Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/22/2015 - 20:05
As if further proof were needed Orwell’s dystopia is now upon us, China has now gamified obedience to the State. Going under the innocuous name of ‘Sesame Credit,’ China has created a score for how good a citizen you are,
Something Just Snapped In China
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/22/2015 - 22:38 While Sweden is over-flowing with excess cash on bank balance sheets, it appears that banks in Hong Kong are desperate to borrow Yuan (or scared to lend) as overnight HIBOR just exploded higher to 9.45% - a record for the interbank offered rate. The HKD and CNY/CNH FX markets remain relatively stable (with Yuan fixed marginally higher again for the 3rd day). The last time 1-week HIBOR rates spiked like this, US equity markets crashed on Black Monday.
Christmas 2015: Will Syria & Iraq Become Washington's Stalingrad?
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/22/2015 - 22:35 "I hope I'm wrong but I fear Washington is trying to provoke a war in the Middle East to cover the coming collapse of the Petrodollar system and the American economy when the dollar is no longer the world reserve currency. The war is necessary to blame the coming dollar and debt collapse on Russia and China rather where it belongs on Wall Street, the central banking cartel and Washington political establishment. Remember while a Washington provoked war or conflict is likely to start in the Shia Crescent; it could spread across the Middle East and into Europe."
How Would World Markets Respond To 4% Chinese GDP Growth? UBS Explains "The Dragon's Tail"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/22/2015 - 22:10 "The most important channel through which the Dragon's Tail scenario can affect other markets is trade, although financial linkages and market contagion could also have a significant impact on some markets and asset prices."
Foursquare Is Now Twosquare: Latest Tech Bubble Casualty Has Valuation Slashed By 60%
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/22/2015 - 21:18 The latest semi-unicorn to drop like a fly was none other than Foursquare, a company which makes apps that do something that most other apps already do as well if not better. Actually make that Twosquare, or rather Oneandathirdsquare, because according to ReCode, the company is close to finalizing a funding round that will see the company's value plunge to $250 million, almost two-thirds less than the $650 million it was "valued" at two years ago.
by Michael Snyder, End of the American Dream:
If there were no presents at all, would you still want to celebrate Christmas? 100 years ago, a little seven-year-old boy named Homer Mellen sent Santa Claus a letter asking for “a box of paints, also a nine cent reader, and a school bag to put them in.” And he added that if Santa happened to have “any nuts, or candy, or toys to spare” that he would love to have some. My, how times have changed. Today, nearly all of us expect to be showered with presents on Christmas morning, and then almost immediately people begin posting photos of their “Christmas loot” on social media websites such as Facebook. And as you will see below, the “Rich Kids of Instagram” have taken boasting about wealth to an extreme that nobody has ever seen before. Our society has become deeply, deeply materialistic, and whatever “meaning” Christmas once may have had has become almost completely lost at this point.
Read More…
If there were no presents at all, would you still want to celebrate Christmas? 100 years ago, a little seven-year-old boy named Homer Mellen sent Santa Claus a letter asking for “a box of paints, also a nine cent reader, and a school bag to put them in.” And he added that if Santa happened to have “any nuts, or candy, or toys to spare” that he would love to have some. My, how times have changed. Today, nearly all of us expect to be showered with presents on Christmas morning, and then almost immediately people begin posting photos of their “Christmas loot” on social media websites such as Facebook. And as you will see below, the “Rich Kids of Instagram” have taken boasting about wealth to an extreme that nobody has ever seen before. Our society has become deeply, deeply materialistic, and whatever “meaning” Christmas once may have had has become almost completely lost at this point.
