Investors Are Fleeing As Attention Returns To Brazil's Depression

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/31/2016 - 14:47 Now that the market's fascinated dream with the regime of Brazil's new president Michel Temer is quickly turning into a nightmare, following two immediate resignations of his closest ministers over the ongoing Carwash corruption scandal, including ironically that of the country's anti-corruption minister, Fabiano Silveira, attention is gradually returning to what is truly the cause of Brazil's woes: an unprecedented economic depression.

Sweden's Migrant Rape Epidemic Explained

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/31/2016 - 13:41 How did peaceful Sweden go from being a quiet, low-crime country to being the country with the second-highest incidence of rape in the world? Why has Sweden experienced a 1,472% increase in the annual number of rapes?

Barclays Director Arrested For Giving Plumber Trading Tips in Exchange for Home Renovations

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/31/2016 - 14:26 Is there any illegal activity that someone at Barclays hasn’t been accused of engaging in?

Dow Dumps Into Red For May As Oil Fails To Hold $50

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/31/2016 - 14:16 Having tried (and failed) twice to hold $50, WTI Crude futures plunged back into the red as machines ran out of stops to churn. This triggered another notable leg lower in stocks, slamming The Dow into the red for May... Gold and bond are best since the Friday close.

Trump Slams "Sleazy" Media Over Donations; "Stop Using Veterans As Political Pawns"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/31/2016 - 14:07 Following media machinations over his donations to Veterans, Donald Trump struck back today in a press conference, raging that the liberal media "should be ashamed," and singling out ABC's Tom Llamas as a "sleaze." The Donald then turned the microphone over briefly to Al Baldasaro, a veteran from New Hampshire who skewered the news media, saying reporters should ''get your head out of your butt - focus on the real issues...stop using veterans as political pawns."

Peak Insanity: This "Trophy Apartment" In Manhattan Is Going For A Cool $250 Million

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/31/2016 - 13:57 In April we pointed out that due to an already abundant supply of condos on the market, luxury real estate developer Extell Development Co couldn't sell luxury condo's at its One57 tower, in the heart of New York's premier ultra luxury destination... and now, documents filed in April with the state attorney general's office reveals a "trophy apartment" for sale in the complex, with a price tag of a cool $250 million...obliteraing the previous $88 million high - "That $88 million sale triggered the sense that there was this yet-to-be-harvested, nine-digit New York housing market. We started to see a frenzy of $100 million listings – what I call aspirational pricing."

These Are The Best And Worst U.S. Cities To Own A House

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/31/2016 - 13:33 For those lucky Americans who can afford to own a house instead of being stuck renting the New Normal American dream where they are prohibited from peddling fiction as their annual rent increases by 10% or more each year, here is the breakdown of the best and worst cities for home price appreciation in the U.S.

Huffington Post Removes Article Claiming Hillary Will Be Indicted On Federal Racketeering Charges

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/31/2016 - 13:28 The Huffington Post has removed an article on its website Sunday, claiming that the FBI plans to indict Hillary Clinton on federal racketeering charges.

A New Problem Emerges For Hillary: Obamacare

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/31/2016 - 13:19 With more Americans having an unfavorable view of Obamacare than favorable and Clinton continuing to take credit for the law on the campaign trail, establishment Democrats are beginning to realize another (non-email, non-charity, non-vote-fraud-related) crisis looms for Hillary - the problem of dramatically higher Obamacare premium hikes in an election year. With the redistribution and disincentive to work that we already detailed about to get considerably worse, Senate leader Mitch McConnell asked pointedly, "maybe Democrats think the middle class should just get over double-digit premium increases..."

In Its First Ever Bond Sale, A Cash-Starved Saudi Arabia Is Looking To Issue $15 Billion

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/31/2016 - 13:17 Saudi Arabia is planning to hit up the international bond markets for cash for the first time ever as the kingdom grapples with plunging oil revenue.  The middle-eastern nation is planning to raise as much as $15 billion in the bond sale.

