For Albert Edwards, This Is The "One Failsafe Indicator" Of An Inevitable Recession

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 12:4
Despite risk assets enjoying a few weeks in the sun our failsafe recession indicator has stopped flashing amber and turned to red. Newly released US whole economy profits data show a gut wrenching slump. Whole economy profits never normally fall this deeply without a recession unfolding. Historically all recessions are effectively caused by slumps in business investment driven by a profits downturn.

Minimum Wage Jobs Are Safe: Robot Waiters Fired For Spilling Food And Drinks, Malfunctioning

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 17:08 Customers flocked to the Heweilai Restaurant chain in the southern Chinese city when it introduced robots last year, but the chain has stopped using the machines. A staff member said the robots couldn't effectively handle soup dishes, often malfunctioned, and had to follow a fixed route that sometimes resulted in clashes."The robots weren't able to carry soup or other food steady and they would frequently break down."

Shocking Photo: Nearly 30 Oil Tankers in Traffic Jam Off Iraqi Coast

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 16:35 Oil tankers are caught in a traffic jam near the Iraqi port of Basra, causing delays in loading. According to Reuters, around 30 very large crude carriers (VLCCs) are sitting in the Persian Gulf, and the backlog could cost ship owners more than $75,000 per day. Some could be waiting for weeks to reach the port. Check out this shocking satellite photo of the tanker traffic jam just off the coast of Iraq.

Weekend Reading: The Fourth Turning

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 16:35 “The typical investor has usually gathered a good deal of half-truths, misconceptions, and just plain bunk about successful investing.” With the month of April winding up the seasonally strong time of the year, earnings season just ahead and economic growth weak, the risks to the downside far outweigh “hope” of higher prices.  Or, is “bad news” still the bear market deterrent?

This Is How You Keep The S&P Green For The Year, Redux

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 16:10 Because nothing says "efficient" markets like ten VIX-smash-based "rescues" of S&P 500 from the confidence-crushing perils of a red close year-to-date...

Banks Battered As Yen-magedddon Sends Stocks To Worst Week In 2 Months

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 16:05

Ron Paul Warns "The Conflict Between Government & Liberty Is At A Boiling Point"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 15:55 This conflict between government and liberty, brought to a boiling point by the world’s biggest bankruptcy in history, has generated the angry protests that have spontaneously broken out around the country - and the world. The producers are rebelling and the recipients of largess are angry and restless. The crisis demands an intellectual revolution. The choice we now face: further steps toward authoritarianism or a renewed effort in promoting the cause of liberty. There is no third option.

Something Just Snapped In Saudi Money Markets

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 15:40 Away from the headlines about The Panama Papers, global financial markets turmoiled quietly this week with a surge in equity and FX volatility and banks suffering more death blows. However, something happened in Saudi Arabia's banking system that was largely uncovered by anyone in the mainstream... overnight deposit rates exploded to their highest since the financial crisis in 2009...

Black Activists Heckle, Turn On Clinton; Accuse Him Of "Destroying Their Communities"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 15:30 Bill Clinton spent more than 10 minutes confronting the protesters at a campaign rally in Philadelphia for his wife over criticisms that the crime bill he approved while president led to a surge in the imprisonment of black people. Clinton's speech devolved into confusion when several protesters heckled the former president mid-speech and held up signs, including one that read: "CLINTON Crime Bill Destroyed Our Communities."

The ECB Effect: European Telecom Issues Largest Ever Junk Bond After More Than 100% Upsizing

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 15:25 The market bond market, which is now frontrunning not just what the ECB has announced it will buy but what it may buy, just led to a record European junk bond issuance, when French cable and telecom operator Numericable "stunned the market" (as Reuters put it), when it upsized what was originally supposed to be a $2.25 deal by more than 100% to a whopping $5.2 billion bond deal on Wednesday. This was the largest single high-yield bond tranche ever issued.

"Free Stuff" Isn't All That It's Cracked Up to Be

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 15:15 "I have spent years discoursing on the defects of the Capitalist system. I do not withdraw those criticisms. But we have seen the two systems side by side. And the man who would still argue for socialism as the means of ridding our society of the defects of capitalism is blind indeed. Socialism just does not work."

