FOMC Preview: The Fed Is "Scared To Death" & "The Knock-On Effects Could Be Spectacular"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/27/2016 - 11:41
Federal Reserve officials are virtually certain to hold interest rates steady when their meeting ends today but they could try to send a message to markets and outside observers about what likely comes next. With no press conference scheduled after this week’s meeting and no new economic forecasts to be released, all the attention will be focused on their words and the market is more aware than ever that the Fed doesn’t act in a vacuum. As Bloomberg's Richard Breslow notes, The Fed is hopeful (that their always-wrong forecasts come true this time) but they're also scared to death on the consequences.

Former House Speaker And "Serial Child Molester" Dennis Hastert Sentenced To 15 Months In Prison

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/27/2016 - 13:30 Moments ago, former House Speaker Dennis Hastert was sentenced to 15 months in prison in his hush-money case by a judge who called him a "serial child molester" and ordered him to enroll in a sex-offender treatment program. As NBC reports, Hastert, 74, was accused of abusing four boys between the ages of 14 and 17 when he was a coach at Yorkville High School decades ago. While he was not charged with any sexual crimes because of the statute of limitations, but he pleaded guilty to making illegal cash withdrawals to pay off one of his accusers.

Business "Subsidies" Plummet 70% As Government Support Evaporates

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/27/2016 - 13:40 In order to attract and retain small and big business alike, it's long been a tactic by states and local governments to offer tax breaks. However, as times have got tough - and rules have changed - in Obama's "recovery", government subsidies to their cronies - of at least $50 million - have plummeted by 70% Bloomberg reports.

Gold More Productive Than Cash?!

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/27/2016 - 13:20 Is gold, often scoffed at as being an unproductive asset, more productive than cash? If so, what does it mean for asset allocation?

A Major Warning From Tom McClellan : "Can This Possibly End Well?"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/27/2016 - 13:12 "VIX futures ETF extremely popular now. Can this possibly end well?" - Tom McClellan

More Than Half Of Americans Agree With Trump: The Presidential Nominating System Is "Rigged"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/27/2016 - 10:59 For the past two weeks, Donald Trump has been on a tear, raging at how rigged the US presidential nominating system is. This is not a surprise to our readers: just two weeks ago we posted an article "The Year Americans Found Out Their Elections Are Rigged" which promptly went viral. And, judging by the Reuters/Ipsos poll, more than half of America agrees with Trump that the system U.S. political parties use to pick their candidates for the White House is "rigged" while more than two-thirds want to see the process changed.

Oil Algos Panic-Buy "Supply-Glut-Reported" Dip

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/27/2016 - 13:12 Forget DOE data, it's time to buy ahead of The Fed!!

Dead Body Found At Apple's Cupertino Headquarters

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/27/2016 - 13:00 Deputies were called to the company's corporate headquarters on Wednesday morning after a person was found dead, but only few details were immediately available. Multiple police vehicles could be seen at the campus.

Watch Live: Donald Trump's Teleprompted Foreign Policy Speech

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/27/2016 - 12:41 In what will be a closely watched and even more scrutinized speech, today at noon Donald J. Trump will hold a speech on foreign policy at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC.  In the speech Trump is poised to demonstrate just how "presidential" he can be, because as Reuters notes , "he is expected to set aside his bad-boy antics and, with the help of a teleprompter to keep him on message, outline what his foreign policies would be if he is elected U.S. president."

The "World's Biggest Short Squeeze" Has Spread From ETFs To Stocks

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/27/2016 - 12:38 Courtesy of the latest report by JPM's Prime Brokerage, we now know two reasons why there was such a large move in April. Hedge funds accelerated the pace of ETF covering, only this time single stock names have also joined the party. In other words, ETF covering is removing hedges, and single stock covering is getting HF's into a net long position.

"Hold Onto Your Hats": A Chinese Commodity Is Now The Most Traded In The World, Surpassing Oil

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/27/2016 - 12:18 Trading volumes in Chinese exchanges spiked exponentially, with SHFE rebar and DCE iron ore futures becoming the No.1 and No.3 most-traded contracts in the world, surpassing volumes of ICE Brent and NYMEX WTI contracts, which have been the most widely-traded and liquid contracts for three decades.

