"The Greater Depression Has Started" - Comparing 1930s & Today

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 20:05
The Greater Depression has started. Most people don't know it because they can neither confront the thought nor understand the differences between this one and the last. As a climax approaches, many of the things that you've built your life around in the past are going to change and change radically.

1956: "America Peaked Back Then And We've Been In Decline Ever Since"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 22:20 How far we have fallen! The American Dream used to be attainable to all who worked hard, and freedom was still a tangible thing that many experienced. People used common sense and wisdom from experience to make it through life. Today, most people are dumbed-down consumers who only know what they have been told through the television, unable to think independently even if they tried.

Protect Yourself Against Those Running the World’s Economy for Your ‘Benefit’

from The Daily Bell:
IMF warns of emerging market risk to U.S. stock markets … Major emerging markets, led by China, are increasingly likely to spread fear to financial markets, leading to poor stock performance in the U.S. and other developed countries, the International Monetary Fund said. -MarketWatch
The IMF is back at work spreading fear. That’s not what we are supposed to think of course. We’re supposed to believe that the IMF has our best interests at heart and that its ranks are filled with caring, decent people.
But in this article we want to review important financial facilities along with the banking elite itself to reemphasize that they are not what they seem.
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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.
 

The Beginning Of The End For Obamacare: Largest US Health Insurer Exits Georgia, Arkanasas

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 18:18 Today the largest U.S. health insurer, UnitedHealth, announced it has decided to pull the plug on two state Obamacare markets. Going forward, UnitedHealth said it will no longer sell plans for next year in Georgia and Arkansas, according to state insurance regulators. Tyler Mason, a UnitedHealth spokesman, confirmed the exits and declined to say whether the company would drop out of additional states

The Salary Needed to Buy A Home in 27 Different U.S. Cities

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 21:50 From a $30k required salary in the Midwest to $150k in San Francisco, the affordability of housing in America is anything 'united'.
 

Taxpayer Money Well Spent? US Among World's Top Executioners In 2015

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 21:15 The number of people put to death across the globe in 2015 reached a 25-year high, a dramatic 54% increase since last year. Almost 90% of the executions took place in three countries: Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. However, before Westerners become too smug — and in spite of a drop in numbers — the U.S. still ranked as one of the top five executioners globally.

WTF Chart Of The Weekend: Down Is The New Up

Does anyone really believe this is sustainable?

BofA Notices Something Troubling: China's Debt Bubble Has Burst

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 19:28 We have noticed a sharp jump since mid-2015 in the total value of reported defaults of shadow banking products, defined here as non-bank-loan debt instruments that include bonds, trusts, and credit products offered by peer-to-peer (P2P) and various offline wealth management companies (WMCs).... The question is whether the government is closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. We suspect that the answer is yes.

Was The Panama Papers "Leak" A Russian Intelligence Operation?

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 18:55 If this was the work of the CIA, it was an extremely sloppy and obvious hit job. On the other hand, if this was the work of Putin for the purposes of blackmail, it’s one of the most ingenious chess moves I’ve ever seen played on the global stage. If this theory is correct, it’s the worse case scenario for American citizens. So if Putin is behind this, and does have the goods on the U.S. elite, not only do we not get rid of the these corrupt oligarchs, we now have to live with them in an even more compromised state than they were before.

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

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 18:10 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."

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

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 17:49 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.

Why Janet Yellen Can Never Normalize Interest Rates

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/08/2016 - 17:45 Crony capitalists, corrupt politicians, and Deep State hustlers paid good money for Yellen; she’ll do all she can to avoid letting them down. But something isn’t working. Not for her. Not for Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda. Not for the president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi. Not for People’s Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan. Their tricks no longer work.

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

SPIES IN THE SKIES

from Buzz Feed:
Each weekday, dozens of U.S. government aircraft take to the skies and slowly circle over American cities. Piloted by agents of the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the planes are fitted with high-resolution video cameras, often working with “augmented reality” software that can superimpose onto the video images everything from street and business names to the owners of individual homes. At least a few planes have carried devices that can track the cell phones of people below. Most of the aircraft are small, flying a mile or so above ground, and many use exhaust mufflers to mute their engines — making them hard to detect by the people they’re spying on.
The government’s airborne surveillance has received little public scrutiny — until now. BuzzFeed News has assembled an unprecedented picture of the operation’s scale and sweep by analyzing aircraft location data collected by the flight-tracking websiteFlightradar24 from mid-August to the end of December last year, identifying about 200 federal aircraft. Day after day, dozens of these planes circled above cities across the nation.
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Helicopter money on the way...

Helicopter Money “Not on the Table,” ECB Swears Furiously

from Wolf Street:

But it’s already here!
It has finally sunk in: what everyone really wants is helicopter money. Central banks, instead of transferring trillions of newly created dollars or euros or whatever to the banks should just hand them directly to the people, like dropping bank notes from a helicopter, so that these people can grab them and spend them all in one fell swoop, thereby creating sudden artificial demand, driving up inflation, and solving all economic problems of our times.
Instead of creating asset price inflation, as QE had done, it would create consumer price inflation. Wages would still remain stuck, and workers would soon not be able to buy the normal things at these inflated prices, but that wouldn’t matter because now they’re getting helicopter money, and companies could increase their sales, margins, and profits simply by raising prices without having to sell a single extra item.
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The More Corrupt the State, the More Numerous the Laws

by Nick Giambruno, GoldSeek:

Today, I’m going to share one of the most important things I’ve learned traveling around the world: There’s a crucial difference between committing a real crime and breaking the law.
I’ve seen it firsthand in the Middle East as well as many other places.
The difference is huge and few people understand it.
While laws vary dramatically across countries, almost every country in the world universally considers real crimes immoral. A real crime involves harm or the threat of harm to person or property. Think murder, theft, or arson.
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Hillary’s Phony Way To Defeat ISIS

from The Sleuth Journal:

Her public record as first lady, US senator and secretary of state shows rage for endless premeditated wars of aggression.
A Clinton presidency assures permanent wars on humanity, raping more countries than already, risking direct confrontation with Russia and China – the horror of possible nuclear war.
I’ve explained many times ISIS and likeminded terrorist groups are US creations, unable to function without foreign support.
Stopping them requires no longer recruiting new fighters, ending funding, arming, training and directing them – waging peace, not war, an agenda America rejects.
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Miracle compound found in blueberries prevents dementia and Alzheimer’s

by Isabelle Z, Natural News:
While many aspects of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease remain largely mysterious to scientists, one thing is clear: People who are looking to prevent the onset of dementia can find a surprising ally in organic blueberries.
Researcher Robert Krikorian of the University of Cincinnati carried out a study of 47 people aged 68 and over, who had been diagnosed with a mild level of cognitive impairment. (This could entail slight memory lapses that may or may not eventually develop into dementia.)
In the study, some participants were given a powder made from a teacup-sized amount of blueberries, while others were given a placebo powder. They were given mental tests that focused on the thinking and memory skills that are often affected by dementia at the beginning of the study and again at its conclusion.
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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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