Economy

Greece Is Crashing

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–  Greece Is Crashing (ZeroHedge, Oct 15, 2014):

As we explained in detail yesterday, between governments hopes to exit the bailout program early (in order to save their election) – which the market does not like the idea of – and fears over the reality of OMT, Greek markets are tumbling. Greek stocks are down over 9% – the biggest plunge in 6 years and bond yields are surging… it appears the market is demanding Draghi get back to work as the “whatever it takes” gains have been halved (Greek stocks -35% from March 2014 highs).

Read moreGreece Is Crashing

US, European Stocks Collapse As Oil Tests $80 Handle, 10Y Hits 2.15%

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–  US, European Stocks Collapse As Oil Tests $80 Handle, 10Y Hits 2.15% (ZeroHedge, Oct 15, 2014):

Blood in the leveraged momo streets. Nikkei was crushed overenight as USDJPY could not hold 107. European stock indices are tumbling led by weakness in Spain, Portugal, and Italy. The peripheral bond markets are also getting crushed (spreads wider by 15-20bps). This has bled over into US equities with Nasdaq leading the way lower. Treasury yields are collapsing (10Y tests below 2.15%). The USD is modestly lower but oil is continuing to collapse testing the $80 handle for WTI.

Read moreUS, European Stocks Collapse As Oil Tests $80 Handle, 10Y Hits 2.15%

12 Charts That Show The Permanent Damage That Has Been Done To The U.S. Economy

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– 12 Charts That Show The Permanent Damage That Has Been Done To The U.S. Economy (Economic Collapse, Oct 13, 2014):

Most people that discuss the “economic collapse” focus on what is coming in the future.  And without a doubt, we are on the verge of some incredibly hard times.  But what often gets neglected is the immense permanent damage that has been done to the U.S. economy by the long-term economic collapse that we are already experiencing.  In this article I am going to share with you 12 economic charts that show that we are in much, much worse shape than we were five or ten years ago.  The long-term problems that are eating away at the foundations of our economy like cancer have not been fixed.  In fact, many of them continue to get even worse year after year.  But because unprecedented levels of government debt and reckless money printing by the Federal Reserve have bought us a very short window of relative stability, most Americans don’t seem too concerned about our long-term problems.  They seem to have faith that our “leaders” will be able to find a way to muddle through whatever challenges are ahead.  Hopefully this article will be a wake up call.  The last major wave of the economic collapse did a colossal amount of damage to our economic foundations, and now the next major wave of the economic collapse is rapidly approaching.

Read more12 Charts That Show The Permanent Damage That Has Been Done To The U.S. Economy

Putin: Russia’s Isolation Is ‘Absurd And Illusory Goal’

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brics-bank-currency-pool

– Putin: Russia’s isolation is ‘absurd and illusory goal’ (RT, Oct 15, 2014):

Trying to isolate Russia with sanctions and restrictive measures is “an absurd and illusory goal,” Russia’s president has said. Moscow intends to “further deepen” cooperation with EU partners, Vladimir Putin told the Serbian newspaper, Politika.

Read the full transcript of Vladimir Putin’s interview here.

“If the main goal is to isolate our country, it’s an absurd and illusory goal. It is obviously impossible to achieve it and the economic health of Europe and the world can be seriously undermined,” Russia’s president said.

“Attempts to put pressure on Russia with unilateral and illegitimate restrictive measures” is not going to help reach an agreement, but will “rather impede the dialogue,” Putin said particularly referring to the nearly year-long Ukrainian conflict that the international community blames on Russia.

“Washington actively supported the Maidan protests, and when its Kiev henchmen antagonized a large part of Ukraine through rabid nationalism and plunged the country into a civil war, it blamed Russia for provoking the crisis,” Putin said.“Any unbiased person knows that it was not Russia who staged the coup d’état in Ukraine, which led to the grave internal political crisis and a split in society.”

Read morePutin: Russia’s Isolation Is ‘Absurd And Illusory Goal’

Sex, Drugs And … Hookers And Dope Bring Italy Out Of Recession

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Reality is still the same, only the GDP figures are different.

Mission accomplished!

hookers-drugs-italy-recession

– Sex, drugs and…Hookers and dope bring Italy out of recession (RT, Oct 15, 2014):

Illegal economic activities such as drugs and prostitution are apparently responsible for having lifted Italy out of economic recession. EU data calculations have demonstrated that the black market has significantly boosted GDP figures.

