line; Stocks Tumble
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/18/2013 - 16:12
Following
yesterday's disappointing results from Intel, and the IBM revenue miss,
completing the sad state of Q2 earnings season for tech companies are the just
reported GOOG and MSFT results, both which missed not only on the topline but
also on the bottom line. Guess they didn't have billions in reserve
releases and Available For Sale MTM fudges to confuse HFT algos and pundits with.
The
Jobs Number Is BS Says Former Head Of BLS
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/18/2013 - 15:57
After
every non-farm payroll report we provide our own breakdown of what the real
unemployment rate is in a country in which the labor force participation rate
has not been adjusted to normalize for the Second Great Depression. In the most
recent such endeavor we found the "Real Unemployment Rate" to be
11.3%. Today, courtesy of the Post's John
Crudele we find that our estimate was spot on not just from anyone, but
the former head of the BLS himself: Keith Hall.
Regulators
Eye Dark Pool Secrecy And Hi-Freaks' "Algos Gone Wild"
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/18/2013 - 15:40
It
has been almost 2 years since FINRA started to get
'serious' about thinking about looking into an investigation of (get our point)
high-frequency trading and dark pools but it seems, as the
WSJ reports, this time they are more specific. In Sept 2011 FINRA noted "there's
something that's troubling us in the marketplace," and it seems
now that FINRA has spent the time since understanding the jargon they have some
questions, "who is responsible for the automatic shut off or kill
switch," asking firms how they avoid "quote bursts and
stuffing" that create confusion for other investors and potentially
distort the market, and approving a plan to force dark pools (15% of
all stock trading) to disclose and detail trading activity on their
platforms. Of course, we've seen this kind of bluster before and they
did nothing then but hope springs eternal.
Stock
Prices Are Outrunning Corporate Profits: When Has This Happened Before?
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/18/2013 - 15:10
Global conditions in early 1928 were oddly
similar to today
(Benjamin Strong puzzling over a strange brew of rising stock prices, uneven
economic recovery, suspect banking practices and unusual strains in Europe’s
monetary system), but skewed in a direction that would cause our current
policymakers to apply even stronger stimulus than we’ve seen in 2013. The
analogy suggests to us that today’s Fed is threatening mistakes that aren’t
unlike those of the 1920s Fed. But what about the stock market? Unfortunately,
a few market characteristics fit the late 1920s timeline pretty well... There
can be little doubt that today’s Fed-fueled asset price rallies merely bring
future price appreciation forward to the present. Asset prices eventually
return to fundamental values, and as they do the Fed’s cherished
wealth effects work in reverse. This is another risk that should be considered
when you decide whether to take Bernanke’s bait and “reach for yield” in stocks
and other risky assets.
Eric
Holder Slams "Stand Your Ground" Laws, Claims Self-Defense May
"Sow Dangerous Conflict"
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/16/2013 - 17:47
US
AG Eric Holder, who it appears is not busy committing perjury before Congress,
or failing to prosecute one single TBTF bank due to their systemic nature, or
eavesdropping on the AP, or recording every American electronic communication,
or selling weapons to Mexican drug cartels, or generally using the constitution
as one-ply toilet paper, has found some time to peddle
his thoughts on the Trayvon Martin shooting at an NAACP convention in
Orlando. So what did the head of the US department of justice say? He proceeds
to blast "Stand your ground" laws, because, you see, having the right
to self-defense is dangerous and may lead to escalations. No really:
"Separate and apart from the case that has drawn the nation's attention, it's
time to question laws that senselessly expand the concept of self-defense and
sow dangerous conflict in our neighborhoods." In other words,
Holder is spreading a very christian message: when slapped, present the other
cheek.
Microsoft:
"We Don't Provide Any Government With Direct Access...We Need The Attorney
General To Uphold The Constitution"
{ Oh come on … that depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ …
excuse me … ‘direct’ is … riiiiight… Actually that’s been going on for quite
some time; and, I believe significantly as part of the quid pro quo for the
government’s ‘hands-off’ policy since the antitrust litigation. But, even of
more significance, particularly early on, is the ‘backdoor’ accessible in
virtually all (intel chip) ‘wintel’ machines. Keep in mind, however, that apple
is now an ‘intel shop’. }
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/16/2013 - A
few days ago, Edward Snowden made even fewers friends in the corporate tech
community with his Guardian disclosures that "Microsoft
Helped The NSA Bypass Its Own Encryption Software, Spy On Its Clients."
This promptly got the legal team the MSFT scrambling, and moments ago, the
firm's General Counsel Brad Smith posted
on MSFT's blog that, guess what, the world's biggest desktop OS maker
doesn't give government data encryption keys or customer data. Well... what
else were they going to say? Oh yes, repeat "direct acces" 6 times in
a blog post, making it all too clear the whole issue is merely about semantics.
Is
This The Chart Reflecting The True State Of The US Economy?
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/16/2013 - 11:39
Since
the US monetary system is (mostly) a closed loop, it has become impossible to
rely on the US stock market for anything besides "analyzing" how many
hot potatoes the excess reserve-funded Primary Dealers are juggling with each
other. However, there may be one place that remains untouched by the Fed's
intervention: foreign opinion of the US, which manifests itself in capital fund
flows, the same fund flows that the TIC data reports every month with a 2-month
delay. Because if foreign capital flows remain the only remaining objective
indicator of US economic health, then the US has some very serious
problems on its hands...
Something
Is Up (Not Stocks)
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/16/2013 - 11:45
Between
Kansas City Fed's George's comments on Tapering sooner rather than later and
the end of today's POMO, US equities are sliding the most intraday since
Bernanke said "moar" last week. Interestingly, the USD is being sold
rather notably - a trend that began following yesterday's retail sales miss;
but bonds are little changed despite the drop in stocks. Homebuilders have
retraced all of their spike gains from the NAHB idiocy and financials are now
negative for the week with only Utilities in the green. Gold and Silver
are up - as is WTI but oil is leaking lower as stocks fade.
NAHB
Ignores Recent Housing Shock, Thinks The Happiest Thoughts Since 2006
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/16/2013 - 11:07
Homebuilder
stocks are already giving back their spike gains from the surreal "if we
hope it, they will buy" numbers from the NAHB on future sales expectations
but we thought - given the unprecedented
spike in mortgage rates, collapse
in mortgage applications, and slowing home sales - that a couple of charts
were in order to reflect upon the best two-month rise in 'hope' for
futures sales in 22 years...
Spot
When Central Planning Took Over
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/16/2013 - 10:37
As
car
sales collapse once again in Europe (and Fiat at the top of the pile of
dismal results), and the Italian Senate set to hold a no-confidence vote in the
Deputy PM, we thought it an opportune moment to revisit the most ridiculous
chart in the world. Presented for your eye-rubbing pleasure, Italy - market vs
macro... Can you see when the central-planners 'promise' took over, and
reality ended?
10
Things Most Americans Don't Know About America
Authored
by Mark Mason via The Burning Platform blog,
Imagine
you have a brother and he’s an alcoholic. He has his moments, but you keep your
distance from him. You don’t mind him for the occasional family gathering or
holiday. You still love him. But you don’t want to be around him. This is how I
lovingly describe my current relationship with the United States. The United
States is my alcoholic brother. And although I will always love him, I don’t
want to be near him at the moment.
I
know that’s harsh, but I really feel my home country is not in a good place
these days. That’s not a socio-economic statement (although that’s on the
decline as well), but rather a cultural one.
I
realize it’s going to be impossible to write sentences like the ones above
without coming across as a raging prick, so let me try to soften the blow to my
American readers with an analogy:
You know when you move out of your parents’
house and live on your own, how you start hanging out with your friends’
families and you realize that actually, your family was a little screwed up?
Stuff you always assumed was normal your entire childhood, it turns out was
pretty weird and may have actually fucked you up a little bit. You know, dad
thinking it was funny to wear a Santa Claus hat in his underwear every
Christmas or the fact that you and your sister slept in the same bed until you
were 22, or that your mother routinely cried over a bottle of wine while
listening to Elton John.
The
point is we don’t really get perspective on what’s close to us until we spend
time away from it. Just like you didn’t realize the weird quirks and nuances of
your family until you left and spent time with others, the same is true for
country and culture. You often don’t see what’s messed up about your country
and culture until you step outside of it.
And
so even though this article is going to come across as fairly scathing, I want
my American readers to know: some of the stuff we do, some of the stuff that we
always assumed was normal, it’s kind of screwed up. And that’s OK. Because
that’s true with every culture. It’s just easier to spot it in others (i.e.,
the French) so we don’t always notice it in ourselves.
So
as you read this article, know that I’m saying everything with tough love, the
same tough love with which I’d sit down and lecture an alcoholic family member.
It doesn’t mean I don’t love you. It doesn’t mean there aren’t some awesome
things about you (BRO, THAT’S AWESOME!!!). And it doesn’t mean I’m some saint
either, because god knows I’m pretty screwed up (I’m American, after all).
There are just a few things you need to hear. And as a friend, I’m going to
tell them to you.
And
to my foreign readers, get your necks ready, because this is going to be a
nod-a-thon.
A Little “What The Hell Does This Guy Know?” Background: I’ve lived in different parts of the US,
both the deep south and the northeast. I have visited most of the US’s 50
states. I’ve spent the past three years living almost entirely outside of the
United States. I’ve lived in multiple countries in Europe, Asia and South America.
I’ve visited over 40 countries in all and have spent far more time with
non-Americans than with Americans during this period. I speak multiple
languages. I’m not a tourist. I don’t stay in resorts and rarely stay in
hostels. I rent apartments and try to integrate myself into each country I
visit as much as possible. So there.
(Note:
I realize these are generalizations and I realize there are always exceptions.
I get it. You don’t have to post 55 comments telling me that you and your best
friend are exceptions. If you really get that offended from some guy’s blog
post, you may want to double-check your life priorities.)
OK,
we’re ready now. 10 things Americans don’t know about America.
1. Few People Are Impressed By Us
Unless
you’re speaking with a real estate agent or a prostitute, chances are they’re
not going to be excited that you’re American. It’s not some badge of honor we
get to parade around. Yes, we had Steve Jobs and Thomas Edison, but unless you
actually are Steve Jobs or Thomas Edison (which is unlikely) then most
people around the world are simply not going to care. There are exceptions of
course. And those exceptions are called English and Australian people.
Whoopdie-fucking-doo.
As
Americans, we’re brought up our entire lives being taught that we’re the best,
we did everything first and that the rest of the world follows our lead. Not
only is this not true, but people get irritated when you bring it to their
country with you. So don’t.
2. Few People Hate Us
Despite
the occasional eye-rolling, and complete inability to understand why anyone
would vote for George W. Bush, people from other countries don’t hate us
either. In fact — and I know this is a really sobering realization for us — most
people in the world don’t really think about us or care about us. I know,
that sounds absurd, especially with CNN and Fox News showing the same 20 angry
Arab men on repeat for ten years straight. But unless we’re invading someone’s
country or threatening to invade someone’s country (which is likely), then
there’s a 99.99% chance they don’t care about us. Just like we rarely think
about the people in Bolivia or Mongolia, most people don’t think about us much.
They have jobs, kids, house payments — you know, those things called lives — to
worry about. Kind of like us.
Americans
tend to assume that the rest of the world either loves us or hates us (this is
actually a good litmus test to tell if someone is conservative or liberal). The
fact is, most people feel neither. Most people don’t think much about us.
Remember
that immature girl in high school, who every little thing that happened to her
meant that someone either hated her or was obsessed with her; who thought every
teacher who ever gave her a bad grade was being totally unfair and everything
good that happened to her was because of how amazing she was? Yeah, we’re that
immature high school girl.
3. We Know Nothing About The Rest Of The World
For
all of our talk about being global leaders and how everyone follows us, we
don’t seem to know much about our supposed “followers.” They often have
completely different takes on history than we do. Here were some brain-stumpers
for me: the Vietnamese believe the Vietnam War was about China (not us), Hitler
was primarily defeated by Russia (not us), Native Americans were wiped out
largely disease and plague (not us), and the American Revolution was “won”
because the British cared more about beating France (not us). Notice a running
theme here?
(Hint:
It’s not all about us.)
We
did not invent democracy. We didn’t even invent modern democracy. There were
parliamentary systems in England and other parts of Europe over a hundred years
before we created government. In a recent survey of young Americans, 63% could not find Iraq on a map
(despite being at war with them), and 54% did not know Sudan was a country in
Africa. Yet, somehow we’re positive that everyone else looks up to us.
4. We Are Poor At Expressing Gratitude And Affection
There’s
a saying about English-speakers. We say “Go fuck yourself,” when we really mean
“I like you,” and we say “I like you,” when we really mean “Go fuck yourself.”
Outside
of getting shit-housed drunk and screaming “I LOVE YOU, MAN!”, open displays of
affection in American culture are tepid and rare. Latin and some European
cultures describe us as “cold” and “passionless” and for good reason. In our
social lives we don’t say what we mean and we don’t mean what we say.
In
our culture, appreciation and affection are implied rather than spoken
outright. Two guy friends call each other names to reinforce their friendship;
men and women tease and make fun of each other to imply interest. Feelings are
almost never shared openly and freely. Consumer culture has cheapened our
language of gratitude. Something like, “It’s so good to see you” is empty now
because it’s expected and heard from everybody.
In
dating, when I find a woman attractive, I almost always walk right up to her
and tell her that a) I wanted to meet her, and b) she’s beautiful. In America,
women usually get incredibly nervous and confused when I do this. They’ll make
jokes to defuse the situation or sometimes ask me if I’m part of a TV show or
something playing a prank. Even when they’re interested and go on dates with
me, they get a bit disoriented when I’m so blunt with my interest. Whereas, in
almost every other culture approaching women this way is met with a confident
smile and a “Thank you.”
5. The Quality of Life For The Average American Is Not That
Great
If
you’re extremely talented or intelligent, the US is probably the best place in
the world to live. The system is stacked heavily to allow people of talent and
advantage to rise to the top quickly.
The
problem with the US is that everyone thinks they are of talent and
advantage. As John Steinbeck famously said, the problem with poor Americans is
that “they don’t believe they’re poor, but rather temporarily embarrassed
millionaires.” It’s this culture of self-delusion that allows America to
continue to innovate and churn out new industry more than anyone else in the
world. But this shared delusion also unfortunately keeps perpetuating large
social inequalities and the quality of life for the average citizen lower than
most other developed countries. It’s the price we pay to maintain our growth
and economic dominance.
In
my Guide to Wealth,
I defined being wealthy as, “Having the freedom to maximize one’s life
experiences.” In those terms, despite the average American having more material
wealth than citizens of most other countries (more cars, bigger houses, nicer
televisions), their overall quality of life suffers in my opinion. American
people on average work more hours with less vacation, spend more time commuting every day, and are saddled with over $10,000 of debt. That’s a lot of time spent working
and buying crap and little time or disposable income for relationships,
activities or new experiences.
6. The Rest Of The World Is Not A Slum-Ridden Shithole Compared
To Us
In
2010, I got into a taxi in Bangkok to take me to a new six-story cineplex. It
was accessible by metro, but I chose a taxi instead. On the seat in front of me
was a sign with a wifi password. Wait, what? I asked the driver if he had wifi
in his taxi. He flashed a huge smile. The squat Thai man, with his pidgin
English, explained that he had installed it himself. He then turned on his new
sound system and disco lights. His taxi instantly became a cheesy nightclub on
wheels… with free wifi.
If
there’s one constant in my travels over the past three years, it has been that
almost every place I’ve visited (especially in Asia and South America) is much
nicer and safer than I expected it to be. Singapore is pristine. Hong Kong
makes Manhattan look like a suburb. My neighborhood in Colombia is nicer than
the one I lived in in Boston (and cheaper).
As
Americans, we have this naïve assumption that people all over the world are
struggling and way behind us. They’re not. Sweden and South Korea have more
advanced high speed internet networks. Japan has the most advanced trains and
transportation systems. Norwegians make more money. The biggest and most
advanced plane in the world is flown out of Singapore. The tallest buildings in
the world are now in Dubai and Shanghai. Meanwhile, the US has the highest
incarceration rate in the world.
What’s
so surprising about the world is how unsurprising most of it is. I spent a week
with some local guys in Cambodia. You know what their biggest concerns were? Paying
for school, getting to work on time, and what their friends were saying about
them. In Brazil, people have debt problems, hate getting stuck in traffic and
complain about their overbearing mothers. Every country thinks they have the
worst drivers. Every country thinks their weather is unpredictable. The world
becomes, err… predictable.
7. We’re Paranoid
Not
only are we emotionally insecure as a culture, but I’ve come to realize how
paranoid we are about our physical security. You don’t have to watch Fox News
or CNN for more than 10 minutes to hear about how our drinking water is going
to kill us, our neighbor is going to rape our children, some terrorist in Yemen
is going to kill us because we didn’t torture him, Mexicans are going to kill
us, or some virus from a bird is going to kill us. There’s a reason we have
more guns than people.
In
the US, security trumps everything, even liberty. We’re paranoid.
I’ve
probably been to 10 countries now that friends and family back home told me
explicitly not to go because someone was going to kill me, kidnap me, stab me,
rob me, rape me, sell me into sex trade, give me HIV, or whatever else. None of
that has happened. I’ve never been robbed and I’ve walked through some of the
shittiest parts of Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe.
In
fact, the experience has been the opposite. In countries like Russia, Colombia
or Guatemala, people were so friendly it actually scared me. Some stranger in a
bar would invite me to his house for a bar-b-que with his family, a random
person on the street would offer to show me around and give me directions to a
store I was trying to find. My American instincts were always that, “Wait, this
guy is going to try to rob me or kill me,” but they never did. They were just
insanely friendly.
8. We’re Status-Obsessed And Seek Attention
I’ve
noticed that the way we Americans communicate is usually designed to create a
lot of attention and hype. Again, I think this is a product of our consumer
culture: the belief that something isn’t worthwhile or important unless it’s
perceived to be the best (BEST EVER!!!) or unless it gets a lot of attention
(see: every reality-television show ever made).
This
is why Americans have a peculiar habit of thinking everything is “totally
awesome,” and even the most mundane activities were “the best thing ever!” It’s
the unconscious drive we share for importance and significance, this
unmentioned belief, socially beaten into us since birth that if we’re not the
best at something, then we don’t matter.
We’re
status-obsessed. Our culture is built around achievement, production and being
exceptional. Therefore comparing ourselves and attempting to out-do one another
has infiltrated our social relationships as well. Who can slam the most beers
first? Who can get reservations at the best restaurant? Who knows the promoter
to the club? Who dated a girl on the cheerleading squad? Socializing becomes
objectified and turned into a competition. And if you’re not winning, the
implication is that you are not important and no one will like you.
9. We Are Very Unhealthy
Unless
you have cancer or something equally dire, the health care system in the US
sucks. The World Health Organization ranked the US 37th in the world for health care, despite
the fact that we spend the most per capita by a large margin.
The
hospitals are nicer in Asia (with European-educated doctors and nurses) and
cost a tenth as much. Something as routine as a vaccination costs multiple
hundreds of dollars in the US and less than $10 in Colombia. And before you
make fun of Colombian hospitals, Colombia is 28th in the world on that WHO
list, nine spots higher than us.
A
routine STD test
that can run you over $200 in the US is free in many countries to anyone,
citizen or not. My health insurance the past year? $65 a month. Why? Because I
live outside of the US. An American guy I met living in Buenos Aires got knee
surgery on his ACL that would have cost $10,000 in the US… for free.
But
this isn’t really getting into the real problems of our health. Our food is
killing us. I’m not going to go crazy with the details, but we eat
chemically-laced crap because it’s cheaper and tastes better (profit, profit).
Our portion sizes are absurd (more profit). And we’re by far the most
prescribed nation in the world AND our drugs cost five to ten times more than
they do even in Canada (ohhhhhhh, profit, you sexy bitch).
In
terms of life expectancy, despite being the richest country in the
world, we come in a paltry 38th. Right behind Cuba, Malta and the United Arab
Emirates, and slightly ahead of Slovenia, Kuwait and Uruguay. Enjoy your Big
Mac.
10. We Mistake Comfort For Happiness
The
United States is a country built on the exaltation of economic growth and
personal ingenuity. Small businesses and constant growth are celebrated and
supported above all else — above affordable health care, above respectable
education, above everything. Americans believe it’s your responsibility to take
care of yourself and make something of yourself, not the state’s, not your
community’s, not even your friend’s or family’s in some instances.
Comfort
sells easier than happiness. Comfort is easy. It requires no effort and no
work. Happiness takes effort. It requires being proactive,
confronting fears, facing difficult situations, and having unpleasant
conversations.
Comfort
equals sales. We’ve been sold comfort for generations and for generations we
bought: bigger houses, separated further and further out into the suburbs;
bigger TV’s, more movies, and take-out. The American public is becoming docile
and complacent. We’re obese and entitled. When we travel, we look for giant
hotels that will insulate us and pamper us rather than for legitimate cultural
experiences that may challenge our perspectives or help us grow as individuals.
Depression
and anxiety disorders are soaring within the US. Our inability to confront
anything unpleasant around us has not only created a national sense of
entitlement, but it’s disconnected us from what actually drives happiness:
relationships, unique experiences, feeling self-validated, achieving personal
goals. It’s easier to watch a NASCAR race on television and tweet about it than
to actually get out and try something new with a friend.
Unfortunately,
a by-product of our massive commercial success is that we’re able to avoid the
necessary emotional struggles of life in lieu of easy superficial pleasures.
Throughout
history, every dominant civilization eventually collapsed because it became TOO
successful. What made it powerful and unique grows out of proportion and
consumes its society. I think this is true for American society. We’re
complacent, entitled and unhealthy. My generation is the first generation of
Americans who will be worse off than their parents, economically, physically
and emotionally. And this is not due to a lack of resources, to a lack of
education or to a lack of ingenuity. It’s corruption and complacency. The
corruption from the massive industries that control our government’s policies,
and the fat complacency of the people to sit around and let it happen.
There
are things I love about my country. I don’t hate the US and I still return to
it a few times a year. But I think the greatest flaw of American culture is our
blind self-absorption. In the past it only hurt other countries. But now it’s
starting to hurt ourselves.
So
this is my lecture to my alcoholic brother — my own flavor of arrogance and
self-absorption, even if slightly more informed — in hopes he’ll give up his
wayward ways. I imagine it’ll fall on deaf ears, but it’s the most I can do for
now. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some funny cat pictures to look at.
Brothers Murdered Over
‘Free Zimmerman’ Sticker? {
Typical uncivilized niggers! }
Paul Joseph Watson | Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office accused of
covering up hate crime.
Jogger Kidnapped
and Attacked over Zimmerman verdict { Typical uncivilized
niggers! }
Adan Salazar | “I’m lucky I wasn’t killed, you know?”
Operation Paul
Revere: Infowars On-Line Film Festival Is Now Live!
Infowars.com | Contestants are the militia in the info
war.
Trayvon
‘Protesters’ Storm Wal-Mart, Assault Bystanders { Typical uncivilized
niggers! }
Paul Joseph Watson | T-shirt shows Zimmerman ‘wanted dead or
alive’.
Witness claims
youths yelled ‘this is for Trayvon’ in beating { Typical uncivilized
niggers! }
The Baltimore Sun | Baltimore police say
they are investigating a witness account that a group of black youths beat a
Hispanic man near Patterson Park Sunday while saying, “This is for Trayvon.”
Russia Amasses
‘Full Combat Readiness’ Strategic Bombers
Anthony Gucciardi | Vladimir Putin has
called for the nation’s strategic bombers to enter a state of ‘full combat
readiness’ following the ‘snap drills’.
Muslim Brotherhood
Beat, Kidnap Child
YouTube | Disturbing news footage from Egypt
shows members of the Muslim Brotherhood kicking and hitting a child in the
street.
The fall of reason:
How to protect your sanity in an insane world
Mike Adams | By now, I think we all are
overwhelmingly convinced that we live in an insane world. I call it the
“post-reason era.”
Report: Amnesia
patient with Florida tie awakes in California speaking only ... Orlando
Sentinel A new clue has surfaced
in the case of a 61-year-old amnesia patient from Florida who woke up four
months ago in Southern California speaking only Swedish with no memories of his
past, The Desert Sun in Palm Springs is reporting.
Amnesia patient Michael
Boatwright's sister located in Louisiana
What we know about Michael
Boatwright, who woke up in Palm Springs with amnesia
Amnesia sufferer Michael
Boatwright
There Are 747,000 Registered Sex
Offenders In The United States
America has just about reached a new milestone – we
currently have close to three quarters of a million registered sex offenders in
this country. According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited
Children, there are 747,408 registered sex offenders in the United States right
now. And those are just the ones that have been caught and
convicted. How many more sickos are running around out there that we
don’t even know about? This isn’t just a problem – this is a national
epidemic of unprecedented proportions. Once upon a time in America, you
could let your children run around the neighborhood and play without giving it
a second thought. But now you have to watch your kids like a hawk because
there are literally millions of twisted individuals out there that would love
to get their hands on them if they could. We have become a nation that is
absolutely obsessed with sex, and it is destroying us. (Read
More.....)
Why Did The Obama Administration
“Organize And Manage” Protests Against George Zimmerman?
LIMBAUGH:
JEANTEL CALLED ZIMMEMAN A HOMOSEXUAL PREDATOR... WARNED GAY MEN GO AFTER
CHILDREN... DEVELOPING... { Typical uncivilized niggers! }
Baltimore
Witness: Group of Blacks Beat Hispanic Man, Yelling 'This Is For Trayvon'...
{ Typical uncivilized niggers! }
White
jogger beaten... { Typical uncivilized niggers! }
Protesters
storm WALMART... { Typical uncivilized niggers! }
Soul
singer attacked after dedicating song to Trayvon...
'You
m—–f——, you started this!'
PA
BUSINESS GRAFFITIED WITH 'KILL ZIMMERMAN,' SET ON FIRE... { Typical
uncivilized niggers! }
VIDEO:
CBS Reporter, Photographer Attacked... { Typical uncivilized niggers! }
LAPD
vows crackdown...
Zimmerman's
Parents in Hiding from 'Enormous Amount of Death Threats'... { Typical
uncivilized niggers! }
Chicago
Church Marquee: 'It Is Safe To Kill BLACK PEOPLE In Amerikkka'... { If only
that were true, there might be some hope; cause actually, violence by blacks
against whites, including murder, is prevalent yet underreported as axiomatic
as it is. }
Verdict
unleashed pent up rage... { Typical uncivilized niggers! }
NUGENT:
Vindicates citizen patrols, self-defense...
STEVIE
WONDER BOYCOTTS FLORIDA... { Typical uncivilized niggers! }
Maya
Angelou: 'What is really injured is psyche of our national population'... {
Typical uncivilized niggers! }
Prosecutor
Excused Potential Black Juror for Being a FOXNEWS Watcher...
Zimmerman Family Suspects Obama Tapping Their Phones...
{ Typical uncivilized niggers! }
The List Of Trayvon Martin
Revenge Attacks Is Growing Rapidly
The
acquittal of George Zimmerman has unleashed a wave of fury unlike anything the
United States has seen in a very long time. All over the country there
have been incidents where young people have expressed their frustrations by
committing violent acts. Someone needs to tell them that violence is
definitely not the answer. No matter how you may feel about the Zimmerman
verdict, there is absolutely no excuse for committing violence against innocent
people. America is never going to be able to come together until we start
choosing to love one another and forgive
one another. Anyone that chooses to regard a certain group of
people as “the enemy” because they have a different skin color is part of the
problem. When you cut any of us open, we all bleed red blood on the
inside. We are all brothers and sisters, and we need to start behaving
that way. Unfortunately, many are choosing to go down the path of
violence instead, and the list of Trayvon Martin revenge attacks is growing
rapidly. The following are some of the more prominent incidents from the
last couple of days…
*(Read More....)
Human-Animal Hybrids: Sick And
Twisted Chimeras Are Being Created In Labs All Over The Planet
Did
you know that scientists all over the globe are creating extremely bizarre
human-animal chimeras? Over the past decade, there have been some
absolutely stunning advances in the field of genetic modification. Today,
it is literally possible for college students to create new lifeforms in their
basements. Unfortunately, laws have not kept pace with these advancements,
and in many countries there are very few limits on what scientists are allowed
to do. As you will read about below, extremely creepy human-animal
hybrids are now being created in laboratories all over the planet. And
this is just the stuff that is publicly admitted. Can you imagine what
kind of sick and twisted experiments are taking place in the dark corners of
secret labs that nobody knows about? And what happens if these creatures
get out into the wild and starting mating? At that point, it would be
nearly impossible to “put the genie back into the bottle”. Scientists
seem very eager to test the limits of what is possible, but what they are
unleashing may have consequences that none of us ever dreamed possible.
Just
the other day, we learned (Read
More....)
A national DNA database is coming.
Barack Obama has already said that
he wants one. A major Supreme Court decision last
month paved the way for one. The DNA of those that commit
“serious crimes” is already being routinely collected all over the
nation. Some states (such as New Jersey) are now passing laws that will
require DNA collection from those charged with committing “low level
crimes”. And a law that was passed under George W. Bush allows the
federal government to screen the DNA of all newborn babies in the United
States. So how long will it be before we are all required to give DNA
samples to the authorities? How long will it be before DNA collection is
routinely done when we take a trip to the DMV? This may sound like
science fiction to some people, but “security experts” and law enforcement
personnel all over the country are now pushing for a national DNA database to
be established. Unfortunately, there is nothing really standing in the
way of that. The Supreme (Read
More....)
Has The Era Of Genetically Pure
“Gattaca Babies” Now Begun?
Should
selective breeding be used to improve the human race? Should we genetically
screen embryos shortly after conception and choose only those that are the most
genetically pure? This may sound like science fiction, but as you will
read about below, the technology for this is already operational. On the
18th of May, a couple in Philadelphia gave birth to a baby that came from an
embryo that was selected thanks to a cutting edge procedure known as
“next-generation sequencing”. This procedure allows scientists to read
every letter of the human genome very rapidly and very cheaply. So will
millions of parents soon be lining up to check their potential offspring for
“genetic abnormalities”? Has the era of genetically pure “Gattaca babies”
now begun?
This
new technology is being heralded as a great “breakthrough” in the field of
human fertility. According to the
Guardian, the scientists that helped develop this new procedure are
promoting it as a way to help couples produce a much higher percentage of
“healthy” babies…
The first IVF baby to be screened using a
procedure that can read every (Read
More....)
How Far Has The U.S. Fallen?
America Leads The World In These 36 Shocking Categories…
The 4th of July is a great time to celebrate
our independence from Great Britain and to remember all of the sacrifices that
our forefathers made to make this country great. But is America still
great today? Have we squandered our inheritance? Have we wrecked
the great nation that previous generations handed down to us? Those may
sound like harsh questions, but the truth is that most Americans know that the
United States is in decline. In fact, a recent Rasmussen survey found
that 49
percent of all Americans believe that the best days of America are
in the past and only 35
percent believe that the best days of America are in the
future. Those are staggering numbers, and they are an indication that we
need to take a good, long look at ourselves in the mirror. Did we lose
our way somehow? If so, can we find our way back to where we were
before? We are a nation which is in trouble physically, mentally,
emotionally, spiritually and financially. Our house is crumbling and our
foundations are rotting away. We are in desperate need of national
renewal. The following are 36 embarrassing (Read
More....)
U.S. Hypocrisy: We Claim To
Defend Freedom, But We Spy On Our Friends And Intercept All Their Data
Biggest Golden Handshakes in
History
Posted by :
Pivotfarm
Post date: 07/15/2013 - 14:11
Call it what you will, a
handshake or a parachute; the result is all the same. The rest of us just get
elbow out of the way as we get pushed through the back door. The top executives
leave by the...
1% Growth: QE Policy a
Failure, Time for A Change
Posted by: EconMatters
Post date: 07/15/2013 - 15:08
Ben Bernanke blames
fiscal policies out of Washington. However, it is starting to look more
and more like Fed policy is equally to blame for the lackluster U.S. GDP
growth.
Bernanke Has Created a $4
Trillion a Day Ticking Time Bomb
Posted by: Phoenix
Capital...
Post date: 07/15/2013 - 08:51
Wild price swings in a
market of this size (that is often leveraged at 80 to 1 or even 100 to 1) mean
massive amounts of wealth evaporating instantly. Historically, currencies are
the first asset...
Posted by :
George
Washington
Post date: 07/15/2013 - 17:36
Start Here If You’re Too
Busy to Read Up on the Spying Scandal
Posted by: williambanzai7
Post date: 07/15/2013 - 15:22
PROPAGANDA IN THE USA!
.
.
America's
Undisputed Job Dynamo: Texas
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/15/2013 - 17:26
A
quick look at job creation on a state by state basis shows some very distinct
losers, and one very obvious winner: Texas.
While
one may debate the quality
(most "growth" coming from part-time jobs) and quantity
(most recently questioned by the rather dramatic recent divergence between
JOLTS net turnover and payrolls) of reported US jobs, one thing remains a fact:
there are still 2.3 million less jobs now than there were at the start of the
great depression in December 2007, and half a million fewer jobs than in the
immediate aftermath of the Lehman failure. Yet while the inability to catch up
to a job picture from over 5 years ago is still true at the consolidated level,
the picture is vastly different when broken down by state.
A
quick look at job creation on a state by state basis shows some very distinct
losers, and one very obvious winner: Texas.
As
the following chart, which shows the cumulative job losses since December 2007
or the official start of the recession and depression,
demonstrates, while the US still has millions of jobs to make for in the
longest-ever "recovery" on record just to catch up to where it was
nearly 6 years ago (excluding the increase in the labor force), there is little
surprise when it comes to the biggest losers, which happen to be California,
Florida and of course Illinois: these combined three states account for 1.2
million, or more than half of all cumulative job losses since the start of the
Great Financial Crisis.
