Economy

Microsoft Announces Record 18,000 Layoffs, Three Time More Than Expected

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Microsoft

–  Microsoft Announces Record 18,000 Layoffs, Three Time More Than Expected (ZeroHedge, July 17, 2014):

While the news was reported earlier this week, it is perhaps notable that what was once considered the leading US tech company has also succumbed to the great “jobless” US recovery (in which the US economy is somehow adding 200K+ jobs every month even as it is firing millions). Furthermore, what was supposed to be 6,000 layoffs has just tripled to 18,000, which also happens to be the largest round of layoffs in MSFT history, surpassing the previous record of 5,800 set back in 2009.

From the PR:

Read moreMicrosoft Announces Record 18,000 Layoffs, Three Time More Than Expected

Putin Responds: ‘US Sanctions Will Boomerang And Cause Very Serious Damage’

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Vladimir-Putin1

– Putin Responds: “US Sanctions Will Boomerang And Cause Very Serious Damage” (ZeroHedge, July 16, 2014):

It took just a little over an hour for Vladimir Putin to respond to the latest, most provocative and toughest round of US sanctions yet. The response, appropriately enough, came just after the BRICS summit in Brazil, where the world’s developing countries yesterday announced the formation of both a BRIC bank and a $100 billion currency reserve to provide a liquidity alternative to the insolvent developed world’s central banks. Here Vladimir Putin was asked to comment on the new package of sanctions against Russia announced just minutes earlier by Obama.

Putin’s response: “We aren’t the ones introducing sanctions, you should ask them.”

“Sanctions have a boomerang effect and without any doubt they will push U.S.-Russian relations into a dead end, and cause very serious damage, and it undermines the long term security interests of the US State and its people.” he said to reporters while elaborating that said he needed to see the details of the sanctions to understand their full scope Reuters added.

And as was largely expected, Putin’s next jab was right where it hurt: energy.

Read morePutin Responds: ‘US Sanctions Will Boomerang And Cause Very Serious Damage’

Q1 Productivity Collapsed Most In Over 60 Years … Looks Likely To Be Revised Down To Almost -6% (Annualized)

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–  Q1 Productivity Collapsed Most In Over 60 Years; Goldman Fears Consequences (ZeroHedge, July 16, 2014):

The official measure of Q1 productivity growth currently looks likely to be revised down to almost -6% (annualized) – the worst in almost 70 years. As Goldman points out, even on a longer-term basis, the 4-, 8-, and 12-quarter trends are all in a 0.2%-0.6% range when the Q1 estimates are included, dramatically below consensus 2% estimates of the long-term trend. While Goldman notes productivity is a very noisy series, because it is calculated as the difference between noisy GDP numbers and noisy hours worked numbers; if these numbers are an accurate representation of the long-term trend, the implications for the long-term growth in US living standards would be very negative.

Weather?

Productivity-collapse

Of course, it wouldn’t be Jan Hatzius if Goldman didn’t end on an optimistic note…

Read moreQ1 Productivity Collapsed Most In Over 60 Years … Looks Likely To Be Revised Down To Almost -6% (Annualized)

White House Readies Unilateral Sanctions On Russia As US Utilities Scramble For Russian Coal

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This will probably make Putin ‘cry’ again …

Putin-laughing

Related info:

– US Sales To Russia Hit Record High AFTER SANCTIONS … Now That Will Certainly Teach Them!!!

All of this idiocy makes at least some sense if this really is the plan:

– Hedge Fund Manager Kyle Bass: Senior Obama Administration Official Said: ‘We’re Just Going To Kill The Dollar’ (Video)

obama-handsign-satanic-salute

– White House Readies Unilateral Sanctions On Russia As US Utilities Scramble For Russian Coal (ZeroHedge, July 16, 2014):

“It’s not clear to us that breaking commercial ties with the Russia partners, consumers gets anyone to where they want to be,” warns one political think tank as AP reports, The White House is considering imposing unilateral sanctions on Russia over its threatening moves in Ukraine – a move reflecting frustration at Europe’s reluctance to bit off its nose to spite its face. Until now, the U.S. has insisted on hitting Russia with penalties in concert with Europe in order to maximize the impact, but, as Putin warned, those same economic ties have made Europe fearful that tougher penalties against Russia could boomerang and hurt their own economies. Obam has faced criticism over a lack of action, as Bob Corker blasted “sometimes I’m embarrassed for you, as you constantly talk about sanctions and yet, candidly, we never see them put in place,” but the European ‘concerns’ are just as valid in America as Utilities in the U.S. are scrambling for coal, on pace to increase imports 26% this year.

