Archive - Dec 2015 - Story

Americans have long lived in a nation made up primarily of middle-class families, neither rich nor poor, but comfortable enough, notes NPR's Marilyn Geewax, but this year - for the first time in US history, that changed. A new analysis of government data shows that as of 2015, middle-income households have become the minority, extending a multi-decade decline that confirms the hollowing out of society as 49% of all Americans now live in a home that receives money from the government each month. Sadly, the trends that are destroying the middle class in America just continue to accelerate.

With Turkey and Iraq still at odds over the former's deployment of between 150 and 300 troops along with two dozen tanks to Bashiqa, Russia told the Security Council on Tuesday that Ankara is acting "recklessly and inexplicably." Of course Moscow has a powerful friend among the five permanent members and on Wdnesday, Beijing weighed in on the Turkish troop issue for the first time.

When Australia released its October jobs data a month ago (printing an astonishing 58k increase - almost 6 times expectations of a 10k increase), the media threw up all over the farce of the best jobs gain in 3 years (amid commodity price collapses, mining industry bankruptcy fears, and China trade implosions) saying simply "don't believe the jobs figure for October." So we cannot wait to see what the men from downunder make of November's print. With expectations of a 10k drop, Australia added a mind-numbing 71,400 jobs - the most in 15 years!! This is equivalent to the US adding almost 1.75 million jobs in 2 months... They just don't care anymore!

"We are living amid an Islamic threat and we should be aware of the consequences. Our country, as well as other European countries, is at war – both outside our borders, in Syria for instance, and inside our borders, because our enemies live in our own country”

Economists have put together models of how an economy works, but these models were developed years ago, when the world economy was far from limits. These models may have been reasonably adequate when they were developed, but there is increasing evidence that they don’t work in an economy that is reaching limits.

"I want to add my voice in support of Muslims in our community and around the world... If you're a Muslim in this community, as the leader of Facebook I want you to know that you are always welcome here and that we will fight to protect your rights and create a peaceful and safe environment for you."

Given all of the attention the issue has received of late, you might be curious to know just how prevalent gun violence actually is where you live. Fortunately, there’s a map for that. Utilizing data from the Gun Violence Archive, The Trace and Slate have developed an interactive map which allows you to discover how many fatal and non-fatal shooting have occurred in a particular area. Essentially, the map uses location data to find where you are, and tells you if anyone has been shot there recently. How cool is that?

According to the latest set of emails released by the State Department, and first reported by the Daily Caller, Hillary intervened in a request forwarded by her son-in-law, Marc Mezvisnky, on behalf of a deep-sea mining firm, Neptune Minerals, to meet with her or other State Department officials.

Gold is one of the few investments that every investor should have in their portfolio. We are now at the dangerous end-game period of a very bold but very reckless & disappointing experiment with the world's fiat (unbacked) currencies. If this experiment fails -- and we observe it's in the process of failing -- gold will provide one of the best forms of wealth insurance. But like all insurance products, it only works if you buy it before you need to rely on it.

On Tuesday, Wired and Gizmodo revealed the identity of the man they say is Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin. Hours later, Australian authorities stormed his home and businesses in what was descrbed to reporters only as "an operation." According to the reports released yesterday, "Cold fish Craig" - as the man is known in the Austrailian suburb where he resides with his wife - may be in for a protracted standoff with the country's tax authorities.

If the American Dream depends on skyrocketing debt built on a weakening foundation of stagnant productivity and income, then it is indeed over. Voters sense this fragile, debt-dependent economy is one repricing away from implosion, and they're uneasy for good reason. Voters are rightly angry that the official statistics mask or manipulate this reality, for if we can't face reality then we have zero hope of solving any problems.

According to Bank of America's credit and debit card spending data, core retail sales (those excluding autos which are mostly non-revolving credit funded) just dropped by 0.2% in November, the first annual decline since the financial crisis!

The huge spike in the BofAML High Yield CCC’s that we noted last week is proving to be a real event, real trading and possibly a wholesale reset of the whole funding and liquidity environment. This is far, far more serious than just oil trading below $40 once more.. and brings the death of "transitory."