New Orleans

See For Yourself ...

After the first deadly winter storm this season, now come the floods: the near record-water level across the U.S. Midwest has disrupted everything from oil to agriculture, forcing pipelines, terminals and grain elevators to close. Here is the stunning drone's-eye footage capturing the unprecedented water level across much of the US Midwest.

Google announced yesterday that Chicago and Los Angeles could be two of the next cities to receive their 1 Gbit/s Internet service. 

Two things happened after the most recent widely publicized US mass shootings/domestic terrorism acts: i) Obama once again made a concerted effort to push for gun-control, and ii) gun sales soared to record highs for November most likely in response to i). As we reported in September, citing the FT, "gun sales this year could surpass the record set in 2013, when gun purchases surged after the December 2012 Sandy Hook murders." And given that Black Friday background checks broke all previous records, it appears we are well on our way.

"We live in a dystopian investment world, whose markets have morphed into an Orwellian backdrop of omnipresent government intervention and manipulation that is increasingly dictated by the quant community -- who worship at the altar of prices and price momentum (and are agnostic on values)."

The further you go towards the tails of the bell curve, the more similar social characteristics.  In a society that has been even more polarized, we increasingly see similarities between the very wealthy, and the very poor.  The declining middle class is more and more a world of it's own (as the elite used to be). 

In Summary, the Superclass "Elite" UHNWI and the ultra poor have the following in common:

• Brussels on Edge as Lockdown Continues (WSJ)
• Stocks Pare Decline as Crude Oil Erases Drop on Saudi Comments (BBG)
• Italy’s Eni Plans to Pump Arctic Oil, After Others Abandon the Field (WSJ)
• Treasuries Decline as Economists Say GDP to Be Revised Higher (BBG)
• Why the Housing Rebound Hasn’t Lifted the U.S. Economy Much (WSJ)
• Argentina Fever Is Back for Investors as Kirchner Rival Triumphs (BBG)

The idea that hard work leads to prosperity is increasingly becoming an American pipe dream, in some places more than others.

"The Department disagrees with the Fifth Circuit’s adverse ruling and intends to seek further review from the Supreme Court of the United States."

Today the FBI released its latest background check data - a proxy for total gun sales in the United States as most gun purchases require a background check - in which we find that, as expected, Obama's latest threat to implement stricter gun controls backfried once more, and the month of October saw a record number of background checks. The same was true for September, August, and so on: in fact, October the sixth consecutive month to see a record number of checks. 

The bottom line: the gross profit from a "flip" in any of these 20 markets will result in an average profit of just over 102% in as little under 7 months. Good luck.

Just as was evidenced after the 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech, after Columbine and Tucson in 2011, and following the theater shootings in Aurora, Colorado in 2012, US gun sales have soared following the mass-shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon, which killed 10 people and injured seven others. As The FT reports, gun sales this year could surpass the record set in 2013, when gun purchases surged after the December 2012 Sandy Hook murders.

Something is afoot as de-dollarization escalates around the world. With CNY/RUB trading volumes up a stunning 400% year-over-year to record highs, and hot on the heels of China's (and much of EM Asia) dumping dollar assets, Russian President Vladimir Putin has just unleashed a new bill aiming to completely eliminate the US dollar from the trade of goods.

• Stock Halts Added to Monday’s Market Chaos (WSJ)
• Fed Up Investors Yank Cash From Almost Everything Just Like 2008 (BBG)
• Drop in Stock Futures Signal Halt to S&P 500's Relief Rally (BBG) - at least until the BOJ ramps USDJPY up again
• Hacker Killed by Drone Was Islamic State’s ‘Secret Weapon’ (WSJ)
• Greece's Syriza to win election but face setback, poll shows (Reuters)
• Puerto Rico Spends More Than $60 Million on Debt Restructuring (BBG)