Read ‘Em And Weep: TIME Magazine’s Tyrants Of The Year

from Western Journalism:
“A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” -Winston Churchill

In 1917, Congressman Oscar Callaway entered some disturbing information into the congressional record.

J.P. Morgan, a banker and a steel tycoon, hired 12 high-ranking newspapers and asked them to determine America’s most influential newspapers. Morgan wanted to know how many newspapers it would take to control the policy of the daily press of the United States.

Obama’s Stealth AR-15 Gun Ban Targets Ammo: “No One Can Import, Sell or Even Produce It”

by Mac Slavo, SHTFPlan:
If nothing else can be said about President Obama, he has adamantly stuck to one key promise – the one he made to the Brady Center to pursue gun control ‘under the radar.‘

The AR-15 is America’s most popular sporting rifle, and it has been falsely mischaracterized as an “automatic” firearm and an “assault” weapon. It has been demonized as a monstrosity via the Sandy Hook shootings. Bans on it and other so-called “assault weapons” have been attempted from every possible angle.
And now that those measures have failed to accomplish total gun control, the Obama Administration, hungry to undermine the 2nd Amendment and restrict gun ownership, is using backdoor regulations through the BATFE to ban the sale, import and manufacture of the most affordable ammunition for the AR-15. Melissa Melton writes:
Read More @ SHTFPlan.com

As Greece Scrambles To End Its Bank Run, JPM Throws A Wrench: Says Deposit Outflows Continued After "Deal"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/28/2015 - 16:42 Just when Greece thought it had bought itself some breathing room in its desperate attempt to rebuild confidence in its financial system, here comes JPM and effectively calls Yanis Varoufakis a liar, suggesting that Greek deposit outflows have continued at a brisk pace despite the bailout extension "deal."

Here Is The Reason Why Stocks Just Had Their Best Month Since October 2011

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/28/2015 - 14:58 If not the economy or fundamentals, and if not the Fed, which as we know is still on sabbatical after its massive QE1-2-Twist-3 $3 trillion liquidity injection, just what has pushed stocks up to jawdropping all time highs? Here, courtesy of Deutsche Bank, is the answer...

Putin Spokesman Says Nemtsov Murder Was "100% Provocation"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/28/2015 - 11:53 Just a few short hours after the terrible murder of Russian opposition politician and outspoken Putin critic Boris Nemtsov, US' John Kerry was quick to condemn the actions of the "reformer" and demand Russia's "expeditious investigation," and President Obama has since issued a statement "admiring [Nemtsov's] struggle against corruption" Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says the Nemtsov murder was "100% provocation... It looks like a contract killing."

Grant Williams: Why The Smart Money Is So Nervous Now

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/28/2015 - 15:45 "If you drop anybody into any momentous period in history, it’s really tough to perceive it at the time. It’s only when you look back on these things with the benefit of hindsight that you really see how historic they really are. But for many people right now who can forget the narrative and can forget what they're being told by various interested parties, if you can stand back far enough and take a practical look at what’s happening, I think it’s much easier to see certainly how far from normality things are today. "

Annaly CEO: Central Bankers Are Witch Doctors, Demands "Return To Market-Driven Pricing"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/28/2015 - 14:15 "My hope is that as policy makers of the world continue to prescribe their remedies for the ailing economic patient, that they do not render it worse off... As with their predecessors, I suspect there is no doubt in the minds of our central bankers that they are the smartest they’ve ever been. Yet, I fear they are not the smartest they will ever be."
 

Fed Independence Is A Joke, So Why Not Audit?

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/28/2015 - 12:46 Nothing says limited government and separation of powers like a bureaucracy unaccountable to the voice of the people! Then again, Yellen doesn’t care much for democratic oversight. She’s a caricature of Randian libertarianism: someone who wants to do whatever, whenever, without rulers. The problem is Yellen isn’t operating a private railroad company. She’s the figurehead for a government institution created by Congress. If democracy means anything, it’s that voters have some measure of control over political bureaucracies.
 