And
while this trifecta of tribulation is hardly surprising, what may come as shock
to some is that over the same period, the states of Texas has not only recouped
all its losses, but has gained a total of 633K jobs, putting
it firmly in first place in terms of job creation in the US. That most of these
new jobs are due to the energy sector is confirmed when looking at that other
standout - North Dakota - which like Texas, has gained some 79,300 jobs over
the same time period. The final winner among the top three job gaining states:
New York, mostly as a function of the FIRE industries roaring back following an
unprecedented multi-trillion bail out by the government and the Fed, which
continues to this day at a pace of $85 billion per month.
How
does the above data look if one shortens the time horizon to only go back to
the month following the Lehman failure, or October 2008?
More
of the same. While cumulative total job losses are smaller, the three states at
the top of job creation continue to be Texas, New York and North Dakota.
And
on a snapshot basis: the three successful states, with Texas at the top with
+542,000 jobs, have generate on a combined basis some 743K jobs, which is
nearly double the total jobs lost over the same time period.
Bottom
line: want jobs in
a New Normal America? Then focus on finance or energy.
Everyone
else gets a government job or is a part-time greeter at WalMart.
And
congratulations to Texas. California, Florida and Illinois: not so much.
Germany's
Humiliating Takedown Of The Coopted, Corrupt, Complicit, Corporate US Media
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/15/2013 - 11:29
As
the mainstream American press goes after NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and
Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, Germany's Spiegel note that the
leakers' revelations appear to becoming an afterthought. As the
Guardian's American chief noted, their competition has a "lack of
skepticism on a whole" when it comes to national security. Critical
scrutiny, she said, has been considered "unpatriotic" since 9/11.
Guest
Post: The Criminals Have Seized Power
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/15/2013 - 16:49
How do you change the direction of the
country when power has been seized by the ultra-wealthy criminal class? When the financial, economic, political, military,
judicial, and media organizations have been taken over by criminals
who are looking out only for their financial interests, the few
citizens who have the courage to speak the truth become enemies of the state. There
is no non-violent solution to this state of affairs. This is what
Fourth Turnings are all about.
Stocks
Close At Another All-Time High On Lowest Volume Day Of Year
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/15/2013 - 16:12
Thank
to Boeing's 'recovery' - since there was no fire today - the Dow gained 20
points (of which 29 points were Boeing). The S&P managed new
closing all-time highs on the lowest non-holiday volume day of the year.
Bonds were well bid early in following the bad-is-better retail sales print
(-7bps from early high yields). Commodities were leaking lower into the early
macro data but as soon as it was confirmed that the US consumer is tapped out -
gold, silver, copper, and WTI all started to surge higher. Homebuilders
notably underperformed, Utilities significantly outperformed with the
rest treading water. Early USD strength (on ripping JPY weakness) was removed
rapidly following the 'yes, the US economy is dismal' confirming data and the
slide continued all day - leaving the USD practically unchanged by the
close. This is the 14th up-day in a row for the Nasdaq (longest
streak since May 1990), the Russell is over 15% above its 200DMA (a multi-year
record), and volume has cratered in the last 14 days.
"In
Bankers We Trust" Is A Foolish Course Of Action...
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/15/2013 - 15:46
It’s been said that goldfish have the
shortest memory of any animal – only about three seconds. But a few years ago,
scientists from Israel’s Technion Institute of Technology conducted an
experiment which put to rest this erroneous myth. Based on their research, it
turns out that goldfish have a memory closer to FIVE months... which seems to
be quite a bit longer than most fund managers, bankers, and politicians.
Their meme regarding crises, appears to be "but why should any of this
matter? Those who control the system would never let things get bad."
Pick up a book some time. History is full of examples of entire societies who
thought the exact same thing. And yet, it happened. To throw caution to the
wind and say, “In bankers we trust” is a foolish course of action… and presumes
quite a bit upon the character of an entire industry that has
consistently proven itself to be morally dysfunctional.
Goodbye Full-Time Jobs, Hello
Part-Time Jobs, R.I.P. Middle Class
A
fundamental shift is taking place in the U.S. economy. In fact, this
transition is rapidly picking up momentum and is in danger of becoming an
avalanche. The percentage of full-time jobs in our economy is steadily
declining and the percentage of part-time jobs is steadily increasing.
This is not a recent phenomenon, but now there are several factors which are
accelerating this trend. One of them is Obamacare. The truth is
that Obamacare actually gives business owners incentive to cut hours and turn
full-time workers into part-time workers, and according to the Wall Street
Journal and other prominent publications this is already happening
all over the United States. Perhaps this is part of the reasons why the
U.S. economy actually lost 240,000
full-time jobs last month. (Read
More....)
Love Your Neighbor As You Love
Yourself: An Appeal For Reconciliation
Whatever
you may think about the George Zimmerman trial, the truth is that it is yet
another example that shows very clearly how divided America is at this
point. I was hesitant to write anything about the Zimmerman trial today,
because it seems like the more people talk about it the more divided we
become. But we need to have some honest discussions about these issues,
because all of this division threatens to literally tear this nation
apart. If we do not learn how to love one another and forgive one
another, America is not going to have any sort of a future. After all
this time, the people of the United States should have been able to get beyond
racial hatred. Instead, it appears to be growing with each passing
day. Right now, there are millions of Americans that hate
African-American people. Right now, there are millions of Americans that
hate Hispanic-American people. Right now, there are millions of Americans
that hate Asian-American people. Right now, there are millions of
Americans that hate white people. Right now, there are millions of
Americans that hate Jewish people. All of this hatred is evil, and it is
eating away at our nation like cancer. The problems that our country is
facing are immense, and we are never going to have any hope of solving them
until we can forgive one another and start to honestly love one another. (Read
More....)
Global
GDP Cycles, Or Another Seven Years Of Bad Economic Luck
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/15/2013 - 15:15
Extrapolating
the current decade's growth rate, Global GDP shoould be around USD 130tn by the
end of 2020. However, based on the seemingly obvious cycles that have appeared
through this series, we may be at a lowly USD80tn - over 35% lower than serial
extrapolators believe potential to be... Is it any wonder so many of
the current GDP forecasts have the mother of all hockey-sticks built in
- despite current estmates being slashed non-stop for the last two years...
Ron
Paul: "Let Market Forces Solve Organ Transplant Crisis"
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/15/2013 - 14:34
Ten-year
old cystic fibrosis patient Sarah Murnaghan captured the nation’s attention
when federal bureaucrats imposed a de facto death sentence on her by refusing
to modify the rules governing organ transplants. The rules in question forbid
children under 12 from receiving transplants of adult organs. Even though
Sarah’s own physician said she was an excellent candidate to receive an adult
organ transplant, government officials refused to even consider
modifying their rules. Supporters of the current system claim that organ
donation is too important to be left to the marketplace. But this
is nonsensical: if we trust the market to deliver food, shelter, and all other
necessities, why should we not trust it to deliver healthcare—including organs?
Pink SMSlip
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/15/2013 - 13:56
"Thx
4 all ur help, but ur fired." That was the text message that a group of 12
Florida restaurant employees received on July 4th. As the Daily
News reports, Jodi Jackson, who spent two years working at Barducci's
Italian Bistro in Winter Park, exclaimed, "I think it's immoral, I
think it's cowardice." The staff have yet to receive their final
paychecks, "I think we all deserve our compensation for money he's already
made from us," one employee noted, "I don't know what to do
now." So, it seems, despite the all-time highs in stocks, yet
another group of employed people is feeling the pinch of a nation of
corporations increasingly forced to margin-expansion at any cost. It is
self-evident surely that at some point the cost-cutting margin-expanding feeds
back into economic reality or is it simply moar of the same as the private
sector employed are forced to become public-sector sucklers en masse. Everyone
has heard about the proverbial text-message break up not. But getting a pink
SMSlip is certainly one of the more novel developments of the New Abnormal,
where employers are increasingly acting like teenagers.
Zimmerman Family
Suspects Obama Is Tapping Their Phones { Typical uncivilized
niggers! }
Steve
Watson | Concerns over special interests groups pushing for federal hearing.
Brothers Murdered
Over ‘Free Zimmerman’ Sticker? { Typical uncivilized niggers! }
Paul Joseph Watson | Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office accused of covering up hate
crime.
HAARP Facility Shuts Down
ARRL
| HAARP — a subject of fascination for many hams and the target of conspiracy
theorists and anti-government activists — has closed down.
Jogger says he was
attacked in retaliation for Zimmerman verdict { Typical uncivilized
niggers! }
FOX
News | A man who says he was jogging alongside of a road when three black men
abducted and beat him.
Stevie Wonder
Boycotting Florida Following Zimmerman Verdict (Video) { Who cares?
Old news … wonder who’d want to ‘see’ ‘little stevie’… Typical uncivilized niggers! }
Hollywoodreporter.com
| The singer refuses to perform in the state until its Stand Your Ground law is
“abolished.”
The Government’s
‘Passion’ to Protect Us
Ron
Paul | No one will put the brakes on people like Keith Alexander, whose
“passion” to “protect” us is leading us into totalitarianism.
Treasury: Debt Has Been Exactly
$16,699,396,000,000.00 for 56 Days
CNS News
| For 56 straight days the federal debt has remained approximately $25 million
below the legal limit.
Goodbye Full-Time Jobs, Hello
Part-Time Jobs, R.I.P. Middle Class
Economic
Collapse | A fundamental shift is taking place in the U.S. economy.
Don't
Be A Banker In These European Countries
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/15/2013 - 13:22
As
everyone knows, the only reason to become a banker, and be subject to constant
derision, abuse, scorn and hatred by the "99%", and potentially to a
fate comparable to that of the aristocracy in France circa 1789, is a simple
one: money. Specifically, get as much of in as short a time
period as possible, be rewarded with a taxpayer bailout or two when massive
bets go epically wrong, then convert all your cash into "hard assets"
and escape to a non-extradition country before the latest credit bubble pops.
In other words, a simple opportunity cost analysis. Which then begs the
question: why are there bankers in the following European countries: Slovenia,
Romania, Malta, Lithuania, Estonia, Czech Republic and Bulgaria. The
one thing in common these countries have is that according to a just released
European Banking Authority study, in the year ended 2011 not a single domiciled
banker made over €1 million! In other words: bankers working for feudal peasant
salaries. What a scam.
EFSF
Downgraded To AA+, Or French Fitch Flunks EFSF Following France Flub
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/15/2013 - 12:48
Prompted
by their FrAAAnce downgrade to AA+, French-owned Fitch has downgraded
Europe's last best promise/hope - the EFSF - from AAA to AA+... but
the crisis is still behind us - we are assure by such truth-sayers as Juncker,
Barroso, and Merkel (pre-elections). The key sentence is "Following
the downgrade of France's IDR, the EFSF's long-term debt issues are not
fully covered by 'AAA' guarantees and over-guarantees and, for debt issued
before October 2011, by the cash reserve." So that's good
then... Don't worry though since "Fitch assumes there will be
progress in deepening fiscal and financial integration at the eurozone
level in line with commitments by euro area policy makers"
Guest
Post: 10 Points To Consider In The Natural-Gas-Vehicle Debate
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/15/2013 - 12:15
The perception of natural gas as a
mainstream fuel for vehicles runs the gamut, dependent upon where you live: from
the improbable... to the viable... to the everyday reality. So here are
ten points to stir up the melding pot of the great natural gas vehicle debate.
The
One Chart Explanation Behind Ben Bernanke's "Open Mouth Operation"
Scramble
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/15/2013 - 10:59
The
pain that banks have experienced can best be seen in the following chart
showing the latest update in "Net unrealized gains (losses) on
available-for-sale securities" from the Fed's weekly H.8.
Two things come to mind: i) For the first time since April 2011,
unrealized gains in AFS portfolios among the entire US banking sector became
losses, and ii) The two month rate of loss creation in
MTM exempt AFS portfolio soared to the highest in series history.
Guest
Post: The Overworked And The Idle
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/15/2013 - 10:34
A society of the increasingly overworked and
involuntarily idle is not a stable or happy one. Yes, there are pockets of state fiefdoms and
private sectors where workers are well-compensated for low-stress work, but
these are exceptions, not the norm. No wonder those who can do so are quitting
and filing for Social Security or tapping their 401K retirement plans to get
by, or otherwise opting out of the labor force. Pressure is building along
multiple fault lines beneath the supposedly expanding American economy. What's
really expanding are stress, ill health, chronic depression, financial
insecurity and the frustrations of the powerless.
Olive
Oil And Feta Cheese Not Accepted By ECB As Collateral, But...
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/15/2013 - 10:17
...
everything else (give or take) is.
Goldman
Joins JPM In Cutting Q2 GDP To 1% Stall Speed; A "Funny Chart"
Becomes Funnier
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/15/2013 - 09:50
Last
week it was JPM just somewhat contradicting Jamie Dimon's "kid
gloves" CNBC infomercial, when it slashed
its Q1 GDP forecast from 2% to 1% (and about to be revised to sub-stall
speed). Today, following the latest retail sales unadjusted disaster, it is
Goldman's turn to slash its Q2 GDP tracking estimate from 1.3% to 1.0%. Stall
speed has arrived despite everyone's forecasts for the this time it's
different glorious US economic renaissance (so far
"deferred" each year since 2010).
The
iLectricChair: Woman Electrocuted To Death By Her Charging iPhone
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/15/2013 - 09:36
"Her
neck had an obvious electronic injury," was the local Public
Security Bureau's findings following the death of Ma Ailun, a 23-year old
Chinese woman whose family alleges she was electrocuted by her iPhone.
In its statement, Apple said: "We are deeply saddened to learn of this
tragic incident and offer our condolences to the Ma family. We will fully
investigate and cooperate with authorities in this matter." The case
remains under investigation, with Chinese officials yet to provide details on
whether her smartphone, the charger, or something else killed the woman; but, as
the WSJ reports, The China Consumers’ Association in May warned about the
dangers of a "flood" of uncertified power chargers on the market (in
Chinese). In the release the association warned the chargers could turn
a smartphone into a “pocket grenade” and cause explosions, electric
shock, or fires in a variety of electronic devices. Reuters
notes that Ma's sister tweeted on Sina's microblog saying that Ma collapsed
and died after using her charging iPhone 5 and urged users to be
careful and the message has gone viral - "(I) hope that Apple
Inc. can give us an explanation. I also hope that all of you will refrain from
using your mobile devices while charging."
10 Reasons Why The Global Economy
Is About To Experience Its Own Version Of “Sharknado”
Have
you ever seen a disaster movie that is so bad that it is actually good?
Well, that is exactly what Syfy's new television movie entitled "Sharknado"
is. In the movie, wild weather patterns actually cause man-eating sharks
to come flying out of the sky. It sounds absolutely ridiculous, and it
is. You can view the trailer for the movie right
here. Unfortunately, we are witnessing something just as
ridiculous in the real world right now. In the United States, the
mainstream media is breathlessly proclaiming that the U.S. economy is in great
shape because job growth is "accelerating" (even though we actually lost
240,000 full-time jobs last month) and because the U.S. stock market
set new all-time highs this week. The mainstream media seems to be
absolutely oblivious to all of the financial storm clouds that are gathering on
the horizon. The conditions for a "perfect storm" are rapidly
developing, and by the time this is all over we may be wishing that flying
sharks were all that we had to deal with. The following are 10 reasons
why the global economy is about to experience its own version of
"Sharknado"... (Read
More....)
#1
The financial situation in Portugal continues to deteriorate thanks to an
emerging political crisis. It all began last week when Portuguese
finance minister Vitor Gaspar resigned...
"Mr. Gaspar's resignation on July 1 has
opened a Pandora's box," says Nicholas Spiro, managing director of Spiro
Sovereign Strategy. "Portuguese politicians from the President down are
treating the exit of Mr. Gaspar, the architect of the fiscal and structural
reforms demanded by the troika, as a green light for a public debate about the
bail-out programme. Yet the manner in which this debate is taking place, with
the President undermining the prime minister and the opposition leader seeking
to renegotiate the terms of the programme, is spooking markets."
The
general population is becoming increasingly restless as the nation plunges down
the exact same path that Greece has gone. Nobody seems to have any solutions
as the economic problems continue to escalate. According to Reuters, the president of Portugal has added
fuel to the fire by calling for early elections next year...
Portugal's president threw the bailed-out
euro zone country into disarray on Thursday after rejecting a plan to heal a
government rift, igniting what critics called a "time bomb" by
calling for early elections next year.
Due
to all of this instability in Portugal, the yield on Portuguese bonds shot up
to 7.51% this week. That is a very bad sign.
#2
The economic depression in Greece continues to deepen, and it is being
reported that Greece will not even come close to hitting the austerity targets
that it was supposed to hit this year...
A leaked report from the European Commission
confirms that Greece will miss its austerity targets yet again by a wide
margin. It alleges that Greece lacks the “willingness and capacity” to collect
taxes. In fact, Athens is missing targets because the economy is still in
freefall and that is because of austerity overkill. The Greek think-tank IOBE
expects GDP to fall 5pc this year. It has told journalists privately that the
final figure may be -7pc.
Another
7 percent contraction for the Greek economy?
It
has already been contracting steadily for years.
At
this point, it would be hard to overstate how bad economic conditions inside
Greece are. The following is from a recent article by Simon Black...
My friend Illias took a drag of his
cigarette as he contemplated my question.
"Our government tells us that this will
be a better year. No one really believes them. But all we can do is be
optimistic. Too many people are committing suicide."
His statement probably best sums up the
situation in Greece right now. It's as if the hopelessness has gone stale, and
the only thing they have to replace it with is desperate, misguided,
faux-optimism. And anger.
There are roughly 11 million people in this
country. 3.4 million of them are employed, of which roughly one third work for
the government.
1.34 million people are 'officially'
unemployed. To put this in context, it would be as if there were 36 million
officially unemployed in the US.
More startling, if you add the number of
'inactive' workers (i.e. those who gave up looking), the total number of
unemployed is roughly 57% of the entire Greek work force.
#3
The economic crisis in the third largest country in the eurozone, Italy, has taken another turn for the worse. The
unemployment rate in Italy is up to 12.2 percent, which is the highest in
35 years. An average of 134 retail outlets are shutting
down in Italy every single day, and the debt of the country has been downgraded
again to just above junk status...
Italy’s slow crisis is again flaring up. Its
debt trajectory has punched through the danger line over the past two years.
The country’s €2.1 trillion (£1.8 trillion) debt – 129pc of GDP – may already
be beyond the point of no return for a country without its own currency.
Standard & Poor’s did not say this
outright when it downgraded the country to near-junk BBB on Tuesday. But if you
read between the lines, it is close to saying the game is up for Italy.
#4
There are rumors that some of the biggest banks in the world are in very
serious trouble. For example, Jim Willie (a financial writer who usually puts out
really solid information) is insisting that Deutsche Bank is on the verge of
collapse...
The best information coming to my desk
indicates that three major Western banks are under constant threat of failure
overnight, every night, forcing extraordinary measures to avoid failure. They
are Deutsche Bank in Germany, Barclays in London, and Citibank in New York.
Judging from the ongoing defense from prosecution and cooperation (flipped)
with Interpol and distraction of resources, the most likely bank to die next is
Deutsche Bank. They are caught with accounting fraud and outright financial
fraud over collateral shell games, pertaining to USTreasury Bonds, other
sovereign bonds in Southern Europe, and OTC derivatives linked to FOREX
currency contracts. D-Bank is a dead man walking.
Time
will tell if he is right. But without a doubt the global financial system
is extremely vulnerable right now.
Most
Americans assume that the problems that caused the financial crash of 2008 were
fixed, but that is most definitely NOT the case. In fact, our financial
system is far more shaky today than it was just before the last financial
crisis. When one major bank goes down, we could start to see others fall
like dominoes.
#5
Just before the financial crisis of 2008, the price of oil spiked
dramatically. Well, it is starting to happen again. The price of
oil hit $106 a barrel on Friday. If the price of oil continues to rise at
this pace, it is going to mean big trouble for economies all over the planet.
And
as I wrote about recently, every time the average price of a gallon of
gasoline in the United States has risen above $3.80 during the past three
years, a stock market decline has always followed.
The
average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States reached $3.55 on Friday. This is a number to
keep a close eye on.
#6
Mortgage rates are absolutely skyrocketing
right now...
The average U.S. rate on the 30-year fixed
mortgage rose this week to 4.51%, a two-year high. Rates have been rising on
expectations that the Federal Reserve will slow its bond purchases this year.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday
that the average on the 30-year loan jumped from 4.29% the previous week. Just
two months ago, it was 3.35% — barely above the record low of 3.31%.
This
threatens to throw the U.S. real estate market into a slowdown worse than
anything we have seen since the last recession.
#7
This upcoming corporate earnings season is shaping up to be an extremely
disappointing one. In fact, the percentage of companies issuing negative
earnings guidance for this quarter is at a level that we have never seen
before.
So
is this a sign that economic activity is starting to slow down significantly?
#8
U.S. stocks are massively overextended right now. In fact, according
to Graham Summers, this is the most
overextended stocks have been in the past 20 years...
Today, the S&P 500 is sitting a full 30%
above its 200-weekly moving average. We have NEVER been this overextended above
this line at any point in the last 20 years.
#9 Rapidly
rising interest rates are causing the bond market to begin to come apart at the
seams. There is concern that the 30 year bull market for bonds is now
over and investors are starting to pull their money out of the market at a
staggering rate. In fact, 80 billion dollars was pulled
out of bond funds during June alone.
#10
Rapidly rising interest rates could cause an implosion of the derivatives
market at any moment. As I am so fond of reminding everyone, there are approximately 441 trillion dollars
worth of interest rate derivatives out there.
If
interest rates continue to soar, we could potentially see a financial disaster
that is absolutely unprecedented, and the too big to fail banks would be the
most vulnerable.
As USA Today recently reported, there are
just five major banks that absolutely dominate derivatives trading in the
United States...
Five of the biggest U.S. banks — JPMorgan,
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and Morgan
Stanley — account for more than 90% of derivatives contracts. Regulators
estimate that nearly half of derivatives are traded outside the United States.
Could
you imagine the financial devastation that we would see if several of those
banks started to collapse at the same time?
When
you hear the mainstream media begin to talk about a "derivatives crisis" involving major banks,
that will be a sign that disaster is upon us.
Most
Americans don't realize that Wall Street has been transformed into the largest
casino in the history of the world. Most Americans don't realize that the
major banks are literally walking a financial tightrope each and every day.
All
it is going to take is one false step and we will be looking at a financial
crisis even worse than what happened back in 2008.
So
enjoy this little bubble of false prosperity while you can.
It
is not going to last for too much longer.
Amanda Bynes Calls President
Obama, Michelle Obama "Ugly" Amanda Bynes called President
Barack Obama and Michelle Obama "ugly" on Twitter on July 8 { She’s
really got that right … unless you think apes/monkeys are attractive. They’re
ugly in every way possible even beyond the lack of pulchritude. }
INDiaNa SNoWDeN... Posted by : williambanzai7 Post date: 07/09/2013 - And the Temple of Asylums...
INDiaNa
SNoWDeN...
Submitted by williambanzai7 on 07/09/2013
GoLD VaRMiNT...
Submitted by williambanzai7 on 07/10/2013
Inflation Is Too Low? Are You
Kidding Us Bernanke?
Federal
Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said this week that inflation in the United
States needs to be higher. Yes, he actually came right out and said
that. It almost seems as if Bernanke is trying to purposely hurt the
middle class. On Wednesday, Bernanke told the press that "both sides of our mandate are
saying we need to be more accommodative". Of course he
was referring to the Fed's dual mandate to keep unemployment and inflation low,
but Bernanke has a very unique interpretation of that mandate. According
to Bernanke, inflation in the U.S. is now "too
low". The official inflation rate is currently sitting at
about 1 percent, and Bernanke insists that such a low rate of inflation is not
good for the economy. He would prefer that the rate of
inflation be up around 2 percent, and he is hoping that more "monetary
accommodation" will help push inflation up and the unemployment rate down.
(Read
More....)
But
what Bernanke will never admit is that the official inflation rate is a total
sham. The way that inflation is calculated has changed more than 20 times
since 1978, and each time it has been changed the goal has been to make it
appear to be lower than it actually is.
If
the rate of inflation was still calculated the way that it was back in 1980, it
would be about 8 percent right now and everyone
would be screaming about the fact that inflation is way too high.
But
instead, Bernanke can get away with claiming that inflation is "too
low" because the official government numbers back him up.
Of
course many of us already know that inflation is out of control without even
looking at any numbers. We are spending a lot more on the things that we
buy on a regular basis than we used to.
For
example, when Barack Obama first entered the White House, the average price of
a gallon of gasoline was $1.84. Today, the average price of a gallon of
gasoline has nearly doubled. It is currently sitting at $3.49, but when I filled up my vehicle
yesterday I paid nearly $4.00 a gallon.
And
of course the price of gasoline influences the price of almost every product in
the entire country, since almost everything that we buy has to be transported
in some manner.
But
that is just one example.
Our
monthly bills also seem to keep growing at a very brisk pace.
Electricity
bills in the United States have risen faster than the overall rate of inflation
for five years in a row,
and according to USA Today water bills have actually
tripled over the past 12 years in some areas of the country.
No
inflation there, eh?
Well,
what about health insurance?
Yup,
that has been going up rapidly as well. Since 2010, employee health
insurance premiums have been rising an average of between 8 and 9 percent a
year.
So
where is this low inflation that everyone has been talking about?
It
certainly cannot be found in college tuition costs. Since 1986, the cost
of college tuition in the United States has risen by 498 percent.
What
about at the supermarket?
We
all have to buy food. It sure would be nice if inflation was low there.
Unfortunately,
anyone that shops for groceries on a regular basis knows exactly how painful
food prices are becoming.
And
over time, those increases really add up. An article by Benny Johnson details how the
prices of many of the things that we buy on a regular basis absolutely soared
between 2002 and 2012. Just check out these price increases...
Eggs:
73%
Coffee:
90%
Peanut
Butter: 40%
Milk:
26%
A
Loaf Of White Bread: 39%
Spaghetti
And Macaroni: 44%
Orange
Juice: 46%
Red
Delicious Apples: 43%
Beer:
25%
Wine:
60%
Electricity:
42%
Margarine:
143%
Tomatoes:
22%
Turkey:
56%
Ground
Beef: 61%
Chocolate
Chip Cookies: 39%
So
how in the world can Bernanke possibly come to the conclusion that inflation is
too low?
Is
he insane?
If
you want to see a really good example of the impact that inflation has had on
our economy in recent years, just check out this amazing chart which shows
what Bernanke's reckless policies have done to the prices of commodities during
his tenure.
Meanwhile,
paychecks are not rising at the same pace that inflation is. In fact,
median household income in the United States has fallen for four years in a row.
Overall, it has declined by over $4000 during that time span.
So
the cost of living just keeps rising, but the middle class is making less money
than before.
That
certainly is not good news.
Of
course a big reason for this is because the quality of jobs in America continues to steadily decline.
Only 47 percent of adults have a full-time
job at this point, and 53 percent of all American workers make less than
$30,000 a year.
Most
families are just barely scraping by from month to month, and Bernanke has the
gall to say that he needs to try to get prices to rise even faster.
Is
Bernanke also going to increase all of our paychecks in order to make up for
the "inflation tax" that is being imposed on all of us?
Of
course not.
And
sadly, it appears that the number of Americans that are losing their jobs is
starting to move upward again. We just learned that initial claims for
unemployment benefits rose to 360,000 last week.
That
is getting dangerously close to the 400,000 number that I keep talking about.
The
middle class in the United States is shrinking with each passing day,
and Bernanke seems absolutely clueless.
His
answer to every economic problem always seems to involve printing more
money. Thankfully, about 1.8 trillion dollars of that money
is being stashed away at the Fed and has not gotten out into the real economy
yet.
But
someday that money will be unleashed on the real economy, and it will create
crippling inflation.
Unfortunately,
Bernanke doesn't seem to really be too concerned about the mountains of cash
that the big banks have parked at the Fed. He is just happy that his
reckless money printing has pumped up the stock market to new all-time highs.
He
should enjoy this little period of euphoria while he can, because this bubble
will burst like all false financial bubbles eventually do.
And
when this bubble bursts, the foolishness of Bernanke and the Federal Reserve
will be glaringly apparent to everyone.
Will North Colorado Be The 51st State In The
Union?
There
are ten counties in northern Colorado that are discussing plans to secede from
the state of Colorado in order to form a new state that would be known as
"North Colorado". North Colorado would have a population of
more than 300,000 people, and it would be the 42nd largest state in the country
by land area. The county officials that are leading this movement say
that a "collective mass" of issues has resulted in this
desire to leave the state of Colorado for good. In recent years, the
Democratically-controlled state legislature has been pursuing new regulations
on the oil and gas industries, it has imposed strict new renewable energy
standards throughout the state and it has adopted new gun control measures that
are highly unpopular with rural voters. The desire to be independent of
the meddling bureaucrats in the state capital is certainly a commendable goal,
but there are some obstacles that will make establishing a new state very
difficult. Hopefully the challenges will not cause those pursuing this
new state to lose heart. (Read
More....)
Which
Is Greater: Full Time Jobs Or Americans On Food Assistance And Disability?
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 17:01
Over
the past week there has been some speculation whether the number of Americans
who receive food assistance and/or are on disability, outnumber full-time
employed workers in the US. Here is the answer.
Bernanke
Unleashes New Record Highs For Stocks
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 16:14
The
last 12 days have seen the S&P 500 surge 7.5% - this is the fastest run
since the co-ordinated global intervention that started Thanksgiving 2011.
The overnight gap open never looked like being tested and volume remained
average at best all day (until the 1400ET vert-ramp took us instantaneously
above the previous all-time high close - running stops on the way - and pushing
volume well 'below' average). Interestingly, the sectors did not enjoy
the smash higher that the indices did and all pretty much trod water from open
to close (with builders best all day). All indices are handsomely
green from the 6/19 FOMC statement and only Materials and Builders are red (-1%
from 6/19 FOMC). The same pattern was seen in gold, silver, copper, and bonds
(overnight surge higher and then flatline for the day). The long-end of
the TSY complex underperformed (-2bps vs 7Y -8.5bps) and as the stock
indices exploded to highs, credit markets were not following along (and nor was
VIX which dramatically diverged from stocks' exuberance).
Microsoft
Helped The NSA Bypass Its Own Encryption Software, Spy On Its Clients
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 15:36
Microsoft
helped the NSA to circumvent its encryption to address concerns that the agency
would be unable to intercept web chats on the new Outlook.com portal; The
agency already had pre-encryption stage access to email on Outlook.com,
including Hotmail; The company worked with the FBI this year to allow the NSA
easier access via Prism to its cloud storage service SkyDrive, which now has
more than 250 million users worldwide; Microsoft also worked with the FBI's
Data Intercept Unit to "understand" potential issues with a feature
in Outlook.com that allows users to create email aliases; Skype, which was
bought by Microsoft in October 2011, worked with intelligence agencies last
year to allow Prism to collect video of conversations as well as audio;
Material collected through Prism is routinely shared with the FBI and CIA, with
one NSA document describing the program as a "team sport".
Guest
Post: Gold's Changing Anticorrelation To The Dollar
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 15:30
Over the past few years we have attempted to
show that most economic data are nonlinear and best studied by methods suitable
for complex systems. Such systems are not easily analyzed using methods like
linear regression or fourier analysis. In fact we would go so far as to say
that such methods can lead you to the wrong conclusions. The world's
situation is complex and changing. Change can drive unpredictable
variations in market preferences--so while it would seem logical that people's
preference for US dollars and gold might normally vary inversely, perhaps there
are some circumstances when the market equally seeks both.
JPM:
Tapering Still Coming In September
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 15:15
"Nothing in yesterday's remarks led us to question our
view that tapering in September is coming, conditional on the data cooperating. To
the contrary, when asked if he regretted mentioning slowing the pace of
purchases recently, he stated that "notwithstanding some
volatility that we've seen in the past six weeks, that speaking now and
explaining what we're doing may have avoided, you know, a much more difficult
situation in another time." Rather than push back against the way
his comments were interpreted, the Chairman seemed to welcome the better
alignment of the market's view with the Fed's view."
And
Another Vertical Stock Ramp
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 14:37
Update: we
have isolated the reason for the ramp. The latest stop hunt in the Stalingrad
& Poorski 471 is attributed to the Chinese finance minister Lou who said
that China H1 growth will be slower than 7.7%. Remember: the faster the global
economy goes to hell in a handbasket, the faster global equities hit infinity.
Whoever
said perfectly broken and centrally-planned markets were boring.
In
this space we would normally insert a chart of the S&P500 here but that
would just be waste of NSA spy server space: just imagine a flat line and then
a sudden vertical spike higher to new all time record highs on absolutely no
news.
From
Perennial (Rumored) LBO Candidate To Imminent Restructuring: How The Unmighty
Radioshack Has Fallen
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 14:13
There
was a time when one couldn't spend an hour without some moronic rumor of a
Radioshack LBO popping up. Those time are gone. Instead, as DebtWire reports, the rumor of a takeover
has been replaced with the all too unpleasant reality of a corporate
restructuring which may or may not end up in Chapter and which likely means the
equity is all but wiped out. As DW reports the firm is set to listen to restructuring
pitches from the usual restructuring suspects, which means unless someone is
crazy enough to do another JCP-type deal (they aren't), the firm's debt is
about to be substantially discharged. This usually means a full or at least
partial wipe out of the equity tranche below it. "The move to hire a
banker to explore a balance sheet fix comes as the struggling electronics
retailer faces a string of maturities, escalating cash burn and bloated
inventory levels, the sources said. RadioShack first engaged AlixPartners for
operational help over a year ago, as previously reported by Debtwire."
- Comments:
45
- Reads: 3,425
Spot The
Difference
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 14:03
The
public furore over the closure of state TV in Greece will likely be nothing
compared to the glaring similarities of the new Greek state TV to the Russian
broadcasting channel of Mikhail Gorbachev. It seems the Russian influence in
Cyprus has leaked into its close neighbor as the following two images suggest.
Rick
Santelli Rages: "Who Is Bernanke Working For?"
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 13:37
Reminiscing
on the good ol' days when traders and investors poured over fundamental
metrics, CNBC's Rick Santelli looks upon the current environment as a
single-factor "Bernanke-loves-me, he-loves-me-not" un-reality
and the impact he has on savers. "It seems a little bit ridiculous,"
he understates before launching into two minutes of clarifying thought on just
what it is that Bernanke is doing and that we are suffering through. Just
who is Bernanke working for?