The Five Stages Of Central Bankers' Failure

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/31/2016 - 12:47 Only when central bankers accept the complete and utter failure of their policies and accept the reality that their policies have increased wealth inequality and crippled the global economy with debt, speculation and manipulation, can we finally move forward. Until then, we're stuck with the world central bankers have created: a world of rising wealth and income inequality, of permanent manipulation of markets as a means of managing perceptions and of speculative debt/leverage bubbles that will burst with a ferocity few expect or understand.

The "Crazy Growth In Corporate Debt" Is Finally Noticed: Bloomberg Issues Stark Warning

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/31/2016 - 12:24 One does not have to be financial wizard to to know that a firm which has to borrow more than it can generate from core operations is not a sustainable business model, and yet today's CFOs, pundits and central bankers do not. But more are starting to pay attention as the corporate debt pile hits epic proportions. As Bloomberg writes this morning, when it also issued a stark warning about the next source of credit contagion, while "consumers were the Achilles’ heel of the U.S. economy in the run-up to the last recession. This time, companies may play that role."

$50 Oil Doesn't Work

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/31/2016 - 12:07 $50 per barrel oil is clearly less impossible to live with than $30 per barrel oil, because most businesses cannot make a profit with $30 per barrel oil. But is $50 per barrel oil helpful? Gail Tverberg argues that it really is not.

US State Department Issues European Travel Alert - Warns Of Terrorist Attacks

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/31/2016 - 11:31

The Obamacare Cliff: Redistribution & The Disincentive To Work

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/31/2016 - 11:22 As awful as Obamacare has been at its purported goal of making health care affordable, it has been unquestionably successful at one of Obama's other primary goals: the redistribution of wealth.  Unfortunately, the poor design of the redistribution function is one of the reasons Obamacare is failing. This will not end well.

US Government "Finds" Americans Had $70 Billion More In Disposable Income

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/31/2016 - 11:02 Just one week after the US Department of Commerce quietly slashed historical US capex spending by billions of dollars following a major data revision it was time for another major revision to a series that is nearer and dearer to most Americans' hearts, namely Disposable Personal Income. Here, the US Dept of Commerce just "revised" personal wages high enough to add over $70 billion in disposable income to US pockets over the past 6 months.

Stocks, Cable Slide On Brexit Poll Surprise

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/31/2016 - 10:50

Dallas Fed Tumbles (Again) - 17th Consecutive Month Of Contraction

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/31/2016 - 10:39 This is the 17th month in a row of contraction for Dallas Fed's manufacturing survey as the headline print plunged to -20.8 from -13.9 (missing expectations of a hopeful bounce to -8.0 by 6 standard deviations). Despite the unequivocally good rebound in oil prices, sentiment in Dallas remains dismal with new orders crashing as even 'hope' has now given way to realism as the 6-month outlook tumbles back into negative territory.

Oil Spikes Near $50 On Libya Turmoil Despite Highest OPEC Production Since 2008

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/31/2016 - 10:22 In its ubiquitous manner, crude futures decided to try and run the stops at the US equity open but were unable to get to $50 (49.984 in July WTI) before fading back a little. Ths driver - according to the narrative-du-jour - is turmoil in Libya and ongoing Nigeria and France disruptions, which are both offsetting a surge in OPEC production to its highest level since 2008 in the minds of the machines. "The market is pretty much on hold until we get all this information," says Deutsche Bank's Jens Pedersen of the data dump and OPEC meetings this week. "We need to get that out of the way to see if there is a reason for oil to go higher."

Consumer Confidence Plunges To 10-Month Lows As Job 'Hope' Fades

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/31/2016 - 10:09 The Conference Board's consumer confidence measure has hovered around the 95 level for the last 6 months (as gas prices dipped and ripped, as stock prices dipped and ripped, and as political chaos reigned). This 'stability' is in stark contrast to other surveys of confidence such as Bloomberg's and Gallup's which are both at multi-month lows... until today. Consumer Confidence plunged to 92.6 (missing expectations of 96.1 by the most since November). May's dismal print (a 3 sigma miss) is below the lowest of 68 economist estimates as expectations slipped modestly but Present Situation tumbled with optimism on jobs sliding to 6-month lows.

