White House

"U.S. President Barack Obama is weighing steps to bolster Iraq's battle against Islamic State," Reuters says, as senior military officials indicate an increase in the number of US "support personnel" may be necessary. Meanwhile, Congressional war hawks are beating the drum.

After a quiet Asian session, where not even the latest Chinese CPI miss was enough to push the SHCOMP to new multi-year highs, all eyes were on Europe where a few hours ago the European Commission announced it had received not one but two new proposals from Greece with the Greek government adding that it considers proposals submitted last week as remain basis for political negotiations. However, barely had Europe received the Greek addenda when it nein'ed all over them, with BBG citing an international official directly involved in talks saying that the "Greek government's revised proposal to unlock bailout funds is vague rehash of earlier plans, not considered credible."

in a follow up piece to his stunning original investigative report, Nafeez Ahmed reveals that according to leading American and British intelligence experts, the previously declassified Pentagon report confirms that the West accelerated support to extremist rebels in Syria, despite knowing full well the strategy would pave the way for the emergence of the ‘Islamic State’ (ISIS). The experts who have spoken out include renowned government whistleblowers such as the Pentagon’s Daniel Ellsberg, the NSA’s Thomas Drake, and the FBI’s Coleen Rowley, among others. Their remarks demonstrate the fraudulent nature of claims by two other former officials, the CIA’s Michael Morell and the NSA’s John Schindler, both of whom attempt to absolve the Obama administration of responsibility for the policy failures exposed by the DIA documents.

Overnight it was none other than the White House itself which finally admitted that the entire brilliant idea of collapsing the Russian economy by way of sanctions across the western world, ended up hurting European nations (i.e., US partners) who had no choice but to "sacrifice their own economies."

As Republican presidential hopefuls ramp up their campaigns, GOP candidates will likely point to Vladimir Putin as the embodiment of everything that’s wrong with Democrats’ foreign policy and Clinton’s famous “reset” button ceremony in Geneva provides the perfect opportunity for the GOP to tie the presumed Democratic nominee to a failed attempt at reconciliation with America’s Cold War nemesis.

“A positive scenario requires almost everything to go right from now on,” BofAML says, adding that “Greece needs to receive new funding before the end of June, otherwise it will not be able to repay the IMF on June 30 … which would put ELA access of Greek banks at risk.” 

• White House denies Obama said strong dollar a problem (Reuters)
• Lira Falls to Record Amid Stock Rout as AK Party Loses Majority (BBG)
• Bond-Market Game of Chicken With Fed Is Riskier Than Ever (BBG)
• Xetra Dax enters correction territory (FT)
• China trade shrinks amid slowing demand (FT)
• Greek government eyes compromise with lenders, rules out snap polls (Reuters)
• If You Think Greece’s Crisis Will End Soon, Think Again (BBG)
• China growth data ‘overstated’ due to data error (FT)
• Calpers to Cut External Money Managers by Half (WSJ)

While there were key macroeconomic data out of Asia earlier in the session, with Japan revising its Q1 GDP up from 2.4% to 3.9% (due to an upward revision to capex) making some wonder if it simply didn't snow in Japan this winter, as well as Chinese trade data that was once again disappointing with the third consecutive drop in exports coupled with an 18.1% collapse in imports hinting that nothing is going well in China's economy (which once again sent stocks soaring this time up another 2.2% on certainty another PBOC rate cut is imminent, pushing the PBOC to a fresh 7-year high of 5,132), it was actually a leaked Obama comment on the strong USD that moved markets.

Amid escalating violence in Ukraine,"the Obama administration officials are considering new deterrence strategies to rein in Russian meddling in Europe, in what some say would amount to an updated version of Cold War-era containment," WSJ reports.

Many of you undoubtedly think that your education is now over and it’s time to enter the “real world.”  I have news for you: you’ve been in that world for the last four years, hence the debt you’re dragging around behind you.  So, on a day when the sun’s in your eyes and it couldn’t be more apparent that the world’s not what you’ve been told it was, maybe you should apply the principles of the scam artist to the world you’re about to enter.  Unless you do so, you’ll simply be scammed again in the next phase of your life.

"The hackers who stole personal data on 4 million government employees from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management sneaked past a sophisticated counter-hacking system called Einstein 3, a highly-touted, multimillion-dollar and mostly secret technology that’s been years in the making [but is] already obsolete," Bloomberg says. Unfortunately, bureaucratic delays, Presidential pettiness, and Congressional paralysis likely mean no improvements are forthcoming.

If Rick Perry wants to mark a successful comeback in 2016 and spoil Hillary Clinton's inauguration, he'll need to be a bit more efficient with his campaign dollars. Despite spending less in his 2012 bid than nearly every other 'serious' candidate in the last three elections, Perry paid 27 times more per vote in 2012 than did Clinton in 2008.

That Makes Sens ... Wait, WHAT??

The next several weeks are likely to be relatively eventful in Washington...

Mysterious cartoons mocking “Goldman Rats” and Hillary Clinton are appearing all over NYC...