What Americans Spent The Most Money On In Q1

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/28/2016 - 09:03
what did they spend the most amount of money on? The answer, drumroll.... Recreational goods and vehicles. Not cars, which actually were a huge negative to Q1 GDP growth, reducing the headline consumption number by $13.4 billion nominal, but recreational vehicles, and other sundry related goods, which amounted to to $11.3 billion in Q1 spending.

Stockman: Anything Trumps Hillary

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/28/2016 - 08:27 So is there any chance at all that Trump will make America Great Again by erecting trade barriers, a Trump Wall on the Rio Grande and an end to America’s imperial beneficence and meddling abroad? Stayed tuned. There may be more to The Donald than meets the eye. And whatever it is, it certainly trumps Hillary’s deplorable purpose to make Imperial Washington an even greater menace both abroad and at home.

John Boehner Calls Ted Cruz "A Miserable Son Of A Bitch, Lucifer In The Flesh"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/28/2016 - 09:34 Is the establishment's fervent hatred of Donald Trump starting a U-turn? It may be early to know just yet, however at least one core Republican, former house speaker John Boehner, had made it very clear he is not a fan of Ted Cruz. At all. So much so that according to NBC the former Republican House Speaker told an audience at Stanford University Wednesday that the Texas senator is "Lucifer in the flesh" and a "miserable son of a bitch...  I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life."
 

Why Real Reform Is Now Impossible

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/28/2016 - 09:23 The endless bleating of well-paid pundits in the corporate media about "reform" is just more circus designed to distract us from the much colder truth: the status quo is beyond reform. The choice is either collapse or well, collapse: letting the status quo strip-mine the bottom 95% will eventually lead to collapse and so will structural reforms that deprive the few of their power to create near-infinite sums of money and credit for their cronies.


filed under IDIOTS...

The Future Of America? – More Than Half Of All U.S. Adults Under Age 30 Now Reject Capitalism

by Michael Snyder, The Economic Collapse Blog:

A shocking new survey has found that support for capitalism is dying in America.  In fact, more than half of all adults in the United States under the age of 30 say that they do not support capitalism at this point.  You might be tempted to dismiss them as “foolish young people”, but the truth is that they are the future of America.  As older generations die off, they will eventually become the leaders of this country.  And of course our nation has not resembled anything close to a capitalist society for quite some time now.  In a recent article, I listed 97 different taxes that Americans pay each year, and some Americans actually end up returning more than half of what they earn to the government by the time it is all said and done.  So at best it could be said that we are running some sort of hybrid system that isn’t as far down the road toward full-blown socialism as most European nations are.  But without a doubt we are moving in that direction, and our young people are going to be cheering every step of the way.
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No Matter How Bad It Gets, Some Will Always Love Monopoly Central Banking

from The Daily Bell:
Why the world needs more U.S. government debt … Are government-imposed restrictions holding back the U.S. economy? In a way, yes: The federal government is causing great harm by failing to issue enough debt. The U.S. generates more income than any other country, and will keep doing so for many years to come. The federal government can generate a lot of revenue by taxing this income — a power that puts it in a unique position to issue the kind of extremely safe bonds that are in great demand among the world’s investors. How is the U.S. government wielding its power? Not well. -Bloomberg
Hard on the heels of the Federal Reserve’s latest decision to leave rates alone, we discover this Bloomberg opinion article explaining why the US government ought to issue more debt.
Of course, this echoes Alexander Hamilton’s statement that “a national debt, if it is not excessive, will be to us a national blessing.”
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US Economy Grew At Just 0.5% In Q1, Missing Expectations, Lowest Growth Rate In Two Years

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/28/2016 - 08:40 "Did the Fed have an advance glimpse at Q1 GDP?" That was a question everyone was asking yesterday when the Fed came out with another not too hawkish statement. The answer may have been yes because moments ago the BEA reported that the US economy grew at just a 0.5% annualized rate in the first quarter, missing expectations of a 0.7% growth rate, growing at half the rate recorded in the 4th quarter, and the lowest quarterly growth rate since Q1 2014 (when the winter was blamed for a negative print). It was also the third consecutive quarter of GDP declines.