The Fascinating Story Of How The Petrodollar Was Born And Lived In Secrecy For Over 40 Years

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/31/2016 - 10:02 For decades, the story of Saudi Arabia recycling US petrodollars, i.e., funding the US deficit by buying US Treasuries with proceeds of its crude oil sales (mostly to the US), while the US sweetened the deal by providing the Saudis with military equipment and supplies, remained entirely in the conspiracy realm, with no confirmation or statement from the US Treasury department. Now, that particular "theory" becomes the latest fact, thanks to a fascinating story by Bloomberg which lays out the history of how the petrodollar was born...

Chicago PMI Slumps Back Into Contraction; Election Blamed

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/31/2016 - 09:51 Having wavered around the magical '50' level for much of the last year, bouncing off December plunge lows, Chicago PMI printed below expectations of 50.5 at a contractionary 49.3 - the 6th month of contraction in the last 12 months. With weakness in new orders (lowest since Dec 2015) and production (both back into contraction), MNI notes that on the heels of April's decline, the latest results show activity stumbling in the second quarter, following only moderate growth in Q1.

Allergan Stock Surges After Carl Icahn Announces "Large Position" In The Company

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/31/2016 - 09:28 Carl Icahn appears to be a big fan of Brent Saunders. After Icahn was instrumental in placing his favorite CEO at the top of Forest Labs before it was acquired by Actavis several years ago - a deal which made then Forest Labs investor Carl Icahn hundreds of millions in profit - the billionaire investor is now doubling down on Saunders, and moments ago the billionaire investor announced that he has acquired a "large position" in Allergan, and confirms he is "very supportive of CEO Brent Saunders."

NATO Ally Erdogan Says "Contraception Is Treason, Women Not Equal To Men, Muslims Must Multiply Descendants"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/31/2016 - 09:23 In a stark warning as to what will happen if Chancellor Angela Merkel allows Turkish citizens visa-free travel throughout Europe, US and NATO ally Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says "Contraception is Treason, Women Not Equal to Men, Muslims Must Multiply Descendants ."

Apple Back Under $100 On News It Will Extend iPhone Lifecycle To 3 Years, Cites Slowing Demand

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/31/2016 - 09:20 In what, if confirmed, would be a major move for Apple's product development cycle, overnight Japan's Nikkei reported that Apple is moving from its existing "innovation cycle" with a major iPhone refresh every two years to a three-year cycle.  According to Nikkei the move is prompted by two factors, and is "largely due to smartphone functions having little room left for major enhancements. A slowing market is another factor."

Marc Faber Warns Of "Moral Degeneration" From America's "Consensual Hallucination"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/31/2016 - 08:54 The flood of money that central banks are creating pollutes the Western capitalistic system and free markets, as well as democracy. The consequences are anemic economic growth, deep social discontent, a culture of cheating, and moral degeneration. At the same time, “the bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of an expanding bureaucracy” (Oscar Wilde). Hardly a recipe for sustainable economic growth and rising standards of living.






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Brits "Appalled, Disgusted" At Brexit Postal Ballot 'Fraud'

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/30/2016 - 19:20

Things Are Thriving In The "Modern Hooker Economy"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/30/2016 - 18:30 Last year we exposed the growing trend among thousands of British students who were funding their college experience through "Sugar Daddy" websites, where "arrangements" were made to allow students to pay off student loans and other living expenses. It turns out that US students are now following this crafty debt repayment plan in the new "modern hooker economy."

Mizuho CEO Warns Japan Sales Tax Delay Is "Admission Abenomics Has Failed"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/30/2016 - 21:27 Yasuhiro Sato, president of Mizuho, Japan's second-largest bank by assets, said Abe's framing of the sales tax delay would determine whether it sparked concerns about the government's credibility regarding its plans for fiscal consolidation. "The worst scenario is [the government] will just announce a delay in the tax increase.  That could send a message that Abenomics has failed or Japan is heading for a fiscal danger zone and then it will harm Japanese government bonds' credit ratings." 

"Crooked" Hillary & The Coming Convention Coups

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/30/2016 - 18:00 That was the week Hillary began to look like the candidate who fell off a truck wearing a Nixon mask. Email-gate is taking on the odor of Watergate — the main ingredient of which was not the dopey crime itself but the stonewalling around it. Hillary is a horse that ain’t gonna finish. The Democrats better be prepared to haul Uncle Joe out of the closet, fluff up his transplanted hair, wax his dentures, give him a few Vitamin B-12 shots, and stick a harpoon in his fist for the autumn run against the White Whale (if Trump is actually nominated).
 

