Blackouts Loom With California In Power Grid Emergency: "All Customers Should Expect 14 Days Without Power"

All customers, including homes, hospitals, oil refineries and airports are at risk of losing power at some point this summer because a majority of electric generating stations in California use gas as their primary fuel. In April, millions of electric customers in Southern California were warned they could suffer power outages on up to 14 days this summer due to the closure.

 

Janet Yellen's "Humphrey-Hawkins" Testimony: Desperately Seeking Credibility - Live Feed

Just a week after utterly embarrassing herself in a frenzied hour of mumbling and incoherent babble, Fed Chair Janet Yellen will begin Day 1 of her semi-annual testimony (so-called "Humphrey-Hawkins" hearings) playing defense as all the promises she has made in the past six months fade into reality. Expectations are for a stable dose of muted confidence with no over-promising from The Chair but the Q&A is likely to be fireworks-prone as  this is the last scheduled chance lawmakers, many of whom face re-election, will have to publicly question the Fed chief before voters head to the polls in November.

Werner Issues "Disturbing" Warning About State Of Trucking And Logistics Industry

Following ongoing warnings of the dismal reality surrounding heavy, Class 8 trucking, reality finally hit overnight when trucking and logistics company Werner Enterprises warned that a sluggish freight market and increases to driver pay would hurt its second-quarter earnings, leading to a plunge in its stock price. Werner said it now expects to report a profit of 21 cents to 25 cents a share, which includes a pretax gain of $3.4 million from the sale of real estate; this was nealy 50% below the consensus forecast of 40 cents a share.

Why A UK Billionaire Believes Brexit Would Be "Good For The UK"

"The EU will disintegrate when we leave. They will realise there is nothing left. The political union is going to be a disaster and they'll want a free-trade area. Do you know who'll be the first country invited to that free trade area? The U.K."

 

Hedge Fund Manager Charged In Insider Trading Case Commits Suicide

Last week, we reported on the historic insider trading bust that took place at the soon to be sold Visium Capital, in which, among other accusations, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan charged Sanjay Valvani of fraudulently making $25 million by gaining advance word about U.S. Food and Drug Administration approvals of generic drug applications. Moments ago, Dow Jones reported that the same Sanjay Valvani, charged in the Visiuam insider trading case, was found dead this morning in an apparent suicide.

 

Janet Yellen’s $200-Trillion Debt Problem

More than $10 trillion of government bonds now trade at negative yields. And another $10 trillion or so worth of U.S. stocks trade well above their long-term average valuations. And there’s more than $200 trillion of debt in the world – with about $60 trillion added since the global financial crisis. All of this sits on the Fed’s financial applecart. Does Janet Yellen dare upset it? Nah. It will have to upset itself.

 

Brazilian Telecom Giant Files Largest Bankruptcy In Nation's History

Brazil’s troubled telephone company Oi SA on Monday filed the largest bankruptcy protection request in the country’s history just days after debt restructuring talks with creditors collapsed. The filing of Oi and six subsidiaries lists 65.4 billion reais ($19.26 billion) in debt.

WTI Crude Tumbles To $48 Handle After Nigeria 'Ceasefire' With Militants

While crude has short-squeezed over 7% higher since the death of UK lawmaker Jo Cox, it is stumbling on fundamentals overnight as Reuters reports Nigeria has agreed a one-month ceasefire with militants including the Niger Delta Avengers in the oil-producing southern region, despite the NDA denying it a week ago.

Stocks, Sterling Slide As Brexit Poll Show Rise In "Leave" Vote

Following the mixed picture from last night's polls (YouGov "Leave" +2, ORB "Remain" +7), Soros scaremongery, and Schaeuble seriousness this morning, "UK exit would be 'very' negative for Germany," bookies' odds hover around 75-80% and Cable continues to push higher (to 6-month highs) as if the Brexit vote was a done deal. However, the Survation polls showed a rise from 42% on 6/18 to 44% today for "Leave" and Sterling is starting to slide...