Read More…
Equity Markets Will Be Increasingly Accident Prone In 2016
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/22/2015 - 20:55 Having anticipated 2015 as the starting point to a turn in volatility for the last two years, BofAML warns that from here on, based on the 'Economics of Volatility framework', they expect to see a rising trend in equity volatility levels, a trend that could last 1-2 years, transporting us from the low volatility regime of the last 3 years towards a sustained high volatility regime.The World Economy Explained With Two Cows: New Normal Edition
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/22/2015 - 20:30 'Keep It Simple Stupid' is the underlying narrative of the "two cows explain economics" meme... but, in light of the 'new normal' reality unleashed by ever-intervening central planners, some of the key political, economic, and corporate systems needed a re-work...Beneath The Market's "Shallow" Surface, An Ugly Picture Emerges
Do you still believe in market Christmas miracles?Six Signs That 2016 Will Be Much Worse Than 2015
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/22/2015 - 18:25 2015 has witnessed several events that had, and will have, negative repercussions on individual freedom. Orwellian totalitarianism is increasingly creeping into our everyday lives. How much more intrusive will the violations of our liberties become and for how long will the establishment get away with this? With regards to the financial system, no real solution was found to issues such as those in the euro zone. Furthermore, the financial system as a whole once again got deeper into debt. For how much longer can central banks and governments continue kicking the can down the road without any real reform?
It doesn’t look as though investors will get much Christmas cheer in their stockings this year. Last Wednesday, the Fed raised interest rates – as expected – by a token amount…
At first, there was a little rally in stocks. But in the two trading days thereafter, the Dow lost 621 points. Trading will be thin this week, as the big day approaches and more and more people turn from Mr. Scrooge investors into Mr. Fezziwig revelers.
But on Monday morning, the Japanese stock market sold off – a bad start to what could be a bad day… a bad week… and a bad year.
Read More…
from FinancialSurvivalNetwork.com:
John Rubino writes, “Sometimes one big event dominates the landscape, like last week when the Fed raised interest rates. Other times a bunch of less-universally-significant-things add up to a meaningful story. And the story that follows here is, of course (given the venue), ominous.
First up is the much-discussed US$9 trillion that developing countries borrowed back when the dollar was weak and their currencies were relatively strong. Pundits have been warning that with the dollar soaring this debt was largely underwater and therefore a threat. But as far as anyone could tell it wasn’t blowing anything up.
Then on Friday a big Mexican construction company ICA has defaulted.” Listen on to hear more about those dominoes.
Click Here to Listen
John Rubino writes, “Sometimes one big event dominates the landscape, like last week when the Fed raised interest rates. Other times a bunch of less-universally-significant-things add up to a meaningful story. And the story that follows here is, of course (given the venue), ominous.
First up is the much-discussed US$9 trillion that developing countries borrowed back when the dollar was weak and their currencies were relatively strong. Pundits have been warning that with the dollar soaring this debt was largely underwater and therefore a threat. But as far as anyone could tell it wasn’t blowing anything up.
Then on Friday a big Mexican construction company ICA has defaulted.” Listen on to hear more about those dominoes.
Click Here to Listen
by Gary Christenson, via Gold Silver Worlds:
The Fed finally acted this week – upping its benchmark Federal Funds rate by 0.25%. Now that the speculation over whether the Fed will hike has been put to rest, analysts are busily speculating about what the Fed’s move means for the economy and markets.
Many of these speculations are unfounded. It’s time to bust some silly myths.
Much of what’s spewed out in the financial media concerning interest rates is flat-out wrong, especially when it comes to their impact on precious metals markets. Since gold and silver are small markets compared to bonds and equities, some “analysts” apparently think they don’t need to do actual research on precious metals markets before commenting on them. It’s easier to regurgitate oft-repeated myths about rising rates being bad for gold than it is to actually check the data.
Read More
The Fed finally acted this week – upping its benchmark Federal Funds rate by 0.25%. Now that the speculation over whether the Fed will hike has been put to rest, analysts are busily speculating about what the Fed’s move means for the economy and markets.
Many of these speculations are unfounded. It’s time to bust some silly myths.