As AP reports,

Read moreWhite House Readies Unilateral Sanctions On Russia As US Utilities Scramble For Russian Coal

Did The Other Shoe Just Drop? Big Banks Hit With Monster $250 Billion Lawsuit In Housing Crisis

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wicked-witch-of-the-east

– Did the Other Shoe Just Drop? Big Banks Hit with Monster $250 Billion Lawsuit in Housing Crisis (Washington’s Blog, July 16, 2014):

By Ellen Brown

For years, homeowners have been battling Wall Street in an attempt to recover some portion of their massive losses from the housing Ponzi scheme. But progress has been slow, as they have been outgunned and out-spent by the banking titans.

In June, however, the banks may have met their match, as some equally powerful titans strode onto the stage.  Investors led by BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, and PIMCO, the world’s largest bond-fund manager, have sued some of the world’s largest banks for breach of fiduciary duty as trustees of their investment funds. The investors are seeking damages for losses surpassing $250 billion. That is the equivalent of one million homeowners with $250,000 in damages suing at one time.

Read moreDid The Other Shoe Just Drop? Big Banks Hit With Monster $250 Billion Lawsuit In Housing Crisis

When You See This Happen, You Know It’s Game Over For The Dollar

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In my opinion gold in (extended or permanent) backwardation is signalling a total loss of confidence in the $US Dollar and is a clear sign that the dollar endgame is here.

The Great Depression will soon look like a walk in the park.

Dollar-Endgame

– When You See This Happen, You Know It’s Game Over For The Dollar (ZeroHedge, July 16, 2014):

Exactly 70 years ago to the day, hundreds of delegates from 44 nations were busy at work in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire creating a brand new financial system.

World War II had just ended. Europe was in ruin.

And since the US was simultaneously the largest economy in the world, the primary victor in the war, and the only major power with its productive capacity intact, it was easy to dictate terms: the dollar would dominate the new system.

Every nation would hold dollars as the primary reserve currency, and the dollar would be redeemable for gold at $35/ounce.

Read moreWhen You See This Happen, You Know It’s Game Over For The Dollar

A Shocking First: Mainstream Media Rushes To Defend Dollar Reserve Status

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Here is what happened to Mexico:

– Hedge Fund Manager Kyle Bass Explains The New World Order (Panel Presentation):

Don’t believe these governments when they tell you everything is going to fine. The day before Mexico devalued by 60% they denied that they would ever devalue. They can and will never tell you the truth. Find your own numbers.

Here is what happened to Belarus:

– Belarus Devalues Its Currency By 56% Overnight, Against Every Currency Out There:

Luckily for those who held their “money” in the form of gold and silver, they just got an instantaneous 56% value preservation and a relative boost in their purchasing power with just one central bank announcement.

Prepare for collapse.

us-dollar-black-hole

– A Shocking First: Mainstream Media Rushes To Defend Dollar Reserve Status (ZeroHedge, July 16, 2014):

One can’t help but wonder just how concerned the powers that be are becoming when such an esteemed mainstream media outlet as Bloomberg News would deem fit to defend the almighty US Dollar. “There are always people who say the dollar is going to be replaced, but it hasn’t happened,” chides one strategist (clearly forgetting that nothing lasts forever). As growing concerns of “exorbitant privilege” spread from the usual anti-imperialist foes (Russia and China’s de-dollarization) to close allies like France and now to the world’s growth engine – BRICS, it seems defending what was previously unquestionable itself should be grounds for alarm…

As Bloomberg reports,

The dollar hasn’t budged from its top spot for the past three decades, withstanding repeated efforts to unseat it. Almost 90 percent of the $5.3 trillion a day in foreign-exchange transactions last year involved the dollar, the same share as in 1989, data from the Bank for International Settlements show. More than 80 percent of trade finance was done in dollars in 2013, according to Swift, a global financial-messaging network.

