Why The Democrats Can't Let Go Of Losing...

The Democratic Party has become everything it once was against.

Hollywood Celebrties Urge Electors Not To Vote For Trump

The push to pressure and overturn the Electoral College vote on December 19 escalated last night, when a group of celebrities created a video to urge Electoral College members to cast their votes for someone other than President-elect Donald Trump on Monday.

WATCH: Mockingbird Jake Tapper Gets TOASTED By Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard As She Reveals U.S. Arms & Funds Terrorists in Syria

from 21st Century Wire:
Recently, Democrat Hawaii Congresswoman, Tulsi Gabbard, went on CNN’s “The Lead” hosted by Jake Tapper, to talk about Donald Trump’s foreign policy, and more importantly, to discuss the disturbing reality if US taxpayer support of armed militants and terrorists in places like Syria. Instead of adulation for doing the honorable thing, she received a hostile reaction from one of CNN’s many highly paid onscreen propagandists.
When asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper (photo) about US Representative Tulsi Gabbard’s recent visit to Trump Tower, she replied, “My goal in going there, in receiving the invitation to speak to President-elect Trump was to speak specifically about the situation in Syria, the dangerous consequences of escalating the regime change war that the United States is fuelling there along with countries like Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, and Turkey are escalating that through a so-called no-fly zone or safe zone.
Read More

Dow Soars Above 19,900 On Dramatic Spike In Homebuilder Confidence

Are you f##king kidding me? The Fed hikes rates, interest rates are soaring, mortgage rates are exploding, and mortgage apps have collapsed to 'Lehman' lows... and Homebuilder Confidence explodes to its highest since 2005 - just before it utterly collapsed. Of course this was just what the market wanted and The Dow was panic-bid back above 19,900...

US Manufacturing PMI Hits 21-Month High (Despite Plunge In Industrial Production)

After mixed PMIs from Europe overnight (German/Eurozone Services down, Manufacturing up), US Manufacturing PMI (soft survey) rose very modestly in its preliminary December print to 21-month highs, which is entirely decoupled from industrial production hard data declining. However, the 54.2 level disappointed relative to 54.5 expectations, with export sales close to stagnation, which contrasted with the modest growth seen on average in the second half of 2016.

China Halts Trading In Bond Futures After Record Bond Market Crash

Chinese authorities halted trading in key bond futures for the first time on Thursday, as panicky investors sold the securities on concern that a long, credit-fueled bull market was coming to an end amid slowing growth, capital outflows and heightened government concern about asset bubbles.

WTI Crude Tumbles To $49 Handle, Erases OPEC/NOPEC Deal Gains

But, but, but... growth, and inflation, and supply cuts, and growth again...

"Wrong Way Gartman"...Strikes again...

Gartman Stopped Out Of Oil Long In Less Than Two Days As Crude Plunges

"We were taken out of our position in crude oil yesterday following the Iraqi and Fed “news” and now we shall stand aside… likely for a good long while."

Silver Slammed As Gold Crashes Below $1150 On $10 Billion Post Fed Hike Puke

Gold is suffering the worst 6-week tumble since May 2013 and the last 24 hours have seen the losses accelerate as following The Fed's second rate hike in a decade, someone dumped over $10 billion notional of the precious metal through the futures market. As the dollar surges to 14 year highs (and EUR tumbles) so silver also is plunging most since the election near a $15 handle once again.

Trump Inauguration Event Relocates After Venue Caves to Leftists

by Dan Lyman, InfoWars:
Organizers of the 2017 DeploraBall in Washington, D.C., were forced to move the sold-out event to a larger site after the original venue gave in to social justice warriors.
Planning for DeploraBall has been underway since Donald Trump swamped Hillary Clinton on November 8th, and coordinators were preparing to finalize a contract with Clarendon Ballroom this week, when the business suddenly reneged on its original proposal, refusing to host the private party.
Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post tweeted out the e-vite for DeploraBall on Monday, noting, “Trump fans to hold ‘Deploraball’ at Clarendon Ballroom around inauguration. Various Breitbart/Infowars folks going.”
Continue reading Trump Inauguration Event Relocates After Venue Caves to Leftists

Philly, Empire Feds Smash Expectations On Soaring Optimism Despite Deterioration Labor Conditions, Inflation Spike

There is seemingly no stopping the runaway train that is the economic momentum of the past month, as confirmed by the just released Philly and Empire Fed surveys, which printed at 21.5 and 9.0, smashing expectations of 9.1 and 4 respectively, in fact printing above the highest estimate for both reports, and well above the recent print of 7.6 and 1.5. The one blemish was the sharp drop in labor market conditions at the Empire Fed, which saw a big drop in both employment and hours worked.

