"It's An Epic Bloodbath" - Presenting The 2015 Junk Bond Heatmap

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/13/2015 - 10:41 Here is a visualization of the change in junk bond prices since January 1, 2015. For those confused, the redder the worse.

Peter Schiff Exposes The Real Problem Facing The Fed

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/13/2015 - 10:30 The real problem for the Fed will be how foolish it will look if it does raise by 25 basis points and is then forced by a slowing economy to lower rates back to zero soon after liftoff. At that point, the markets should finally understand that the Fed is powerless to get out of the stimulus trap it has created. But it looks like the Fed would rather look foolish later when it's forced to cut rates, than look foolish now by not raising them at all. The Fed’s rocket to nowhere will hover above the launch pad for a considerable period of time before ultimately falling back down to Earth.

The Godfather Of Climate Change Calls Obama's Deal "A Fraud, It's Bullshit"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/13/2015 - 13:00 "It's a fraud really, a fake," says James Hansen rubbing his head. The former NASA Scientist, considered the father of global awareness of climate change, exclaimed "It's just bullshit for them to say: 'We'll have a 2C warming target and then try to do a little better every five years.' It's just worthless words. There is no action, just promises. As long as fossil fuels appear to be the cheapest fuels out there, they will be continued to be burned."
 

American Dream Ends Abruptly: “Middle-Class Families No Longer the Majority”

by Mac Slavo, SHTFPlan:

Too many are losing too much too fast.

A new study has found the American Dream dead, under apparent delusions of grandeur and with heavy traces of pharmaceuticals and dead tissue debt. Several large tumors were found inside, with the largest connected to student loan.
A rapid decline in upward job opportunities and a contracting wealth gland stunted the Dream, and precluded the inevitable end. It seems that body’s metabolism simply could not keep up with the burden of so many adverse indicators, including decreased blood flow and metastatis throughout various parts of the body politic. Lethargy and idleness contributed towards a loss of strength. The rest was a consequence of chronic debilitation.
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San Francisco Housing Bubble Goes Subterranean: $500/Month To Live In A Crawlspace

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/13/2015 - 11:17 "We aren't going to sugar coat this, as you can see by the photos, this is a basement crawl space and the ground is un-even. My roommate Neil has agreed to help out and level off the dirt crawl floor and we have some scraps of rug to throw down. There is a decent amount of room for a mattress and night stand..."

American Dream Ends Abruptly: “Middle-Class Families No Longer the Majority”

by Mac Slavo, SHTFPlan:

Too many are losing too much too fast.

A new study has found the American Dream dead, under apparent delusions of grandeur and with heavy traces of pharmaceuticals and dead tissue debt. Several large tumors were found inside, with the largest connected to student loan.
A rapid decline in upward job opportunities and a contracting wealth gland stunted the Dream, and precluded the inevitable end. It seems that body’s metabolism simply could not keep up with the burden of so many adverse indicators, including decreased blood flow and metastatis throughout various parts of the body politic. Lethargy and idleness contributed towards a loss of strength. The rest was a consequence of chronic debilitation.
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Russian Missile Destroyer "Fires Warning Shots" To Avoid Collision With Turkish Vessel

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/13/2015 - 07:40 Another day, another military escalation between Russia and Turkey, this time not in the air, but on the water in the northern part of the Aegean sea, where the crew of the Russian "Smetlivy" destroyer was forced to use firearms on Sunday to prevent a collision with a Turkish seiner vessel according to a statement by Russia's Ministry of Defense.

JPM Takes The Axe To iPhone Sales Estimates, Says Consensus Is 10% Too High

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/13/2015 - 12:26 "1Q16 bears potential downside risks, while 2Q16 Street estimates seem unrealistic: TSMC saw 10% order cuts in November, which we believe is from Apple business with the impact during the end of 1Q16 or early 2Q. We believe 45-50mn is a more reasonable target. We expect to see meaningful stock price corrections for Apple supply chain names in 1Q16 with lowered Street expectations and disappointing Apple sell-through numbers."

Sweden Is In Shambles, Police Warn "Evil People Know What To Do When They Come Here"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/13/2015 - 11:50 "The truth is that persons with evil intent know exactly what to do when they come here. That information spreads like wildfire. These new border controls are there for the sole purpose of reassuring the public. They have absolutely no effect on the influx of migrants."

The Eerie Echo Of 2007: It Really Is Bear Stearns, All Over Again

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/13/2015 - 10:19 In a supreme twist of irony, Bear Stearns is back - maybe not the firm itself - but the people who were in charge of its distressed and junk bond trading group, and just like the summer of 2007, it is an ex "Bear"-run hedge fund that was the first to gate, just as the credit cycle is turning and the default cycle has begun, as we explained last week, just one day before everyone's attention finally focused on junk debt.

About Those Hedge Fund Performance And Management Fees

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/13/2015 - 09:51 As many hedge funds are getting “crushed” this year it has become fashionable to bash the industry’s entire fee structure…typically [but not always] 2% management fee & 20% of profits. Obviously, there won’t be too many 20% profit distributions to the portfolio management teams this year but the 2% management fee has been/will be applied. And that may “piss off” some people.

