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Important pillars of the bull case evaporated throughout 2015. Global price pressures weakened, the global Credit backdrop deteriorated and the global economy decelerated. The huge bets on central bank policies left markets at high risk for abrupt reversals and trade unwinds – 2015 The Year of the Erratic Crowded Trade. Indeed, a global bear market commenced yet most remain bullish. Serious and objective analysts would view this ominously.

At the end of the day, the current preposterous $325 billion market cap has nothing to do with the business prospects of this firm or the considerable entrepreneurial prowess of its leader and his army of disrupters. It is more in the nature of financial rigor mortis - the final spasm of the robo-traders and the fast money crowd chasing one of the greatest bubbles still standing in the casino.

• Oil rebound fizzles, sending global shares lower (Reuters)
• Saudi Arabia Won’t Change Oil Production (WSJ)
• China suspends forex business for some foreign banks (Reuters)
• Republicans come up short in search for diverse voters in 2016 election (Reuters)
• Oil Prices Become a Problem for U.S. Steelmakers (BBG)
• Oil-Producing States Battered as Tax-Gushing Wells Are Shut Down (BBG)

For the first time since early 2014, "no brainer" Apple's Enterprise Value has fallen below that of its tech giant super-hero nemesis Alphabet (the company formerly known as Google). Since early July, Apple has lost a stunning $112 billion of 'value' while Alphabet has added over $150 billion. In September we asked "have we reached peak Apple?" it appears, for now, the answer is in.

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.

"The Roman Empire, a police state in its own right, had ordered that a census be conducted. Joseph and his pregnant wife Mary traveled to the little town of Bethlehem so that they could be counted. There being no room for the couple at any of the inns, they stayed in a stable, where Mary gave birth to a baby boy. That boy, Jesus, would grow up to undermine the political and religious establishment of his day and was eventually crucified as a warning to others not to challenge the powers-that-be." But what if Jesus, the revered preacher, teacher, radical and prophet, had been born 2,000 years later? How would Jesus’ life have been different had he be born and raised in the American police state?

At 23-years old, Pete Seeger was an Army Private anxiously awaiting the opportunity to be deployed to fight fascism in the midst of World War II, when he became outraged by injustice in his own backyard. As such, he wrote the following letter to the California chapter of the American Legion. For this thoughtful expression of his First Amendment rights, Pete Seeger ended up on an FBI watch-list; a place he would remain for the next thirty years. Following a Freedom of Information Act request, we now have access to his shocking 1,800 page file...

It has been a seesaw session with U.S. stock index futures following their dramatic buying burst in the last half hour of market trading yesterday by first rising, then falling, then rising again alongside European equities both driven almost tick for tick with even the smallest move in the carry trade of choice, the USDJPY, even as Asian shares trade near intraday highs after China’s leaders signaled they will take further steps to support growth.

The manifesto for the micro-aggressives has been unleashed on an unknowing "safe-space"-seeking, politically-corrected, American public. Students at no lesser liberalist college than Oberlin, Ohio, have released 14 pages of full social-justice-warrior-tard warning that they are "not polite requests, but concrete and unmalleable demands." If Oberlin doesn’t capitulate, the document warns of a “full and forceful response" which however remains entirely undefined. 

“To the intelligent man or woman, life appears infinitely mysterious, but the stupid have an answer for everything.” ~Edward Abbey

• Oil heads for third straight weekly loss as supply weighs (Reuters)
• BOJ's $2.5 Billion ETF Boost Seen Having Little Impact on Stocks (BBG)
• Japan core CPI seen flat in November, household spending down (Reuters)
• Dollar gets altitude sickness as BOJ disappoints (Reuters)
• Fed Hikes, but Some Rates Veer Lower (WSJ)
• White House calls for 'common sense steps' to help Puerto Rico (Reuters)

The day has come when the boxed-in Fed has no choice: with the vast majority of the market expecting a rate hike, Yellen has to deliver or suffer a crushing confidence blow like no other. And deliver she will, with expectations that said hike will be "as dovish as possible." For now however, the market is desperate to convince itself that just as more easing and more QE were bullish for the market, so rate hikes are just as bullish. Recall from late 2013: "tapering is not tightening," then the 2015 version of this refrain is "tightening is not tightening."

Over the last two decades the Fed’s interventionism has created artificial booms and real busts. Their dreadful mistakes are “fixed” by currency debasement, lower interest rates, and money printing – creating even worse mistakes. They have successfully gutted the American economy and left a hollowed out shell. The coming collapse will be three pronged as stocks, bonds, and real estate are all simultaneously overvalued. Junk bonds are the canary in a coalmine. High end real estate in NYC has topped out. New and existing homes sales growth has stalled out. Retailers desperately slash prices to maintain sales, while destroying their profits. Corporate profits are falling. The stock market is teetering on the edge.

If anyone on this planet could be accused of tying Marissa Mayer's sexuality to her career, I think one need look no farther than the woman herself.