When Centralization Scales Beyond Our Control

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/28/2015 - 10:47 Who controls NATO, or the IMF? I’m sure you understand it’s not you. Still, when an organization exhibits aggressive behavior in your name, or lends out your money in your name, you should at all times feel that you are in control, through those you elect to represent you. Well, do you? Or are you merely thinking: that’s too far away from me? Organizations, like so many things in life, don’t scale up well, if at all. Beyond a certain critical mass, they become counterproductive, as Illich states. They become predators on their own creators. That goes as much for NATO, IMF and EU as it does for schools and hospitals.
 

China Cuts Interest Rates, Takes Number Of Central Banks Easing In 2015 To 21

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/28/2015 - 08:51 And then there were 21. Hours ago on Saturday, the country whose currency is largely pegged to the dollar which itself is now anticipating a rate hike in the coming months, surprised the world by confirming its economic slowdown yet again following a recent rate cut just this past November when it lowered its benchmark rate by 40 bps, after it again cut benchmark lending and deposit rates by 25 bps starting on March 1. Specifically, the PBOC will lower the one-year lending rate to 5.35% from 5.6% and its one-year deposit rate to 2.5% from 2.75%. It also said it would raise the maximum interest rate on bank deposits to 130% of the benchmark rate from 120%.
 

Prominent Politician And Putin Critic Shot To Death In Moscow; "Shocked" John Kerry Urges Russia To Bring Justice

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/27/2015 - 23:30 Update: John Kerry has decided to comment: U.S. URGES RUSSIA TO ACT IN EXPEDITIOUSLY IN NEMTSOV MATTER, SAYS BORIS NEMTSOV SOUGHT TO REFORM RUSSIA
Just nine hours after tweeting "Putin annexed Crimea and is now handing over Siberia to the Chinese," and three ours after calling for a "Russian Spring" march, prominent Vladimir Putin critic and opposition politician (who back in 1997 was also deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation) Boris Nemtsov, has been killed in the center of Moscow. As The BBC notes, the Russian opposition politician and former deputy PM was shot to death on a Moscow street. Life News is reporting he was shot in the chest four times on a street very close to Red Square.
 

The End of Honest Money

from Daily Reckoning.com:
The season of fasting is upon us. No more high living. It’s time to cinch up our belts…to put on a gaunt face and a smug look. Alone among friends and associates, we will keep Lent.
So neglected is Lent that even Google has forgotten about it. When we did a search it proposed ‘lentil soup’.
Lent is meant to rehearse the 40 days and nights that Jesus spent fasting in the desert before going public.
We remember the lean days with prayer, meditation and self-denial. No alcohol will cross our lips from Ash Wednesday till Easter Sunday. (Except on Sundays. And saints’ days. And national holidays. And days that begin with the letter ‘T’ or that have a date that is a prime number.)
Read More @ DailyReckoning.com

Best Gun For Women – Some Things To Consider

from Ready Nutrition:
Women consider different things than men when we shop for clothes, shoes, pets, cars, houses…and guns. We’re just built different. So, what should a woman consider when gun shopping for the first time?
Why are you buying it? Is this a pistol that you’re going to carry with you for personal defense, a hunting rifle, something for home defense? Of course, you can have more than one, but unless you just happen to like guns and buy them because they’re neat (I may or may not fall into that category), you’ll want to have a pretty good idea of what you want before you head to your local gun dealership. Even if you don’t know a single thing about firearms, you’ll be a lot closer to finding something that’s right for you if you just know why you want it. A reputable dealership will be able to help guide you from there.
Read More @ ReadyNutrition.com

Jim Rogers: A Bull Market in North Korea is Coming

from WallStForMainSt:

Nemtsov’s Assassination: A Propaganda Attack On Putin?

from Paul Craig Roberts:
Boris Nemtsov, a Russian dissident politician highly critical of President Vladimir Putin often sounded like an agent of Washington. He was shot and killed today on a street near Red Square.
If Nemtsov wasn’t assassinated by the CIA in order to blame Putin, most likely Nemtsov was killed by Russian nationalists who saw him as Washington’s agent.
Remembering the Magnitsky affair that resulted in sanctions imposed on Russians as a result of the US Congress over-reacting to a jail death in Russia, Nemtsov’s death will likely be blamed on Putin. The Western media will repeat endlessly, with no evidence, that Putin had his critic killed.
Read More @ PaulCraigRoberts.com

The Entire Case for Sanctions Against Russia Is Pure Lies

from Washington’s Blog:

U.S. President Barack Obama has stated many times his case against Russia — the reason for the economic sanctions. In his National Security Strategy 2015, he uses the term “aggression” 18 times, and 17 of them are referring specifically to only one country as “aggressive”: Russia. However, not once does he say there what the “aggression” consisted of: what its target was, or what it itself was. He’s vague there on everything except his own target: Russia.