Don't Panic! S&P Slides Back Into Red Year-To-Date

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 15:11 Do not panic: there's plenty of time to rig these markets back into the green for year yet.

Icarus Explains The Minimum Wage Debate (In 1 Simple Cartoon)

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 14:55 'Higher' is always better, right?

Here Is What Janet Yellen Answered When Asked If The U.S. Is In An "Economic Bubble"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 14:51 "...we tried carefully to look at evidence of potential financial instability that might be brewing and some of the hallmarks of that, clearly overvalued asset prices, high leverage, rising leverage, and rapid credit growth. We certainly don’t see those imbalances. And so although interest rates are low, and that is something that could encourage reach for yield behavior, I wouldn’t describe this as a bubble economy."

Hillary Clinton's "Insurmountable" Lead Is Fuzzy Math

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 14:35 Who will lead the Democratic Party in the general election is a political question, not a mathematical one. If Sanders’s momentum continues to grow, the superdelegates would ignore that fact at their peril.

John Paulson's Hedge Fund Had A Horrible Quarter; This Is How Everyone Else Did

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 14:18 Paulson had another abysmal month in March when his Advantage funds both dropped 7%, bringing their YTD loss to -15%, and making Paulson one of the worst performers YTD, in the company of such former HF luminaries as Chase Coleman, Bill Ackman and Larry Robbins. His return since then is likely even worse, considering his substantial stake in Allergen which earlier this week plunged 20% after the Pfizer deal was called off.

High Beta Stocks Losing Their Momentum

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 13:55 High beta stocks recently hit a wall of resistance – and lost.

Government Accounting Is Fraudulent

from Washington’s Blog:

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is the non-partisan auditor and investigator for Congress.
The GAO says that the U.S. government’s records are so poorly kept that it can’t really audit them.  Specifically, the GAO provided a report to Congress yesterday stating:
The federal government was unable to demonstrate the reliability of significant portions of its accrual-based financial statements as of and for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2015, and 2014, principally resulting from limitations related to certain material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting and other limitations affecting the reliability of these financial statements.
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Why You Should Own Gold Before the Government Starts Handing Out Free Cash

by Justin Spittler, Casey Research:

Ivy League economists agree…
The economy is struggling because central banks haven’t printed enough money.
If you’ve been reading the Dispatch, you know this statement is absurd. After all, central banks have printed trillions of currency units since the 2008 financial crisis. The U.S. Federal Reserve has printed $3.5 trillion by itself. On top of that, many world central banks have dropped interest rates to zero, making it extremely cheap and easy to borrow money.
Read More…

Gold: Something Is Melting Down In The Global Financial System

by Dave Kranzler, Investment Research Dynamics:

It’s been well documented that the $/yen has been the “lever” by which the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury ( via its Working Group on Financial Markets) has been manipulating the stock market higher and keeping a cap on the price of gold.  Craig Hemke of TFMetalsReport.com has done a brilliant job documenting and commenting on this dynamic:  It’s All About The Yen.  I would recommend looking at his archives to see the historical context of his work.
The yen has been depreciating vs the dollar at a rapid rate since October 2012. NotUntitled coincidentally the SPX embarked on a nearly uninterrupted upward move that took it from 1099 in early October to its all time high of 2130 in May 2015.
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PSLV’S SECONDARY OFFERING – A MAJOR, MAJOR BLOW TO THE CARTEL!

by Andy Hoffman, Miles Franklin:
I really planned to not write this week, whilst on my first true vacation in nearly three years.  However, with the exception of Wednesday – when I awoke early for an excursion – I have written every day; including now, Thursday afternoon, with Sylvie watching TV (taking a brief break from swimming), and Diana out cold in the hammock.  The reason being, that “Admiral Sprott” (yes, it was I that coined that term four years ago) finally pulled the trigger on a secondary offering of the Sprott Physical Silver Trust (ticker PSLV) this afternoon, directly after the NYSE close.
Per today’s article title – let alone, on a day when Precious Metals prices surged, whilst commodities plunged; along with stocks (such as DEUTSCHEBANK and GLENCORE, mere days after the first quarter ended!); Treasury yields, high yield bonds, and Central bank credibility – such an event is a MASSIVE, MASSIVE blow to not just the gold and silver Cartel, but “the powers that be” in general.
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