30
Year Squeezes By With Lowest Bid To Cover Since August 2011
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 13:15
This
week's final auction is over, in the form of a $13 billion 30 Year reopening,
which like the previous 3 and 10 Years, was "good enough"
but certainly nothing to write home about. The final yield of 3.660% stopped
through the When Issued by 1 basis point so the market was mispricing the
demand in the minutes leading up to the sale, however, the Bid to Cover of just
2.26 showed that not all was well under the sun - this was the lower BTC since
August 2011, or the "debt ceiling" auction, and lower than both last
month's 2.47 and the LTM average 2.57. The internals were in line with
Indirects allotted 40.2%, Direct take down doubling from 8.5% to 16.3% and
Dealers allocation dropping from 51.3% to 43.4%. Finally, following the past
two auctions, the collateral squeeze in the bond market appears to have eased a
bit on the short end with the 3 Year trading -0.02% down from -0.55% yesterday,
although the 10 Year squeeze continuing still and trading special-er at -0.40%
compared to -0.30% yesterday. How long until the Fed monetize all the Dealer
allocated $5.6 billion in future POMOs? Keep an eye out on Cusip 912810RB6 in
futures 30 year POMOs to see how much of this bond is promptly flipped back to
the Fed.
"A
21st Century Glass-Steagall Act"
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 12:50
We
are confident the following amusing bill titled grandiosely enough "A
21st Century Glass-Steagall Act" (the
Bill text here) by Elizabeth Warren, John McCain et al, to pretend
Congress is not a bought and paid for by Wall Street marionette, will have a
last minute rider that says "Compliance with any or all of the above
provisions is purely voluntary."
On
The Ground In Athens: "Too Many People Are Committing Suicide"
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 12:30
"Our
government tells us that this will be a better year. No one really believes
them. But all we can do is be optimistic. Too many people are committing suicide."
Complete
2013 Year To Date Hedge Fund Performance
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 12:00
European Bonds And Stocks Slide
From Bernanke Opening Exuberance
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 11:47
It
seems the early exuberance that Bernanke's utterings caused in world markets
was faded non-stop in Europe. European bonds and stocks saw their best
levels of the day at the open and never saw them again. Greece and
Portugal underperformed their peers; Italian stocks actually closed lower on
the day and while bonds did stage a comeback into the close, they all closed
the day wider from yesterday. EURUSD was the big story - its
biggest shift since January 2011 (with a 450 pip swing) - but
as the day wore on the USD clambered back some strength (even as US equities
ignored its retracement).
Chinese Ghost Cities Coming To The
Las Vegas Housing Market
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 11:32
Let’s face it, the Las Vegas real
estate market has gone full Chinese. By full Chinese, we mean a
centrally planned bubble has been created that is just asking to blow up.
We’ve covered the renewed
insanity of the Las Vegas market before, but this article from yesterday’s Wall
Street Journal provides even more detail. In a nutshell, as a result
of Assembly Bill 284, which essentially made foreclosures impossible in Nevada,
extremely delinquent homes are not coming for sale, and this phony market
signal is leading to rampant overbuilding and price speculation. Bubbles
and bullshit. It’s the American way.
What
Every Student in America Needs To Know About The Federal Reserve
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 11:07
This is the essential primer on the
Fed that every high school and college student in America should read.
If they study this short essay, they will grasp the essence of the Fed and understand
why the financial Status Quo is doomed.
The
Day The Carry Trade Died (Again)
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 11:06
Another day, another 3-sigma swing in one of the biggest and
most important FX carry-trades.
AUDJPY is collapsing this morning as the smell of leveraged trades being tapped
on the shoulder is all too fresh. Critically, carry trades are predicated on
leveraging low returns in a low-volatility world; the shocks from a few weeks
ago saw carry unwinds en masse - but all it took was a handful of Fed officials
and Draghi/Carney's chatter and they are backing up the truck of the
carry-express once again - that is until yesterday when the Minutes and
Bernanke stepped up the currency wars once again. This kind of incredible
volatility - unless everyone in the world is now a non-MtM trader - means
fewer carry trades (or perhaps just a shift to another leveragable
position).
House
Proposes To Wind-Down GSEs Within 5 Years
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 10:50
There
will be an increasing cry of 'not fair' from the Perry Capital's of the world
as Jeb Hensarling unveils a dramatic plan to overhaul the GSEs (and broad housing
finance in general). The chairman of the House financial services
committee wants Fannie and Freddie to be wound-down within 5 years -
removing the explicit government guarantees and demanding that:
- *HENSARLING SAYS HE WANTS HOUSING
POLICY FOCUSED ON TAXPAYER
and
not:
- *HENSARLING: U.S. HOUSING FINANCE CAN'T
BE DESIGNED FOR INDUSTRY
Higher
down-payments for FHA loans, limited to first-time-homebuyers only, and
reducing the conforming loan-limits are all likely to drive the hedge funds to
more litigation and complaint that this will end the housing recovery and their
dividend stream. Hensarling wants to create a securitization platform
'utility-like' entity with the government serving only as a catastrophic
reinsurer.
Fed
Governor Elizabeth Duke Resigns
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 10:35
A
harbinger of what will happen to the Chairsatan perhaps? Or is this just a
logical response of what the "other half" of the Fed, those who
demanded an end to QE by the end of 2013, think about Bernanke's latest public
statement. If Dick Fisher quits next, watch out.
Klarman
Clarity: "If The Government [Still] Can't Allow Failure Then We Are Indeed
Close To Collapse"
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 10:06
If the economy is so fragile that the
government cannot allow failure, then we are indeed close to collapse. For
if you must rescue everything, then ultimately you will be able to rescue
nothing.
-
Seth Klarman, Baupost
Third
Largest Futures Broker Gets Record Fine For HFT Stock Market Manipulation
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 09:34
When
we tapered our coverage of HFT manipulation and stock market abuse some time
ago, we thought that the message had been heard loud and clear: high frequency
trading is a sophisticated market manipulating parasite, whose only real function
is to abuse market structure and integrity, by making conventional market
manipulation practices more difficult to spot and identify. It turns out some,
i.e., Newedge, thought they could still get away with traditional manipulative
practices such as spoofing, layering, momentum ignition, wash trading,
bypassing, and others, if only they were wrapped in an HFT blanket. It did so
for four years from 2008 until 2011. As it turns out it was wrong, and in a
stunning example of actually doing its job, FINRA fined Newedge, which is one
of the largest futures brokers in the world and ranks third in terms of U.S.
customer assets on deposit, a record $9.5 million.
What
Did Bernanke Do To World Markets?
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 09:25
Before
the US equity (cash) markets open this morning, we thought it might be useful
to survey the reaction of the world's markets to Bernanke's words last night.
It seems, for now, that FX markets have given back the biggest portion of the
shift with the USD having retraced around half of its losses
post-Bernanke. Gold, Stocks, and Bonds are all flatlined from the
knee-jerk higher and overnight volumes have been very thin as European bonds
and peripheral stock markets did not enjoy the same level of exuberance (and Japanese
stocks are well off overnight highs).
The
Difference Between 2 And 20 (Inches) - Shrinking The Hedge Fund Myth
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 09:07
Behold
what happens when Hedge Fund viagra "expert networks" and
"information arbitrage" is taken away, and everyone trades on the
same information.
- Comments:
43
- Reads: 14,538
Initial
Claims Spike To 360K: Highest In Two Months
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 08:42
Now
that Bernanke has thrown in the towel and reverted back to the old bad news
is good news regime (or did he - GETCO's vacuum tubes at least sure seem
to think so), there was hardly anything more the market could ask for than a
horrible Initial Claims print. It got just that with today's initial
unemployment claims which soared from last week's upward revised 344K (only +1k
revision this time) to 360K, well above the consensus (and Joe LaVorgna)
forecast of 340K. Sure enough, the BLS said the July claims were difficult to
seasonally adjust, so let's look at the NSA claims which jumped by 49,778 in
the week ended July 6 to 384,829 making one wonder if the BLS' instruction in
the holiday shortened week was to actually represent a worse economic reality
unlike during the Obama pre-reelection months. The only other notable item in
the report was the ongoing drop in Extended claims, with EUCs down by 23K to
just 1.6 million, 1 million less than a year ago as claims exhaustion means
ever more people drop out of the official labor pool. Permanently.
Portuguese
President Re-Ignites "Time-Bomb"; Threatens Early Elections
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 08:27
Despite
being told last week of the successful solution that the politicians of
Portugal had procured - and thusly seeing Portuguese bonds and stocks surge in
a renewed bluster of hope and faith that all is well again; it seems that,
shocker, nothing is fixed. As Reuters
reports, Portugal's political crisis re-deepened today after the
President rejected a plan to heal a government rift and critics accused him of
igniting a "time-bomb' by calling for early elections. Anibal
Cavaco Silva rejected a cabinet re-shuffle, and proposed a coalition to
guarantee support for the Troika-imposed austerity measures (which
theoretically means Portugal will exit its bailout next year) to be followed by
elections - implicitly showing little faith that any party can rule effectively
through the middle of next year. "The announcement... comes as a
surprise, ... adding anothe problem to the one that already existed,"
noted one analyst.
Greek
Unemployment, Non-Performing Loans Soar To Fresh Record Highs
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 08:07
It
wouldn't be the new normal if the collapse in Q2 US GDP to sub-1%
wasn't met by a new record high in the Dow Jones. And it certainly wouldn't be
the new abnormal if a day of resplendent green in European bourses
didn't have some "matching" economic news out of that perpetual
reminder that Keynesianism in the end always fails: Greece. Luckily, validating
that all is unwell and stocks can proceed to soar to record highs unbothered,
on one hand the Greek
Statistics Office reported that Greek unemployment in April just rose to a
new all time high of 26.9%, up from 26.8% in March, and up from 23.1% a year
ago, while Kathimerini
reports that Non-performing loans: those perpetual thorns of insolvency in
bank balance sheets, just surged to €66 billion, amounting to a whopping 29% at
the end of March from a "manageable" 24.2% at end-December. That's
a ridiculous 20% increase in total NPLs in three months that was only exposed
due to the Troika's stress testing! Just how atrocious is the reality
on European bank books anyway?
Goodbye
Larry Kudlow Report
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 07:41
In
a surreal and deja vu-ish turn of events, three days ago we
reported that in parallel with the ongoing collapse in CNBC viewership, the
ratings of some of its shows namely Jim Cramer's Mad Money and Larry Kudlow's
Report had just hit all time lows. This was met with an immediate response by
Larry Kudlow himself who, alongside Groundhog
Phil-fodder Joe LaVorgna, decided to take Zero Hedge to task for reporting
that part-time jobs are not really full-time jobs and invited us over to their
show to explain how dare we point out the weakness in the manipulated BLS
datadump. We were kind enough to remind Mr. Kudlow that the last time someone
from CNBC "invited" us over, i.e., Dennis "Digital
Dickweed" Kneale, their show was promptly cancelled. To wit: "While
we appreciate the offer, the last thing we intend to do is suffer Mr. Kudlow
the same fate as that experienced by his predecessor Dennis Kneale who also
invited Zero Hedge on his laughable excuse for a show in 2009, only to be
sacked a few months later." Make it two for two as irony strikes again.
The NY Post reports that Kudlow's show is over.
Market Recap
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 07:28
- Risk on assets supported by yesterday's
speech by Bernanke, who said that highly accommodative policy needed for
the foreseeable future and that current unemployment of 7.6%, if anything,
overstates health of US labour market.
- ECB's Weidmann said that the ECB has
not tied itself to the mast with forward guidance, which does not rule out
rate hikes when inflationary pressures emerge.
- The BoJ kept their monetary policy
unchanged and retained plan for JPY 60-70trl annual rise in monetary base.
Frontrunning:
July 11
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/11/2013 - 07:22
- Bernanke Supports Continuing Stimulus
Amid Debate Over QE (BBG)
- Portugal president wants 'salvation'
deal, including opposition (Reuters)
- Egypt has less than two months imported
wheat left - ex-minister (Reuters)
- A rise in long-term interest rates is
creating challenges and opportunities for the largest U.S. banks. (WSJ)
- BoJ says Japanese economy is
‘recovering’ (FT)
- More Chinese cities likely to curb auto
sales (Reuters)
- PC Shipments Fall for 5th Quarter (BBG)
- Property Crushes Hedge Funds in
Alternative Markets (BBG)
- New aid gives Greece summer respite
before showdown (Reuters)
- Rajoy Punishes Exporters Sustaining
Spain’s Economy (BBG)
THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE
15 Signs That The Quality Of Jobs
In America Is Going Downhill Really Fast
Trying
to find a job in America today can be an incredibly frustrating
experience. Most of the jobs that are available seem to pay very little,
and there is intense competition for just about any job that is open. But
it wasn't always like this. When I was in high school, I was immediately
hired when I applied for a job at McDonalds because they were so desperate for
workers that they would hire just about anyone that could flip a burger.
But in this
economic environment, a single nationwide hiring event conducted by
McDonalds resulted in a million job applications, and only a small
percentage of those applicants were actually hired. Our economy simply
does not produce enough jobs for everyone anymore, and the percentage of
"good jobs" continues to decline. That means that it is getting
really hard to find a job that will enable you to support a family, and a lot
of people end up doing jobs that they are massively overqualified for.
But when times are tough, people are going to do what they have to do in order
to survive. (Read
More....)
The
Golden Backwardation Rabbit Hole Gets Deeper: Subzero GOFO Slide Accelerates
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/09/2013 - 15:39
Yesterday
we described
the historic inversion in the Gold Forward Offered Rate, where the 1 and 3
Month GOFO rates sliding into negative territory for the first time since 2008
and 1999 respectively. Today, using the latest
LBMA rate update, we observe that the gold backwardation is accelerating,
and now the 6 Month GOFO has also joined the complex into sub-zero territory.
Charles
Gave: So Here We Are...
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/09/2013 - 18:11
- China, the single biggest contributor
to global growth over the past decade, slowing markedly.
- World trade now flirting with
recession.
- OECD industrial production in negative
territory YoY.
- Southern Europe showing renewed signs
of political tensions as unemployment continues its relentless march
higher and tax receipts continue to collapse.
- Short-term interest rates almost
everywhere around the world that are unable to go any lower, even as real
rates start to creep higher.
- Valuations on most equity markets that
are nowhere near distressed (except perhaps for the BRICS?).
- A World MSCI that has now just dipped
below its six month moving average.
- A diffusion index of global equity
markets that is flashing dark amber.
- Margins in the US at record highs and
likely to come under pressure, if only because of the rising dollar.
Three Funny
Charts
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/09/2013 - 17:32
Nothing
like good ole' Goldman to brighten up things with a wink and a smile just as
the economy is sliding, earnings are retrenching (and declining excluding
pension underfunding adjustments), cash flow is negative and revenues are
poised to double dip.
WTI
Spikes Following News Of GOM Platform Loss Of Control, Spill
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/09/2013 - 16:54
Even
if the last thing the tapering US "recovery" needed is a surge in
energy costs, it may soon be getting them following yet another news flashback,
this time to the 2010 GOM disaster. Just headlines for now from Bloomberg:
- U.S. IS RESPONDING TO A LOSS OF WELL
CONTROL IN GULF OF MEXICO
- GULF OF MEXICO EVENT OCCURRED AT SHIP
SHOAL BLACK 225 PLATFORM
- GULF SITE POSSIBLE SHEEN IS OVER 4
MILES WIDE BY 3/4 MILE LONG
- ENERGY RESOURCES TECHNOLOGY GULF OF
MEXICO OWNS PLATFORM: U.S.
- U.S.: COMPANY ASSESSMENT SAYS GAS
FLOWING FROM GULF WELL
WTI
meanwhile up another $0.70 just shy of $105. Time to rid the world of evil
speculators once and for all.
DoubleLine
Webcast On "The End Of QE As We Know It" With Bond Rout Update
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/09/2013 - 16:20
Jeff
Gundlach may not be present at today's DoubleLine live webcast titled ominously
enough "The End of QE as We Know It", which will be led by the firm's
Jeffrey Sherman, but the firm is sure to provide some guidance on how the
recent bond rout has impacted bond funds, and what the future of risk duration
is in a time when Bernanke seems hell bent on pushing everyone out of bonds and
into stocks.
Crude
Soars To $104 Dragging Equities With It In "Summer Of 2008" Flashback
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/09/2013 - 16:15
Anyone
who followed today's trading action with a very distinct sense of summer of
2008 deja vu dread, where soaring crude led to just one thing, soaring
stocks, they are forgiven, because this is precisely how one can summarize
today's action. In a day devoid of any news (except for the JOLTS survey of
course, which confirmed the gaming of NFP payroll numbers), in which bonds did
absolutely nothing, with the 10 Year trading in a very tight range just shy of
2.65%, it was all about low-volume levitating equities and the energy complex.
Guest
Post: The Dead Weight Of Sluggish Global Growth
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/09/2013 - 14:51
The
U.S. economy weakened appreciably in the first quarter of 2013. But what if
this weakness persists into the second quarter just completed, and worsens
still in the second half of this year? Q1 GDP, as reported on June 26th, was revised
lower to just 1.8%. And various indications suggest that Q2 could come in
slightly lower still, at 1.6%. Might the U.S. economy be guiding to a long-term
GDP of 1.5%? That’s the rate identified by such observers as Jeremy Grantham –
the rate at which we combine aging demographics, lower fertility rates,
high resource costs, and the burdensome legacy of debt. After a four-year
reflationary rally in just about everything, and now with an emerging interest
rate shock, the second half of 2013 appears to have more downside risk than
upside. Have global stock markets started to discount this possibility?
Caption
Contest: The Drone Ranger
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/09/2013 - 14:19
With
the eponymous Johnny Depp July 4th blockbuster a total
dud, now is the time to start even floppier thinking sequels. Here is one
such suggestion.
The Revenue
Recession Of 2013
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/09/2013 - 14:09
If
you’ve wondered what the next recession might bring in the way of U.S.
corporate earnings, you don’t have long to wait for an answer. Analysts
expect the 30 companies of the Dow Jones Industrial Average to post a meager
0.7% top line growth for the upcoming Q2 2013 reporting season. If
recent history – think all the way back to Q1 2013 – is any guide, that means
we’ll actually see a decline in revenues for the just completed quarter once
all the numbers are out. And with Q1 posting an average negative
0.6% top line comparison to last year, that will constitute a
“Revenue recession” for these large and generally well-managed multinationals.
If that makes you question why U.S. stocks are still up 15% on the year, look
to both corporate profits (still at record highs) and the anticipation for a
better second half. Hope may not be a strategy, as the old saying goes,
but it certainly moves markets.
S&P
Downgrades Italy From BBB+ From BBB; Full "Puffery" Statement
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/09/2013 - 13:55
Just
more meangingless drivel form a clueless, paid for rating agency (which
recently disclosed it would plead "puffery" in its defense against
the US lawsuit) now that the ECB is intent on actually lowering the
EURUSD, because unlike last year, there is no (immediate) fear of
redenomination risk as a result of a sliding EURUSD. Thank you Japanese carry
trade.
Guest
Post: The Sky Is (Not) Falling: A “Little More Chicken” Tale
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/09/2013 - 13:36
We
live in a money paradigm. All things are delivered for money (trade). All goods
are compared to money (prices). Then we live and die by our trade and the
money-signals that prices give us. Stop trade, wobble the prices around, and we
starve by millions. We also swim in a consumer paradigm. We work to get people
halfway around the world buy our stuff so that we can buy stuff back from them.
Why? If you want an apple, which is easier: to work, trade that work for money
through the online banking system, have money load that apple on a tractor in
New Zealand, ship it to a warehouse, a cargo ship, a truck, a store, your car,
then your mouth? Or is it easier just to go in the back yard and pick one?
Worried about prices? All those middle men must be paid, from New Zealand to
New Hampshire. Which do you think is cheaper? Which do you think is more
reliable? Which do you think tastes better?
3
Year Bond Auction Sizzles, Provides Relief To Recent Collateral Shortage
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/09/2013 - 13:14
As
reported yesterday
when we showed the very special rate that the 3 Year was trading in repo
(-1.45%, same as today), many were looking to today's 3 Year auction to relieve
some of the collateral shortage issues that have developed across various asset
classes. And sure enough, following last month's abysmal 3
Year auction, today's pricing of $32 billion in 3
Year paper was like night and day compared to a month ago.
Guest
Post: Telegraphing The Turnaround In Gold
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/09/2013 - 12:45
As of last Friday, gold has now fallen as
much 35.4% (based on London PM fix prices) over 96 weeks. But if you're like us, you
still recognize that the core reasons for investing in gold haven't changed.
People who sold their gold recently made a shortsighted decision. Before
too long precious metals will rebound - and probably in a big way. But when?
Does history have any clues about how long we'll have to wait for that rebound?
Moscow
Has Some Fighting Words For John Kerry
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/09/2013 - 12:20
Russia
to United States (et al): "you are lying."
- MOSCOW'S U.N. ENVOY SAYS RUSSIAN
ANALYSIS INDICATES SYRIAN REBELS, NOT ARMY, CARRIED OUT ALEPPO CHEMICAL
ATTACK ON MARCH 19
The
ball is now in the free world's court.
Exposing
The Lie Behind The Nonfarm Payroll Numbers
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/09/2013 - 12:05
While
we have already
extensively deconstructed the quality components of jobs in the US, showing
first that in June 240K full time jobs were lost, even as 360K part-time jobs
were "gained", and second that so far in 2013 only 130K full time jobs
have been added offset by 557K part-time jobs, we had sinking suspicions that
there was something off with the quantity component as well: after all, at an
average monthly gain of precisely 201.8K jobs in the past six months (or in
2013), this number seemed just a little too perfect considering the Fed's
implicit target of generating just over 200K jobs in a half year period before
it begins tapering, which in light of declining gross issuance and less
monetizable instruments, has been the Fed's goal all along. Today,
courtesy of the monthly JOLTS survey we got just the confirmation we needed
that, indeed, the official non-farm payroll number as per the Establishment
Survey has been substantially off to the tune of a whopping 40% above what is
quantitatively happening in reality.
11 Signs That Italy Is Descending
Into A Full-Blown Economic Depression
When
you get into too much debt, really bad things start to happen. Sadly,
that is exactly what is happening to Italy right now. Harsh austerity
measures are causing the Italian economy to slow down even more than it was
previously. And yet even with all of the austerity measures, the Italian
government just continues to rack up even more debt. This is the exact
same path that we watched Greece go down. Austerity causes government
revenues to drop which causes deficit reduction targets to be missed which
causes even more austerity measures to become necessary. But if Italy
collapses economically, it is going to be a far bigger deal than what happened
in Greece. Italy is the ninth largest economy on the entire planet.
Actually, Italy used to be number eight, but now Russia has passed it. If
Italy continues to stumble, India and Canada will soon pass it as well.
It really is a tragedy to watch what is happening in Italy, because it really
is a wonderful place. When I was a child, my father was in the navy, and
I got the opportunity to live there for a while. It is a land of great
weather, great food and great soccer. The people are friendly and the
culture is absolutely fascinating. But now the nation is falling
apart. The following are 11 signs that Italy is descending into a
full-blown economic depression... (Read
More....)
The U.S. Border: A
Constitution-Free Zone Where Officials Can Grab Your Computer And Copy Your
Hard Drive
Did
you know that the U.S. government considers the U.S. border to be a
“constitution-free zone”? Did you know that customs officials can take
your computer away from you, keep it for 30 days or more, and make a copy of
everything that is on your hard drive? Sadly, this is actually
true. According to the government, when you choose to cross the U.S.
border you temporarily give up your constitutional rights. They can look
at anything on your computer that they want to, and if they find anything
that violates any law, they can use it against you in court. You may
think twice about taking your computer out of the country after you read the
rest of this article. (Read
More.....)
Economic Bizarro World:
Persistently High Unemployment And Skyrocketing Bond Yields Are Good?
The
mainstream media is heralding today's "fantastic" employment numbers
as evidence that the U.S. economy is steadily recovering. But is that
really true? The number of jobs created in June was just a little bit
more than what is required to keep up with population growth, and the official
unemployment rate remained at 7.6 percent. And if you look deeper in the
numbers, they don't look very good at all. The percentage of low paying
part-time jobs in the economy continues to rise, the number of full-time jobs
actually decreased and the U-6 unemployment number jumped from
13.8% in May to 14.3% in June. That is a stunning increase. And if
the labor participation rate in this country was at the level it was at prior
to the last recession, the official unemployment rate would be sitting at 11.1%.
But according to the mainstream media, all of this is wonderful news. It
is like we are in some sort of economic bizarro world where bad is good and
down is up. (Read
More....)
Are We Really Free When Big
Brother Is Systematically Turning America Into A Giant Prison?
Every
year on July 4th we celebrate our "independence", but is America
really free? How could we possibly be free when "Big Brother"
is constantly intruding in our lives in hundreds of different ways? And I
am not just talking about NSA
snooping. Sadly, the truth is that the United States is
beginning to fully embrace a "police state" culture. We have
learned that the government monitors and keeps a record of all of our cell
phone calls, emails, Internet searches, credit
card transactions, and every piece of mail that we send. But
most Americans don't seem to care. We are "encouraged" to
report the "suspicious activity" of our neighbors to the authorities,
we are told that having security thugs touch the private areas of our women and
children at our airports is necessary "for our security", and 80,000 SWAT team raids are conducted each year in the
United States. But the American people don't seem to care. America
was once a great country, but now it is being turned into a giant prison, and
only a small minority of the citizens are raising their voices in objection. (Read
More....)
Have Central Bankers Lost
Control? Could The Bond Bubble Implode Even If There Is No Tapering?
Are
the central banks of the world starting to lose control of the financial
markets? Could we be facing a situation where the bond bubble is going to
inevitably implode no matter what the central bankers do? For the past
several years, the central bankers of the planet have been able to get markets
to do exactly what they want them to do. Stock markets have soared to
record highs, bond yields have plunged to record lows and investors have
literally hung on every word uttered by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke
and other prominent central bankers. In the United States, it has been
remarkable what Bernanke has been able to accomplish. The U.S. government
has been indulging in an unprecedented debt binge, the Fed has been wildly
printing money, and the real rate of inflation has been hovering around 8 to 10 percent, and yet Bernanke has somehow
convinced investors to lend gigantic piles of money to the U.S. government for
next to nothing. But this irrational state of affairs is not going to
last indefinitely. At some point, investors are going to wake up and
start demanding higher returns. And we are already starting to see this
happen in Japan. Wild money printing has actually caused bond yields to
go up. What a concept! And that is what should happen -
when central banks recklessly print money it should cause investors to demand a
higher return. But if bond investors all over the globe start acting
rationally, that is going to cause the
largest bond bubble in the history of the planet to burst, and that
will create utter devastation in the financial markets. (Read
More....)
41 IMF Bailouts And Counting –
How Long Before The Entire System Collapses?
Broke
nations are bailing out other broke nations with borrowed money. Round
and round we go - where we stop nobody knows. As of April, 41 different countries had active financial
"arrangements" with the IMF. Sometimes they are called
"bailouts" and sometimes they are called other things, but in every
single case they involve loans. And most of the time, these loans come
with very stringent conditions. It is a form of "global
governance" that most people don't even know about. For decades, the
IMF has been able to use money as a way to force developing nations to do what
it wants them to do. But up until fairly recently, this had mostly only
been done with poor nations. But now an increasing number of wealthy
nations are turning to the IMF for help. We have already seen Greece,
Portugal, Ireland and Cyprus receive bailouts which were partly funded by the
IMF, Spain has received a bailout for its banking sector, and as I noted yesterday,
it is being projected that Italy will need a major bailout within six months. How long can this go on
before the entire system collapses? (Read
More....)
19 Reasons To Be Deeply Concerned
About The Global Economy As We Enter The 2nd Half Of 2013
Is
the global economic downturn going to accelerate as we roll into the second
half of this year? There is turmoil in the Middle East, we are seeing
things happen in the bond markets that we have not seen happen in more than 30
years, and much of Europe has already plunged into a full-blown economic
depression. Sadly, most Americans will never understand what is happening
until financial disaster strikes them personally. As long as they can go
to work during the day and eat frozen pizza and watch reality television at
night, most of them will consider everything to be just fine.
Unfortunately, the truth is that everything
is not fine. The world is becoming increasingly unstable, we
are living in the terminal phase of the greatest debt bubble in the history of
the planet and the global financial system is even more vulnerable than it was
back in 2008. Unfortunately, most people seem to only have a 48 hour
attention span at best these days. They don't have the patience to watch
long-term trends develop. And the coming economic collapse is not going
to happen all at once. Rather, it is like watching a very, very slow-motion
train wreck happen. The coming economic nightmare is going to unfold over
a number of years. Yes, there will be moments of great panic, but mostly
it will be a steady decline into economic oblivion. And there are a lot
of indications that the second half of this year is not going to be as good as
the first half was. The following are 19 reasons to be deeply concerned
about the global economy as we head into the second half of 2013... (Read
More....)
Wall Street Banks Extract
Enormous Fees From The Paychecks Of Millions Of American Workers
Would
you be angry if you had to pay a big Wall Street bank a fee before you could
get the money that you worked so hard to earn? Unfortunately, that is
exactly the situation that millions of American workers find themselves in
today. An increasing number of U.S. companies are paying their workers
using payroll cards that are issued by large financial institutions.
Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Walgreens and Taco Bell are just some of the well known employers
that are doing this. Today, there are 4.6 million active
payroll cards in the United States, and some of the largest banks in the
country are issuing them. The list includes JPMorgan Chase, Bank of
America, Wells Fargo and Citigroup. The big problem with these cards is
that there is often a fee for just about everything that you do with
them. Do you want to use an ATM machine? You must pay a fee.
Do you want to check your balance? You must pay a fee. Do you want
a paper statement? You must pay a fee. Did you lose your
card? You must pay a big fee. Has your card been inactive for a
while? You must pay a huge fee. The big Wall Street banks are
systematically extracting enormous fees from the working poor, and someone
needs to do something to stop this. (Read
More....)
The Federal Reserve Is Paying
Banks NOT To Lend 1.8 Trillion Dollars To The American People
Did
you know that U.S. banks have more than 1.8 trillion dollars parked at the
Federal Reserve and that the Fed is actually paying them not
to lend that money to us? We were always told that the goal of
quantitative easing was to "help the economy", but the truth is that
the vast majority of the money that the Fed has created through quantitative
easing has not even gotten into the system. Instead, most of it is
sitting at the Fed slowly earning interest for the bankers. Back in
October 2008, just as the last financial crisis was starting, Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben Bernanke announced that the Federal Reserve would start paying
interest on the reserves that banks keep at the Fed. This caused an
absolute explosion in the size of these reserves. Back in 2008, U.S.
banks had less than 2 billion dollars of excess reserves parked
at the Fed. Today, they have more than 1.8 trillion. In less than
five years, the pile of excess reserves has gotten nearly 1,000 times
larger. This is utter insanity, and it will have very serious
consequences down the road. (Read
More....)
36 Hard Questions About The U.S.
Economy That The Mainstream Media Should Be Asking
If
the economy is improving, then why aren't things getting better for most
average Americans? They tell us that the unemployment rate is going down,
but the percentage of Americans that are actually working is exactly the same
it was three years ago. They tell us that American families are in better
financial shape now, but real disposable income is falling rapidly. They
tell us that inflation is low, but every time we go shopping at the grocery
store the prices just seem to keep going up. They tell us that the
economic crisis is over, and yet poverty and government dependence continue to
explode to unprecedented heights. There seems to be a disconnect between
what the government and the media are telling us and what is actually
true. With each passing day the debt of the federal government grows
larger, the financial world become even more unstable and more American
families fall out of the middle class. The same long-term economic trends
that have been eating away at our economy like cancer for decades continue to
ruthlessly attack the foundations of our economic system. We are rapidly
speeding toward an economic cataclysm, and yet the government and most of the
media make it sound like happy days are here again. The American people
deserve better than this. The American people deserve the truth.
The following are 36 hard questions about the U.S. economy that the mainstream
media should be asking... (Read
More....)
ZeroHedge.com
19
Reasons To Be Deeply Concerned About The Global Economy
\Is the global economic downturn going to
accelerate as we roll into the second half of this year? There is turmoil in the Middle East,
we are seeing things happen in the bond markets that we have not seen happen in
more than 30 years, and much of Europe has already plunged into a full-blown
economic depression. Sadly, most Americans will never understand what is
happening until financial disaster strikes them personally. As long
as they can go to work during the day and eat frozen pizza and watch reality
television at night, most of them will consider everything to be just fine.
Unfortunately, the truth is that everything is not fine.
Nicaragua
Offers Edward Snowden Asylum "If Circumstances Permit"
"We are open, respectful of the right to asylum, and it is
clear that if circumstances permit it, we would receive Snowden with pleasure
and give him asylum here in Nicaragua," Ortega said at a public event.
No
Edible iPads Here: Cost Of Argentina Bread Doubles - Wheat/Flour Prices Frozen
Over two
years ago we highlighted just how out-of-touch with reality our central
planners are when we exposed Bill Dudley's infamous inflation comments. Now it
seems, Argentina
is taking over the mission of totalitarian supreme command (or government
gone mad). While not
publicly admitting they have a problem, despite the price of bread doubling
to 20 Pesos in the last year alone, Bloomberg
reports the government plans to apply a 1974 law that forces
holders (on penalty of fines and prison) of wheat and
flour suitable for bread-making to sell it in the domestic market.
This entirely un-free-market response to the dreadful reality in the nation
comes on the heels of the freezing
of prices on 500 goods at Supermarkets back in February and, unbelievably,
suggestions that citizens combat higher prices by "baking bread at
home." How long can a country plunge into a
hyper-inflationary spiral before the people 'coup-like-an-Egyptian'?
Margin Calls Coming On US
Too-Big-To-Fail Banks
This week's biggest news is not the Non-Farm
Payrolls, or the European Central Bank or even Portugal's government falling.
