Warren Buffett

“Communist Party graft busters have been taking officials, one by one, to a hotel close to the [CSRC’s] headquarters to press them to come clean or report on others."

The Big Banks manipulate credit default swaps to perpetrate economic terrorism against other nations in the world, where they literally destroy the economies of those victim-nations. It used to be a theory, but now the proof is finally emerging. 

Following weakness in the middle-east and as WTI prices slide back into the red (on the heels of record speculative shorts in crude oil), Asia-Pac stocks are opening to the downside (but only modestly). On the bright side, the ZARpocalypse has been delayed briefly as the Rand is rallying on the back of Zuma hiring a new finance minister. On the dark side, offshore Yuan continues to plummet, down 6 of the last 7 days (down 14 handles!) and the Yuan fixed weaker for the 6th day in a ro wto July 2011 lows. and signaling more turmoil ahead of The Fed's decision. AsiaPac credit markets are gapping notably wider, EM stocks down 9th day in a row to 2009 lows, and EM FX is plunging.

China’s sweeping crackdown on sellers, “manipulators”, frontrunners, financial journalists and anyone else “suspected” of acting in such a way as to sow fear and uncertainty in the wake of the dramatic meltdown in Chinese equities that unfolded over the summer has ensnared money managers, high profile executives, and government officials alike. Earlier this week, it reached a crescendo with the disappearance of Guo Guangchang, known to some as “China’s Warren Buffett. We now have a bit more in the way of color regarding Guo’s detention and sure enough, he’s being “held in connection with an investigation.”

Whether Beijing is questioning Guo about his habit of eschewing investments in China in favor of deploying capital overseas or whether Fosun did something “wrong” in the markets during the selloff is hard to know, but one thing’s for certain: “kill the chicken to scare the monkey” is alive and well.

You know the one thing Mark Zuckerberg with all his Billions can’t do today without causing a media sensation throughout Wall Street? Hint: Sell. If we were in fact at the edge of a bubble in the Valley – how would one be able to sell at the top without bringing on some negative feedback loop in their stock price? With this newly formed “Initiative” any selling is now wrapped into a wonderful meme of “We’re not selling to profit. (or preserve) It’s for charity. And we’ve stated openly we were going to do just that. So, nothing to see here, please move along, thanks so much." Remember, also, this year is the first year that the once Holy Grail of “IPO’s to the promised land” have been mired in quicksand.

"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)."

So how do you grow household wealth by $18 trillion in the face of these dismal real world trends? In a word, with a printing press. But what happened today is that Draghi showed he is out of tricks and Yellen confessed she is out of excuses. Yes, this sucker is going down. And this time all the misguided economics professors turned central bankers in the world will be powerless to reverse the plunge.

Good news for Trump who is once again pulling away from the pack; not so good news for Hillary whose "likability problem" is starting to haunt her.   

It is vital to give proper consideration to the improper liberties that are being taken by those with “unwarranted influence” and “misplaced power”.   Value extraction has replaced value creation in pursuit of short?term, self?serving benefits at the expense of long?term stability and durability of corporate America and therefore the country as a whole.  As citizens, our obligation is to be well?informed, cognizant, outspoken and to vote. The words of men may temporarily suspend but they do not alter the laws of financial dynamics. The fundamentals always take precedence eventually.

Warren Buffett - billionaire investor, opposer of Citizens United but major donor to super-PACs, previous fan of Bernie Sanders, and vehement supporter of the 'fairness doctrine' on taxes for everyone but himself - will be joining 'campaigner for everyday Americans' Hillary Clinton as she stumps in Omaha this month. We are sure average joes and janes across America will feel relieved that two such 'feet on the ground, down to earth' people are representing their needs and hearing their fears.

In the wake of Bill Ackman's verbal jousting with Charile Munger, WSJ has taken a look at what many consider to be the myth behind Warren Buffett's "folksy" demeanor. As it turns out, it's best to do as Buffett does, not as he says.

Looking back at the build up and the let down on the Theranos story, the recurring question that comes up is how the smart people that funded, promoted and wrote about this company never stopped and looked beyond the claim of “30 tests from one drop of blood” that seemed to be the mantra for the company. While we may never know the answer to the question, Aswath Damodaran offers three possible reasons that should operate as red flags on future young company narratives...

Macy's is down over 13% today, pushing towards a sub-$40 handle - the lowest since February 2013 - after lowering guidance and disappointing a market full of hope (and hype) that retail is back (remember, all the retail hiring last Friday). However, that is not the most prescient issue as 3 years of buying back billions of dollars of Macy's stocks - to financially-engineer earnings to ensure executive compensation is satisfactory - have been completely wasted. And worst still, the additional debt added to fund the total failure in timing of buybacks has now sent Macy's credit spiking to multi-year highs (as the stock tumbles).

To compare someone like Bernie Sanders to bloodthirsty monsters like Stalin and Pol Pot is too ludicrous for words. I've heard of slippery slopes before, but good lord, this guy must be totally off his rocker