Obamacare Is Sucking Up To 10% Of Americans' Incomes
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/28/2015 - 08:50
The latest dilemma facing economists is why "unequivocally good" low oil prices haven't sparked excuberant consumer spending across America. We have discussed the simple (though awkward for the establishment) answer many times - soaring costs for 'shelter' and healthcare have hoovered up every penny saved (and more); and now, a new study proves it- exposing the reality that many Obamacare customers pay more than 10 percent of their incomes toward coverage (and some paying considerably more).
WTI Plunges Back Under $37 (Below Brent); Drags Stocks Into Red For 2015
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/28/2015 - 08:16
While everything was awesome last week (apart from the last 10 minutes), it appears lower oil prices this week (WTI just crossed back below Brent's price and under $37 once again) is not "unequivocally good" for US equity markets. Following the bloodbath in China's "B" Shares overnight, traders are hoping this pain will stop once the machines "get back to work" at 930ET...
Meanwhile, Over At The "New York" Stock Exchange: Even More Lasers
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/28/2015 - 07:54
This, ladies and gentlemen, is what "trading" has become.
Frontrunning: December 28
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/28/2015 - 07:42- The Year Nothing Worked: Stocks, Bonds, Cash Go Nowhere (BBG)
- Oil falls toward $37, near 11-year low, as excess supply weighs (Reuters)
- End of easy money for mini-refiners splitting U.S. shale? (Reuters)
- Shale's Running Out of Survival Tricks as OPEC Ramps Up Pressure (Reuters)
- 'Safe’ Puerto Rican Debt Stirs Worries (WSJ)
- These Will Be Wall Street's Most In-Demand Jobs Next Year (BBG)
Global Stocks, U.S. Futures Slide As Oil Resumes Drop, China Stocks Tumble Most In One Month
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/28/2015 - 06:57
The last trading week of 2015 begins on a historic precipice for stocks: as reported over the weekend, the U.S. stock market has not been lower for any year ending in a “5? since 1875. That streak is now in jeopardy, because following Thursday's shortened holiday session which ended with an abrupt selloff, the overnight session has seen continued weakness across global assets in everything from Chinese stocks which tumbled the most since November 27, to commodities (WTI is down 2.5%) to European stocks (Stoxx 600 -0.4%), to US equity futures down 0.4% on what appears to be an overdue dose of Santa Rally buyers' remorse.
Something Just Snapped Again In China - B-Shares Crash Most In 4 Months
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/28/2015 - 00:55
Update: *SHANGHAI B-SHARE INDEX PLUNGES 7.8% - MOST IN 4 MONTHS
We have seen this pattern before. In August, the first thing to tumble was Yuan FX rates, then money market rates exploded, and then the stock market tumbled. While it is a little premature, today's sudden plunge in Chinese stocks (as the afternoon session opens) following last week's spike in money market rates following the previous week's non-stop weakness in the Yuan does have a concerning smell of deja vu all over again.
Guest Post: Has There Ever Been A More Selfish Generation?
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/27/2015 - 22:20
Because we squandered our opportunity to correct our own problems, our problems shall be our legacy. It’s wretched how dumb we are in our greed to have everything right now in the cheapest way possible and how willing we are to force the debts of that consumption upon our grandchildren and to pretend that won’t hurt them. We live in economic denial.
Why Driving Behind Chinese Trucks May Be Hazardous To Your Health
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/27/2015 - 21:45
In one of the greatest analogies for China's slow-moving, pollution-puking economy, the impact of this small bump in the road sums up the fragility of the credit-fueled slow-motion truck-wreck that the central planners have created...
This Is What Gold Does In A Currency Crisis, Canadian Edition
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/27/2015 - 21:10
Along with the currencies of most other commodity-exporting countries, the Canadian dollar has been in near-freefall lately. Gold, meanwhile, has been sucked down with the rest of the commodities complex, falling hard since 2013. But only in US dollars. For Canadians, with their weak domestic currency, gold has been behaving just fine. It’s up 17% in C$ terms over the past two years and looks ready to rally from here. Protection from currency trouble is why people own it, and why in the vast majority of places it’s owners are very happy.
Obama Scrambles To Create "New ISIS Narrative" After Putin Embarrasses Washington
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/27/2015 - 20:35
“If you're not willing to change policy ... or you're not willing to change your goals, then what you do is you reorganize the deck chairs on the Titanic."
"There is a legitimate criticism of what I've been doing and our administration has been doing in the sense that we haven't, you know, on a regular basis I think described all the work that we've been doing for more than a year now to defeat ISIL."
Abenomics Is Dead - Japanese Data Collapses Across The Board
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/27/2015 - 20:21
With recent JPY strength not helping, last week ended on a down-note for Japan as its jobless rate ticked up from 3.1% to 3.3% (the biggest rise since January) and Household spending collapsed. However, as the last week of the year begins, things have not improved as a double whammy of awfulness just hit the shores of Abe's nation with retail sales (worst since the tsunami) and industrial production ugly and missing across the board. We are sure, of course, that just one more dose of faith-based QE will fix this.
How The Public Get Suckered By "News" Media Ignoring Reality
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/27/2015 - 19:50
The aristocracy’s control over all the mainstream ‘news’ is ironclad - and this includes the political magazines as well as ‘intellectual’ magazines. American ‘news’ media stifle democracy in America; they’re not part of democracy, in America. They’re like poison that’s presented as being ‘medicine’ instead. Suckers don’t just swallow it; they come back for more of that propaganda. A press like this makes it impossible for there to be intelligent, informed, rather than misinformed and/or stupid, voting in national political elections in the United States.
Ontarians Urged To "Voluntarily" Pay More Taxes To Cut Province's Debt
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/27/2015 - 19:15
Christmas is a time for giving and that is what Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is asking of her citizenry. With almost $300 billion in debt, and almost 1 in 10 dollars of revenue going to pay interest, and already facing the highest tax rates in North America, The Star reports that Ontario officials are asking that 'patriots' voluntarily donate their tax refund or write a cheque to defray the province's massive debtload.
2015: The Year That Exposed The "Experts" And Left The "Smart-Crowd" Dumbfounded
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/27/2015 - 18:40
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. We were all told by the “experts” and the so-called “smart crowd” ad nauseam the economy and markets of 2015 were “ready for lift off.” Proclamations that GDP and other economic metrics were indeed going to be the unquestionable catalyst to help propel not only the markets themselves ever higher, but also, prove all the nay-sayers as well as data-deniers wrong. The problem? It was the exact opposite. 2015 exposed the sole overarching fundamental principle the “experts” refused to calculate into their qualitative analysis. That fundamental? Without the continuing interventionism of the Federal Reserve – there is no market. Period.
WalMart Works With FBI, MIC To Spy On "Problem" Employees
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/27/2015 - 18:05
Evil corporate America meets oppressive police state: “When we received word of potential strikes and disruptive activity on Black Friday 2012, that’s when we started to ask the ARC to work with us. ARC had contracted with Lockheed leading up to Black Friday to help source open social media sites.”