No - this week's big deal is the openness with which the Federal Reserve is
preparing a major margin call on the too-big-to-fail banks in the US. This has
been a long time coming since the introduction of the Dodd-Frank law back in
2010 but it is a game changer. Remember all macro paradigm shifts come from
policy impulses, often mistakes. Is the Fed about to given the
whole banking industry a major margin call?
The 50
Fattest Nations
On
the day after celebrating its independence and with likely half the nation
suffering from over-consumption, we thought it appropriate to 'celebrate'
another #winning
rank by the US. At an average of 181.27lbs (gender-weighted!), Bloomberg finds
that the US is the 'heaviest' nation on earth.
Stocks
Melt-Up As Bond Yields Spike Most In 2 Years
The market remains confused. The better-than-expected headline jobs data
prompted USD strength (Taper-on), gold/silver weakness (Taper-on), Homebuilder
stocks drop (Taper-on), Bond yields surge (Taper-on), and credit market
widening (Taper-on); but the good-old trusty US equity market was not having
any of that. After dumping 25 points from its post-NFP highs, S&P 500
futures gapped and jerked up to VWAP, ran stops at the highs of the day,
dropped back to VWAP, then surged into the close. The Dow ended up 150
points. Treasury yields rose the most in 2 years - an impressive
22bps. Despite a late surge, high-yield bonds had their worst day in 2 weeks.
Gold and silver down 2.3% and 3.5% respectively and copper dumped 3.2% (not
exactly the growth-exhibiting factor that everyone suggests is driving stocks
up and bonds down). Meanwhile, WTI topped $103 for its highest close in
14 months.
Are The
1970s Coming Back?
The
mid-1970s have been a useful template for what is possible (and even probable)
in a centrally-planned world. As a reminder, the underlying backdrop was also
similar (major economic downturn following the housing crashes in 1974-75
and again in 2006-2007 followed by aggressive Fed policy which was ultimately
too loose for too long). It is quite clear, Citi notes, that the rally in
the Dow has lasted longer than the “road map” would have suggested - at least
in part driven by the ongoing expansion of the Fed’s Balance sheet - but with
Taper talk increasing we wonder how long before the 70s are back in vogue.
Intense
Clashes Break Out Near Cairo's Tahrir Square (10 Dead) - Live Feed
UPDATE:
Egypt Clashes Leave 10 Dead, Health Ministry Says (AP)
As
we feared, the initial celebratory images have turned rapidly into running
skirmishes, molotov cocktails, burning cars, and now six deaths. As the night
rolls on, the clashes are escalating...
As
Egypt Re-Coups And Cairo Violence Escalates, The US Secretary Of State Is...
As
the escalation in violence between members of the pro-Mursi Muslim Brotherhood
and the military-backed victors of this week's coup gets worse with at least 6
dead now according to Al Arabiya, the US Secretary of State is busy...
a)
Getting debriefed and preparing for a diplomatic statement
b)
In the air between point A and point B promoting US domestic and foreign
interests abroad
c)
Informing Warren Buffett about the aphrodisiac benefits of ketchup
d)
Spending a (second consecutive) exhausting afternoon on his sailboat.
And
the correct answer is...
Global
Earnings Downgrades Worst In 12 Months
As
we head into earnings season in the US (amid hopeful margin expansion), the big
picture for earnings remains bleak. Markets are back close to highs as negative
guidance is piling up and as Citi notes, their global earnings revision
index is at its worst since early July 2012. If the Fed is heading
towards a Taper then this fundamental fear may once again become relevant - or
hope-fueled multiple expansion will fill that gap.
How
America's Housing Non-Recovery Led To Record Income Inequality
"In
this respect the Gini coefficient had apparently reached in 2006 the previous
high seen in 1929, prior to the Great Depression. This is a reminder that
capitalism’s natural way of dealing with excesses is via business failure and
liquidation; which is why wealth distribution would have become much less
extreme as a consequence of the 2008 crisis if losses had been imposed on
creditors to bust financial institutions, for example owners of bank bonds, in
line with capitalist principles; as opposed to the favoured ‘bailout’ approach
pursued for the most part by Washington. This means, unfortunately, not that
the problem has been avoided but that the ‘great reckoning’ has been deferred
to another day as the speculative classes have continued to game the
system by resort to carry trades actively encouraged by the Fed and other
central bankers, which is why fixed income markets freak out when they
see signs of an exit."
Iceland
Denies Snowden's Bid For Citizenship
So
much for Iceland's bid as the world safe haven from government (and
intellectual status quo) persecution. The tiny country that was such a vocal
supporter of Julian Assange, and which originally was speculated as being the
final destination of Snowden upon his departure from Hong Kong, has just opined
on his request for Icelandic citizenship, and the answer is a resounding no,
following the country's "parliament voted not to debate it before the summer
recess" Reuters reports.
Guest
Post: Market Celebrates Egypt’s Coup, But It’s Not Over Yet
The
situation in Egypt has not been tenable since the Muslim Brotherhood and
President Mohamed Morsi took over, post-revolution, but now that the military
has stepped in, ousted Morsi and placed him in detention, foreign investors are
celebrating. No one knows what’s going to happen next, but the general
consensus—at least for investors—is that things couldn’t get any worse, only
better. (Unless you’re Qatari, but more about that later.)
Stocks
Spike In Stop Scare As VIX Slammed
Presented
with little comment aside to note that the 6 point vertical ramp in the S&P
500 (which just happened to stall perfectly at VWAP) was accompanied by no
news, no other-asset-class support, and a smack-down in front-end VIX...
S&P futures are back above the 50DMA once again intraday (as Discretionary
names outperform and builders are battered). Did 3:30PM Ramp Capital leave for
the Hamptons early?
No
Manufacturing Jobs But More Waiters And Bartenders Than Ever
as
the manufacturing
jobs continue to collapse, posting their fourth consecutive monthly drop in
June to 11.964 million jobs, minimum wage waiters and bartenders have never
been happier. In June Restaurant and Bar employees just hit a new all time
high of 10,339,800 workers, increasing by a whopping 51,700 in one month.
Jim Marrs: Global
Elite Suppresses New Discoveries in Alternative Energy
Infowars.com
| Jim Marrs talks to Alex about the elite controllers burying life-changing
technology.
Obama Supporters
Sign Petition to Repeal Bill of Rights
Paul Joseph Watson | Shock video underscores mindlessness of public.
Ron Paul Set To
Launch New Freedom Media Network
Steve
Watson | “Turn Off Your TV. Turn On the Truth.”
Introduce Your
Children To ‘SheZow’ The Transgender Super Hero
Donna Anderson
| Progressive parents agree that SheZows transgenderism is a good thing for
their children to experience.
Possible Egyptian
Interim Prime Minister is a Globalist Operative
Kurt Nimmo
| Soros connected ElBaradei ready to make sure the globalist plan rolls on in
Egypt.
Threats to Riot,
Loot if Zimmerman Found Innocent Intensify
Paul Joseph Watson | Groups using social media to organize chaos.
TSA Conducted Pat
Downs On Family Members of Plane Crash Victims
Paul Joseph Watson | Federal agency made life “more difficult” for both victims
and loved ones.
New Egyptian War:
Americans Lose, Again
Ron Paul
| Successive US administrations over the decades have supported all sides in
Egypt, from dictator to demonstrator to military.
Which
Is Greater: Full Time Jobs Or Americans On Food Assistance And Disability?
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/11/2013
Over
the past week there has been some speculation whether the number of Americans
who receive food assistance and/or are on disability, outnumber full-time
employed workers in the US.
Here
is the answer:
- There are 116 million Americans
with full-time jobs according to the BLS (source), which
includes 21.9 million government workers (source).
So
far so good. Now the flip side showing how many Americans are reliant on the
USDA's Food and Nutrition Services
program or on Disability payments, i.e., food assistance in some form:
- There are 47.5 million Americans
on Foodstamps
- There are 30.4 million Americans
participating in the National School Lunch Program
- There are 13.2 million Americans
participating in the School Breakfast Program
- There are 8.6 million Americans
participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition - Women, Infants and
Children program Participants
- There are 3.4 million Americans
participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program and the Food
Donation Program
- There are 0.6 million Americans
participating in the Commodity Supplemental Food Program
- There are 0.1 million Americans
participating in the Food Donation Program
- There are 8.6 million Americans
on Disability
For
a grand total of 112.5 million Americans on Food assistance (sources
here and here).
End
result: there are 3.5 million more Americans with full-time jobs than there are
Americans who are reliant on the government for their daily bread: a tiny 3%
delta.
Currencies
Go Berserk As Bernanke Kills King Dollar
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/10/2013 - 19:02
We
noted earlier the brief chaos that the minutes created but – following
Bernanke's promise to print moar - the after-hours collapse in the USD against
every major (and minor) currency pair in the world is tremendous. USDJPY
is over 200 pips off the day's highs (JPY surging below 98.50), GBPUSD is
getting smashed higher (+275 pips from pre-close), and EURUSD is screaming
higher (up 220 pips from the US close breaking above 1.3200). Retaliation
for Carney and Draghi's comments? Who knows... but the currency wars are back
on (and the 'other' currency is surging to $1290 per ounce).
- Comments:
136
- Reads: 13,755
What
Bernanke Really Said, Or How The Chairman Just Lost Control Over Policy Again
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/10/2013 - 20:22
"We
don’t believe the Chairman’s intentions have changed. Regardless, the
Chairman’s credibility is once again damaged. If the Dollar breakdown
continues, it will be a sign that the market believes the Chairman has again
lost control over policy. The asset clearly in the best position in
such an environment is Gold. After such a notable correction in the past 9
months, the precious metal once again becomes a very attractive global asset
if monetary policy in the largest economy of the world spins out of control."
- Mike O'Rourke
Senate
Liberals Push Status Quo Student Loan Bubble Ever Bigger
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/10/2013 - 19:37
When
every
indicator of stress is screaming
'bubble' in the student loan debacle, it would make perfect sense for the
government to ignore it and maintain the status quo. As the
WSJ reports, the never-ending federal effort to "make college
affordable" simply provides the resources to sustain higher prices -
especially as an increasing amount of the rising subsidies are pocketed by
universities. This policy
disaster which results in rising costs, taxpayer losses and
over-strapped borrowers is now manifest. So naturally this week Senate liberals
will bring to the floor a plan to ensure that the policy continues unchanged
(and the CBO-estimated $95 billion losses) - and dismisses a coalition plan
that ties student loan rates to 10Y Treasuries, providing some marginal
encouragement to students to decide whether their chosen course of study is
worth the money.
About
Those Gold Shorts....
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/10/2013 - 18:39
One
wonders: at what price does the squeeze of the collateral-scarce (as per
today's ongoing negative GOFO) yellow metal begin now that Bernanke has made it
clear (supposedly) that the new gameplan is just more of the same old?
Guest
Post: 9 Plagues That Are Collapsing Capitalism
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/10/2013 - 18:28
Let us be blunt: Our capitalist system is approaching
failure. Or, perhaps better said: Our marginally capitalist,
partly-free market systems are approaching a massive collapse. Not
because of what capitalism is, mind you, but because the powers that be have
bastardized it. Capitalism can bear many distortions and abuses, but it is
not indestructible. And, make no mistake, the ‘capitalist’ system we have
today has been massively corrupted, so much so that it’s sagging under
the load... and will continue to do so until the proverbial straw breaks
its back.
Rick
Santelli Asks The Only Question That Matters
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/10/2013 - 17:52
Commenting
on the divergence between the bond market's Taper-On reaction and the equity
markets Taper-off reaction amid the total lack of clarity from the FOMC, CNBC's
Rick Santelli asks the (rhetorical) question that everyone should ask: "[What
the Fed minutes said] is, listen, we have to wait for bigger confirmation that
the economy is doing better; and for that, we're going to look at the
employment side. [At the same time] we have the fewest people working that can
work in 30 years, and all-time-record-high profits for corporations. Now, does
that strategy sound rational to you?" It seems, now
that Bernanke has seemingly promised that it will really never end, that
Santelli's question will become increasingly critical in this country.
Gold,
Bonds, And Stocks Soar As Bernanke Promises Moar
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/10/2013 - 17:13
The
punchline (as far as markets are concerned) of Bernanke's Q&A appears to
be: Inflation and jobs signal more Fed stimulus needed and that Tapering does
not end stimulus. In other words - highly accomodative policy needed for
foreseeable future:
BERNANKE: 'TOO EARLY' TO SAY U.S. 'WEATHERED FISCAL' RESTRAINT
BERNANKE SAYS INFLATION, JOBS SIGNAL MORE FED STIMULUS NEEDED
So
on one hand Bernanke admitted he had to pop the HY bubble with the Hilsenrath
leaks a few weeks ago (talk the market down), but is happy to take the equity
gains in hopes they will trickle down to wealth effect, inflation and
employment even if credit is spooked (and the bond market technically
corrupted).
So keep buying (anything) - they'll always be a greater fool
(The Fed) to sell to, no matter how much we destroy the markets (yes,
collateral is short) until the economy is entirely back on its feet (inflation,
jobs, or anything we decide).
Here
Is Why Yum! Brands Just "Beat" Earnings
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/10/2013 - 16:43
On
Monday it was Alcoa, now it is Yum! Brands' turn. The food company, best known
for its KFC
mystery meat, and over-reliance on a suddenly careening China just reported
results which were mixed. Revenue of $2.904 billion was less than the expected
$2.92 billion and was 8% lower than the $3.2 billion reported a year ago.
Operating profit excluding refranchising gains and losses was $358MM, below
expectations of $375MM, leading to a EBIT margin of 12.5% also
substantially less than the 14.5% reported a year ago. In short, worldwide
operating profit crashed 20% including a 63% drop in China. But thanks to
various below the line adjustments, including a tax rate of 22.1% or lower compared
to the 23.9% a year ago, the company's EPS of $0.56 beat expectations of $0.54.
Bonds
And Stocks Disagree On FOMC Taper As Oil And Gasoline Surge
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/10/2013 - 16:14
Bonds and silver ended the day lower, gold and stocks unch, and
WTI crude (and RBOB - back over $3.00) notably higher. While the Nasdaq, Russell, and Trannies are
comfortably above the FOMC meeting levels (from 6/19), the Dow and S&P
struggled to hold it into the close after the extreme swings that the FOMC
minutes dragged through the markets. Maria B might say 'off the lows', others
may say 'off the highs', but it seems the machines had it all under control as
the S&P 500 closed at VWAP (amid the total lack of clarity that the minutes
provided). Financials underperformed (but remain green from FOMC 6/19)
along with energy - as Brent-WTI was crushed to below $2,
historically average around $1.
Bernanke
Speaks - Live Webcast
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/10/2013 - 16:10
After
the angst that he created when he last spoke, and today's shenanigans after the
Minutes, we can only imagine how his presentation at the NBER's Boston
conference will impact the markets. We would be surprised if anything new
came from Bernanke's presentation on "The Last 100 Years of The Federal
Reserve" but the following Q&A (as we
noted here) will be trial-balloon after trial-balloon we suspect as he
prepares for next week's Humphrey-Hawkins.
- Comments:
147
- Reads: 13,417
Bernanke
May Want to Hint At July Tapering Move Now: Scotiabank
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/10/2013 - 15:32
Bernanke gives a speech today in Boston
beginning at 4:10 PM entitled “The First 100 Years of the Federal Reserve:
The Policy Record, Lessons Learned, and Prospects for the Future”. There
will be a post-speech ‘Question & Answer’ period. This is
an ideal time for him to fine-tune the Fed’s complicated message to markets. He
can use this opportunity to send up a trial balloon for next week’s semi-annual
report to Congress. We suspect Bernanke could even have his staffers leak
questions to ask to those in the audience in order to frame and direct the conversation.
We believe the Fed has drifted toward acceptance of tapering because of
concerns about: 1) financial instability, 2) asset bubbles and 3) amassing
difficulties for its exit strategies, not because economic nirvana has been
reached. Therefore, we believe the decision to taper at one of the
next two meeting is almost a certainty.
Even
The Experts Throw Up All Over The Fed Minutes
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/10/2013 - 15:03
The
Fed may have finally taken speaking out of all sides of its mouth a step too
far. Enter GMP's Adrian Miller with the best roundup of the sheer
indecipherable gibberish just excreted by the Fed:
- "We are not sure how you can go
from ‘many’ needing to see labor gains before tapering begins to half
seeing bond buying ending by year end. At the same time, ‘many’
other Fed officials saw bond buying into 2014”
- "We are pretty good at math, but
we are having trouble adding up the ‘many,’ ‘several’ and ‘about half’ to
equal 100%
- FOMC members appear to have ‘‘decided
to cover every possible scenario," and "left us with no clear
picture as to what the group is thinking”
Great
absurdist summary of a centrally-planned world that has been taken out straight
from the pages of the Onion, but honestly, at this point who even cares
anymore.
- Comments:
110
- Reads: 10,645
Post-FOMC
Minutes Update: Market As Confused As Fed (But Fades Rally)
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/10/2013 - 14:39
UPDATE: All Change; now the knee-jerk rally in bonds and stocks is fading rapidly
(and the USD is bid). S&P 500 and EURUSD have now retraced all gains.
It seems the markets are as confused as the Fed members. The initial knee-jerk bid for bonds,
stocks, and gold was retraced soon after; only to be ignored for another push
higher as we post. Interestingly FX markets are 'less' undecided - it is
taper-off as the USD is being offered everywhere with little retrace. As the
Russell 2000 hits an all-time intrday high, equities still feel unstable (and
VIX dropped to 14.06%). It seems the "if confused buy" meme
may just hit a wall today?
FOMC
Minutes: Half The Fed Participants Said It Would Be Appropriate To End QE
"Late This Year"
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/10/2013 - 14:04
Discord
appears to be the best word to describe the FOMC minutes but the baffle 'em
with bullshit seems like the order of the day:
- FED SAYS SEVERAL ON FOMC SAW QE
TAPERING LIKELY WARRANTED SOON
- FED SAYS MANY ON FOMC SAID LABOR GAINS
NEEDED BEFORE QE TAPER
- FED SAYS FOMC SAW FISCAL POLICY
RESTRAINING ECONOMIC GROWTH
As
a reminder, uberdove
Charles Evans wanted 200K or more in job gains in the past two quarters.
Here's the thing - the average monthly job gain in the past 6 months is... 201,000.
As for the punchline:
- HALF OF THE FED INDICATED IT LIKELY
WOULD BE APPROPRIATE TO END ASSET PURCHASES LATE THIS YEAR - NOT SLOW END
- A FEW PARTICIPANTS INDICATED THAT THE
COMMITTEE SHOULD SLOW OR STOP ITS PURCHASES AT THE JUNE MEETING - "OR STOP"
Communication
matters apparently. But the key is that taper appears (forget about an all out
stop) to be coming soon - and as usual - it's all data-dependent. Aside from
that, it is the usual baffle with BS schtick. Most importantly, with
half the Fed saying not just taper, but flat out end to QE by 2014, we now have
a full blown mutiny in the Fed.
No Fly Zone Over
Syria an Act of War, Gen. Dempsey Warns
Kurt Nimmo
| And will cost over a billion dollars a month to maintain.
Photos: Obama-Backed
Syrian Rebels Ransack Christian Village
Paul Joseph Watson | Residents slaughtered, churches desecrated.
Film Depicts
Foreign Takeover of DHS
PR Web
| PURGE is a fictional narrative short film about a takeover of the Dept. of
Homeland Security by a secretive foreign banking cartel.
Russia Orders Snap
Drill of Missile Forces
Paul Joseph Watson | New maneuvers follow largest military exercise since cold
war.
Music Video: Rebel Yell
Infowars.com
| “Good men died for liberty to strive.”
Total Failure Of
Foreign Intelligence As Spy Agencies Miss Massive Al Qaeda Prison Break
Mac
Slavo | Hundreds of convicts, including senior members of al Qaeda, broke out
of Iraq’s Abu Ghraib jail.
TSA: Give Us Your Fingerprints,
Web History and You Can Keep Your Shoes On
Anthony
Gucciardi | In order to participate in the ‘PreCheck’ TSA program, you will
need to allow them to reach down into the proverbial pants of your personal
life as well.
Some non-organic
foods contain upwards of 180 times the fluoride level of tap water, says expert
Natural
News | Many non-organic foods contain extremely high levels of fluoride because
of the pesticide chemicals sprayed on them.
The Tip Of The Iceberg Of The
Coming Retirement Crisis That Will Shake America To The Core
Economic
Collapse | The pension nightmare that is at the heart of the horrific financial
crisis in Detroitis just the tip of the iceberg of the coming retirement crisis
that will shake America to the core.
28 States Saw Unemployment Rates
Rise in June
Breitbart
| Massachusetts saw largest increase to 7.0%.
Most government pensions to be
confiscated within a decade
Mike
Adams | Last week, Detroit declared bankruptcy, becoming the largest city in
U.S. history to take such drastic action in the face of financial insolvency.
US And Russia
Simultaneously Announce Intent To Arm Opposing Sides In Syria
Business
Insider | Russian and U.S. officials simultaneously announced their intent to
move forward with controversial arms transfers to opposing sides in the Syrian
civil war.
You won’t believe
what teachers plan to tell kids about Trayvon Martin
Daily
Caller | Teachers said they would invoke mob justice, vigilantism and the idea
that Florida law allows people to hunt and kill black kids when discussing the
case with their students.
Photos:
Obama-Backed Syrian Rebels Ransack Christian Village
Paul Joseph Watson | Residents slaughtered, churches desecrated.
Russia Orders Snap
Drill of Missile Forces
Paul Joseph Watson | New maneuvers follow largest military exercise since cold
war.
Twitter users hate
on Zimmerman for pulling family from wreck
Daily
Caller | Angry Twitter users took to the social media site on Monday to respond
to news that George Zimmerman allegedly pulled a family of four from a wrecked
car.
US Intel committees
approve arming Syrian rebels, top general warns of costs
RT
| The House and Senate Intelligence Committees have given a green light to arm
Syrian rebels.
Total Failure Of
Foreign Intelligence As Spy Agencies Miss Massive Al Qaeda Prison Break
Mac
Slavo | Hundreds of convicts, including senior members of al Qaeda, broke out
of Iraq’s Abu Ghraib jail.
Some non-organic
foods contain upwards of 180 times the fluoride level of tap water, says expert
Natural
News | Many non-organic foods contain extremely high levels of fluoride because
of the pesticide chemicals sprayed on them.
As Cities Crumble
The U.S. Celebrates British Royalty
Prison
Planet.com | Alex covers the latest media sideshow circus over the British “royal”
family.
TSA: Give Us Your
Fingerprints, Web History and You Can Keep Your Shoes On
Anthony
Gucciardi | In order to participate in the ‘PreCheck’ TSA program, you will
need to allow them to reach down into the proverbial pants of your personal
life as well.
How big tech stays offline on tax
Reuters
| Big business was having none of it.
Miami looks to ‘criminalize’
homelessness
RT
| The city of Miami has stirred controversy.
Goldman Insider Fires Back At The
New York Times’ Aluminum Price Manipulation Scheme Story
Business
Insider | This weekend The New York Times published a big story on Metro
International Trade Services, a Detroit-based aluminum storage company owned by
Goldman Sachs.
FOMC
Minutes Preview
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/10/2013 - 13:34
From
'Tapering' to concluding asset-purchases, and from rate-hike-expectations to
exit strategies (and what other indicators may be worth watching), BofAML
previews the all-important release of the FOMC's last meeting minutes.
27 Facts That Prove That The
Family In America Is In The Worst Shape Ever
The
family is one of the fundamental building blocks of society. If you do
not have strong families, you are not going to have a strong society.
Unfortunately, the state of the family in America continues to
deteriorate. The marriage rate has fallen to an all-time low, we lead the
world in divorce, and about a third of all children live in a home without a
father. Our young people have been taught that getting married and having
a family is not a priority, and many of those that would like to get married
and have children are not able to get the kinds of
jobs that they need to support a family. The statistics that
you are about to see should absolutely shock you. American families have
never been this weak, and this is an incredibly troubling sign for the future
of our nation. What will future generations of Americans be like if they
do not have stable homes to grow up in? Will they be even more messed up
than we are right now? That is a frightening thought. The following
are 27 facts that prove that the family in America is in the worst shape
ever... (Read
More....)
The Decline Of Breadwinner Jobs
Has Resulted In The Longest Bread Lines In American History
As
the number of good jobs continues to decline, the number of Americans that
cannot take care of themselves without government assistance continues to
explode. On Friday, we learned that the U.S. economy added "195,000
jobs" last month. But when you look deeper at the numbers, another
story emerges. Last month, the U.S. economy actually lost
240,000
full-time jobs. Overall, the U.S. economy has only added 130,000
full-time jobs in 2013, but it takes about 90,000 full-time jobs a month just to keep up with
population growth. So we are losing quite a bit of ground as far as
full-time jobs are concerned. Meanwhile, the U.S. economy has added more than 500,000 part-time jobs
so far this year. Unfortunately, there are very, very few part-time and
temp jobs that can be considered "breadwinner jobs". Part-time
jobs are great for teenagers, university students and elderly people that only
want to work a limited number of hours, but what most Americans need are good
paying full-time jobs with benefits that will allow them to take care of their
families. Unfortunately, those jobs are continually becoming a smaller
part of our economy. (Read
More....)
Judge In Zimmerman
Case Pressured by Obama Administration?
Paul Joseph Watson & Alex Jones | Bizarre outburst against Zimmerman
suggests prejudice.
City Denies Man’s
Claim After Police Shot at Him Mistaking Him for Christopher Dorner
Julie Wilson
| Torrance Police Department dismiss claims that they acted wrongfully during
Christopher Dorner rampage.
Illinois Rep. Calls
for Troops On Chicago’s Streets
Kurt Nimmo
| Believes recently passed concealed carry legislation will lead to more
violence in the Windy City.
Man Refuses To
Comply With Internal Checkpoint; Border Patrol Smashes Their Way Into Vehicle
Steve
Watson | Has possessions confiscated, detained for NINE HOURS.
It’s Racist For
Cops To Prepare For Pro-Trayvon Riots, Says Time Magazine
Paul Joseph Watson | Author fails to acknowledge deluge of Twitter threats.
Why Did The Obama Administration
“Organize And Manage” Protests Against George Zimmerman?
Is
the Obama administration at least partially responsible for turning the George
Zimmerman trial into such a huge national spectacle? Judicial Watch has
obtained documents which prove that the Community Relations Service, a division
of the Department of Justice, was sent to Sanford, Florida in late March 2012 “to help organize and manage
rallies and protests against George Zimmerman“. This included
spending quite a bit of money, arranging meetings between the NAACP and local
leaders, and providing police escorts for protesters. Someone needs to
ask Obama why the federal government was doing this. A story that should
have never made national headlines now threatens to unleash a firestorm of
racial fury unlike anything we have seen
since the Rodney King verdict. One young man, a neighborhood
watch captain, shot and killed another young man. This kind of thing
happens in American cities every single night. George Zimmerman says that
he did it in self-defense. He should be allowed to have his day in court
and that should be the end of the matter. But instead, this thing has
been hyped into a massive national spectacle and it is being used to divide us
along racial lines. And it appears that we have clear evidence that the
Obama administration was involved in doing the hyping. (Read
More.....)
ARRESTS SHOW MOB RUNNING LONG
ISLAND TEAMSTERS: N.Y. DISTRICT ATTORNEY
Reuters
| The criminal gangs had been engaged in extortion, loan sharking, and gambling
around NYC, and also trading in prescription drugs.
June Restaurant Spending Plunges
By Most Since February 2008
Zero Hedge
| Food-service sales fell 1.2% in June, the largest decline since February
2008.
Second Dutch Bank To Follow ABN
Amro, Close Gold Accounts
Silver
Doctors | Rabobank has just followed in the footsteps of ABN Amro.
40 Stats That Prove The U.S.
Economy Has Already Been Collapsing Over The Past Decade
Economic
Collapse | The “coming economic collapse” has already been happening.
The “McDonald’s Budget”:
Laughably Unrealistic But Also Deeply Tragic
Economic
Collapse | Can you support a family on $2,000 a month?
DRUDGEREPORT
USA
enjoys July 4 parades, picnics under watchful eyes of police...
Homeland
Security Conducts 'Top Secret' Drill...
Dozens
Of Flags Lining City Street For Parade Ripped Down By Vandals...
Fear
Of Gang Violence Cancels City's Carnival...
BROWNSTEIN:
Divided We Stand...
Military
closes swimming pools...
Oliver
Stone Tells European Audience: 'The World is in Danger With Our Tyranny'...
US
image in world slips...
GALLUP:
Republicans more proud to be American than Democrats...
ONLY
47% OF ADULTS HAVE FULL-TIME JOB...
Longest
Stretch of 7.5%+ Unemployment on Record...
STIMULUS: Second-largest U.S. employer is temp agency...
CHICAGOLAND:
73 shot, 11 dead over holiday weekend...
Man
Stabbed Cabbie After Telling Him He Had 'Bad Day'...
1,043 shooting
victims in 2013...
Manhattan
stabbing victim stumbles into BLOOMINGDALE'S...
Homeless
woman steak-knives subway rider...
Bizarre
staring contest...
OBAMA, HOLDER
MEET TO DISCUSS CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS INTO MEDIA...
{ The chilling effect of niggers on the First Amendment ….. because reality
when reported can never favor the uncivilized, lazy, lawless niggers ….. and,
as we can see in the decline and fall of america, reality counts! }
DOJ official
leaks info on leak guidelines...
PAYBACK? Rupert
Murdoch could face charges in USA...
FLASHBACK:
White House Escalates War of Words With FOXNEWS...
BLOOMBERG:
Holder 2011 Travel Cost Taxpayers More Than $1.45 Million...
Second-largest
U.S. employer is temp agency...
101
Million Americans Receive Food Aid from Federal Gov't...
More Than Number of Private Sector Workers...
REPORT:
Snowden agrees to asylum in Venezuela...
WIKILEAKS:
Not Accepted...
Tweet
Delete...
Snowden:
U.S. and Israel 'Co-Wrote' Cyber Super Weapon Stuxnet...
MORE
PERFECT UNION: CONCEALED CARRY IN LAND OF LINCOLN
GLOBAL
POLL: Corruption has worsened...
SHERIFF'S
OFFICE PREPARES ZIMMERMAN VERDICT RIOT PLAN...
LAWYER:
'My Client Will Never Be Safe'...
POT
BEFORE SHOT...
EXPERT
WITNESS: Trayvon was on top when shot...
Judge
considers allowing animation of fight...
'Angry
Trayvon' App Shut Down After Sparking Outrage...
HOUSE
GOP: DELAY INDIVIDUAL MANDATE
SENATE
REPUBLICANS: MAKE IT PERMANENT
Defense
rests; Zimmerman does not take stand...
SHERIFF'S
OFFICE PREPARES VERDICT RIOT PLAN...
'We
have made plans'...
REPORT:
DOJ spent tax dollars to help organize, support 'Justice for Trayvon'
protests...
Judge considers lesser
charges...
PROSECUTOR DREAMS: 'Witness judged not by color of
personality but content of testimony'...
Seeks
'child abuse' charge against Zimmerman...
CNN:
'White Hispanic'...
JUAN
WILLIAMS: 'Crackers,' 'teenage mammy' -- the sorry truth about race in
Zimmerman trial...
Police
Bring In Horses, Batons, Plan Formations For Possible Riots After Verdict...
Flash
Mob Fear...
Ex-Sanford
police chief says investigation was hijacked...
'They just wanted an arrest'...
REVEALED:
MICROSOFT Taught NSA How to Crack Encrypted Emails...
Grocery
Store Chain Cuts Health Care for Part-Time Workers...
House
schedules vote on individual mandate for next week...
Kremlin
returns to typewriters to avoid computer leaks...
US
intel braces for more NSA exposure...
Officials
fear Snowden gained access to files on spying...
REVEALED: MICROSOFT Taught NSA How to Crack Encrypted
Emails...
Secret
files show scale of Silicon Valley co-operation on Prism...
Hackers
convention ask govt to stay away...
Everyone Knows that the Federal
Reserve Banks Are PRIVATE … Except the American People
Washington’s
Blog | Most Americans Still Don’t Know that Federal Reserve Banks Are Private
Corporations.
Number of Americans on federal
food aid explodes to over 100 million
Natural
News | If you’re one of the nation’s dwindling number of taxpayers, you’re
probably not going to care much for this story.
Gas Prices Have Biggest Daily
Jump In 6 Months
Zero Hedge
| Do not worry, we are told on a daily basis, the rise in crude oil prices is
transitory and won’t affect gas prices and implicitly the US consumer’s pocket
book .
Bank To Spy On Customers Via
Cellphone Location Tracking
Paul Joseph Watson | It’s not just the government watching you.
There Is No Right to Privacy
Walter Block
| Privacy is a benefit, not a right.
Pentagon Contest
Produces Terminator Robot
Infowars.com
| Boston Dynamics has developed a 6-foot tall “humanoid robot” called Atlas in
response to DARPA’s Virtual Robotics Challenge.
Port Angeles
Residents Terrorized by Unannounced Army Exercise
Kurt Nimmo
| Military arrogantly conducts another exercise without informing residents.
White House mum on
preparations for verdict in George Zimmerman trial
The
Hill | Carney sidestepped question about whether Obama administration was
preparing for possible public reaction to verdict of George Zimmerman.
Zimmerman Acquittal
Could Lead to LA Style Riots
Infowars.com
| Threats to stage riots, looting and racial violence if George Zimmerman is
acquitted continue to flood Twitter.
Trayvon Martin’s
Dad Is A ‘Grand Master’ Freemason
Anthony
Gucciardi | Here’s something you certainly won’t hear about in the mainstream
media.
New Phone App Helps
Tattle on Neighbors with Guns
Infowars.com
| A new Smart Phone app describing itself as “tattle ware” allows users to
upload information regarding locations where they have “gun related concerns”.
Michael Savage –
Omega 3 Fish Oil Cancer Study Debunked
Infowars.com
| Savage debunks the recent study purporting that fish oil causes a 70%
increase in aggressive prostate cancer. Talks to a qualified doctor.