So Much For That... Real Wage Growth Slumps To Lowest In 30 Months

Remember when everyone was excited about wage growth re-appearing and escape velocity, and textbook wage inflation appearing thanks to tight labor markets... well that's all gone! Average weekly earnings grew at just 0.5% YoY in November - the slowest pace of wage growth since July 2014.

Core CPI Above Fed Mandate For 13th Straight Month As Cost Of Living (Under A Roof) Surges Most Since 2007

Headline CPI rose 1.7% YoY - the fastest pace of inflation since July 2014 , but for the 13th straight month, core consumer prices have risen faster than the Fed's mandated 2% on a year-over-year basis. The CPI data met expectations across the board but the real cost of living - for those who prefer a roof over their head - is rising at the fastest pace since 2007.

Thusday Humor: Initial Jobless Claims

Initial Jobless Claims dropped once again, back near 43 year lows this week (-4 to 254k) as Continuing Claims picked up 11k to 2.018 million. As the following two charts show, this is all very humorous...

JPM: "Political Expectations Are The Single Biggest Risk Facing The Tape"

"The market’s focus will turn back to the precise scope, timing, and structure of the Trump/Ryan fiscal/regulatory agenda – this more than anything will determine whether the post-11/8 move can hold or whether the SPX will surrender its gain: it remains the case that elevated political expectations are the single biggest risk facing the tape."

What OPEC Cut? Iraq Is Boosting Its January Oil Exports By 7%

Iraq’s national oil company, the State Organization for Marketing of Oil, or SOMO, instead of cutting output, has plans to increase deliveries of its Basra oil grades by about 7% to 3.53 million barrels a day. This suggests that non-compliance with the Vienna OPEC meeting is practically assured.

Dollar Surges, Yields Soar, Euro Tumbles To 13 Year Low As Markets React To Hawkish Fed

This morning the world awakes to a charred landscape in which markets are frantically rushing to catch up to a suddenly hawkish Fed which not only hiked for the second time in a decade but, as per yesterday's Fed statement and Yellen press conference, realizes it has been behind the curve all along,

US Accuses Vladimir Putin Of "Personal Involvement" In Election Hack

U.S. intelligence officials now believe with "a high level of confidence" that Russian President Vladimir Putin became personally involved in the covert Russian campaign to interfere in the U.S. presidential election, senior U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News.

Keith Olbermann Loses It: US Military Will Soon Be Controlled By 'Scum' Beholden To 'Russian Scum'

"The nation and all of our freedoms hang by a thread.  And the military apparatus of this country is about to be handed over to scum who are beholden to scum, Russian scum.  As things are today, January 20th will not be an inauguration but rather the end of the United States as an independent country."

Is Janet Yellen Concerned About "A Bubble In Stock Prices"? This Is Her Answer

"Rates of return in the stock market relative to - remember that the level of interest rates is low - and taking that into account. I believe it's fair to say that they remain within normal ranges."

Harvard Professor Says He's Rallied Nearly Enough GOP Electors To Block Trump

Harvard University law professor Larry Lessig, who has been offering free legal counsel to "faithless electors," says he has rallied nearly enough GOP electors willing to flip to block Trump

Trump's Tariff Threats Already Having "Big League" Effect As Companies Halt Outsourcing Plans

"What they did in Indiana has made it clear to every board member in America that there is a clear and present danger in outsourcing."

