Archive - Nov 11, 2015

The last 3 days have seen the biggest surge in US energy credit risk since December 2014, blasting back above 1000bps. This should not be a total surprise since underlying oil prices continue to languish in "not cash-flow positive" territory for many shale producers, but, as Bloomberg reports, the industry is bracing for a wave of failures as investors that were stung by bets on an improving market earlier this year try to stay away from the sector. "It’s been eerily silent," in energy credit markets, warns one bond manager, "no one is putting up new capital here."

There is a driving desire among weaker-minded people to seek control over other people in the name of arbitrary standards of safety as well as arbitrary standards of “civil” conformity. While such people proclaim publicly that they do what they do for the “greater good,” in reality they seek only to satiate a private lust for power. Any fight for freedom from collectivists will require the removal of command and control. This is the only way that humanity can be given breathing room to rebuild without remaining under constant preplanned threat.

In the wake of the MSF bombing in Kunduz, we present the following infographic which details the worst instances of “collateral damage” from US/NATO military operations throughout history. 

"This court simply cannot, and will not, allow the government to trump the Constitution merely because it suits the exigencies of the moment,”

The number of people abandoning the “greatest country in the world” just hit a record high... Unthinking Americans are puzzled when they read about the increasing number of people renouncing their citizenship, but as one consultant who really gave up his citizenship warned "the U.S. government is placing an increasing number of hurdles on Americans who want to renounce their citizenship. So he thought it was time to do just that."

Below is a "help wanted" ad for a "trader" by the infamous 3Red "spoofing" outfit.  We put trader in quotation marks because... well, just read the ad and you will see.

Amid warnings from Daiwa Capital Markets that policy-makers "will sacrifice Yuan stability" in order to manage the deterioration in the economy (trade and industrial production data confirming the weakness), The PBOC weakened the Yuan fix for the 8th straight day. This is the longest streak of weakness since August 2008.

How can we possibly be so miserably unhappy? For a nation that supposedly “has it all”, we sure are depressed. In America today, suicide rates are soaring, antidepressant use is skyrocketing and virtually every new survey that comes out shows that we are deeply dissatisfied about something.

"Eternal happiness can wait. Millennials are much less likely to be married than their parents were at their age, and marriage often serves as an impetus to move out."

China must be fixed because 'seasonally-adjusted' Aussie full-time employment just surged 58,600 MoM (almost quadruple expectations of a 15k rise). This is the best monthly gain in jobs since September 2012 and best October since 2007 - which all makes perfect sense. The resultant bloodbath in Aussie bonds (3Y +13bps to 6 month highs is worst day since Jan 2014) is all too real however. The question is - will this "good news" be jawboned down by RBA in order to give them some easing room?

Social Security has long been sold to the public on the notion that what a worker will receive back is what he or she pays into the system. For decades, however, the government has been changing the terms of this "agreement" as part of an effort to avoid outright default, hiding it, instead, with a long, slow method of piecemeal default.

"You are witnessing what will be shown to future generations as the reason for the fall of an Empire... patriotism, the most basic and fundamental trait of any nation that wants to survive, has become something to be ashamed of."

"The ECB’s bond buying programme has created favourable financing conditions and provides member states with an incentive to defer much-needed budget consolidation and structural reforms. However, further structural reforms to strengthen markets and competitiveness are crucial for a self-sustaining economic recovery. In addition, monetary policy is leading to a build-up of risks to financial stability which could pave the way for a new financial crisis."