Read moreA Shocking First: Mainstream Media Rushes To Defend Dollar Reserve Status

Cyprus: Despite 16 months of capital controls, banks still pitifully capitalized

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Cyprus - Despite 16 months of capital controls, banks still pitifully capitalized

– Cyprus: Despite 16 months of capital controls, banks still pitifully capitalized (Sovereign Man, July 15, 2014):

It’s been over a year since the banking system in Cyprus officially went bust.

On Friday, March 15, 2013, practically everyone in the country went to bed thinking that everything was just fine.

Many had probably gone to the bank that very day to do business, or logged on to an Internet banking platform.

Yet the very next morning, they woke to a completely new reality: the nation’s banks were broke, and the government was in no position to rescue them.

Read moreCyprus: Despite 16 months of capital controls, banks still pitifully capitalized

The Cost Of Downgrading The U.S. Credit Rating: $1 Billion

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– The Cost Of Downgrading The US: $1 Billion (ZeroHedge, July 16, 2014):

Back in the summer of 2011 during the debt ceiling debacle, S&P did the unthinkable: it dared to speak the truth when it downgraded the US from its pristine AAA rating, setting off a stock market selloff and paradoxically sending bonds to record low yields. This resulted in a vindictive Tim Geithner promptly warning the Chairman of McGraw-Hill the US would retaliate (which it did), the termination of then CEO Devan Sharma (and his replacement with the all too friendly COO of Citibank), and most importantly, a still ongoing legal fight in which the DOJ sued S&P (and only S&P, not Moody’s, not Fitch) allegedly for rating improprieties during the first housing bubble, but even 5 year olds knew it was just to teach S&P a lesson.

Today we learn just what the cost is for anyone who dares to downgrade the US. The answer: $1,000,000,000. That is the amount that S&P has decided it will agree to pay in a settlement with the DOJ to put all this “truthiness” unpleasantness behind it.

From Reuters:

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services decided to settle a pending lawsuit with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and is open to paying about $1 billion to settle it, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter.

Read moreThe Cost Of Downgrading The U.S. Credit Rating: $1 Billion

Why The U.S. Is Doomed: Interest And Debt

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– Why We’re Doomed: Interest and Debt (Washington’s Blog, July 15, 2014):

Even if the economy were growing at a faster pace, it wouldn’t come close to offsetting the interest payments on our ever-expanding debt.

If you want to know why the Status Quo is unsustainable, just look at interest and debt. These are not difficult to understand: debt is a loan that must be paid back or discharged/written off and the loss absorbed by the lender. Interest is paid on the debt to compensate the owner of the money for the risk of loaning it to a borrower.

It’s easy to see what’s happening with debt and the real economy (as measured by GDP, gross domestic product): debt is skyrocketing while real growth is stagnant. Put another way–we have to create a ton of debt to get a pound of growth.

There is no other way to interpret this chart.

debt-GDP
source: Acting Man

The Status Quo has only survived this crushing expansion of debt by dropping interest rates to historic lows. This is a chart of the yield on the 10-year Treasury bond, which reflects the extraordinary decline in interest rates over the past two decades.

Read moreWhy The U.S. Is Doomed: Interest And Debt

THE FINAL WARNING: Individual Investors Piling Into Stocks, Market Leverage Hits All Time Highs

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– The Final Warning: Individual Investors Piling Into Stocks, Market Leverage Hits All Time Highs (SHFT, July 14, 2014):

The story goes that in the Winter of 1928 Joe Kennedy, father of President John F. Kennedy, went to have his shoes shined. When the shoe shine boy finished he offered Kennedy a tip. “Buy Hindeburg,” he said.

Kennedy promptly sold off all of his stock holdings. Within a year the United States saw a massive stock market crash that wiped out the life savings of millions of Americans and ushered in a decade’s long Great Depression.

