Archive - Aug 2013

August 29th

Tyler Durden's picture

The Ultimate Visual Guide To Syria





Everything you wanted to know about the potential Syrian conflict (and didn't want to read) in 10 handy infographics...

 

Pivotfarm's picture

Big Mistake: the Fed’s Quantitative Teasing





It’s a big mistake. Maybe some might say that the Fed altogether is a mistake itself. But, it’s made some big, ugly mistakes that don’t bare thinking about and yet there’s no understanding why they took those decisions.

 

Tyler Durden's picture

Guest Post: If These Are The Fastest-Growing Jobs In America - We're Doomed





Here’s another depressing list to ruin your day. You can tell a lot about a society by what they value, what they build and what they do. The only new buildings we see being built are banks and medical facilities. That tells us a lot. We look around and see that we value fancy new leased or financed cars, financed McMansions, fastfood, and lots of shopping outlets. And now this list tells us a lot about where this country is headed. Among the ten fastest growing jobs in America, only one can be considered well paying. Only two of the jobs are in industries that produce something. Only one requires a non-liberal arts college degree. Most of the jobs barely pay a living wage. Most of these jobs are non-essential service jobs that add absolutely nothing to society. A society that does not produce is destined to decline. We’re doomed. Based on the list below, we would describe the United States as a service based nation of aging, vain, obese, shallow, financially illiterate boobs with bad skin and muscle aches, who love sports and entertainment, but can’t understand each other, and are addicted to their oil based suburban sprawl debt financed lifestyles

 

Tyler Durden's picture

Intelligence Report On Syrian Chemical Weapons To Be Released Tomorrow





 

Tyler Durden's picture

1987 Or 2008?





Because "its always different this time..."

 

Tyler Durden's picture

In Stunning Move UK Parliament Rejects Syria Military Strike, Obama "Willing To Go It Alone"





Moments ago the UK House of Commons, in a razor thin vote, rejected the Cameron proposal for military action in Syria with a vote 285 to 272. Cameron promptly said he would respect the will of the House of Commons and UK Defense Secretary Phillip Hammond confirmed there would be no UK military intervention in Syria. Incidentally, this may have been the best outcome for an already humiliated British premier who will avoid being dragged into an unpopular war having both sided with his greatest ally, the US, and also relented and listened to the voice of the people. More importantly, the "people" in the UK actually had a voice, which is more than can so far be said about developments in the US. And speaking of the US, the NYT reports that even as the Syrian war "option" is slowly being shut out for staunch US allies (except for France of course), that Obama is "willing to move ahead with a limited military strike on Syria even while allies like Britain are debating whether to join the effort [ZH: and have now voted against it] and without an endorsement from the United Nations Security Council" citing senior administration officials.

 

Tyler Durden's picture

"This" Has Never Happened Outside Of A Recession





As the mainstream-media and its status quo "growth's around the corner" lackeys gloat hopefully over this morning's soon-to-be-revised GDP data beat, we noted a rather disturbing trend in a critical part of the report. Real Final Sales growth is collapsing. In fact, the current slow level of growth in real final sales has never occurred outside of a recession... So perhaps, as we commented (here, here, and here) things are not as 'great' as headlines would suggest.

 

Tyler Durden's picture

Syria News Recap: All The Latest Developments





Summarizing the latest updates in the rapidly changing Syria story.

 

Tyler Durden's picture

Guest Post: Economic Darwinism And The Next Financial Crisis





Just as natural selection selects for traits that improve the odds of success/survival in the natural world, Economic Darwinism advances people and policies that boost profits and power within the dominant environment. If there was one phrase that summarized the current malaise, it would be "The Federal Reserve's 20-year policy of easy money created an environment virtually assured to select bankers, bureaucrats, educators, and elected officials who least understood the consequences of a credit crisis." In other words, a hyper-financialized environment of near-zero interest and abundant credit rewarded those people and policies that succeed in that environment.

 

thetechnicaltake's picture

Relative Strength Indicator: TOP!





we are closer to the end of this rally than the beginning

 

Tyler Durden's picture

Stocks Up, Bonds Up, USD Up; VIX Up? Commodities Creamed





Another very volatile day across asset-classes with no-one having a clue what is going on. Good-news (GDP) was instantly interpreted as bad-news (moar Taper) and bonds and stocks sold off notably but as the US equity market opened, JPY was sold and carry took over lifting stocks back to pre-FOMC-minutes levels once again... but bonds also rallied significantly with it (in a non-Taper-ing manner) as the USD rallied. But once that run-stop was covered on low volume levitation, stocks limped lower from the European (and POMO) close onwards, ending towards the lower-end of the day's cash range. Treasury yields dropped 7bps from their post-GDP highs leaving the 30Y -3bps on the day (and 7Y and less unch). VIX rose (turning higher before stocks topped), almost tagging 17% as it closed. But burying the lead, commodities were slammed with WTI slammed back under $108; gold, silver, and copper all hit with the latter -3.5% on the week. 'Average' volume day in futures.

 

Tyler Durden's picture

Fast-Food Workers Of The World, Unite: The McStrike Epidemic Spreads, Coming To A City Near You





A month ago we reported that US fast food workers in several US cities, namely New York City, Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Mo., and Flint, Mich., walked out Monday in a one-day strike demanding a doubling of their pay. Not unexpectedly, even though the president himself has been a strong proponent of rising the minimum wage, the corporations balked and the strikers achieved nothing and just in case there is some confusion, there is a lot of minimum skills, minimum wage applicants (not to mention robots) out there which translates into two words for the strikers: no leverage. However, these concepts may be foreign to a fast-food labor force that probably just wants a day out in the nice weather and to take a break from hard work for a change.

 

Tyler Durden's picture

US Stealth Drones, Bombers, C-130s In Cyprus?





Update: it appears the photos posted on twitter are fake. Hopefully that means there are no B-2 in the vicinity of Syria.

 

Tyler Durden's picture

Boehner Demands Obama Release More "Details" On Syria





With the traditional liberal war dove brigade paradoxically and firmly in Obama's pocket on the issue of the Syrian attack/invasion/false flag/war, it was only a matter of time before Boehner made it clear that if Obama wanted an internal Congressional consensus it won't come easy if at all. And just like Russia and China are making an external united front for public consumption impossible, so the Republican just threw the first theatrical roadblock. Sure enough:

  • BOEHNER SEEKS MORE DETAILS ON SYRIA WITH OBAMA AFTER PHONE CALL

To help the speaker in his theatrical quest for "more details", we have taken the first theatrical step in providing them, after this hyperlink.

 

Tyler Durden's picture

How Obama Got His Tomahawks





The rise of Tomahawk force began in 1983 during the Reagan buildup, but the demise of the Evil Empire did not slow down its development one bit. By the end of the century the United States had about 150 surface ships and attack submarines that could launch these deadly cruise missiles and an inventory of nearly 5,000 missiles. Tomahawks have a range of seven hundred miles. This means that from their offshore platforms they can reach three-fourths of the world’s population. And during the last two decades they have been used in just this “stand-off” manner against targets in Iraq, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Sudan, Libya, and others—teaching presidents that they could meddle freely without getting bloodied.

 
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