Where It All Went Wrong

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/27/2016 - 11:22 The recovery was always hollow or shallow, for a short time in 2014 it just came in a more appealing package; so appealing, the mainstream never looked beyond that cover. With 2015 a wreck and 2016 looking at best more of the same, they just keep right on reciting all the past cliches because to admit the actual circumstances is just too traumatic. 

Crude Plunges After DOE Reports Big Build

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/27/2016 - 10:36 Following last night's surprise inventory draw (1.1m via API), WTI soared above the week's high holding $45 into this morning's DOE data which was dramatically different. Instead of a draw, DOE reported a bigger-than-expected 2.00m build along with a major build at Cushing and Gasoline stocks also rose. Despite a small drop in production, WTI prices are plunging, erasing the hope-driven API ramp.

America's Entitled (And Doomed) Upper Middle Class

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/27/2016 - 10:25 The upper middle class is well and truly doomed by self-delusion and the pathology of entitlement.

Ted Cruz To Make "Major Announcement" At 4 PM

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/27/2016 - 10:18 Repuglican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, and arguably the biggest loser from last night's "Acela Primary", said he will make a major announcement at 4 p.m. on Wednesday but gave no other details. Based on tangential evidence, Cruz will most likely announce that he has picked Carly Fiorina as a vice presidential candidate, even though he no longer has even a mathematical chance of winning enough delegates to be given the nomination.

Pending Home Sales Tumble In The West As "Demand Is Starting To Weaken"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/27/2016 - 10:11 Following the weakness in new home sales, starts, and permits, pending home sales modest beat of expectations (+1.4% MoM vs 0.5% exp) provides a glimmer of hope for homebuilders and recovery-narrative-buyers. Pending sales in The West declined and are now lower than a year ago (-7.9% YoY) for the 3rd month in a row. The decoupling between new- and pending-home sales was also seen at the start of last year, and ended badly for pending home sales...

The Top 10 Reasons to Support Trump-We’ve Waited 53 Years for This Kind of Honesty

by Dave Hodges, The Common Sense Show:

The following contains excerpts from Donald Trump’s speeches. The words of politicians do not give me goose bumps, they more often nauseate me. I have never been inspired by a politicians words or actions in my lifetime. Now, some of you might say, “What about JFK”? I am not old enough. However, in retrospect, I agree with the spirit and intent behind the question. John Kennedy’s Secret Society’s speech and his May, 1963, America University speech where he said he was not going to commit the bulk of the American economy to build weapons of mass destruction. Many JFK assassination researchers believe that speech was the final straw which led to his assassination in Dallas in November of 1963.
There is no doubt in my mind that no President has told the people the truth like JFK, until now. When you read this list of “Trumpisms” you will be inspired, feel powerful and exude confidence which will make us believe that we can defeat the shadowy forces who threatening our country and robbing your children of their future. In reality, I wish it were only that simple. But for now, there is only one candidate worth backing and worthy of voting for.
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Alabama Restores Family?

by Karl Denninger, Market-Ticker:

It comes from an unlikely corner of the nation, and is probably a mostly-unintended consequence.
Alabama is set to strike marriage licenses from the books, replacing it with a ministerial requirement that the clerks record private contractual arrangements for marriage.
This is a potential watershed.  Marriage “licenses” were put into place by the states as a means of enforcing racial segregation.  Nobody likes talking about that, but that you refuse to discuss something doesn’t make it untrue; it just marks you as dishonest.
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On Revolutionary Attitude

from Washington’s Blog:

The news that Philip Green systematically asset stripped British Home Stores of hundreds of millions of pounds, and that these were paid to his wife in Monaco so there was no tax, is simply an everyday story of the society we live in. Not only will there probably be 10,000 redundancies, a much larger number will see their company pensions disappear due to the unexplained hollowing out of the company pension fund. Meantime Green is buying a new £100 million luxury yacht.
I am willing to predict that Cameron, Blair and Clinton all find their way on to Philip Green’s new yacht. I am willing to bet that no ex-employee of BHS ever does.
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