Deep State War? Russian Officials Keep Dying Unexpectedly

Are we witnessing a battle between the deep state and Russia in a spy versus spy plotline or is this all just a freak coincidence?

The Dow Has Never Had A Longer Streak Of Record Closes... Ever

 

 

Wal-Mart Is Quietly Cutting Prices, Squeezing Vendors In Deflationary Supply-Chain Shock

Wal-Mart Stores is running a "price-comparison" test in at least 1,200 U.S. stores in a bid to close a pricing gap with its rivals by cutting prices on key goods, while at the same time demanding that its vendors lower their costs, in a move that is likely to send a deflationary shock across the entire retail universe.

  

Mexico Threatens To End NAFTA Talks If Trump Proposes Tariffs

"The moment that they say, ‘We’re going to put a 20 percent tariff on cars,’ I get up from the table...Bye-bye."

Are Big Banks' Dark Pools Behind The Run-Up In Bank Stock Prices?

The biggest banks on Wall Street, both foreign and domestic, have been repeatedly charged with rigging and colluding in markets from New York to London to Japan. Thus, it is natural to ask, have the big banks formed a cartel to rig the prices of their own stocks?

Key Events In The Coming US

The main focus this week will be on President Trump's speech to Congress and Chair Yellen's speech which is the last before the blackout period. US durable goods, ISM, the BoC rate decision, EZ CPI, UK PMIs and a busy calendar in Australia & Scandinavia also coming up.

Iran Test-Fires Sea-Launched Cruise Missile After Ahmadinejad Slams Trump, USA In Open Letter

The Iranian Navy successfully test-fired its Nasr sea-launched cruise missile, the country's Defense Minister said. The latest naval cruise missile, called The Nasr, was successfully launched and hit the predetermined targets. Iran also successfully test-fired an advanced domestically-made laser-guided missile system dubbed Dehlaviyeh, "specialized in targeting vessels and ships."

Behold - The Dow Jones Non-Industrial Average

With The Dow Jones Industrial Average trading almost 50% higher than its 2007 peak, we thought it ironic that core Industrial durable goods orders remain well below the peak in 2008.

Core Durable Goods Orders Tumble Most Since June, Shipments Slump

While the headline durable goods oders print beat expectation (rising 1.8% MoM in Jan) - thanks to a considerable downward revision in December - the core orders and shipments disappointed markedly and declined in all cases.  Core durable Goods Orders fell most since June and Shipments fell most since July as it appears 'hard' data drastically disappoints relative to 'soft' data expectations.

PwC Apologizes For "Historic, Colossal, Ludicrous" Oscar Screw-up

Oscar overseer PricewaterhouseCoopers took responsibility and apologized early Monday for the error that led to the mistaken announcement of “La La Land” as Best Picture at the Academy Awards instead of the actual winner, “Moonlight.”

Trump Seeks Sharp Increases In Military Spending, "Drastic Cuts" To State Department, EPA

As part of his proposed budget, President Trump will instruct federal agencies on Monday to assemble a spending plan for the coming fiscal year that includes sharp increases in Defense Department spending and "drastic cuts" to domestic agencies such as the State Department, the EPA and other non-defense programs, so that he can keep his promise to leave Social Security and Medicare alone.

"It Was A Pretty Disturbing Briefing”: Why State Governors Suddenly Got Cold Feet About Obamacare Repeal

State governors were despondent on Saturday, after an analysis from Avalere and McKinsey informed them that millions of people would lose their health coverage and states could lose anywhere between 65 and 80% of federal health care funding if Obamacare is "repealed and replaced."

Buffett Boosts Apple Holdings To 133 Million Shares In 2017, Becomes Top 5 Holder

Berkshire Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett told Becky Quick this morning that he more than doubled his already massive holdings in Apple between the start of 2017 and the tech company's most recent earnings report, and now owns 133 million shares, 2.5% of the outstanding stock, and is now a Top 5 holder of the company's public stock.

Goldman Downgrades Tesla To "Sell" On Cash And Execution Risk

The recent avalanche of bad news for Tesla has refused to stop this morning, when former Tesla cheerleader, Goldman Sachs analyst David Tamberrino, announced he was cutting the company's stock rating to "Sell", slashing his price target to $185, and predicting 28% downside from current prices. TSLA stock was down -2.3% in premarket trading on the Goldman report.

Global Stocks Drop, Futures Flat; French Yields Slide As Political Jitters Subside

In a quiet night for markets, in which the top highlight was the Oscar's historic peddling of best picture "fake news" and where "millions" of Academy members seemingly voted illegally, European stocks were little changed after a selloff that pushed them to a two-week low, while the MSCI Asia index fells as Japan’s Topix dropped for third day. S&P futures were unchanged.

Stockman: "After March 15 Everything Will Grind To A Halt"

"I think what people are missing is this date, March 15th 2017.  That’s the day that this debt ceiling holiday expires. We are burning cash at a $75 billion a month rate.  By summer, they will be out of cash.  Then we will be in the mother of all debt ceiling crises.  Everything will grind to a halt."

Poland, Hungary Join Together To Challenge EU Bureaucracy

The rifts within the EU continue to widen as Poland and Hungary join together in opposition to the EU bureaucracy.