For those things (what Russia’s “aggression” consists of), Obama’s only statement that has been even as lengthy as moderately brief — since he has never presented it at any more length — was his interview with Fareed Zacaria of CNN on 1 February 2015, which happened to be a statement given only three days short of the first anniversary of his agent’s, Victoria Nuland’s, having selected, on 4 February 2014, whom the next leader of Ukraine would be, Arseniy Yatsenyuk (she called him “Yats”) after the democratically elected and sitting Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych, would become overthrown, which happened 18 days later, on 22 February 2014. (It was nothing like Czechoslovakia’s “Velvet Revolution”. This wasn’t democratic; it was a coup.)

Read More @ WashingtonsBlog.com
image/gandul.info

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Veterans Place Corrupt County Board Under Citizen’s Arrest – They Laugh, Until the Sheriff Shows Up

by Tim Brown, Freedom Outpost:
Don’t you love it when ordinary citizens bring justice to bear on corrupt politicians? Isn’t it even sweeter when our veterans do it? Well, that was what two military veterans did in Illinois to the Clark County Park District Board last year.
Illinois, like many states, is filled with corrupt politicians from the state legislature on down to the city and county level.
So, what are those that these corrupt public servants supposed to do about it? Two of them took action.
Read More @ FreedomOutpost.com

Greenspan: The Weak Demand Feels Like A Depression

by Dave Kranzler, Investment Research Dynamics:
In fact, effective demand is extraordinarily weak…”The way I measure it, it’s probably tantamount to what we saw in the later stages of the Great Depression. – Alan Greenspan on CNBC (interview link)
I have been suggesting for quite some time now that the underlying demand in this country is far weaker than is represented by the “seasonally adjusted, annualized rate” statistical vomit that the Government and industry marketing associations throw in our face on a daily basis.
In fact, I suggested in late November that the crashing price of oil was likely the “black swan” that no one saw coming (link) – not one single Wall Street analyst was forecasting a decline in the price of oil. I further surmised that the crashing price of oil was primarily a result of extraordinarily weak demand not just globally but specifically and especially here in the U.S. Subsequent reports for December and January retail sales showing almost 1% declines in each month further validated my analysis.
Read More @ Investmentresearchdynamics.com
image/CNBC.com

Puerto Rico's 3rd Largest Bank Fails

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/27/2015 - 16:38 Based on Bloomberg data, Doral Bank is the 3rd largest (by assets) bank in Puerto Rico...or rather was. After a 58% collapse in the share price today, news broke after the close:
*PUERTO RICO'S DORAL BANK PLACED UNDER FDIC RECEIVERSHIP, BANCO POPULAR AGREES TO BUY DORAL BANK OPERATIONS
It appears Non-Performing Loans were over 40%. Popular will take the deposits (and 8 of Doral's 26 branches) and the FDIC eats the bad debt (estimates to cost the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $748.9 million).
 

Prominent Russian Politician And Putin Critic Shot To Death In The Center Of Moscow

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/27/2015 - 17:00 Just nine hours after tweeting "Putin annexed Crimea and is now handing over Siberia to the Chinese," and three ours after calling for a "Russian Spring" march, prominent Vladimir Putin critic and opposition politician (who back in 1997 was also deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation) Boris Nemtsov, has been killed in the center of Moscow. As The BBC notes, the Russian opposition politician and former deputy PM was shot to death on a Moscow street. Life News is reporting he was shot in the chest four times on a street very close to Red Square.
 