America
gripped by second night of fury...
Police fire rubber bullets in LA freeway...
Thousands pack Times Square...
SHARPTON
PLANS PROTESTS IN 100 CITIES...
REPORT:
Conservative filmmaker beaten at demonstration...
'You
see a black kid, you shoot him'...
{ Sounds like a plan! }
Oakland:
Police Stood Down As 'Protesters' Terrorized Drivers...
Vigils
Set in 100 cities...
Aim
to keep up momentum...
NANCY
GRACE UNLEASHED: 'F***ING COON'... { f***ing coons indeed…people are
sick of the niggers! }
ZIMMERMAN:
I WANT TO GO TO LAW SCHOOL...
MARTIN
FAMILY ATTORNEY DONS HOODIE ON CNN...
Prosecutor
'Prayed' for Him to Testify...
Legal
Team Sets Sights On NBC...
Juror
To Write Book...
NAACP:
'MODERN DAY LYNCHING' { Sure…whatever they say … we need more of them! }
'MODERN
DAY LYNCHING'...
SHARPTON
PLANS PROTESTS IN 100 CITIES...
Rally
Shuts Down Major Intersection In Newark...
Baltimore
Witness: Group of Blacks Beat Hispanic Man, Yelling 'This Is For Trayvon'... { Typical uncivilized niggers! }
White
jogger beaten... { Typical
uncivilized niggers! }
Protesters
storm WALMART...
Soul
singer attacked after dedicating song to Trayvon...
LAPD vows crackdown...
Zimmerman's
Parents in Hiding from 'Enormous Amount of Death Threats'... { Typical uncivilized niggers! }
Lawyer:
Prosecutors 'Disgrace to My Profession'...
Oakland:
Police Stood Down As 'Protesters' Terrorized Drivers...
Verdict
unleashed pent up rage...
NUGENT:
Vindicates citizen patrols, self-defense... { Indeed it does! … the nigger criminals’ worse nightmare! }
STEVIE
WONDER BOYCOTTS FLORIDA { That’s why God born him blind … because he is in
every way! }
Largest
municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history...
Pension
Funds Sue to Block...
$20 BILLION IN
DEBT... City
official demands federal taxpayer bailout...
ROLLING CRIME WAVE: 'LET’S GO MESS UP HOLLYWOOD FOR
TRAYVON'...
17
arrested in Zimmerman protest...
Beverly
Hills traffic jam...
'Mama,
mama, can't you see what system done to me?'
'Emotional'
jurors offered counseling...
'Black
TWITTER' Killed Zimmerman Juror's Book Deal...
Witness
Expected To Testify Against Mobster Whitey Bulger Found Dead...
REPORT:
Mob Pick for Gambino Godfather Turns Down Job...
CARTER:
'America has no functioning democracy'...
Mob
Pick for Gambino Godfather Turns Down the Job
By Murray Weiss on July
18, 2013
Slideshow
Francesco "Franky Boy" Cali
Rejects Godfather Offer
NEW YORK CITY — They made him an offer — but
he refused.
Francesco “Franky Boy” Cali, the
heir apparent to the Gambino Crime Family throne, turned down the
honor to become “Godfather” of the nation’s largest Mafia organization, sources
told “On The Inside.”
At a stunning, secret mob summit, the
powerful, 49-year-old Brooklyn-based capo shocked his Gambino bosses and fellow
captains by telling them that he would eschew the promotion.
Four days before the meeting, “On The
Inside" reported that Cali was the choice among his comrades, who
respected Cali’s strong low-key, old-world approach to doing business
successfully without attracting fanfare or agita.
But Cali told his brothers that while he was
moved by their support, he would not accept the promotion to run the family’s
billion-dollar concerns.
“I don’t need the money, the headaches. I am
OK with things and I am below the radar and not an attention-seeker,” Cali told
his Gambino brethren, according to sources.
And, one source said, the Gambinos
understood — or at least that’s the party line.
After all, along with receiving vastly
lucrative cash tribute from every corner of the sprawling crime family, there
are headaches that would make Tony Soprano’s head spin, including having to
accept an outsized bulls-eye on one’s back from law enforcement, if not from
gangsters upset with his decision to pass up the job.
One thing is certain: Cali would not be
kidding about his wealth. Sources say he practically runs the city’s food
industry and is worth an estimated $30 million from those businesses, real
estate holdings and cafés he owns.
But some law enforcement sources are not so
quick to believe the talk that Cali turned down the job. They say it may be a
Mafia “disinformation” campaign designed to throw off law enforcement.
“Why would he turn down a job where all the
other captains want him?” a skeptical veteran mob hunter asked. “If they
thought he would not take it, they would not have picked him.”
Cali — a native New Yorker who traces his
roots firmly to Sicily — was set to take over the Gambinos because the current
boss, Domenico "Italian Dom" Cefalu, 76, who is a native
Sicilian, indicated he wanted to step aside to allow his younger protégé to
take the reins of the family's lucrative gambling, loansharking and
construction rackets.
Cefalu, who has a long history of heroin
smuggling and has done several stints in prison, took over a family once ruled
by John “The Dapper Don” Gotti and the group's infamous namesake, Carlo
Gambino. Cefalu reduced the public profile and broke with the flashy,
headline-grabbing era marked by Gotti, whose visage once graced the cover of Time
magazine.
Gotti died of throat cancer in prison in
2002.
Sources say Cefalu wanted Cali to take his
place, and so did the other captains who were looking to Cali to breathe some
money-making life back into their ranks.
Cali’s parents immigrated to Brooklyn from
Palermo, Italy, and he got his start in the mob by running a fruit store on
18th Avenue in Brooklyn called Arcobaleno, which means "rainbow" in
Italian. The feds say it doubled as a front for criminal activities.
Cali made his bones under the Gottis while
operating in Manhattan, Brooklyn and New Jersey. According to the FBI, he
officially became the Gambino "ambassador to the Sicilian Mafia" and
a rising star when Gotti and Salvatore "Sammy Bull" Gravano roamed the
city, ruling rackets and murdering dozens of people.
He eventually married into mob royalty when
he wed the daughter of one of the Inzerillos, who are known as one of the
Mafia powerhouses in Italy. He is also a nephew of John and Joseph
Gambino, who are influential hoods connected to the famous “Pizza Connection”
drug trafficking case of the 1980s.
If the Gambinos are forced back to the
Godfather drawing board, sources say they may go out of town for a successor,
and are considering a top hood in the Connecticut faction of the family.
It remains to be seen on surveillance video,
or heard on wiretaps, precisely what the truth is.
Over the past several decades, and thanks to
the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organization Act, the feds have severely reduced the
influence of the Gambinos and the other four crime families, breaking their
grip on the billion-dollar labor union and construction industries.
Congress Finally
Decides NSA Surveillance Violates the Law
Kurt Nimmo
| Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner says maybe Congress will tinker with the PATRIOT Act
in 2015. Maybe.
Elderly Couple Gets
Second Chance At Life
Infowars.com
| Elderly couple “handles business” after intruder breaks into their home.
Twitter Explodes
With Racism Directed At Larry Elder Following Piers Morgan Interview
Steve
Watson | Black radio host gets torrent of racist abuse from other black
Americans for voicing unpopular opinion on Martin/Zimmerman case.
Social Engineering &
Racial Division: The Trayvon Martin Tragedy
Paul Joseph Watson & Alex Jones | Contrived selective outrage prevents
Americans from unifying against national security state.
Larry Elder Blasts
Piers Morgan on the Trayvon Martin Fiasco
Kurt Nimmo
| Morgan’s pathetic exploitation of Rachel Jeantel backfires.
Russian Wargames
Response to ‘Simulated US Attack’
Paul Joseph Watson | Largest military exercise since cold war increases tensions.
Poll: 34% of Americans
Say First Amendment Too Extreme
Kit Daniels
| 44% also favor the government forcing journalists to give up their news
sources.
West Virginia
Dismisses False Flag Allegations
Julie Wilson
| West Virginia issues Public Health Notices warning the public.
Top US Military
Officer: America Is Considering Entering Syrian War
Michael Kelley | America’s top military officer told a Senate committee that
the Obama administration is considering the use of military force in Syria.
USDA Grants $149,074
to Study Food Shopping Patterns with GPS
CNSNews.com
| The USDA has awarded a $149,074 grant to study food shopping patterns that
may form the basis of future shopping “interventions.”
Congressman:
Benghazi Survivors Forced to Sign Non-Disclosure Agreements
The Weekly Standard | Congressman Frank Wolf said survivors of the Benghazi terror
attack have been forced to sign non-disclosure agreements.
Larry Elder Blasts
Piers Morgan on the Trayvon Martin Fiasco
Kurt Nimmo
| Morgan’s pathetic exploitation of Rachel Jeantel backfires.
TSA Searching
Parked Cars at AIrport
WHEC.com
| TSA says this is part of its overall security plan and that it’s a proactive
move to Search Parked Cars at AIrport.
Steam Rising Again
From Fukushima Reactor
Zero Hedge
| Steam has been seen rising from a reactor building at Japan’s Fukushima
nuclear plant.
American offshore accounts in
foreign banks with more than $50,000 have to be reported
Merco Press
| Treasury said it will postpone enforcement of new law that cracks down on
offshore tax avoidance by Americans by six months.
Economic
Collapse | Most people have no idea that the U.S. financial system is on the
brink of utter disaster.
Black
America's Real Problem Isn't White Racism
Pat Buchanan
In
the aftermath of the acquittal of George Zimmerman, Eric Holder, Al Sharpton
and Ben Jealous of the NAACP are calling on the black community to rise up in
national protest.
Yet
they know — and Barack Obama, whose silence speaks volumes, knows — nothing is
going to happen.
"Stand-Your-Ground"
laws in Florida and other states are not going to be repealed. George Zimmerman
is not going to be prosecuted for a federal "hate crime" in the death
of Trayvon Martin.
The
result of all this ginned-up rage that has produced vandalism and violence is
simply going to be an ever-deepening racial divide.
Consider
the matter of crime and fear of crime.
From
listening to cable channels and hearing Holder, Sharpton, Jealous and others,
one would think the great threat to black children today emanates from white
vigilantes and white cops.
Hence,
every black father must have a "conversation" with his son, warning
him not to resist or run if pulled over or hassled by a cop.
Make
the wrong move, son, and you may be dead is the implication.
But
is this the reality in Black America?
When
Holder delivered his 2009 "nation-of-cowards" speech blaming racism
for racial separation, Manhattan Institute's Heather Mac Donald suggested that
our attorney general study his crime statistics.
In
New York from January to June 2008, 83 percent of all gun assailants were
black, according to witnesses and victims, though blacks were only 24 percent
of the population. Blacks and Hispanics together accounted for 98 percent of
all gun assailants. Forty-nine of every 50 muggings and murders in the Big
Apple were the work of black or Hispanic criminals.
New
York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly confirms Mac Donald's facts. Blacks and
Hispanics commit 96 percent of all crimes in the city, he says, but only 85
percent of the stop-and-frisks are of blacks and Hispanics.
And
these may involve the kind of pat-downs all of us have had at the airport.
Is
stop-and-frisk the work of racist cops in New York, where the crime rate has
been driven down to levels unseen in decades?
According
to Kelly, a majority of his police force, which he has been able to cut from
41,000 officers to 35,000, is now made up of minorities.
But
blacks are also, per capita, the principal victims of crime. Would black
fathers prefer their sons to grow up in Chicago, rather than low-crime New York
City, with its stop-and-frisk policy?
Fernando
Mateo, head of the New York taxicab union, urges his drivers to profile blacks
and Hispanics for their own safety: "The God's honest truth is that 99
percent of the people that are robbing, stealing, killing these drivers are
blacks and Hispanics."
Mateo
is what The New York Times would describe as "a black Hispanic" Yet
he may be closer to the 'hood than Holder, who says he was stopped by police
when running to a movie — in Georgetown.
Which
raises a relevant question. Georgetown is an elitist enclave of a national
capital that has been ruled by black mayors for half a century. It's never had
a white mayor.
Is
Holder saying we've got racist cops in the district where Obama carried 86
percent of the white vote and 97 percent of the black vote? And his son should
fear the white cops in Washington, D.C.?
What
about interracial crime, white-on-black attacks and the reverse?
After
researching the FBI numbers for "Suicide of a Superpower," this
writer concluded: "An analysis of 'single offender victimization figures'
from the FBI for 2007 finds blacks committed 433,934 crimes against whites,
eight times the 55,685 whites committed against blacks. Interracial rape is
almost exclusively black on white — with 14,000 assaults on white women by
African Americans in 2007. Not one case of a white sexual assault on a black
female was found in the FBI study."
Though
blacks are outnumbered 5-to-1 in the population by whites, they commit eight
times as many crimes against whites as the reverse. By those 2007 numbers, a
black male was 40 times as likely to assault a white person as the reverse.
If
interracial crime is the ugliest manifestation of racism, what does this tell
us about where racism really resides — in America?
And
if the FBI stats for 2007 represent an average year since the Tawana Brawley
rape-hoax of 1987, over one-third of a million white women have been sexually
assaulted by black males since 1987 — with no visible protest from the civil
rights leadership.
Today,
73 percent of all black kids are born out of wedlock. Growing up, these kids
drop out, use drugs, are unemployed, commit crimes and are incarcerated at many
times the rate of Asians and whites — or Hispanics, who are taking the jobs
that used to go to young black Americans.
Are
white vigilantes or white cops really Black America's problem?
Obama
seems not to think so. The Rev. Sharpton notwithstanding, he is touting Ray
Kelly as a possible chief of homeland security.
Patrick
J. Buchanan is the author of "Suicide of a Superpower: Will America
Survive to 2025?" To find out more about Patrick Buchanan and read
features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators webpage
at www.creators.com.
HE
CAN'T HAVE HIS GUN BACK...
Jesse
Jackson: Florida an 'Apartheid State'...
Calls For Boycott...
CNN's
ratings nosedive following Zimmerman trial...
Charles
Barkley: 'I Agree With Verdict'...
'A lot of black people are racist too'...
COSBY:
ACQUITTAL NOT ABOUT RACE...
Black
congresswoman: Fire Prosecutor Corey...
More
arrested at protest...
Pedestrians
attacked in San Bernardino...
Rocks
thrown at cars...
Sign
Posted On Pittsburgh Mayor's Front Door...
Viral
Photo Trend 'Trayvoning'...
Everything Is Fine, But…
Everything
is going to be just great. Haven't you heard? The stock market is
at an all-time high, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says that inflation is incredibly low, and the
official unemployment rate has been steadily declining since early in Barack
Obama's first term. Of course I am being facetious, but this is the kind
of talk about the economy that you will hear if you tune in to the mainstream
media. They would have us believe that those running things know exactly
what they are doing and that very bright days are ahead for America. And
it would be wonderful if that was actually true. Unfortunately, as I made exceedingly clear yesterday, the U.S.
economy has already been in continual decline for the past decade. Any
honest person that looks at those numbers has to admit that our economy is not
even close to where it used to be. But could it be possible that we are
making a comeback? Could it be possible that Obama and Bernanke really do
know what they are doing and that their decisions have put us on the path to
prosperity? Could it be possible that everything is going to be just
fine? (Read
More....)
Chris Christie's New Jersey
plummets
Seeking
a second term as New
Jersey governor with a possible eye to a White House run in 2016, Chris Christie is
heavily touting his business record, as he did at the ribbon cutting of real
estate firm Realogy's
new corporate headquarters in Madison, N.J., last month.
"We
made a commitment from the beginning to grow New Jersey's
economy. The only way to do that is with the private sector," Christie
said.
Christie
often points to his administration's "partnership" with business,
including deregulation, tax cuts and incentives.
Christie's Plan to Get NJ on Top
CNBC's Scott Cohn is working on this year's
"Top States for Business," and New Jersey's Chris Christie has a plan
to get New Jersey on top.
But
he is unlikely to point to New Jersey's standing in our America's Top States
for Business rankings. It has declined since he took office in 2010.
(Read
More: Worst
States for Business)
That
year and in 2011, New Jersey finished 30th overall. In 2012, the state plunged
to 41st. For 2013, it drops another spot to 42nd.
To
some degree, the Garden State is a victim of a changing competitive landscape,
as well as a business culture embedded in the state long before Christie took
over. But our study shows Christie's efforts to change New Jersey have largely
been unsuccessful compared to other states.
With
more states than ever touting their low Cost of Doing Business, that criterion
carries extra weight in our study this year. That puts old, Northeastern states like New
Jersey at an instant disadvantage. Indeed, the state comes in 42nd in that key
category.
(Read
More: America's Most
Expensive States to Live)
New
Jersey is quite simply one of the most expensive states to do business in.
Office and industrial rents are expensive, wages are high. And with a corporate
income tax rate of 9 percent on top of soaring property taxes, New Jersey has
one of the highest tax burdens in the country. Christie has made a broad tax
cut plan a centerpiece of his re-election campaign.
But
it is not just New Jersey's tax rates that are a problem. The Tax Foundation's Scott
Drenkard tells CNBC New Jersey's tax system suffers from some fairness
issues. The already high taxes are levied on a narrow base.
"Some
businesses are paying full freight—paying the full rate, and other businesses
that are engaging in favorable activities are paying low rates," Drenkard
said.
(Read
More: States
Bring Renewed Swagger to Top States 2013)
That
unevenness in the New Jersey tax code is a direct result of a major push by
Christie to boost business incentives. The state now offers at least five
different corporate tax reduction programs, and Christie has awarded some $2.1
billion in subsidies since taking office compared with $1.25 billion in the
prior 10 years, according to New
Jersey Policy Perspective, a liberal think tank.
The
incentives have helped Christie secure some victories, such as the Realogy
corporate headquarters. The firm had reportedly been considering a move out of
the state.
And
Allergan opened a
93,000 square foot research facility in Bridgewater in September, after
reportedly considering locations in California,Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
But
incentives alone have not been enough to bring New Jersey in line with the
national recovery. Unemployment remained above the national average at 8.6
percent in May, and the state's economy was growing at about half the national
rate.
Christie
vowed to make his broader tax cut proposal a campaign issue after failing to
pass a tax credit plan in the latest budget. Opponents argued there was not
enough revenue to justify the tax cuts.
(Read
More: Categories
& Criteria for CNBC's Top States for Business 2013)
On
his campaign website,
Christie claims he has already cut "$2.35 billion in job-destroying
taxes." And he claims he is making New Jersey more business friendly.
"The
Governor has also eliminated hundreds of confusing rules and regulations that
put an onerous and unnecessary burden on New Jersey businesses," the site
said.
New
Jersey does log a solid improvement in our Business Friendliness category for
2013, but still finishes near the bottom at 41st in the category compared with
48th in 2012.
The
libertarian
Fraser Institute gives New Jersey below average marks for the fairness of
its tax system, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform's
annual ranking
of state lawsuit climates puts New Jersey at 32nd.
New
Jersey has a long tradition as a heavily unionized state, and Christie—perhaps
bowing to political realities—has been courting many private sector unions in
his re-election campaign.
(Read
More: States
Battle for Business)
A
heavy union presence tends to work against states in our Workforce category,
and Census figures show New Jersey remains among the most unionized states in
the nation. But the state finishes a respectable 21st in the category this year
compared with 28th last year. The higher than average unemployment rate means
more workers are available, and many of them are well-educated and trained. New
Jersey workers are among the most educated in the country, according to the
Census Bureau.
And
speaking of education, New Jersey surges to the No. 1 spot in our
Education category for the first time, up from fourth place last year. Class
sizes are low, the state generously supports its public schools, and high
school test scores are among the best in the country.
For
a politically ambitious governor whose state has typically struggled in our Top
States rankings, that could be a small silver lining.
The
Most Expensive US States to Live in
By Scott Cohn, CNBC Senior
Correspondent | CNBC – Mon,
Jul 15, 2013 10:07 AM EDT
@cnbc
on Twitter
Businesses don't just look at their own
costs when deciding where to set up shop. They also look at the costs for their
employees and executives. After all, wages go further when the cost
of living is low. That's why Cost of Living is one of the categories we
measure as we rank America's
Top States for Business. The higher the cost of living, the lower the
score. Here are our rankings of America's most expensive states to live in,
plus a sampling of the prices you'll pay for some basics in the most expensive
area of the state. (Average price data based on Council for Community and
Economic Research C2ER Cost of Living Index, Q1 2013.)
1. HAWAII
Avg. Home Price (Honolulu Metro): $742,166
Half Gallon of Milk: $3.41
Pound of Ground Beef: $3.99
Monthly Energy Bill: $333.51
Doctor Visit: $101.80
2013 Cost of Living Rank: #50 (Most Expensive)
2013 Cost of Living Score: 1 (out of 50)
2012 Cost of Living Rank: #50
2. ALASKA
Avg. Home Price (Anchorage Metro): $467,553
Half Gallon of Milk: $2.41
Pound of Ground Beef: $4.08
Monthly Energy Bill: $169.84
Doctor Visit: $159.20
2013 Cost of Living Rank: #49 (2nd Most Expensive)
2013 Cost of Living Score: 2 (out of 50)
2012 Cost of Living Rank: #49
3. CONNECTICUT
Avg. Home Price (Stamford Metro): $585,000
Half Gallon of Milk: $2.77
Pound of Ground Beef: $4.07
Monthly Energy Bill: $236.01
Doctor Visit: $114.55
2013 Cost of Living Rank: #48 (3rd Most Expensive)
2013 Cost of Living Score: 3 (out of 50)
2012 Cost of Living Rank: #48
4. NEW YORK
Avg. Home Price (Manhattan): $1,351,400
Half Gallon of Milk: $2.42
Pound of Ground Beef: $4.71
Monthly Energy Bill: $237.01
Doctor Visit: $96.00
2013 Cost of Living Rank: #47 (4th Most Expensive)
2013 Cost of Living Score: 4 (out of 50)
2012 Cost of Living Rank: #47
5. NEW JERSEY
Avg. Home Price (Bergen-Passaic Metro): $557,145
Half Gallon of Milk: $3.79
Pound of Ground Beef: $3.43
Monthly Energy Bill: $252.39
Doctor Visit: $103.20
2013 Cost of Living Rank: #46 (5th Most Expensive)
2013 Cost of Living Score: 5 (out of 50)
2012 Cost of Living Rank: #45
Want to see the rest of America's Most Expensive States to
Live? Check
it out here.
Related links:
America's
Least Expensive Places to Live
Top-ten States with the Best Quality of Life
Miami
to LA: Hundreds turn out for Trayvon rallies...
Protesters
Denounce FOX NEWS, 'Stand Your Ground' Laws...
Calls
to Boycott DISNEYLAND...
Both
Zimmerman and Obama have 48% disapproval rating...
OBAMACARE
DATABASE WORSE THAN NSA SNOOPING
NYC:
UP ON THE ROOF:
Girl Lured And Raped, Thrown Off Building...
Women
bring man for sex; Maced, robbed, falls to his death...
George Zimmerman rescues victims trapped in overturned
truck...
Four
people, including two children, pulled unscathed from burning vehicle...
'What
if George hadn't gotten out of his truck?'
Supporters
raise money to buy him new gun...
New
Black Panther Party Marches...
Houston
counter-protest defends...
ACLU
withdraws demand that Feds take action...
Detroit Plans to Cut Retirees' Pensions...
City not alone
under mountain of long-term debt...
Warning
sign for America?
SOLD:
Struggling Pennsylvania capital auctions Wild West artifacts...
GANG
OF HAMMER-WIELDING THUGS RUNS WILD IN NYC...
REPORT:
13-year-old girl raped by more than a dozen illegals in Texas...
...
some recorded attack
SHOCK
POLL: O’s SLIDE TO 41%...
Slips
10% in CA...
President
begs Hollywood celebrities to help pitch...
Obamacare's
Branch of NSA...
Community organizers will use Federal Data Hub to sign up people for
subsidies, and even ballots...
Privacy
Concerns...
White
House Enlists Celebs...
2014:
Pelosi rolls out economic agenda for women...
Dems
turn against Obamacare...
George
Zimmerman rescues victims trapped in overturned truck...
4
people, including 2 children, pulled unscathed from burning vehicle...
ACLU
withdraws demand that feds take action...
REPORT:
Woman Holding Racist Sign at Rally Outed As Far-Left Activist...
GoLDMaN ALuMiNuM TRaDe
EXPLaiNeD...
Posted by : williambanzai7 Post date: 07/23/2013 - Yes we aluminum can...
GoLDMaN
ALuMiNuM TRaDe EXPLaiNeD...
Submitted by williambanzai7 on 07/23/2013
WEINER COMES CLEAN --
AGAIN!
'Explicit'
new sex messages, bathroom pic...
Sent
graphic smut months after resigning from Congress in shame...
Went
by 'Carlos Danger' in sex chats...
Demanded
woman delete messages; Promised her job, condo in Chicago...
CHICAGOLAND:
Man gunned down in golf course drive-by...
Guess
The World's Most Expensive City
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/24/2013 09:00 -0400
While
Edward Snowden can perhaps
breathe a sigh of relief at being abale to avoid the humdrum beat of
airport food for a while, he will be stepping out into the 2nd most expensive
city in the world. Based on a survey of over 200 items, Moscow ranks
2nd in the world (with $8 cups of coffee and $4,600 average apartment
rental costs), and Tokyo 3rd (with $5 newspapers and $7
coffees). But the most expensive city in the world will come as a surprise to
most and likely create the need for a Google Maps search. With 40.5% of the
population of this nation living in property and the average monthly rent a
sky-high $6,500, this southern African country's capital is the most
expensive city in the world (it would seem the Chinese arrival in
resource-rich African nations - N'Djamena, Chad is 4th - has had its hot-money
inflationary effects).
Most Expensive Cities In The World (using Mercer data)
Number 10. Sydney
Monthly rent (luxury apt.): $2,551
International newspaper: $6.20
Cup of coffee: $5.16
Gas (per liter): $1.51
A
tight housing market has made Sydney an extremely expensive place for anyone to
live. Few vacancies have driven rental prices higher, with the average rent on
a luxury two-bedroom hitting more than $2,500 a month.
Prices
for other goods aren't cheap either: Want a burger and a soda? That will cost
you more than $9. A trip to the movies for two? Close to $40 -- and that's
without popcorn.
Number 9. Bern, Switzerland
Monthly rent (luxury apt.): $2,687
International newspaper: $4.35
Cup of coffee: $4.35
Gas (per liter): $2.02
Even
though Switzerland has experienced some deflation over the past couple of
years, prices for everything from milk to movie tickets are still staggeringly
high. The average cost for a fast food hamburger meal in Bern is $12.51 and a
pair of blue jeans will cost an average $138.
For
Americans, the prices are made all the more cumbersome due to an unfavorable
exchange rate.
Number 8. Zurich
Monthly rent (luxury apt.): $3,915
International newspaper: $4.35
Cup of coffee: $5.98
Gas (per liter): $2.02
One
of the world's major financial centers, nearly one-quarter of the city's
residents work at banks and investment firms. In fact, wealth and security are
a way of life here. The unemployment rate is a super low 3.1%.
Yet,
nothing comes cheap. A club sandwich will cost $30.45 (one of the most
expensive club sandwiches in the world) and coffee rings in around $6 a cup,
according to Mercer.
Number 7. Geneva, Switzerland
Monthly rent (luxury apt.): $4,350
International newspaper: $4.35
Cup of coffee: $6.52
Gas (per liter): $2.02
One
of three Swiss cities to make Mercer's list, Geneva offers many luxurious,
well-crafted goods, as well as many everyday ones -- almost all of which will
cost Americans handsomely.
Part
of the reason is an unfavorable exchange rate. The Swiss franc is more robust
than the U.S. dollar. Tickets to the movies will cost an average of $18.50
apiece and a hamburger meal at a fast food joint will put you back about
$12.50, according to Mercer.
Number 6. Hong Kong
Monthly rent (luxury apt.): $7,092
International newspaper: $3.87
Cup of coffee: $5.67
Gas (per liter): $2.23
Hong
Kong's rental market is exploding. Home prices have climbed significantly and
potential buyers are having such a hard time securing financing that they are
turning to rental homes instead, according to Mercer's Miriam Siscovick.
While
a luxury two-bedroom averages a little more than $7,000 a month, Mercer found
that luxury three-bedroom apartments can go for more than $13,500 a month.
Number 5. Singapore
Monthly rent (luxury apt.): $3,795
International newspaper: $3.63
Cup of coffee: $4.84
Gas (per liter): $1.76
One
of the fastest growing economies in the world, Singapore's per capita income is
also one of the highest -- at $51,709. But thanks to a history of high
inflation and taxes, residents still pay top dollar for goods and services.
When
eating at a restaurant in Singapore, for example, be prepared to fork over a 7%
goods and services tax and pay a 10% service charge, according to the Inland
Revenue Authority of Singapore.
Number 4. N'Djamena, Chad
Monthly rent (luxury apt.): $2,245
International newspaper: $6.94
Cup of coffee: $3.06
Gas (per liter): $0.98
Just
getting to N'Djamena is expensive. A round-trip flight from New York's JFK
airport to this central African city costs at least $2,500, on Travelocity.
Once
you get there, things don't get much cheaper. Order a club sandwich and a soda
in Chad's capital city and it will easily cost you $25 or more, according to
Mercer's report. Grab the daily paper and it will cost close to $7.
Number 3. Tokyo
Monthly rent (luxury apt.): $4,513
International newspaper: $5.37
Cup of coffee: $6.98
Gas (per liter): $1.74
Home
to 13.2 million people, Tokyo is one of the most densely-populated cities in
the world -- and that means real estate comes at a premium. Rents here are
among some of the most expensive on the planet, with luxury two-bedroom
apartments going for an average of $4,500 a month, according to Mercer.
Number 2. Moscow
Monthly rent (luxury apt.): $4,600
International newspaper: $9.95
Cup of coffee: $8.29
Gas (per liter): $1.04
Rental
apartments in Moscow can make Manhattan's prices look cheap, with unfurnished
luxury two-bedrooms averaging $4,600 a month. And the imported goods and
services that expats commonly want also command a premium. A gallon of milk
costs an average of $7.59. Even a cup of coffee -- averaging more than $8 --
doesn't come cheap.
and
the most expensive city in the world....
Number 1. Luanda, Angola
Monthly rent (luxury apt.): $6,500
International newspaper: $5.42
Cup of coffee: $3.88
Gas (per liter): $0.63
Oil
has brought this southern African country vast riches, but high taxes and
internal strife keep prices extremely high.
For
Americans who come to work here, everything can cost top dollar. A pair of blue
jeans will cost an average $204, according to consulting firm Mercer's annual
survey.
Such
sky-high prices have created a big chasm between the haves and have-nots, with
40.5% of the population living in poverty according to the Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA.)
One
thing that is relatively cheap here: gas, at an average of 63 cents a liter.
But you'll still pay a high price to take a taxi.
House
Narrowly Rejects Proposal To End NSA Surveillance In 205-217 Vote
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/24/2013 - 19:44
Moments
ago, an unlikely grouping between a 33-year old Republican, Rep-Justin Amash,
and an 84-year old Democrat, Rep-John Conyers, resulted in a House vote, that
if passed, would have suspended the NSA's "indiscriminate collection of
phone records" and effectively ended the program's statutory authority.
Yet despite significant lobbying by the White House, security experts and
representative on both sides of the aisle, the vote came within a startlingly
close 12 votes of passage. A majority of Democrats, 111, voted for Amash's
amendment despite the full court press while 83 Democrats voted no. The GOP
vote was 94-134. That the vote did not pass is not surprising. However, that it
came to just 12 votes of passage is the stunning development and shows a sea
change of how Congress approaches both personal privacy and the broader
implications of the Patriot Act. All of it thanks to the action of one man who
at last check was still stuck in the transit terminal in Moscow.
It's All About The Fundamentals
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/24/2013 - 19:33
Presented
with little comment aside to ask, rhetorically, when do our existing valuation
methodologies fail and we shift to Price-to-Fed-Balance-Sheet metrics?
Guest
Post: Japan’s Future: Less Sex, More Shoplifting
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/24/2013 - 19:02
A troubling trend has emerged among Japan’s
elderly – who represent around a quarter of its 128 million citizens – which is
closely bound up with the nation’s greater demographic problems at hand. For
the first time ever, Japanese aged 65 and up account for a higher percentage of
shoplifting cases than do the country’s teens. Abe's upper-house
election win this weekend makes the situation worse. Facing the reality of
increasing strain on a shrinking workforce, Abe plans to cut welfare in
August, rather than increase government help for the nation’s burgeoning
elderly population. With this cut, theft among the elderly could very
well increase.
The
NSA's Version Of "The Dog Ate My Homework"
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/24/2013 - 18:31
When
it comes to the conversion of the US into a totalitarian state, few things are
quite as symbolic as the construction of the NSA's
Bluffdale, Utah Data Canter, which was revealed last year
by Wired, yet which did not get much prominence until June's revelations by
Edward Snowden. Costing billions in taxpayer money, the facility is simply the
largest hard disk ever built, designed to store every current and future
electronic communication, both foreign and domestic, to
be made available at a moment's notice following the "permission" of
the secret FISA court. Which is why one would think that if there is one thing
the NSA would excel in (and once can certainly not blame the NSA for being
budget-friendly - recall that the The Pentagon
has requested $4.7 billion for “cyberspace operations,” even as the budget
of the CIA and other intelligence agencies could fall by $4.4 billion) is being
able to identify and isolate any particular signal among a veritable mountain
of noise. One would be very wrong.
Hoisington:
"The Secular Low In Bond Yields Has Yet To Be Recorded"
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/24/2013 - 18:06
The secular low in bond yields has yet to be
recorded. This
assessment for a continuing pattern of lower yields in the quarters ahead is
clearly a minority view, as the recent selling of all types of bond products
attest. The rise in long term yields over the last several months was
accelerated by the recent Federal Reserve announcement that it would be “tapering”
its purchases of Treasury and mortgage-backed securities. This has convinced
many bond market participants that the low in long rates is in the past. The
Treasury bond market’s short term fluctuations are a function of many factors,
but its primary and most fundamental determinate is attitudes toward current
and future inflation. From that perspective, the outlook for long term
Treasury yields to fall is most favorable in light of: a)
diminished inflation pressures; b) slowing GDP growth; c) weakening consumer
fundamentals; and d) anti-growth monetary and fiscal policies.