Italy is technically no longer in economic recession because of the addition of figures from illegal activities.

Read moreSex, Drugs And … Hookers And Dope Bring Italy Out Of Recession

Crude Crashing: Brent Is Most. Oversold. EVER

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– Crude Crashing: Brent Is Most. Oversold. EVER (ZeroHedge, Oct 14, 2014):

Yesterday we lamented the ridiculously oversold levels in West Texas Intermediate, which as BofA calculated, has hit “oversold” levels for only the third time in six years. We assumed that this could be the basis for a short-term rebound. We were wrong, because we clearly had no idea just how determined the Saudis are to crush Putin into the ground courtesy of plunging oil prices.

As of moments ago, WTI has tumbled nearly $4, some 5%, to just over $81…

20141014_WTintra

… which just goes to show how idiotic any reliance on charts is in a centrally-planned world, in which commodities are nothing but political weapons. Bottom line: based on its weekly RSI chart, WTI has just hit the most oversold levels since Lehman.

Read moreCrude Crashing: Brent Is Most. Oversold. EVER

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: American Government Cannot Be Trusted To Tell The Truth

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Related info:

– US Troops, World Bank And IMF Set The Stage For Liberian Resource Extraction:

“… in Liberia, “there is enough energy in the ground right now to supply the needs of the U.S. for the next 100 years, and we can get to it economically.”

Reader squodgy commented:

“After all the publicity about John Perkins’ book & video interviews, the thinkers among us must be so disappointed that a re-run of the typical scenario is being carried out in broad daylight, right under everyone’s noses…..in your face blatent raping of a Sovereign Nation using an engineered virus as cover.

It doesn’t get any more distasteful than this.”

Paul Craig Roberts served as an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan Administration. He was associate editor and columnist for The Wall Street Journal and columnist for Business Week and the Scripps Howard News Service. In 1992 he received the Warren Brookes Award for Excellence in Journalism. In 1993 the Forbes Media Guide ranked him as one of the top seven journalists in the United States. He is also chairman of The Institute for Political Economy.

American Government cannot be trusted to tell the truth
American Government cannot be trusted to tell the truth

– American Government Cannot Be Trusted to Tell the Truth (RIA Novosti, Oct 12, 2014):

TLANTA, October 12 (RIA Novosti) – A number of readers have noted reports that the CIA was active in West Africa just prior to the Ebola outbreak, and some claim to have discovered reports that the Ebola strain is a weaponized version of the virus, which was re-engineered so that it could be spread by air and surface contact. I’ve been asked to confirm or refute these reports; others want to know if the One Percent or the Bilderberg Group have started the process of eliminating the surplus population.

The only people who would be able to answer these questions would be the people responsible, if such a plot is actually underway. Even then, the warning would most likely be ignored or discredited. A top NSA official, William Binney, told us years ago about how his organization was responsible for illegal and unconstitutional spyings, but nothing was done about it.  Edward Snowden told us again, and he was labelled a Russian or Chinese spy. Congress has not conducted a meaningful investigation.  No heads have rolled. The presstitute media attacks Snowden, not the NSA, and so on.

Read moreDr. Paul Craig Roberts: American Government Cannot Be Trusted To Tell The Truth

Too-Big-to-Fail Banks Face Up to $870 BILLION Capital Gap

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– Too-Big-to-Fail Banks Face Up to $870 Billion Capital Gap (Bloomberg, Oct 14, 2014):

Too big to fail is likely to prove a costly epithet for the world’s biggest banks as regulators demand they increase holdings of debt securities to cover losses should they collapse.

The shortfall facing lenders from JPMorgan Chase & Co. to HSBC Holdings Plc could be as much as $870 billion, according to estimates from AllianceBernstein Ltd., or as little as $237 billion forecast by Barclays Plc.

The range is so wide because proposals from the Basel-based Financial Stability Board outline various possibilities for the amount lenders need to have available as a portion of risk-weighted assets. With those holdings in excess of $21 trillion at the lenders most directly affected, small changes to assumptions translate into big numbers.

