Archive - Aug 2014

Amid his corruption indictments, Texas Governor Rick Perry is making more headlines today. During a CNN interview, Perry exclaimed "it's possible ISIS may have crossed into The United States from Mexico." Speaking earlier at The Heritage Foundation, Perry blasted, "they need to be eliminated, and they need to be eliminated now."

Last week Ireland rushed to deny that a man with Ebola-like symptoms who was being tested in Dublin, did not have the disease. It may find such a refutation more difficult this time after Irish Times reported that a man was found dead last night in Donegal, after working in Sierra Leone, the epicenter of the current Ebola outbreak, and where "it is understood that a number of colleagues had contracted the virus." The deceased was taken to Letterkenny General Hospital where the HSE is carrying out tests to see whether the death resulted from Ebola.

Assuming Missouri Governor Jay Nixon doesn't believe that last night's massive storms were the cause of a quieter night in Ferguson, he has decided to withdraw The National Guard from the scene of Mike Brown's death. It is unclear whether he realizes the error of his ways in this heavy-handed response or got a tap on the shoulder from The White House. Either way, we leave it to none other than AG Eric Holder to conclude  - “History simmers beneath the surface in more communities than just Ferguson,” -in other words, this is far from over...

Since President Kirchner unleashed her 'cramdown' plan for Argentinian debt, the Peso has collapsed at the fastest pace since January's devaluation. The 'official' Peso prices has collapsed 1.3% in the last 2 day to 8.39 per USD - and Argentina's debt yields have surged (prices tumbled) but the black-market Blue-Dolar price has exploded to an all-time low at 13.8 per USD, implying massive devaluation is coming.

Ahead of Yellen's Jackson Hole speech tomorrow, the sell-side, hypnotized by 6 years of Fed bubble-inflating generosity, refuses to even consider the possibility that the Fed could possibly pull the punch bowl away, and the absolutely unanimous consensus is that despite yesterday's minutes (or perhaps due to, because as the Chinese Department of Truth has taught us, one must first and foremost baffle with BS), Yellen will go uber-dove. So without further ado, here is what the Penguins expect Yellen's "gobbledygook" will reveal tomorrow, and as a reminder, yesterday Citi warned that there is "tremendous" downside risk if Yellen doesn't go "full-dovish".

Mainstream, Hawkish Group Blames the West for the Mess In Ukraine

After years of evading the tentacles of the US government, yesterday the crosshairs of American justice (the civil, not criminal variety) which may be blindfolded but certainly has an offshore bank account, finally locked onto the orange man who made over half a billion between 1999 to 2008, according to compensation-research firm Equilar, not to mention saddling Bank of America with the worst Easter egg M&A transaction in history. Well, it turns out the US government may not be able to sue the Moz after all. The reason? He is sick.

Given that this is 'officially' the worst-recovery-ever, one wonders why does the abysmally failed and dangerous monetary experimentation continue unabated — as Yellen will undoubtedly confirm at Jackson Hole? Self-evidently, it is irresistibly convenient to both Wall Street and Washington. Yet these screaming juxtapositions are lost in the recency bias of the mainstream narrative. Invariably, the “in-coming” data is tortured and rationalized to prove that just a few more doses of money and debt will do the trick. Consequently, the pattern and signal is obscured amidst the immediate noise. It is therefore perhaps useful to consider a more advanced case of this Keynesian debauch from elsewhere in the world. Consider Italy.

For those who are looking for just one chart with which to summarize the US housing market, here it is.

Remember all those allegations that Obamacare would be an unmitigated disaster for businesses, especially smaller companies? Well, now we have proof.

As President Obama tees off in Martha's Vineyard, The State Department has decided that its diplomats should not be allowed to have fun (for a good cause). As AP reports, US Diplomats have been barred from undertaking the #IceBucketChallenge ... there goes CNBC's ratings...

Russian stocks are now up 10 days in a row, having gained over 6% since the US unleashed Sanctions 3.0 on the 'increasingly isolated' nation. This performance handily beats Europe and the US as de-escalation hopes drive risk capital back into stocks anywhere and everywhere. However, if its all so shiny and bright in stock land, why are Bund yields (and thus all yields) plunging?

Liberty Schliberty! Shut up and do what your told...

Western nations and South Africa have already reached peak gold. There is a real possibility that it will happen globally soon. The fact that peak gold may take place at a time when the world is engaged in a peak fiat paper and electronic money creation experiment bodes very well for gold’s long term outlook. This should lead to much higher gold prices in time and gold’s inflation adjusted high of $2,500 per ounce remains a realistic long term price target. Peak gold has yet to be considered and analysed by the international financial community or factored into markets.