The American People Are Utterly Clueless About What Is Going To Happen As We Enter 2015

by Michael Snyder, The Economic Collapse Blog:
The American people are feeling really good right about now.  For example, Gallup’s economic confidence index has hit the highest level that we have seen since the last recession.  In addition, nearly half of all Americans believe that 2015 will be a better year than 2014 was, and only about 10 percent believe that it will be a worse year.  And a lot of people are generally feeling quite good about the people that have been leading our nation.  According to Gallup, once again this year Hillary Clinton is the most admired woman in America and Barack Obama is the most admired man in America.  I don’t know what that says about our nation, but it can’t be good.  Unfortunately, when things seem to be going well common sense tends to go out the window.  A couple days ago, the Guardian ran an article entitled “Goodbye to one of the best years in history“, and a whole lot of people out there are feeling really optimistic these days.  But should they be?
Read More…

Chain Reaction of Problems Coming In 2015: “Collapse Will Be On A Scale That Is Many Magnitudes Greater Than 2008″

by Mac Slavo, SHTFPlan:
If you’re like most Americans, then you are absolutely loving the price you paid this week for a gallon of gas. Just a couple of years ago it was not uncommon to see a $75 price tag for filling up your car. Today, you might be driving off for half that amount.
On the surface the recent drop in the price of oil has been a huge boost to America’s pocket books. But according to some analysts we shouldn’t be to quick to celebrate. The U.S. Oil and Gas industry has seen incredible job growth during the recession, with nearly 800,000 new jobs being attributed to domestic fracking and drilling expansion. At over $100 barrel, there was plenty of money to go around.
But with a sub-sixty dollar price point, it’s quite possible that all economic hell is about to break loose.
Read More @ SHTFPlan.com

Commodity Prices Are Cliff-Diving Due To The Fracturing Monetary Supernova - The Case Of Iron Ore

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/30/2014 - 17:05 The worldwide economic and industrial boom since the early 1990s was not indicative of sublime human progress or the break-out of a newly energetic market capitalism on a global basis. Instead, the approximate $50 trillion gain in the reported global GDP over the past two decades was an unhealthy and unsustainable economic deformation financed by a vast outpouring of fiat credit and false prices in the capital markets. In short, when the classical Austrians talked about “malinvestment” the pending disasters in the global steel and iron ore industries (and also mining equipment and other supplier industries) are what they had in mind.
 

The Prison State of America

from The Burning Platform:
Prisons employ and exploit the ideal worker. Prisoners do not receive benefits or pensions. They are not paid overtime. They are forbidden to organize and strike. They must show up on time. They are not paid for sick days or granted vacations. They cannot formally complain about working conditions or safety hazards. If they are disobedient, or attempt to protest their pitiful wages, they lose their jobs and can be sent to isolation cells. The roughly 1 million prisoners who work for corporations and government industries in the American prison system are models for what the corporate state expects us all to become. And corporations have no intention of permitting prison reforms that would reduce the size of their bonded workforce. In fact, they are seeking to replicate these conditions throughout the society.
Read More @ TheBurningPlatform.com

The Outlook for the New Year

by Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, Paul Craig Roberts:
Dear Readers: The conflict that Washington has initiated between the West and Russia/China is reckless and irresponsible. Nuclear war could be the outcome. Indeed, Washington has been preparing for nuclear war since the George W. Bush regime.
Washington has revised US war doctrine in order to initiate conflict with a first strike nuclear attack.
Washington has discarded the ABM treaty in order to build and deploy anti-ballistic missiles that are intended to prevent a retaliatory strike against the US. Washington is engaged in a buildup of military forces on Russia’s borders, and Washington is demonizing Russia’s government with false charges.
As the Bush/Obama regimes dismantled the safeguards put in place in order to minimize the risk of nuclear war, no protests came from the American public or the media. Washington’s European vassal states have also been silent.
Washington’s drive for hegemony has brought nuclear insanity to the world.
Read More @ PaulCraigRoberts.org

The Rigging Triangle Exposed: The JPMorgan-British Petroleum-Bank Of England Cartel Full Frontal

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/30/2014 - 13:18 To all those wondering if everything is rigged, we have a very simple answer: Yes.