Read moreToo-Big-to-Fail Banks Face Up to $870 BILLION Capital Gap

The QE4 Countdown Has Begun

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– The QE4 Countdown Has Begun (ZeroHedge, Oct 14, 2014):

Actually, it may well be QE5, or QE6 depending on how one counts Operation Twist and the extension of QE3, but what matters is that the countdown to whatever it is, has begun courtesy of none other than one of the Fed’s biggest doves, the head of the Fed which spawned Janet Yellen, San Francisco Fed’s John Williams

  • FED’S WILLIAMS SAYS QE MAY BE NEEDED IF ECONOMY FALTERS

This is what a happy, money-printing John Williams looks like:

Read moreThe QE4 Countdown Has Begun

Ebola Is Threatening Much Of The World’s Chocolate Supply

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– Ebola Fears Sends Price Volatility Surging In… Chocolate (ZeroHedge, Oct 14, 2014):

The world’s candy-makers are worried. As Politico reports, Ivory Coast, the world’s largest producer of cacao, the raw ingredient in all your favorite candy, has shut down its borders with Liberia and Guinea, putting a major crimp on the workforce needed to pick the beans that end up in chocolate bars. While Ivory Coast (which produces around a third of the world’s total cacao beans) has yet to see a single case of Ebola yet, the price of Cocoa futures has become extremely volatile in recent weeks breaking notably higher than its normal range between $2000 and $2700 pere ton. Simply put – and not wanting to spread panic and fear – Ebola is threatening much of the world’s chocolate supply.

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Putting An End To Any Debate About The State Of The US Housing Market

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Wells Q3 Mortgage Pipeline

– Mortgage Application Pipeline At America’s Largest Mortgage Lender Drops To Lowest Since Lehman (ZeroHedge, Oct 14, 2014):

So much for the much hyped, if quite negligible, second quarter rebound in mortgage activity. After rates tumbled, and continued to tumble, there was some hope that at least the offset to the bond market screaming contraction and deflation (something even stocks have realized in recent days), would be more American’s buying homes, which naturally means applying for mortgages. Well, that dead cat bounce has come and gone. As America’s biggest mortgage lender, Wells Fargo, reported moments ago when it once again magically managed to report EPS and revenues which came right in line with expectations (of $2.11 and $21.2 billion), the US housing picture is once again the worst it has ever been (excluding those days around the Lehman bankruptcy when all of finance died for a few weeks).

Case in point: according to Wells Q3 Earnings Supplement, while Mortgage Applications declined from a transitory one year high of $72 billion in Q2 to $64 billion, this number is going far lower. The reason: Wells’ Morgage Application Pipeline just tumbled back to $25 billion, matching the lowest number since Lehman, and putting an end to any debate about the state of the US housing market.

In short: the only people buying houses in the US now are foreigners laundering their illegal, tax-exempt profits (ever fewer) and those as close to the Fed’s ZIRP as possible, and, of course, paying all cash. Everyone else: not so much.

German Economy In ‘Choppy Waters’, As Growth Forecast Slashed To 1.2%

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– German economy in ‘choppy waters’, as growth forecast slashed to 1.2% (RT, Oct 14, 2014):

The German Ministry of Economic Affairs has slashed its forecast of growth this year to 1.2 percent, which is mounting evidence that Europe’s biggest economy is losing steam.

The numbers released Tuesday are a significant downward revision from the 1.8 percent growth expected earlier in the year. Growth for 2015 was also revised down to 1.3 percent from 2 percent, the ministry said.

Read moreGerman Economy In ‘Choppy Waters’, As Growth Forecast Slashed To 1.2%

Saudi Prince ‘Astonished’ At Oil Minister’s ‘Disastrous Underestimation’ Of Effect Of Price Cuts

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– Saudi Prince “Astonished” At Oil Minister’s “Disastrous Underestimation” Of Effect Of Price Cuts (ZeroHedge, Oct 14, 2014):

As the US-Saudi ‘secret’ oil deal continues to depress the price of oil, pressure Russian revenues, squeeze European budgets, and raise doubts about the status quo (OPEC and the rest of the world), not all of The Kingdom’s elites are happy. Infamous billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has written an open letter to Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi and other ministers, as Reuters reports, saying the world’s top oil exporter should start worrying about the recent slide in global oil prices and warned against the negative effect of such a drop on the state revenue: “Ninety percent of the 2014 budget is based on it (oil), so to underestimate (these implications) is in itself a disaster which cannot pass unnoticed,” he wrote in the letter.