When asked why he sold all his stocks Kennedy replied, “You know it’s time to sell when shoeshine boys give you stock tips. This bull market is over.”

Throughout history there have always been critical warning signs in the midst of financial exuberance that signaled the bursting of the bubble.

According to a report from Bloomberg the warning siren may have just gone off again.

Read moreTHE FINAL WARNING: Individual Investors Piling Into Stocks, Market Leverage Hits All Time Highs

US Loses Multi-Billion Dollar Court Sases Against China And India

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– US loses multi-billion dollar court cases against China and India (RT, July 15, 2014):

The World Trade Organization agreed on Monday this week to side with claims against the United States made by both China and India concerning US-imposed tariffs on products exported to America.

In both instances, the WTO ruled against the US and decided in favor of the major BRICs countries, who for two years now have each asked the organization to intervene and weigh in on America’s use of tariffs to tax certain imports dating back to 2007.

Read moreUS Loses Multi-Billion Dollar Court Sases Against China And India

Gold Plunges Back Below $1300 As ‘Someone’ Dumps $2.3 BILLION In Futures

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– Gold Plunges Back Below $1300 As “Someone” Dumps $2.3 Billion In Futures (ZeroHedge, July 15, 2014):

With The Fed proclaiming bubbles in some of the most-loved segments of the stock market and explaining that the economy is doing “ok” but they must remain dovish for longer for feasr of “false dawns”… what better time than now to dump $2.3 Billion notional in futures… of course the dump in gold’s anti-status quo price coincided with an odd v-shaped recovery in stocks… Gold remains above its pre-June FOMC levels still.

The break was precipitated by the sale of over 17,000 contracts (or over $2.3 Billion notional)…

20140715_gold

But for now gold remains above FOMC levels…

Read moreGold Plunges Back Below $1300 As ‘Someone’ Dumps $2.3 BILLION In Futures

9 EU Countries Ready To Block Economic Sanctions Against Russia

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putin smile

– 9 EU countries ready to block economic sanctions against Russia (RT, July 15, 2014):

France, Germany, and Italy are among EU members who don’t want to follow the US lead and impose trade sanctions on Russia. US sanctions are seen as a push to promote its own multibillion free-trade pact with Europe.

“France, Germany, Luxembourg, Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, Slovenia, and EU President Italy see no reason in the current environment for the introduction of sectorial trade and economic sanctions against Russia and at the summit, will block the measure,” a diplomatic source told ITAR-TASS.

Read more9 EU Countries Ready To Block Economic Sanctions Against Russia

Nestle Continues To Sell Bottled Water Sourced From California Despite Record Drought

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Nestle will just drill deeper and pump it all out, until there is nothing left, which is exactly what Nestle does all around the planet.

Related info:

– Nestlé – Sucking The World Dry – Making A Profit Mark-Up Of 53,908,255% (Video)

– Water Monopoly

– Bottled Life – The Truth About Nestlé’s Business With Water (Documentary Trailer)

– Nestle CEO & Bilderberg Peter Brabeck-Letmathe Seeks To Control The World’s Water Supply

nestle-pure-life

– Nestle continues to sell bottled water sourced from California despite record drought (RT, July 15, 2014):

California is facing one of its most severe droughts on record, which is hurting farmers and recreation alike. But despite water restrictions, Nestle is bottling spring water from the state and selling it, creating controversy alongside profits.

Nestle owns Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water, which has been bottling water from a spring in Millard Canyon, Calif. for more than a decade. The company’s 383,000-square-foot bottling plant, which also packages purified water under the Nestle Pure Life brand, is located on the Morongo Band of Mission Indians reservation.

In January, Gov. Jerry Brown (D-Calif.) declared a drought state of emergency in preparation for water shortages, especially during the summer months. The drought has entered its third year, and water restrictions have increased throughout the Golden State.

But Nestle does not need to heed the emergency measures the state has adopted. Since its plant is on a Native American reservation – considered a sovereign nation by the US government – it is not required to comply with state regulations.