GUEST POST: Ghaddafi, Satellites and Die Rooivalk

by Katherine Frisk The Phaser:
This week the story broke that the South African Secret Service was spying on the South African Government. In leaked documents sent to Al Jazeera, we discover that Russia and South Africa put a spy Satellite up over Africa in December 2014, which is what Ghaddafi in conjunction with Russia was going to do in the first place.
Africa has high Internet and cell phone charges because it uses European and US Satellites and has to pay extra for this service.  But, as Cameron is so fond of saying about certain people, Ghaddafi “had to go!” If Africa had it’s own Satellite, they would no longer be slaves to the US and Europe.  Then Hilary Clinton came, she saw and  Ghaddafi died. End of story. But wait… not so fast.
The really  interesting part of this whole story is not the Satellite, it is not Israel, the PLO and Hamas. It is not even Israel and the PLO wanting covert South African agents to infiltrate Hamas. No! Not at all.
Read More @ ThePhaser.com

The Euro May Be Riskier Than You Think

by Alasdair Macleod, Gold Money:
Finance ministers in the Eurozone appear to have had a free lesson in game theory from Professor Yanis Varoufakis, the Greek finance minister.
At the time of writing Greece’s future in the Eurozone is far from secured, but it appears that Greece has achieved something.
He gave his fellow finance ministers a deal they dared not refuse, though it still has to be ratified by some parliaments, including Germany’s today. Varoufakis almost certainly understands that the Eurozone is in a weaker position than the bureaucrats and finance ministers themselves believed. It was important for them to become aware of this reality, which was central to his approach. It appears that under the Lisbon Treaty, Eurozone states cannot expel Greece: she can only leave with everyone’s unanimous agreement, including her own.
Read More @ GoldMoney.com
 

China Just Sided With Russia Over The Ukraine Conflict

from Zero Hedge:
Few asked throughout the Ukraine civil war is just whose side is China leaning toward, after all the precarious balance of power between NATO and Russia had resulted in a stalemate in which neither side has an obvious advantage (even as the Ukraine economy died, and its currency hyperinflated, waiting for a clear winner), and the explicit or implicit support of China to either camp would make all the difference in the world, and perhaps the world’s most formidable axis. Today we finally got the answer.  China’s ambassador to Belgium, was quoted as blaming competition between Russia and the West for the Ukraine crisis, urging Western powers to “abandon the zero-sum mentality” with Russia.  Reuters assessment of Xing speech: “an unusually frank and open display of support for Moscow’s position in the crisis.” At least it is not a warning to the US to back off or else. Yet.
Read More @ ZeroHedge.com
 

The Circus Is In Town

from Gold Silver Worlds:
A three ring circus is performing – to entertain and impoverish the western world.
Ring # 1: The Euro tragedy is “extending and pretending” into a Greek drama.
Ring # 2: Iraq 3.0 is in beta test mode based on weapons of mass propaganda.
Ring # 3: The conflict in Ukraine is performing flips followed by flops.
Aiding and abetting the circus acts are the global fiat currencies – the dollars, euros, yen, rubles, and what-have-you currencies that central banks print in excess to create the illusion of wealth and solvency. We have our devaluing fiat currencies or we can invest in a safety net – gold. It should be an easy choice!
Read More @ GoldSilverWorlds.com

Are We Almost There Yet?

by Dr. Jeffrey Lewis, Silver-coin-investor:
Recently, I walked by our local Radio Shack. Strangely, my heart skipped a beat when I saw the generic clearance signs and the emptiness just beyond the glare and my reflection in the storefront glass. It was bizarre to see this fixture of my childhood almost – finally – gone.
I had to walk in. One last lap through the familiar sections. I knew each section — all the wires and kits. I remember the catalogues. The homey feeling. The quirky salespeople.
I suppose I hadn’t really needed Radio Shack for some time. And of course, I wasn’t alone.
Read More @ Silver-coin-investor.com
image/techcrunch.com
 

Attack On Arizona’s Internet Was the Beta Test for the Implementation of Martial Law

by Dave Hodges, The Common Sense Show:
At approximately noon on February 25, 2015, the Internet went down in a wide swath ranging from just north of Phoenix stretching to Flagstaff., Arizona. Internet service was restored the following day around 1pm local time.
The very first reports I received about the outage, coming out of Wickenburg and Prescott, was that the ISP from Century Link went down because a car crashed into a transformer. Shortly after that, reports stated that a construction crew hit a power line causing Internet service to go down. From the Phoenix media, we now know that this was the work of “vandals” who discovered where cables, buried several feet underground,were located in the midst of rough terrain. These “vandals” subsequently cut through the Internet cables which were inches to a foot thick and this was the cause this massive outage.
Read More @ Thecommonsenseshow.com