Data Shows Cops Kill Three People a Day in America

by Melissa Melton, The Daily Sheeple:
It was taken yesterday. Take a look at this screen capture of the recent news on police shootings in America:
The ten stories on this list range from December 21st to December 28th, 2014 and provide a snapshot of the average week in the American police state.
All of these stories are from different states as follows from top to bottom:
1. East Baltimore, Maryland
2. Jacksonville, Florida (deceased)
3. Texas City, Texas (deceased)
4. (Protest story from prior police shooting)
Read More @ TheDailySheeple.com

Bonds & Bullion "Safety Bid" As Stocks Give Up Santa Rally Gains

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/30/2014 - 16:07

 

 

Chris Powell – There are no free markets anymore, just interventions

from GoldSwitzerland, via The Victory Report:

Margin Debt/GDP Off The Charts = Stock Market Crash Coming? — Mike Maloney

from Mike Maloney:

Harvey Organ: Germany Repatriates 44 Tonnes of Gold, Leaves Behind a HUGE MESS OF DERIVATIVES!

from Silver Doctors:
The big news today came from the FRBNY where we witness $64 million dollars worth of gold leave the bank (and New York shores) to repatriate the last amount owed to Holland and most likely Germany has resumed her repatriation.
This gold is valued at $42.20 per oz and thus 1.516587 million oz (47.17 tonnes) leaves the bank.
We know that Holland was to receive its last 3 tonnes in November (they have thus repatriated 122.5 tonnes from the beginning of 2014). Since Germany is the only country that officially has asked for her gold back, you can safely assume that Germany has received 44 tonnes of her 1500 tonne hoard held in NY back to Frankfurt.
The repatriation leaves behind a HUGE MESS OF DERIVATIVES as there is approximately 100 paper obligations per one oz of gold repatriated!
Read More @ SilverDoctors.com

Spot The Difference

from Zero hedge:

With the S&P 500 having now tripled-and-then-some off the March 2009 lows, we thought it noteworthy to note that today, Bloomberg’s Commodity Index dropped below those financial crisis lows for the first time. As is evident from the chart, throughout history, the raw materials of ‘business’ and the stock of ‘business’ had high and positive correlations but since the Fed ended QE2, suffered equity weakness and then folded and re-engaged money-printing largesse with Operation Shift, the relationship between commodities and stocks has been utterly negative. Different this time? Or all smoke and mirrors? time will tell…

Richard Russell – We Will See Radical Events Collapse Global Currencies

from KingWorldNews:
Richard Russell: “Warren Buffet was asked how he came to be one of the richest men on earth. He answered that, 1) he was lucky enough to be born in America, 2) he had good genes, and has lived to his eighties, and 3) he understood the almost miraculous power of compounding through time.
Turning to the present situation, copper has fallen to a four-year low, and oil has dropped into the fifties. The Fed has not been able to crank the economy up to its desired level of 2% inflation. The Fed, in its frantic effort to counter deflation by producing inflation, has turned almost everything into a bubble. Bonds are in a bubble, stocks are in a bubble, real estate is in a bubble. The Fed has created an “everything bubble.”
Robert Fitzwilson Continues @ KingWorldNews.com

Greek Turmoil Could Spread – Risk of Bail-Ins in U.S. and Globally

by Mark O’Byrne, Gold Core:
Greece’s financial markets are in turmoil again as a vote in parliament – failing to elect a new president – made a general election inevitable. Greek markets saw severe sell offs , with yields on Greek government bonds rising and shares prices collapsing 13% at one point yesterday and closing 7% lower on the day.
Greek bank shares collapsed by even more. Two of Greece’s largest banks, Piraeus bank and Alpha bank, shed more than 14% of their share value as concerns of bank solvency, bank runs and Cyprus style bail-ins reemerged.
Market reaction elsewhere was mixed with markets in low volume Christmas trading. Northern European stock markets, the FTSE, DAX and CAC, eked out small gains while southern markets saw renewed jitters.
Read More @ GoldCore.com

Meanwhile, The McDonalds Riots Continue

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/30/2014 - 15:30 After a customer went berserk 2 days ago over 40 cents, it appears the McDonalds Riots are contagious...

Is Ukraine Hiding A Huge Radiation Leak At The Largest Nuclear Power Plant In Europe?

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/30/2014 - 13:56 Two days ago we reported of the odd coincidence of a 2nd emergency shutdown at Ukraine's Zaporozhye Nuclear reactor - Europe's largest nuclear power plant - following our earlier fears of disinformation. Today, we get information of a leaked report sourced from three different place - unconfirmed for now (but RT is trying to verify) - that Ukrainian nuclear scioentists misled the public and a radioactive leak has been detected - citing the country’s emergency services claiming that levels of radiation are 16.3 times the legally permitted norm.

Saudi Facing Largest Deficit In Its History

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/30/2014 - 11:49 The nearly 50 percent plunge in the price of oil during the past six months is expected to leave oil-rich Saudi Arabia with its first budget deficit since 2011 and the largest in its history. Oil is the principal, if not the only, resource in Saudi Arabia, so it’s clear that the price of oil has a strong influence on how the country’s annual budget is drawn up. Different analyses, however, provide different answers to how Riyadh has forecast the commodity’s value. Four of these reports say the Saudi budget is predicated on oil averaging $55 to $63 per barrel in 2015.