ETC

If the United States were truly serious about terrorism, it would start by gauging the level of threat properly and communicating that appraisal to the American people: We would also have a more honest and open discussion about our own role in generating it; we would now be having a frank discussion about the role of the media; we’d also see more creative efforts to discredit, marginalize, spoof, and embarrass the groups we oppose; and you’d see a more hardnosed approach to the various American “allies” who are part of the problem rather than being part of the solution.

In what is possibly the most inane political statement ever, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer and Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced a push to prevent known or suspected terrorists from purchasing guns in New York State. Schumer and Cuomo areasking the federal government to officially add the U.S. Terror Watch List to the criteria it uses for federal background checks in New York State, exclaiming "we need to move to close the Terror Gap once and for all."

We are nearing a crucial inflection point in the worldwide bubble finance cycle that has been underway for more than two decades. To wit, the world’s central banks have finally run out of dry powder. They will be unable to stop the credit implosion which must inexorably follow the false boom.

As many hedge funds are getting “crushed” this year it has become fashionable to bash the industry’s entire fee structure…typically [but not always] 2% management fee & 20% of profits. Obviously, there won’t be too many 20% profit distributions to the portfolio management teams this year but the 2% management fee has been/will be applied. And that may “piss off” some people.

China’s sweeping crackdown on sellers, “manipulators”, frontrunners, financial journalists and anyone else “suspected” of acting in such a way as to sow fear and uncertainty in the wake of the dramatic meltdown in Chinese equities that unfolded over the summer has ensnared money managers, high profile executives, and government officials alike. Earlier this week, it reached a crescendo with the disappearance of Guo Guangchang, known to some as “China’s Warren Buffett. We now have a bit more in the way of color regarding Guo’s detention and sure enough, he’s being “held in connection with an investigation.”

Everyone Agrees that We Need to Stop Mass Shootings ... But This ISN'T the Way to Do It

Finland made the news recently by proposing a pilot program of guaranteed income for all, also known as Universal Basic Income: Desperate Finland Set To Unleash Helicopter Money Drop To All Citizens. Proponents claim Basic Income can be paid by redirecting existing welfare programs, but a quick review reveals this as nonsense.

Earlier this morning we got another glimpse of reality behind the smoke-and-mirrors, mainstream-media-sponsored last-pillar-standing lovefest that is US auto sales when the business sales data showed a disheartening tumble in sales in October. So where are all the sales going that automakers report? The answer is simple... (and painful).

The UFC is going to have to make some changes if they are going to take their sport to the next level; promoting women fighters in bikinis can only fool the sports buying public for so long.

If we have a saviour, it is the person in the mirror. If we are to be saved, we alone must do the research, make the plans, vote with our feet and establish our own liberty.

While the major indexes remain within arm’s length of their 52-week high, the number of stocks hitting new lows is piling up.

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.

According to one US soldier who fought in Mosul from 2005 to 2006, all of the "loose talk" about retaking the city from ISIS is wishful thinking. "Look at the stories from Fallujah — a city that is 20 percent the size of Mosul," he cautions adding that even if the city could be captured and sealed off from ISIS supply lines, troops would need to "settle in for a siege and a ten-year war of attrition." 

Hitler said often that the bigger the lie, the easier it would be [for the masses] to believe.  This is no where more true than Forex.

Wake up world, the EU hasn’t experienced 2% inflation since BEFORE the Crisis erupted in earnest in 2012. Three NIRP cuts and over €1 trillion in QE later, the EU is on the verge of deflation again.