 

A Chilling Gaze

by Tim Hartnett, Lew Rockwell:
Every dog has his day. The shepherd breeds got theirs on Christmas with the limited release of American Sniper. The film gives mainstream traction to the idea that armed government employees are to society what guard dogs are to livestock. Rush Limbaugh couldn’t resist all the hype and crashed in January 27th. That’s when the schlock-jock declared himself an equal to a soldier, a cop or any other member of the packs that watch our backs. So far neither the Pentagon nor the constabulary has driven him back to the herd.
Going to the dogs is the latest craze for anyone looking to come off as a hero. If you haven’t heard about it stop grazing and listen up.
Read More @ LewRockwell.com
 

Military Capabilities Decimated: US no longer able to Fight 2 Wars at Same Time

from Off Grid Survival:
Over the last couple of years the US Military has faced significant cuts; cuts that defense experts say have decimated the military, and left the United States incredibly vulnerable in the process.
According to The Heritage Foundation’s “2015 Index of U.S. Military Strength” the United States is no longer equipped to fight two major wars simultaneously, something that we’ve been able to do since WWII.
The Defense Department’s two-MRC goal gives the U.S. military the ability to defeat one enemy while at the same time being able to prevent another aggressor — seeking to take advantage of the United States’ preoccupation with the first conflict — from defeating it in a separate conflict. That is no longer possible, according to the report.
Read More @ OffGridSurvival.com

 

Leonard Nimoy, Spock of ‘Star Trek,’ Dies at 83

by Michael Rothman, ABC News:
Leonard Nimoy, known for his iconic character Mr. Spock on “Star Trek,” has died, ABC News has confirmed via the actor’s granddaughter. He was 83.

Nimoy, who played first officer to William Shatner’s Captain Kirk on the Starship Enterprise in TV and movies, died Friday morning in Bel-Air, California, his granddaughter Madeleine Nimoy confirmed to ABC News.

His son Adam told the Associated Press that he died of end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The actor revealed he was struggling with the ailment in 2014, according to the New York Times. Nimoy had been a smoker, which contributed to the ailment, before he gave up the habit years ago.

Read More @ abc.com
 

Live, From Athens, It's Anti-Government Protest Live

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/27/2015 - 12:59 Two words can describe yesterday's first impromptu anti-government protest "organized" by the far-left Antarsya party now that the Greek honeymoon with the new Syriza government is over: disorganized and violent, especially since calling it a "protest" is a stretch - if anything was just young, unemployed, angry people tossing Molotov cocktails. Which is why today's first truly official protest organized by the Greek communist party in front of the Greek parliament on the well-known Syntagma square, will get far more attention, especially since it was Syriza's own anti-bailout protests that filled the same venue as recently as a few weeks ago.

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WE ARE SCREWED: ‘Net Neutrality’ Passed Today – And Big Evil Corporations Wrote It

Big Evil Corporations Wrote The Newly-Passed ‘Net Neutrality’
by Sara Noble, Independent Sentinel:

Net Neutrality, the secret bill to takeover the Internet, has passed. The Internet is now a public utility. Barack Obama has once again ignored the law and has not been stopped.
He has control over the Internet. Big evil corporations and special interests helped write it instead of Congress – the peoples’ House.
Agencies -unelected bureaucrats – were never meant to write our laws. You government sheep who allowed this to happen forgot that the Congress is our voice in the government. You are turning it over to big corporations and the government.
Google, a big, evil corporation, admitted they saw  Net Neutrality rules months ago according to tech dirt, a publication that loves government-run Net Neutrality. Check this out:

Now that the Title II tide has shifted without Google’s help, the company has re-entered the discussion to once again support meaningful net neutrality rules. We noted a few weeks ago that Google told the FCC in a filing that Title-II based rules could actually help their Google Fiber deployment by streamlining the utility pole attachment process. Now in a conversation with the Washington Post, Google has made its clearest public statement in years regarding support for Title II net neutrality rules:

“The sort of open Internet rules that the [Federal Communications Commission] is currently discussing aren’t an impediment to those plans,” Google said in a statement, “and they didn’t impact our decision to invest in Fiber.”

