Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Susan Rice Ordered "Detailed Spreadsheets Of Intercepted Phone Calls" With Trump Team


"Somebody blew a hole in the wall between national security secrets and partisan politics. This was a stream of information that was supposed to be hermetically sealed from politics and the Obama administration found a way to blow a hole in that wall.  This is a leaking of signal intelligence.  That’s a felony."

Fading "The Beast"

"So far the S&P has made an all-time high at the beginning of March. Yesterday Nasdaq made a new high almost a month later. The last time we saw an S&P peak followed by a Nasdaq peak almost a month later? 2007."

Spanish Gunship Makes "Illegal Incursion" Into British Waters Off Gibraltar

A Spanish gunship has made an illegal incursion into British waters off Gibraltar amid rising Brexit tensions over the territory. The alleged incursion comes one day after Spanish foreign minister Alfonso Dastis told the UK not to "lose tempers" after the EU Brexit negotiation guidelines effectively gave Spain significant power over Gibraltar's future.

A Heightened Sense Of Vulnerability

The gap between the happy-story fantasies of easy fixes to institutionalized corruption and systemic stagnation and the fraying-rope reality is widening, straining the bonds holding the whole contraption together to the breaking point.

Watch Live: Donald Trump Hosts Town Hall With Business Leaders

Trump is hosting a town hall meeting at the White House to discuss the "American Business Climate", where dozens of high-profile CEOs will discuss business-related topics. The nearly 2 hour meeting is an "opportunity to discuss policies to create a pro-business climate with top Partnership CEOs from all industries."

US Factory Orders Rise At Fastest In 3 Years (Thanks To Global Warmongery)

Great news - US factory orders grew 7.3% YoY, the highest since July 2014, surely showing the Trumpian hope translating into economic reality? However, adjusted for non-defense and aircraft orders, year-over-year growth was just 0.3% - not exactly what the record high levels of sentiment would have hoped for.

Ralph Lauren To Close Flagship Fifth Avenue Store; Cut Jobs

The retail massacre claimed its latest victim this morning when iconic luxury retailer Ralph Lauren said it would shut its flagship Polo store on Fifth Avenue in New York City, among other office and store locations, and cut jobs as part of a cost-cutting plan.

St. Petersburg Suicide Bomber Identified As 22-Year-Old Kyrgyz Native

The Russian Investigative Committee has revealed the identity of a 22-year-old man who blew himself up in the Saint Petersburg subway on Monday, killing 14 and injuring dozens of people. The suicide bomber was revealed to be Kyrgyzstan native Akbarzhon Dzhalilov. He was born on April 1, 1995.

Hungary Passes Law Targeting Soros University

Hungarian lawmakers from Prime Minister Viktor Orba's Fidesz party approved a law that could force a university founded by financier George Soros out of the country despite a protest against the plan in Budapest and condemnation abroad.

February Trade Deficit Shrinks, Smaller Than All Estimates

The US Trade Balance shrank to $43.6 billion in February (the smallest deficit since October and smaller than all economists' estimates). Imports fell modestly (-1.8%) and exports inched higher (+0.2%) as it seems a notably weaker dollar did nothing to help. Notably US' trade deficit with China is down 4.9% on a year-to-date, year-over-year basis.

Frontrunning: April 4

  • Europe stocks rise but bond yield falls show investor caution (Reuters)
  • Danger of Sell-Off in U.S. Stocks Grows as Auto Sales Disappoint (BBG)
  • Battle Over Gorsuch Confirmation Is Set to Hit Senate Floor (WSJ)
  • U.S. business seeks action, not trade war, in Xi-Trump summit (Reuters)
  • Uncovering the Secret History of Wall Street’s Largest Oil Trade (BBG)
 
 

Futures Slide As Weak Start To Q2 Continues Amid Global Growth, Political Jitters

Global stocks were pressured by a poor start to the second quarter in the US, where carmakers reported disappointing sales data, slamming auto stocks around the globe. The selling has persisted for a second day, with Asian stocks, S&P futures fall and European shares all partially in the red today after their biggest decline in two weeks.

