Bank of Montreal Asks If "Oil Prices Could Collapse To $20"; Answers: "Yes"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/27/2015 - 13:57
Q. Could oil prices collapse to $20?
A. The short answer is ‘yes.’ We believe that crude oil prices could fall further unless global oil production is reduced. We believe that the weakness in crude oil prices reflects a combination of fundamental factors and financial flows. Fundamentally there is simply too much oil... the current supply-demand balance is not sustainable; something has to give.
The Credit Crunch Is Back: Banks Scramble To Collateralize Loans To Record Levels
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/27/2015 - 13:31
Banks have finally woken up to the risk their billions in C&I loans issued to fund "financial engineering" are exposed to. The reaction: an unprecedented surge in loan collateralization, with the percent of total loans secured by collateral soaring by nearly 50% in the past quarter to a record 55.9%, the highest ever!
Lessons From The Late '20s - Why Bubbles Abound
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/27/2015 - 13:25
Market-based Credit is unstable. This remains the fundamental issue – the harsh reality – that no one dares confront. Long-term stability in a Capitalistic system requires sound money and Credit (hopelessly archaic, we admit). Over the years, we've tried to differentiate traditional finance from unfettered “New Age” finance. The former, bank lending-dominated Credit, was generally contained by various mechanisms (including the gold standard, effective currency regimes, bank capital and reserve requirements, etc.). This is in stark contrast to the current-day securities market-based global financial “system” uniquely operating without restraints on either the quantity or quality of Credit created. There’s no precedence for such a globalized monetary fiasco, though there are a number of historical episodes that provide valuable insight.
The Mystery Of Dubai's Vaporized Gold: The Plot Thickens
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/27/2015 - 13:13
Now that the gold-trading company at the nexus of what may have been the world's biggest gold smuggling ring in history has imploded seemingly overnight, vaporizing countless tons of physical gold and unknown amounts of client cash, even more questions remain.
Caught On Tape: Dramatic Video Of Trip Through California Wildfire
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/27/2015 - 12:50
Firefighters have reportedly “gained the upperhand” in the battle to contain a California blaze that started at around 11 p.m. local time on Friday near Ventura. The following dramatic video depicts one family’s terrifying trip through the inferno.
Slumlord? How Warren Buffett's Clayton Homes Intentionally Targets & Preys Upon Minorities & Poor People
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/27/2015 - 12:15
"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently." – Warren Buffett
It appears not!!
12,000 Oil Tanker Trucks Parked At Iraq-Turkey Border Aren't Carrying ISIS Crude, Kurds Swear
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/27/2015 - 10:13
“The [aerial] imagery was made in the vicinity of Zakho (a city in Iraqi Kurdistan), there were 11,775 tankers and trucks on both sides of the Turkish-Iraqi border. It must be noted that oil from both Iraq and Syria come through this [Zakho] checkpoint."
For Canadian Repo Men, Business Has Never Been Better
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/27/2015 - 09:14
"We don't gloat or feel terribly excited about the economic conditions right now. We approach every single repo and seizure as an opportunity to help respect the dignity of the debtor."
In Honor Of "The Big Short", Here Is Michael Burry's Historic Commencement Speech
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/26/2015 - 23:15
With the launch of "The Big Short" movie (assuredly infuriating many Americans with its "dangerous for the establishment" expose of the greed, stupidity, hubris, and arrogance of Wall Street bankers gone wild), Dr. Michael Burry's infamous UCLA commencement speech has much to offer... "In this age of infinite distraction... when the entitled elect themselves, the party accelerates, and the brutal hangover is inevitable." 15 minutes well spent with a self-described 'chicken-little' who was "just trying to figure it all out."
Caught On Tape: Russian Fighter Jets Destroy Huge ISIS Oil Convoy In Transit To Turkey
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/26/2015 - 22:00
Recently, former CIA deputy director Michael Morell told Charlie Rose on PBS that the reason the US had never actually gone after the lifeblood of the ISIS regime, its oil supply chain, infrastructure and products, was because "we didn’t want to do environmental damage, and we didn’t want to destroy that infrastructure." Luckily as the clip below shows, the Russian military has no such qualms.
Washington's "Empire Of Chaos" & The Cold War 2.0 'New Normal'
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/26/2015 - 22:00
It’s all here: unilateral Exceptionalistan in action against anyone who dares to defy imperial diktats. From Ukraine to Syria, and all across MENA (Middle East and North Africa), the proxy war between Washington and Moscow, with higher and higher stakes, won’t abate. Imperial despair over the irreversible Chinese ascent also won’t abate. As the New Great Game picks up speed, and Russia supplies Eurasian powers Iran, China and India with missile defense systems beyond anything the West has, get used to the new normal; Cold War 2.0 between Washington and Beijing-Moscow.
The Year In Charts: Presenting The Latest "PunchLine" Chartporn
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/26/2015 - 20:28
90% Of Americans Said 2015 Was Not Better Than 2014
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/26/2015 - 19:50
With 29% of young Americans having lost faith in 'The American Dream' (for good reason as we detailed here), it is hardly surprising that a new poll by The Associated Press finds that just 10% of people believe 2015 was a better year for the world than 2014. That is half the number from 2013 and appears to confirm what we already tongue-in-cheek noted - that 2015 was perhaps the worst year ever.
Tracking People Flows: Global Migration Summarized In 7 Charts
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/26/2015 - 18:42
With the topic of global (im)migration getting increasingly more prominence as we get ever closer to the presidential elections, not to mention Europe's ongoing plight with the biggest refugee crisis since World War II, here is a handful of factual, and bias-free, charts summarizing the key aspects of global human mobility.
The Downside Domino Effect Of The Auto "Recovery"'s Potemkin Village On Wheels
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/26/2015 - 18:15
In the case of the car business, longer loans have been the key to maintaining the facade of this Potemkin village on wheels. But this dodge only works when the cost of the loan – interest – is low. And with cars – unlike houses – there is a built-in limit to how far out the loan can be stretched as way to tamp down the month-to-month costs down. Eight or nine years is probably the absolute maximum, because cars – unlike houses – always decrease in value over time and because unlike houses, cars are fundamentally throw-aways.
