Will President Obama Declare Cyber-War On Russia (Or Real War On China)? - Press Conference Live Feed

China stealing underwater drones, Russia hacking elections (allegedly), losing Aleppo, business optimism soaring now that he is leaving? President Obama has a lot of 'splaining to do, but most eyes and ears will be on edge for his apparent "retaliation" against Vladimir Putin for ruining the party (and what many have foreseen, he decides the orderly handover of power to president-elect Trump cannot go forward as planned). Legacy?

Weekend Reading: Copious Cognitions

If this market rally seems eerily familiar, it’s because it is. In fact, the backdrop of the rally reminds me much of what was happening in 1999...

Julian Assange Crushes Obama Narrative: "Our Source Is Not The Russian Government"

Hannity:  "Let me be clear, Russia did not give you the Podesta documents or anything from the DNC?"
Assange:  "That's correct."

China Seizes Unmanned, Underwater US Navy Vehicle Off South China Sea

China has seized an unmanned, underwater US navy vehicle inside off international waters in the South China Sea; leading to a formal request by the US demanding the return of the vehicle.

Stocks Suffer Worst Week Since Election As Banks, Bullion, & Bonds Sink

 

 

'Puzzled' Why Trump Won The Election?

One big piece to the 'puzzle'...

 

"Dash-For-Trash" At Its Most Extreme Since DotCom Peak...

The Trump rally's animal spirits might be jumping the shark. The massive outperformance of the 'riskiest' high-volatility stocks over 'stodgy' low-volatility stocks in the last few weeks has seen the usually high correlation between the two 'classes' collapse to zero... the biggest plunge since the peak of the panic-buying extreme vol names during the DotCom boom.

Obama Told Putin To "Cut It Out" On Hacking

Recovering America's History Of Progressive Populism

The elites' toadies, lackeys, shills, sycophants, water-carriers and apologists are desperately hyping the context-free, historically ignorant narrative that "populism leads to autocracy" to protect the existing autocracy of the elites.

I call BULLSHIT...

FBI Said To Back CIA Assessment That Russia Intervened To Help Trump Win

Moments ago, the WaPo, whose main mission over the past month has been to pin Clinton's presidential failure first on Russia and then on Vladimir Putin, reported that FBI Director James B. Comey and Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. have backed a CIA assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election in part to help Donald Trump win the presidency.

Has The Fed Turned "Hawkish?"

Jose Canseco isn’t alone in his fantastical thinking and enthusiasm. Countless intelligent individuals, that have made careers out of economics, have had their minds softened over by theories not too different from Canseco’s. Namely, that a perpetually higher stock market is good for the economy. Of course, the only way to achieve a Dow 40,000 target in four years is through massive amounts of monetary stimulus (not fiscal).

Putin Lashes Out At Obama: "Show Some Proof Or Shut Up"

Putin has had enough of the relentless barrage of US accusations that he, personally, "hacked the US presidential election" and on Friday his spokesman told reporters in Tokyo that "you need to either stop talking about it, or finally show some kind of proof. Otherwise it just looks very indecent."

Europe "Infuriated" By Greek Decision To Give Impoverished Pensioners A Christmas Bonus

Greece snubbed its international lenders and legislated plans on Thursday to give pensioners a one-off Christmas bonus, in a move that has infuriated officials in Germany and several other member states.

The Lessons Of Aleppo (For Trump)

"Do not even consider getting into a new Middle East war - unless Congress votes to authorize it, the American people are united behind it, vital U.S. interests are clearly imperiled, and we know how the war ends and when we can come home. For wars have a habit of destroying presidencies."

New York Times Will Vacate 8 Floors In Its HQ To Generate "Significant Rental Revenue"

Remember when The NYT reported that its ad hoc campaign to boost revenue by selling subscriptions in response to the vicious back and forth with Donald Trump, was said to be a smashing success? It appears it was not smashing enough, and according to a just released note, the newspaper will vacate at least eight floors in its iconic building, allowing it to "generate significant rental income."

NSA Whistleblower Destroys Obama's Russia Narrative - "Hard Evidence Points To An Inside Leak, Not Hacking"

“If [the CIA] are going to allege something like that they should show the trace route, and the path it went and how, and through which path those packets went from the DNC to the Russians to WikiLeaks. They failed to do that.  That tells me that what they are saying is a pack of crap.  They are just concocting these things to support the existing administration and to also support the move toward a new Cold War.”

US Oil Rig Count Surges As Crude Production Reaches 7-Month Highs

The last two weeks have seen dramatic rises in the US oil rig count (+21 and +12 respectively) pushing it to its highest in 11 months. US crude production is tracking the lagged rig count very closely and has surged to 7-month highs in the 2 weeks since OPEC agreed its production cut deal.

"When Gold Goes Above 1430 We Whack It"

As it goes in silver, so it goes in gold. In London at least.  In a bid to have UBS reinstated as a defendant in a London Gold Fix antitrust lawsuit, plaintiffs documents submitted to a New York Court last week include explosive chat room transcripts of UBS and traders from different banks encouraging each other to “push,” “smack,” and “whack” gold prices.

Saudis Threaten To Move Aramco IPO Elsewhere Due To "Concerns" Over Trump, Sept 11 Law

a suddenly snubbed Saudi Arabia, is reassessing its multibillion-dollar U.S. financial strategy because of shifts in the American political landscape, including whether to go elsewhere with the public stock debut of its state oil company the WSJ reports.