Priceline CEO Resigns After Revelation Of Inappropriate "Personal Relationship With An Employee"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/28/2016 - 08:16 "Mr. Huston resigned following an investigation overseen by independent members of the Board of Directors of the facts and circumstances surrounding a personal relationship that Mr. Huston had with an employee of the Company who was not under his direct supervision.  The investigation determined that Mr. Huston had acted contrary to the Company's Code of Conduct and had engaged in activities inconsistent with the Board's expectations for executive conduct."

2.607 Days Later, The "Most Hated Bull Market Ever" Is Now The Second Longest In History

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/28/2016 - 07:57 It's official: as of today the bull market that has been mocked as fake, doomed and history’s most-hated just earned a new title: the second-longest ever. And it only took $14 trillion in central bank liquidity, a global, coordinated central bank "put", central banks purchases of Treasuries, MBS, ETFs and corporate bonds,  and nearly 700 rate cuts in the past 7 years to achieve it.

Global Stocks Plunge After Bank Of Japan "Shock"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/28/2016 - 07:47 Less than one week after the BOJ floated a trial balloon using Bloomberg, that it would reduce the rate it charged some banks which set off the biggest USDJPY rally since October 2014, we are back where we started following last night's "completely unexpected" (for everyone else: we wrote "What If The BOJ Disappoints Tonight: How To Trade It" hours before said "shock") shocking announcement out of the BOJ which did absolutely... nothing. "It’s a total shock,” Nader Naeimi, Sydney- based head of dynamic markets at AMP Capital Investors told Bloomberg. "From currencies to equities to everything -- you can see the reaction in the markets. I can’t believe this. It’s very disappointing."

China "Wealth Manager" Disappears With $154 Million

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/28/2016 - 07:14 It now appears that we've reached the point in the China speculative frenzy game where instead of waiting around to be arrested, those running shady ponzi schemes are now pulling the ripcord, clearing out as many bank accounts as possible, and just disappearing.

Mega M&A Is Back: Abbott Buys St. Jude Medical For $25 Billion, 37% Premium

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/28/2016 - 07:10 The great megadeal M&A drought of 2016 just came to an end when moments ago Abbott announced it would acquire St. Jude Medical for $25 billion, roughly a 37% premium to St. Jude's Wednesday closing price. According to the press release, under the agreement, St. Jude Medical shareholders will receive $46.75 in cash and 0.8708 shares of Abbott common stock, representing total consideration of approximately $85 per share. At an Abbott stock price of $43.93(2), this represents a total transaction equity value of $25 billion.

"Nobody Knows Anything" - The Battle Of The Oil Analysts

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/28/2016 - 05:00 The famous Hollywood adage - 'nobody knows anything' - seems to perfectly apply to the current turbulence in the oil market. So in an effort to clarify where the global oil economy is heading to, let’s engage in a Battle of the Oil Analysts. Relying on these Oil Analysts (OA) does not necessarily mean you will be handed straightforward answers, but perhaps with some luck you will see a ray of light.

Greek Default Looms In July After EU Rejects Greek Emergency Summit

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/28/2016 - 03:01 Those who thought the situation in Greece was solved after prime minister Alexis Tsipras suddenly caved in to creditors’ demands need think again. Greek tax revenues are running well under expectations. A default looms in July unless the creditors give more money to Greece so that Greece can pay back the creditors. As convoluted as that sounds, that’s precisely the way this madness works. The creditors demand still more austerity but Tsipras said “no”. Instead, Tsipras seeks an emergency meeting, but European Commission president Donald Tusk said “no” to that proposal.