Do "Targeted" US Killings Of Militant Leaders Work? Not So Much

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/30/2016 - 21:27 The key question around the US killings of militant leaders is do they even work? This is something the Wall Street Journal also pondered in a recent piece on just how effective US strikes on leaders of militant groups are in the long run. On one hand, it does appear as though the killing of Osama bin Laden has hurt Al Qaeda; on the other, the killing of Mansour may not have much of an impact at all on the Taliban.

Hey Democrats: A Vote For Hillary Clinton Is Actually A Vote For Donald Trump

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/30/2016 - 21:00 With California finally mattering in an election season, it might be the final state primary before the Democratic race for president is set in stone. Regardless, recent developments have made one thing astoundingly clear: Donald Trump will almost surely defeat Hillary Clinton in a head to head matchup - and that’s why a vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for Donald Trump.

Thanks to Yellen, Gold Will Bounce Back

from The Daily Bell:
Speculative traders abandon gold in latest week … Gold prices fell Monday, moving in the opposite direction of the U.S. dollar, which soared after comments by Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen last week indicated an interest-rate hike could come this summer. –MarketWatch
Today, gold prices have been clinging to around $1,200 against the dollar. It is becoming increasingly obvious that the Federal Reserve has two goals.
One is to keep the dollar strong against gold and the other is ensure that the world’s quasi-depression continues.
Yellen doesn’t say so, but this will be the result of her actions.
Read More

Brazil's New Anti-Corruption Minister Quits After Leak Exposes His Involvement In Corruption Scandal

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/30/2016 - 20:46 Things for the new, just as corrupt as his predecessor president, Michel Temer got particularly awkward, not to mention painfully ironic, when none other than Brazil's Transparency and Anti-Corruption Minister, Fabiano Silveira resigned on Monday after leaked recordings suggested he tried to derail a sprawling corruption probe, the latest cabinet casualty impacting interim President Michel Temer's administration.

Here We Go Again: Wells Fargo Is Trying To Give Mortgages To Low-Income, Debt-Heavy Millennials Living At Home

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/30/2016 - 20:30 Just last week we reported that a desperate to boost lending Wells Fargo was reintroducing 3% down mortgages on its own, without going through the FHA. Now we have direct confirmation that indeed Wells Fargo is desperate, and the plan to boost mortgage lending is to... drum roll... lure millennials out of the comfort of their parents home and into a house of their own. The fact that millennials don't make much money and are drowning in debt apparently doesn't bother Franklin Codel, head of home lending for the bank.

How To Legally Scam The Welfare System

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/30/2016 - 20:00 First, put down all sharp objects. Now, meet Edith Calzado - maybe the single most successful and productive beneficiary of government assistance you’ll ever meet.

Emperor Securities Shows How To Successfully Fleece Retail Investors

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/30/2016 - 19:30 From April 2015 through May 2016, every single one of the 173 stocks that Emperor analysts covered had a buy recommendation. The analysts were so wrong that shorting every one would have yielded 13 percent through last week. As we reported last year, Chinese retail investors opened enough brokerage accounts for every man, woman, and child in LA. As it turns out, that's precisely how Emperor was making its money, by securities turnover and margin loans due to an influx of new retail customers. The firm threw day trade buy recommendations out on every single stock and watched new inexperienced "investors" trade on that data. That effort takes Wall Street's lazy clustering to an entirely new level.

Electronic Voting Machines & Why Voters Should Be Suspicious Of Every Election

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/30/2016 - 19:00 Long an 'exporter of democracy' to the rest of the world, there is ample evidence that the United States lacks even the most rudimentary, basic protections necessary to preserve voting integrity within its own borders. Some of the evidence is circumstantial, some is statistical, and some is pretty direct and clear-cut. Taken together, a pattern that emerges strongly suggesting that ever since electronic voting machines were introduced in the United States, we’ve had a string of suspect election results that frankly are not consistent with a free and fair voting outcome.