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Put-Call Ratio (Fear Gauge) Higher Than In The Lehman Collapse Of 2008

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Faith

–  Why Is the Put-Call Ratio (Fear Gauge) Higher Than In The Lehman Collapse Of 2008? (ZeroHedge, Oct 14, 2014):

Moments ago, the Fed concluded its latest $931MM POMO, with just 6 more POMOs left ever (at least until another QE program is unveiled), and judging by the last week’s performance, the market has finally figured this out. And Goldman, which has been pounding the table on shorting the 10 Year for about a year now, and in the process crucifying even more muppets, has some bad news for TSY shorts: global growth is crashing.

Over the last week, global equities continued to slide, prolonging a trend that started in early September, according to the “first principal component” of a set of global equity indices (see Exhibit 1). And more recently, the S&P 500 and Germany’s DAX have succumbed to the pressure too, after a period of relative resilience. Declines have picked up steam. Over the last month, many of the markets we track experienced monthly declines that rank in the 5th percentile or worse, relative to their own past histories (see Exhibit 2). The S&P 500, DAX, and Canada (amongst others) had 1st percentile-sized declines. Said differently, monthly sell-offs of this size occur about once every five years.

Visually:

Read morePut-Call Ratio (Fear Gauge) Higher Than In The Lehman Collapse Of 2008

This Is What Happens When Someone Is Desperate To Sell $750 Million Of Stocks In 1 Second

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– This Is What Happens When Someone Is Desperate To Sell $750 Million Of Stocks (ZeroHedge, Oct 13, 2014):

At 1532ET today (Columbus Day – with half the market absent), someone – apparently having waited to see if the almost ‘ubiquitous’ 330pm Ramp would occur – decided it was time to dump three-quarters of a billion dollars notional of US equity market exposure in 1 second. The results of this forced liquidation (or utter disregard for fiduciary duty) were as follows…

A complete collapse of all liquidity in the S&P 500 e-mini futures contract – the world’s most liquid equity exposure vehicle…

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Shanghai Exchange Chairman Admits China Gold Demand Topped 2000 Tonnes In 2013

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Chairman of the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) Xu Luode

– Shanghai Exchange Chairman Admits China Gold Demand Topped 2000 Tonnes In 2013 (ZeroHedge, Oct 13, 2014):

After all evidence presented, the amount of Chinese non-government gold demand in 2013. At the LBMA forum in Singapore June 25, 2014, one of the keynote speakers was chairman of the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) Xu Luode. In his speech he made a few very candid statements about Chinese consumer gold demand, that according to Xu reached 2,000 tonnes in 2013. In contrast to the Word Gold Council (WGC) that states Chinese gold demand was 1,066 tonnes in 2013. Xu’s speech has now finally been translated and published in the LBMA magazine The Alchemist #75.

Xu’s statements once again confirm what I have been writing for months. SGE withdrawals equal Chinese wholesale demand:

Read moreShanghai Exchange Chairman Admits China Gold Demand Topped 2000 Tonnes In 2013

Will the Fed Let the Stock Market Crash Before an Election?

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From the article:

“If central banks have learned anything since 2008, it’s that waiting around for the panic to deepen is not a winning strategy.

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Put yourself in their shoes. Isn’t this what you would do, given the dearth of alternatives and the very real risks of implosion? Anyone in their position with the tools at hand would not have any other real option other than to buy stocks in whatever quantity is needed to reverse the selling and blow the shorts out of the water.

If $1 trillion doesn’t do the job, make it $3 trillion, or $5 trillion. At this point, it doesn’t really matter, does it?”

Unless their Rothschild overlords tell them to do simply nothing this time.

– Will the Fed Let the Stock Market Crash Before an Election?  (OfTwoMinds, Oct 12, 2014):

Anyone in their position with the tools at hand would not have any other real option other than to buy stocks in whatever quantity is needed to reverse the selling and blow the shorts out of the water.

Since I’m writing this on Sunday evening, if the Dow Jones Industrial Average opens down 1,000 on Monday morning, I’m going to look very foolish. Such is the risk of being contrarian. So what’s contrarian now–expecting a crash or expecting a bounce and rally?
Exactly what the sentiment consensus is right now is open to debate. Analysts expecting a stock market crash see those expecting a rebound as the consensus view.