Much of what’s spewed out in the financial media concerning interest rates is flat-out wrong, especially when it comes to their impact on precious metals markets. Since gold and silver are small markets compared to bonds and equities, some “analysts” apparently think they don’t need to do actual research on precious metals markets before commenting on them. It’s easier to regurgitate oft-repeated myths about rising rates being bad for gold than it is to actually check the data.
Read More
from Ready Nutrition:
It’s no secret that preppers don’t trust the government. And it’s not just because we think they’re up to some nefarious shenanigans. We also know that the government is often inept, and can’t be trusted to take care of us in an emergency. Many of us wouldn’t be preppers in the first place if this weren’t true.
However, you have to give credit where credit is due, and for once, it seems like the government deserves a little recognition. The Pentagon has just revealed their plan for dealing with cyber attacks that might take down our nation’s power grid. At first glance it appears to be pretty solid, and I give them kudos for at least trying to shore up a serious risk. As you’ll see however, this plan has a few holes in it.
Read More
It’s no secret that preppers don’t trust the government. And it’s not just because we think they’re up to some nefarious shenanigans. We also know that the government is often inept, and can’t be trusted to take care of us in an emergency. Many of us wouldn’t be preppers in the first place if this weren’t true.
However, you have to give credit where credit is due, and for once, it seems like the government deserves a little recognition. The Pentagon has just revealed their plan for dealing with cyber attacks that might take down our nation’s power grid. At first glance it appears to be pretty solid, and I give them kudos for at least trying to shore up a serious risk. As you’ll see however, this plan has a few holes in it.
Read More
by J.D. Heyes, Natural News:
There is growing alarm among defense planners about the uptick in nuclear weapons development taking place among the various great powers, including the United States, Russia, India and China, as well as lesser powers like North Korea and Pakistan. Missile defense is, in part, to some degree designed to mitigate the threat of a nuclear attack via ICBM.
But the Pentagon is dreadfully unprepared for the fallout from an electromagnetic pulse, generated either from a nuclear explosion over our country, or from an EMP created by a giant solar flare, for which there is no defense, the UK’s Daily Mail reported.
Read More
There is growing alarm among defense planners about the uptick in nuclear weapons development taking place among the various great powers, including the United States, Russia, India and China, as well as lesser powers like North Korea and Pakistan. Missile defense is, in part, to some degree designed to mitigate the threat of a nuclear attack via ICBM.
But the Pentagon is dreadfully unprepared for the fallout from an electromagnetic pulse, generated either from a nuclear explosion over our country, or from an EMP created by a giant solar flare, for which there is no defense, the UK’s Daily Mail reported.
Read More
by Andy Hoffman, Miles Franklin:
Where to start, on this penultimate Tuesday of the year? And by the
way, next week I’ll be unveiling my 2015 wrap-up, and 2016 predictions,
which should be great fun.
I could easily write a small novella about Sunday’s historic Spanish elections – a mere two weeks after equally historic French elections; in both cases, for the first time in decades, breaking up Europe’s equivalent of America’s dysfunctional “two-party system” – as angry socialists, secessionists, anti-Euro, and anti-austerity factions consume the imploding European continent.
Read More
Where to start, on this penultimate Tuesday of the year? And by the
way, next week I’ll be unveiling my 2015 wrap-up, and 2016 predictions,
which should be great fun.I could easily write a small novella about Sunday’s historic Spanish elections – a mere two weeks after equally historic French elections; in both cases, for the first time in decades, breaking up Europe’s equivalent of America’s dysfunctional “two-party system” – as angry socialists, secessionists, anti-Euro, and anti-austerity factions consume the imploding European continent.
Read More
from Paul Craig Roberts:
Donald Trump, judging by polls as of December 21, 2015, is the most likely candidate to be the next president of the US.
Trump is popular not so much for his stance on issues as for the fact that he is not another Washington politican, and he is respected for not backing down and apologizing when he makes strong statements for which he is criticized. What people see in Trump is strength and leadership. This is what is unusual about a political candidate, and it is this strength to which voters are responding.
