Bill Gross Warns Of Financial Market Implosion And The End Of Economic Life As We Know It 

 

 

Iran Decides to Close Hormuz if Oil Exports Blocked

Ali Ashraf Nouri, a senior commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, told Khorasan daily on Sunday that the Iranian government has decided to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf if the country’s oil exports are blocked.
Also on Sunday, Iranian Army Commander Brigadier General Habibollah Sayyari said Iran can block the Strait of Hormuz “easily.”
The threat comes as the European Union prepares to embargo Iranian oil at the end of the month in response to Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program.
It was reported last week EU foreign ministers will likely to agree to block Iranian oil imports at a meeting in Brussels on January 30. Working groups are negotiating the details of how the embargo will be imposed, said an official.
Following Nouri’s comments, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told CBS News that if Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz the U.S. military will respond.
Read More @ InfoWars.com

 

Key Events In The Following Week

The meeting between Merkel and Sarkozy on Monday is likely to be the main focus of next week, as well as continued debate of the Greek PSI. Overall, this process is likely to push the EUR lower in the next couple of weeks, while the missing details for better fiscal policy coordination are getting negotiated. On the macro side, IP in Germany will have slowed by 0.2% mom in November and consensus expects the aggregate Euro-zone IP to have contracted by the same amount. But we also get November IP in many other places, including the UK and India. Already released over the weekend, Chinese money supply data has been stronger than expected and the amount of new loans issues in December is clear evidence of policy easing.

 

 

SocGen Lays It Out: "EU Iran Embargo: Brent $125-150. Straits Of Hormuz Shut: $150-200"

Previously we heard Pimco's thoughts on the matter of an Iranian escalation with "Pimco's 4 "Iran Invasion" Oil Price Scenarios: From $140 To "Doomsday"", now it is the turn of SocGen's Michael Wittner to take a more nuanced approach adapting to the times, with an analysis of what happens under two scenarios - 1) a full blown EU embargo (which contrary to what some may think is coming far sooner than generally expected), and the logical aftermath: 2) a complete closure of the Straits. The forecast is as follows: 1) "Scenario 1: EU enacts a full ban on 0.6 Mb/d of imports of Iranian crude. In this scenario, we would expect Brent crude prices to surge into the $125-150 range." 2) "Scenario 2: Iran shuts down the Straits of Hormuz, disrupting 15 Mb/d of crude flows. In this scenario, we would expect Brent prices to spike into the $150-200 range for a limited time period." The consequences of even just scenario 1 is rather dramatic: while the adverse impact on the US economy will be substantial, it would be the debt-funded wealth transfer out of Europe into Saudi Arabia that would be the most notable aftermath. And if there is one thing an already austere Europe will be crippled by, is the price of a gallon of gas entering the double digits. And then there are the considerations of who benefits from an Iranian supply deterioration: because Europe's loss is someone else's gain. And with 1.5 million of the 2.4 Mb/d in output already going to Asia (China, India, Japan and South Korea) it is pretty clear that China will be more than glad to take away all the production that Europe decides it does not need (which would amount to just 0.8 Mb/d anyway).

Epiphany - Three Kings Day

New Jersey Will Pay You $1000 To Destroy The 2nd Amendment and become a "Willing Victim"

There is nothing more disgusting or detestable than a citizen informant.  Without citizen informants, tyrants could never retain the kind of power they wield.  In fact, without citizen informants, totalitarian movements would never gain traction.  This is why EVERY functional oligarchy throughout history has implemented programs designed to encourage the development of common spies, using the promise of monetary reward, or collective recognition.    Sadly, there are many in our society that would gladly sell out their closest friends and family to the tortures of authoritarian bureaucracy for nothing more than a firm pat on the head and a few fiat dollars.  If there was ever a more degraded lot of bottom feeding opportunist scum, the citizen informant is the very epitome.

New Clancy ‘Rainbow 6′ Vid Game Labels OWS Protesters As The New Domestic Terror Threat

Is it getting increasingly harder to voice your opinion in the U.S. without someone labeling you a terrorist or a subversive? The latest outrage comes from the Tom Clancy-inspired “Rainbow Six” videogame series, in which Occupy Wall Street protesters are the new domestic terrorists.

The latest incarnation of the series, “The Patriots,” won’t hit stores until 2013, but here’s a sample of the plot: “Terrorism has evolved and America is under attack. Capitalizing on the sense of frustration in a nation seemingly corrupted by greedy politicians and corporate special interests, a group of US citizens-turned-radicals, the True Patriots, will stop at nothing to overthrow the government and financial institutions. As a leader of the elite Rainbow counter-terrorism unit, players will be the last line of defense tasked with saving the nation no matter the cost.”

If that’s not enough to shock you, the first official trailer for the game is introduced along a similar theme: “This is the day we’ve been waiting for. This is for the jobs you’ve streamlined, the debts you’ve collected, this is for the homes you foreclosed on, the bailouts you took. We are the true patriots. It’s time for a new balance of power. You may not answer to the government, but you will answer to us.”
Read More @ NaturalNews.com

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