Read moreNestle Continues To Sell Bottled Water Sourced From California Despite Record Drought

Big Corporations Have An OVERWHELMING Amount Of Power Over Our Food Supply

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10-Corporations-Control-What-We-Eat

– Big Corporations Have An OVERWHELMING Amount Of Power Over Our Food Supply (Economic Collapse, July 14, 2014):

From our fields to our forks, huge corporations have an overwhelming amount of power over our food supply every step of the way.  Right now there are more than 313 million people living in the United States, and the job of feeding all of those people is almost entirely in the hands of just a few dozen monolithic companies.  If you do not like how our food is produced or you don’t believe that it is healthy enough, it isn’t very hard to figure out who is to blame.  These mammoth corporations are not in business to look out for the best interests of the American people.  Rather, the purpose of these corporations is to maximize wealth for their shareholders.  So the American people end up eating billions of pounds of extremely unhealthy food that is loaded with chemicals and additives each year, and we just keep getting sicker and sicker as a society.  But these big corporations are raking in big profits, so they don’t really care.

Read moreBig Corporations Have An OVERWHELMING Amount Of Power Over Our Food Supply

The Head Of ‘The Central Bank Of The World’ Warns That Another Great Financial Crisis May Be Coming

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Prepare for collapse.

bis-bank-for-international-settlements-basel-switzerland

– The Head Of ‘The Central Bank Of The World’ Warns That Another Great Financial Crisis May Be Coming (Economic Collapse, July 13, 2014):

Most people have never heard of Jaime Caruana even though he is the head of an immensely powerful organization.  He has been serving as the General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements since 2009, and he will continue in that role until 2017.  The Bank for International Settlements is a rather boring name, and very few people realize that it is at the very core of our centrally-planned global financial system.  So when Jaime Caruana speaks, people should listen.  And the fact that he recently warned that the global financial system is currently “more fragile” in many ways than it was just prior to the collapse of Lehman Brothers should set off all sorts of alarm bells.  Speaking of the financial markets, Caruana ominously declared that “it is hard to avoid the sense of a puzzling disconnect between the markets’ buoyancy and underlying economic developments globally” and he noted that “markets can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent”.  In other words, he is saying what I have been saying for so long.  The behavior of the financial markets has become completely divorced from economic reality, and at some point there is going to be a massive correction.

So why would the head of ‘the central bank of the world’ choose this moment to issue such a chilling warning?

Read moreThe Head Of ‘The Central Bank Of The World’ Warns That Another Great Financial Crisis May Be Coming

The Next Domino: Espirito Santo Holding Company Preparing To File Bankruptcy

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– The Next Domino: Espirito Santo Holding Company Preparing To File Bankruptcy (ZeroHedge, July 15, 2014):

While Banco Espirito Santo continues to exist on fumes and life support (that last ditch equity injection by Baupost a week ago may not have been Seth Klarman’s wisest investment), a key link in the Espirito Santo Holding Company structure is preparing to default. According to Reuters:

  • ESPÍRITO SANTO GROUPS HOLDING COMPANY RIOFORTE PREPARING TO FILE FOR CREDITOR PROTECTION IN LUXEMBOURG – SOURCES

For those confused, “creditor protection” =  bankruptcy.

Which one is RioForte again? We showed this handy org chart a few days ago, here it is again.

Read moreThe Next Domino: Espirito Santo Holding Company Preparing To File Bankruptcy

Phoenix Housing Market Hit By Unprecedented Plunge In Demand

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Flashback:

– Inflation, Hyperinflation and Real Estate (Price Collaps)

– Phoenix Housing Market Hit By Unprecedented Plunge In Demand (ZeroHedge, July 14, 2014):

The Phoenix housing market has a special place in the heart of housing bubble watchers: together with Las Vegas and various California MSAs, this is the place where the last housing bubble was born and subsequently died a gruesome death which nearly brought down the entire financial system. Which is why the monthly WP Carey report on the Greater Phoenix Housing Market is of peculiar interest for those who want to catch a leading glimpse into the overall state of the bubble US housing market. As hoped, this month’s letter does not disappoint. What we find is that while equilibrium prices have been largely flat month over month, and are up 6% on an average square foot basis from a year ago, something very bad is happening with a key component of the pricing calculation: demand has fallen off a cliff.