"Bill Clinton Was Here": The Elite One-Percent’s 'Orgy Island' Exposed

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/30/2016 - 18:37 If you can name it — it has likely taken place this the lavish private island off the coast of Puerto Rico which boasts a beautifully landscaped plush luxury estate complete with its own helipad, privy only to certain members of the global elite.

Trickle-Down Crash? Trophy Assets Suddenly Tanking

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/30/2016 - 18:12 One of the defining traits of the past few years’ “recovery” has been the torrent of money flowing from big banks to favored clients, and from there into trophy properties like high-end real estate, superyachts, and fine art. This might be the first financial bubble to completely bypass the 99%. And now it’s ending...

Doctors Name MONSANTO Larvicide As Cause of Brazilian Microcephaly Outbreak

from Dahboo7:
The increase in this birth defect, in which the baby is born with an abnormally small head and often has brain damage, was quickly linked to the Zika virus by the Brazilian Ministry of Health. However, according to the Physicians in the Crop-Sprayed Towns, the Ministry failed to recognise that in the area where most sick people live, a chemical larvicide that produces malformations in mosquitoes was introduced into the drinking water supply in 2014. This poison, Pyriproxyfen, is used in a State-controlled programme aimed at eradicating disease-carrying mosquitoes.

PRESERVE YOUR WEALTH: Rich Eating Well in Venezuela, Basque Executive Shows

from Telesur:
To prove his relatives in Spain wrong, Otxotorena published a series of photographs of fully-stocked markets in upper class neighborhoods in Caracas.
Agustin Otxotorena, a Basque executive living in Caracas, grew tired of constant calls from friends and relatives in Spain telling him that there was no food in Venezuela, so on May 20 he began publishing photos on Facebook of supermarkets in upscale sectors of Caracas filled with goods.
In addition to showing evidence of plenty of food stuffs, Otxotorena also analyzed the situation. He concluded that there are two countries in Venezuela—one where “there are many people having a hard time, who don’t have the money to live,” and another where there is “an upper class that has a living standard higher than Europe.”
Read More

CDC forced to reveal documents proving Thimerosal vaccine preservative causes autism

by Mike Adams, Natural News:

Factually speaking, the CDC is a malicious, criminally-run anti-science quackery front group for the vaccine industry. As part of its criminal activity, it has long insisted that the vaccine preservative thimerosal is not tied to autism. But once-secret documents, now forced to be revealed by the CDC, prove the agency knew that thimerosal causes autism but deliberately hid that evidence from the public in exactly the same way the EPA hid the truth about lead poisoning of the public water supply in Flint, Michigan.
“A vaccine industry watchdog has now obtained CDC documents that show statistically significant risks of autism associated with the vaccine preservative,” reports Health Advice, which also reports:
Read More

June 7: FEMA Will Hold A Drill To Prepare For A 9.0 Cascadia Subduction Zone Earthquake And Tsunami

by Michael Snyder, End Of The American Dream:
Starting on June 7th, FEMA will be conducting a large scale drill that has been named “Cascadia Rising” that will simulate the effects of a magnitude 9.0 earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone and an accompanying west coast tsunami dozens of feet tall. According to the official flyer for the event, more than “50 counties, plus major cities, tribal nations, state and federal agencies, private sector businesses, and non-governmental organizations across three states – Washington, Oregon, and Idaho – will be participating”. In addition to “Cascadia Rising”, U.S. Northern Command will be holding five other exercises simultaneously. According to the final draft of the Cascadia Rising drill plan, those five exercises are entitled “Ardent Sentry 2016″, “Vigilant Guard”, “Special Focus Exercise”, “Turbo Challenge” and “Joint Logistics Over-The-Shore”. The primary scenario that of all of these participants will be focusing on will be one that involves a magnitude 9.0 earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone followed by a giant tsunami that could displace up to a million people from northern California to southern Canada.
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Roundup Weedkiller Found In 75% of Air And Rain Samples, Gov. Study Finds

by Sayer Ji, The Sleuth Journal:
The GM farming system has made exposure to Roundup herbicide a daily fact of our existence, and according to the latest US Geological Survey study its probably in the air you are breathing…
A new study from the U.S. Geological Survey, accepted for publication online ahead of print in the journal Enviromental Toxicology and Chemistry, titled, “Pesticides in Mississippi air and rain: A comparison between 1995 and 2007,”[i] reveals that Roundup herbicide (aka glyphosate) and its still-toxic degradation byproduct AMPA were found in over 75% of the air and rain samples tested from Mississippi in 2007.
The researchers evaluated a wide range of pesticides currently being used through weekly composite air and rain sampling collected during the 1995 and 2007 growing seasons in the Mississippi Delta agricultural region.
Read More