Trump Campaign Starts June With Only $1.3 Million In The Bank After Making Another $2.2 Million Loan

In another sign of rising troubles for his presidential campaign, on the same day that he fired his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowki, a report filed with the Federal Election Commission showed that Trump finished May with a "troublingly low" $1.3 million in the bank. Trump raised just $3.1 million for his campaign during the month that began with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus declaring Trump the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party.

Regulator Alleges Sweden's Largest Bank Has $9.7 Billion Capital Shortfall

Sweden's largest bank is under pressure today after Svenska Dagbladet reported an internal document from Sweden's Financial Supervisory Authority indicates that Nordea bank had a capital shortfall of $9.7 billion at the end of last year. Newspaper Svenska Dagbladet published an article that alleges an analyst at Sweden's FSA had discovered that internal bank models used to assess risk of loss on its loan portfolio had understated risk by as much as half at the end of last year

German Top Court "Reluctantly" Rejects Challenges To ECB's OMT Program, Lists 6 Conditions

With traders already on edge in illiquid markets ahead of the Breferendum, one potential risk to sentiment today was the long-awaited decision by Germany’s powerful constitutional court whether Mario Draghi's OMT, or Outright Monetary Transactions, was constitutional. However, any lingering concerns were swept away when the Kardinals of Karlsruhe "reluctantly" ruled in favor of the one of the European Central Bank’s most important tools to fight financial crises, which however was caveated with six specific conditions.

Stocks, Sterling Rise As "Brexit" Fears Forgotten; Dollar Drops Ahead Of Yellen Speech

Tuesday's overnight price action has been a continuation of yesterday's Brexit relief rally, as investors focused on the two latest polls favorable to Remain in Thursday's referendum (while ignoring the YouGov poll which gave Leave a small lead), and hoping the doom and gloom by George Soros will convince the undecideds to vote against Leaving. As a result, global stocks continued their advance while pound extending the biggest rally since 2008.

The Big Guns Are Out: Soros, Rothschild Warn Of Brexit Doom; Osborne Threatens With "Suspending" Market

- "My 60 years of experience tells me the pound will plummet, along with your living standards. The only winners will be speculators" - George Soros
- "All the evidence shows that Brexit would be a disaster" - Jacob Rothschild
- "You cannot in the end protect people from the economic shock that leaving the EU would bring about." - George Osborne

"Whatever It Takes" Wasn't Enough

Bond manager Jeffrey Gundlach made headlines this week with the comments “central banks are losing control.” I would suggest that central bankers actually lost control back in 2012. Mario Draghi’s “whatever it takes” pledge actually amounted to concerted central bank intervention to shield global markets and economies from the intensifying forces of the downside of a historic Credit Cycle. The global Credit boom persevered for a few more years, right along with historic market distortions and economic maladjustment. Downside risks have grown significantly.

Anxiety Builds As Money Managers Near Record Long Gold Position

"There’s still a lot of fear out there," warns one investor as the combination of event risks (e.g. Brexit, Spain, US Election) and the contagious collapse of central bank credibility has asset managers around the world piling into bonds and bullion. With negative rates now de rigeur, global developed market bond yields are pushing record lows as demand for protection from fiat debacles in precious metals (and alternative currencies) has sent money managers long position near Aug 2011's record highs.

The New Iron Curtain - A Monument To Washington's Imperial Folly

A foreign army consisting of 31,000 soldiers from an anti-American alliance are conducting military “exercises” a few miles from San Diego. Hundreds of tanks converge on the Rio Grande, while jets from 24 countries converge in attack formation, darting through Mexican skies. It isn’t hard to imagine Washington’s response. Yet that’s precisely what has been happening on Russia’s border with the NATO alliance, as the cold war returns.

The Chinese Real-Estate Bubble Has Gone Parabolic: Land Prices Soar 50% In One Year

The average land price per square meter for the top 100 Chinese cities in the first five months of this year jumped nearly 50% from same period last year, citing Wind Information. More stunning is that according to Wind, some land prices are even higher than asking prices for fully-built houses nearby.