In other words, the Net Neutrality rules we were not allowed to see were obviously shared with Google.
Read More @ Independentsentinel.com

Chicago Police Use Local News Media to Downplay Secret Torture Site

by Justin King, Activist Post:
Amid controversy over the Chicago Police Department’s off-the-books interrogation site, the Chicago Sun-Times ran a piece fully exonerating the police department, by basing the article entirely off statements made by the police department. Don’t worry good citizens, the police have investigated themselves in less than 24 hours and found they’ve done nothing wrong.
The opening paragraph of the masturbatory fantasy that might as well have been written by CPD’s public affairs division states that the building exists, and apparently this disproves all allegations.

Police officials responded that the facility isn’t used to violate suspects’ rights — and isn’t even secret.

Read More @ Activist Post

Welcome To Obama-Land

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/26/2015 - 20:20 Presented with no comment...



 

Greece Warns It May Default On IMF Loan Next Week

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/26/2015 - 18:20 Now that the Greek topic is back to overall debt sustainability, a few hours ago Greece Kathimerini reported that the Euro Working Group "discussed Greece’s imminent funding problems on Thursday amid mounting concern about how the country will meet its obligations next months." This follows a suggestion earlier in the day by the Greek Minister of State for Coordinating Government Operations Alekos Flambouraris that "Greece might delay payment to the International Monetary Fund if it cannot find the necessary money." But wait, how does a country "delay" a debt payment? It doesn't: "According to officials familiar with the subject. such a move would constitute a “clear default,” with consequences for a large number of other loans Greece has received."

ECB Warns UK: Excluding Russia From SWIFT "Could Undermine Confidence In The Whole System"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/26/2015 - 19:20 As "isolated" Russia signs a military deal with Cyprus, agrees bilateral trade with Greece, ratifies the $100 billion BRICS Bank, and offers to trade advanced anti-aircraft missiles to Iran, it seems threats of more sanctions against Putin and his nation are finding resistance from an unexpected place. With British PM David Cameron re-demanding that Russia be excluded from the SWIFT global financial payments system, none other than ECB Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny has exclaimed, "one has to be very careful here, exclusion of Russia from Swift would be very problematic because it could potentially undermine confidence in this system as a whole."

Provocation? NATO Conducts Military Maneuvers 300 Yards From Russia's Border

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/26/2015 - 16:29 When a Russian bomber flew over international waters some 25 miles off the southwest tip of England last week, UK Defense Secretary Michael Fallon called Russia "a real and present danger." The UK government scrambled jet fighters to meet the Russian aircraft as a show of force.
Yet yesterday US combat vehicles conducted a military parade and show of military force just 300 yards -- yards! -- from the Russian border.

"The Stock Market Is Great, The Economy Is Not" Alan Greenspan Warns Of "Great Depression"-Like Global Demand

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/26/2015 - 17:50 While conflicting economic data leaves hope for both buills and bears, Alan Greenspan warns that, unlike Yellen, "US economic growth is not strong." The maestro then breaks the golden rule of central bankers and explains how The Fed was, in fact, the main driver of the P/E multiple expansion in stocks; and when asked if this ends as badly as last time? He concludes "It depends...When real interest rates start to move up, that's when the crisis could hit," concluding with a warning that global "effective demand is extraordinarily weak - tantamount to the late stages of the great depression."

The Global Economy Is Not "Off The Lows"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/26/2015 - 17:20 On the day when the MSCI World Stock Index hits a fresh record high - enthused by the exuberance of the US markets - we thought it more than a little ironic that Global GDP growth expectations for 2015 just hit a fresh record low...

Don't Show This To Warren Buffett (Gold vs. The Financial System)

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/26/2015 - 18:50 Warren Buffett once famously chided that all the gold in the world would form a cube of 67 feet (20 meters) on each side. In doing so, he was attempting to argue that there was no point in owning gold since all the gold in the world would be an unproductive, useless hunk of metal. What’s ironic (and completely lost on the venerable Mr. Buffett) is that you could make the same argument about the paper-based financial system.

The Herbalife Ice Cube Has Almost Melted: Presenting "Cash From Operations"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/26/2015 - 16:51 Ponzi schemes, alleged or otherwise, can only exist as long as they generate more cash than they burn. Sadly for Herbalife, the tipping point beyond which every pyramid sheme implodes, has almost arrived. Just ask Bernie Madoff. Presenting cash from operations.

