Department of the Treasury

• Soothing Fed sounds send shares, emerging markets higher (Reuters)
• Belgian Police Conduct Raids in Connection With Paris Attacks (WSJ)
• The Paris Attacks Can’t Lead to a Closed Europe (BBG)
• Alleged Mastermind of Paris Attacks Was ‘Emir of War’ (WSJ)
• U.S. Eyes Russia-Iran Split in Bid to End Syria Conflict (WSJ)
• Despite tensions, Asia-Pacific nations close ranks against terrorism (Reuters)

America’s next president will inherit more than a bitterly divided nation teetering on the brink of financial catastrophe when he or she assumes office. He will also inherit a shadow government, one that is fully operational and staffed by unelected officials who are, in essence, running the country. To be precise, however, the future president will actually inherit not one but two shadow governments.

The phrase New World Order is largely derided as a sophomoric conspiracy theory entertained by minds that lack the sophistication necessary to understand the nuances of geopolitics. But it turns out the core idea — one of deep and overarching collusion between Wall Street and government with a globalist agenda — is operational in what a number of insiders call the “Deep State.”

"Possible Actions: Publicize presence of transiting (or externally focused) extremist groups in Syria, not limited to mention of Hamas and PIJ. Publicize Syrian efforts against extremist groups in a way that suggests weakness, signs of instability, and uncontrolled blowback. The SARG,s argument (usually used after terror attacks in Syria) that it too is a victim of terrorism should be used against it to give greater prominence to increasing signs of instability within Syria."

She's a block away from the ghost of Steve Jobs. It's a lovely neighbhorhood, to be sure. But...........thirty million dollars???

the next time someone asks "why is Yellen so terrified of even the smallest possible rate hike", show them this chart above and explain that the Fed vividly remembers what heppened when LTCM blew up. What the Fed doesn't want, is not one but one thousand LTCMs going off at exactly the same time in what is now the world's most levered trade...

What is not often covered in the media are the audits of the US official gold reserves stored at the US Mint, which is the custodian for 95 % (7716 tonnes) of the stash – nowadays also referred to as custodial deep storage, and at the Federal Reserve Bank Of New York that safeguards the remaining 5 % (418 tonnes). The lawful owner of the US official gold reserves is the US Treasury. Part one covered the most recent records I could find published by the US government, in this post we’ll examine more historical records and approach this matter from a more critical angle.

How will the US government fund a sudden additional shortfall of $281 per American per year?

On Tuesday, the Dow fell 272 points. No big deal, of course - we rebounded the most in 3 years yesterday. But what if it continued? Just six years ago it fell 51%. It could easily do so again – back down to, say, 8,000. There would be nothing unusual about it. 50% corrections are normal. You know what would happen, don’t you? Ever since the "Black Monday" stock market crash in 1987 it has been standard procedure for the Fed to react quickly. But what if Yellen & Co. got out the party favors... set up the booze on the counter... laid out some dishes with pretzels and olives... and nobody came? What if the stock market stayed down for 30 years, as it has in Japan?

Do you have a friend who consistently borrows 30% of his income each year, is currently in debt about six times her annual income, and wanted to take advantage of short-term interest rates so that he needs to renegotiate with his banker about once every six years? Well, if Uncle Sam is your friend you do!

Moments ago, as was widely preannounced, the US Treasury unveiled its latest round of Russian sanctions. While the bigger picture was well-known, here are some of the highlights:

• U.S. SANCTIONS FOCUS ON FINANCIAL, ENERGY, DEFENSE SECTORS
• U.S. TREASURY ADDS SBERBANK TO SANCTIONS LIST,
• U.S. TREASURY SANCTIONS AFFECTS GAZPROM, GAZPROM NEFT, LUKOIL, ROSNEFT, AND SURGUTNEFTGAZ
• U.S. TIGHTENS DEBT FINANCING RESTRICTIONS TO 30 DAYS

And instantly: PUTIN: GOVT DRAFTING PROPOSALS TO RETALIATE AGAINST SANCTIONS

• Hillary and Me: The 2008 campaign was a nightmare. Will 2016 be as bad?  (Politico)
• What Timothy Geithner Really Thinks (NYT)
• Rebels declare victory in east Ukraine self-rule vote (Reuters)
• Race for AIG's Top Job Has Two Favorites (WSJ)
• America on the Move Becomes Stay-at-Home Nation for Millennials (BBG)
• Old, Fired at IBM: Trendsetter Offers Workers Arbitration (BBG)
• Bad luck Jonathan: Pressure Mounts on Nigerian President (WSJ)
• Iran leader slams West's 'stupid' missile stance before talks (Reuters)
• Conchita Wurst of Austria Wins Eurovision Song Contest (WSJ)
• Greek Finance Ministry expects Q1 GDP contraction of less than 1.5 pct (Kathimerini)

• Omnicom, Publicis call off proposed $35 billion merger (Reuters)
• Apple in talks for $3.2bn Beats deal (FT)
• Alibaba IPO Grew Out of ’80s Chaos and Guy From Goldman (BBG)
• Nigeria's president at WEF pledges to free kidnapped girls (Reuters)
• JPMorgan Joins Wells Fargo in Rolling Out Jumbo Offerings (BBG)
• It's 1999 all over again: Young Bankers Fed Up With 90-Hour Weeks Move to Startups (BBG)
• ECB stimulus talk knocks euro, peripheral yields (Reuters)
• Deutsche Bank Currency Crown Lost to Citigroup on Volatility (BBG)
• London Taxis Plan 10,000-Car Protest Against Uber App Use (BBG)
• Pfizer Holders Could Face Tax Hit in a Deal for AstraZeneca (WSJ)

U.S. sanctions, to be announced today, will target Russian individuals and companies involved in financial, energy, infrastructure sectors, congressional official familiar with White House plan tells Bloomberg’s Jonathan Allen.

• *U.S. SAID TO SANCTION 7 RUSSIANS, 17 COMPANIES IN NEW ACTIONS
• *PERSON ON CAPITOL HILL DISCUSSES NEW U.S. SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA

As we already noted it appears Rosneft and Gazprom (and Gazprombank) will be among the companies but the one to watch is for a direct sanction against Vladimir Putin himself. Full list to follow... and then the blowback.

Moments ago, the Senate Banking Committee started a hearing on the topic of "Financial Stability And Data Security." We assume the topic discussed will be financial stability, the highly diluted final version of the Volcker Rule, Dodd Drank, the London Whale, and other things legislators have no understanding of. As such it will be a complete waste of time, and the only thing that can possibly force anyone to fix the broken system is the next systemic crash, one which the central banks, already all in with their bailout efforts, will be unable to resolve.