Obama Out Not With A Bang, But A Whimper

The bottom line is that Nobel Peace Prize Obama – lying through his teeth like a lowly neocon – had been on the brink of launching a full-scale war on Syria for a “crime” about which there was no evidence. And the lies accumulate as the Obama administration’s elaborate Syrian plans flounder in the East Aleppo cauldron.

U.S. Kids Keep Getting Dumber; Ranked 31st Of 35 Developed Nations In Math, New Study Reveals

The U.S. Department of Education has just released it's latest ranking of international education systems and performance of U.S. students just continues to deteriorate on both absolute and relative terms.

5 Stories the Media Ignored While Reporting on Kanye’s Meeting with Trump

by Carey Wedler, The Anti Media:
This week, corporate media heads exploded when controversial rapper Kanye West met with the even more controversial President-elect Donald Trump. The media took the opportunity both to provide its typical frenzied coverage of a superficial, celebrity incident and to blast the president-elect for taking the time to meet with West.
NBC and other mainstream outlets reported the news:
And mainstream journalists, like Ana Navarro, a contributor to ABC, CNN, and Telemundo provided the commentary:
Read More

The Conspiracy to Shut Down Truth, Donald Trump, and The American People

by Paul Craig Roberts, Paul Craig Roberts:
There is circumstantial evidence that the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the rest of the presstitute media are part of a conspiracy with the oligarchs, the military/security complex, the Hillary Democrats, and neoconized Republicans to shut down the dissident Internet alternative media and to deny Donald Trump the presidency.
Consider the brand new website PropOrNot and its fake news list of 200 Internet Russian agents. PropOrNot is a website hidden behind multiple screens as would be an offshore tax avoidance scheme. In other words, no known, responsible entity is behind the site, which has libeled 200 other websites, or if it is, it is too ashamed of what it is doing to be associated with it publicly.
Read More

The Ice Is Cracking in Antarctica. “Pyramids” Have Been Spotted. Is a Secret Past Emerging?

by Mac Slavo, SHTF Plan:
Image: Google Maps, 81°57’41.15″W 79°58’38.32″S
There are secrets in Antarctica. You can sense them from thousands of miles away.
And they are starting to come out.
A giant crack in the ice has freed an iceberg the size of a small U.S. state, and it will ignite the climate change/global warming debate; but this change will also offer unique perspective on the geological history that has never before been known. Ice is accumulating rapidly in one part of the continent, but melting in the other. According to Live Science:
Read More

The Fed Just Signaled The Collapse Of The Economy, Brace For Impact

from X22Report:

After Raising Rates Once During The Obama Years, The Fed Promises Constant Rate Hikes During The Trump Era

by Michael Snyder, The Economic Collapse Blog:
Now that Donald Trump has won the election, the Federal Reserve has decided now would be a great time to start raising interest rates and slowing down the economy. Over the past several decades, the U.S. economy has always slowed down whenever interest rates have been raised significantly, and on Wednesday the Federal Open Market Committee unanimously voted to raise rates by a quarter point. Stocks immediately started falling, and by the end of the session it was their worst day since October 11th.
The funny thing is that the Federal Reserve could have been raising rates all throughout 2016, but they held off because they didn’t want to hurt Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the election.
Read More

Why Did Military Planes and Helicopters Circle Manhattan Without Warning This Afternoon? NYPD Says It Doesn’t Know

from thedailysheeple:
In a rare sight (rare as in, it never really happens unless something bad is going down), low-flying military aircraft were spotted circling Manhattan this afternoon without advance notice, and NYPD claimed they didn’t know why.
When Deputy News Director at BuzzFeed Tom Namako asked the NYPD about it, they said they didn’t know why military aircraft were circling Manhattan.
Read More

“Run On Banks” As 72-Hour Mandate Forces Venezuelans To Turn In Large Bills: Strict Cash Controls

by Mac Slavo, SHTFPlan:
In the ongoing saga of Venezuela’s sad economic slide into hell, it came as a strong arm move on the part of President Maduro.
Bank runs are happening in Venezuela, but not to pull money from the banks; rather, to get their 100 Bs. bills into the banks before a 72-hour time limit expires and the notes become outlawed currency that is no longer officially recognized.
Read More

/