An Exasperated John Kerry Throws In Towel On Syria: "What Do You Want Me To Do, Go To War With The Russians?!"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/07/2016 - 09:48

The American Dream Is Dead (And Now Even The Mainstream Media Is Starting To Admit It)

Are you living “the American Dream”?  If so, you should consider yourself to be very fortunate, because most Americans are not.

Morgan Stanley: "We Struggle To Remember When Bearish Sentiment Was As Widespread As Today"

"... the growing perception that central banks are moving away from QE-style programmes to negative interest rates is less supportive for equities, in our opinion. With little evidence so far that negative rates boost aggregate economic activity, the risk is that this policy tool increasingly resembles a more blatant form of 'beggar thy neighbour' currency devaluation. A shift towards a more nationalistic and perhaps less coordinated global policy response could signal a quickening in the pace of fiat currency debasement and augurs badly for risk appetite, in our view."

The Number Everyone's Been Waiting For: Chinese Reserves Plunge By $100BN - What Does It Mean For Markets?

As it stands now what is really happening with the biggest risk factor to commodity, credit and capital markets, remains a mystery, and instead of getting some much needed clarity from China's January reserve number, the world's traders and investors will now have to wait for the February reserve update one month from now to learn if China has managed to slay its capital outflow demons, or if these were just getting started.

Is This How The Smart Money Is Betting On A Market Crash?

Instead of allocating capital to expensive tail risk bets on direct asset class collapse (in equities, credit, and commodities), it appears, just as we detailed previously, the 'smartest money in the room' is "betting" indirectly on a stock market crash through eurodollar options.

This Is What Hillary Told Wall Street Behind Closed Doors

“It was like, ‘Here’s someone who doesn’t want to vilify us but wants to get business back in the game’”...

SYRIAN ENDGAME: SAUDI ARABIA AND TURKEY POISED TO INVADE?

from The Daily Sheeple:

As we speak, the most decisive battle in the Syrian Civil War is being waged, and it’s a make or break moment for the Assad regime, and for Putin. Forces allied with the Syrian Army such as Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, have surrounded Aleppo, a hotly contested rebel stronghold and previously the largest city in the country. Thousands of civilians are fleeing the city en masse as these forces close in, while the Russian Air Force pummels the area day and night.
If the Syrian government takes the city back, it will be a devastating blow for any rebel forces in the country, ISIS or otherwise. It will be marked in history as a major turning point for Assad and the Kremlin, and a massive rebuke to the demands of the United States and her allies.
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Are You Prepared to Survive in the Wilderness Alone? “Natural Shelter, Blend In”

by Mac Slavo, SHTFPlan:

What would you do if circumstances forced you into the woods alone, with little or no provisions?
Are you prepared to handle these scenarios? What if the SHTF and you must run?
These videos show how you can quickly build reliable shelter, even by yourself with no supplies or equipment.
Yes, they are crude, but with skill and preparation, they can withstand extreme weather and provide a base camp that will support survival in many situations.
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Iran wants to dump dollar in crude trade – report

from RT:

Iran wants post-sanctions’ oil contracts denominated in dollars and have buyers pay in euros, Reuters reported. Tehran is also keen to receive money owed to it since the pre-sanctions days in the European currency.
The country’s crude deliveries are to be restored soon, with companies such as the French giant Total, Spanish refiner Cepsa and Litasco and the trading arm of Russia’s Lukoil already holding contracts. Reuters source at state-owned National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) told the agency that Tehran wants to receive payment in euros.
In our invoices we mention a clause that buyers of our oil will have to pay in euros, considering the exchange rate versus the dollar around the time of delivery,” the source said.
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Four Things that Keep Spain’s Senior Bankers Awake at Night

from Wolf Street:

Despite reporting reasonably solid-looking annual results last year, Spain’s banking sector continues to bleed on the benchmark index, the Ibex 35. In the last 12 months alone, it has lost over a fifth of its combined share value — €40 billion of stock value that just vanished into the ether!
In recent days the shares of Spain’s biggest bank and only “systemically important financial institution” (i.e. officially ordained Too-Big-to-Fail bank), Grupo Santander, have plumbed lows that have not been seen since the mid-nineties.
A not inconsiderable part of this ugly picture is owed to deteriorating global macroeconomic conditions, in particular the slowdown of China and key markets in Latin America as well as Italy’s recent bail-in/out of its financial sector [read: Who Gets to Pay for the Italian Banking Crisis?].
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The U.S.’s Missing Minority

by Jeff Nielson, Bullion Bulls Canada:
In some recent mainstream media news we were given two pieces of information. One piece of information was (reluctantly) supplied on purpose. But the second piece of information was hidden from us, to the greatest degree possible.
The first piece of information is that more than 60% of Americans don’t believe that EITHER half of the Two-Party Dictatorship cares about the Middle Class. Quelle surprise!! As the chart below shows; the U.S. Middle Class is literally an “endangered species.”
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Chinese Companies are Making Toxic Rice Out of Plastic

by Sarah Landers, Natural News:
China is mass producing plastic rice – and it causes some very serious health problems. China’s Wuchang rice is extremely popular and well-known due to its fragrant smell and distinct taste – costing almost double the price of normal rice.
With the demand for Wuchang rice so high, companies have start to exploit the opportunity and create fake rice which they sell for the same high price.
It is thought that China has been producing this fake “Wuchang rice” for at least four years, recreating the popular product using potatoes, sweet potatoes and some poisonous plastic for good measure. It looks just the same as the real deal in terms of shape and size; however, the plastic remains hard after cooking and is seriously bad for your health.
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China’s $6.6 Trillion Toxic Loan Problem

by MN Gordon, Acting-Man.com:
Rotting Vegetables
“As long as you’re green, you’re growing. As soon as you’re ripe, you start to rot,” once remarked Ray Kroc, mastermind of the McDonald’s franchise empire. At the moment, no truer words can be spoken for China’s ripe economy. The Middle Kingdom’s 30-year economic boom is being overcome with the unpleasant odor that befalls rotting vegetables. What’s more, there’s no way to reverse it. Economic activity in China is stalling out. All of the sudden, the mistakes that were hidden by a growing economy are surfacing en masse. Excess capacity is turning up in all corners of the economy and no one knows what to do about it.
Each day, it seems, new rot comes to bear upon Beijing’s central planners. Somehow the miracle workers have lost their hot hand. A slowing economy, falling stock market, exodus of wealth, and weakening currency are not conforming to the graphs and statistics reported in the latest blueprint for the planned economy.
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