BITCOIN SKYROCKETS AND IS NOW UP MORE THAN 100% THIS JUBILEE YEAR

by Jeff Berwick, The Dollar Vigilante:
Bitcoin has risen more than 25% in the last week, from near $430 to a high over $545 today. In that time, it has been pronounced dead at least once and is now at a 20-month high. We gave these three main reasons in the last year for why we thought it would go much higher:
1. Bitcoin and Blockchain are the Future of Money and Banking
Still to this day most other financial analysts either ignore bitcoin or, even stupider, deride it as being some sort of scam or ponzi scheme.
The dollar and government “services” like Social Security are scams and ponzi schemes… but bitcoin clearly is not. It is open source and so anyone who cares to look can see there is nothing nefarious about it. Therefore, anyone who says it is a scam or ponzi scheme is just showing willful ignorance as they could very easily look at it themselves and see it is not.
Read More

France’s Google HQ Raid Reaps “Years” of Evidence

from TRU News:
Analysis of data seized by investigators in last week’s raid of Google’s Paris headquarters could possibly take years, French financial prosecutor Eliane Houlette said on Sunday.
Dozens of French police raided Google’s offices on Tuesday, escalating an investigation over suspected tax evasion. “We have collected a lot of computer data,” Houlette said in an interview with Europe 1 radio, TV channel iTele and newspaper Le Monde, adding that 96 people took part in the raid.
“We need to analyze (the data) … (it will take) months, I hope that it won’t be several years, but we are very limited in resources”.
Read More @ TRUNews.com

The Endless Dodge - Why Washington Doesn't Come Clean On The Downing Of MH-17

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/30/2016 - 22:30 "The objective, quite simply, was to heap as much abuse on the Soviet Union as possible... The American media swallowed the U.S. government line without reservation... The perception we wanted to convey was that the Soviet Union had cold-bloodedly carried out a barbaric act... The moral of the story is that all governments, including our own, lie when it suits their purposes. The key is to lie first."






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Trickle-Down Crash? Trophy Assets Suddenly Tanking

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/30/2016 - 09:12
One of the defining traits of the past few years’ “recovery” has been the torrent of money flowing from big banks to favored clients, and from there into trophy properties like high-end real estate, superyachts, and fine art. This might be the first financial bubble to completely bypass the 99%. And now it’s ending...

Ben Carson: President Hillary Would Bring About "Tremendous Carnage And Death"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/30/2016 - 15:57 Carson was on Fox’s Fox & Friends this morning to share some inspiration perspectives of what the US would look like under president Hillary Clintaon. "America, right now, is like a cruise ship that is about to go off of Niagara Falls with tremendous carnage and death."

Grant Williams Warns Of Looming 'Wealth Tax', Says "Own Physical Gold, Not ETFs"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/30/2016 - 13:00 "I don't buy gold, I own it. I don't buy gold at $1,100 because I think it's going to go to $1,200. I buy it for what it does, not what the price is, the price is the last consideration for me. It's not just an asset anymore it's the answer to a lot of people's questions.. the most important stage of this is next and that is the resolution between the paper price and the physical asset. I think when we get to that point where people want to own gold, ETF's won't suffice anymore."

"It's Unbearable" 50-Year-Old German Woman Rages "I Have Lost All My Trust In The State"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/30/2016 - 15:30 "I am almost 50 years old, I have a University degree, and was – out of love for nature – always a trusted voter for the Green Party. I never felt much interest for politics. In Germany everything seemed to always go its natural regular course. I had trusted our parliamentary democracy, I thought our administration would hardly make mistakes, because it is controlled by the opposition. Never, absolutely never did I think that I would lose all my trust in the State. It’s unbearable that I am afraid of the future. Preferably I’d just like to leave. But I feel too old to leave Europe...I am – like most Europeans – damned to impotence as I see this invasion happen."