Read moreWill the Fed Let the Stock Market Crash Before an Election?

China, Russia Sign CNY150 Billion Local-Currency Swap As Plunging Oil Prices Sting Putin

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– China, Russia Sign CNY150 Billion Local-Currency Swap As Plunging Oil Prices Sting Putin (ZeroHedge, Oct 13, 2014):

While it is beyond a doubt that the primary catalyst for Europe’s triple-dip recession has been the nearly two quarters and counting of escalating Russian sanctions that were supposed to solely harm Putin (because who could have possibly foreseen that plunging German exports to Russia would have a far greater impact on the export-driven German economy), the truth is that the Kremlin itself is starting to hurt, if not so much as a result of the European trade embargo but mostly due to crashing oil prices, which have been driven lower almost exclusively by Saudi Arabia as part of its most recent secret bargain with the US, a bargain which as we read today is likely to tear OPEC apart.

One place where Russia has been hit the hardest as a result of tumbling oil prices, is the crashing currency, with the Ruble hitting new record lows against the USD on a daily basis. In fact, as Bloomberg reports, Russia has been forced to spend a whopping $6 billion in just the past 10 days to slow down the tumble of the RUB:

Read moreChina, Russia Sign CNY150 Billion Local-Currency Swap As Plunging Oil Prices Sting Putin

Manic-Buying Turns To Panic-Selling As ‘Illiquid’ Stocks Plunge To 5-Month Lows

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And ‘somebody’ surely made a lot of money with some put options like on 9/11.

– Manic-Buying Turns To Panic-Selling As ‘Illiquid’ Stocks Plunge To 5-Month Lows (ZeroHedge, Oct 13, 2014):

Just as we warned, liquidity was incomprehensibly low today (below normal pre-market levels during the peak of the trading day) and the intraday whipsaws were meteoric as a closed cash bond market enabled the slightest twitch in USDJPY to send S&P algos into conniptions. Biotech crashed. Trannies were ripped ridiculously higher at the open – then collapsed into correction (-11% from highs); US Airlines have fallen for 6 straight days, crashing 17% (with today’s 7% plunge – driven by chatter over airborne Ebola – its biggest in over years). Treasury futures implied a notable drop in yields across the curve (10Y -7bps at 2.21%, 30Y 2.97%, and 5Y 1.45%). The USdollar closed -0.33% led by EUR and JPY strength (but AUD surged 1% extending gains after China data).  Gold ($1234), Silver, and copper all gained on the day as WTI fell once again (despite some intraday strength in the middle of the day). Stocks “flash-crashed” on very heavy volume in the last 30 mins with VIX breaking above 24 (highest in 16 months). All major equity indices are now below their 200DMA with the worst 3-day loss since late 2011.

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MasterCard To Comply With New Rules And Remain In Russia – CEO

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mastercard-to-adopt-new-rules-in-russia.si

– MasterCard to comply with new rules and remain in Russia – CEO (RT, Oct 13, 2014):

The MasterCard international payment system will continue operating in Russia and comply with the new rules set out by the Central Bank of Russia, CEO Ajay Banga has said.

“We have intentions to remain in Russia,” TASS quotes Ajay Banga the President and Chief Executive of MasterCard.

“My approach is that we will follow the new rules. The law requires a partnership with the Central Bank of Russia. We think, this is reasonable for Russia,” he said.

Read moreMasterCard To Comply With New Rules And Remain In Russia – CEO

Is The Bank Of England Giving The Market A Hint Of What’s To Come?

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– Is The Bank Of England Giving The Market A Hint Of What’s To Come? (ZeroHedge, Oct 13, 2014):

Despite Bank of England’s Mark Carney confident overtones that policy-makers must focus on economic developments rather than worry about potential market volatility as they consider exiting stimulus, it appears the esteemed central bank is communicating ‘forward guidance’ on its money-printing expectations over the next decade… BANK OF ENGLAND SIGNS 10-YEAR BANKNOTE PRINTING CONTRACT WITH DE LA RUE… starting in April 2015 (when US rate hikes might start?)

Carney warns:

Read moreIs The Bank Of England Giving The Market A Hint Of What’s To Come?