Americans Are Now The Top Silver Investors In The World

by Steve St. Angelo, SRSRocco Report:
According to the figures in the 2016 World Silver Survey, Americans now lead the world in physical silver investment. This is quite an interesting change as India has been the number one market for silver bar demand in the past.
For example, Indians purchased more than 100 million oz (Moz) of silver bar in 2008 of the approximate world total of 125 Moz. However, silver bar demand is only one segment of total global physical silver investment. There is also Official Coin demand.
If we look at the data for 2015, India continues to rank as the largest source of silver bar investment int he world:
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BRICS Banks Will Issue Bonds In Members Currency Bypassing The Dollar – Episode 1002a

from X22Report:

Caterpillar retail sales decline for 42 months in a row. Obama’s economic recovery does not hold water, his predictions never came true.Baltic Dry Index declines to 582. We are in the biggest stock bubble of all time and it is getting ready to pop. Obama is calling the height of the market by telling people to buy now. BRICS banks are not issuing bonds in local currencies bypassing the dollar.

Election 2016: The Court Jester vs. The Wicked Witch

by Jeff Nielson, Bullion Bulls:
And then there were two.
Donald Trump: the Mouth that Roared. Hillary Clinton: the Queen of Mean. It would make a great WWF match-up. Trump is the larger of the two, male, and could crush Clinton with his hair, alone. But Hillary is nastier, more devious, and simply smarter than her oafish opponent. The Court Jester versus the Wicked Witch. For those Americans who believed they would never be given a more inferior choice for their presidency than George Bush Jr. and John Kerry, you stand corrected.
How did it ever happen? This was already the subject of a previous commentary. It wasn’t supposed to turn out this way. Yes, Clinton was supposed to emerge atop the Blue House. She was/is the evil “opponent”, who (most of the time) is supposed to lose in their WWF matches. However, she wasn’t supposed to be head-to-head with Donald Trump, but rather with an even more-inferior boob: Jeb Bush.
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It’s Not Just the UK – Widespread Support for EU Referendums Seen Across the Continent

from Liberty Blitzkrieg:
Actions have consequences, and people can only be pushed so far before they snap. I believe the Paris terror attacks will be a major catalyst that will ultimately usher in nationalist type governments in many parts of Europe, culminating in an end of the EU as we know it and a return to true nation-states. Although I think a return to regional government and democracy is what Europeans need and deserve, the way in which it will come about, and the types of governments we could see emerge, are unlikely to be particularly enlightened or democratic after the dust has settled.
My thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims of these horrific events, but the Paris attacks didn’t happen in a vacuum. The people of Europe have already become increasingly resentful against the EU, something which is not debatable at this point. This accurate perception of an undemocratic, technocratic Brussels-led EU dictatorship was further solidified earlier this year after the Greek people went to the polls and voted for one thing, only to be instructed that their vote doesn’t actually matter.
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FBI Still Concealing Almost All of What the Orlando Gunman Said

RELATED: Orlando Pulse Shooting PSYOP: ALL EMERGENCY BROADCASTS SCRUBBED FROM INTERNET!
by Robert Mackey, The Intercept:
DOING NOTHING TO advance the heated political debate over what combination of factors might have prompted Omar Mateen to open fire inside a gay nightclub in Orlando last week, the FBI on Monday refused to release the audio or a full transcript of the gunman’s phone conversations with the police during the attack.
The FBI instead published a written timeline of the attack, which included a redacted transcript of one conversation between Mateen and a 911 operator, and a partial summary of what he said in three further calls with the Orlando Police Department crisis negotiators that lasted 28 minutes in total. The bureau argued that letting the public hear or even read the gunman’s justification for the attack in his own words risked encouraging further attacks.
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Crisis Actors Sought for Military Drill in Bernie Hometown During DNC

Dates of military drill overlap timing of Democrat National Convention
by Adan Salazar, Infowars:
A private government contractor is seeking role players for a simulated military drill set to take place next month in Burlington, Vermont – the site of candidate Bernie Sanders’ campaign headquarters – at the same time as the Democratic National Convention.
A Craigslist ad posted eight days ago by defense contractor Foreign Language Services Simulation, LLC, (FLSS) seeks “actors” and “role players” who will be made up with fake wounds and mock injuries to “support military in instructional exercises in a nearby location.”
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Liberal MSNBC Host Gets Pissed Off at Larry Pratt for Bringing Up Gun Facts

from MSNBC via TheDailyTrump:








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