Japanese Bloodbath After BoJ Disappoints - Nikkei Drops 1000 Points, USDJPY Crashes

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/27/2016 - 23:14 If there was a sign that nothing else matters but central bank largess, this was it. The moment The Bank of Japan statement hit and proclaims "unchanged" a vacuum hit USDJPY and Japanese stocks. Reflecting that Japan's economy has "continued a moderate recovery trend" which is utter crap given the quintuple-dip recession, Kuroda and his cronies said they will "add easing if necessary" and apparently that is not now. Not so much as a higher ETF purchase or moar NIRP.. and the aftermath is carnage - NKY -1000 points and USDJPY crashed to a 108 handle!!

This Is The End: Venezuela Runs Out Of Money To Print New Money

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/27/2016 - 23:08 Venezuela is now so broke that it no longer has enough money to pay for its money.

Why Saudi Arabia Will Not Win The Oil Price War

from Wolf Street:

Crude oil prices continued to surprise on Tuesday, with the U.S. benchmark adding another 4 percent to $44.60 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate is now up 65 percent since hitting 13-year lows below $27 a barrel February 11. It’s a performance only bettered by the globe’s second most traded bulk commodity – iron ore.
But like analysts of the steelmaking raw material, many in the industry have been surprised by the extent of the rally, consistently calling the oil price lower. The blame for the cloudy outlook for crude is mostly being laid at the door of Saudi-Arabia.
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The latest disease outbreak among vaccinated Harvard students highlights the truth about vaccine failures

by J. D. Heyes, Natural News:
In case you hadn’t heard, there is something going on at the Harvard University campus that isn’t supposed to happen: There is a widening outbreak of mumps, and all the students who have contracted the disease thus far had already been vaccinated for the disease.
As reported by CNN, the most recent mumps outbreak began with a whimper in February, after two students were confirmed to have developed the disease. But within a few weeks, the number grew to 16, then 30, and now there are about 40 students with confirmed cases of mumps.
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One More Casualty Of The 9/11 Farce – The Petrodollar

by Brandon Smith, Activist Post:
It’s been about 15 years now since passenger airliners struck the World Trade Center towers on 9/11, and we are still suffering the consequences of that day, though perhaps not in the ways many Americans might believe.
The 9/11 attacks were billed by the Bush Administration as a “wake-up call” for the U.S., and neocons called it the new Pearl Harbor. But instead of it being an awakening, the American public was led further into blind ignorance. The event launched wars throughout the Middle East, energized by a strike-first doctrine which was supposed to bring unprecedented “democracy” to the region. Instead, the Middle East has now become as unstable as it was during WWII.
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Look Who’s Lying About Inflation Again

by Bianca Fernet, Wolf Street:
A dismissive attitude to the suffering of the population.
What is this, 2013?
The headlines surrounding Argentina’s economy read like a veritable tale of two countries. If you read the international press or run in diplomatic circles, sheer euphoria. Argentina has quickly righted the economic boat by settling with the holdout “vulture” funds, removing currency controls and export restrictions, and restoring a level of respectability and professionalism to governance.
Inside Argentina, headlines are telling a story we’ve all heard before, starring inflation. Persistently high and rising inflation is troubling, but more troubling is the government’s flippant and dismissive treatment of how difficult it will be to quash inflation and just how much it is affecting the lives of Argentina’s people.
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IN FIRST LAW OF ITS KIND, KUWAIT TO “DNA TAG” EVERYONE LIKE CATTLE, INCLUDING ALL TOURISTS

by Melissa Dykes, The Daily Sheeple:
I know, I know, this really hinders your Kuwait travel plans.
In the first law of its kind anywhere in the world, Kuwait has decided it will not only “DNA tag” everyone presently in the country as part of a new “integrated security database,” but all tourists will be required to submit a DNA test before they can even enter the country.
Facilities for blood and saliva collection will be set up at the Kuwait International Airport, and there will be “consequences of rejecting” these procedures which the Kuwaiti government says it is putting in place in order to track everyone just in case someone commits a crime.
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