EU Lawmakers Urge "Federal Union" For European States... Or Else

The leaders of the lower chambers of parliament of Germany, Italy, France, and Luxembourg have called for a European “Federal Union” in an open letter published in Italian newspaper La Stampa on Sunday.

Of Bread And Circuses

"A twentieth-century repetition of the mistakes of ancient Rome would be inexcusable... no society is ever murdered - it commits suicide... I am no prophet of inevitable doom. On the contrary, I am sounding an alarm that disaster lies ahead unless present danger signals are heeded."

New Declassified CIA Memo Presents Blueprint for Syrian Regime Collapse

The 24-page formerly classified memo entitled 'Syria: Scenarios of Dramatic Political Change' presents "a number of possible scenarios that could lead to the ouster of President Assad or other dramatic change in Syria."

Musk's SpaceX Will Send Two Private Citizens On A Trip Around The Moon In 2018

"We are excited to announce that SpaceX has been approached to fly two private citizens on a trip around the moon late next year. They have already paid a significant deposit to do a moon mission."

Protest Is Increasingly Becoming Criminalized In America

The historical space available for Americans to engage in public protest has been declining for many years during the Obama administration. Unfortunately, it appears this trend is about to get a lot worse following the DAPL protests and increased activism we’ve seen since Trump’s election.

Here's One 'Alternative'; But It's Extremely Unpopular

This is an anomaly that absolutely will not last...

North Korea Executes Five Officials With Anti-Aircraft Guns

North Korea executed five senior security officials with anti-aircraft guns because they made false reports that "enraged" leader Kim Jong Un, South Korea's spy agency said Monday.

America Has A Hole In Its Head

We need a new civil war like we need a hole in the head. But that’s just it: America has a hole in its head. It’s the place formerly known as The Center. It didn’t hold.

'Out Of The Blue', March Rate Hike Odds Soar To Cycle Highs

Having drifted flat for weeks at around a 1-in-3 chance - despite endless jawboning from The Fed - March rate hike odds suddenly surged higher today (to up to a 50% probability), or as Reuters put it "out of the blue."

filed under BULLSHIT...

Trump: "Nobody Knew That Healthcare Could Be So Complicated"

"We have come up with a solution that's really, really – I think – very good. Now I have to tell you, it's an unbelievably complex subject. Nobody knew health care could be so complicated."

Swap Spreads Surge To 5-Year Highs As Debt Ceiling Despair Strikes

It appears David Stockman's warnings over the looming debt ceiling debacle has sparked some investors to face up to reality once again. The Treasury-Bill yield curve has inverted further and swap spreads soared to five-year highs.

David Tepper Asks "Why Are Stocks And Bonds Acting So Differently"

"Still long stocks. Still short bonds," David Tepper told CNBC and mused rhetorically "why are stocks and bonds acting differently? It's as if they're reacting to two different economies."

Intel Committee Head: No Evidence Of Contact Between Trump Campaign, Russia

The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said on Monday he has seen no evidence of contact between Donald Trump's campaign and the Russian government during the 2016 presidential election. Nunes said he had been briefed on a transcript of a phone call that Michael Flynn had with a Russian envoy after the election and said he did not hear anything worrisome about that call.

George W. Bush On Trump's Alleged Ties To Russia: "We All Need Answers"

"I think we all need answers...if [Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Richard Burr] were to recommend a special prosecutor, then it'd have a lot more credibility with me."

Fearing A Surge In Inflation, China Launches Probe Into Commodity Futures, "Distorted" Prices

China’s top economic planner has launched an investigation whether speculation has distorted commodity futures prices, due to concerns that the recent rally will drive inflation higher.

Have The Majors Given Up On Canada's Oil Sands?

Canadian oil sands is struggling to remain competitive in a marketplace that has changed dramatically from three years ago. A glaring example of this problem came from ExxonMobil this week, which announced that it had removed 3.3 billion barrels of Canadian oil sands from its books.

Saudi Arabia Offers To Deploy Special Forces In Syria To Fight ISIS

"The Kingdom and other Gulf nations have expressed that they are ready, in cooperation with the United States, to send special forces. Even other nations that are part of the Islamic Coalition against Terrorism and Extemism are ready to send troops."

Trump Seeks "Historic" $54 Billion Increase To Defense Spending

As observed earlier in the day, as part of the leaked preliminary Trump budget, the president was set to unveil major spending increases in the US defense budget, offset by cuts to federal agencies, and other non-defense sectors. Moments ago, the first details emerged, including that the boost to defense spending is expected to be $54 billion.

Former IMF Chief Sent To Jail As Spain Prosecutes 65 Elite Bankers In Enormous Corruption Scandal

In many other countries, with the obvious exception of the United States, corrupt bankers are often brought to task by their respective governments. The most recent example of a corrupt banker being held accountable comes out of Spain...

With "Trillions At Stake" Analysts Hope Trump's Speech Will Be "More Shining City" Than "Dumpster Fire"

Markets are on edge ahead of tomorrow's critical Trump address to Congress, in which as Bloomberg notes, "trillions are at stake" and which sellside analysts hope will be more "shining city" than a "dumpster fire."

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