Thanks To The Republican Civil War, Every Scenario Ends With Hillary Winning The Election

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2016 - 18:00
But no matter what happens on the Republican side from this point forward, it is going to take a miracle of epic proportions to keep Hillary Clinton from winning the presidency.  Every plausible scenario ends with her in the White House, and that is a truly horrible thing to imagine.

Sorry Mitt… RNC Rules State GOP Nominee Must Have Won 8 States to Be Considered Candidate at Convention

by Jim Hoft, The Gateway Pundit:

Sorry Mitt Romney–
On FOX News Sunday this morning Rush Limbaugh pointed out that even with a brokered convention the Republican nominees must have won a majority of delegates in at least 8 states.
So far only one candidate qualifies with 12 state victories – Donald Trump.
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China Trade Balance Plunges To 11-Month Lows As Exports Crash Over 25%

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2016 - 22:27 Worse than expected is an understatement. Things are not getting better in China as Exports crashed 25.4% YoY (the 3rd largest drop in history), almost double the 14.5% expectation and Imports tumbled 13.8%, the 16th month of YoY decline - the longest ever. Altogether this sent the trade surplus down to $32.6bn (missing expectations of $51bn) to 11-month lows. Stocks are mounting a modest rebound on this terrible data (moar stimulus hopes) but after $1 trillion of new credit in 2 months, is there seriously anyone left who thinks moar will help?

Just Shut Up & Vote: The Futility Of Representative Government In An Age Of Robber Barons

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2016 - 22:00 “We the people” have been utterly and completely betrayed. The politicians “we the people” most trusted to look out for our best interests, protect our rights, and ensure that the nation does not slip into tyranny have cheated on us, lied to us, swindled us, deceived us, double-crossed us, and sold us to the highest bidder. Incredibly, even in the face of their treachery and lies, the great majority of Americans persist in believing that the politicians have the people’s best interests at heart.

Helicopter Money Comes To Canada: Ontario Pledges "Basic Income Experiment"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2016 - 21:30 “The pilot would also test whether a basic income would provide a more efficient way of delivering income support, strengthen the attachment to the labour force, and achieve savings in other areas such as health care and housing supports. The government will work with communities, researchers and other stakeholders in 2016 to determine how best to implement a Basic Income pilot.”

AsiaPac Stocks Tumble After Japan GDP As China Trade Data Looms

Following a modest revision to Japanese GDP (still -1.1% and recession-y) and with all eyes glued to China's trade data, Chinese and Japanese stocks are not folowing the panic-buying short-squeeze-driven lead of US equities. Both are down hard in the early AsiaPac trading.

The Danger Of Media Blackout

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2016 - 21:00 The overall message that’s received by the Western public is essentially that there are good countries (the US, EU, and allies) and bad countries whose governments and peoples seek to destroy democracy. Western propaganda has it that these bad countries will not stop until they’ve reached your home and robbed you of all your freedoms. The view from outside this cabal is a very different one. The remainder of the world view the attacks by US-led forces (Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Somalia, Syria, etc.) as a bid for world dominance. In examining the Wolfowitz Doctrine, this would seem to be exactly correct.

Sexual Assaults Soar At Swedish Swimming Pools After Refugee Influx

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2016 - 15:40 "What the Afghans are doing is not wrong in Afghanistan, so your rules are completely alien to them... If you want to stop Afghans from molesting Swedish girls, you need to be tough on them. Making them take classes on equality and how to treat women is pointless."

China Goes Full "Minority Report", Creates "Pre-Crime" Program

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2016 - 20:31 Xi's "Tigers and Flies" campaign may have been reasonably effective when it came to rooting out corruption in the Party and the "crackdown" on "manipulators" might served to strike fear in the hearts of any Chinese who thought about shorting stocks last autumn, but that's not good enough for China. No, a true police state needs "pre-crime."

The Birthing Of Trump's America: The Swindlers Vs. The Swindled

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2016 - 20:10 The effects of all this fundamental dishonesty have thundered through our national life to the degree that American society is now divided into the swindlers and the swindled, loosing the monster of collective Id known as Trump on the public. This is what comes of attempting to divorce truth from reality, which has been the principal business of American life for several decades now. When truth and reality become de-linked, a society literally doesn’t know what it is doing.