Crude Carnage Sends Stocks Lower Despite Last-Hour Buying-Panic

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/26/2015 - 16:04

Richard Russell Just Exposed A Coming Event That Is Going To Shock The World!

from KingWorldNews:
The Disease – Deflation And A World Drowing In Debt
Richard Russell: “The world’s balance sheet is heavily skewed toward debt and loans. On the asset side of the balance sheet we have gold and silver currencies.
The Cure That Will Shock The World – Reset Gold Price To $5,000 or $10,000!
What would make the balance sheet look saner and increase the asset side? It would be to reset gold to a much higher price. Why is it that nobody is writing about this? Resetting the price of gold to $5,000 or $10,000 an ounce would be a mighty step against deflation.
Bill Fleckenstein Continues @ KingWorldNews.com

EU Fixed? Spanish Credit Risk Up 30% Since Greek Elections

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/26/2015 - 15:54 Despite some compression today in anticipation of ECB QE (as if that was not anticipated enough in the idioctically marginal yields across European peripheral bonds), it appears Europe is 'not' fixed. With Brexit odds around 1 in 6 and Podemos' lead in Spain extending, it appears redenomination risk (as we discussed, clearly lacking in many spreads) is re-emerging. Since the Greek election, Spanish credit risk is up 30%... more than Greece!

3 Things - High Yield Warning, Yellen's Employment & Economy

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/26/2015 - 15:37 While the economy is showing some signs of impact from falling oil prices, a port strike in California, weak global demand for exports and an exceptionally cold winter; the markets are pushing all-time highs. There is much hype being placed on the ECB's plans for launching QE in March, however, much remains to be seen as to just how effective it will be in a negative interest rate/deflationary enviroment. But then again...there is always "hope."

NATO & The IMF Just Suffered a Disastrous Military Defeat

Calling a Spade a Spade
from The Wealth Watchman:
Several shield brothers in the past have asked me to write upon a crucial topic: establishing political sovereignty in a bankster world.  For the last several weeks, I’ve answered that call by detailing Hungary’s heroic struggle to reassert itself, and by speaking to Russia and China’s struggle to give the world a SWIFT alternative.  Now though, I want to give another reminder that the struggle for freedom, both monetary and otherwise, in our world is very real.  Real lives are literally at stake around the globe.

To paraphrase a certain actor-turned-politician, I believe the 9 most dreaded words in any language are:

“I’m from the IMF, and I’m here to help!”  

Every country that has accepted that “help” leaves a lasting impression upon any casual observer, as the IMF seems to leave a distinct “card” with their victims.  Hmm, how shall I describe it?

Read More…

 

German Bank Predicts Apple Stock Tumbles Over 50% As Shares Roundtrip To $60

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/26/2015 - 15:15 One bank which dared to go dramatically against the grain is Germany's Berenberg Bank, which earlier today forecast that AAPL's price will crash to $60, a plunge of more than 50%, due to two things: the law of large numbers, and over-reliance on one single product as the iPhone accounts for 85% of AAPL's operating profit. Putting this in perspective, the vast majority of sellside analysts have a price target well over $100, even the bears. .

Do Not Show Jim Bullard This Chart!

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/26/2015 - 14:36 It's fact-checking time once again. Having questioned the credibility of Dallas Fed's Richard Fisher previously, we thought this morning's comments by St.Louis Fed's Jim Bullard were worth investigating:
*DOLLAR EFFECTS ARE MARGINAL ON U.S. ECONOMY, SHOULDN'T INHIBIT GROWTH, FED'S BULLARD SAYS
Which just seems odd given the rest of the world's competitive devaluation efforts to 'improve' their economies. What we found will not surprise... but do not show this chart to Bullard.

Economic Composite Index Suggests Restocking Cycle Is Over

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/26/2015 - 13:57 While economic indicators make "very poor bedfellows" for managing portfolios, they do provide some indication as to the relative risk of owning assets that are ultimately tied to economic cycles. Despite commentary to the contrary as of late, economic cycles have not been repealed, and the current economy is likely running on borrowed time. It is important to notice, that despite the "hype" of the mainstream media about the economic recovery, activity never rose past previous peaks in this cycle.