Offshore Yuan Crashes To Record Low

The derisking following headlines of China seizing a US underwater drone has sparked further weakness in the offshore Yuan, slamming USDCNH to record lows...

Delusional...

Hillary Tells Angry Donors She Lost Because Of Putin, Comey Letter

Hillary Clinton attempted to explain to a group of exasperated donors (in the words of a Midwestern fundraiser "I’m not putting another fucking dime in until someone tells me what just happened") why she lost. Her reasoning, echoing John Podesta's whiney op-ed (and every mainstream media narrative) is simple - it wasn't her flaws, it was FBI Director Comey and Russian President Vladimir Putin that caused her defeat.

The Oil Mystery Behind Saudi Arabia's Production Cut

Depending on one’s perspective, Saudi Arabia demonstrated its diplomatic prowess and made OPEC relevant again, succeeding in talking up oil prices without sacrificing much; or Riyadh was actually pretty desperate for higher oil prices, given the toll that the two-year bust has taken on the country’s economy. There are arguments to made for both sides, but then there is a third possibility...

Gold Spikes, Stocks Slump To Post-Fed Lows After China Seizes US Underwater Drone

As headlines about China seizing a US underwater drone make their way to the mainstream, the USDollar is tumbling (Yen is well bid) and stocks are sliding rapidly... but gold is spiking.

Trumponomics: Going for a Ride on the Trump Train

by David Haggith, The Great Recession Blog:
I’m afraid the Trump train is headed for a sharp economic curve that takes the US further away from free-market capitalism. The US already pulled out of the free-market station a long time ago, but Trumponomics moves deeply into a “mixed economy,” an economy in which government funding and private funding are married. The bankster-baron confederation in the Trump cabinet is where business and government consumate their marriage.
My pervious article about Trump’s cabinet lineup demonstrated a major economic shift forming in the presidential cabinet. This article explains what that shift means.
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U.S. SHALE GAS INDUSTRY: Countdown To Disaster

by Steve St. Angelo, SRSRocco Report:
The countdown has started as the demise of the great U.S. shale gas industry has begun. This will have a disastrous impact on the U.S. economy as shale gas production declines in a big way. Unfortunately, very few Americans understand how sickly the domestic shale gas industry truly is, because they have been brainwashed to believe the United States is heading towards energy independence.
For the U.S. to become energy independent, it would have to add at least another five million barrels per day of oil production. At the peak in February 2015, the U.S. shale oil industry produced a little more than five million barrels of oil per day. However, the real problem is not the doubling of U.S. shale oil production, rather it’s being able to make a profit in the process
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Scientists Reverse Ageing in Mammals and Predict Human Trials Within 10 years

by Sarah Knapton, The Telegraph:
An end to grey hair and crows-feet could be just 10 years away after scientists showed it is possible to reverse ageing in animals.
Using a new technique which takes adult cells back to their embryonic form, US researchers at the Salk Institute in California, showed it was possible to reverse ageing in mice, allowing the animals to not only look younger, but live for 30 per cent longer.
The technique involves stimulating four genes which are particularly active during development in the womb. It was also found to work to turn the clock back on human skin cells in the lab, making them look and behave younger.
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The Establishment’s Plan To Divide: Donald Trump, Fake News, And Russia

by Derrick Broze, Activist Post:
Since the moment the polls closed on November 8, the Western establishment media and their partners in the State and Corporate classes have been working overtime to embed another propaganda-filled narrative deep into the minds of the American public. This operation involves President-elect Donald Trump, the recent fake news meme, and Russia. The goal of the operation? To further divide the American public between Statist, establishment-worshiping minions and principled, critically thinking truth seekers. Let’s take a look at the pieces of the puzzle.
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Clinton Foundation STILL under FBI investigation

from TRU News:
A former senior law enforcement official has confirmed that the FBI instructed their New York field office to continue its corruption investigation into the Clinton Foundation post Trump victory.
Source: Instructions ordered agents to “go forward” with their ongoing inquiry into the Clinton Foundation which is focusing on issues of corruption and money laundering.
Source: “There were no instructions to shut it down, to discontinue or to stand down on the investigation, but to continue its work.”
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The War on Cash Rages On in India and Venezuela

by Jeff Berwick, The Dollar Vigilante:
Imagine you roll out of bed tomorrow to find out that US $100 and $50 bills were outlawed and deemed worthless? Hard as it is to believe, this is now taking place in both Venezuela and India.
It’s a war on cash. And it’s coming soon to your doorstep.
This past Sunday, President Maduro, the tyrannical leader of the socialist paradise of Venezuela gave a three day warning that he was eliminating his country’s 100 bolivar bank note.
The official reasoning for the removal of these bills according to President Maduro’s statement on Venezuelan state-run TV:
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Don’t Forget About Deutsche Bank – Jim Rickards

by Jim Rickards, DailyReckoning:
The banking crisis in Italy has gotten all the attention lately, but one of the biggest banks in the world is still a serious potential problem.
The bank in question is Deutsche Bank. It’s the largest bank in Germany, by far, and one of the twelve largest in the world. It is difficult to overstate the importance of Deutsche Bank not only to the global economy, but also in terms of its vast web of off-balance-sheet derivatives, guarantees, trade finance, and other financial obligations on five continents.
It’s well known that Deutsche Bank is the “sick man” of European banking.
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