A Modest Proposal: Gift The BLS To The Democratic National Committee Or Sell It To CNBC

by David Stockman, Contra Corner:

Yes, the BLS is now producing such a steaming pile of waste matter that it might as well be made an arm of the DNC. Or in the alternative, some of the billions that US taxpayers have wasted on it over the years might be recouped from a sale to CNBC. After all, bubblevision’s monthly cheerleading session couldn’t do without it.
In any event, once again this month the labor department bureaucrats did not go out and actually count 242,000 new jobs or even extrapolate them from a valid, scientific sample survey of the Gallup variety.
Read More…

"They Blew It All On Hookers, Blow And Fancy Toys" – Hedgie Sees Lower Oil, Soaring Gold, & QE For The People

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2016 - 20:00 "...most people simply assumed the good times would go on forever... because it was different this time. But like any uninhibited party fueled by unlimited cash, the hangover was sure to follow."

Why The Fed Will Never Normalize Rates (In 4 Simple Charts)

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2016 - 19:30 It's not the economy, it's the debt, stupid...

Goldman Gives Draghi An Ultimatum, But The ECB May Be Finally Ready To Snap

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2016 - 18:58 "The ECB needs to surprise this week, not because of markets, but because – given the trend in core inflation – the existing policy mix is behind the curve."- Goldman FX strategist Robin Brooks
"There is a refugee crisis; what could the ECB do? There is climate change; oh, the ECB needs to do something. I have the hiccups; oh, the ECB should do something ... it's crazy. I find this completely ridiculous and irresponsible. But we got ourselves into this" - ECB source.

EU, Turkey Agree To Keep Talking On Refugee Crisis, Will Reconvene Next Week

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2016 - 18:46 Alexis Tsipras is fuming. Austria is unilaterally closing the Balkan route. Merkel is shouting about the bloc's "damned duty." And Erdogan is, well... Erdogan.

12 Ways Your Tax Dollars Were Squandered In Afghanistan

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2016 - 18:31

Iran Billionaire Who Pioneered "PetroGold" Sentenced To Death

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2016 - 17:30 Two months back, in a series of lengthy exposes we profiled the ins and outs of the “petrogold” trade that allowed Iran to skirt international sanctions that froze Tehran out of the banking system by way of conduits and shady go-betweens in Turkey and Dubai. Now, the man behind the Iranian side of the sanctions end-around has been sentenced to death in his own country. Did he really embezzle nearly $3 billion? Or was his demise preordained?

Chinese Hackers Break Into NY Fed, Steal $100 Million From Bangladesh Central Bank

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2016 - 17:15 You can't make this up: Chinese hackers stole $100 million from the Bangladesh Central Bank's account at the New York Fed and then laundered it through Philippine casinos.

Mike Bloomberg Won't Run For President: "I Won't Risk Helping Trump"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2016 - 17:12 "We cannot 'make America great again' by turning our backs on the values that made us the world’s greatest nation in the first place. I love our country too much to play a role in electing a candidate who would weaken our unity and darken our future -- and so I will not enter the race for president of the United States."

Average Wall Street Bonus Drops 9%; Lowest Since 2012

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2016 - 17:03 When it comes to concerns about their professional future, few things faze Wall Streeters: mass layoffs - no big deal, someone else will hire; empty steakhouses - that's ok, Hustler Club is packed (and expense accounts are accepted just fine). But lower compensation and all hell breaks loose. Which is why quite a few hearts must have been pounding today when New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released his annual Wall Street compensation report in which we revealed that average Wall Street bonuses for 2015 will drop by a quite substantial 9% to "only" $146,200, the second consecutive year of declines, and the lowest since 2012 when average bonuses were $142,860.

S&P Panic-Bid Above 2,000 As Short-Squeeze Rip Trumps Fed's Fischer Dip

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2016 - 16:35






Your future...

One Venezuelan's Angry Rant: Six Stories From A Socialist Apocalypse

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2016 - 16:30 "It's reached the point where social media is used to discuss toilet paper strategy... The most common alternative is to shower right after going to the bathroom. The smallest denomination of money is used for toilet paper, because it's worthless."

China Is About To Unleash A Monster Housing Bubble, In Six Easy Steps

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2016 - 16:27 What is worrisome is that since this trick can be applied basically anywhere in China, it will be and the elite in Shanghai and Beijing will catch on as will tier 2-4 cities, whose governments are even more desperate to rescue the housing market. With the elite and smart money milking the existing banking system in this way and moving money out, China's 3.2 Trillion (and declining for 4 consecutive months) official reserves doesn't look all that impressive.

