Archive - Apr 14, 2015

It has not been a good month for police "infractions" caught on tape: whether it is a cop shooting an unarmed suspect just because, or a cop shooting an unarmed suspect because "a taser was confused with a gun", the latest grotesque act caught on dashcam is the following video taken on February 19 showing a police cruiser slamming into an alleged crime suspect, Mario Valencia, holding a gun (however not aiming it at anyone and certainly not the police) at a speed of about 50 mph from behind, in what was clearly a move intended to kill the suspect.

You could ask 1000 people what characteristics they want in a president and 990 will describe Ron Paul. However, ask 1000 people what they think of Ron Paul and 990 will say he’s crazy. Why?? Because that’s what we’ve been told to think. So we think it. It is that simple. And that is why this country has been deteriorating for 100 years and really accelerating, faster each year for the past 15, toward utter collapse. But not to fear, the free fall is about to end… and with a thump.

One of the most pervasive and dangerous myths of our time is that military spending benefits an economy. This could not be further from the truth. Such spending benefits a thin layer of well-connected and well-paid elites. It diverts scarce resources from meeting the needs and desires of a population and channels them into manufacturing tools of destruction. The costs may be hidden by the money-printing of the central banks, but they are eventually realized in the steady destruction of a currency.

Presented with no comment...

According to two University of Washington scientific research papers that were recently released, a 1,000 mile stretch of the Pacific Ocean has warmed up by several degrees, and nobody seems to know why this is happening.  This giant “blob” of warm water was first observed in late 2013, and it is playing havoc with our climate.  And since this giant “blob” first showed up, fish and other sea creatures have been dying in absolutely massive numbers.

The last time we looked at Las Vegas water supply, the comments from professionals were "Vegas is screwed," and unless water levels in Lake Mead rise by 7%, "it's as bad as you can imagine." The bad news... Water levels in Lake Mead have never been lower for this time of year - and this is before the Summer heat seasonal plunge takes effect.

A month ago we warned "Beijing, you have a big problem," and showed 10 charts to expose the reality hiding behind a stock market rally up over 100% in the last year. Tonight we get confirmation that all is not well - China GDP fell to 7.0% (its lowest in 6 years) with QoQ GDP missing expectations at +1.3% (vs 1.4%). Then retail sales rose 10.2% YoY - the slowest pace in 9 years (missing expectations of 10.9%). Fixed Asset Investment rose 13.5% - the lowest since Dec 2000 (missing expectations). And finally Industrial Production massively disappointed, rising only 5.6% YoY (weakest since Dec 2008). Finally, as a gentle reminder to the PBOC-front-runners, a month ago Beijing said there was no such thing as China QE (and no, the weather is not to blame.. but the smog?).

McAfee: 

“Encryption Doesn’t Matter In a World Where Anyone Can Plant Software On Your Phone and See What You’re Seeing”

With EIA forecasting $250/bbl crude oil in the next 20 years, one wonders how long before 'muscle' or 'firewood' returns as the world's major energy source?

This is the email Bank of America's economist Hans "Great Rotation" Mikkelsen blasted out moments ago, without shame and without the embarassment that thousands of people would read this and burst out laughing.

It is quite obvious that Russia cannot substitute the West and in particular European countries with someone else. It is impossible for historical and cultural reasons, the abundance of industrial relations, geographical proximity and so on. Moscow can however substantially weaken such dependency through the strengthening of political, military, financial and economic relations with other countries which are friendlier and less susceptible to pressure from Washington. Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) holds a special place amongst countries friendly to the Russian government, and strategic dialogue is being actively developed with it.

"People make the difference" at Knight Oil Tools where the "Knightmark" of "excellence, leadership, and integrity" was on full display last year when then-CEO Mark Knight planted drugs in his brother's car then paid police to arrest him... 

The panic buying by China’s newly-minted, day trader hordes took a breather on Tuesday which we think presents as good an opportunity as any to assess what factors might intervene to derail the self-feeding margin madness that has Shanghai and Hong Kong partying like it’s 1999 on the Nasdaq.

Can you arbitrage time?  Can you buy and sell time? We think that you can from the perspective of time horizons. In our view, financial markets are operating on the wrong time horizon – one that is too long (thanks to central banks ZIRP/NIRP and credit creation) - although there are signs that this is beginning to change.

Well done IMF, well done.