Reuters
Sri Lankan Government Official Busted For "Smuggling Gold Bars In Rectum"
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/23/2015 21:00 -0500Amid ongoing efforts by Indian authorities to monetize (read confiscate) the citizenry's precious metals (which we most recently detailed as an utter failure here and here), it appears the current suppressed low prices for gold have reignited demand and thus smuggling. Following the biggest seizure of smuggled gold earlier this year, The Guardian reports a 42-year-old-man, claiming to be a government official, was caught smuggling$15,000 of gold bars (hidden in his rectum) after police noted him "walking suspiciously."
Mapping The Ongoing 'World War' In Syria & Iraq
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/23/2015 19:00 -0500This cannnot end well...
The Dollar Shortage Has Arrived: Africa Runs Out Of Dollars
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/23/2015 13:58 -0500In an unexpected turn of events, the disappearance of not just synthetic but very physical dollars has hit one region much harder and much faster than we expected. Africa.
"To Make The Payment Is Almost Impossible": Puerto Rico Defaults (Again) In T-Minus 9 Days
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/23/2015 09:05 -0500"To make a total payment will be almost impossible. If a partial payment is made: what bonds should we pay? It is an assessment that is being done. It is highly unlikely that there will not be default, in whole or partially."
In Major "Psychological" Victory, Iraq Liberates Sunni "Heartland" From ISIS
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/23/2015 07:43 -0500As Baghdad gears up for an assault on ISIS-held Mosul, the Iraqi army has managed to liberate Ramadi, the "heartland" of the country's Sunni community. “We went into the center of Ramadi from different axes, and we started clearing residential areas. The city will be cleared within the coming 72 hours."
Frontrunning: December 23
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/23/2015 07:25 -0500- Oil up after U.S. crude stocks drop, still close to 11-year lows (Reuters)
- Global Stocks Rally; Mining, Metals Shares Lead Gains (WSJ)
- OPEC Sees Demand for Its Crude Oil Falling for Rest of Decade (BBG)
- The Trouble With Sovereign-Wealth Funds (WSJ)
- U.S. Calls for 256% Tariff on Imports of Steel From China (BBG)
- Iraqi troops expected to drive ISIS from Ramadi in days (Reuters)
Frontrunning: December 22
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/22/2015 07:38 -0500- Battered oil wins respite, lifts stocks (Reuters)
- Oil Halts Decline as Emerging Market Stocks Climb on China (BBG)
- Bonds Set to Beat Stocks Globally in 2015 After China Falters (BBG)
- SpaceX Falcon rocket nails safe landing in pivotal space feat (Reuters)
- China Leaders Flag More Stimulus After Top Economic Meeting (BBG)
- SEC to Retrench Case Against SAC’s Steven A. Cohen (WSJ)
"I Know Of No One Who Predicted This": Russian Oil Production Hits Record As Saudi Gambit Fails
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/21/2015 22:36 -0500
Dramatic Amateur Video Captures Moment Deadly Chinese Landslide Buries 33 Buildings
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/21/2015 19:09 -0500At least 91 people were missing after a giant mound of mud and construction waste spewed out of an overfull dump site in a southern China boomtown and buried 33 buildings in the country's latest industrial disaster.
"The Cost Is Very High": Portugal Taxpayers Face €3 Billion Loss After Second Bank Bailout In 2 Years
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/21/2015 15:12 -0500Because the Novo Banco auction process went so smoothly, Portugal has decided to throw billions more in taxpayer dollars at a failed lender. This time it's Banif, which will be split into a "good" and "bad" bank just weeks ahead of new EU rules that would have seen uninsured depositors take a haircut as part of the wind down process.
Broke Puerto Rico Pays Out $120 Million In Christmas Bonuses
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/21/2015 09:33 -0500Puerto Rico may be teetering on the verge of default but that doesn't mean public sector employees won't be going home with some extra cash for the holidays. Ten days before $1 billion in interest payments come due and two weeks after resorting to an absurd revenue clawback end-around to make a $354 million payment, the commonwealth just paid out $120 million in bonuses.
FIFA Slaps Sepp Blatter With Eight Year Ban In Bribery Probe
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/21/2015 08:17 -0500As you may recall, it hasn’t been a good year for Sepp Blatter despite being the recipient of some helicopter money back in July. On Monday, things got immeasurably worse for the 79-year-old, whose 17 year reign at the top of FIFA was suspended in October after Swiss prosecutors opened an investigation into an illicit payment made to European soccer boss Michel Platini in 2011.
Frontrunning: December 21
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/21/2015 07:51 -0500- Splintered Spanish vote points to fraught coalition talks (Reuters)
- Brent Oil Falls to 11-Year Low in London as Global Glut Persists (BBG)
- Oil prices hit lowest since 2004 as supply balloons (Reuters)
- U.S. Probes Theranos Complaints (WSJ)
- Driver plows onto Las Vegas Strip sidewalk 'like bowling ball', one dead (Reuters)
- Yellen, Bull Markets and Extinction in a Seven-Year Stock Rally (BBG)
Market Figures Out Fed No Longer Has Its Back
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/20/2015 15:45 -0500The Fed is now - for the first time in adult memory for half the world’s traders and money managers - tightening rather than loosening monetary conditions. A quick look at financial history is all it takes to lead anyone with leveraged money at risk to lighten up. Equally important - and vastly more strange when you think about it - this tightening comes at a time when major parts of the global economy are either grinding to a halt or imploding.