The corrupt American political establishment has issued a “get Trump” command to its presstitute media.
Read More
Donald Trump, judging by polls as of December 21, 2015, is the most likely candidate to be the next president of the US.
Trump is popular not so much for his stance on issues as for the fact that he is not another Washington politican, and he is respected for not backing down and apologizing when he makes strong statements for which he is criticized. What people see in Trump is strength and leadership. This is what is unusual about a political candidate, and it is this strength to which voters are responding.
The corrupt American political establishment has issued a “get Trump” command to its presstitute media.
Read More
by Jeremiah Johnson, SHTFPlan:
Speaking before a crowd Pope Francis has made a frightening prediction. With wars raging the world over this may be our last Christmas.
In their book Petrus Romanus authors Tom Horn and Cris Putnam made two startling predictions. In 2012, while Pope Benedict was still in office, they predicted the occurrence of an event that had not happened for over 600 years – Benedict’s abdication of the Papacy. When Pope Benedict resigned early the following year it came as a total shock to the one billion Catholics worldwide. The two researchers, who jokingly say their inspiration was the Holy Spirit, have remained tight-lipped about how they were able to forecast an almost unprecedented event so accurately.
Read More
Speaking before a crowd Pope Francis has made a frightening prediction. With wars raging the world over this may be our last Christmas.
In their book Petrus Romanus authors Tom Horn and Cris Putnam made two startling predictions. In 2012, while Pope Benedict was still in office, they predicted the occurrence of an event that had not happened for over 600 years – Benedict’s abdication of the Papacy. When Pope Benedict resigned early the following year it came as a total shock to the one billion Catholics worldwide. The two researchers, who jokingly say their inspiration was the Holy Spirit, have remained tight-lipped about how they were able to forecast an almost unprecedented event so accurately.
Read More
by Ron Paul, GoldSeek:
When I predicted the economic apocalypse would begin for the US this month, I said the stock market would rise euphorically after the Fed raised its interest target. Rise it did. Steeply, too. I also said it would fall shortly after. Fall it did. Quickly, too. Now I’m saying the Epocalypse is here.
Just as I stated that “the rate at which the market goes up now is a measurement of pure euphoria,” by the same token, how quickly that euphoria falls off indicates just how far down the downside is. If you have ever floated in the ocean and felt yourself unexpectedly drop way down with the water, you know that means a huge wave is coming up right behind you.
Read More
When I predicted the economic apocalypse would begin for the US this month, I said the stock market would rise euphorically after the Fed raised its interest target. Rise it did. Steeply, too. I also said it would fall shortly after. Fall it did. Quickly, too. Now I’m saying the Epocalypse is here.
Just as I stated that “the rate at which the market goes up now is a measurement of pure euphoria,” by the same token, how quickly that euphoria falls off indicates just how far down the downside is. If you have ever floated in the ocean and felt yourself unexpectedly drop way down with the water, you know that means a huge wave is coming up right behind you.
Read More
Seymour Hersh Bombshell: US Military Shared Intelligence With Assad In Defiance Of Obama, CIA
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/22/2015 - 14:15 In a shocking new report, Seymour Hersh reveals what he says was a covert operation run by the Joint Chiefs of Staff who sought to undermine the Obama administration and the CIA's goal of overthrowing the Assad regime in Syria. "If the American public saw the intelligence we were producing daily, at the most sensitive level, they would go ballistic."
Commerce Department Releases Consumer Spending Data Early - Worst YoY Growth Since May 2013
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/22/2015 - 19:43 In yet another government SNAFU, the US commerce department has released spending data prematurely. Instead of tomorrow morning, its website released the data at 1923ET.. and it is not good. Despite a 0.3% rise in November, thanks to downward revisions, the YoY growth in Spending was just 2.9%. May 2013 was the last time YoY growth was weaker than this and corresponds with spending weakness seen in each of the last 3 recessions.