Dallas Mayor Pulls Support For "Massive Taxpayer Bailout" Of Police Pension

"Basically you’re paying on phantom employees, not real employees.  No business would do it this way. We cannot find another pension fund in America where someone pays into a fund based on future employees. It’s just not done and it should not start here in the State of Texas.  This is the most taxpayer unfriendly poison pill that I’ve seen in this bill.  I’m not going to swallow this pill.”

Three Precursors to the ’08 Crisis are Repeating Now

by Nomi Prins, DailyReckoning:
The biggest banks are still as dangerous as they were before the last crisis, even as they push for less regulation.
The big six banks U.S. banks are JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley. Despite their belly-aching about heinous Dodd-Frank Act regulations cramping their betting style, they have all done damn good recently.
Since Trump was elected and started talking about deregulation, the big six bank stock values have collectively skyrocketed 33.5 percent (as of March 10th). Bank of America tops that rise with an eye-popping increase of 48.8 percent in three months. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley shares shot up 36.6 percent.
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President Trump Donates First Quarter Salary To National Park Service

from True Activist:
A total of $78,333 will be donated to the National Park Service, every penny that’s been earned since he was inaugurated on January 20, 2017.
Before business tycoon Donald Trump was elected as President of the United States, he promised to donate every cent of his $400,000 annual salary. At a town-hall meeting in 2015, he declared “That’s no big deal for me.” That’s because Trump made a fortune in real estate before running for political office.
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The Balance of Gold and Silver – Keith Weiner

by Keith Weiner, Sprott Money:
Last week, we discussed the growing stress in the credit markets. We noted this is a reason to buy gold, and likely the reason why gold buying has ticked up since just before Christmas.
Many people live in countries where another paper scrip is declared to be money—to picture the absurdity, just imagine a king declaring that the tide must roll back and not get his feet wet when his throne is placed on the beach—not real money like the US dollar. It should be obvious, but we have seen much disinformation out there promoting the idea that the dollar is collapsing. Most of the time, most of these people buy dollars as the escape hatch from their native currencies.
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German and Swiss Precious Metals Refiners Join Forces as Heraeus Acquires Argor-Heraeus

by Ronan Manly, BullionStar:
German precious metals group Heraeus Precious Metals (HPM), part of the Heraeus industrial group, has just announced the full acquisition of Swiss precious metals refining group Argor-Heraeus. Heraeus is headquartered in Hanau, just outside Frankfurt. Argor-Heraeus is headquartered in Mendrisio in the Swiss Canton of Ticino, beside the Italian border.
The Heraeus takeover announcement, on 3 April 2017, continues a noticeable acquisition trend in the Swiss precious metals refining sector and follows the July 2016 acquisition of Neuchâtel based Metalor Technologies by Japanese Tanaka Precious Metals, and the takeover of Ticino-based Swiss gold and silver refiner Valcambi by Indian group Rajesh Exports in July 2015. The Heraeus press release from Monday 3 April can be read here in English.
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The Real Russiagate: Obama’s Stasi State — Michael Hudson and Paul Craig Roberts

by Paul Craig Roberts, Paul Craig Roberts:
Mike Whitney has written an excellent expose of the “Russiagate” cover story for Obama’s political use of national security to help his party oppose Republicans. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/46775.htm
Covert surveillance of politicians on Obama’s Nixon-like “Enemies List” has been going on for many years, but is only now being unmasked as a result of the failure of Obama’s cover story–“We weren’t spying on political opponents; only on Russians to protect America.”
The presstitute media has passed on the cover story authored by former Obama-administration officials led by CIA director John Brennan, FBI director James Comey, the DNC, and Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff. The loose ends in this cover-up have now been so widely exposed as hearsay and political that only 13% of Republicans believe the fact-free story – but 67% of Democrats cling to it.
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The Comex Is The World’s Most Corrupted Market

by Dave Kranzler, Investment Research Dynamics:
While no additional silver was put on deposit at the Comex during the [past] week, The Banks sold contracts for 120MM oz. This is fraud. [email protected] MetalsReport
If you were to poll the public about comparing the investment returns between gold, silver and stocks during the first quarter of 2017, it’s highly probable that the majority of the populace would respond that the S&P 500 outperformed the precious metals. That’s a result of the mainstream media’s unwillingness to report on the precious metals market other than to disparage it as an investment.
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Official Numbers Hide Sagging Prices in Miami’s Epic Condo Glut