Some of the disturbing findings from the report:

Read morePhoenix Housing Market Hit By Unprecedented Plunge In Demand

Russia Bans Purchases of Foreign-Made Cars By Government

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Russia Bans Purchases of Foreign-Made Cars By Government

– Russia Bans Purchases of Foreign-Made Cars By Government (The Moscow Times, July 14, 2014):

Federal and municipal governments were prohibited from buying foreign-made cars by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who said he hoped the decision would “help preserve necessary balance on the market.”

The state spends huge sums buying equipment, and “of course it is better if they go to domestic companies, not foreign producers,” Interfax quoted Medvedev as saying at a meeting with deputy prime ministers on Monday.

Read moreRussia Bans Purchases of Foreign-Made Cars By Government

Gold Slumps Most In 2014 As “Someone” Dumps $1.37 Billion In Futures At US Open

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– Gold Slumps Most In 2014 As “Someone” Dumps $1.37 Billion In Futures At US Open (ZeroHedge, July 14, 2014):

UPDATE: Gold is down 2.5% – the biggest daily drop since early Dec 2013

In a status-quo reinforcing smackdown, gold and silver prices have been clubbed lower this morning to one-month lows with the biggest drop in almost 2 months. The customary USDJPY surge (and risk asset spike) has accompanied this high volume dump just to make sure everyone believes that BES is fixed, Ukraine is fioxed, Iraq is fixed, earnings are great, and the water is warm….

…

Ron Paul: The Collapse Is Close (Video)

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Hmmh.

Alex Jones now – like Obama – using the latest state of  the art MASS HYPNOSIS techniques of Dr. Milton Erickson, M.D. ?

Start listening from 12:50 into the video …

“Now is the time to …”

– PDF: Obama’s_Use_of_Hidden_Hypnosis_techniques_in_His_Speeches:

…

Elementary pacing examples from Obama include, “now is the time”, and “as I stand here before you.”

These statements are undeniably true in the simplest terms and commonly used parts of his pacing techniques, because of course now is the time, and if he is there speaking, of course he is standing before us.

These are things the hypnotist says that are verifiably true, and used to lower our critical factor defenses to allow implantation of subconscious messages.

…


Added: Jul 12, 2014

Related info:

– 70% Devaluation Of The US Dollar Coming – We Are Headed For A Crisis Of Biblical Proportions – IMF Christine Lagarde’s Warning! (Video)

What Is Power Consumption Telling Us About The US Economy?

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–  What Is Power Consumption Telling Us About The US Economy? (Erico Tavares Of Sinclair & Co., July 13, 2014):

We track US power consumption on a weekly basis as reported by Barron’s, as we believe this information provides insightful – albeit sometimes “noisy” and seasonally unadjusted – clues about the performance of the economy over time.

The expectation is that a more robust economic environment requires more power, although factors like colder winters and warmer summers relative to the norm can greatly skew the analysis. With that in mind, let’s have a look at the weekly historical performance of this indicator going back to 1995 (in MM kWhs):

Read moreWhat Is Power Consumption Telling Us About The US Economy?

German Munis Are In Big Trouble

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From the article:

“It is just amazing who disconnected government are from the reality of the economy. Everything is geared to move toward the confiscation of wealth not reforming the system. These people are just brain-dead.”

Bremen-buergerschaft

– German Municipals In Trouble (Armstrong Economics, July 10, 2014):

Part of our job is monitoring everything everywhere. We are gathering data om whatever moves on a global basis. I have stated numerous times, it is IMPOSSIBLE to forecast a single market in isolation because the wildcard comes from contagions set in motion elsewhere. It is like sunning on the beach and there is a tidal wave coming because of an earthquake you didn’t know happened. Unless you monitor the world, you cannot even forecast the weather for tomorrow. It would all be just dumb-luck and chance.

I have been warning that about 50% of the municipal governments in Germany are on the verge of bankruptcy.

Read moreGerman Munis Are In Big Trouble