Chinese Executive Who Was Once Kidnapped By Angry Investors Disappears
Back in August, angry investors captured Shan Jiuliang, the head of Fanya Metals Exchange, in a daring predawn raid on a luxury hotel in Shanghai. The citizen's arrest came after Fanya stopped making payments on WMPs it issued. Now, it appears as though Shan has been captured again - only this time, it's not clear whether he'll be coming back.Increasingly Durable Correlations
There are a few correlations that we find particularly compelling...
"Canadians Should Be Concerned" As Energy Sector Job Losses Spike To 100,000 This Year
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/22/2015 - 18:50 It's grim up north... and getting grimmer. Amid soaring suicide rates, Canada's once-booming oil patch is rapidly accelerating its downward trajectory. "Canadians should be concerned in times like these," warned Tim McMillan, president and chief executive of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, noting that the oil and gas sector will see 100,000 job losses by the end of this year. Apart from the protracted price declines, Alberta’s oil and gas sector has also had to contend with a 20 per cent hike in corporate taxes, increased provincial royalties, a carbon tax and new regulatory policies to limit rein in carbon emissions... and now a new competitot from US exports.
9 Of The Top 10 U.S. Occupations Pay Miserly Wages
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/22/2015 - 18:08 The 10 largest occupations include retail salespersons and cashiers, food preparation and serving workers, general office clerks, registered nurses, customer service representatives, and waiters and waitresses. That combined group of workers accounted for 21 percent of total U.S. employment in May 2014. Only one - registered nurse - makes more than the national average when it comes to all U.S. jobs.
"When Is The Crash Going To Happen?" - Mark Spitznagel Revisits "The Ticking Time Bomb"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/22/2015 - 17:35 Timing a crash can be a fool's errand, and fortunately such efforts are largely irrelevant if you are tail hedging (though they are quite relevant if you aren't). But this doesn't mean that exercises in timing are without merit. Without a doubt (or at least with over 99% confidence), bad things happen with increasing expectation when conditioning on higher Q ratios ex ante. Factoring time into the equation, and again based on history, the confidence interval around the median time would point to an expectation that the crash should commence right about now.
Meanwhile, In Hawaii...
From the fringe, for birdie...
Crude Extends Gains After API Reports Unexpectedly Large Inventory Draw
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/22/2015 - 16:59 Following last week's huge build reported by DOE, crude inventories reported by API tonight dropped 3.6 million barrels (drastically different from the 2.3mm build expected). WTI is rallying on the news, despite a 1.5 million barrel build at Cushing (up notably from last week's 847k) - the 7th weekly build in a row.
At 108 US Colleges, More Than Half Of Students Haven't Paid Even $1 On Their Student Loans
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/22/2015 - 16:44 At 108 four-year colleges, at least half of all students hadn’t paid even $1 of what they owe within three years of leaving college. Those colleges got more than $10 billion in federal student loans and grants last year.'Terrorists' Almost Spoil Traders' "Dash-For-Trash" As Volume Disappears
Keep the Sheeplez sacred...
NYC Has Received A "Credible Threat" Days Ahead Of Christmas, PIX11 Reports
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/22/2015 - 15:48 Update: just minutes after the WPIX report, the WNBC chief investigative reporter Jonathan Dienst said that there is no new specific threat to New York City.A “credible threat” has been lodged against New York City, days ahead of Christmas and during an especially busy time of the year when tourists flock to the Big Apple, law enforcement sources told PIX11 News Tuesday.
Trump Promises Not To Assassinate Journalists, Says "Schlonged" Hillary Clinton's Bathroom Run Was "Disgusting"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/22/2015 - 16:16 "These people, I hate some of these people. But I would never kill them."“I know where she went. It’s disgusting. I don’t want to talk about it. It’s disgusting."
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