Archive - Dec 2015 - Story

"In the media they wrote that we were training in an FSA military camp, but in fact, all 60 of us were members of Daesh. We were Syrian nationals, many of whom in the beginning moved to Turkey to earn some money, and then joined Daesh."

Amid ISIS' spread, with NATO troops pulling out, and local law enforcement agencies ill-equipped and underfunded, Afghanistan has once again become the frontline in the so-called "War On Drugs." As Al-Jazeera reports, Afghanistan's poppy fields, which feed the habits of drug addicts worldwide, are thriving, with cultivation of the crop hitting record highs last year. The number of Afghan addicts is soaring, and with the Taliban funded by the drug trade, security fears are paramount; but Afghan authorities are struggling to control the resurgence in poppy farming.

According to a recent contrarian call by  Prerequisite Capital Management, the "US Treasury Bond Market is potentially set up for a substantial move higher over the next year or two." Here are the reasons why.

“For sure it will cause a big delay and it may kill the whole process. Whoever committed this crime is pushing for a military solution, not a political process solution.”

Our quarterly survey of “Off the Grid” economic indicators finds that the U.S. economy is still growing, but the pace seems to be slowing from Q3 2015.

"If, as seems possible, the ECB will increase, in H1 2016, the scale of its monthly asset purchases from €60bn to, say, €75bn, and if these additional purchases are concentrated on public debt, the euro area will benefit from a ‘backdoor’ helicopter money drop –something long overdue."

We apologize, but 2015 had so many negatives that we’re having trouble seeing the positives. It’s like we’re on the Titanic, and it’s tilting at an 85-degree angle with its propellers way up in the air, and we’re dangling over the cold Atlantic trying to tell ourselves: “At least there’s no waiting for the shuffleboard courts!” Are we saying that 2015 was the worst year ever? Are we saying it was worse than, for example, 1347, the year when the Bubonic Plague killed a large part of humanity? Yes, we are saying that.

In 2013, Maduro’s first year in office, the government released a Christmas carol praising the Socialist utopia's dictator. Last year, Maduro debuted a “socialist Barbie” that almost bankrupted stores forced to sell it after the government forced the price down to a tenth of its value. And this year, as AFP reports, "Christmas is dead, there is not enough money," according to one resident, noting there is no Christmas decor anywhere and people do not have enough money to buy presents. Some cannot even afford the basic goods needed to put together a traditional feast of roast pork and assorted sides.

101 years after the Christmas truces along the Western Front there is still no peace on earth. And the long suffering American taxpayers, who foot the massive bills generated by the War Party’s demented and destructive policies, have no clue that Imperial Washington is the principal reason.

With EU inflation still stuck in Japan mode and with GDP bumping along at the "new normal" pace of what might as well be 0%, the market expects more from Draghi going forward. Need proof? Just look at yields.

"Be confident that God will grant victory to those who worship him, and hear the good news that our state is doing well. The more intense the war against it, the purer it becomes and the tougher it gets."

So with a week to go in 2015, the pressure is on for this 140 year old streak. For those curious, the number to watch is 2058.90, i.e., last year’s closing price on the S&P 500.

Having been placed in Afghan "isolation" largely for the duration of his stay, surely his captors were fascinated by his breadth of insight about American culture and would love to pick his brain at every possible opportunity. Indeed, Bergdahl said guards who were assigned to watch him were often bored by the job, and would pass the time by interrogating him.Adn what, according to Berghdal, was the most pressing question on their mind? "They ask you, is Obama gay and sleeps with men?

"Our troops are now advancing toward their targets but were delayed because the criminals have booby-trapped everything."

Following the yellow brick road leads us deep, very deep inside the rabbit hole...