High-Speed
Train Derails In North-West Spain - 35 Killed, Hundreds Injured
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/24/2013 - 17:32
When
we
recently described the case of the "monoderailed" Spanish "train
to nowhere" we hardly had in mind just how sad and tragic this
proposition would become in reality just two short weeks later. A high-speed
train (traveling at 250kph) has derailed in Northwestern Spain - killing at
least 35 people and injusred hundreds more. As CNN
reports, the train crashed on a curve near the city of Santiago de
Compostela - traveling from Madrid to the town of Ferrol. With China
unveiling its plans to save the world's economy via a rail-road infrastructure
fund, and Spain already neck-deep in funding rail-roads to nowhere, this
evening's terrible disaster in Spain will surely provide some food for thought.
Guest
Post: PRISM, Snapchat, And Investment Edge
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/24/2013 - 17:11
The rise of the surveillance state and the
shifts in our daily usage of portable personal computers (smartphones) are
likely to lead to some intriguing shifts in how we communicate and
invest.
Hilsenrath
Latest: Toss Up Between Summers And Yellen
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/24/2013 - 16:41
While
hardly a surprise, following recent speculative punditry (which failed
miserably in forecasting Mark Carney as the next BOE head, something Zero Hedge
predicted
half a year ahead of the event due to one simple variable - he is from
Goldman) and numerous trial balloons on Bernanke's successor coming hot and
heavy from every direction, it was time for the Fed's own mouthpiece, Jon
Hilsenrath, to speak, and bring back much needed drama and confusion.
Stocks
Slump Most In A Month Suggesting Good Is Definitely Bad
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/24/2013 - 16:17
Stocks had their worst day in a month; Treasuries their worst
day in 3 weeks; and the USD strengthened the most in 3 weeks as Gold dropped. All seeming signals that the printing
machine is less a factor than it was yesterday. The 'Taper' action apparently
reflects better headline data this morning (EU PMI once again being claimed
that all is well - just like in Jan 2012; US
home sales beating expectations (but home prices collapsing); and US PMI
beating expectations (in its typical lower highs cyclical pattern of the last
few years). Today's good-is-bad drop in stocks was also accompanied by the
heaviest volume in almost 3 weeks (as the 3rd day in a row saw the S&P 500
fail to break 1,700 at the opening rush). WTI slid back to around $105 (as
gas prices have stabilzied at highs) and the spread to Brent leaks back wider. VIX
rose 0.6 vols (its most in a month) back above 13%.
Where
College Tuition Money Comes From
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/24/2013 - 15:46
With
parent income and savings dwindling, grants and scholarships (and student
loans) are making up a greater and greater share of the budget for the typical
family paying for college.
When
The Economic Indicators Finally Break
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/24/2013 - 15:17
"We
are left in the world of Wile E. Coyote who had the habit of dashing off cliffs
in the pursuit of the elusive Road Runner, before noticing the thin air
below. Plenty of economists and money managers have their eyes fixed on leading
indicators and tell me that Southern Europe’s economies are
"stabilizing" and "prosperity is around the corner." In
reality economic activity in Greece, Portugal, Italy, Spain, and also France,
is collapsing."
Guest
Post: Bankers Own The World
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/24/2013 - 14:59
In every era, there are certain people and
institutions that are held in the highest public regard as they embody the
prevailing values of society.
Not that long ago, Albert Einstein was a major public figure and was widely
revered. Can you name a scientist that commands a similar presence today? Today,
some of the most celebrated individuals and institutions are ensconced within
the financial industry; in banks, hedge funds, and private equity
firms. Which is odd because none of these firms or individuals actually make
anything, which society might point to as additive to our living standards.
Instead, these financial magicians harvest value from the rest of society that
has to work hard to produce real things of real value. Money is power. And
history has shown that power is never ceded spontaneously or willingly.
But the stability of this parasitical system begins to weaken quickly when the
lifeblood it depends on begins to dry up. And that's when things can
begin to go south in a hurry
Detroit
Chapter 9 Bankruptcy Objections Denied
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/24/2013 - 14:24
The
judge has decided to over-rule both objections and that nothing with regard the
Chapter 9 process is held up.
- *DETROIT JUDGE OVERRULES OBJECTIONS
CLAIMING BANKRUPTCY INVALID
- *DETROIT JUDGE SAYS HE HAS POWER TO
GRANT GOVERNOR SUIT IMMUNITY
- *DETROIT BANKRUPTCY FILING IS VALID,
FEDERAL JUDGE RULES
- *DETROIT BANKRUPTCY ELIGIBILITY TO BE
DECIDED IN FEDERAL COURT
Now,
we proceed to the Federal eligibility hearing (whether the city is eligible to
proceed with Chapter 9). Remember this took almost a year with Stockton, CA.
For now, Unions 0 - Orr 1 but it seems like neither side will be a winner when
this is all over (which makes sense as while there is the law and the
Obama-law, there
is simply no money). The current plan (for now rejected by creditors)
means a 90% loss for muni-worker retirees, 81% loss for unsecured creditors,
and a 75% loss for secured creditors.
Commander-In-Chief
Caption Contest
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/24/2013 - 13:59
Presenting:
the American middle class and its leader.
Stocks
Drop Most In 3 Weeks As BTFATH Fails (For Now)
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/24/2013 - 13:57
Did
the world
of retail investors just realize that they are indeed the greater fool (as we
showed here), as it seems this high-volume dip in US equities - the
largest since the July 5th ramp-fest began - is not seeing the BTFATH mentality
coming in quite yet. Or perhaps it is the somewhat belligerent tone
that the President is using towards the hard-working US CEOs who see profits
over employment.
ERECTION
UPDATE: Weiner now blames 'rough time' in marriage...
Pressure
mounts to pull out...
Huma
following Clinton plan...
CHICAGOLAND:
Guardian Angels Warn Magnificent Mile Becoming Muggers' Mile...
America's
'Middle Class' Ranked 27th Worldwide...
Two
Food Stamp Recipients Added For Every Job 'Created'...
Who Controls The Global Economy?
Do Not Underestimate The Power Of The Big Banks
Are the big banks really as powerful
as some people say that they are? Do they really control the global
economy? If y0u asked most people, they would tell you that governments
control the global economy. But the campaigns of our politicians are
funded by the ultra-wealthy, the big banks and the large corporations that they
control. Others would tell you that the Federal Reserve and the rest of
the central banks around the world control the global economy. But the
truth is that the Federal Reserve was established by the bankers and for the
benefit of the bankers. As you will see below, at the very
core of the global economy there exists a "super-entity" of financial
institutions that control an almost unimaginable amount of wealth and
power. These financial institutions and the ultra-wealthy individuals behind them are really
the ones that are pulling all the strings. In this world money equals
power, and the borrower is the servant of the lender. When you follow the
pyramid all the way to the top, it begins to become very clear who really is in
control. (Read
More....)
Debt Levels Are Skyrocketing To
Extremely Dangerous Levels – How Long Can This Possibly Keep Going?
Never
before has the world faced such a serious debt crisis. Yes, in the past
there have certainly been nations that have gotten into trouble with debt, but
we have never had a situation where virtually all of the major powers around
the globe were all drowning in debt at the same time. And what makes this
crisis even more unprecedented is that everyone on the planet is using fiat
currency that is backed up by nothing. It is all just a bunch of paper
and data points that people have faith in. Right now, confidence in this
system is being shaken as debt levels skyrocket to extremely dangerous
levels. Many are openly wondering how much longer this can possibly go
on. (Read
More....)
Obama Administration Requires
Magician To Submit A 32 Page “Disaster Plan” For His Rabbit
Central planning in this country
is getting completely and totally out of control. These days, you can
hardly do anything without running into a suffocating web of red tape.
For example, a small-time magician from Missouri that does magic shows for kids
was absolutely horrified when he learned that the Obama
administration is requiring him to submit a 32 page “disaster plan” for the
rabbit that he uses in his shows. Yes, this is actually true. His
name is Marty Hahne, and he thought that it was bad enough when the U.S.
Department of Agriculture busted him for not having a “license” for his
rabbit. He went out and acquired the proper “license” for his rabbit, but
he never dreamed that eventually he would also have to submit a 32 page
“disaster plan” for the same rabbit. (Read
More.....)
Tags: Disaster, Disaster
Plan, License,
Michael
T. Snyder, Missouri, Obama, Obama
Administration, Red Tape | Category: Politics
| 16 comments
12 Signs That The Decay Of
Society Is Accelerating
What
in the world is happening to America? All around us there are disturbing
signs that the slow-motion collapse of society is accelerating. With each
passing year, criminals seem to be getting more desperate and more
twisted. Some of the sick things that some people are willing to do to
their fellow human beings are simply beyond description. What kind of
psychotic individual would hold elderly men captive for a decade in order to
get their Social Security and veteran benefit checks? How depraved do you
have to be before you are able to convince yourself to rape a 16-year-old girl
and then throw her body off of a roof? What kind of heartless teens would
pour gasoline on an innocent boy walking home from school and then set him on
fire? The social decay that is eating away at our nation like cancer is
starting to get a lot worse, and yet there are still lots of people out there
that will flat out deny that society is collapsing. They have totally
bought into the propaganda being pushed by the mainstream media, and they are
fully convinced that things in America are actually getting better even though
our communities are literally coming apart at the seams all around us.
How much worse do things have to get before everyone finally is willing to
admit that we have a major problem on our hands? The following are 12
signs that the decay of society is accelerating… (Read
More.....)
20 Controversial Questions The
Mainstream Media Won’t Touch With A Ten Foot Pole
Why
are so many incredibly important news stories completely ignored by the
mainstream media in the United States? Why do they seem to want to avoid
many “controversial questions” as if they were the plague? Why does the
media tend to label those that are willing to ask the hard questions and seek
the truth as “conspiracy theorists”? Sadly, the truth is that the
mainstream media in America does not do much real journalism anymore. At
this point, approximately 90 percent of what you see on television is
controlled by just 6 giant media
corporations. That is why “the news” seems to be so similar no
matter what channel you watch. Well, it turns out that a lot of Americans
are getting tired of the safe, censored, pre-packaged news that they get from
the corporate-controlled media. One recent poll found that 77
percent of all Americans do not trust television news at this
point. This distrust has helped fuel the rise of the alternative media,
which has absolutely exploded in (Read
More....)
These
Are The 217 People Who Voted To Preserve NSA Surveillance
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/24/2013 20:51 -0400
Presenting
the full
roll call breakdown of the Amash Amendment (as described previously)
to shutter the NSA's surveillance function.
First
the Ayes, or those who voted to end the NSA's surveillance activity.
Republicans in roman, Democrats in italic, Independents underlined.
And here are the 217 for whom "protection against
terrorism" is of tantamount importance. Certainly more important than the
privacy of US citizens.
Finally,
since the margin of passage was 12 votes, it is of note that precisely 12
representatives did not vote. The following 12:
- Barletta
- Beatty
- Bustos
- Campbell
- Coble
- Herrera Beutler
- Horsford
- McCarthy (NY)
- Negrete McLeod
- Pallone
- Rokita
- Schock
It Is Happening Again: 18
Similarities Between The Last Financial Crisis And Today
By Michael Snyder, on July 25th, 2013
If
our leaders could have recognized the signs ahead of time, do you think that
they could have prevented the financial crisis of 2008? That is a very
timely question, because so many of the warning signs that we saw just before
and during the last financial crisis are popping up again. Many of the
things that are happening right now in the stock market, the bond market, the
real estate market and in the overall economic data are eerily similar to what
we witnessed back in 2008 and 2009. It is almost as if we are being
forced to watch some kind of a perverse replay of previous events, only this
time our economy and our financial system are much weaker than they were the
last time around. So will we be able to handle a financial crash as bad
as we experienced back in 2008? What if it is even worse this time? Considering the fact that we
have been through this kind of thing before, you would think that our leaders
would be feverishly trying to keep it from happening again and the American
people would be rapidly preparing to weather the coming storm. Sadly,
none of that is happening. It is almost as if they cannot even see the disaster
that is staring them right in the face. But without a doubt, disaster is
coming. The following are 18 similarities between the last financial crisis and
today...
#1
According to the Bank of America Merrill Lynch equity strategy team, their big
institutional clients are selling stock at a rate not seen "since 2008".
#2
In 2008, stock prices had wildly diverged from where the economic fundamentals
said that they should be. Now it has happened again.
#3
In early 2008, the average price of a gallon of gasoline rose
substantially. It is starting to happen again.
And remember, whenever the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the U.S.
has risen above $3.80 during the past three years, a stock market decline has always followed.
#4
New home prices just experienced their largest two month
drop since Lehman Brothers collapsed.
#5
During the last financial crisis, the mortgage delinquency rate rose
dramatically. It is starting to happen again.
#6
Prior to the financial crisis of 2008, there was a spike in the number of
adjustable rate mortgages. It is happening again.
#7
Just before the last financial crisis, unemployment claims started
skyrocketing. Well, initial claims for unemployment benefits are rising again. Once we hit the
400,000 level, we will officially be in the danger zone.
#8
Continuing claims for unemployment benefits just spiked to the highest level since early 2009.
#9
The yield on 10 year Treasuries is now up to 2.60 percent. We also saw the
yield on 10 year U.S. Treasuries rise significantly during the first half of
2008.
#10
According to Zero Hedge, "whenever the annual
change in core capex, also known as Non-Defense Capital Goods excluding
Aircraft shipments goes negative, the US has traditionally entered a
recession". Guess what? It is rapidly heading toward negative
territory again.
#11
Average hourly compensation in the United States experienced its largest drop since 2009
during the first quarter of 2013.
#12
In the month of June, spending at restaurants fell by the most that we have
seen since February 2008.
#13
Just before the last financial crisis, corporate earnings were very
disappointing. Now it is happening again.
#14
Margin debt spiked just before the dot.com bubble burst, it spiked just before
the financial crash of 2008, and now it is spiking again.
#15
During 2008, the price of gold fell substantially. Now it
is happening again.
#16
Global business confidence is now the lowest that it has been since the last recession.
#17
Back in 2008, the U.S. national debt was rapidly rising to unsustainable
levels. We are in much, much worse shape today.
#18
Prior to the last financial crisis, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke assured the American people that home
prices would not decline and that there would not be a recession. We all
know what happened. Now he is once again promising that everything is
going to be just fine.
Are
the American people going to fall for it again?
It
doesn't take a genius to see how vulnerable the global economy is right
now. Much of Europe is already experiencing an economic depression,
debt levels in Asia are higher than ever before, and the U.S.
economy has been steadily declining for most of the past decade. If
you doubt that the U.S. economy has been declining, please see my previous
article entitled "40
Stats That Prove The U.S. Economy Has Already Been Collapsing Over The Past
Decade".
And
the truth is that most Americans already know that we are in deep
trouble. Today, 61 percent of all Americans believe that
the country is on the wrong track.
It
isn't that so many people are choosing to be pessimistic. It is just that
an increasing number of Americans are waking up to the cold, hard reality that we
are facing.
Decades
of incredibly foolish decisions have brought us to this point. We allowed
our economic infrastructure to be gutted, we consumed far more wealth than we
produced, our politicians kept doing incredibly stupid things but we kept
voting the same jokers back into office again and again, and over the past 40
years we have blown up the biggest debt bubble
in all of human history.
We
have been living so far above our means for so long that most of us actually
think that our current economic situation is "normal".
But
no, there is nothing normal about what we are experiencing. We are
entering the terminal phase of a colossal debt spiral, and when it flames out
the economic devastation is going to be absolutely spectacular.
When
the next major wave of the economic collapse comes and unemployment soars well
up into the double digits, millions of businesses close and millions of
American families lose their homes, I hope that those that are assuring all of
us that there will not be an economic collapse will come back and apologize.
There
are tens of millions of people out there right now that are not making any
preparations at all because they have been promised that everything is going to
be okay. When the next financial crash happens, most of them will be
absolutely blindsided by it and many of them will totally give in to despair.
Don't
let that happen to you.
The
WilliamBanzai7 Blog
VISUAL COMBAT (Art That Strikes Back!)
Thursday,
July 25, 2013
YES WE CAN
YES WE CAN, a photo
by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel Flick
on Flickr.
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comments: 
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D FOR
DANGER
D FOR DANGER, a
photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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comments:
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Wednesday,
July 24, 2013
BHARARA
AND THE SAC-lops
BHARARA AND THE
SAC-lops, a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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comments:
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SAC-lops
SAC-lops, a photo
by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel Flick
on Flickr.
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comments:
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Tuesday,
July 23, 2013
WEINER WADD
WEINER WADD, a
photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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MEET
CARLOS DANGER
MEET CARLOS DANGER,
a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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DZOKHAR
THE ROCK STAR
DZOKHAR THE ROCK STAR,
a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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Monday,
July 22, 2013
GRANDCANYON
NYC
GRANDCANYON NYC, a
photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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TOO BIG
TO FAIL
TOO BIG TO FAIL, a
photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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comments:
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PREDATORS
PREDATORS, a photo
by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel Flick
on Flickr.
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MCDINOSOFT
MCDINOSOFT, a photo
by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel Flick
on Flickr.
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Sunday,
July 21, 2013
ZERO
ZERO, a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel Flick on
Flickr.
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AMERICAN
DREAM 2.0
AMERICAN DREAM 2.0,
a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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GREETINGS
FROM DETROIT
GREETINGS FROM DETROIT,
a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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FIRE
INCIDENT AT 15 BROAD STREET
FIRE INCIDENT AT 15
BROAD STREET, a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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Friday,
July 12, 2013
DHLS
BALL BUSTER
DHLS BALL BUSTER, a
photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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Thursday,
July 11, 2013
NSA
FAMILY VALUES
NSA FAMILY VALUES,
a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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Wednesday,
July 10, 2013
ECONOMIC
STALL SIMPLIFIED
ECONOMIC STALL
SIMPLIFIED, a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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MONPOLY
BEN 1970
MONPOLY BEN 1970, a
photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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Tuesday,
July 9, 2013
FRAG THE
MORON!
FRAG THE MORON!, a
photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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INDIAN
SNOWDEN MAP
INDIAN SNOWDEN MAP,
a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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LIBERTY
2013
LIBERTY 2013, a
photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
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Monday,
July 8, 2013
GOLD
VARMINT II
GOLD VARMINT II, a
photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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NORMAN
ROSWELL
NORMAN ROSWELL, a
photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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THE
CREATION AT ROSWELL
THE CREATION AT ROSWELL,
a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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MOOLA
RAM MORON
MOOLA RAM MORON, a
photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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INDIANNA
SNOWDEN
INDIANNA SNOWDEN, a
photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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Sunday,
July 7, 2013
JUSTICE
IS BLIND
JUSTICE IS BLIND, a
photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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FISA
CARD ACCEPTED
FISA CARD ACCEPTED,
a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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HADOOP
HADOOP, a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel Flick on
Flickr.
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Saturday,
July 6, 2013
BEN
BERNANKE 2013
BEN BERNANKE 2013,
a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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GOOD
MORNING NSA
GOOD MORNING NSA, a
photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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Friday,
July 5, 2013
MEET
FREDDY KRUGMAN
MEET FREDDY KRUGMAN,
a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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comments:
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STACY
OF LIBERTY
STACY OF LIBERTY, a
photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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comments:
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BIG
DATA SOURCES (Notice What is At The Bottom of The List)
BIG DATA SOURCES
(Notice What is At The Bottom of The List), a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel Flick on
Flickr.
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DIGITAL
PANOPTICON
DIGITAL PANOPTICON,
a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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SINK
HOLE OF LIBERTY REOPENS
SINK HOLE OF LIBERTY
REOPENS, a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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Thursday,
July 4, 2013
A
MESSAGE FROM YOUR GOVERNMENT
A MESSAGE FROM YOUR
GOVERNMENT, a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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DEBT
BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU
DEBT BROTHER IS
WATCHING YOU, a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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Wednesday,
July 3, 2013
MESSAGE
TO OBUTTHEAD
MESSAGE TO OBUTTHEAD,
a photo by WilliamBanzai7/Colonel
Flick on Flickr.
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Subscribe to: Posts
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WilliamBanzai7
Destroy the image and you will break the enemy.
NOTICE
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W.J.T Mitchell, Picture Theory
Thomas
Nast
“Stop the damned pictures … my constituents can’t read, but, damn it, they can see pictures"--Boss
Tweed
SCAM
TREK 2010
FORECLOSURELAND
USA
ANCIENT
SUBPRIME TAROT
POMO
EXPLAINED
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PERIODIC TABLE
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OPUS DEI GOLDMAN SQUID
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JPMorgan
To Exit Physical Commodity Business
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/26/2013 - 15:18
After
weeks of emptying
of their Gold vaults and making headlines in recent days over their
oligolopolization of commodity warehousing, it seems the
threat of a probe has excited Blythe and her colleagues to dump while the
dumping is good:
- JP. MORGAN TO EXPLORE STRATEGIC
ALTERNATIVES FOR ITS PHYSICAL COMMODITIES BUSINESS
Options
include sale, spin-off, or strategic partnership as they re-confirm that they
are "fully
committed to traditional banking activities," as they look to drop the holdings of commodities assets and the physical trading business. We can only assume that "physical
commodities" include the company's extensive inventories of tungsten (as
well as the vault housing it), and not so extensive stores of gold and silver.
That said, we are confident that the
collapse in represented (but not warranted) JPM
Comex gold vault holdings to a record low, and this news is completely
unrelated.
No
One Buys Retail Anymore
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/26/2013 - 19:10
When is
the last time you got a stock tip from a cab driver or chatty
not-in-the-business neighbor? It’s probably been the better part of a
decade, if not longer. Yes, that’s probably the most bullish argument for
owning stocks just now, but, as ConvergEx's Nick Colas notes, it also raises a
question. What investments are retail investors considering,
exactly? Various online tools and resources provide some
answers. From Yahoo! Finance’s analysis of number of requested price
quotes last week: AAPL, BAC, TSLA, INTC and CALL. From Google Trends:
AAPL, GOOG, and YHOO. And from one very popular online brokerage for
today’s volume: AAPL, F, BRCM, BAC, and NUGT. Whether this interest
indicates a top or a crowded momentum trade is in the eye of the beholder, of
course. But in a light volume period like summer, Nick notes, tracking
individual investor attention can be an important piece of the day-to-day
trading puzzle.
The
Visual History Of State Credit Ratings In The 21st Century
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/26/2013 - 18:11
When
Standard & Poors is not engaged in "Puffery"
(a defense which admits "our entire business model is worthless")
it pretends to analyze credits and assign ratings, usually with both humorous
and systematically catastrophic results. Just as it has done in the chart
below. In the aftermath of the Detroit filing, one may be interested to see
just how the rating agency, which had Greece rated at "A" months
before the Eurozone's bananaest-republic member had its first bailout,
evaluated America's various states since the start of the 21st century through
2012. Among the best: Florida. Worst: California. Michigan, whose main city
just went bankrupt: AA-. And with countless cross-default
provisions and collateral waterfalls upon a multi-notch downgrade, one can be
certain that as reality finally comes to the muni space with roughly a 3 years
delay, that this too will have a happy ending.
Guest
Post: "Housing" - Is It Really Recovering?
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/26/2013 - 17:22
The
optimism over the housing recovery has gotten well ahead of the underlying
fundamentals. While the belief was that the Government, and
Fed's, interventions would ignite the housing market creating an
self-perpetuating recovery in the economy - it did not turn out that way.
Instead it led to a speculative rush into buying rental properties creating a
temporary, and artificial, inventory suppression. The risks to the
housing story remains high due to the impact of higher taxes, stagnant wage
growth, re-defaults
of the 6-million modifications and workouts and a slowdown of speculative
investment due to reduced profit margins. While there are
many hopes pinned on the housing recovery as a "driver"
of economic growth in 2013 and beyond - the data suggests that it might be
quite a bit of wishful thinking.
Marc
Faber: "It's Gonna End One Day... Through War Or Financial Collapse"
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/26/2013 - 16:44
Given
more than his normal 30-second soundbite on mainstream media, Marc Faber is
able to discuss in considerably more detail his views on the massive growth in
global financialization (when compared to real economies) noting that "one
day, this financial bubble will have to adjust on the downside."
This will occur via either an inflationary burst or a collapse of the system.
Simply put, "it's gonna end one day," either through war or
financial collapse, "it will be very painful." The Gloom,
Boom, and Doom Report editor notes current asset valuations are driven by
excess credit creation, printing money, and distorted market signals, and the
unintended consequences of the effect on investor psychology are perfectly
mis-timed. Faber concludes with a discussion of the inflationary impact of US
monetary policy and where it is seen (and not seen) and the global
social unrest implications of middle class discontent.
The
Week That Was: July 22nd - 26th 2013
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/26/2013 - 16:20
Succinctly
summarizing the positive and negative news, data, and market events of the
week...
Miracle
On NYSE - 150 Point Vert Ramp Closes Dow Green
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/26/2013 - 16:11
It
seems there was only one thing on the minds of the machines today - get us
green (on the day and the week). Following ugliness in Asia overnight, US equity markets were
sliding into the open and so cash markets opened gap down. Good-is-bad
confidence data legged us down one more time leaving the Dow down over 140
points but as Europe closed things started to pick up (apart from volume). By
the close, equity markets had managed an almost perfectly linear liftathon back
to unchanged leaving the Dow also unchanged on the week. As we
tweeted:
Do you believe in miracles? Away from stocks, Bonds ended the week notably higher in yield
(10Y +8bps), JPY signficantly higher on the week (+2.5%), USD up 1.2%, Gold and
Silver up 2.8% on the week, and WTI down 3% (ending under $105).
Who
Will Be The Next Bernanke? - Poll
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/26/2013 - 14:59
We
know what the
market's perspective is on who will become the next Federal Reserve
Chair(wo)man but what do ZeroHedge readers think?
Getting Divorced? 'Equitable' Does
Not Mean 'Equal'
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/26/2013 - 14:44
When people get divorced, a major determinant of the division
of marital property depends upon the state they live/file in. Nine states (AZ, CA, ID, LO, NV, NM, TX,
WA, WI) use a community property approach, which usually results in an equal
distribution of property acquired and income earned during the marriage (but
excluding gifts, inheritances, and property owned before the marriage). The
other 41 states use equitable distribution, although, in many,
there is a legal presumption of 50-50 unless the facts and circumstances
suggest something else. In any case, as JPMorgan's CIO Michael Cembalest notes,
“equitable” is not always interpreted to mean “equal”, given
judicial discretion based on each state’s statutory factors considered when
dividing marital property.
For
The Next Fed Head, Obama Seems To Be Choosing Between A Yawn And A Hiss
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/26/2013 - 14:18
Based on media reports over the past few
weeks, there are two clear front-runners in the competition to be named Ben
Bernanke’s successor as Fed chairman. Current Vice Chair Janet Yellen sits in
one corner, former Treasury Secretary and National Economic Council (NEC)
Director Larry Summers in the other corner, and pundits are actively placing
their bets. Yellen is "soft-spoken, even-tempered, 100% mainstream
academic economist who boils the world down to simplistic concepts," so
similarities between Bernanke and Yellen are far stronger than the differences.
A hand off from one to the other would be about as eventful as a rainy day in
Seattle. Compared to Yellen, Summers has a longer history as a heavyweight
policymaker but as Charles Ferguson wrote, “rarely has one individual
embodied so much of what is wrong with economics, with academe, and indeed with
the American economy." And that’s what it seems to be coming down
to: a choice between a yawn and a hiss. Why not appoint someone with a track
record of getting things right, you ask? Well, that would require a culture
of accountability in the White House. Does anyone remember when we last had
that?
Former
IMF Head To Be Tried For Aggravated Pimping
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/26/2013 - 14:05
While
this story is not Friday humor, it may explain the preponderance of
"erect hockeystick" formations in IMF's
legacy projection charts. Former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn is no
stranger to sexual scandal - in fact Anthony Weiner may learn a thing or two
from the man who once upon a time was said would be France's next president.
However, being charged with "aggravated pimping" may
be a new low even for DSK, or new high if in the New Normal it is finally 50 Cent who sets ethical
and moral standards. The reason for the lawsuit is that during numerous sex
parties which DSK had attended in various cities over the years, there were
prostitutes also present, often times in groups.
Welcome
To Jiangsu, China's Flashing Red Canary-In-The-Coalmine
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/26/2013 - 13:46
We've
discussed Jiangsu before (dead
pigs, TBTF
Solar companies, and bird
flu) but the Chinese province (that is big enough to be a Top 20
global economy with GDP greater than that of G-20 member Turkey and 79
million people) is on the brink of collapse under the weight of its own debt
(cough Detroit cough). As China's leaders attempt to rein in over-capacity
industries, tamp-down residential real-estate bubbles, and generally unwind
"...the greatest misallocation of capital the world has ever seen,
which was China’s 2009 stimulus," Jiangsu stands head-and-shoulders. With
debt far higher than its peers, its mainstay industries (shipbuilding and solar
panel manufacture) drowning in over-capacity, and massive 'empty' property
developments now starved of funding, Jiangsu "can potentially pose
a systemic and macro economic risk to the country."
Here's What Happens When A Central
Bank Goes Bust
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/26/2013 - 13:13
Over the past several decades, people around
the world have become so brainwashed that few people really give much thought
anymore to the safety of their currency. It’s not something people really
understand... there’s apparently some Wizard of Oz type figure at the top of
the hill pulling all the levers of the monetary system. And we just trust them
to be good guys. This power rests primarily in the hands of four men
who control roughly 75% of the entire world money supply. So, how
are they doing?
The
USU MicroCap Berserker Algo Is Back
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/26/2013 - 12:32
Earlier
this week we
showed what happens when a momentum ignition algo goes berserk in microcap
USEC Inc (USU). We are happy to announce that the stock which has become a
microcosmic representation of all that is broken with emarket, is back at it,
and the algo which doubled the stock in minutes on Monday, is back and
desperate to ignite enough momentum to stop all out upside orders as well as
all open shorts (the shorts in the name doubled in the week ended 7/15 to 25%
of the float).
Europe's
Best (And Worst) Week Of The Year
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/26/2013 - 12:30
European
financial stocks had their best week of the year - jumping an
impressive 6.2% on the week and over 10% in the last two - as once again
'Europe is fixed' (except credit markets don't seem as enthused). At
the same time as this exuberance is taking place, Germany's DAX and
Switzerland's SMI saw almost their worst weeks of the year (down 1% and 1.7%
respectively). The week was very oddly dispersed with Spain, Portugal, and
Greece (up 5%, 4%, and 3%) having an incredible rip while the broad-based Bloomberg
Europe 500 (Europe's S&P) dropping 0.25%. Bond markets were just
as enthused with Portugal, Spain, and Italy continuing their un-Taper rallies
(spreads down 49bps, 20bps, and 15bps respectively). All of this as the EUR
strengthened, composite PMI peeked over the 50 mark, French unemployment hit a
record high and Italian bad loans surged to a new record. Schrodinger has
moved from China to Europe it would seem...
"Bagehot
Was A Shadow Banker" - A Monetary System That Is Only As Good As Its First
Broken Promise
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/27/2013 - 19:02
"Even
at the peak of the boom, government?issued Treasury bills and Fed?issued
cash/reserve balances remained the ultimate collateral and ultimate money
respectively. The point is that both became decreasingly important
quantitatively given the growth of private capital markets and private money
markets during time of expansion. At all times, ultimate collateral
and ultimate money remain crucial reference points in modern financial markets,
but the actual instruments are important only in times of crisis when promises
to pay are cashed rather than offset with other promises to pay."
Gold
And The Endgame: Inflationary Deflation
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/27/2013 - 17:48
Excessive monetary stimulus and low interest
rates create financial bubbles. This is the biggest debt bubble in history. It is a potent
deflationary force and central banks are forced into deploying increasingly
aggressive (offsetting) inflationary forces. The avoidance of a typical
deflationary resolution to this economic long (Kondratieff) wave is pushing the
existing monetary system beyond the point of no return. The purchasing power of
the developed world’s currencies will have to bear the brunt of the
“adjustment”. Preparations for this by the BRICS nations, led by China, are
advancing rapidly. The end game is an inflationary/currency crisis,
dislocation across credit and derivative markets, and the transition to a new
monetary system. A new “basket” currency is likely to replace the
dollar as the world’s reserve currency. The “Inflationary Deflation”
paradox refers to the coming rise in the price of almost everything in
conventional money and simultaneous fall in terms of gold.
"Economics
Cannot Trump Mathematics"
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/27/2013 - 16:27
It is nearly impossible to convince people
that an economic ending is likely, perhaps inevitable. It is beyond anything
they have seen or can imagine. We attribute that to a normalcy bias, an
inherent weakness of experiential learners. For many, accepting
something that has not occurred during their time on the planet is not
possible. The laws of economics and mathematics may shape history but they are
not controlled by history. The form of cataclysm and its timing is
indeterminable. Political decisions continue to shape both. The madmen who are
responsible for the coming disaster continue to behave as if they can manage to
avoid it. Violating Einstein’s definition of insanity, they continue to
apply the same poison that caused the problem. These fools believe
they can manage complexities they do not understand. We are bigger fools for
providing them the authority to indulge their hubris and wreak such damage.
The political class in America, either via misguided economic policies or a
deliberate attempt to hide the true condition of the country, has put us here.
They will continue to employ whatever policies they believe will keep things
going for a while longer. The tragic ending has been cast. Economics
cannot trump mathematics.
Why
China's Leaders Know There's A Storm Ahead
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/27/2013 - 15:04
Positive demographic cycles have been one of the key components
in the strong growth trends for a number of Asian countries. As Morgan Stanley note in their most recent
'China Deleveraging' discussion, the decline in the ratio of the non-working (elderly
and children) to working-age (15-64 years) population has coincided with
periods of economic boom for various countries in Asia in the past 50 years.
But... as Nomura's Richard Koo notes - having experienced the very same
unstoppable shift in Japan - "demographics will cease to be a
positive for China’s economic growth and start to have a negative impact."
