Archive - Dec 2015 - Story

As WSJ reports, "more than two dozen companies and groups and one foreign government paid former President Bill Clinton a total of more than $8 million to give speeches around the time they also had matters before Mrs. Clinton’s State Department."

In a clash of the billionaire titans, Warren Buffett just defeated Elon Musk. The fight was over solar net-metering in Nevada...

Beginning January 1, gun regulations in California will give authorities the right to seize a person’s weapons for 21 days if a judge determines the potential for violence exists.

What could possibly go wrong?

Any serious reform has to start with the dissolution of the existing political parties and the Federal Reserve. Anything less is self-serving, pandering fantasy.

After melting up to pre-API levels this morning, crude prices are falling back (and therefore so are stocks) as Baker Hughes reports another weekly decline in rig count. After surging by 17 three weeks ago, the 2 rig decline in oil rigs in America continues to track the lagged crude oil price.

The latest Chinese company to mysteriously "misplace" its books and as a result be unable to make an upcoming bond payment is China Shanshui Cement: "a former director of Shandong Shanshui, together with a group of gangsters, barged into the Headquarters by force on 27 December 2015, destroyed the properties in the offices therein and assaulted the employees of Shandong Shanshui."

As we move into winter, darkness has fallen up on us. Oil, ca. 65% of the nation’s economy, will not see the required $70 barrel anytime soon. American innovation, once again, turns a scarce resource into an abundant commodity. Despite optimistic Norwegian media articles, the potential for $20 per barrel looms. Production overwhelms demand while inventories rise to record highs. Although, still considered the best place to live, the cracks, in the oil based economy, are forming.

Earlier today, we outlined Washington's plan to slap new sanctions on Iran in connection the October test-firing of Tehran's next generation, surface-to-surface ballistic-missile Emad. It didn't take long for Iran to hit back, with President Rouhani now reportedly ordering the Defense Ministry to "expedite" missile development.

USDJPY tried and failed... and so the machines shifted their momentum ignition efforts to crude - ramping WTI back up to post-API inventory build levels... If this fails to break the S&P above VWAP, VIX will be slammed...

Some have called Cass Sunstein "America's Goebbels" since he sugggested that the government "formally hire credible private parties to engage in counterspeech," and was engaged by President Obama as 'Information Tzar'. So today's op-ed from the government's propagandist-in-chief, condemning those who choose to push back against political correctness, should be read with a Bernaysian perspective as Sunstein attempts to delegitimize any and every effort to argue against the government's view of the world.

As the fervor of the US Presidential campaign begins to heat up, it appears - despite all the hand-wringing and prosecution of the status quo - that the incumbents are losing... and losing large. According to Bloomberg's Consumer Comfort survey, Republicans are near the most confident relative to Democrats since Obama was re-elected.

As Europe closes ahead of a long weekend of excess 'liquidity' and hangovers, it appears someone or something needs US Dollars badly... A sudden wave of selling across all the majors has spiked the dollar index.