Archive - Dec 2015
December 31st
Obama To Hit New "Friend" Iran With Fresh Sanctions Over Contested Ballistic-Missile Program
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/31/2015 07:53 -0500On the heels of a “close call” in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, Washington is preparing new sanctions against a handful of companies and individuals tied to Tehran’s ballistic-missile program. "We've been looking for some time at options for additional actions related to Iran's ballistic missile program based on our continued concerns about its activities,” an unnamed US official says. Iran calls the new actions "illegal."
Frontrunning: December 31
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/31/2015 07:42 -0500- Oil ends 2015 in downbeat mood; hangover to be long, painful (Reuters)
- Recession, retrenchment, revolution? Impact of low crude prices on oil powers (Guardian)
- Midwest Flooding Might Make the Oil Glut Worse (BBG)
- From Oil Glut to Shortage? Some Say It Could Happen (WSJ)
- Ten Years After Blowup, Amaranth Investors Waiting to Get Money Back (WSJ)
- China Fires a Warning Shot at Yuan Speculators With Bank Bans (BBG)
Red Or Green For The Year: Decision Time For US Markets On Last Trading Day Of 2015
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/31/2015 07:05 -0500It has come down to this: a year in which the US stock market (led by a handful of shares even as the vast majority of stocks has dropped) has gone nowhere, but took the longest and most volatile path to get there, is about to close either red or green for 2015 based on what happens in today's low-volume session following yesterday's unexpected last half hour of trading "air pocket" which brought the S&P back to unchanged for the year.
Something Broke In The U.S. Silver Market
Submitted by Sprott Money on 12/31/2015 05:58 -0500By that, I mean the normal supply and demand forces no longer make sense.
December 30th
Something Just Broke In The U.S. Silver Market
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/30/2015 23:45 -0500After looking over all the figures, it seems as if something broke in the U.S. Silver Market this year. By that, we mean the normal supply and demand forces no longer make sense.
Swiss Army Chief Warns Of Social Unrest, Calls Upon Citizens To Arm Themselves
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/30/2015 22:42 -0500Swiss army chief André Blattmann warned, in a Swiss newspaper article on Sunday, the risks of social unrest in Europe are soaring. Recalling the experience of 1939/1945, Blattman fears the increasing aggression in public discourse is an explosively hazardous situation, and advises the Swiss people to arm themselves and warns that the basis for Swiss prosperity is "being called into question."
Guest Post: "American Capitalism" No Longer Serves Society
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/30/2015 22:25 -0500America is being destroyed by problems that are unaddressed. Unbridled greed, short-term in nature, will continue to drive America into the ground.
The Next Time Your Financial Advisor Tells You To Buy Stocks, Show Them This Chart
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/30/2015 22:16 -0500Perhaps mom and pop investors should show the following chart to their financial advisors, who directly or indirectly work for these institutions, and ask them: why should they be buying, when the counterparty they are buying from is, most likely, this very same financial advisor?
Time For Torches & Pitchforks: The Little Guy Is About To Get Monkey-Hammered Again
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/30/2015 22:15 -0500The prospect that the leaders of our monetary politburo are about to be tarred and feathered by economic reality might be satisfying enough if it led to the repudiation of Keynesian central planning and a thorough housecleaning at the Fed. Unfortunately, it will also mean that tens of millions of retail investors and 401k holders will be taken to the slaughterhouse for the third time this century. And this time the Fed is out of dry powder, meaning retail investors will never recover as they did after 2002 and 2009.
The Minimum Wage Hike Hangover Arrives: Dining Out To Cost 10% More Starting January 1
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/30/2015 22:00 -0500
Crude Oil Prices Suffer Biggest 2-Year Bloodbath On Record
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/30/2015 21:50 -0500With yet another false-dawn of crude prices blowing in the wind of cash-flow generation desperation, we thought it an appropriate time for a bigger picture glance at the state of the carnage in crude...
How Politics Brings Out the Worst In Us
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/30/2015 21:15 -0500Politics - especially elections - creates a system that brings out the worst in people. It poisons relationships. It pulls us in as spectators who stand agog at a completely inauthentic show of national politics (over which we have virtually no power). We end up mostly ignoring the local issues over which we could have considerably more influence. As a consequence, an entire nation falls under a particular kind of spell.
Technical Analysis of the Lumber Market
Submitted by EconMatters on 12/30/2015 20:48 -0500The last two years rents have been rising primarily due to supply and demand issues.
The Rise Of The Temp Economy: More U.S. Employers Than Ever Want A "Disposable Workforce"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/30/2015 20:05 -0500In this day and age it seems like almost everything is disposable, and many employers have found that they can make a lot more money if they have a workforce that can be turned on and off like a faucet. In America today, there are more than 17 million “independent workers”, and they represent a bigger share of the workforce than ever before.
Will 2016 Bring About a 2008 Type Crisis? Pt 1
Submitted by Phoenix Capital Research on 12/30/2015 19:36 -0500Between these two banking systems alone, you’ve got the makings of a global financial crisis at least on par with 2008.