Fundamentally, Koo adds, this means "the nation will grow old
before it grows rich." Demographics, capital accumulation and
productivity are the three most important drivers of potential growth, and
these three factors are intertwined to a certain extent. China has already
entered its first stage of demographic challenge, with its GDP growth slowing
on the back of all three contributors of growth. Given the lessons of Japan and
the Asian Tigers, China is set to suffer notably from this demographic
drag - and its entirely foreseeable.
Liquidity
Update: Record High Deposits, Fed Reserves And Foreign Bank Cash; Fed Owns 31%
Of Treasury Market
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/27/2013 - 13:39
Bored
with the constant daily speculation about who may be the Fed's next head (short
answer: whoever Goldman says), and more interested with the actual liquidity
dynamics that the next Chairman (or Bernanke, as his departure is far from
certain) will have to deal with? Here is the latest.
Hugh
Hendry: "The Storm That Caused Chaos In Markets Will Not Dissipate Anytime
Soon"
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/27/2013 - 12:01
The storm that caused chaos across financial
markets since May should not dissipate any time soon. As such, we retain a short bias towards
China and an outright short in EM currencies. If world trade remains weak and
local inflation keeps on gaining momentum, the currencies of several EM
countries (ex-China) may remain under pressure. Such weakness may be
exacerbated by tightening liquidity.
Hundreds
Killed In Overnight Cairo "Massacre" As 30 Million Take To The
Streets
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/27/2013 - 10:39
Nearly
a month after the Egyptian military coup (that wasn't
a coup according to the US), the celebrations over the democratic overthrow
of the Muslim Brotherhood's president Morsi (according to John Kerry) continue
with hundreds of protesters killed and injured in the latest overnight violent
breakout. The reports are obviously conflicting with the Muslim Brotherhood
claiming 120 were killed in violent protests with police near Rabaa Al-Adawiya
Mosque, describing events as a "massacre", alternatively the
government's Ministry of Health says only 38 dead arrived at hospitals so far. The
tragic deaths were a logical outcome of protests which according to the head of
Egypt's Central Statistics Bureau General Abu Bahar Jundi, saw as many as 35
million people taking to the streets Friday on both sides of the ideological
divide. Egyptian army officials put the number at around 30 million.
Marc
Faber: "It's Gonna End One Day... Through War Or Financial Collapse"
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/26/2013 - 23:44
Given
more than his normal 30-second soundbite on mainstream media, Marc Faber is
able to discuss in considerably more detail his views on the massive growth in
global financialization (when compared to real economies) noting that "one
day, this financial bubble will have to adjust on the downside."
This will occur via either an inflationary burst or a collapse of the system.
Simply put, "it's gonna end one day," either through war or
financial collapse, "it will be very painful." The Gloom,
Boom, and Doom Report editor notes current asset valuations are driven by
excess credit creation, printing money, and distorted market signals, and the
unintended consequences of the effect on investor psychology are perfectly
mis-timed. Faber concludes with a discussion of the inflationary impact of US
monetary policy and where it is seen (and not seen) and the global
social unrest implications of middle class discontent.
Guest
Post: How The Establishment Will Attempt To Bring Down The Liberty Movement
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/26/2013 - 21:46
How
does one destroy an idea? Further, how does one destroy the truth?
Corrupt governments have been struggling with this dilemma since men wore
loincloths and worshiped fire. Fortunately for those of us in the “lower
strata” of social organization, honorable ideas and indelible truths have a
life of their own. Even when a culture as a whole remains oblivious and
unguarded, the facts tend to rise to the surface one way or another. The
reality which elitists at least partly understand, is that the truth cannot be
destroyed, but it can be forgotten, at least for a time. This is a
never-ending process...
Visualizing
The 'Real' Economy Vs The 'Financial' Economy
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/26/2013 - 20:56
It's
been an odd earnings season so far. Talking heads are replete with examples of ad hoc names that have
exceeded beaten-down earnings expectations choosing to ignore the belwether
names that have missed and guided down. Data are thrown around left and right
to support the argument that stocks are cheap to forward-earnings, that growth
is around the corner, and that all is well in the real economy supporting the
lofty exuberance among US equity markets. However, if one so chooses, the chart
below should give you a glimpse behind the facade of the Q2 2013 EPS 'beat'.
There is one source of the elixir of life, one provider of the mother's milk of
stocks; S&P aggregate Q2 EPS is tracking $0.38 above the season
start levels (around 0.8% beat) and financials account for an astounding $0.63
of that!
The
Pitfalls Of Politburo Planning: Pollution Produces Cancer
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/26/2013 - 20:33
While
the choking pollution in China, that we have discussed time and again - most
recently here
and here,
has previously been linked with health concerns, academic studies released this
week have now shown a direct link between higher cancer-rates in
Central China and the level of pollution. The study published on June
25th is the first to scientifically prove the correlation between water
pollution and cancer mortality in an area of China that is home to more than
160 million people. Despite government efforts to clean the water, it remains
well below safety standards but local villagers continue to have no choice but
to use it: "The river was black, poisonous fumes, and dead fish
everywhere... the well water was also contaminated.. and during this period
many died of cancer." Despite spending millions to try and prevent
pollution, as one local villager exclaimed "we should re-consider
the country's industrialization." What cost a 7% GDP growth
print?
It
Is Happening Again: 18 Similarities Between The Last Financial Crisis And Today
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/26/2013 - 20:08
If
our leaders could have recognized the signs ahead of time, do you think that
they could have prevented the financial crisis of 2008? That is a very
timely question, because so many of the warning signs that we saw just before
and during the last financial crisis are popping up again. Many
of the things that are happening right now in the stock market, the bond
market, the real estate market and in the overall economic data are eerily
similar to what we witnessed back in 2008 and 2009. It is almost as if
we are being forced to watch some kind of a perverse replay of previous events,
only this time our economy and our financial system are much weaker than they
were the last time around. We have been living so far above our means for
so long that most of us actually think that our current economic situation is
"normal."
Obama Promises,
Including Whistleblower Protections, Disappear From Website
The
Huffington Post | Change.gov, the 2008 website of the Obama transition team
laying out the candidate’s promises, has disappeared from the internet.
Father of SEAL Team
Member Claims His Son Was Set Up
Infowars.com
| Charles Strange told Michael Savage on his radio broadcast that he
undoubtedly believes that his son and the rest of the SEALs were set up.
The Total
Destruction of America from Within
Infowars.com
| Paul Craig Roberts discusses the dismantling of the U.S. constitution and the
current Great Recession.
Report: 120 killed
in army attack on pro-Morsi sit-in
YNet
News | Unconfirmed reports by Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood claim 120 protesters
were killed, 4,500 injured in army attack on pro-Morsi sit-in.
Secret DHS Training
Video Leaked
Infowars.com
| If this disturbs you, reality should disturb you even more.
FILM REVIEW: “State
of Mind: The Psychology of Control”
Red Dirt Report | You, dear reader, must get this film, share it with friends
and family and educate yourself.
Warning: This is
Painful to Watch
Julie Wilson
| Kidnapping: CPS’s billion dollar industry.
New DHS
Headquarters was a CIA MKUltra Test Facility
Adan Salazar
| DHS’s new digs used for secret mind-altering experimentation.
Goldman Sachs CEO: The Worst Case
Scenario ‘Absolutely Will Happen’
CNBC
| Blankfein: “…given enough time, very low probability events not only can
happen, but they absolutely will happen.”
UK high street giants sue Visa
over rip-off card fees
The Telegraph
| Big name high street chains are suing Visa to recoup a decade’s worth of
excess debit and credit card processing fees.
National Debt Stacked in Dollar
Bills Would Stretch from Earth to Moon Five Times
CNS News
| National debt would stretch 1,135,951 miles into the air.
Obama Promises,
Including Whistleblower Protections, Disappear From Website
The
Huffington Post | Change.gov, the 2008 website of the Obama transition team
laying out the candidate’s promises, has disappeared from the internet.
US will not seek
death penalty for Edward Snowden, Holder tells Russia
London
Guardian | Reports this week claimed Snowden had applied for asylum in Russia
because he feared torture if he was returned to US.
Glenn Greenwald To
Testify Before Congress On NSA Surveillance
Mediaite.com
| Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian journalist largely responsible for the big
reports on secret government surveillance in the last two months, will be testifying
before Congress on these programs.
Details Revealed On
Old NSA Intelligence Database: ANCHORY
Tech
Dirt | The documents are interesting, mainly for the historical interest
aspect.
Father of SEAL Team
Member Claims His Son Was Set Up
Prison
Planet.com | Charles Strange told Michael Savage on his radio broadcast that he
undoubtedly believes that his son and the rest of the SEALs were set up.
Federal Arms
Build-Up Puts Patriots on Alert
Prison
Planet.com | Alex tallies up even more government-bought ammo in the continuing
federal arms build-up.
Assange: Obama
‘effectively rewriting the Constitution’
US
News | Assange: Journalism Doomed if Manning Convicted of Aiding Enemy.
Attempted Set Up Of
Stewart Rhodes & Dan Johnson With Child Porn
Prison
Planet.com | Someone just attempted to set-up Stewart Rhodes (founder of Oath
Keepers) & Dan Johnson (founder of People Against the N.D.A.A) by sending
child porn to Dan Johnson’s email.
Hacker dies days
before he was to reveal how to remotely kill pacemaker patients
RT
| Jack’s death came one week to the day before he was scheduled to detail one
of his most recent exploits.
UK ‘Porn’ Filter
Will Blacklist Non-Porn Websites
Paul Joseph Watson | Rights group slams system as “sleepwalk into censorship”.
What Would You Do If A Bank Stole
Everything You Owned?
Mac
Slavo | With millions of Americans across the country facing default and
foreclosure banks are hiring outside firms to take possession of their homes.
Banks shiver as UBS swallows $885
million U.S. fine
Reuters
| UBS will pay $885 million in a settlement with a U.S. regulator.
Ron Paul On Gold And Why “We’ll
See More Detroits”
Zero
Hedge | Ron Paul shared his opinion on the need to own gold (and the physical
demand for the manipulated metal) and the Detroit bankruptcy.
It Is Happening Again: 18
Similarities Between The Last Financial Crisis And Today
Economic
Collapse | If our leaders could have recognized the signs ahead of time, do you
think that they could have prevented the financial crisis of 2008?
Snowden's
father: Son better off now in Russia...
Assange:
Obama 'effectively rewriting the Constitution'...
Promise
To 'Protect Whistleblowers' Disappears From Change.gov...
Glenn
Greenwald To Testify Before Congress...
Thousands
protest against spying in Germany...
Post date: 07/29/2013
You Keynesian PhD Weasel
Turd!
Submitted by williambanzai7 on 07/29/2013 11:52 -0400
.
.
Both
Summers and Yellen are fine
They
both tow the Keynesian line
Who
cares if a chick(?)
Or
an arrogant dick(!!!)
Will
manage the nations decline
The
Limerick King
.
.
As
being FED Chair would be swell
Larry's
trying to capture Ben's smell
If
he's successful
Our
lives will be stressful
We'll
all likely end up in hell
The
Limerick King
Jim
Rogers: "The Whole 'Economic' World Is Artificial... It's Going To End
Very Badly"
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/29/2013 - 16:56
"There
is a huge artificial boom going on," warns Jim Rogers as for the first
time in history, all the world's major central banks are simultaneously
printing money. While he remains adamant of the positive outlook for agriculture,
the fact that "the whole world is trying to debase their
currencies," produces a "major disconnect" between asset values
and economic realities. Stocks are at new highs, not based on reality,
but on printing presses "and that cannot work... this is going to end very
very badly." While not all western economies are as egregious as others,
the intertwined nature means their fate remains very much tethered to the US,
and as Rogers concludes, "everybody will suffer, be very very
careful as these are perilous times."
Detroit's
Bailout "Plan B": Obamacare
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/29/2013 - 19:25
When
Detroit filed for bankruptcy, the city's demands
for a Federal bailout promptly rose to the surface and then just as
promptly dissipated following a polite but stern
rejection by the president, almost too fast and without any fight,
according to some. Or maybe that is only how it appeared. According to the NYT,
Detroit's advisors may be looking at a completely different source of Federal
"assistance" - a much more indirect one, even if at the end of the
day, it is taxpayers who end up footing the bill. Obamacare.
US Fast Food Workers Strike, Demand
100% Pay Raise
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/29/2013 - 18:40
"It's
noisy, it's really hot, fast, they rush you. Sometimes you don't even get
breaks. All for $7.25? It's crazy," is how one worker described the
conditions that have caused her and the rest of America's fast-food employees
to go on strike today. They demand the right to unionize and better pay
- calling for a raise in the minimum wage from $7.25 to $15. Workers
chanted, "Supersize our wages," as spokespersons for the Fast Food
Forward campaign explained the economic logic, "If they have more money in
their pockets, they'll spend it right here, helping to boost the entire
economy." Which leaves us asking
the always awkward question - where does this new 'economy
boosting' money come from for this 107% pay rise? With gas prices
rising, rents soaring and many employees already reliant on food stamps and
medicaid, "I can't even order something off the menu with what I
earn," one worker noted, "It makes me wonder what I'm even
doing there." Indeed
it does with all those benefits on offer elsewhere.
Which
States Are Getting Fattest Fastest?
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/29/2013 - 18:14
While
Mississippi (34.9%) and Louisiana (33.4%) have the highest percentage of obese
adults, Bloomberg's
latest data shows that Delaware and Oklahoma are getting fatter the
fastest of all US states. Notably, every state has seen an increase in
the level of obesity since 2000 (though D.C. and California have risen the
lease). Colorado has the highest number of 'ideal weight' citizens per obese
adult (4.83) but even there it has plunged from over 7 adults in 2000. Things
are not getting better anywhere.
JPMorgan
Accused By FERC Of Manipulating Power Market, To Be Fined $400 Million
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/29/2013 - 17:32
Just
flashing red headlines for now:
- JPMORGAN ACCUSED BY U.S. REGULATOR OF
MANIPULATING POWER MARKET
- JPMORGAN ACCUSED OF MANIPULATIVE ENERGY-BIDDING
STRATEGIES
- JPMORGAN ACCUSED OF ENERGY-MARKET
MANIPULATION IN 2010 AND 2011
- U.S. FERC ANNOUNCES JPMORGAN ALLEGED
VIOLATIONS IN E-MAIL
And
now we look forward to learning how many hundreds, or maybe even thousands, of
cents the settlement will be, which will also include a full wristslapping
pardon of Blythe Masters of course.
Herbalife
Smashes Expectations, Guides Higher, Announces $0.30 Dividend: Stock Surges
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/29/2013 - 16:19
Today's
most eagerly anticipated earnings release, that of Herbalife, also known as the
focus of the most entertaining feud of 2013 between Bill Ackman and Carl Icahn,
were just
released, and they are a blowout.
- HERBALIFE LTD. 2Q ADJ. EPS $1.41, EST.
$1.18
- HERBALIFE 2Q REV. $1.22B, EST. $1.16B
- HERBALIFE OPERATING CASH FLOW $214
MILLION
- HERBALIFE SEES YR ADJ. EPS $4.83-$4.95,
EST. $4.78
- the always amusing: HERBALIFE
2Q HAS EXPENSES 7C-SHR ON 'ATTACKS OF CO BUSINESS'
The
biggest news as always was not reported: it was the most recent short interest
in the name. At 36% it means much more pain in store for shorts. But
the punchline is that Herbalife just announced a $0.30 dividend per share: a
dividend which will to a big extent come straight out of Bill Ackman's pocket.
Stocks
Stumble Most In A Month
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/29/2013 - 16:18
Ahead
of a week full of data and central banks, it is likely unsurprising that
volumes were dismal and protection/hedging was sought. Once again we saw dips
bought with a rush to get markets green (after the collapse in Asia overnight
weighed very modestly on Europe and US markets) but once a few people realized
the impact of the Treasury's
latest refunding data (must read) stocks did sell off into the close. This
was the worst day for the S&P futures in a month with a 0.4%
sell-off. Once cash markets closed,futures popped back up to VWAP. The
USD ended the day unchanged (but AUD was 0.7% weaker and JPY 0.4% stronger as carry
unwinds are clear). Commodities slid on the carry weakness with Silver
-0.8% and gold holding $1330 with a small loss. Brent-WTI pushed
further ahead to $3 (with a small loss in WTI under $104.50). Treasury
yields leaked higher with the long-end underperforming (30Y only +3bps). Builders,
financials, and energy underperformed on the day; Utes and Staples were best.
Fed
Tapering Assured As Treasury Projects 30% Slide In Annual Funding (And Monetization)
Needs
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/29/2013 - 15:52
If
there was any doubt that the Fed would proceed with tapering its
monthly deficit monetization (i.e., $85 billion in POMO/S&P500 flow
injection) over the next few months, those were just laid to rest courtesy of
the Treasury's quarterly
refunding statement which was filed moments ago, and specifically its
Marketable Borrowing Estimates.
Ron
Paul On A House Divided Over NSA Spying On Americans
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/29/2013 - 15:32
Last
week’s House debate on the Defense Appropriations bill for 2014 produced a bit
more drama than usual. Had Amash’s amendment passed, it would have been
a significant symbolic victory over the administration’s massive violations of
our Fourth Amendment protections. But we should be careful about
believing that even if it had somehow miraculously survived the Senate vote and
the President’s veto, it would have resulted in any significant change in how
the Intelligence Community would behave toward Americans. The US government has
built the largest and most sophisticated spying apparatus in the history of the
world. Rep. Amash’s amendment was an important move to at least bring
attention to what the US intelligence community has become: an
incredibly powerful conglomeration of secret government agencies that seem to
view Americans as the real threat.
The
Inevitable 'Taper' And Avoiding 'The Giddiness Of Weimar'
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/29/2013 - 14:55
With
all eyes fixed on GDP and unemployment data this week (and all their revised
and propagandized unreality) for more hints at if (not when) the Fed will
Taper; the dismal reality that few seem willing to admit is that it is when (not
if) and that the announcement of a "Taper" has nothing to do
with the economy. There are three key factors driving this decision:
Bernanke's bubble-blowing and bond-market-breaking
legacy, the political 'clean slate' his successor needs, and, most
importantly, the fear that QE will be discovered for what it is - monetization.
As BoJ's Kuroda admitted last night "if QE is seen as financing
debt, this could lead to rise in yields." With deficits falling,
the Fed's real actions will be exposed (unless QE is tapered) and as Kyle
Bass has explained before, it was out of the hands of the BOJ (or The Fed)
and entirely up to market psychology.
One
Person's Case For Chairman Larry Summers
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/29/2013 - 14:43
With
the case for the next Fed chairman having devolved to the most ridiculous of
decision trees, such as Nancy
Pelosi's "it would be great to have a woman", because apparently
gender diversity trumps everything in the eyes of the California democrat, the
choice of Bernanke's successor is now more nebulous than ever. It has certainly
not been aided by the periodic floating of the Larry Summers trial balloon,
especially as originating from the Fed's WSJ mouthpiece who one week presents
Summers as the favorite and the next skewers his chances. However, one person for
whom the Summers vote is essentially a done deal with 90% odds, is
Scotiabank's Guy Haselmann. Here is his logic.
Guest
Post: The Honest President
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/29/2013 - 14:17
“He who goes a-borrowing, goes a-sorrowing.”
The
quote comes from Ben Franklin. But it was recalled to us neither by America’s
president nor Britain’s prime minister. Instead, the Telegraph in London
reported it from the mouth of Cheng Siwei, a “top member of the Communist
hierarchy.” What goes around comes around. The Anglo-Saxons have forgotten what
makes a successful economy. The Chinese have remembered.
Santelli
Destroys The 'Yellen Is A Great Forecaster' Meme
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/29/2013 - 13:46
Much
has been made this weekend of the WSJ story that Janet Yellen (and her dovish
counterparts) have been so much more accurate as forecasters than the hawks on
the FOMC in recent years. This along with pitting her against the asinine Larry
Summers appears to create a shoe-in for 'damn-it-Janet' to take the helm as the
new Maestro (or mistress?). But, as CNBC's Rick Santelli points out, it is
ludicrous to proclaim a 'winner' based on inflation predictions, as
transmission channels of the endless money-printing are jammed (and besides the
models that predicted economic growth and new hiring from this 'spiking the
punchbowl' have failed dismally). Simply put, Santelli analogizes, "the
Cubs haven't won the World Series in a century, but if I poll
all of the players/managers and see which predicted we wouldn't win the World
Series; and whoever guessed that right, we will make them the manager, does
that guarantee me that next year we're going to win the World Series?"
The bottom-line, unless GDP shows sustainable growth, the rest is just a
"silly discussion."
"Avalanche
Of Abuse" Forces Ex-JPMorganite To Quit Bank Of Israel Candidacy
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/29/2013 - 13:18
A
month
ago we noted the out-squidding of Goldman Sachs as ex-JPMorganite Jacob
Frenkel looked set to replace Fischer as the head of the Bank of Israel. Four
weeks later and it seems the chairman of the all-important Group-of-30 has had enough, and
when it comes to "squidding" into central banks, Goldman truly has no
comparable.
- FRENKEL SAYS HE WITHDRAWS CANDIDACY FOR
BANK OF ISRAEL CHIEF
- FRENKEL SAYS HE SUFFERED `AVALANCHE'
OF ABUSE
Poor
thing. And this is after his actual 'acceptance' was already agreed.
Is
The Emptying Of Comex' Silver Vaults Next On The Agenda?
Submitted by Tyler
Durden on 07/29/2013 - 13:03
Silver,
like gold, is largely subject to the same underlying supply/demand dynamics
(whether legal or not) where on the margin it trades merely as a precious
metal, and those misguided pundits out there who claim that the drop in gold
Comex holdings is purely a function of ETF reallocation, are surprisingly mum
when it comes to explaining Comex silver which has not followed the move of
gold in physical holdings and is in fact near all time holding highs despite an
even more aggressive plunge in its price. Alternatively if indeed gold's
inventory plunge was driven by the permissive nature of Singapore vaults as
willing recipients for all the gold that has departed the assorted Comex system
vaults, and thus are merely a physical receptacle to absorb the pent up Chinese
"golden" demand, it would explain why this has not happened to
silver. At least not yet. That may change very soon because as Bloomberg
reports, silver is the new gold when it comes to vaulting in Singapore, and
thus China's precious metal warehousing ambitions.
POLE:
Younger Women Love Weiner...
Clintons
pissed...
Tina
Brown: End the Damn Dickmanship!
SHRINKAGE
The Important Things We DON’T
Have Money For, And The Crazy Things We DO Have Money For…
In
an age of "belt tightening" and "budget cuts", you would
think that government officials would be trying to spend our money
wisely. Unfortunately, when it comes time to cut spending our politicians
tend to do everything that they can to protect their own interests and their
own pet projects, but they don't seem to mind implementing cuts that deeply
hurt military families, the poor and the elderly. The facts that you are
about to read will likely upset you very much. The federal government and
our state governments are wasting money in some of the most ridiculous ways
imaginable. Meanwhile, we are being told that we don't have any money for
a lot of really important things. Our hard-earned tax dollars are being
horribly mismanaged, and the American people deserve to hear the truth about
this gross negligence. (Read
More....)
7 Charts That Prove That The Stock
Market Has Become Completely Divorced From Reality
The
mainstream media would have us believe that the U.S. economy must be in great
shape since the stock market has been setting new all-time record highs this
month. But is that really true? Yes, surging stock prices have
enabled sales of beach homes in the Hamptons to hit a
brand new record high. However, the reality is that stock
prices have not risen dramatically in recent years because corporations are
doing so much better than before. In fact, the growth in stock prices has
been far,
far greater than the growth of corporate revenues. The only
reason that stock prices have been climbing so much is because the Federal
Reserve has been flooding the financial system with hundreds of billions of
dollars that it has created out of thin air. The Fed has created an
artificial stock market bubble that is completely and totally divorced from
economic reality. (Read
More....)
Meanwhile,
everything is not so fine for the rest of the U.S.
economy. Economic growth projections have been steadily declining over the past
two years, and the growth rate of personal income in the United States has been
on a huge downward trend since
2008. The U.S. economy actually lost 240,000 full-time jobs last
month, and the middle class continues to shrink.
So
welcome to the "new normal" where most Americans struggle at least
part of the time. According to one recent survey, "four out
of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near poverty or reliance on welfare
for at least parts of their lives". Things are tough out there, and
they are steadily getting tougher.
Yes,
the boys and girls up on Wall Street are doing great (for the moment), but most of the rest of the country
is really struggling. We have never even come close to recovering from
the last major economic crisis, and now another one is rapidly approaching.
The
other day, Chartist Friend from
Pittsburgh sent me an email and told me that he had some charts that he
wanted to share with me and asked if I wanted to see them. I said sure,
send them over right away. These charts show very clearly that the stock
market has become completely divorced from reality.
In
a normal market, stock prices would only rise dramatically if the overall
economy was healthy and growing. Unfortunately, our economy is far from
healthy and has been declining for a very long time. If the financial
markets were not being pumped up by so much money printing and so much debt, there is no way that stock prices would
be this high.
If
we truly did have a free market financial system, stock prices should be a
reflection of the overall economy. Instead, we have a very sick economy
and financial markets that have been very highly manipulated.
For
example, just check out the first chart that I have posted below. If the
economy was actually getting better, the percentage of working age Americans
with a job should be increasing. Sadly, that is not happening...
This
next chart shows how the average duration of unemployment has absolutely
skyrocketed in recent years. Yes, the duration of unemployment has
improved slightly in recent months, but we are still very far from where we
used to be. Meanwhile, the stock market has been soaring to new all-time
record highs...
Traditionally,
there has been a high degree of correlation between stock prices and real
disposable personal income. From the chart below, you can see that this
relationship held up quite well through the end of the last recession, and then
it started breaking down. This is especially true at the very end of the
chart. Real Disposable income has started to decline sharply but stock
prices just continue to soar...
When
an economy is healthy, money tends to circulate through that economy at a
healthy pace. That is why the chart below is so alarming. The
velocity of money is the lowest that it has been in modern times, and this
indicates that economic activity should be slowing down. But the Federal
Reserve has enabled the bankers to thrive by pumping massive amounts of
money into the financial system...
When
an economy goes into recession, freight shipments tend to go down. In the
chart below, you can see that this happened during the past two
recessions. Unfortunately, we have never even come close to returning to
the level that we were at before the last recession, and yet the stock market
has been able to soar to unprecedented heights...
When
an economy is growing and people are able to get good jobs, they tend to go out
and buy new homes. Yes, we have seen a bit of an increase in the number
of new homes sold recently, but we are still a vast distance away from the
level we were at before the last recession. And now mortgage rates are starting to rise steadily, and
this is likely going to cause the number of new homes sold to start going back
down. The chart below clearly shows us that the real estate market is far
from healthy at this point...
For
most middle class Americans, their homes are their primary financial
assets. So the fact that home prices have declined so much is absolutely
devastating for many families. But stocks are primarily held by the top 5
percent of all Americans, and as the chart below shows, they have benefited
greatly from the antics of the Federal Reserve in recent years...
There
is no way in the world that the stock market should be this high. The
economic fundamentals simply do not justify it. As a society, we consume
far more than we produce, our debt is growing at an exponential pace, our economic
infrastructure is being absolutely gutted and our financial system is a giant
Ponzi scheme that could collapse at any time.
And
no market can stay divorced from reality forever. At some point this
bubble is going to burst, and when financial bubbles burst they tend to do so
very rapidly.
As
Marc Faber recently said, "one day, this financial bubble
will have to adjust on the downside."
When
it does "adjust", we are likely going to see a financial panic even
worse than we witnessed back in 2008. Credit will freeze up, economic
activity will grind to a standstill and millions of Americans will lose their
jobs.
Don't
assume that the bubble of false prosperity that we are enjoying right now will
last forever.
It
won't.
Use
the time that you have right now to prepare for what is ahead.
A
great storm is rapidly approaching, and I don't see any way that it is going to
be averted.
It Is Happening Again: 18
Similarities Between The Last Financial Crisis And Today
If
our leaders could have recognized the signs ahead of time, do you think that
they could have prevented the financial crisis of 2008? That is a very
timely question, because so many of the warning signs that we saw just before
and during the last financial crisis are popping up again. Many of the
things that are happening right now in the stock market, the bond market, the
real estate market and in the overall economic data are eerily similar to what
we witnessed back in 2008 and 2009. It is almost as if we are being
forced to watch some kind of a perverse replay of previous events, only this
time our economy and our financial system are much weaker than they were the
last time around. So will we be able to handle a financial crash as bad
as we experienced back in 2008? What if it is even
worse this time? Considering the fact that we have been
through this kind of thing before, you would think that our leaders would be
feverishly trying to keep it from happening again and the American people would
be rapidly preparing to weather the coming storm. Sadly, none of that is
happening. It is almost as if they cannot even see the disaster that is
staring them right in the face. But without a doubt, disaster is coming.
The following are 18 similarities between the last financial crisis and
today... (Read
More....)
Activist Group
Demands U.N. Stop Chicago From Closing Public Schools
Kit Daniels | Coalition says United States is bound to
U.N. “international treaties” and “international law.”
Robbery of Cyprus
bank accounts doubles in size
Infowars.com | Bank of Cyprus depositors lose 47.5 pct
of savings.
Globalist Agitprop:
Hillary Clinton, the Miniseries
Kurt Nimmo | The real story of Hillary Clinton needs
to be prettified and gussied up with Hollywood lies and omissions.
Rand Paul Strikes
Back Against Anti-Freedom Enemies
Steve Watson | “They are the
ones bankrupting the government”.
Government Promises
to Stop Lying Because of Drudge Report Spotlight
Adan Salazar | Shows the power of the real media in
breaking through the electronic Berlin Wall.
MSNBC host says
newborn infants don’t count as ‘alive’
Mike Adams | Today Natural News
denounces Melissa Harris-Perry, the latest talking head “death worshipper” to
publicly imply that she supports the murder of living, breathing newborn
children.
Glenn Greenwald:
Even Low Level NSA Analysts Can Spy On Phone Calls And Emails
Business Insider | Greenwald
dared NSA officials to dispute the claims when testifying this week.
The Coming Shortage
Of Physical Gold That Will Change Everything
American Dream | Is the paper
gold scam about to be brutally crushed by a crippling shortage of physical
gold?
7 Charts That Prove
That The Stock Market Has Become Completely Divorced From Reality
Economic Collapse | The
mainstream media would have us believe that the U.S. economy must be in great
shape since the stock market has been setting new all-time record highs this month.
Pentagon says they
have lost control to independent media led by Drudge
Infowars.com | Alex lays out the
U.S. government’s struggle to maintain a semblance of credibility.
Cyprus, lenders set Bank of
Cyprus bail-in at 47.5 pct, sources say
Reuters | Lenders agreed to convert 47.5 percent of
deposits exceeding 100,000 euros in Bank of Cyprus to equity to recapitalize it.
The Federal Reserve Is Bailing
Out FOREIGN Banks … More than the American People or Economy
Washington’sBlog | Federal Reserve Policy Mainly Benefits
Big Foreign Banks.
Gold and Silver: Load the
Boat-Back Up the Truck-Peter Schiff
Greg Hunter | “This is the time
to load the boat, to back up the truck.”
The Final Breath Of The US
Economy
Anthony Gucciardi | As expected,
the final breath of the United States economy will not be one heard by citizens
of the world.
The Federal Reserve Is Bailing
Out FOREIGN Banks … More than the American People or Economy
Washington’s Blog | Federal
Reserve Policy Mainly Benefits Big Foreign Banks.
Marc Faber: “It’s Gonna End One
Day… Through War Or Financial Collapse”
Zero Hedge | Marc Faber on shadow banking, market
psychology.
The Coming Shortage Of Physical
Gold That Will Change Everything
Is
the paper gold scam about to be brutally crushed by a crippling shortage of
physical gold? If so, what will that do to global financial
markets? According to the Reserve Bank of India, “the traded amount of
‘paper linked to gold’ exceeds by far the actual supply of physical gold: the
volume on the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) OTC market and the major
Futures and Options Exchanges was OVER 92 TIMES that of the underlying Physical
Market.” In other words, there is a massive amount of paper out there,
but very little actual physical gold to back it up. And right now, we are
witnessing voracious hoarding of physical gold all over the globe. This
is especially true in Asia. Just see this
article and this
article. All of this hoarding is putting a tremendous amount
of pressure on those that have made all of these “paper promises”, because the
truth is that there really isn’t all that much physical gold on the
planet. In fact, Warren Buffett once estimated that if all of the gold in the entire
world was brought into one place, it could be formed into a cube that would
only be 69 feet long by 69 feet high by 69 feet wide. (Read
More.....)
The Name Of Jesus Has Become A
Dirty Word In Politically Correct America
In
the United States today, there are very few words that provoke as much outrage
as the name of Jesus. It is being banned from graduation ceremonies,
chaplains all over America are being forbidden from using His name in their
prayers, and many school officials all over the nation have become absolutely
fanatical about eliminating every trace of Christian expression from their
schools. One elementary school in North Carolina even ordered a little
six-year-old girl to remove the word “God” from a poem that she had written to
honor her grandfathers. Political correctness is spreading like a cancer
in this country, and our “freedom of religion” is rapidly being transformed
into a guarantee of “freedom from religion” for those that hate the Christian
faith. (Read
More.....)
Obama Administration Requires
Magician To Submit A 32 Page “Disaster Plan” For His Rabbit
Central planning in this country
is getting completely and totally out of control. These days, you can
hardly do anything without running into a suffocating web of red tape.
For example, a small-time magician from Missouri that does magic shows for kids
was absolutely horrified when he learned that the Obama
administration is requiring him to submit a 32 page “disaster plan” for the
rabbit that he uses in his shows. Yes, this is actually true. His
name is Marty Hahne, and he thought that it was bad enough when the U.S.
Department of Agriculture busted him for not having a “license” for his
rabbit. He went out and acquired the proper “license” for his rabbit, but
he never dreamed that eventually he would also have to submit a 32 page
“disaster plan” for the same rabbit. (Read
More.....)