FCC Votes In Favor Of Obama's Net Neutrality - Has The Slippery Slope To Web Censorship Begun?

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/26/2015 - 13:00 "An open Internet is essential to the American economy, and increasingly to our very way of life," according to President Obama and it appears his perspective on the heavy hand of government regulation inserting itself into the last bastion of freedom and dynamism in the US economy, is how best to achieve "openness." Having pressured FCC's Tom Wheeler, the vote just came down: U.S. FCC APPROVES NET NEUTRALITY INTERNET RULES IN 3-2 VOTE. While potentially good for a consumer's pocketbook, the handing over of "fair-use" decision to the government, as we previously noted, could be the first step on a slippery slope to increased censorship. Welcome to "internet of political things."

"Faith In Fed Abilities" Are Too Firmly Embedded In The Investor Class

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/26/2015 - 12:43 Financial markets are upside down.  Financial repression and belief in the “Fed put” pushed investors further and further out the risk curve over the past six years.  Too many asset managers have remained fearful of underperforming peers and benchmarks; a powerful incentive to stay ‘risked-up’.   The psychology of bullish, and faith in Fed abilities, have been too firmly embedded in the investor class. Given that markets don’t seem to want to believe that a June hike looks probable, we expect an outsized market reaction to a hike, lower long yields to accompany it, a flatter curve, wider credit spreads, higher market volatility, and materially lower equity markets.

THE BOTTOM UP REVOLUTION OF TRUTH CONTINUES, ONE INDUSTRY AT A TIME

by Ed Bugos, Dollar Vigilante:
“It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself. Subject opinion to coercion: whom will you make your inquisitors? Fallible men; men governed by bad passions, by private as well as public reasons. And why subject it to coercion? To produce uniformity. But is uniformity of opinion desirable?” –Jefferson, Notes on State of Virginia, 1787
That’s one of the most recurring thoughts in my mind these days. I’m usually thinking specifically of the hazards associated with central banking and fiat currencies, ideas brought to the west only a few centuries ago to support fractional reserve banking, a scheme that produces a recurring “cluster of errors” – i.e., and boom-bust cycle – in its wake. It has fueled popular delusions of grandeur and manias from tulip speculation to world conquest, and is responsible for many economic collapses.
Read More @ DollarVigilante.com

Washington Has Destroyed Trust Between Nuclear Powers, Thus Raising The Specter Of War

from Paul Craig Roberts:
Ambassador Jack Matlock made an important speech at the National Press Club on February 11. Matlock served as US ambassador to the Soviet Union during 1987-91. In his speech he describes how President Reagan won the trust of the Soviet leadership in order to bring to an end the Cold War and its risk of nuclear armageddon. http://www.larouchepub.com/eiw/public/2015/2015_1-9/2015-08/pdf/10-14_4208.pdf
Reagan’s meeting with Gorbachev did not rely on position papers written by staff. It relied on a hand-written memo by Reagan himself that stressed respect for the Soviet leadership and a clear realization that negotiation must not expect the Soviet leaders to do something that is not in the true interest of their country. The way to end the conflict, Reagan wrote, is to cooperate toward a common goal. Matlock said that Reagan refused to personalize disagreements or to speak derogatorily of any Soviet leader.
Read More @ PaulCraigRoberts.com

The Necessity of Liquidity in an Increasingly Cashless Society

by Matt Sevald, The Prepper Journal

I was taught all the values of saving money but it wasn’t exactly modeled for me. Consequently, I had to overcome some hurdles as I grew up learning to budget, and more importantly, to stick to it (I still trip from time to time). My wife and I are now teaching our children about the value of their dollars and I am proud to say they are more miserly than I at their age. When they ask for a toy or a special treat and we feel it is appropriate we tell them they can have it if they pay with their own money. Our daughter is better at this than our son, but they look at their piggy banks, count the money, and more often than not are reluctant to part with their treasure for something fleeting. Financial expert Dave Ramsey says,
“There’s something psychological about spending cash that hurts more than swiping a piece of plastic. If spending cash whenever possible can become a habit, you’ll be less likely to over-spend or buy on impulse.”
Read More @ ThePrepperJournal.com

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