New Normal
Commodity Carnage Continues - Copper Crashes To 6 Year Lows
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/23/2015 11:05 -0500Across the board commodities are weak again today as CCFD unwinds and mal-investment booms collapse across the world. Copper is under the most pressure today, plunging to its lowest since June 2009... but of course, Dr. Copper now knows nothing about economics because eyeballs trump reality in the new normal... even as Goldman warns lower prices are to come.
Nine Reasons Why Low Oil Prices May "Morph" Into Something Much Worse
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/22/2015 13:20 -0500Why are commodity prices, including oil prices, lagging? Ultimately, it comes back to the question, “Why isn’t the world economy making very many of the end products that use these commodities?” If workers were getting rich enough to buy new homes and cars, demand for these products would be raising the prices of commodities used to build and operate cars, including the price of oil. If governments were rich enough to build an increasing number of roads and more public housing, there would be demand for the commodities used to build roads and public housing. It looks to me as though we are heading into a deflationary depression, because prices of commodities are falling below the cost of extraction. We need rapidly rising wages and debt if commodity prices are to rise back to 2011 levels or higher. This isn’t happening.
Greek Banks Will Not Re-Open Monday Even As Loan To Repay ECB Approved
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/17/2015 08:37 -0500The timing could not be worse from a visual perspective but within minutes of the Eurogroup confirming that they approved the €7.16 billion bridge loan (which will merely be recycled back to The ECB to ensure the appearance of normalcy continues), local reports that the Greek finance ministry says banks will not re-open on Monday (as promised). Welcome to the new normal Europe... where the elites get their mony and the people... not so much.
Greek Banks Just Became A "Strong Sell" At Any Price
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/16/2015 12:48 -0500Even as Greek banks, severely depleted of cash and eligible collateral they can post with the ECB, stand to fight another day (and potentially face more withdrawals as soon as the Greek banks reopen supposedly on Monday) thanks to another €900 million liquidity infusion, investors in Greek bank shares will be less lucky: "to ensure a new bailout, investors in the country’s banks faced the prospect of their holdings being "wiped out" under the terms of a €25 billion recapitalization plan."
A Homeless Harvard Graduate In The Schizophrenic Job Market
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/14/2015 13:30 -0500The BLS continues to perpetuate the distraction officially known as the "unemployment rate" to hide the grim reality portrayed by the labor force participation rate, which shows the true decline of employment in America. The labor force participation rate of college graduates has never been lower. In the new normal, McDonald's has a lower acceptance rate than Ivy League schools. Just when you thought you had seen everything, a new story emerges: Alfred Postell has three degrees - accounting, economics, and law - but he is unemployed and homeless.
Iran Deal Done - "Stunning, Historic Mistake" Or "Profoundly Positive Change"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/14/2015 10:30 -0500While slightly later than expected, a comprehensive deal on Iran’s nuclear weapons program has now been reached. As Reuters reports, the agreement will be greeted with alarm in several quarters, both in Washington and Tehran and internationally too, and could yet unravel. Internationally, the deal will accelerate unease in some Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, but it is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who remains the fiercest public critic and has issued a warning that the accord will "inevitably lead to a nuclear war." The deal profoundly changes the balance of power in the region, but averts the conflict that was likely otherwise, but as ECStrat notes, Iran offers exceptional investment opportunities, but the near term impact will be to continue oil’s decline back to its lows, potentially taking energy stocks with it.
Why Moar QE Is Inevitable (In 2 Simple Charts)
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/10/2015 13:05 -0500If The Fed's dream of wealth creation by equity-levitated mandate is to be fulfilled then it is simply inevitable that QE Moar is on its way...
Pepsi Q2 Earnings Explained For 17-Year-Old Hedge Fund Managers
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/09/2015 06:52 -0500When you know precisely who your New Normal target audience is, this is how you should always lay out your resuts...
The New American Dream: No Jobs For The Young, No Retirement For The Old
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/08/2015 12:35 -0500The reality is that financial insecurity is rising for everyone...
While We Were Offline - The Market Broke, Was Fixed (Stocks Slumped), & Broke Again
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/08/2015 10:02 -0500This morning we experienced an unprecedented surge in traffic which brought our servers to a grinding halt. We are happy to announce that we are now back up. In the meantime... a pre-emptive attempt at plunge protection (by breaking NYSE just like on Monday) failed as NYSE re-opens and stocks slumped. Seeing this, the NYSE decided to break again and stocks ripped...
Piketty: "Germany Has Never Repaid Its Debts; It Has No Standing To Lecture Other Nations"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/06/2015 09:38 -0500"When I hear the Germans say that they maintain a very moral stance about debt and strongly believe that debts must be repaid, then I think: what a huge joke! Germany is the country that has never repaid its debts. It has no standing to lecture other nations. ... Germany is really the single best example of a country that, throughout its history, has never repaid its external debt. Neither after the First nor the Second World War. However, it has frequently made other nations pay up... "
Nomi Prins: In A World Of Artificial Liquidity – Cash Is King
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/04/2015 18:10 -0500Global central banks are afraid. Before Greece tried to stand up to the Troika, they were merely worried. Now it’s clear that no matter what they tell themselves and the world about the necessity or even righteousness of their monetary policies, liquidity can still disappear in an instant. Or at least, that’s what they should be thinking. The problem is that central banks have no plan B in the event of a massive liquidity event. In this cauldron of instability and lack of leadership, cash is the one remaining financial possession that Main Street can translate into goods, services and security. That’s why private banks want more control over it.
A Pledge Of Allegiance For The New Normal America
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/04/2015 14:30 -0500"I pledge allegiance to no flag, but to truth and morality..."
This Is What It Looks Like When Central Banks Lose Control
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/03/2015 11:05 -0500In the utopian world of US equities - where every dip is a buying opportunity and "The Fed's got your back," - it is blasphemous for anyone to suggest this state of affairs cannot go on forever is extreme. However, as China encountered an accelerated version of the farce that the US has experienced in the past few years, the same "The PBOC's got your back" mentality dominated every fundamental fact and central bank omnipotence was doctrine. That is until 2 weeks ago... when modest efforts to rein in exponentially-growing leverage pricked the new normal's narrative. Now every "save" by the government and every plunge protected is sold into by a desperate population burned...
These Six States Just Raised Their Gasoline Tax
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/01/2015 14:49 -0500Beginning July 1, drivers in Idaho, Georgia, Maryland, Rhode Island, Nebraska and Vermont will be charged more at the pump as a result of laws taking effect at the start states' new fiscal year.


