Archive - Apr 10, 2015

The implosion of America serves a very particular purpose. It is not a product of blind coincidence, fate, political stupidity or corporate greed. It is an engineered event meant to clear the way for an even more sinister economic environment designed to establish a final economic empire with the purpose of permanently enslaving us all.

It has been a bad year for California whose drought is rapidly approaching historic proportions: according to the LA Times, which cites climatologist Michael Anderson, "you’re looking on numbers that are right on par with what was the Dust Bowl." And it is about to get even worse. According to the USDA, the west-wide snowpack is melting earlier than usual, according to data from the fourth 2015 forecast by the United States Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). "Almost all of the West Coast continues to have record low snowpack," NRCS Hydrologist David Garen said. "March was warm and dry in most of the West; as a result, snow is melting earlier than usual."

"Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced." - James Baldwin

Bloomberg goes to China and discovers what we've known all along... that it's "as bad as the data looks, or worse."

“What the Great Recession has shown is that things have fundamentally changed,” The White House warned this week and, as Bloomberg reports, states would have to cut spending or raise revenue by a combined $21 billion in the event of a recession, further exacerbating economic weakness, Moody’s Analytics found in a stress test of state finances. While investors are willingly buying bonds with both hands and feet, The White House warns, states "need to be much more prepared for very volatile fiscal conditions than they had been in the past."

And it’s dragging down the economy.

Is the BoJ's back against the wall? We certainly think so as the evidence increasingly supports the notion that the central bank is bumping up against the limits of accommodative monetary policy and may soon be headed — as we've variously predicted —for "failed nation" status.

With Jean-Claude Juncker demanding a Unified European Army, it appears Germany is wasting no time in simultaneously boosting its own economy with warfare spending and comforting a 'fearful populace' with more military might. As Reuters reports, Germany plans to procure more than 100 additional Leopard 2 tanks, increasing its total Leopard 2 tank inventory by a whopping 45% a government spokesman said on Friday, as it seeks to ensure its "troops are ready for action in response to concerns over recent Russian assertiveness."

"The April 7th, 2015 power outage in Washington DC is curious to say the least. Virtually instantaneously, the government declare it was not a terrorist attack. After all, how could that possibly be when the NSA guards the country. If there was an attack on the power-grid, then the NSA would have to answer for their failure. So clearly, if it was an attack, they would never admit it."

The White House is concerned that China may be using its size and power to "force other countries" into subordinate positions". This accusation seems particularly amusing given that it seems to describe US foreign policy perfectly. 

Amid a historic margin-fueled equity buying frenzy in mainland China that has tech stocks trading at 200X and drove more than 4 million new "investors" into the market in March alone, HSBC's Head Of China Equity Strategy sits down with FT to explain, on video, why it's different this time and why there may be more upside to come for Hong Kong's day-trading housewives.

At 12.58, VIX closed today at its lowest level since December 4th 2014 (which makes perfect sense, given the forward-looking volatility implied by each and every macro data item and earnings release in the next month). However, as BofA notes, the VIX term structure (VXV / VIX) suggests "significant concern" about this advance in stocks being sustained.

From no 'boots on the ground' in Iraq to 3500 US troops supporting "Operation Inherent Resolve" in 9 months... promises promises Mr. Obama.

"In my view, every asset allocation team in the world should have this chart hanging on their wall," - Deutsche Bank Chief Economist Torsten Sløk