More Ominous Charts For 2016
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/03/2016 - 15:20
If 2015 was the year in which no investment strategy worked, 2016 is looking like the year in which all economic policies fail.
Fed Vice Chair Explains Why The Fed Is Still Obsessing With Negative Interest Rates
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/03/2016 - 14:52
Another possible step would be to reduce short-term interest rates below zero if needed to provide additional accommodation... Could negative interest rates be a policy response that the Federal Reserve could choose to employ in a future crisis? ... these are transitional problems, but they might be sufficient to make a move to negative rates difficult to implement on short notice.
The Battle Between Manufacturing And Services
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/03/2016 - 14:00
As we start the new year, there is a debate raging within the market. No the debate isn’t whether there is weakness in the manufacturing economy, that is taken as a given, especially after Friday’s awful Chicago Purchasing Manager number of 42.9. Instead, the debate boils down to this: 'bears' believe the manufacturing economy and the service economy act in conjunction with each other – that one cannot turn, without the other; 'bulls' view each segment of the economy as relatively independent and they highlight the size of the service economy relative to the manufacturing. The answer lies in the missing cog - the 'wealth' economy.
One American's Rage Spills Over: Dear Liberal... Here's Why I'm So Hostile
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/03/2016 - 13:58
"Lately, I must admit that my hostility towards your political ilk has ramped up, pretty dramatically...Everything that modern liberalism accomplishes is accomplished at the barrel of a government rifle...What angers me the most about you is the eagerness with which you allow the incremental enslavement to occur. I have the utmost respect for a slave who is continuously seeking a path to freedom. What I cannot stomach is a free man who is continuous seeking a path to servitude by willingly trading his freedom for the false sense of security that government will provide."
If Companies Are Telling The Truth, Profit Margins Are About To Collapse The Most In The 21st Century
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/03/2016 - 13:18
if companies are being honest about their intentions to raise wages, then US corporate profitability is about to fall off a cliff. As the chart below from JPM shows, the difference between "intentions to raise prices" less "intentions to raise wages" - a proxy for operating margins - has not been this negative in the 21st century.
Oil Spike Risk: Iran Police Use Water Cannon On Angry Protesters Near Saudi Consulate
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/03/2016 - 12:40
Bank of America Explains How Central Banks Rigged And Manipulated The Market
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/03/2016 - 10:51
"Essentially central banks, by unfairly inflating asset prices have compressed risk like a spring to unfairly tight levels. Unfortunately, the market is aware the price of risk is not correct, but they can’t fight it, and everyone is forced to crowd into the same trade. By manipulating markets they have also reduced investors’ inherent conviction by rendering fundamentals less relevant."
- Bank of America
Derailed? What Rail Traffic Tells Us About The U.S. Economy
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/03/2016 - 10:07
Rail volumes provides a mixed picture of the US economy at this point: oil & gas and mining-related sectors are taking a real beating, some consumer sectors seem to be holding up and there are signs of weakness in the housing sector. 2016 should witness some type of a resolution here.
From $500,000 To $170 Million In A Few Months: The Next "Subprime Trade" Emerges
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/03/2016 - 09:37
Ever since it started making complicated bets against some leveraged ETFs, Miller’s Catalyst Macro Strategies Funds has since grown from $500,000 in assets at the start of the year to about $170 million. It achieved a more than 50 percent return this year, placing it far ahead of its competitors.
"Divine Vengeance Will Befall Saudi Arabia," Iran Warns, As Global Outcry Over Execution Grows
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/03/2016 - 09:14
The flames of sectarian violence have been thorougly fanned in the Mid-East after Saudi Arabia killed a prominent Shiite cleric in the largest mass execution carried out by Riyadh in a quarter century. As protesters torched the Saudi embassy in Tehran, the Ayatollah warned that "the Almighty God shall not ignore the innocents’ blood and the unjustly spilled blood will backfire on the politicians and the executives of this regime very quickly."
ISIS: The 'Enemy' The US Created, Armed, & Funded
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/02/2016 - 22:00
To delve into Daesh’s convoluted money trail, one must first explore its equally convoluted origins. And in both areas, the role of the U.S. and its allies can not be ignored.
The Incredible Shrinking Benefits Of Massive Japanese Money Printing
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/02/2016 - 21:20
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Google Is Collecting Information On Public School Students – Here's How
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/02/2016 - 20:40
Today, Google and many other tech companies are increasingly part of students’ daily classroom lives under the “school official” designation. And that leaves parents in the dark about who has access to an increasingly large cache of information about their children and may compromise their privacy down the line, experts say. Google says it has “always been firmly committed to keeping student information private and secure.” Private and secure, ok, but they are still collecting this data aren’t they?
What Does The Future Hold For Negative Rates In Europe? Goldman Answers
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/02/2016 - 20:00
While the market might have been disappointed by the ECB’s “underdelivery in December, it came as a relief for the Riksbank, the SNB, the Norges Bank, and the Nationalbank who are effectively forced to cut each time the ECB eases or risk seeing upward pressure on their respective currencies. That dynamic has led to a veritable race to the Keynesian bottom with Norway as the last man standing in terms of conducting monetary policy with rates above zero. As we enter the new year, a number of questions remain regarding Europe's headlong plunge into NIRP-dom.
