Ford

Rig productivity and drilling efficiency are red herrings. Although the barrels produced per rig is increasing, the barrels per average producing well is decreasing.

The hypocrisy is self-evident. That the U.S. has covertly supported the overthrow of the Assad regime in Syria is an open secret. That there are no American boots on the ground (at least officially) does not absolve the U.S. of partial responsibility for the refugee catastrophe unleashed by the Syrian war. Empire comes with responsibilities, and it should come with conscience. The U.S. is not a passive observer in Syria. Those of us outside the Deep State have no idea what's been done or supplied or promised in the name of the American people. Shall we accept 5% responsibility for events in Syria? That equates to 5% of 4 million refugees or 200,000 refugees. Of the estimated 4 million Syrian refugees, the U.S. has accepted a mere 1,500.

Banks in the US and Europe are trying to develop a cashless transactions system. The concept is to establish a comprehensive ledger for a business or a person that records everything received and spent, and all of the assets held – mortgages, investment portfolios, debts, contractual financial obligations, and anything else of market value. There would be no need for cash because the ledger would tell you and anyone you were considering a transaction with how much is available and would be transactable at any specific moment. This is not a dreamy idea. Blythe Masters is leading a new business effort to develop a universal cashless system. Not only is she gathering significant investor interest, but the Federal Reserve and various US Government agencies have become keenly interested in the potential usefulness and efficiencies of a universal cashless system

Awareness about the concept of money is making a comeback. Gone are the decades in which the global citizenry was fooled to leave this subject to economists, governments and banks – a setup that has proven to end in disaster. The crisis in 2008 has spawned debate about what money is, where it comes from and where it should come from.

After 6 straight weeks of rig count increases, last week saw a 13 rig drop - the most since May. This leave the rig count at its lowest since July 24th. WTI Crude jumped 60c on the news and is holding gains...

The more we think about it, the less the classical division between microeconomics (which studies the behavior of individuals and production entities) and macroeconomics (which deals with the performance of the economy as a whole and not its individual markets and components) makes any sense - certainly not in the 21st century. And in our view it is this disconnect between the two that is at the heart of the failure of Keynesian economics – which at best is incomplete and at worst is all just baloney.

It is not enough to issue proclamations such as “it is time to get tough” or “It is time to make America great again”. These are the buzz words of a man that is reaching out to tap the rich vein of popular appeal. Perhaps that is what all politicians strive to do, especially when the field of candidates is rather crowded. However, what is clear is that a well-crafted economic strategy is not present, nor are staffers that would have the temerity to disagree with Mr T.

Moments ago, Morgan Stanley did it again just as expected, only this time it at least followed protocol when it announced it is raising its price target on TSLA from $280 to a whopping $465, or just shy of $61 billion in implied market cap. Incidentally at this price TSLA would be the biggest US automaker, surpassing not only GM's $50bn in market capo, but also Ford's $60 billion.

While the total rig count remained unchanged at 884, Baker Hughes reported oil rigs rose 2 this week to 672 - its highest since April 2015.  This is the 6th rise in the last 7 weeks. There is little to no reaction in crude prices for now...

With the usual two year delay, others such as Reuters, are starting to notice that under the Tesla hood there are nothing but cockroaches. And now that the growth "story" has taken a back seat following the latest guidance cut in deliveries, fears that the company will have to dilute shareholders to keep the "story" afloat, are rapidly emerging. Case in point, Reuters calculation of a fact that was known to most observers but certainly not to retail enthusiasts who "bought the stock just because others bought the stock", i.e., that Tesla loses about $4000 on ever car it makes.

It wasn’t until the Americans were free to issue unlimited amounts of ‘dollars’ that these claims lost their soundness in a rambunctious belief in the never-ending global supremacy of US manufacturing. Now the damage is done. The gross misallocations that have plagued the world economy for well over four decades cannot be corrected without a cataclysmic event that will dramatically change living standards as the US realign their manufacturing and service sectors. But it cannot continue indefinitely either. Something will have to give.

Just two days after a jury agreed that Colorado theater shooter James Holmes could still face the death penalty for the tragic July 2012 mass shooting which killed 12 and injured 70, and a month after another shooter killed two and injured 8 before killing himself, moments ago WSMV reported that another active shooter situation had emerged in Nashville with the Nashville Fire Department confirming that shots were being fired at the Carmike 8 Cinemas on Bell Road at 1:55 p.m.

• Fed expected to push ahead with rate hike plan (Reuters)
• Upbeat earnings lift European stocks ahead of Fed (Reuters)
• Chevron to Cut 1,500 Jobs (Rigzone)
• Can Windows 10 Revive PC Sales? (WSJ)
• U.S. Junk-Bond Buyers Left in Dark as Private Deals Become Norm (BBG)
• Jeb Bush Drawing Big Bucks From GOP Establishment (WSJ)
• Myriad of Greek Risks Means Money Managers in No Hurry to Return (BBG)
• Gas production at Gazprom set to hit post-Soviet low (FT)

On a day when market participants will care about only one thing - how hawkish (or dovish) the FOMC sounds at 2:00 pm (no Yellen press conference today) - Chinese stocks provided the usual dramatic sideshow and traded unchanged or modestly negative for most of the day despite the latest $100 billion injection, the close of trading on Wednesday was a mirror image of what happened in the last hour on Monday, as various Chinese "plunge-protection" mechanism went into a furious buying frenzy and government-backed funds rushed to buy anything that trades in the last 60 minutes of trading in what may be the most glaring example of banging the close yet.