"An Unusual Number Of Known Unknowns" - These Are The Key Event Risks In June

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/30/2016 - 14:57 In June there will be "an unusual number of known unknowns from several sources. June 2016 is a month in which the number of event risks is particularly high. In our baseline scenarios we do not see market upsets, but the potential is there: Japanese fiscal policy; meetings of the ECB, Fed and BoJ; new ECB policy implementation; a German Constitutional Court ruling; the UK referendum; elections in Spain; and a decision on the FTT are all thrown into the mix."

Almost 100 Beheadings So Far In 2016 And Counting... And No, It's Not ISIS

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/30/2016 - 14:30 Amnesty International warned on Friday that a surge in executions carried out by Saudi authorities could see more than 100 people put to death in the first six months of 2016. The London-based watchdog says that the kingdom carried out at least 158 death sentences last year, making it the third most prolific executioner after Iran and Pakistan. This year, at least 94 people have been executed so far, “higher than at the same point last year,” Amnesty International said. Sources in the kingdom told Middle East Eye that prisoners arrested when they were children and others suffering from mental illness were among dozens of inmates executed in Saudi Arabia in January. One security source who witnessed the executions told MEE: “It was a massacre. There was blood and body parts everywhere.”

Brits "Appalled, Disgusted" At Brexit Postal Ballot 'Fraud'

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/30/2016 - 14:00

Trump And Hillary Don't Know How To Fix The Economy

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/30/2016 - 13:30 Recently, Hillary Clinton was taped ridiculing Donald Trump for lacking a detailed plan for the American economy. The message, so it goes, is that Trump is not suited for the presidency because he doesn’t have a plan on how to turn the American economy around. But is it really more dangerous to elect a president who makes up economic policy on the fly than one who proclaims to have a detailed plan for us? The answer to this is no... The underlying problem is we have two competing people who think they can manage the American economy.

Beyond The Minsky Moment: China's Ponzi Schemes Are Now Investing In Other Ponzi Schemes

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/30/2016 - 12:29 The risk of a default chain reaction is looming over the $3.6 trillion market for wealth management products in China. WMPs, which traditionally funneled money from Chinese individuals into assets from corporate bonds to stocks and derivatives, are now increasingly investing in each other.

Why The Next Black Swan Will Turn Into A Flock

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/30/2016 - 11:45 People “are just rolling the dice, thinking nothing could be as bad as 2008.” They think (or believe) if it happens again all they’ll have to do is the same as they did last time e.g. Hunker down, wait for the storm to blow over. Rinse, repeat. This is where the real issue lies for not only the Fed per se, but rather, the entire political as it is currently known. For if a “black swan” does indeed hit once again in the very near future? Once people realize just how systematically they’ve been cut off from those “assumed” resources, especially during a crisis?  All hell is going to break loose in ways the academic class, as well as, the political never envisioned. For when the time comes (and there is no more important “time” than that during a crisis of confidence) where words truly matter, and everyone no longer believes? Everything changes. And I do mean: everything.

Wolf Richter – On a Mission to Reveal the Truth

by Kerry Lutz, Financial Survival Network:
Wolf Richter is one of the best traveled guests we’ve ever had on FSN. One day he up and quit his job, thinking he’d travel to France for an extended 7 week vacation. That trip turned into three year, over 100 country odyssey that left him profoundly changed. Upon his return to the States, he started blogging and hasn’t stopped yet. He’s busy confronting the lies and distortions that the media perpetrates upon the public. Hopefully he’ll never stop!
Click HERE to Listen