12 Signs That The Decay Of
Society Is Accelerating
What
in the world is happening to America? All around us there are disturbing
signs that the slow-motion collapse of society is accelerating. With each
passing year, criminals seem to be getting more desperate and more
twisted. Some of the sick things that some people are willing to do to
their fellow human beings are simply beyond description. What kind of
psychotic individual would hold elderly men captive for a decade in order to
get their Social Security and veteran benefit checks? How depraved do you
have to be before you are able to convince yourself to rape a 16-year-old girl
and then throw her body off of a roof? What kind of heartless teens would
pour gasoline on an innocent boy walking home from school and then set him on
fire? The social decay that is eating away at our nation like cancer is
starting to get a lot worse, and yet there are still lots of people out there
that will flat out deny that society is collapsing. They have totally
bought into the propaganda being pushed by the mainstream media, and they are
fully convinced that things in America are actually getting better even though
our communities are literally coming apart at the seams all around us.
How much worse do things have to get before everyone finally is willing to
admit that we have a major problem on our hands? The following are 12
signs that the decay of society is accelerating… (Read
More.....)
In our 643rd issue:
Unitarian Church, Gun Groups Join
EFF to Sue NSA Over Illegal Surveillance
Nineteen organizations including
Unitarian church groups, gun ownership advocates, and a broad coalition of
membership and political advocacy organizations recently filed suit against the
National Security Agency (NSA) for violating their First Amendment right of
association by illegally collecting their call records. The coalition is
represented by EFF.
In Huge Momentum Swing, the House
Narrowly Defeats Bill to Curb NSA Surveillance
The U.S. House of
Representatives came within a few votes of passing a novel amendment that
attempted to strike out funding for the highly controversial NSA call-records
surveillance program. Under this program, the NSA acquires the records of who
you called, when you called, and how long you spoke, for all calls made within
the United States—including international, long distance, and even local. While
the amendment failed, many observers now think that NSA reform is more likely
than ever.
Pioneer Award Nominations Are Now
Open
Nominations are now open for
EFF’s 22nd Annual Pioneer Awards, to be presented on September 19th in San
Francisco. EFF established the Pioneer Awards in 1992 to recognize leaders on
the electronic frontier who are extending freedom and innovation in the realm
of information technology. Nominations will be open until Thursday, August 1st.
Nominate the next Pioneer Award winner today!
EFF Updates
State AGs Ask Congress to Gut
Critical CDA 230 Online Speech Protections
Forty-seven state attorneys
general asked Congress to severely undermine the most important law protecting
free speech on the Internet. In a letter to congressional leaders, the AGs
asked Congress to amend Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act--which
protects online service providers from liability for the vast majority of what
their users do--to carve out all state criminal laws from the statute's protection.
This should be disturbing to anyone who values free speech on the Internet.
Congress will soon start
debating federal shield bills that arguably would exclude bloggers,
freelancers, and other non-salaried journalists from protection because they
are not included within the bills' narrow definition of who qualifies as a
journalist. If these bills pass without change, Congress effectively will
create two tiers of journalists: the institutional press licensed by the
government, and everyone else.
Barrett Brown Prosecution Threatens
Right to Link, Could Criminalize Routine Journalism Practices
Twitter was abuzz recently when
an unknown person published what was alleged to be a group of passwords for the
email accounts of congressional staffers, which multiple journalists commented
on while linking to it. Barrett Brown is currently under indictment, in part,
for remarkably similar behavior and his case has dire consequences for press
freedom.
Open-government advocates have
much to celebrate this summer, particularly in California, where three
EFF-involved efforts have resulted in conclusive victories for the public's
right to know what their government is up to.
Let’s Create an Alternative
Copyright Agenda By and For the Users
Negotiations over the TPP have
excluded public participation from the entire process, while allowing Big
Content interests to see and direct the terms of this trade agreement. Help us
crowdsource alternative copyright proposals and we'll take this feedback to
policymakers to make sure they listen to the Internet community's demands.
Victory for Fair Use and Consumer
Choice: Ninth Circuit Rejects Networks’ Appeal in Fox v. Dish.
In a crucial ruling, the Ninth
Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed that a major TV network can't use
copyright to limit consumer choice, ruling that ad-skipping and time-shifting
don't violate Fox News' copyright.
EFF to Court: Forced Decryption
Unconstitutional
You shouldn't have to surrender
your constitutional rights in order to safeguard your electronic privacy. In a
new amicus brief, we told a federal court in Wisconsin that ordering a man to
decrypt the contents of computers seized from his apartment would violate the
Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.
miniLinks
New York Times: Spy Agencies Under
Heaviest Scrutiny Since Abuse Scandal of the '70s
American intelligence agencies,
after a boom in financing and public support in the decade after the Sept. 11,
2001 attacks, are facing the highest levels of public scrutiny since the 1970s.
New York Times: Momentum Builds
Against N.S.A. Surveillance
NSA reform, which began on the
political fringes only a week ago, has built a momentum that even critics say
may be unstoppable, drawing support from Republican and Democratic leaders.
The Atlantic: Mission Creep -- When
Everything Is Terrorism
Bruce Schneier argues against
the expanding scope of the NSA, noting that even if we believe claims that its
tools are fighting terrorism, ubiquitous surveillance is an invitation for
abuse.
Supported by Members
Our members make it possible for
EFF to bring legal and technological expertise into crucial battles about online
rights. Whether defending free speech online or challenging unconstitutional
surveillance, your participation makes a difference. Every donation gives
technology users who value freedom online a stronger voice and more formidable
advocate.
If you aren't already, please
consider becoming an EFF member today.
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Fast Food Workers Strike, Demand 100% Pay Raise
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 07/29/2013 - 18:40
"It's
noisy, it's really hot, fast, they rush you. Sometimes you don't even get
breaks. All for $7.25? It's crazy," is how one worker described the
conditions that have caused her and the rest of America's fast-food employees
to go on strike today. They demand the right to unionize and better pay
- calling for a raise in the minimum wage from $7.25 to $15. Workers
chanted, "Supersize our wages," as spokespersons for the Fast Food
Forward campaign explained the economic logic, "If they have more money in
their pockets, they'll spend it right here, helping to boost the entire
economy." Which leaves us asking
the always awkward question - where does this new 'economy
boosting' money come from for this 107% pay rise? With gas prices
rising, rents soaring and many employees already reliant on food stamps and
medicaid, "I can't even order something off the menu with what I
earn," one worker noted, "It makes me wonder what I'm even
doing there." Indeed
it does with all those benefits on offer elsewhere.
Faith,
Hope, And P/E Multiple Expansion
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 07/29/2013 - 22:10
Investors
have faith that despite the collapse
in funding needs the Fed will not Taper anytime soon. Investors have hope that GDP will pick up
in the second-half of 2013 (or worst case 2014 or 2015 or 2016) and that's
what will drive
'real economy' earnings back from the brink. But most of all, investors
today have an un-ending veneration of the P/E multiple-expanding
solution to any- and everything in any way negative for stocks. There
always seems to be some 'average', some forward-measure, some catalyst for
multiples to expand confirming expectations of a round number for a nominal
stock index in the future. However, as Morgan Stanley's Adam Parker notes, the
humility-arrogance cocktail of forecasting multiples is becoming more
troublesome as QE accounts for up to 2 turns for the overall market
relative to 'normal' growth and rates.
Caption
Contest: The Real "Call Of Duty"?
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 07/29/2013 - 21:35
As stocks hit new highs,
politicians proclaim crises over, and oil prices leak back lower, it is all too
easy to forget just what is going half-way around the world from the comfort of
the American-Idolatry. This image of 'real' troops in 'real' Syria may jolt a
few 'Call of Duty' players from their comas.
US
Rents Hit Record Highs As Homeownership Plunges To 18 Year Lows
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 07/30/2013 - 11:01
The
American Homeownership Dream is officially dead. Long live the New Normal
American Dream: Renting.
Obama
Erases Campaign Promises from Election Website
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 07/30/2013 - 10:40
President Transparency, in the interest of
protecting his Administration’s spotless record of least transparent ever, has
decided to erase sections of his original campaign website so that inconvenient
and broken promises (i.e., every single thing he said) can’t be so easily
exposed. The section in question... 'Protect Whistleblowers'...
Consumer
Confidence Slips Most In 4 Months, Outlook Tumbles
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 07/30/2013 - 10:13
After a three-month surge to 5
year highs, beating expectations month-after-month, it seems surging mortgage
rate and surging gas prices trump (at least for now) the all-time record high
in stock prices. This is the first drop in 5 months, the first miss in
4 months but what is most worrisome for the apparent discounting
mechanisms of the 'efficient' markets is the plunge in future expectations
(after a 3 month surge of hope) even as the present situation continues to rise
in survey respondent's minds. This is particularly worrisome in the employment
outlook as those that see fewer jobs in the future rose and those that
see more jobs in the future fell for the first time in 4 months.
The
Funniest Chart From Today's Case-Shiller Update
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 07/30/2013 - 09:36
Guess
which city this chart represents.
POT Smoked
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 07/30/2013 - 09:13
Following
OAO Uralkali's decision to break up a 'marketing venture' that controlled
around 43% of global potash exports, the world's largest producer is breaking
the cartel that many US fertilizer companies have enjoyed. This move
signals prices will weaken as the Russian company tries to grab market share
shifting sales to its own unit. As Goldman notes, such behavior by Belaruskali
in a structurally oversupplied potash industry should push for stricter
competition for end customers and result in a significant swift decline
in pricing to a level of marginal cost production. This slashing of
margins has crushed the fertilizer stocks with POT, MOS, and AGU all down
significantly in the pre-market."Uralkali’s announcement
completely turns the global potash market upside down," noted one
analyst. "If previously global potash producers were acting like an
oligopoly, working with the rule that benefited higher potash prices over
shipped volumes, now the market will be fully competitive."
Shock, horror!
Spain:
Fiesta or Siesta?
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 07/30/2013 - 08:57
At a time when Spain is back in the
limelight on account of its ever-sprouting corruption scandals, the government
is trying to switch public attention to the prospect of impending economic
recovery. Last Thursday, when the
National Statistics Institute (INE) reported a 0.90 percent drop in the active
population unemployment rate (down to 26.26 percent from the previous
quarter’s 27.16 percent), Economy Minister Luis de Guindos assured: “Despite
all the difficulties, today I am convinced that the worst is over and
that the Spanish economy will leave behind the negative growth rates.” Mariano
Rajoy’s government may, as its predecessor did, announce “around the corner”
recovery to keep the population’s hope alive and dodge uncomfortable matters such
as corruption scandals, but in reality the country’s trend is quite
worrying.
RANsquawk
- FOMC Preview - 31st July 2013
Submitted
by RANSquawk Video on 07/30/2013 - 08:44
The
Only Question On Jamie Dimon's Mind This Morning (As JPM Neither Admits Nor
Denies It Is The Next Enron)
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 07/30/2013 - 08:33
Now that the previously
reported "fine" of $400 million which the firm just got slapped
with following its manipulation of various energy markets, is fact...
- JPMORGAN AGREES TO PAY $410 MLN TO
SETTLE U.S. ENERGY PROBE
... One may say JPM has just
admitted it is the next Enron. One would be wrong: "JPMVEC admits the
facts set forth in the agreement, but neither admits nor denies the
violations." In other words, JPM is a Schrodinger Enron: it
admits the facts that the company best known for manipulating electricity -
a charge which in 2000 was enough to crush the company, and which is now a fine
equal to 0.4% of the firm's $99.5 billion in revenues - but neither admits
nor denies this. But the biggest question plaguing Jamie Dimon
this morning, is whether he will pay the $410 million FERC find with a personal
check... or petty cash.
Dan
Loeb Underperforms S&P, Sells Entire Gold Position, And Other Q2 Letter
Insights
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 07/30/2013 - 08:01
Far Dan Loeb, gold has finally
lost its lustre: "If we finally see accelerating growth rates, yields
should normalize from the unusually low levels we have seen recently. The
playbook for investors in that scenario is to focus on assets that will benefit
from US growth while avoiding investments that are hurt when real yields rise,
such as gold, emerging markets, and fixed income – all areas where we have very
little exposure today. Indeed, we sold our long-held gold position
early in the second quarter at approximately $1,450."
Frontrunning:
July 30
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 07/30/2013 - 07:28
- "Ooops": Barclays reveals £12.8bn
balance sheet hole (FT),
Barclays Bows to Pressure With Share Sale (WSJ)
- Bank of Italy Inspecting Top Lenders' Books (WSJ)
- Obama to propose 'grand bargain' on corporate tax rate,
infrastructure (Reuters)
- China injects funds into money markets, quelling fears (FT)
- Berlusconi faces verdict that could endanger Italian
government (Reuters)
- Shale Threatens Saudi Economy, Warns Prince Alwaleed (WSJ)
- Qatar Finds Revolution Abroad Not as Easy as Stock Picks (BBG)
- Cities Begin Hiring Again (WSJ)
- not to mention filing for bankruptcy
- Big Question Hangs Over Small-Caps (WSJ)
- China Politburo Pledges to Press On With Restructuring
Economy (BBG)
- Bank Revenues Surge on Trading Over What Fed Will Do (BBG)
Overnight
News Not Terrible Enough To Assure New All Time Highs
Submitted
by Tyler Durden on 07/30/2013 - 07:05
While the market's eyes were
fixed on the near record slide in Japanese Industrial Production (even as its
ears glazed over the latest commentary rerun from Aso) which did however lead
to a 1.53% jump in the PenNikkeiStock market on hope of more stimulus to get
floundering Abenomics back on track, the most important news from the overnight
session is that the PBOC's love affair with its own tapering may have come and
gone after the central bank came, looked at the surge in 7 day market repo
rates, and unwilling to risk another mid-June episode where SHIBOR exploded to
the mid-25% range, for the first first time since February injected RMB17
billion through a 7-day reverse repo. The PBOC also announced it would cut the
RRR in the earthquake-hit Lushan area. And with that the illusion of a firm and
resolute PBOC is shattered, however it did result in a tiny 0.7% bounce in the
SHCOMP.
Irwin Kellner
Inflation
is rotten to the core
Commentary: Regardless of that the Fed says, prices
are rising, some obviously so.
•
Stagflation is the Fed's worst nightmare
Art
Bell returning to radio with show about paranormal...
Futuristic Computer
Program Predicts 9/11
Infowars.com | Futuristic
computer program arranges subconscious thoughts to form patterns.
Illinois Moves to
Confiscate Firearms
Adan
Salazar | Cook County follows in California’s footsteps.
Apple to Introduce
Fingerprint Sensor on New iPhone
Infowars.com | Submitting
biometric data may become the latest technology fad.
Chris Christie
Exploits 9/11 to Attack Rand Paul and Libertarians
Kurt
Nimmo | Turf war heats up as establishment Republicans defend NSA surveillance
state.
Society’s insanity
plea: The real cause behind global mass poisoning
Mike
Adams | There are over five thousand species of mammals on planet Earth, but
only one of them is insane.
Adam Kokesh Now A
Political Prisoner
Infowars.com|
Activist Adam Kokesh has been ordered held without bond on charges of loading a
forbidden shotgun in D.C. (an act he filmed as deliberate political theater).
Rand Paul: Christie
Is ‘Sad and Cheap’ for Using 9/11 Victims
Infowars.com | “It’s really I
think kind of sad and cheap that he would use the cloak of 9/11 victims and say
– ‘I’m the only one who cares about these victims.’ Hogwash!,” Paul said
Collapse of The
Electronic Psychological Berlin Wall
Infowars.com
| Alex covers the U.S. government’s struggle to maintain a semblance of
credibility in the face of independent media — led by Drudge and Infowars.com.
When Bad Government Policy Leads to Bad Results, the Government Manipulates the Data … Instead of Changing Policy Posted by : George Washington Post date: 07/30/2013 - Problem ... What Problem?
NSA Spying in Germany: Turning “A Parliamentary Democracy Into A Banana Republic” Posted by: testosteronepit Post date: 07/30/2013 - “Intentional ignorance” undermined in a targeted manner the principle of political responsibility
THe JP MoRGaN TRaDe DiAGRaM... Posted by: williambanzai7 Post date: 07/30/2013 - Beats the pants off the Russian Mafia...
.
BEATS THE PANTS OFF THE RUSSIAN MAFIA
.
.
.
.
Average:
4.913045
Here We Go Again: Step Aside RMBS, Rent-Backed Securities Are Here, And With Them The Beginning Of The End
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/30/2013 - 17:03
Earlier
today, when we reported
that median asking rents in the US had just hit an all time high, we had a
thought: how long until the hedge funds that also double down as landlords
decide to bypass the simple collection the rental cash flows, and instead
collateralize the actual underlying "securities"? One look at
the chart below - which compares the median asking "for sale" price
in black and the median rent in red - shows why. The last time there was a
great divergence (to the benefit of housing), Wall Street spawned an entire
Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities industry where Paulson, Goldman
willing sellers would package mortgages, often-times synthetically, slice them
up in tranches of assorted riskiness, and sell them to willing idiots yield-starved
buyers. As everyone knows, that particular securitization bubble ended with the
bankruptcy of Lehman, the bailout of AIG and the near collapse of the financial
system. As it turns out, the answer to our original question was
"a few hours" because securitizations are back, baby, and this time
they are scarier and riskier than ever.
Myth-Busting With Lakshman Achuthan: "The US Is Worse Than Japan In the 90s"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/30/2013 - 20:18
Despite Tom Keene's best efforts to appear fair-and-balanced, this brief interview on Bloomberg TV places ECRI's Lakshman Achuthan in the uncomfortable position of destroying every propagandized 'fact' that the mainstream media is entrusted with disseminating to the Pavlovian investing community. From recessions with job growth ("a US recession began in 2012") to the wealth divide and from GDP revisions to job quality differentials, Achuthan warns the US is becoming Japan, "U.S. growth over the last five years is weaker than Japan during the Lost Decades." Keene's insistence that things are on-the-up (though admitting that Achuthan's call on the decline in growth was correct) is met with the rhetorical question, "you wouldn't have four years of zero-interest rate policy and quantitative easing if everything was okay."
- Comments: 8
- Reads: 1,076
Bank Of England Helped Reichsbank Sell Its Nazi Gold
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/30/2013 - 19:32
We previously showed hard evidence of the Bank of England's complicit hiding of the truth about the quality of Bundesbank gold stored in the Fed's vaults. A few weeks later in a "completely unrelated" action, the Bundesbank dramatically shifted its recent stance, and demanded that its gold be repatriated into its own vaults (and we now know the impact that has had on the paper-physical paper markets). However, in yet another one of the 'darkest episodes in central banking history' the FT reports, the Bank of England facilitated the sale of gold that was looted by the Nazis after their invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938. Of course, judging today's central bankers by this ethical (and potentially criminal) behavior of over 70 years ago is unfair but it is notable that the pattern of whatever-it-takes and at-all-costs decisions, coupled with pervasive opacity and stark unaccountability, appear to have been formed a long time ago.
What Happens Next?
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/30/2013 - 19:00
As the world waits breathless for tomorrow's preliminary (only to be revised again and again) GDP estimate for Q2 2013 (having seen expectations collapse in recent months), there remains the ever-present faith that Q3, Q4, and on and on will see the mean-reverting growth lift the US economy from its current 'Better-Bargain'-less dystopia. So what happens next? Well, let's look at the trajectory of GDP expectations in 2007...
Marc Faber On Central Banker Actions: "Insane People Don't Realize They're Insane"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/30/2013 - 18:24
While
we know that the Fed
will be forced to taper in the short-term as it desperately
avoids the 'appearance' of outright monetization that a falling deficit will
create, Marc Faber sums up the endgame perfectly in this clip: "I
don’t think they will come to their senses for the simple reason that insane
people don't realize that they are insane." Faber adds,
"they think they’re doing a great job," and in fact they believe - in
general - that "if anything, we need to do more, not less." The
'forced-taper-to-plunge-to-untaper' progression means it's going to get worse;
as Faber notes, QE/printing will continued indefinitely "until the
system breaks down." Having printed this much money with such
dismal results, Faber concludes, "the Fed is completely
clueless."
Guest Post: What Happens When The Oil Runs Out?
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/30/2013 - 17:46
The
world supply of crude oil isn’t going to run out any time soon, and we will be
producing oil for decades to come. However, what we won’t be doing is producing
crude oil – petroleum – at the present rate of around 30 billion barrels per
year. For a global civilization that is based almost entirely on a
plentiful supply of cheap, crude oil, this is going to present some
considerable challenges.
Dow Stuns Vacuum Tubes With 2nd Red Close In A Row
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/30/2013 - 16:10
For the 5th time in 5 days, equity markets dropped back below their May 2013 all-time highs only to be rapidly bid back above that magical level into the close. Stocks in general went nowhere fast with another heavy volume dip and light volume rip to close the day near VWAP. Nasdaq continues to outperform from the last FOMC meeting (up over 4%) even though Tech is unchanged since 6/19. Homebuilders are the drag (down 5.5% from the last FOMC). Treasuries ended the day unchanged (selling back from a 5bps yield compression across the US open after housing data disappointed). AUD continued its overnight weakness (as did GBP) but the USD managed only very modest gains on the day. Gold flatlined as the rest of the economic-commodities slipped lower (WTI at $103 with spread to Brent testing $4). Do not panic!! The Dow closed red for a second day in a row for the first time in six weeks!
The New Bailout Begins: Eminent Domain Is Upon Us
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/30/2013 - 15:56
While
one can have sympathy for the over-levered, underwater homeowners that took
free-money with both hands and feet as house prices surged in the mid-2000s
(just like they are now) but the latest moves to 'save' people from
themselves in the city of Richmond, CA is raising both market and
constitutional concerns. As NYTimes
reports, the city is the first to use eminent domain by
the local government (in partnership with a 'friendly' mortgage provider) to
seize homes, force investors to take a loss on the mortgages, re-issue
a new 'lower' mortgage, and allow the homeowner back with positive equity
(ready to lever-it-back-up into a new Harley). As Guggenheim notes, this is likely
to hurt supply of new mortgages and as we noted previously (here
and here),
it seems clear that private-label MBS holders will not be happy, consumers
hurt as mortgage costs would rise (this 'risk' has to be priced in), and
taxpayers unhappy as this is yet another transfer payment scheme to bailout
underwater loans.
Guest Post: Counterfeiting Trust
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/30/2013 - 15:29
The
heart of any con is winning the trust of the mark, and the heart of
counterfeiting is persuading the mark that a facsimile of value is real. What
happens when trust in the counterfeiters is lost? What happens when the assets
presented as zero-risk lose value? What happens when "the Fed has our
back" doesn't stop the stock market from careening off the cliff of a
global credit crisis, which is another term for a crisis of faith that the
system is as stable and resilient as it is presented? Trust is a fragile creature.
It is a most ephemeral yet powerful force. Once lost, it can never be fully
regained; it can only be earned back, one step at a time. We are fast
approaching the moment when the value of the counterfeit trust, the counterfeit
assets and the counterfeit promises are revealed as fakes.
Obama Among The Middle Class: The Photo Album So Far
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/30/2013 - 14:56
Today,
the wealth redistributor par excellence came to us live from an Amazon
warehouse in Chattanooga, TN where with dramatically rolled-up sleeves, Obama
praised a vision of a full-time middle class to a fulfillment center
gathering of racially diverse, part-time workers, thereby concluding "America's
Transformation To A Part-Time Worker Society" first observed here in 2010.
Here's Some Data On The 'Safest' Fiat Currency
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/30/2013 - 14:30
Is
there such a thing as a ‘safe’ fiat currency? The term itself is
as intellectually disingenuous as terms like ‘fair tax’ or ‘government
innovation’. But as we’ve been exploring recently why modern central banking is
completely dysfunctional, it does beg the question – is any currency ‘safe’?
Let’s look at the numbers for some data-driven analysis. But which is the safest
major currency?
Obama's "Better Bargain" Roadshow Hits Tennessee - Live Webcast
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/30/2013 - 14:00
Amid
the glory of an Amazon fulfillment center (better known in spoken English as
"warehouse") in Chattanooga, President Obama will unveil another
hour-long reprise of the same tired anecdotes, finger-pointing, blame everyone
else, things are great but things are tough new deal plan for the middle class
in America. We can't wait to see the
select few chosen to represent this broad-swathe of the US citizenry and
sit in praise of the leader.
Where Is The Taper Priced In?
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/30/2013 - 13:50
Divining
the impact of 'taper' expectations and growth expectations is difficult but one
thing is clear - not all markets have reacted in the same way to the
Taper/Un-Taper discussions since the last FOMC. However, there is one
indication that concerns us greatly...
- Comments: 48
- Reads: 13,727
Bradley Manning Found 'Not Guilty' Of Aiding The Enemy
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/30/2013 - 13:15
While
Manning still faces other charges, the most serious - that of 'aiding the
enemy' - is now off the table:
*US ARMY PFC BRADLEY MANNING ACQUITTED OF AIDING THE ENEMY: AP
*BRADLEY MANNING CONVICTED OF 5 ESPIONAGE COUNTS: AP
The 'aiding the enemy' charge would have carried a maximum life sentence in prison. Manning could still face 144 years in jail for the 19 lesser charges in the Wikileaks case. Full charge and punishment schedule below.
JPMorgan: $7 Billion In "Fines" In Just The Past Two Years
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/30/2013 - 13:10
There
was a time when Jamie Dimon liked everyone to believe that his JPMorgan had a
"fortress balance sheet", that he was disgusted when the US
government "forced" a bailout on it, and that no matter what the
market threw its way it would be just fine, thanks. Then the London Whale came,
saw, and promptly blew up the "fortress" lie. But while JPM's
precarious balance sheet was no surprise to anyone (holding over $50 trillion
in gross notional derivatives will make fragile fools of the best of us), what
has become a bigger problem for Dimon is that slowly but surely JPM has not
only become a bigger litigation magnet than Bank of America, but questions are
now emerging if all of the firm's recent success wasn't merely due to crime.
Crime of the kind that "nobody accept or denies guilt" of
course - i.e., completely victimless. Except for all the fines and settlements.
Here is a summary of JPM's recent exorbitant and seemingly endless
fines.
44 Facts About The Death Of The Middle Class That Every American Should Know
What
is America going to look like when the middle class is dead? Once upon a
time, the United States has the largest and most vibrant middle class in the
history of the world. When I was growing up, it seemed like almost
everyone was "middle class" and it was very rare to hear of someone
that was out of work. Of course life wasn't perfect, but most families
owned a home, most families had more than one vehicle, and most families could
afford nice vacations and save for retirement at the same time. Sadly,
things have dramatically changed in America since that time. There just
aren't as many "middle class jobs" as there used to be. In
fact, just six years ago there were about six million more full-time jobs in our
economy than there are right now. Those jobs are being replaced by
part-time jobs and temp jobs. The number one employer in America today is
Wal-Mart and the number two employer in America today is a temp agency (Kelly
Services). But you can't support a family on those kinds of jobs.
We live at a time when incomes are going down but the cost of living just keeps
going up. As a result, the middle class in America is being absolutely
shredded and the ranks of the poor are steadily growing. The following
are 44 facts about the death of the middle class that every American should
know... (Read
More....)
1. According to one recent survey, "four out of five U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives".
2. The growth rate of real disposable personal income is the lowest that it has been in decades.
3. Median household income (adjusted for inflation) has fallen by 7.8 percent since the year 2000.
4. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the middle class is taking home a smaller share of the overall income pie than has ever been recorded before.
5. The home ownership rate in the United States is the lowest that it has been in 18 years.
6. It is more expensive to rent a home in America than ever before. In fact, median asking rent for vacant rental units just hit a brand new all-time record high.
7. According to one recent survey, 76 percent of all Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.
8. The U.S. economy actually lost 240,000 full-time jobs last month, and the number of full-time workers in the United States is now about 6 million below the old record that was set back in 2007.
9. The largest employer in the United States right now is Wal-Mart. The second largest employer in the United States right now is a temp agency (Kelly Services).
10. One out of every ten jobs in the United States is now filled through a temp agency.
11. According to the Social Security Administration, 40 percent of all workers in the United States make less than $20,000 a year.
12. The ratio of wages and salaries to GDP is near an all-time record low.
13. The U.S. economy continues to trade good paying jobs for low paying jobs. 60 percent of the jobs lost during the last recession were mid-wage jobs, but 58 percent of the jobs created since then have been low wage jobs.
14. Back in 1980, less than 30% of all jobs in the United States were low income jobs. Today, more than 40% of all jobs in the United States are low income jobs.
15. At this point, one out of every four American workers has a job that pays $10 an hour or less.
16. According to one study, between 1969 and 2009 the median wages earned by American men between the ages of 30 and 50 declined by 27 percent after you account for inflation.
17. In the year 2000, about 17 million Americans were employed in manufacturing. Today, only about 12 million Americans are employed in manufacturing.
18. The United States has lost more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities since 2001.
19. The average number of hours worked per employed person per year has fallen by about 100 since the year 2000.
20. Back in the year 2000, more than 64 percent of all working age Americans had a job. Today, only 58.7 percent of all working age Americans have a job.
21. When you total up all working age Americans that do not have a job, it comes to more than 100 million.
22. The average duration of unemployment in the United States is nearly three times as long as it was back in the year 2000.
23. The percentage of Americans that are self-employed has steadily declined over the past decade and is now at an all-time low.
24. Right now there are 20.2 million Americans that spend more than half of their incomes on housing. That represents a 46 percent increase from 2001.
25. In 1989, the debt to income ratio of the average American family was about 58 percent. Today it is up to 154 percent.
26. Total U.S. household debt grew from just 1.4 trillion dollars in 1980 to a whopping 13.7 trillion dollars in 2007. This played a huge role in the financial crisis of 2008, and the problem still has not been solved.
27. The total amount of student loan debt in the United States recently surpassed the one trillion dollar mark.
28. Total home mortgage debt in the United States is now about 5 times larger than it was just 20 years ago.
29. Back in the year 2000, the mortgage delinquency rate was about 2 percent. Today, it is nearly 10 percent.
30. Consumer debt in the United States has risen by a whopping 1700% since 1971, and 46% of all Americans carry a credit card balance from month to month.
31. In 1999, 64.1 percent of all Americans were covered by employment-based health insurance. Today, only 55.1 percent are covered by employment-based health insurance.
32. One study discovered that approximately 41 percent of all working age Americans either have medical bill problems or are currently paying off medical debt, and according to a report published in The American Journal of Medicine medical bills are a major factor in more than 60 percent of all personal bankruptcies in the United States.
33. Each year, the average American must work 107 days just to make enough money to pay local, state and federal taxes.
34. Today, approximately 46.2 million Americans are living in poverty.
35. The number of Americans living in poverty has increased by more than 15 million since the year 2000.
36. Families that have a head of household under the age of 30 have a poverty rate of 37 percent.
37. At this point, approximately 25 million American adults are living with their parents.
38. In the year 2000, there were only 17 million Americans on food stamps. Today, there are more than 47 million Americans on food stamps.
39. Back in the 1970s, about one out of every 50 Americans was on food stamps. Today, about one out of every 6.5 Americans is on food stamps.
40. Right now, the number of Americans on food stamps exceeds the entire population of the nation of Spain.
41. According to one calculation, the number of Americans on food stamps now exceeds the combined populations of “Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.”
42. At this point, more than a million public school students in the United States are homeless. This is the first time that has ever happened in our history. That number has risen by 57 percent since the 2006-2007 school year.
43. According to U.S. Census data, 57 percent of all American children live in a home that is either considered to be "poor" or "low income".
44. In the year 2000, the ratio of social welfare benefits to salaries and wages was approximately 21 percent. Today, the ratio of social welfare benefits to salaries and wages is approximately 35 percent.
And not only is the middle class being systematically destroyed right now, we are also destroying the bright economic future that our children and our grandchildren were supposed to have by accumulating gigantic mountains of debt in their names. The following is from a recent article by Bill Bonner...
Today, the U.S. lumbers into the future with total debt equal to about 350% of GDP. In Britain and Japan, the total is over 500%. Debt, remember, is the homage that the future pays to the past. It has to be carried, serviced… and paid. It has to be reckoned with… one way or another.
And the cost of carrying debt is going up! Over the last few weeks, interest rates have moved up by about 15% — an astounding increase for the sluggish debt market. How long will it be before long-term borrowing rates are back to “normal”?
At 5% interest, a debt that measures 3.5 times your revenue will cost about one-sixth of your income. Before taxes. After tax, you will have to work about one day a week to keep up with it (to say nothing of paying it off!).
That’s a heavy burden. It is especially disagreeable when someone else ran up the debt. Then you are a debt slave. That is the situation of young people today. They must face their parents’ debt. Even serfs in the Dark Ages had it better. They had to work only one day out of 10 for their lords and masters.
We were handed the keys to the greatest economic machine in the history of the planet and we wrecked it.
As young people realize that their futures have been destroyed, many of them are going to totally lose hope and give in to despair.
And desperate people do desperate things. As our economy continues to crumble, we are going to see crime greatly increase as people do what they feel they need to do in order to survive. In fact, we are already starting to see this happen. Just this week, CNBC reported on the raging epidemic of copper theft that we are seeing all over the nation right now...
Copper is such a hot commodity that thieves are going after the metal anywhere they can find it: an electrical power station in Wichita, Kan., or half a dozen middle-class homes in Morris Township, N.J. Even on a Utah highway construction site, crooks managed to abscond with six miles of copper wire.
Those are just a handful of recent targets across the U.S. in the $1 billion business of copper theft.
"There's no question the theft has gotten much, much worse," said Mike Adelizzi, president of the American Supply Association, a nonprofit group representing distributors and suppliers in the plumbing, heating, cooling and industrial pipe industries.
The United States once had the greatest middle class in the history of the world, but now it it dying.
This is causing a tremendous amount of anger and frustration to build in this nation, and when the next major wave of the economic collapse strikes, a lot of that anger and frustration will likely be unleashed.
The American people don't understand that these problems have taken decades to develop. They just want someone to fix things. They just want things to go back to the way that they used to be.
Unfortunately, the great economic storm that is coming is not going to be averted.
Get ready while you still can. Time is running out.