Turkey

If you think it’s bad now, just wait until November. If AKP doesn’t secure an absolute majority there’s no telling how Erdogan will react and if Ankara moves to nullify yet another democratic election by intentionally stirring up the PKK, you can expect outright chaos.

As Bloomberg reports, "German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government signaled it will step up expulsions of economic migrants after the influx of asylum seekers reached a record in September."

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Believe it or not, American soldiers fighting against ISIS in Syria and Iraq will actually be wearing the emblem of ISIS – the infamous crossed-swords logo. Well, almost. Controversy has stirred because many think the patch looks too much like our boys are fighting for the enemy… just another sign of confusion about the counterproductive Obama-led war against the notorious and shamefully exploitative jihadist army.

With the fiscal picture looking increasingly precarious and confidence collapsing, we bring you the latest from the frontlines of the EM meltdown. In short, Brazil is falling apart at the seams. Now, who wants tickets to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio?

In the wake of the global commodities rout which recently saw prices touch their lowest levels of the 21st century, there’s been no shortage of commentary (here or otherwise) on the pain that’s been inflicted on commodity currencies and by extension, on EM. As it stands, the world’s emerging economies face a kind of perfect storm triggered by a combination of the following factors: falling commodity prices, depressed Chinese demand, and the threat of an imminent Fed hike. With the situation deteriorating virtually by the day, we thought it an opportune time to highlight the spike in EM credit risk...

With The UN's Ban earlier commenting that "Syria is out of control" and demanding that Russia, US, Saudi, iran and Turkey cooperate, it will be interesting to see what tack President Obama takes in his address this morning...

Whether it’s the economy, climate, the planet, warfare, your future obligations, your pensions, the future of your children, nobody in power tells you the truth. Human life is fast losing the value we would like to tell ourselves we assign to it. We don’t, do we? Our technological advances haven’t come with moral advances, quite the contrary, our morals turn out to be a thin layer of mere cheap veneer. What advances we’re making are the last death rattle of a society in decline, and a dying civilization.

The exodus from war-torn Syria should never have become a crisis, according to billionaire George Soros; it was long in the making, easy to foresee, and eminently manageable by Europe and the international community. While some leaders, like Hungary's Orban, have suggested plans, these subordinate the human rights of asylum-seekers and migrants and threaten to divide and destroy the EU by renouncing the values on which it was built and violating the laws that are supposed to govern it. Soros demands that The EU respond with a genuinely European asylum policy that will put an end to the panic and the unnecessary human suffering.

Neoliberal economics is blind to reality and serves to justify the destruction of the economic prospects of the Western World. It remains to be seen if Russia and China can develop a different economics or whether these rising superpowers will fall victim to the “junk economics” that has destroyed the West. With so many Chinese and Russian economists educated in the US tradition, the prospects of Russia and China might not be any better than ours. The entire world could go down the tubes together.

Holding gold is simply recognition that the Fed’s actions over the last 30 years have potentially severe consequences that pose threats to the value of most financial assets, the almighty dollar and ultimately your clients’ purchasing power. Owning gold is in effect not only a short on the dollar and on the credibility of the Federal Reserve, but most importantly a one of a kind asset that protects wealth.

“There’s a saying that helps explain our mood around here. When the sea is this turbulent, the only thing you can do is sit on the sand and watch. It’s not time to get in a boat."

The market, which clearly ignored the glaring contradictions in Yellen's speech which said that overseas events should not affect the Fed's policy path just a week after the Fed statement admitted it is "monitoring developments abroad", and also ignored Yellen explicit hint that NIRP is coming (only the size is unclear), and focused on the one thing it wanted to hear: a call to buy the all-critical USDJPY carry pair - because more dollar strength apparently is what the revenue and earnings recessioning S&P500 needs - which after trading around 120 in the past few days, had a 100 pip breakout overnight, hitting 121 just around 5am, in the process pushing US equity futures some 25 points higher at last check.

The phrase New World Order is largely derided as a sophomoric conspiracy theory entertained by minds that lack the sophistication necessary to understand the nuances of geopolitics. But it turns out the core idea — one of deep and overarching collusion between Wall Street and government with a globalist agenda — is operational in what a number of insiders call the “Deep State.”

In a startling turn of events, retired General John Allen will be stepping down as special envoy to the global coalition fighting ISIS and will be leaving government employment entirely. President Obama’s hand-picked choice to lead the U.S. in the international effort fighting the Islamic State will call it quits just as the harsh spotlight intensifies scrutiny over questionable decisions by the administration.