The Business Media Is Sounding More Socialist Every Day

Nothing can cost so dearly as free stuff.

"Alarm" Rises Among Foreign Diplomats As "Ignorant, Racist" Trump Eyes White House

Amusement. Befuddlement. Curiosity. Donald.

Ron Paul: Do We Need To "Rebuild The Military"?

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2016 - 15:10 We must adopt a policy of non-intervention and a strong defense of this country. The neocons will weaken our country and our military by promoting more war. We need to “rebuild” the military by restoring as its mission the defense of the United States, not of Washington’s overseas empire.

This Is What JPM Meant When It Said The "Market Is Trapped"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2016 - 15:07 As the dollar weakens, it supports the most beaten down, energy, sector (which has now undergoing a record short squeeze), but it ultimately will pressure the broader market lower through Tech and Momo. As Kolanovic called it: "a market trapped by the USD."

Consumer Credit Growth Weakest Since March 2013

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2016 - 15:07 Against expectations of a $17 billion surge, US consumer credit grew at just $10.5 billion - the weakest and biggest miss since March 2013. The biggest driver of this disappointment was an actual contraction in revolving credit (down $1.1 billion) for the first time since Feb 2015. This is not what The Fed demands...

"In The Last Seven Years, China Accounted For 40% Of All Global Debt Creation"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2016 - 14:48 China's velocity of money is now the lowest in the entire world, a world in which China provided 40% of the entire credit impulse since 2008: "In the last seven years, China has accounted for around ~40% of entire global incremental debt creation. Such a rapid accumulation of debt in less than a decade, when combined with the capital-intensive nature of the economy and a less sophisticated financial sector, drove China’s velocity of money to one of the lowest levels globally (~0.5x, i.e. below that of Japan)."

Dow, S&P Give Up Squeeze Gains

Only Small Caps are green now as the fallout from Fischer's inflation furore escalates...

"Peddling Hyperbole" British Business Boss Bashes Cameron's Brexit Scaremongering

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/07/2016 - 14:11 David Cameron's "Project Fear" plan to scare the British people into accepting European rule (and denying Brexit) is being exposed by more than just the usual realists (e.g. Nigel Farage). Despite dozens of self-serving military and business leaders siding with Cameron, The Telegraph reports, the head of one of the UK’s leading business groups dramatically resigned last night, accusing David Cameron of peddling "highly irresponsible" scare stories to keep Britain in the European Union.

Psychopolitics and the Fabrication of Ficticious Academic Research

from Freedom Outpost:

In the article “Psycho Politics of Forced Mental Health Screenings,” we discussed the findings of a paper entitled Political Conservatism as Motivation for Social Cognition. The authors of this paper, in a deliberate attempt to stir up discontent towards conservatism, highlighted their conclusions that conservatism is a rigid political philosophy that fears social change and justifies inequality in order to satisfy their own selfish motivations. Published by the American Psychological Association, it is without a doubt that there was an existing bias towards conservatism, and the goal of writing the paper was to destroy political opposition to a left wing agenda. The paper was published in 2003 and details all of the arguments liberals currently make about the political right. Is this a coincidence? Not likely.

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Central Bank Governors Are Liars

by Mark Nicholas, Global Research:

Central Banks are complicit in the manipulation of financial markets including stock markets, commodities, gold and currency markets, not to mention the oil and energy markets which have been the object of a carefully engineered “pump and dump” speculative onslaught.
Who controls the central banks? Monetary policy does not serve the public interest.
The article below by Washington Blog quotes three influential central bankers: Mark Carney, Meryl King and Alan Greenspan.
International terrorism is the world’s biggest threat today. It is not an imaginary threat.
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Keep the Money Game Churning!

by Gary Christenson, Gold Silver Worlds:

There is money to be made so the game must be played… It’s always “ShowTime” in the financial markets. What is the game plan?
1. Levitate the bond market. See chart below. Keep those interest rates dropping so the bond market continues its 35 year climb. Oops – $7 Trillion in bonds with negative interest rates, at last count, with more from Japan this week. Have we reached a limit? Probably not, but what could go wrong lending money to insolvent governments who guarantee they will return less than they borrowed in 10 years?
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