by Wolf Richter, Wolf Street:
Granular data shoes why numbers on the surface don’t add up.
Condo sales in Miami-Dade County have plunged. Condos on the market have surged. Supply has hit 14 months. Developers are sitting on completed units they can’t sell, and months’ supply in their projects has reached several years.
With this kind of supply-and-demand imbalance – sales down 25% from February 2014, inventory up 90% since early 2013 – you’d expect prices to head south. But the median price of condos in February, according to the Miami Association of Realtors, increased 6.3% year-over-year. This is the mystery we’ll shed some light on (chart by StatFunding):
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Venezuela’s Money Supply Soars By A Record 200%

from ZeroHedge:
Two weeks ago, Reuters reported that due to “unexplained” reasons, the Venezuela central bank had stopped publishing its M2, or money supply, data. The M2 money supply was up by nearly 180% in mid-February from a year earlier, according to the central bank before it halted the release of the weekly data without explanation in February.
“If they are not publishing, you know it must be skyrocketing,” Aurelio Concheso, director of the Caracas-based business consultancy Aspen Consulting, stated the obvious. The central bank and ministry of communications did not respond to a request for comment, Reuters adds.
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OPEN INTEREST IN SILVER RISES AGAIN TO 216,000 PLUS CONTRACTS AND WE ARE ONLY 7,000 CONTRACTS AWAY FROM RECORD TERRITORY

HUGE DEPOSIT OF 4.45 TONNES OF GOLD INTO THE GLD/GOLD UP $3.50 BUT SILVER DOWN BY 4 CENTS
from Harvey Organ:
HUGE BOMB BLAST IN ST PETERSBURG TRAIN STATION/MOSCOW AND BEIJING JOIN FORCES BYPASSING THE USA DOLLAR AS THEY ARE TAKING STEPS TO HAVE A GOLD BACKED CURRENCY/SUSAN RICE HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED AS THE AGENT WHO “UNMASKED” TRUMP TRANSITION TEAM”/SPICER CALLS THIS DEVELOPMENT TROUBLING/USA PMI TUMBLES/SO DOES ALL AUTO SALES FOR MARCH
In silver, the total open interest ROSE BY ANOTHER UNBELIEVABLE 4850 contracts UP to 216,372 DESPITE THE SMALL RISE IN PRICE ( 5 CENTS) WITH RESPECT TO FRIDAY’S TRADING. THE HEDGE FUNDS (MANAGED MONEY) CONTINUES TO HASTILY ADD TO THEIR POSITIONS WITH THE BANKERS TRYING TO COVER THEIR EVER BURGEONING SHORTS (OVER 555 MILLION OZ) BUT TO NO AVAIL. In ounces, the OI is still represented by just OVER 1 BILLION oz i.e. 1.082 BILLION TO BE EXACT or 154% of annual global silver production (ex Russia & ex China).
FOR THE NEW FRONT MARCH MONTH: THEY FILED: 0 NOTICE(S) FOR NIL OZ OF SILVER
In gold, the total comex gold also ROSE BY 2661 contracts WITH THE RISE IN THE PRICE OF GOLD ($2.30 with FRIDAY’S TRADING). The total gold OI stands at 417,554 contracts.
Read More @ Harveyorganblog.com

2,070 Refugees Arrived in U.S. in March; 54% Drop From February

by Patrick Goodenough, CNSnews:
The number of refugees admitted to the United States dropped in March to its lowest monthly tally of the current fiscal year, even as the implementation of President Trump’s latest immigration executive order continues to be held up by federal courts.
In a continuing declining trend, 2,070 refugees arrived during March, an approximately 54.79 percent drop from the 4,579 recorded in February, according to State Department Refugee Processing Center data.
The number has steadily declined in FY 2017, from 9,945 refugees admitted to the U.S. last October, to 8,355 in November, 7,371 in December and 6,777 in January.
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