Middle-East Opens Weak: Dubai Stocks Slump To 2-Year Lows As Financials Tumble

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/13/2015 - 02:06 Following Friday's further freefall in crude oil prices, The Middle East is opening down notably. Abu Dhabi, Saudi, and Kuwait are lower; Israel is weak and UAE and Qatar are tumbling, but Dubai is worst for now.  Dubai is down for the 6th day in a row (dropping over 3% - the most in a month) extending the opening losses to 2-year lows. The 11% drop in the last 6 days is the largest since the post-China-devaluation global stock collapse. Leading the losses are financial and property firms.

Is ISIS Simply A "Saudi Army In Disguise"?

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/12/2015 - 22:00 What stinks in Saudi Arabia ain’t the camel dung. It’s the monarchy of King Salman and his hot-headed son, Prince Salman. For decades they have financed terrorism under a fake religious disguise, to advance their private plutocratic agenda. It has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with money and oil. Saudi control of that oil wealth (from Iraq to Syria) via their ISIS agents, along with her clear plan to take out the US shale oil competition, or so Riyadh reckons, would make the Saudi monarchy a vastly richer state.

Another ‘Gift’ from Big Pharma: Drug-Resistant Stomach Bug Spreads Across America

by Sandy J. Duncan, Natural News:
Many frequent international travelers have their doctor prescribe Cipro or other antibiotics when they travel out of the country for any length of time. Having this along won’t be helping against a new strain of bacteria according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). This superbug is finding its way into the United States via international travelers and is spreading. Shigella, according to the CDC, has become resistant to the antibiotic Cipro.
Shigella infection is an intestinal disease caused by a family of bacteria known as shigella. The symptoms which typically show up one to two days after exposure include diarrhea (often containing blood or mucus), abdominal cramps and fever. An additional challenge is some carriers have no symptoms after they’ve been infected with shigella but they are still contagious.
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Paris Climate Deal Calls for America to Transfer Wealth to ‘Developing’ Countries

by Susan Jones, CNSnews:
The draft of the international agreement to deal with climate change, which is being considered today in Paris by representatives from 195 countries, calls for the developed nations of the world (which include the United States) to transfer wealth to developing nations, including through “public funds.”
“Developed country Parties shall provide financial resources to assist developing country Parties with respect to both mitigation and adaptation in continuation of their existing obligations under the Convention,” says Article 9 of the draft agreement.
“As part of a global effort, developed country Parties should continue to take the lead in mobilizing climate finance from a wide variety of sources, instruments and channels, noting the significant role of public funds,” says the draft.
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Gold-Backed Russian Ruble, Chinese Yuan Primed to Destroy U.S. Dollar as Global Reserve Currency

by Jay Syrmopoulos, Activist Post:

A revolutionary transformation of the entire global monetary system is currently underway, being driven by an almost perfect storm. The implications of this transformation are extremely profound for U.S. policy in the Middle East, which for nearly the past half century has been underpinned by its strategic relationship with Saudi Arabia.
Rise of the Petrodollar
The dollar was established as the global reserve currency in 1944 with the Bretton Woods agreement, commonly referred to as the gold standard. The U.S. leveraged itself into this power position by holding the largest reserve of gold in the world. The dollar was pegged at $35 an ounce — and freely exchangeable into gold. By the 1960s, a surplus of U.S. dollars caused by foreign aid, military spending, and foreign investment threatened this system, as the U.S. did not have enough gold to cover the volume of dollars in worldwide circulation at the rate of $35 per ounce; as a result, the dollar was overvalued.
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“US is a Plutocracy” – The Empire Files: ‘This Ship is Sinking’ Says Former Bush Official

from teleSUR English:

Abby Martin interviews retired U.S. Army Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former national security advisor to the Reagan administration, who spent years as an assistant to Secretary of State Colin Powell during both Bush administrations. Today, he is honest about the unfixable corruption inside the establishment and the corporate interests driving foreign policy

Kurt Russell Schools Reporter On Gun Control

from TheAlexJonesChannel:

California’s Water Crisis Forces Court to Rescind $4.6 Million Water Extraction Fee Refund

by Christina Sarich, Natural Society:
It looks as if Nestle’s illegal extraction of water from the San Bernardino National Forest in California isn’t the only water battle raging in the face of California’s water crisis. A Northern California water district legally charged a smaller competitor millions in extraction fees for drawing water from wells on its own property, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday.
This was a reversal of an earlier court decision passed in 2010 which awarded the Great Oaks Water Company a $4.6 million dollar refund after the Santa Clara Valley Water District billed them for extracting water. The latest court decision states that the water district does not need voted approval to charge for groundwater extraction.
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The State Of The Economy Is One Big Illusion And The Collapse Will Shock The Masses

from X22 Report:

Fear, Anger and Hatred: The Rise of Germany’s New Right

from Spiegel:

Martin Bahrmann, a local politician in the Saxon town of Meissen, was just preparing to speak in a council debate on refugee shelters when a ball-point pen ricoched off the back of his head. It was a cheap, plastic writing utensil — blue with white writing.
As a member of the business friendly Free Democrats (FDP), Bahrmann’s seat in the regional council is at the very back and the visitors’ gallery is just behind him. The pen must have come from somebody in the audience. When Bahrmann turned around, he found himself looking at a sea of hostile faces. Although there were around 80 visitors in the gallery, nobody admitted to having seen who threw the pen. On the contrary: The FDP representative and his colleagues were later insulted as being “traitors to the German people.”
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