Global Financial Crisis – G7 Warning Of “Lehman-Scale” From Japan

by Mark O’Byrne, GoldCore:
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned his Group of Seven counterparts today that the world may on the brink of a global financial crisis on the scale of Lehman Brothers.
The Japanese Prime Minister presented data yesterday at the G7 summit he is hosting, showing that commodities prices have fallen 55 percent since 2014, the same margin they fell during the global financial crisis, interpreting this as “warning of the re-emergence of a Lehman-scale crisis”.
The Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe failed in his attempt to have the G7 leaders warn of the risk of a global economic crisis in a communique issued as their summit wrapped up today in Japan.
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Could The Yuan Supplant The Us Dollar? – Valentin Katasonov

by Valentin Katasonov, The News Doctors:
Many believe that the US dollar and the Chinese yuan could soon be engaged in a fierce battle for top honors in the world of international finance.
However, John Williams, the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank (FRB) of San Francisco, stated on May 10 that the yuan could not edge out the dollar as the primary global reserve currency. And I am inclined to think that this banker is correct.
The transformation of the yuan into an official reserve currency
Last fall the International Monetary Fund made a very welcome decision for Beijing when it added the yuan to what is called the SDR basket (SDR – Special Drawing Rights, a supranational currency issued by the IMF in limited quantities). This means that the yuan now has the status of an official reserve currency, along with the dollar, euro, British pound sterling, and Japanese yen.
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This is what you get... and deserve... when you only let the criminals have guns...

Dozens Shot Over Memorial Day Weekend As The Collapse Of Chicago Accelerates

by Michael Snyder, The Economic Collapse Blog:
Chaos and violence threaten to spiral out of control in America’s third largest city, and nobody seems to have any idea how to solve the problem. After decades of control by the radical left, many parts of the “Windy City” have become rotting, decaying, gang-infested hellholes. Just like Detroit, the city of Chicago is rapidly becoming a joke to the rest of the world, but a horribly corrupt political culture likely stands in the way of any type of major reform any time soon. And just like much of the rest of the nation, a spirit of violence and civil unrest is rising in Chicago. So far this year, the number of shootings in Chicago is up 50 percent compared to the same time period last year, and that was before we even got to Memorial Day weekend. As of Sunday morning, at least 40 people had already been shot, and authorities were bracing for even more violence as the holiday weekend stretched on…
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Sunset Over NATO

from Rogue Money:
There have been a few eyebrow-raising reports published recently at The Saker website that hint that NATO is being sent packing with its tail between its legs. We might have missed the posts entirely if it wasn’t for Joseph Farrell’s speculation that this might have something to do with the downing of EgyptAir #MS804. There appears to be a plan underway for the economic powerhouses of Europe to withdraw from NATO. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that there is surely a small but powerful network of people who would rather die than see that happen. Or better said, they’d rather see YOU die rather than lose their power.
This first post was published on May 8, 2016 by “Scott” in a blog entitled “Waiting for Yalta – 2, or What the Kerry-Lavrov pact brings to the table”. Scott opens first by paraphrasing the thinking of Andrey Manoylo:
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Congressman on Lobbyist Who Tried to Buy Him: “It Was One of the Scummiest Meetings I’ve Ever Been In”

by Tim Brown, Freedom OutPost:
Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY) recently admitted that he was faced with a proposal from a lobbyist that said he could help him raise enough money to be placed on the House Ways and Means Committee and recounted, “It was one of the scummiest meetings I’ve ever been in.”
Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY) recently admitted that he was faced with a proposal from a lobbyist that said he could help him raise enough money to be placed on the House Ways and Means Committee and recounted, “It was one of the scummiest meetings I’ve ever been in.”
“He pulled me and my chief of staff into a meeting,” Massie told The Cincinnati Enquirer. “He offered to raise the money that would be required to get me on Ways and Means. This is a lobbyist telling me he can get me on Ways and Means.”
What disgusted Massie most was the unstated implications of the lobbyist’s assistance was that once on the committee, which oversees tax policy, Massie would be called upon to return the favor through various bills.
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Donald Trump’s Wild Idea About Dealing With Debt May be Here Sooner Than You’d Think

by Peter Spence, The Telegraph:
One of the wildest ideas to hit the US Presidential campaign trail might become a reality sooner than you would think.
Donald Trump, the Republican party’s nominee, has claimed that the US national debt, standing at more than $19 trillion (£13 trillion), does not need to be repaid.
“This is the United States government, you never have to default, because you print the money,” he declared live on air.
His comments signal his belief that America’s authorities, could, if they wanted, print enough money to pay back their creditors without raising an extra cent in taxes.
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