While mace may be effective as a kind of groper-be-gone defense tactic, it's not much help against a Kalashnikov...

Last fall, a 7-inch injection well pipe ruptured 500 feet below the surface of Aliso Conayon in Los Angeles, after ferrying natural gas for six decades. The resulting methane leak is now being called one of the largest environmental disasters since the BP oil spill, has pushed thousands of people out of their homes, and has quickly become the single biggest contributor to climate change-causing greenhouse gas emissions in California. But it's not the first time this well sprang a leak - and Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), which owns and operates the well, knew it.

In yet another hit for the energy complex, EIA just cut their global oil demand forecast to 95.19 million barrels a day this year (down from 95.22 million in December’s outlook). The energy agency also increased its forecast for global production to 95.93 million barrels a day (up from 95.79 million last month). This pressured WTI Crude back off a brief bounce and pushed it to a 20-handle at $29.97 for the first time since December 2003.

“I believe that Saudi Arabia and Turkey are the two greatest dangers to world peace. It is Saudi Arabia, through the Wahhabist doctrine, that is spreading terrorism across the globe. It’s not Iran, it’s not Syria or any other country.”

Geologist Arthur Berman explains why today's low oil prices are not here to stay, something investors and consumers alike should be very aware of. The crazy-low prices we're currently experiencing are due to an oversupply created by geopolitics and (historic) easy credit, not by sustainable economics. And when the worm turns, we are more likely than not to experience a sudden supply shortfall, jolting prices viciously higher. This will be a situation not soon resolved, as the lag time for new production to come on-line will be much longer than the world wants

A few market participants have noticed that the US High Yield Energy sector's credit risk collapsed 170bps this morning according to Bloomberg's data. This is the biggest plunge (rally) in the index of "incredibly risky stuff" on record and in the face of new cycle lows in crude, borrowing bases contracting, and rig counts crashing, this seemed odd... well here is why the index collapsed (spoiler alert - do not get excited).

Moments ago with the When Issued for today's $24 billion in 3 Year paper trading at 1.188%, we were confident that as a result of the substantial short overhang, the auction would price well through the WI. It did so, and by a mile: the final high yield print was a whipping 1.174%, stopping some 1.4 bps through the When Issued.

After accounting for taxes and the possibility of a shared prize, a ticket’s monetary value is actually substantially lower than some believe (around $.75), making it a poor investment. So why do people buy them? Are consumers hapless rubes throwing away their hard-earned money in exchange for nothing? Not necessarily.

Sort of like all those do it yourself Gold Mining shows hitting the reality television scene pretty much nailing the near term top in the gold market.

In the wake of a series of articles published over the weekend which suggested that both the police and the media in Sweden engaged in a coverup to conceal a series of sexual assaults from the public, authorities are in damage control mode. As the arrests begin, it seems likely that the far-right will capitalize on the scandal by blaming the mainstream parties for failing to protect the country's youth.

Is the U.S. economy in recession? Is it heading for recession? These questions can only be answered in hindsight, but it's worth looking for clues to what might be just ahead.

Today's renewed plunge in WTI Crude (on the verge of a '2' handle any second) has extended the Canadian Dollar's weakness (among many other oil producers). For the first time since early 2003, the Loonie is worth less than 70c... (anyone for skiing?)

With rate-hike odds plunging for every meeting across 2016, and bond yields collapsing almost as fast as stocks, it appears the market's faith in the The Fed is faltering fast...

Well that escalated quickli-er...

That savage deleveraging - it has been truly... epically... unnoticeable...